Alexander Stuart

Here is Lisa Millegan Renner's wonderful article about me from the Arts pages of the Scene Section of  The Modesto Bee , Friday, December 23rd, 2011:     Author and screenwriter brings his family and knowhow to Mother Lode     By Lisa Millegan Renner lrenner@modbee.com The War Zone published screenplay. In 1989, writer Alexander Stuart was in all the British media for first receiving and then losing the prestigious Whitbread Award for his controversial novel "The War Zone." The book offended some people because of its unflinching look at incest between a father and his teenage daughter. The author says he was stripped of the prize when one of award judges — who hated the book — politicked behind the scenes. But "The War Zone" became Stuart's most successful work; it was published in eight languages and was turned into a film in 1999, directed by Tim Roth. Photograph: Hudson Chow-Stuart. "It was better than winning, in a way

The War Zone Kindle Edition. To celebrate the season - and the wonderful article about my writing workshops, my life and work by Lisa Millegan Renner in tomorrow's Modesto Bee (Friday December 23, 2011) - I am running a FIVE DAY FREE-DOWNLOAD "MODESTO BEE PROMOTION" of the Amazon Kindle edition of my novel, The War Zone. The entire 20th Anniversary Edition of the book - complete with a subtly updated version of the novel, a new introduction, including the wonderful pre-publication letter Anthony Burgess sent me, plus an afterword by Tim Roth , who directed the multi-award-winning feature film of the book, and my personal diary of the making of the film - will be available for free download from 12:01am on Friday December 23, 2011 until just before midnight on Tuesday December 27th. You do not need to own a Kindle to read the book. Amazon offers its own free downloads of Kindle apps for Macs, PCs and most smartphones at this link. The Kindle apps do ev

Random by Charong Chow. My wife, Charong Chow's debut novel, Random, has just been published on Kindle. A contemporary teen noir mystery and love story set in Los Angeles, it was profoundly influenced by the drug-related death of Charong's best friend from high school - who first introduced us on Miami Beach. Written with an energy and razor-sharp dialogue that mixes teen angst and ennui with the shadows of a Hollywood long past, Charong surprised me with the power of her writing, the force of her emotion - and the raw and uncompromising teen world she creates amid the shadows of LA's suburban landscape. Please note that you don't need to own a Kindle to read Charong's novel, Random - or the Kindle edition of my novel, The War Zone. There are free Kindle apps for Macs, PCs and most phones - and you can do anything with them that you can do with a regular Kindle: highlight passages, add your own comments, buy new titles, etc. Just Google " Kindle fo

WALL-E photograph: Copyright Pixar/Disney. Many thanks to everyone who came to The Magic of Pixar Writing Workshop today. I hope you enjoyed it - and I wish we'd had more time to explore the many themes of Pixar's films, not least a deeper examination of the Hero's Journey and how it relates to such movies as WALL-E and Finding Nemo.  I think, given the tremendous response - and requests - I will be presenting a second Magic of Pixar Wr iting Workshop, probably in February 2012.  We will look at different films - Up, especially, and Monsters, Inc - and how they relate to themes of childhood, aging and our deepest fears and emotions, as well as the sheer fun and excitement of the Cars movies. In the meantime, the first Writing Workshop of the New Year will be on Saturday January 21st and will have a Noir theme, exploring one of the most powerful and enduring genres of literature and movies - the heightened emotions, vivid characters, crackling dialogue

Teaser poster for Pixar's next film, Brave. There has been a tremendous response to The Magic of Pixar Writing Workshop on Saturday, especially after my interview with the very hospitable and friendly Mark Truppner on KVML this morning (for which many thanks, Mark). People are concerned that there won't be seats available, but the Central Sierra Arts Council is a large space and we can accomodate a good number - so please continue to contact me by email at tranquilbuddha@gmail.com or by phone at 310-383-7562, if you'd like a reserve a seat. I'm really excited about this workshop - I think it's going to be a lot of fun and hopefully really informative. It starts at 11am on Saturday (December 17) and runs until 1pm.  The address is: 193 S. Washington Street, Sonora (opposite the Bank of America building). There is free parking in the lot of the Sonora Days Inn across the street. Hope to see you there - Alexander