tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post842267051981725616..comments2024-03-29T01:17:04.775-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Carla Buckley's THE GOOD GOODBYEJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-86955564766891051462016-01-31T07:42:35.696-05:002016-01-31T07:42:35.696-05:00Totally agree!Totally agree!Cathy Shousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02825259524689437031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-81728007480867959692016-01-29T20:31:39.683-05:002016-01-29T20:31:39.683-05:00Hallie, it sounds like you and I share the same re...Hallie, it sounds like you and I share the same reading tastes. What are you reading now that you love? I'm on a non-fiction kick (strangely, NOT for research purposes, but because there's a teetering stack on my husband's nightstand.) I'm always looking for a great read... I guess we all are :)Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-18954031473370500972016-01-29T20:29:37.985-05:002016-01-29T20:29:37.985-05:00Lisa--PIG scene??? If it was in Sharp Objects, I&#...Lisa--PIG scene??? If it was in Sharp Objects, I've repressed it entirely. <br /><br />I love, love, love your story about your mother. How beautiful, and touching, that you understood her better after you understood her secret. There's a story there...Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-48906378134280478812016-01-29T20:27:06.389-05:002016-01-29T20:27:06.389-05:00Dear Deb--it's okay! I'm sorry if my quest...Dear Deb--it's okay! I'm sorry if my question tortured you. I was just wondering if it was the story or the characters that drew you back to reading and rereading the novel. It's that age-old question. Why do readers love certain books? Is it the story, or the characters in the story?Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-31194900047485859352016-01-29T20:23:54.408-05:002016-01-29T20:23:54.408-05:00Oh, Kathy. I'm sitting here, having just read ...Oh, Kathy. I'm sitting here, having just read your post, and my eyes are filled with tears. I do clearly remember meeting you that day, the energy with which you came over to talk to me, your enthusiasm and passion for books. I remember sitting there with my lonely book while so many authors around me were surrounded by stacks of their novels, and lines reaching out the door. I'm so very glad you took a chance on me--a brand new author. When I'm staring at my laptop and struggling to find a story, or the words with which to convey that story, I can think of you, and the safe harbor you and readers like you give writers. <br /><br />I'm so glad your husband's doing better. I know that when I tackle a topic, I'm touching on people's lives. It comes with enormous responsibility. When I wrote The Deepest Secret, about a boy born with the very rare and very deadly disease, xeroderma pigmentosm, I was acutely aware of the people out there who have to tackle the very real terrors associated with avoiding sunlight. Can you imagine having a child who can never go to the park or walk to school or play in his backyard? It's a privilege to delve into and explore very real struggles, as I'm sure my fellow writers would agree. <br /><br />Thank you for your lovely words. I hope our paths cross again, and soon. Please know how much your support means to me. You allow me to do the thing I love the most--tell stories. It's a gift without measure.Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-38705792226404549492016-01-29T17:45:43.709-05:002016-01-29T17:45:43.709-05:00So happy I was feeling better today and felt like ...So happy I was feeling better today and felt like getting on the blog today because I would have hated to miss Carla Buckley. I first met Carla when her first book, The Things That Keep Us Here, was out. Carla, I will forever be glad that I stopped at the table where you were seated at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest. You were so sweet and weren't one to overly push your book, but after talking with you a few minutes, I was convinced that I ought to give The Things That Keep Us Here a chance. It's so wonderful when we make great choices in reading, when letting a new author into our lives enriches our lives. Your books are well thought out, so well written, and always touches something deep inside me. I haven't yet had the chance to read The Good Goodbye, due to rather an ironic event, my husband's accident and hospitalization in an ICU Burn Unit. And, the experience you had with your son's accident, Carla, sitting in the hospital room listening to machines and waiting and wondering, it is indeed a nightmare. Something that took me completely by surprise when I first saw my husband in the local ER, before they life flighted him to the burn unit, was that instead of tears streaming down my face, I was hyperventilating, taking in gasping breaths, trying, for some reason, not to cry. Thank goodness someone got me water. You are so brilliant, Carla, at taking those sorts of experiences and creating a a story filled with secrets, hopes, fears, love, and choices. I think it's your choices given to your characters that draw me in the most. The choices and why they make them. <br /><br />So, if you haven't read Carl's books, do yourself a favor and read all of them. She is not only a brilliant author, she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, too. Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-79231130188260856372016-01-29T17:04:13.599-05:002016-01-29T17:04:13.599-05:00Hah, yes, cutting edge! I can't remember wheth...Hah, yes, cutting edge! I can't remember whether the scene is from that one or the next one ... The pig scene? That scene upset me to end -- made my cry for the bigger animal horror it represented.<br /><br />My mom had a huge secret she kept from all of us until after my dad died. Once we learned the truth, I understood her sooo much better. It's like she came into focus. Ooh, that's why this, and that's why that, kind of thing. Secrets fester when they're not given light, that's for sure. (And isn't that precisely why they're such a wonderful storytelling ingredients? :-))Lisa Alberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12591430453957883948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-15430990659125256562016-01-29T16:57:40.442-05:002016-01-29T16:57:40.442-05:00Hi Carla,
I've been thinking about it all aft...Hi Carla,<br /><br />I've been thinking about it all afternoon, and I don't know how to answer your question about why I liked that thriller without getting involved with spoilers!Deb Romanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-42314079668314698572016-01-29T16:57:04.097-05:002016-01-29T16:57:04.097-05:00Ooooh, Sharp Objects - if you'd told me what i...Ooooh, Sharp Objects - if you'd told me what it was about before I read it I'd have said, NOT FOR ME! But it blew me away. That character really got under my skin ;-)Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-24879118154630986792016-01-29T16:43:44.751-05:002016-01-29T16:43:44.751-05:00Hi Lisa, so lovely to hear from you! I grew up in ...Hi Lisa, so lovely to hear from you! I grew up in a family of secrets. I thought it was normal. It wasn't until I started my own family that I thought, wait...<br /><br />Which book of Gillian's are you referring to? I admit I read Sharp Objects when it released (thought it was really cutting edge--yes, I went there). Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-78455430927742017262016-01-29T16:11:26.454-05:002016-01-29T16:11:26.454-05:00Late today, but wanted to chime in to say that thi...Late today, but wanted to chime in to say that this book sounds great, Carla. There's something special about mixing family dynamics with secrets and more secrets, isn't there? :-) <br /><br />I have yet to read or see ROOM, but I'm fascinated. I will at some point. I can't watch scary doll movies -- at all -- like THE BOY that's being promoted right now. Oh hell no -- worse than scary clowns! And sexual sadism, no way. And animals in peril too. There's this one scene in one of Gillian Flynn's novels (not GONE GIRL) that I still can't get out of my head.Lisa Alberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12591430453957883948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-72405831970934345522016-01-29T15:33:42.540-05:002016-01-29T15:33:42.540-05:00I loved ROOM. Thought it was brilliant -- the writ...I loved ROOM. Thought it was brilliant -- the writing and the storytelling. It's a story of survival.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-15685434268269396142016-01-29T15:15:51.380-05:002016-01-29T15:15:51.380-05:00Susan, I got as far as the fourth episode and coul...Susan, I got as far as the fourth episode and couldn't go any further. People have urged me to keep going but it's so painful. It's like I have to prepare myself for the assault.Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-65486432857697332722016-01-29T15:14:19.022-05:002016-01-29T15:14:19.022-05:00Hi Pat D--setting is so important, isn't it? I...Hi Pat D--setting is so important, isn't it? I promise you--I keep the hospital scenes to a minimum. There's only so much beeping machinery and linoleum floors a person can take! The novel I'm currently working on takes place on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and I'm getting carried away by the salt and the sand and sunny skies. I sometimes have to reel myself back from the shore to focus on what's going on with the characters.Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-48124536234610474902016-01-29T15:05:00.581-05:002016-01-29T15:05:00.581-05:00Hi Deborah--it's so great to e-meet you here! ...Hi Deborah--it's so great to e-meet you here! <br /><br />I think the reason I can't read about animals being hurt is because they count on us--with those huge trusting eyes--to protect them and keep them safe. It's like when I brought my first baby home from the hospital and looked down at her looking up at me. All of a sudden it hit me how completely dependent she was on my taking care of her. Of course, I'd taken care of babies before (I practically paid my way through college babysitting) but this little person counted on ME completely. If I didn't show up to do the job, who would?<br /><br />Back when I was trying to get published, coming up with all sorts of protagonists (female implosion experts and firefighters and art experts), i never thought that what would break me out would be talking about the two things I took for granted: motherhood and suburbia.Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-32315420013619661522016-01-29T14:53:32.592-05:002016-01-29T14:53:32.592-05:00Has anyone else seen Making a Murderer? I tried to...Has anyone else seen Making a Murderer? I tried to watch, but when the guy (forgot his name) confessed that he killed the family cat, I said to myself, "OK, he's guilty and I don't need to watch any more of this."Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-56935344141044373092016-01-29T13:49:29.489-05:002016-01-29T13:49:29.489-05:00I quit reading Stephen King because the nice peopl...I quit reading Stephen King because the nice people got killed and their dogs. When he came out with Cujo that was it! Subject matter can certainly make me squirm. If it is well written and a good story I can get past it, usually. One thing I cannot do is watch movies set in the Vietnam war. I think Good Morning Vietnam is the only exception. I can't watch movies set in the Iraqi war either. It is too close for comfort. Anyway Carla, your story sounds pretty interesting to me. I don't have any personal issues with dorms or fires, but I have spent too many damn hours in hospitals with family members. But that family is not my family, so we are good.Pat Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-86801747192357712852016-01-29T12:53:11.238-05:002016-01-29T12:53:11.238-05:00Oh, Susan, me, too, on I AM LEGEND. ARgghh!!! Espe...Oh, Susan, me, too, on I AM LEGEND. ARgghh!!! Especially since we have German Shepherds, but I think it would have been unbearable in any case. <br /><br />But I also think that it's a little weird that most of us can't bear to read about animal harming, but we can read books where terrible things happen to people. <br /><br />Carla, congrats on the book and on the fabulous movie deal!!!<br /><br />I'm not usually a big reader of thrillers, but your book sounds irresistible. I have to find out what happens to the girls! And I loved reading about your process, and the real-life bits you worked into the novel. <br /><br />The one thing I really, really don't like to read is a whole book, or big parts of a book, from the killer/psychopath's viewpoint. Ugh.Deborah Crombiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16988750789088153601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-44128517760177816022016-01-29T11:56:13.191-05:002016-01-29T11:56:13.191-05:00Oh, animals in peril? A WORLD OF NO! No, just no. ...Oh, animals in peril? A WORLD OF NO! No, just no. No. I remember seeing the film I AM LEGEND and thinking, "I will never put myself in this position again."Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-60680540550251168542016-01-29T10:45:53.881-05:002016-01-29T10:45:53.881-05:00Hi Julia! Thank you so much :) You know what alway...Hi Julia! Thank you so much :) You know what always stops me cold and forces me to put down a book? When an animal's in jeopardy. There are two novels I read recently in which THE DOG WAS KILLED. I'm still mad. Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-31705680681001132772016-01-29T10:12:45.804-05:002016-01-29T10:12:45.804-05:00Carla, THE GOOD GOOD-BYE sounds like a true tour-d...Carla, THE GOOD GOOD-BYE sounds like a true tour-de-force. I adore reading novels with shifting (and shifty) perspectives and unreliable narrators.<br /><br />I, too am going to have to read it while peeping between my fingers. Serial killers, apocalyptic disasters and terrorists with suitcase nukes are light reading for me. The only thing that makes me really afraid is a child in jeopardy. Because, of course, when I'm reading, it's always MY child.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09553268569509053159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-88787119890210819592016-01-29T09:40:24.039-05:002016-01-29T09:40:24.039-05:00Carla, Our Mutual Editor has me revise so much! I ...Carla, Our Mutual Editor has me revise so much! I was afraid it was just me! Yes, and I loved your characters. I loved how they participated in the same events and yet had such different view on "what happened." So true to real life and so fascinating to see the thoughts in various character's heads.Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-20435645659987291492016-01-29T09:35:33.543-05:002016-01-29T09:35:33.543-05:00Yes, Susan--read ROOM! But I couldn't read IT ...Yes, Susan--read ROOM! But I couldn't read IT either. I was halfway through the book when I realized I had an issue with scary clowns. Who knew?Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-73510661601301083212016-01-29T09:34:04.188-05:002016-01-29T09:34:04.188-05:00Susan, I'm going to let you in on a little sec...Susan, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I didn't know who the arsonist was when I started the novel. I figured it out as I got to know the characters (and WITH the help of our amazing editor). Please tell me she has you revise as much as she does me? Lie to me, if you have to.<br /><br />And I'm so glad my characters resonated with you. It's like sending your child to kindergarten that first day: what if no one plays with her on the playground? what if she has to sit alone at the lunch table?Carla Buckleyhttp://www.carlabuckley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-7400016406264905452016-01-29T09:33:22.726-05:002016-01-29T09:33:22.726-05:00OK, so maybe I should try to read/see ROOM? Still....OK, so maybe I should try to read/see ROOM? Still........ I also have issues with Stephen King's IT. Because scary clowns. Evil clowns really, really scare me.Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.com