Reading | Mark Rubinstein Blog

‘Out Of The Blues,’ A Conversation with Trudy Nan Boyce

March 1, 2016 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Trudy Nan Boyce received her Ph.D. in community counseling before becoming a police officer for the City of Atlanta. As a police officer for more than 30 years, she worked as a beat cop, homicide detective, senior hostage negotiator, and in the Special Victims Unit, among other assignments.

Out of the Blues, her debut novel, introduces newly minted homicide detective Sarah “Salt” Alt who on her first day in homicide, is assigned a cold-case murder of a blues musician whose death was first ruled an accidental drug overdose. Sarah’s investigation takes her to unanticipated encounters ranging from Atlanta’s homeless to its richest and most influential citizens.

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Character Is Destiny

January 14, 2014 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

People often talk about a novel being plot-driven or character-driven. For me, that can be an artificial distinction. For my taste, the best novels — those that capture me and make me feel sorry the read is coming to an end — are those driven by both plot and by the protagonist’s character or personality.

I’ve always felt the most engaging novels are those whose narrative drives involve conflict and uncertainty. They’re novels whose plot — along with other attributes — makes me wonder what’s going to happen next. In essence, I’ve always believed a good story is quite disturbing or plumbs a deep truth — one that’s either obvious (think of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl) or draws me on some level of which I may be unaware (think of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent or Jane Hamilton’s A Map of the World). In my view, a novel’s plot is vital for it to be compelling.

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Your Brain on Books

January 7, 2014 by Mark Rubinstein

I was fascinated by an article dated January 4, 2014 in the Science section of The Independent, a British newspaper. The article noted research done at Emory University. It revealed that reading a gripping novel can trigger measurable changes in brain function, lingering for as long as five days. The research found reading a compelling book may cause heightened connectivity and neurological changes in the brain which registered in the left temporal cortex, an area associated with language reception and other important brain functions such as sensory and motor activity.

Professor Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist and author of the study, said, “The neural changes we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist. We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.”

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The Violent LIfe of a Crime-Thriller Writer

October 14, 2013 by Mark Rubinstein

As an author of crime-thriller fiction, I’ve occasionally been asked about violence in my novels. Typical questions range from, why is so much violence in your books? to another, more personal one: Is violence part of your personality or is it totally contrived for your novels?

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The Magic of a Novel

October 1, 2013 by Mark Rubinstein

We’ve all had the experience of reading a novel and being caught up not only in the story, but in the characters (think of Gone Girl and Catcher in the Rye). It’s partly a matter of having an interest in one or another genre, but most of us have enjoyed novels that are not from our preferred reading landscape.

There are probably several reasons why a novel can grab and hold you so you’re sorry the read is coming to an end.

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Writer to Writer: A Conversation with Barry Eisler

September 25, 2013 by Mark Rubinstein

Barry Eisler is the best-selling author of two thriller series, one featuring John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American former soldier turned freelance assassin; and another featuring black ops soldier Ben Treven.

After graduating from Cornell Law School, Barry joined the CIA and held a covert position with the Directorate of Operations. After leaving the organization, he worked as a technology attorney and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, and earned a black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center. He began writing full time in 2002 and Rain Fall was the first of his seven-book John Rain series.

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