Dan Brown’s bestselling THE LOST SYMBOL, featuring Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, will follow THE DA VINCI CODE and ANGELS & DEMONS into theaters, but it won’t be written by Akiva Goldsmith, writer of the first two screenplays.

According to reports in Variety, Steven Knight (Eastern Promises) has been chosen to pen the 3rd movie.  Also, so far, Ron Howard, director of the first two, is currently only attached as a producer, and Tom Hanks hasn’t signed up to repeat his role as Langdon, but it’s hoped that the duo will continue the successful relationship that helped turn the 1st two movies into box office magic.   Hanks himself has said about doing a third movie, “I’d love to if they’re going to do it. I’m not going to walk away from that. If they make it again, I hope they ask me.”

ANGELS & DEMONS did not due as well as THE DA VINCI CODE at the box office.  However, THE LOST SYMBOL was the fastest selling adult fiction book in history (selling 1 million copies on its first day of release back in Sept 2009) so it’s no doubt hoped by Columbia that the new movie will kick the franchise’s revenue back up a notch or two. The new book (and film) take Langdon this time to Washington DC and up against Freemason mythos.  The movie has an anticipated release date of 2012.

Need a Harry Potter Universe fix?

From Amazon.com:  In December 2007, J.K. Rowling unveiled THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD, a very special book of five fairy tales illustrated by the bard herself, embellished with silver ornaments and mounted moonstones. Amazon was fortunate to come into possession of one of the original copies, and it was our privilege to share images and reviews of this incredible artifact. Now J.K. Rowling is giving millions of HARRY POTTER fans worldwide cause for celebration with a new edition of THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD, available December 4, 2008.

Offering the trademark wit and imagination familiar to Rowling’s legions of readers–as well as Aesop’s wisdom and the occasional darkness of the Brothers Grimm–each of these five tales reveals a lesson befitting children and parents alike: the strength gained with a trusted friendship, the redemptive power of love, and the true magic that exists in the hearts of all of us. Rowling’s new introduction also comments on the personal lessons she has taken from the Tales, noting that the characters in Beedle’s collection “take their fates into their own hands, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe,” and “that magic causes as much trouble as it cures.”

But the true jewel of this new edition is the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who brings his unique wizard’s-eye perspective to the collection. Discovered “among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives,” the venerable wizard’s ruminations on the Tales allow today’s readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that “Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles” during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile. In fact, versions of the same stories told in wizarding households would shock many for their uncharitable treatment of their Muggle characters.

Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical backstory, including tidbits such as the history and pursuit of magic wands, a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, and the struggles with censorship that eventually led “a certain Beatrix Bloxam” to cleanse the Tales of “much of the darker themes that she found distasteful,” forever altering the meaning of the stories for their Muggle audience. Dumbledore also allows us a glimpse of his personal relationship to the Tales, remarking that it was through “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump” that “many of us [wizards] first discovered that magic could not bring back the dead.”

Both a wise and delightful addition to the Harry Potter canon, this new translation of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is all that fans could hope for and more–and an essential volume for the libraries of Muggles, wizards, and witches, both young and old.

(All proceeds will benefit The Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), a charity founded by J. K. Rowling that helps children in institutions, providing education and emotional support.)

Jim Butcher has a written a series of books called THE DRESDEN FILES that has become one of my all-time favorites.

I originally got hooked on the SCI FI Channel TV series THE DRESDEN FILES starring Paul Blackthorne as Harry Dresden, watching every episode until they (stupidly) canceled it. Then I went on a book hunt to find the source material (original books) and have been adding each title to my collection as soon as I can get my hands on them.

THE DRESDEN FILES is like the best of Glen Cook’s wisecracking GARRETT, PI series, mixed in with a little Anne Rice, some Laurell K. Hamilton, Dashiel Hammett and a bit of Harry Potter all rolled into one. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is the only Wizard who happens to advertise in the Chicago phone book, trying to use his not-inconsiderable powers for good (and to pay the bills which ARE considerable.) Unfortunately, the good guys don’t want to believe there IS such a thing as the supernatural so why pay to battle it, most of the wizarding world doesn’t trust him and the bad guys, both human and not, just want Harry dead.

These are some of the only books I’ve read recently where I hate to put them down until I get to the very last page, and where I actually burst out laughing from Jim Butcher’s way of tossing in a totally unexpected turn of phrase.

So far, there are 10 books in the series:

STORM FRONT	FOOL MOON	GRAVE PERIL	SUMMER KNIGHT	DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES	DEAD BEAT	PROVEN GUILTY	WHITE NIGHT	SMALL FAVOR

If you like supernatural thrillers that are witty and compelling and with a protaganist you can root for, then don’t miss THE DRESDEN FILES. And if you love James Marsters (aka SPIKE from the series ANGEL and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), check out the Audiobooks of each – he narrates the whole series. (Yeehaw!) Or if you like comics better, then check out THE DRESDEN FILES: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE illustrated books…

Now if only SCI FI Channel would ‘uncancel’ the series, so I could watch Harry’s further adventures while I wait for Jim Butcher to write the next installments, including TURN COAT, the new one due out in April 2009!

Available on eBay:

Just what I needed today – a good laugh about one of my favorite book series (Harry Potter) from one of my favorite cartoons (Non Sequitur)!

(What revelations/little bits of ‘backstory’ will come next I wonder? I’m almost afraid to ponder them…)

Here is the next lesson of Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #5

5. Proverbs

Write a story based on a proverb or a quotation, e.g.:

• A fool and his money are soon parted.
• The early bird gets the worm.
• Waste not, want not.
• Rome was not built in a day.
• Necessity is the mother of invention.
• If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.
• Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
• Cheaters never prosper.
• It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
• Nice guys finish last.
• When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
• It’s Greek to me.
• There’s a sucker born every minute.

You get the idea… Now try to run with it, adding a twist, such as combining two proverbs or taking a proverb and turning it inside out. Think about the movie LIAR, LIAR – in the main character’s world, “cheaters (aka liars) DO prosper”, have great jobs, women, hot cars, etc. All that changes for our main guy, though, when his son makes a wish that makes dad tell the truth for a day. Suddenly, “honesty is the best policy” ruins most of what the main character THINKS is important in his life, causing disaster after disaster, until he finally realizes what he’s been missing and finds a way to turn it all around, which brings us to “it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”

(These fiction writing exercises are based on the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com on CD.)

Here is the next lesson of Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #4

4. Hold the Front Page!

Take a newspaper – local papers and tabloids are often best – and choose a story from it which intrigues you. Imagine the events which led up to the incident described and/or what happened next. You could easily have the basis for a practice story or two or three using the articles as a jumping off point while you fill in the rest of the story or create background material.

Another section to use would be the obituaries where you’re given the name and sometimes a little history of a person. For practice, you could try imagining what a day in the life of one of these people was like and write it down as a story, practicing various writing styles, such as straight fiction or even a go at diary style a la BRIDGET JONES or even the letter style used in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES.

Just make sure you don’t use actual names and events in a story you intend to publish for real without getting the appropriate permissions – you don’t want to end up liable for libel… These ideas are only suggestions for ways to stretch your ‘imagining’ muscles and to help springboard you on your way to your own original works.

(These fiction writing exercises are based on the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His audio book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com )

Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum novels and the Alexandra Barnaby books, along with non-fiction author Ina Yalof and Janet’s daughter, Alex Evanovich, put together an audiobook guide to show how Janet generates her creative writing ideas and what the life of a full-time writer is really like. It’s called HOW I WRITE: SECRETS OF A BESTSELLING AUTHOR and it’s read by Janet Evanovich herself (along with the other two authors.)

For anyone who enjoys the Stephanie Plum books (starting with ONE FOR THE MONEY and now up to LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN with a few ‘between the numbers’ books in the meantime) and would love to be able to know just how Janet Evanovich does it, or for anyone who is thinking of writing a book of their own and is looking for writing tips and tricks, this is an invaluable reference.

You get the inside information on just how Janet thinks up those hair-raising plots, her techniques for revising and editing, and what she would tell an aspiring author about the publishing industry. (Having worked with my mom on submitting things to agents and such for some of her writing projects, ANY help from established people in an industry is a big PLUS, especially SUCCESSFUL established people, so this is definitely useful info to hear.)

At 4 and 1/2 hours on 4 CDs, this is an audio book you can listen to on a long car trip/commute, leaving you time when you come home to put these ideas into practice. You might not reach Janet Evanovich’s level of popularity, but her creative writing ideas can only help you reach your own potential as you apply them to your own projects.

Find it on eBay: HOW I WRITE: SECRETS OF A BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Find it on Amazon: HOW I WRITE: SECRETS OF A BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Don’t forget to also check out the Janet Evanovich Official Website: www.evanovich.com

With a book series like HARRY POTTER, I find I like to read it in hardcover first, then listen to the audiobook version afterwards. (Then, of course, see the movie…)

Back when the HARRY POTTER series first came out, audiobook versions weren’t as prevalent, so I had to do it the ‘hard way’ starting with HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE: read it for myself. For me, that established a certain set of ‘voices’ in my head for each character (besides the other voices that are already in there! LOL). As each book in the series was released, I found I liked keeping my own set of rhythms, cadences and nuances ‘consistent’ for Harry, Hermione, Ron (and all the others) by continuing to read it for myself for the first time, taking as long as I wanted with each chapter or scene to make sure it ‘felt’ familiar. (There’s also just something about holding it in your hands, the heft and feel of a great hardcover, plus it doesn’t hurt that J K Rowling is such a consistently good writer…!)

However, just as the movies give additional layers to the characters and storylines that you just don’t get through reading, so do the unabridged HARRY POTTER audiobooks. They give me a 3rd way to ‘live’ the stories, through Jim Dale’s telling of them, with his as the ‘voice in my head’ that time around. (Not much room left in there, though. Glad he’s been the narrator for ALL of them!! =)

Listening to someone else read a book for you gives you a whole new perspective and sometimes a new take on scenes you might not have noticed before or skimmed very quickly or that had a different flavor in your own mind. And just as when I watch the HARRY POTTER movies over (and over and over) I catch things I missed the first (and second and sometimes fifteenth) time out, listening to the audiobook version can do that for me, too.

Of course, depending on the narrator, it can make or break the experience for you. In the case of the HARRY POTTER audiobooks, though, Jim Dale is one of the best. He can be a ‘voice in my head’ anytime… (For more on Jim Dale, click on the picture for his official website.)

To see the Official J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter) website go to: www.jkrowling.com