Sunday, November 19, 2006
Book Chat with Rene Gutteridge
As promised on Friday, here are the answers to the five questions I posed to Rene Gutteridge, author of Scoop.
To recap the novel: Scoop tells the tale of Hayden Hazard, former clown (who's also clownaphobic -- that disease has a real name; read the book to find out what it's actually called), who winds up as an intern at a low-rated nightly news show only to find herself thrust into the spotlight and behind the anchor desk when her boss, executive producer Hugo Talley, has the Worst Week Ever.
Written with wit and charm, Rene keeps the pace brisk and the ending happy. The cynical and jaded might call it Fairy Tale HappyTM, but if you remain cynical and jaded after reading Scoop then something's wrong with you, maybe two things (cynicism and jadedness, perhaps, hmmmm). It's a fun book and might just soften up your hardened heart.
But let's throw to the questions. Quizmaster, take it away.
To recap the novel: Scoop tells the tale of Hayden Hazard, former clown (who's also clownaphobic -- that disease has a real name; read the book to find out what it's actually called), who winds up as an intern at a low-rated nightly news show only to find herself thrust into the spotlight and behind the anchor desk when her boss, executive producer Hugo Talley, has the Worst Week Ever.Written with wit and charm, Rene keeps the pace brisk and the ending happy. The cynical and jaded might call it Fairy Tale HappyTM, but if you remain cynical and jaded after reading Scoop then something's wrong with you, maybe two things (cynicism and jadedness, perhaps, hmmmm). It's a fun book and might just soften up your hardened heart.
But let's throw to the questions. Quizmaster, take it away.
- Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch gave the writing advice: Murder your darlings. Which darling was the most difficult for you to kill?
Clyde from Ghost Writer. - At one point in the novel, a typographical error causes Hayden Hazard to suddenly become the Austrian composer [Franz Joseph/Papa] Haydn (1732-1809). What did he think of our modern world and what did he have on his iPod?
(Laughing) I have no idea. Don't know Haydn and don't own an iPod. Maybe I should brush up on my Austrian composers?? Or go hunt down my copy editor... - Ray Duffey and the Underwear of Decency (great line, by the way): Boxers or Briefs?
Boxers. - Hayden, like Mary Poppins, is "practically perfect in every way." But at one point in the story she quips that the audience loves her because "they don't know me yet." So which of these sins is lurking in the cobwebs of her soul: Wears white after Labor Day. Uses the wrong fork during the salad course. As a child, left the toilet seat down, greatly inconveniencing her brothers. Flosses in public.
These are sins??? Yikes. I'm toast. [Chris: Okay, they're not really sins -- wearing white after Labor Day, maybe.] Knowing Hayden, she could pull any of these off without a problem. - Which Hazard sibling gets the occupational treatment next book in the series? And anything else you'd like to tell...
Next up is Mack, in Snitch.
Labels: Book Chat, Book Reviews, CFBA
Mikesell
