Paradise Squandered featured at The Creative Forum

Paradise Squandered is the featured book today at The Creative Forum! Included in the feature is a never-before-seen excerpt from the novel. Here's an excerpt from the excerpt:

I shift into neutral, kill the engine and start coasting through the last few blocks of eerily-silent residential streets, running stop signs, not wanting to disturb anyone or alert anyone to my presence. The wharf is in sight, barely lit by the waning moon and my approaching headlights. It's all downhill from here. I switch off the headlights and stop the car behind an overflowing dumpster. The air coming through the heater-vents is already growing cold again, I notice as I set the emergency brake; I was just starting to warm up, too. I can see my breath every time I exhale. The windows begin to fog up again. I pull the key out of the ignition, open the door and step out into the cold night air. Read more.

While you're there, I highly recommend reading The Beach Man series. The concept for this series is great: a series of 400 word stories. The 4th installment was just posted on Monday, so it won't take long to get caught up.

Now available at most online eBook retailers

Modern Renaissance

Worth 1000 recently ran a Photoshop content in which entrants were asked a simple question:

If the renaissance took place in modern times, and the models were famous pop culture celebrities, what would the artwork have looked like?

The results are impressive (and hilarious in many cases). Here's my personal favorite:

Honey Boo Boo's mama

Check out the rest of the 63 contest entries here: Worth 1000: Modern Renaissance.

REVIEW: Paradise Squandered

Writer and critic Paul Cosca recently posted a review of Paradise Squandered on his website.

It would be an unfair generalization to say that the word “hipster” came to mind often while reading the book. I suppose it would be more apt to say that I truly detest those who like to think they are more intellectual than they really are by shooting down other’s ideas with big, borrowed words. I detest those that talk about art and philosophy in vague terms while not actually contributing anything artistic or philosophical. I detest those who seem to float around without even making the slightest effort in finding some kind of direction, and those who play the “tortured artist” card without either having gone through anything tortuous or producing anything original and artistic. This is Andrew in a nutshell. I hate him. It doesn't mean walking through his head wasn't an interesting experience, but I still have no more sympathy for these kinds of people now than when I began the book.

Despite Paul's apparent hatred of hipsters and my protagonist, he still gave Paradise Squandered an A- rating.

Check out the full review on Paul Cosca's website.

3 FREE eBook copies of Paradise Squandered up for grabs

Hey everyone!

I'm really pleased with how well my first ever Goodreads giveaway went. 463 people entered in 72 hours, and now a man in Manitoba is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a signed copy of Paradise Squandered.

I've decided to run another giveaway, but this time I'm giving away 3 eBook copies of my book through a website that is (for some reason) called Rafflecopter. It's easy to enter. Just do what the widget below tells you to do. :)

The contest starts at midnight tonight. It ends in a week.

Thanks, everyone, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The illusion of skill

I came across this video on Boing Boing earlier this afternoon.

 

This video got me thinking about an article I read a while back: Eight New Things We've Learned About Music. The article asks an interesting question:

"Why should a collection of sounds cause the brain to reward itself?"

There isn't a definite answer to this question, but, as the article explains, the most likely answer was proposed almost 60 years ago by a guy named Leonard B. Meyer:

"Music sets up patterns that causes us to predict what will come next and when we’re right, we get a reward. Some have suggested this has its roots in primitive times when guessing wrong about animal sounds was a matter of life or death. What was needed was a quick emotional response to save our skin, rather than taking a time to think things through."

It blows my mind that human beings just can't help but have an emotional reaction to things that can be so stupid. It's embarrassing to be wired this way. I mean, really, does anyone really want to admit to liking most things that are popular in pop culture?

I don't want to. But the truth is, I constantly subject myself to music and movies and activities that I tell people I don't like--things that I truly believe have no redeeming value. I've laughed at commercials for products I hate. I've dropped money into loud machines with bright flashing lights knowing full well that it wasn't a smart idea.

I consume things I hate. All the time. I can't help myself.

Thank you, readers!

Another great review on Goodreads! Thank you, all. :)

Goodreads reviews for Paradise Squandered

Reviews from Goodreads.com

Goodreads giveaway

Hey everyone! I'm very excited to announce my first ever book giveaway on Goodreads. Yay!

Enter to win an autographed paperback copy of my debut novel Paradise Squandered. The contest starts tomorrow (May 1) and runs through May 4.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Paradise Squandered

by Alex Stefansson

Giveaway ends May 04, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win