Rob Stennett

9 Thumbs podcast

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:05:00 -0400

“It’s not what you’re like, it’s what you like.”

This is a quote from John Cusack’s character (also named Rob) in High Fidelity. He owns a music store and spends his days arguing the greatest bands, music and songs of all time with Jack Black. Rob’s idea is that in a world of pop culture you can tell more about a person from their interests than from their personality. Of course this is shallow, self-centered, and in many ways makes a lot of sense.

I bring up this quote because I’ve ventured into a podcast with fellow authors Jason Boyett and Matthew Paul Turner. Every week we’ll discuss not what we’re like, but what we like. We’re three guys, with three likes each week, and that equals 9 Thumbs.

I’m looking forward to 9 Thumbs because I get to share stuff I like on weekly basis. This is also frightening. I have to find three new things I like every week. And even more I have to defend why I like it. I rarely list reasons I like something. But having to defend what I like in public forum seems good for someone who consumes culture at the rate I do.

Even more so, with 9 Thumbs I’ll have the excuse to discover new books, apps, movies, bands, TV shows and so on from other great authors and thinkers whose opinions I respect. On weekly basis we’ll have big conversations on the little things that matter in our lives. For me this is the best thing about pop culture. It’s like sports but less polarizing. Because no matter who you are, what walk of life you come form and the trauma or lack of trauma in your personal story, I feel like I can start talking about movies, or books, or TV shows with you.

So, 9 thumbs is an important place to discuss the small stuff that defines us. Chuck Klosterman put it best, “In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever in and of itself.”

So, I hope you follow along with our discussion. Agree and disagree with the stuff that we like. Discover new things for yourself. Podcasts are the perfect forum for this type of dialogue. A podcast is raw and minimally structured and organic. And you can’t get any more raw and organic than our pilot episode. You can check it out at 9thumbs.com

An Update On My Writings

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:51:59 -0400

What are you working on right now?

This is a question I get asked all the time online, in life, at parties, and at the gas station pump. We live in a world of what have you written for me lately.

I don’t know how much anyone actually cares—I mean really how much do I actually expect anyone to care? Gas prices are soaring, it’s a pivotal election year, and we’re only months away from the Myan apocalypse.

But I write novels about unsure people and in an insecure world. I l create literary jems with characters who are dealing with their worlds crumbling around them. And isn’t art how we process our lives? Don’t we learn about parenting from Bill Cosby? Don’t we know so much more about what it means to be a man after watching a shirtless Brad Pitt and Edward Norton duke it out in a damp basement?

Of course we do!

Which is why you now suddenly very much care about what I’ve been writing lately. No time to go into it all but here are some bullet points:

· My debut novel The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher has been optioned by Whole World Pictures

· Same company has hired me to write the screenplay for that novel

· Working on a new series of novels. My first series. Only I want to structure it more like a TV show in book form. I’ll write much more about this later.

· Copywriting for national TV spots.

More stories are coming your way soon. While you wait get a copy of the other Rob Stennett books. And stay safe out there. It’s a crazy world.

If I Handed Out The Oscars

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:37:00 -0500

I have something to confess. I like awards shows. I like seeing who won and who didn’t. I like arguing what movies were over and underrated. I like watching the host rise to the occasion or watching the co-host’s careers crumbling in front a nationally televised audience.

I don’t like arguing about who is best and worst dressed. But my wife does. Which means she watches the Oscars with me. And that makes it a family fun viewing event.

But before the Oscars begin I want to quickly reflect on the year of film in 2011 and dish out my personal awards to the best films of the year.

This is how I’d vote for the Oscars if I had a vote. After reading this list I’m sure you’ll see why they don’t let me vote.

And the Oscar goes to…

ART DIRECTION, CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING, SOUND DESIGN (and all other technical awards)

The Artist

First of all let’s get all the techy awards over with. This is the part of the show that we glaze over and refill the queso dip. This is the part of the show where someone in the living room acts like they know the difference between sound editing and sound mixing.

We don’t really care about all of this stuff. But The Artist reminds us of why we should. This film pulls back the curtain and shows how far the craft of filmmaking has come in such a little time. It’s a tour de force and coup de grace on the power of cinema and a Sunset Boulevardesque tale on what a cruel mistress Hollywood can be.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Rango

I’m sure many of you hated this movie. But you can keep your Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2. For my money I want Chinatown for kids. Loved this movie. It was like Hunter S. Thompson and Roman Polanski got together to make a family film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Andy Serkins.

Random prediction: Someday (soon) a CGI character will win an acting Oscar. It will probably actually be Andy Serkins who wins. If it isn’t whoever wins will have him to thank.

BEST SCREENPLAY

Moneyball

Sports movies are petri dishes mixed with the predictable and cliché. Moneyball shined under the stadium lights with crisp dialogue, wonderful pacing, and emotion at just the right moments. As a writer I pay lots of attention to the screenplay nominees and it will be a crime if this doesn’t win the best adapted Oscar.

BEST DIRECTOR

Terrence Mallick

The Artist constantly reminded you it was a movie with glitz and style, where The Tree Of Life wanted you to forget you were in a movie all together. In fact in many points of this film you aren’t sure exactly where in time or space you are. It’s feels like a family drama version of Kubrick’s 2001.

I’ll admit it took me about a half hour to get into this film. But once I was there it was emotional, powerful, thought provoking, and a testament to Malick’s direction.

BEST PICTURE

The Muppets

For me best picture usually comes down to what will I want to actually watch 5 years from now. And for me that’s often not past winners like Crash, The King’s Speech, Million Dollar Baby, or The English Patient.

This year it was the Muppets. I may regret posting this. It may make me seem less a film connoisseur. But I don’t care. This movie was a love letter to 30 somethings—a self-aware existential romp with felt puppets and it was the best time I had at the movies all year.

You Are What You Tweet

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:03:00 -0400

Something has been bothering me for a long time. Lots of people I know, judge lots of other people they know, based on what they tweet. It just comes up in conversation. Things like, “He tweets about sports too much.” Or, “Her tweets or totally condescending. Who does she think she is?”

But is it really fair? Can you we really judge the state of another person’s soul based on 140 characters? The answer of course is yes, absolutely we can. And we do. You’ve done it. And so have I. But should we? Should we decide how spiritual, intellectual, emotionally balanced a person is based on @ replies and hashtags?

I know why we do it. What we think about is what we tweet (or Facebook status update) about. It only makes sense to judge a person based on the things they wrote. After all they shouted it from the social networking microphone.

Now, I can’t speak to why somebody else tweets. I can only tell you why I do it. I’m going to take a moment and make a large assumption that understanding my own reasons may shed light on the reasons a billion or so other people with an account tweet. Is this a bad idea? Yes! But I’ve already started this post so I might as well see it through.

I don’t give much though about what I’m going to tweet.

If I see a youtube video, or an article, or some piece of media I really like and I think: This was amazing. For a few seconds my life was a little better for having seen this. Surely someone else needs to watch it. Then I tweet it. Sometimes a thought crosses my mind about bacon or LOST or Mad Men season 3 and I tweet that. But that thought is fleeting and disposable and only meant to be only mildly entertaining. It is not the center of who I am as a human being.

I give WAY too much thought about what I’m going to tweet

On the other hand I wonder what should I be tweeting? Is this what the brand of Rob Stennett is about? After all more than anything Twitter is a marketing engine. We follow people based on a niche. We want pastors to tweet about the Bible, CNN to tweet about News, and Justin Beiber to tweet about how exciting life is and how much he loves his fans.

So, I need to keep within my niche. But I realize people follow me because I write novels, or work at a megachurch, or I’m a cinephile, or they know me. But this is too much for one twitter feed. Twitter is not for a Jack-of-all-trades. So, I go back to wrestling about what to tweet.

I give don’t tweet about the things that are most important to me.

My family is the center of my life. I think about them and love them more than anything. But I rarely tweet about them. I know nobody could ever find the crafts that my daughter makes at Pre K half as fascinating as I think they are. I don’t retweet the cute things they say during dinner. I’m not Bill Cosby and I can’t boil my daughters quotes down to moments of Kids Say The Darndest Things. I also think about writing all the time, but it’s such a crazy and weird and confusing space that I rarely tweet about it. Bottom line the things that are really important to me feel to big to fit into a sentence or two.

I tweet about what everyone else is tweeting about

One of my favorite quotes is from Men In Black, “A PERSON is smart. PEOPLE are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it.” So when you get lots of people talking about one thing they are usually the types of things dumb, panicky animals talk about.

Let me put it like this: Have you ever been at a party and been having a really meaningful conversation with a friend. Then someone plops on the couch and joins in the conversation. Soon after that a really loud guy arrives. Before long a whole group of people have gathered around and your once meaningful conversation has turned into a shouting match about what’s the better music video: Beastie Boys Sabatoge or Weezer’s Buddy Holly*? These are the types of conversation social networking is made for. The more personal, honest, one on one types of conversations just don’t work as well in the social space. It’s not that the person tweeting doesn’t have these conversations. They may have them all the time. It’s just they never appear on any sort of social network.

Anyway, there are more reasons but I’ve gone on long enough. I guess I’m not saying you shouldn’t judge people based on what they tweet. That’s up to you. But at least know the parameters worth judging someone. So, I give the question to you: Do you judge people by what they tweet? Do you care if you’re judged by what you tweet?

*Answer: Sabotage.

4 Reasons We Love The End Of The World

Thu, 19 May 2011 18:34:00 -0400

About every 10 years it’s time to predict the end of world. This has happened several times in my thirty something year life span, but my two favorite instances were the Y2K bug and the bestselling 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988.

I loved the Y2K bug because we all knew the moment it was going to happen. Midnight on January 1^st, 2000. How epic is that? The months before Y2K I tried to imagine what life would actually be like without computers and internet and email—back then a lot of those things felt new, but it still seemed apocalyptic to live with out them. And 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988 is hands down the best book title of all time. I have to admit, if Jesus was going to come back, 1988 seems about as good of a time as any. There’s something apocalyptic about that year. Magnum P.I. and The Facts Of Life both ended their long and powerful TV runs and at the time it felt like it’d be difficult to go on without those shows.

Well, now the world is coming to an end. Again. On May 21, 2011 also known as this Saturday. Some roll their eyes at this, but not me. I think there are four reasons why we continue to predict the end of the world and why others of us listen.

1) We’re Afraid of Death

Earlier this week Stephen Hawking said belief in heaven is a fairytale for those afraid of death. I think we predict the end of the world because we’re afraid of death. And we’re not afraid of what happens to us, but we’re afraid about what happens to everyone else. We’re afraid that life will go on and robot maids, flying cars, and hand-held laser guns will finally become a reality. How can the world go on with out me? It can’t. So, it must be coming to end, we tell ourselves and then everyone else.

2. Our lives are boring

There is something in us that loves epics. We love heroes rising up to do the unthinkable. But our lives aren’t like this. In real life we sit in freeway traffic or caged in an office cubicle. Why can’t my life be about more? It will be, we think. Once the world comes to the end and tidal waves crash over skyscrapers my friends and family will see what a hero I really am.

3. Because we feel guilty

We pump exhaust into the atmosphere during rush hour. We throw away Styrofoam containers. We let our kids watch movies that are just a little too scary and we’re sure this will make them act out it unsettling ways once junior high arrives. We all have sins and guilty parts of ourselves that make us feel like we didn’t do a good job taking care of our planet. And if enough of us don’t steward the planet we live on pretty soon there won’t be any planet left.

4. Because The World Has Got To End Sometime

Doesn’t it? It can’t go on forever like this can it? We have news channels piping 24 hours of bad news into our living rooms and with every news story we can’t help but think, What if this is the end?

It’s interesting that this fear is springing up again. I spent a couple of years researching and writing about this fear—a fear which seems to have been around as long as recorded human history. My research and thoughts turned into The End Is Now a book about the test market for the rapture. It’s a book that’s funny and sad and scary because we see a cast of characters wading around in their own fear to find hope that somewhere out there is truth and hope and redemption.

I haven’t really given the end of the world a lot of thought in the last few years, but I’m sure, despite my better judgment there will be a moment on Saturday when I look up to the sky and think, It might really be happening this time. Then I will come to my senses, I will turn my attention towards my wife and my daughters; the end of the world will melt away and things that matter in this life will come back into focus.

Q & A

Fri, 13 May 2011 15:50:30 -0400

The following is an excerpt from a Q & A I did with an editor at Z after writing Homemade Haunting. Here are some of the common questions I get about the novel:

Z: So no one in your family is demon possessed?

ROB: I thought my sister might have been when I was a teenager, but I later learned that a lot of teenage girls act demon possessed.

Z: Okay, well if this idea didn’t come from personal experience where did it come from?

ROB: Originally this book came from meeting someone who told me all about how he used to be heavily involved in the occult but when he had a family he didn’t want to expose them to any of that. I started writing that story, it was actually called Fallen World, but I ran into a lot of problems with it. So I thought what if I flipped it on its head. What if someone with an established family life tried to bring the occult into his home?

Z: I’d think flipping it around like that would really change the whole story. Not just the plot but what the story was about.

ROB: Absolutely. Originally the character had more innocence because he was trying to get free from something. It was like this guy told me: It’s hard to be a Satanist and a good father. I thought that sounded like a fascinating character. But Charlie was guilty of inviting something into his home for the sake of his own career. So for me this story was personal in that way, not really because he was a writer, but because my biggest fear has always been doing some sort of wrong doing that would affect my wife and my kids. It’s the last thing I’d ever want to do. To me hurting your family in that way is what real life horror is.

Z: Wow. I didn’t expect that answer.

ROB: I don’t think that was the answer I expected to give either. Funny the stuff you come up with when you have questions coming your way.

Z: Well, let’s keep the questions coming and see what else you come up with. This book is funny in moments you wouldn’t necessarily expect comedy. Why do you use humor in story like this?

ROB: I wanted this story to be in a sort of hyper reality. I think most of my stories are like that. Those are the stories I love to read. I love authors like Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain who are really funny in one moment and chilling in the next. I think if I was trying to use a Ouija board to get story ideas it’d be both funny because I wouldn’t know what I was doing and just as scary because I wouldn’t know the consequences of what I was doing.

Z: How much of Rob Stennett is in Charlie Walker?

ROB: Obviously the story comes from me, but my life is not nearly as interesting as Charlie’s. I would never just quit my job, nor would I keep pushing on something when it seemed so wrong. I’m not nearly as judgmental as he is either. But I do think I rationalize things, so when Charlie made the 5 Rules About Ghost Hunting I could see myself doing something like that to ease my guilt.

Z: How about any characters or scenes you wanted to write that didn’t make the cut?

ROB: I had this scene where I wanted Charlie and Rachel to end up at a progressive dinner in a creepy home like the one Charlie is talking about, but it didn’t make sense for the story. I just thought it’d be fun to write.

Z: What’s next for Rob Stennett?

ROB: Right now I’m working on potentially developing one of my books into a feature film. It’s still in the early phases but I’d love to see it happen.

The Best Thing You've Never Done

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:21:00 -0400

My third novel is about to release. The question that I get asked all of the time goes something like this: Is this your best novel? Is this the best thing you’ve ever done or did you peak a couple of books back?

This is such a very difficult question to answer. Usually, the newest novel is the closest to me. I’ve just written it and the thoughts and the feelings in it are fresh. The cover is the most interesting to look at. With Homemade Haunting I think it’s funny and scary and thought provoking in ways that my other novels couldn’t be. But ultimately time is the judge of all art and how this novel will stand up against the other two (or something I haven’t even written yet) is not up to me.

But I wonder if other people look at their lives like this. Do you look at where you are and what you’re doing right now as the most important work of your life or are you like Barton Fink thinking that distinction lies in the past or future?

Or do you even think like that?

Is this just something that afflicts those who create novels and films and music and other art that we look at like bugs frozen in amber? Or is this something that we all deal with?

Ryan Fisher The Movie

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:22:37 -0400

We all know the adage “the book was better than the movie”. If you’ve ever read a novel and then seen the movie you’ve probably said the same thing yourself.

I think there’s a couple of reasons we say this:

Reason #1 Narcissism: In reading a book we play a large role. In our mind’s eye we cast the characters and we paint the settings, so it only makes sense we’d like our version best.

Reason #2 Time: We watch a movie in 120 minutes. I don’t know what the average amount of time we spend reading a novel is but if I had to guess of the top of my head I’d say 6.3 weeks. After all the time we have invested in the book of course we’d say it’s better than the movie.

Reason #3 The book is usually better than the movie.

Still, I believe sometimes the movie can be just as good. Sometimes even better in it’s own way.

And I say all of this because the news is Ryan Fisher the feature film is in development as I type. The novel was optioned by producer who’s worked with some great A list actors and directors. And while I can’t give all the details here just yet, I can say it looks like Ryan Fisher the film could be coming to a theater near you

So read the book and then you can decide for yourself if it’s better than the movie. If you have read the book who would you like to see cast as Ryan, Katherine, Clovis, and Cowboy Jack? Who should direct the movie?

Here it is. The full trailer for The Chronicles of Rick Roll the...

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:08:00 -0500

Here it is. The full trailer for The Chronicles of Rick Roll the film I directed with Andy Catarisano and producer Andrew Fischer. You can read more about my involvement with this below, or you can just hit play and gawk at it’s amazingness. It’s like a postmodern Monty Python. (And yes, this is the real Double Rainbow, Antoine Dodson—now with long hair—and so on).

Homemade Haunting: The Story Behind The Story (pt 2)

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:24:00 -0500

Writing comes from experience. Stories come from a writer’s good times (marriage, proposals, newborn babies, winning a new car on The Price Is Right…) and especially from the bad times (breakups, funerals, being taxed on the car you won at The Price Is Right).

The problem is as we grow up our lives get stable. We have kids and mortgages and PTA meetings. This is not exactly the material that best sellers are made from. So where do we get more fuel? Where do the new story ideas come from?

This is the tension that I’m writing about in my third novel Homemade Haunting. Yes, it’s also about demons and things that go bump in the night like my first doomed novel idea (read about it below). But it’s also about how much are we willing to sacrifice our families for our careers? How much will our home life be affected by dreams and aspirations?

When I’d hit the brick wall of story that couldn’t be written—the light at the end of the tunnel was this question. When I told my editor that I had a book that I couldn’t complete he didn’t blink. I was embarrassed to admit that I’d spent a year writing the wrong story he told me it was all of the process. He helped me to build on what I’d written to find that right story. That’s what a great editor does.

And now I’ve found the right story. One that I’m proud to have written: It’s about family, love, success, and the darkness we’re willing to inflict on ourselves to achieve our dreams. It’s a comedy and a horror and a personal memoir.

It’s my new novel and it comes out next month. You can perorder a copy here.

I love stories. What I love to do best is write stories,...

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:40:00 -0500

I love stories. What I love to do best is write stories, specifically novels.

But I’ve also been lucky enough to be a part of bringing to life stories that I haven’t written. And so when Andrew Fischer approached me about being a part of his film I couldn’t believe it. The conversation went something like this.

Andrew: I’ve got youtube stars to be a part of this film.

Rob: Like who?

Andrew: Antione Dodson, Double Rainbow, Leroy Jenkins…

Rob: Are you serious?

Andrew: Yes, except this film is a comedy. And an epic.

Next thing I know I’m directing the craziest assemble of characters around in a feature film shot a red camera. Andrew, the executive producer, has only posted a teaser trailer but it’s already lit up twitter and news of the indy film has been posted on Comedy Central, Salon, Huffington Post, and Yahoo News.

So, yes believe it or not this is real and I directed it with co-director Andy Catarisano. Craziest project I’ve ever been a part of. The real full length trailer is coming soon. The feature itself is in development.

HOMEMADE HAUNTING: The Story Behind The Story (pt 1)

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:04:00 -0400

Way back in the spring of 2008 as I was finishing the first draft of The End Is Now, I had an idea for a book. This was when David Sheff’s Beautiful Boy was on the counter of nearly every Starbucks in America. This was also back when Starbucks sold books. There is no time for selling books at Starbucks anymore because baristas now must dedicate every ounce of their up-selling efforts on pimping out Via.

I didn’t know about Via then. But I was intrigued by this memoir and so I picked up David’s book and then read Tweak by his son Nic Sheff. Essentially this was the same story told from two different perspectives: 1) Beautiful Boy was the story of a father watching his son slip away because of devastating drug addiction 2) Tweak was the son telling how his addiction to drugs pushed him away from his family.

I was gripped by these stories. I thought there was something universal and human about them. This is what happens when darkness and sin takes control of our lives, it sends us into a tailspin, and pushes us away from everything we love. Once we’ve lost everything we fill that empty space with more sin (drugs, sex, rock and roll, Fox News…insert your vice here).

I wanted to explore this human phenomenon so I pitched a book to my editor at Zondervan. I said I think the perfect point of view for this type of story is a demon-possessed man. The novel would be called Fallen World and it would be one part Screwtape Letters; other part A Million Little Pieces. I’d write it in first person (something I’d never done before) and it would be a tour de force on all things supernatural.

I set out in earnest. I was so confident in this book that the first chapter of Fallen World is the back on The End Is Now. I was a writing machine. I thought nothing could stop me, but quickly things unraveled.

Turns out it’s hard to make demon-possessed hero likable. Turns out there are also many differences between demon possession and drug addiction. I did lots of research, interviewed some experts, and the more I learned the shakier my story got. And then in the fall of 2009, when my book was due, I sat at Barnes and Nobles and starred at my computer for two straight hours.

I finally realized the truth. There was no book here.

I had called my publisher and told them I had nothing to turn in. This was me, facing a dark reality I’d never faced before. I was a writer who didn’t know what to write. I had a contract, but nothing to turn in because I’d spent the past year and a half on a bad book idea.

(This story is too long to tell in one post. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow.)

The Black Hole I love this short film. Great concept. Smart ways...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:52:00 -0400

The Black Hole

I love this short film. Great concept. Smart ways to use visual/sound effects. Let me know what you think.

Citizen Kane part II

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:54:00 -0400

Some critics are comparing The Social Network to all time films like Citizen Kane and The Godfather.

I say that’s complete poppycock.

The Social Network has much more in common with Godfather II.

Now usually when we (critics, fan, media) throw these heavyweight titles around we mean we’re witnessing an all time film, one that will be studied and argued by film students for decades to come. But in this case I think the part II and Cane are great comparisons not because of how they rank as films, but simply because what they’re about as movies. The Godfather is a sweeping tale of the American mafia, but part II is more of a rags to riches story about how Vito Coreleone built, and Michael maintained, an empire. Citizen Kane is also a story about power from lowly beginnings, it chronicles the tale of Charles Foster Kane, a boy who throws off the shackles of poverty to become a newspaper tycoon and one of the most powerful men in the country.

Considering the plots of these two films The Social Network fits right in. This is a rags to riches story (SPOILER ALERT: Facebook ends up catching on and making Zuckerberg a lot of money) not because Mark Zuckerberg was broke, but because he wasn’t as elite as he wanted to be. He was a small fish in the big Harvard pond. He upsets girls and he didn’t know exactly what his future held.

So he found (stole?) an idea worth billions. And he scratched and clawed his way past friends and competitors to create a once in a lifetime idea and found success in a scene where the most memorable business cards in the history of cinema were delivered.

But the question is if this movie is about Facebook, and Facebook is about all of us, what does The Social Network say about us? Well, in all honesty this movie really isn’t about Facebook, as much as it is about how we as individuals in the 2000’s can use the World Wide Web to crowbar our way into fame and fortune. We can blog and tweet our way to importance if we stay determined and plugged in for long enough. And it was interesting the movie made a big deal about being plugged in, in one scene a programmer is so plugged in it seems that he’s in the Matrix and doesn’t know the real world of California is all around him.

If this movie is about our ability to plug in for success, then maybe we should ask what is the price of this online success? The final shot of the film reminded me of Michael Coreleone sitting on the bench staring off into the distance at the end of Godfather II. Yes, Michael was powerful, but what price did he pay to protect his wealth and his empire? The Social Network’s Zuckerberg doesn’t seem as remorseful for his actions, but still he must pause in the final scene and we’re still left to wonder what price did he pay for to create his online social empire?

This film is very much worth seeing. Don’t view it as an airtight history lesson, I’m sure there were lots of artistic liberties used to create the Zuckerberg of this film. It’s more of Charles Foster Kane and William Randolf Hearst relationship. But this film is a fascinating comment on the last decade. As a friend of mine said it as we left the theater, “Wow, we just watched a history lesson that took place in 2003.”

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:36:53 -0400

“Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.”

- Lawrence Kasdan

I love short films. I think they’re a different medium and...

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:56:00 -0400

I love short films. I think they’re a different medium and worth watching. But this is one of the more memorable shorts I’ve ever seen.

It’s the type of film that accomplishes what only great art can. It makes me wonder: Why didn’t I think of that?

I write "fiction" novels

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:45:00 -0400

Sometimes when I’m in a conversation with someone I don’t know all that well the fact that I write novels comes up.

Am I the one who brings this up?

Probably.

But in my defense when you’re in a conversation with a new person you want to bring up an interesting fact. It’s like those “get to know you games” you have to play in Freshman orientation or at team building competitions in the office. And by the way, while we’re being all honest here, let me just tell you I love those team building games. Other people roll their eyes. I can’t get enough of it. But it’s been awhile since I’ve had to build a team. Is that what happens when you get older? The closer you get to 40 the less teams your on? Or am I just passive? Do I need to get more involved?

Anyway, conversations. In those conversations it will come up that I write novels. And then someone will often say, “Like fiction novels?” And I’ll think: Aren’t all novels fiction.

And then I realize how wrong I am.

Nonfiction novels are common. Capote popularized it with In Cold Blood. But these days there are books like Cullen’s Columbine or Eggers Zeitoun—they’re novels, but built around truth and facts.

So are my novels complete lies? Are all “fiction” novels a pit of lies? Now I’m depressed. Now I think maybe I should write a novel based around truth and facts. I should only watch documentary films. But there has to be another reason for novels. And I think stories help us process the world around us. Stories help us understand who we are and why we exist. The show us what’s important, what’s frivolous and all of the possibilities what we as human beings can become for good or evil. Is this truth built around facts? No. Is truth built around fiction as important as the truth built around facts?

I’d like to think so. It’s why I write novels. It’s why I read them just as much. If you want to find out about my novels click on the links above.

That’s all for now. Welcome to robstennett.com.