Review: A view into a writer's heart.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2013
This book is a five star for me.  It might not be for you, I don't know.I have been reading Brian Keene for a few years now.  I have read about 90% of what is out there, minus any special editions.  Certainly all of the main books.  Also, even though I am not a fiction writer, I am fascinated by the process and the pain of being one.  I believe that a writer of fiction doesn't just create stories in his or her head and transfer them to the page for our enjoyment.  I think that good fiction writers mine their own soul for pain, joy, love and loss and share these experiences with the reader in the form of the story lines and characters in their works.  They are their characters. Hemingway said you can't write about war unless you have been on the battlefield.  His scenes of war ring so true with the reader simply because they are.  They happened.  He is processing them, if you will.  Keene says that writing is a form of therapy and I know that many authors agree with that statement.I loved this book for the same reasons I enjoyed Stephen King's "On Writing."  It pulls aside the curtain and lets us see how it all works.  The practicalities and finances as well as the courage it takes to share that much of yourself with strangers.  Also the cost of being a slave to one's muse.I respect Keene as a writer, and enjoy his books immensely.  Those two concepts don't always go hand in hand.  There are plenty of great writers who I can't stand reading and plenty of writers that I enjoy despite the fact that they really aren't artists by anyone's standards.  Keene is both, in my opinion, and I enjoyed getting to know him a bit better.5 stars and a favorite for me.