First things first – the raffle for the Paddy’s Day RAPS closed last night and I have just put all the names in the hat randompicker to determine the shrine winner.
Congratulations to Eugeal. The shrine will go in the post asap. And many thanks to everyone who chimed in on Paddy’s Day! It’s been great fun making the shrine – I am actually quite keen on making the little boxes of love at the moment, so there will sure come more of them in the future. (They are great lockdown projects because I have all the material at hand that I need for them… And there is a certain amount of escapism involved, too, as I can dream up scenarios that distract from the current state of the world.)
But moving on to some RA news.
RA speaks to Harlan Coben
Astrovian has done it again and captured the interview between RA and Harlan Coben that is tucked onto Coben’s latest audio book release Win. The interview apparently is not available in all markets even though the audio book is. I really don’t get Audible’s strategy there, but well, it’s not the first time. Since the audio book is not performed by RA, I wasn’t going to shell out on the book, so I am very grateful to Astrovian for sharing. – “Interview” is a bit of a misnomer, though. The clip is more of a conversation between the two, and all the better for that. While Richard is the one who asks the questions, he does react to Coben’s answers and elaborates on his own experience and perspective on audio books, recording, book adaptations etc. That makes for an interesting chat. Many such celebrity conversations come across as an exchange of compliments between two celebs, but this one is not overly so. Sweet: Coben also throws in a reference to the “Armitage Army” at the end. He knows that part of the audience well, at this point. Richard, of course, ignores the invitation to comment *haha*.
One of my takeaways from the recording is, however, that I might actually cave in and read Stay Close. Coben says that the TV adaptation will have changes and a different twist at the end, which would make the show interesting for people who have read the book, too…
And a moan…
Finally, the Gutenberg Block Editor has caught up with me, too. The new editor has been in place since 2018, but up until a couple of days ago, self-hosted blogs still had the option of using the Classic Editor. That option is now only available to Business Plan blogs. What can I say? *meh* I hate having to adjust to a new way of writing my posts. At this stage, it feels really weird without the familiar tool bars left and right but the white expanse of an empty screen that has to be filled with words and pictures. Over time, I know that I will get used to it, but right now I am clicking around wildly, trying to find the familiar buttons and tools to create the post the way I like it. Arrrrgh… changes… are probably necessary to keep the mind young. Or that’s what I am telling myself 😉
Guylty Pleasure 
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations Eugeal!
I enjoyed the conversation with RA as I would bill this ‘interview’ between him and Coben. They seem to get along great and like you said, each revealed some thoughts on their process and writing and film making in general. As for putting it (in some regions) at the end of Win—typical Audible.
It gave me the idea for a question I’d like to ask RA that I think he hasn’t been asked before (as far as I know), not that I’m holding my breath that I’ll ever get that chance again.
LikeLike
I thought it was a really interesting conversation. You could tell that the “balance of power” was equal – which always makes for more interesting interviews than a talk between journo and celeb (which gets sidetracked into compliments and promo). I thought it was weird that RA said something about “taking notes for his own writing process, should he ever write something”. Eh, well, I thought he *had* already written something… Typical RA…
Fingers crossed we return to normality at some point, including opportunities for fans to ask questions…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Has written/is writing/will write. Who knows? Didn’t he also mention his ‘producer hat’ or am I imagining this? Some news in that front are also overdue. I listened while babysitting the 1 to, so my attention to detail was subpar.
LikeLike
Typical RA. Throwing bits and pieces out there and then never returning to them. It’s the classic “throw a glass into the bar” move.
Yep, he mentioned himself as a producer, too. Well, he’ll tell us when he is finally there…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations to Eugeal on winning the Paddy shrine!
And thank you to Astrovian for the wonderful fan service!
Yeah, the block editor took a little getting used to but works alright for me now (for the most part). Good luck finding your way.
LikeLike
Yeah, I think it’s a matter of time – and using the new editor. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dang, I forgot to enter for the Paddy’s day shrine! Congrats to Eugeal, it’s a beauty 😃
Thanks for the link (and obviously thanks to Astrovian too!)
LikeLike
You’re welcome. Great fan service by Astrovian who is really on the ball with this.
LikeLike
What I ended up doing — my browser history still had the URL for the classic editor — and it was still functioning. You could see if you could look for it. classic-editor is in the URL.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Life saver comment, Servetus!!! It is indeed still there in my browser history, and it works when I click on it. Looks like a mishmash of old editor and new WP backend. I am going to book mark this – and delay getting to know the Block Editor once again. Thank you!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. Someday they will stop supporting it, but I am always looking in dark corners 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done on the winner of the Raps 😊
☘
The interview was ok, RA was a bit cheeky admiring to sending his brother the hardback copy of Win as a Xmas pressie! Lol
I’m wondering what they’ve done to change the ending of Stay Close now! That’s quite an upheaval to change such significant part of the book! Maybe the llama did it?
LikeLike
Please, no more Llamas! That was the daftest thing in The Stranger
I tried the free chapters on Amazon and I don’t like his writing style. I hope the screenplay will be better
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coben isn’t a a good writer-not a bad storyteller and obviously popular. He reminds me why Dan Brown did so well-because there’s no complexity to the wiriting style but the story’s a good.
I reckon the llama/alpaca thing will continue in every RA and HC collaboration
LikeLike
Congratulations to the lucky winner and I look forward to the conversation with Richard!
LikeLike
How come! 😳 I missed the raffle! 😱 I usually never win but still 😭
LikeLike
Wow! Thank you! 🙂
Your shrines are always so pretty, I love them and I’m feeling very lucky now 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t usually have the patience to only listen (I need the visuals, dammit!), but I found this chat quite enjoyable. (And THANK YOU, ASTROVIAN, for putting it in an efficient, accessible format.) It sounds like genuine talk, not promotional talk (well not toooo much promotional talk — some by Coben, you’re not fooling us, Coben), and had a lot of new revelations in it. But, but, Coben blew it at the very end when he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as he said “Armitage Army.” I would like to believe RA didn’t reply because he, too, found it as patronizing as I did. Armitage has a base of dedicated fans who buy international air tickets, multiple theatre tickets, and pay for hotel rooms to see him on stage, and will pay money for any book he narrates regardless of title or genre. What, exactly, is funny about that? How many performers can claim that level of support, I wonder? Not too many, my guess. Does anyone know of a comparable fan group for anyone else (that didn’t lose its enthusiasm after a few years)?
LikeLike
Well said, plus donate on his Just Giving pages and raise other funds for charities over 15 years!
LikeLike
Yes, that, too!
LikeLike
Congratulations Eugeal! And thanks for the link, and to Astrovian, for the recording. I haven’t heard it yet, am saving it for a walk. The new blocky WordPress is horrible, the tools are hard to find and I can’t get on with it. After many Google searches, I found out Classic Editor is hidden under Settings, Writing page. It worked but you have to repeat the action each time you edit a page. I regularly delete my browser history otherwise Servetus’s tip would have been much easier.
LikeLike
Der Gutenberg ist seeeeeehr gewöhnungsbedürftig. Ich nutze ihn jetzt schon eine Weile und fluche immer noch mal zwischendurch 😉 aber wir freunden uns langsam an. *Haha*
LikeLike