The Stories of Scott D. Southard

September 28, 2015

Banned Books Week (Sept 27 – Oct 3)
We are in the midst of Banned Book Week, that time each year when readers and authors alike scan articles and essays about attempts to ban books from libraries and schools over the last year and wonder “What the heck is going on here?”

I’ve had the pleasure for the last three years of doing the book reviews for my local NPR station (WKAR) as part of their show Current State, and each year I try to take on another book that has faced the always surreal argument for censorship.
- This year I reviewed The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. You can listen to my discussion or read my review via this page.
- Last year, I reviewed Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You can check that our here.
- During my first year as part of Current State, I discussed the importance of this holiday and why we need to reflect on it via this audio essay.
I’ve also snuck in over the years other authors that have faced censorship, including (with links) Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Judy Blume, Harper Lee, and J.K. Rowling. In the future, I will be reviewing Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, so this is not slowing down for me anytime soon.

I hope you enjoy checking out some of these book reviews and try to read something a little controversial this week.
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September 24, 2015

New WKAR Book Review: J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Next week is Banned Books Week, so today on WKAR’s Current State I took on one of the most banned books in American Literature, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

You can listen to my new review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-jd-salingers-catcher-rye

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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September 24, 2015

New giveaway! Two will win an autographed copy of Permanent Spring Showers!
Two will win an AUTOGRAPHED copy!

“What a ride this book was! I can honestly say it was an inspiring novel, and very unique! With a cast of lively, artistic characters and a spin so hard it will leave your eyes wide and jaw hanging until the very last word.” -The Booknatics

“A tour de force.” -BooksChatter

Funny, Smart, Sexy, and very surprising, Permanent Spring Showers is the new literary fiction novel by Scott D. Southard (me), author of A Jane Austen Daydream.

Professor Rebecca Stanley-Wilson is having a very bad season. Her husband has just admitted to having an affair. And it was with one of her students.

Blame it on a desire for revenge (or way too much alcohol), she then has had one of her own. Unfortunately for her, her affair was with one of the great upcoming painters of his generation. The ramifications of that one torrid evening will not only be felt across her life but over the entire art world.

Permanent Spring Showers is the tale of one very memorable springtime and how it impacts a group of unique artists and dreamers. From the writer who is creating a new literary movement (through outright manipulation), to the hopeful Olympian with the failing marriage, to the romantic wondering what he did wrong to drive his love from him, each tale walks the line between reality and fantasy. And waiting at the end of the line is a very important painting.

You can learn more about the book (read articles, excerpts and reviews) via this page on my site. You can enter the giveaway via Goodreads.com, by clicking in the banner below.

Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Permanent Spring Showers

by Scott D. Southard

Giveaway ends October 28, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/155531
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September 13, 2015

Book Review: Star Wars Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Book Review: Star Wars Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

A lot of people are going to be disappointed in this book.

Some are going to hate the fact how little it sets up the next movie, answers questions we have, tells us what happened to our favorite characters in our favorite galaxy.

Others are going to be bothered by how this book is made for fans, not the everyday, casual reader. Alien names are thrown around with abandonment, assuming the readers know what they look like. Minor characters from the movies walk in and out of scenes as if we should know who they are. It is not a friendly book and will not draw new readers to future books. Even I, a lifetime fan of Star Wars, would probably need convincing before picking up another Star Wars novel.

For me though my biggest disappointment was with the writing. The author lists himself as a screenplay writer and that is obvious since it feels like a screenplay in many ways. Simple. Straight to the point. Dry. There is no literary art here, no sweeping moment of prose that will take you away. Nothing that embraces what makes books and literature a unique medium for telling a story. Honestly, I don’t think I could pick out any of the characters in a police lineup if I had to.

Then there are the “cute” moments in the book. The slight nod to Game of Thrones (the “Shooty” end of a blaster), the dialogue that sounds a little too contemporary as compared to from a galaxy far, far away. With such great writing done for The Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows, it is sad they couldn’t have found one of those writers to take it on. But you know with the love of Star Wars now, imagine if they could have gotten a real author to do it? The mind boggles at the idea. I cannot imagine any author from Generation X and younger saying no to the possibility. Why not try that in the future Disney? (Of course, I would rather write an Indiana Jones adventure, but that is just me.)

In the end, everyone will be disappointed… well, everyone probably but the author, his agent, and Disney’s pocketbook.
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September 10, 2015

NEW WKAR Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan
I don’t often say this, but this was a negative book review I didn’t want to write. On WKAR’s Current State, I took on Another Day by David Levithan, the “companion” book to his wonderful YA novel Every Day.

You can listen to my new review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-david-levithans-another-day

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you would like to check out Another Day you can find it on Amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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August 13, 2015

New WKAR Book Review: Judy Blume’s In the Unlikely Event
One of the things I love about doing the book reviews on WKAR’s Current State is catching up with writers that mean a lot to me. I got to do that again in this review, taking on the new novel by Judy Blume, In the Unlikely Event.

You can listen to my new review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-judy-blumes-unlikely-event

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you would like to check out In the Unlikely Event (and you should) you can find it on Amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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July 30, 2015

New WKAR Book Review: The Given World by Marian Palaia
On WKAR’s Current State, I reviewed The Given World, a debut work of literary fiction by Marian Palaia.

You can listen to my new review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-marian-palaias-given-world

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you would like to check out The Given World, you can find it on Amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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July 25, 2015

“Awesome… anything but ordinary” Booktalk with Eileen reviews Permanent Spring Showers
So than this happened…

My latest novel Permanent Spring Showers just got reviewed by Booktalk with Eileen (which you can check out in full here). This is one of those reviews I used to dream of as an author. There is first this:

Marvelously wrought, Mr. Southard! What an awesome story, woven meticulously perfect until it all comes together where the reader and the actors of this story have their day of reckoning. It was one of those stories I could see read by an English Literature class and discussed for the many things it tells us about people, their motives, their fantasies, their obsessions, their human spirit.

And this:

Mr. Southard, once again you have taken my breath away. I couldn’t believe you could write anything as good and soul enriching as A Jane Austen Daydream. I was wrong.

And then there is this:

There were moments of chuckling, moments of tears, moments of incredulity. The story gives us hope, the human spirit has no bounds, where the ending could very well be a new beginning, a new direction in life. Grasp it my readers, for nothing is more spectacular and mysterious as the human mind and what it is able to achieve.

You can check out the full review here. (I think I’m going to be smiling for days about this one.)

This is a great time to grab a copy of my latest work. The eBook is only $3.99! You can find it on Amazon here. Permanent Spring Showers is published by 5 Prince Books. You can also find out more about it (and read an excerpt) on this page on my site.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Permanent Spring Showers

by Scott D. Southard

Giveaway ends July 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway
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July 20, 2015

Embrace Insecurity: An Important Writing Tool
Often when I get interviewed about my writing and my books I get asked some kind of variation on what helps me as an author. In other words, what is the one tool in my arsenal I can’t do without.

Sometimes I point to my education, many times I point to my library and my reading (for, it is my opinion that all writers have to be industrious readers), but there is a secret friend I usually never bring up. He is a nagging voice, usually the last one I hear in my head each night before I go to bed. He questions everything I did that day, and wonders what I can do in the morning to correct it.

That is insecurity, and over the years I have learned to look at him as a companion in this upside-down, backwards and forwards, writing career. He rarely cheers or gets excited when something goes right (if he goes quiet for even a minute it is rare), but he keeps me on my toes, challenges me and always has my back in any situation.

Yes, I am telling you my fellow authors to be insecure! Fill your mind with self-doubt and worry! Let your uncertainty overwhelm you!

…And then use that power like I do. (more…)
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July 14, 2015

My Ten Favorite Books: In My Head…
Busy editing… busy reading… busy reviewing… and it’s summer.

Oh, I’m still here, just locking down my new book. And the new Harper Lee is out today (wow, it is sooo weird to type that). and I need to read it fast for my book reviews.

But I haven’t forgotten about this site! No you guys are still in my heart and head, so I thought I would share a quick list.

If you ever want to get into the head of an author ask them their 10 favorite books. Nothing will give you a better insight into their mind and creativity. So here is mine…

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen- Easily, one of the few perfect novels in literature. Not a word out of place.

2. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut- My favorite from one of my favorite authors.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald- Great to read, better to read aloud.

4. The Abortion by Richard Brautigan- The obscure work in the list. Love this book and the bookstore in it (which would be called in today’s world “Amazon.com.”)

5. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury- Beautiful, beautiful…

6. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis- When I was a kid and I visited new houses I would check every closet for Narnia. (Honestly, I still do that from time to time.)

7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- You read this, right? Kind of a big deal in American Literature, especially right now (new book and all).

8. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf- A huge influence on how I set up family scenes and develop characters.

9. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens- This is a story stolen by the business of Christmas, but once it was just a wonderful novella. Well, it still is and it is great.

10. Middlemarch by George Elliot- A literary epic, grand and at the same time filled with wonderful little moments and characters. Also one of the most beautiful endings.

Now I’m off to read this new book by Harper Lee (again, crazy we get to say that).
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