Recent content by McConnaughay

Although there is no shortage of horror stories - a la Stephen King or Clive Barker, how often do they actually scare you? Has a book ever made you feel afraid? What was it? What about it triggered that response?

In the modern age, books are more easily obtained than ever prior, and yet, physical locations to retrieve them are shrinking (similar, in a way, to the closing of movie rental stores). Do you have a local library? How often do you find yourself visiting it, if ever?

Sometimes, books can require a major commitment of time. Does this keep you from reading a book (i.e. a 1,000 manuscript versus a 200 page manuscript)? What is your ideal page count?

Do you have a preference on whether a story is written in first-person or third-person? Would either writing style dissuade you from reading the story? Why or why not?

I have started reading the first volume of Tokyo Ghoul. I was a fan of the anime series, but I'd heard countless times how much it ran off the rails (I liked the second season, personally). I'm interested in seeing how things are for it.

If we counted actual reading, as in, on message boards and the internet in general, that'd change the time a substantial amount. Otherwise, I read a lot of stories that are submitted to my company and try to etch out about an hour of reading a day for pleasure, if possible. I think that's about...

I do not. However, I do sometimes do research for something I am writing, but I don't usually use a history book for that.

I don't know if I have ever had an instance where I've read something and then it was adapted into a film. Instead, I usually read books that are less likely to be adapted (for whatever reason, subject matter / scope, etc.). Luckily, this has meant I have never had that dreaded "they ruined the...

I have a few, maybe two or three altogether. They're filled with movies rather than books. I hope someday have a room with shelves against wall, filled with books and movies, as a study, however.

I feel like I picked up the desire to write (since I was like 7-8) before I picked up the interest to read, but that they both came a little hand-in-hand. I needed to know how to do it, after all.

When I am asked this, I always think of that old joke, "Don't use the lord's name in vain? I didn't, I got a lot out of it!" The word isn't bumblebees and flowers, it's a word full of cuss words, and those cuss words hold power, however, like with anything, overuse can lead to diminishing returns.

If you've ever seen the show Dexter, many are surprised to learn it has a book series - and they divert entirely from the series (after Book One, that is). The series is different in many ways (ones that would be spoiler-y to explain). Overall, I prefer the show in the end, but the series is...

When I was in a college class, the teacher had us read a book called Feed by Mira Grant. It was alright, I liked it, liked it enough to continue it. Then, we all were talking about it and she more or less unloaded everything that happened in the followup books like it was no big deal. Never...

I was lucky to have seen at least the first movie before I read the books, and so, that set me straight.

What is a bad book in a series you otherwise enjoy? Did the series improve thereafter, or did it never recover?