Behind the Scenes

Ever wonder what a publishing house’s Book Expo America party would be like? You can click over to Mike Macauley’s article on Random House’s After-Party. It sounds like fun to me.

Here are a few highlights:

The party was on The Intrepid – a retired aircraft carrier docked in the NY Harbor. Also in attendance were many familiar faces, including Tyra Banks, James Dashner, Lauren Kate, Michael Scott, N.D. Wilson, and more!

The party kicked off around 6 pm and the waiting attendees – including a mix of authors, publishers, publishing house employees, book sellers, and librarians were ushered through the gate into the guest list check and then sent up stairs to The Intrepid’s deck.

… any time you throw a group of passionate bookies together you’re bound to have a room full of interesting conversations and banter.

The party was supposed to end around 8 pm, but as all good parties often do, the event ran well past its official “end time”.

This party? It was on Day 1 of BEA. Wonder what the parties were like on the following nights!

Are You Kidding Me?

I’m zipping around the Internet when I come across an article titled, “Barnes & Noble Successfully Markets ‘Simpler’ eReader to Women.” I skid to a stop and think, “What?”

The first line in the article is: “Why do women hate technology so much?”

I’m now asking, “What women?”

The article quotes Jeremy Peters in a New York Times article:

"So what about the small fortune that publishers have poured into developing tablet editions that dazzle the senses with sleekly produced animation, live video and audio? They’re fine for the men, but a lot of women think there is nothing wrong with plain old words and pictures."

Okay, now they’re just pissing ticking me off. There are indeed people who just want to read; it’s not just women, like Peters is implying. And to say that women hate technology and want simple devices to read simple books and magazines is a slap in the face.

What women have they been talking to? Not my generation. Not even my mother’s generation. Sheesh. Are you kidding me?

Texas Writers Month 2011

May is Texas Writers Month and there’s a lot of celebrating going on. Texas chapters of Sisters in Crime have been putting on signings, readings, and events. The Heart of Texas chapter hosted the award ceremony for the Barbara Burnet Smith Sage Award (congratulations to the 2011 recipient, Russ Hall).

Another big even going on - this time on the Internet - is literary publicist Stephanie Barko’s month of author interviews and giveaways. For example, some of you may remember a post I did last year telling you about Bob Ray Sander’s great book, Calvin Littlejohn, and his appearance at the Texas Book Festival. Stephanie is giving away a signed hardcover of his photographic documentary book. If you’d like a chance at his book, you can still comment through May 29.

Here’s a list of authors whose books are being given away on Stephanie’s blog:
Mike Cox
Dagoberto Gilb
Gary Lavergne
Joe Nick Patoski
John Pipkin
Bob Ray Sanders
Jane Roberts Wood

And if you want more, Stephanie has them. These are the authors whose books will be open for giveaways starting this week:
Diane Fanning
Greg Garrett
Naomi Carrier
Barbara Renaud Gonzalez
Richard Yanez
Laurie Wagner Buyer
Jodi Thomas
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts

If you’d like to go comment on any or all of the interviews/posts, go to: http://stephaniebarko.com/blog/

That’s an incredible list of great authors. Good luck on winning one of their books!

Author Jean Henry Mead

Jean Henry Mead is a mystery/suspense and western historical novelist. She's also an award-winning photojournalist. One of her fortes is interviewing writers, actors, politicians, artists and ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She began her writing career as a California news reporter/editor/photographer, first in Central California and later in San Diego. Mead later transferred to Casper, Wyoming, to serve as a staff writer for the statewide newspaper. While there she served as editor of In Wyoming Magazine and two small presses. She also freelanced for other magazines, both domestic and abroad, among them the Denver Post's Empire Magazine.

Please welcome Jean Henry Mead.

Writing for Children and Seniors.

by Jean Henry Mead

My recently published novels include an autobiographical children’s book, Mystery of Spider Mountain, and Murder on the Interstate, the third novel in my Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series featuring two sassy, 60-year-old amateur sleuths.

Although I’ve written and published 14 books, the task of writing a children’s mystery was daunting because I didn’t know the language. Watching Saturday morning children’s shows helped and I added a few “hey, dudes,” “sweets” and “bros” to the dialogue. But, because I wanted to write for 9-12 year-olds, I had to do more research, which included taking a course in children’s literature. Middle graders don’t require complicated plots so it’s best to concentrate on one powerful theme in a simple plotline, such as bullying or losing a friend or parent.

Setting is also important. Most middle graders’ lives are centered around school so you have to decide if your plot takes place during those hours or on vacation or after school. When you decide how the problem or action is going to take place, you need to develop a time schedule when events are going to happen. That means outlining, which doesn’t have to be detailed but it should include events that get progressively worse as the plot marches on. Otherwise, you can paint yourself into a corner, which I’ve done in the past. You then need to decide which events are needed to complicate the problem. And, above all, allow the child to solve the problem on her own, with only minimal help from adults, including her parents.

I don’t mean to imply that senior readers are in the same category as children, but a few rules seem to apply as far as sexual content and language. Older women comprise a large percentage of readers and many are turned off by graphic language and sex. Most, according to recent surveys, enjoy reading about people in their own age groups, so I substitute humor and a little romance.

 In my latest novel, Murder on the Interstate, which features my two senior sleuths traveling Interstate 40 in northern Arizona in their motorhome, they discover the body of a young woman in her Mercedes convertible. The killer returns to make sure his victim is dead, and disables Dana and Sarah’s RV. A trucker named “Big Ruby” McCurdy comes to their rescue and they chase after the killer in her produce truck to get his license number, but soon realize that he’s pursuing them. The language is authentic as well as humorous because I drove my RV over the same route while listening to truckers on my CB radio.

Carolyn Hart, a senior herself, wrote the following blurb for the book:

Careen into crime with two intrepid sleuths who outwit terrorists in a fast-paced plot taken from today's headlines. A page turner. 

I hope I didn’t leave any of my senior readers so breathless that they needed oxygen.

Thank you Jean!

Jean’s first book was published in 1982. She's since published fourteen novels and nonfiction books. You can also catch her on four different blogs: Mysterious Writers, Writers of the West, Murderous Musings, and Make Mine Mystery. If you’d like to take a look at the trailer for Murder on the Interstate, zip over to You Tube.

Before you go, leave a comment or question for Jean. Here’s your chance to ask an expert.

What’s That Smell? Crapiola.

According to Jane Ciabattan and the reviewers she moderated on a panel, those of us who do reviews on our blogs or on book sites are not real reviewers. According to the post, we only review books that are uplifting and have likeable characters. Cynthia Ozick, who won a National Book Critics Circle award in criticism, calls us “Amazon customer reviewers.” (I have a vision of her holding his nose as she said that.)

Danish novelist and former critic Jensen said:

I was once asked about the most devastating review I ever received," Jensen said. “My answer was that it had never been written because the only person who could write it was me. I know myself, my writing, and my weaknesses better than anyone.

Cynthia Ozick wrote:

In my own getting-the-ketchup-to-come-out-of-the-bottle case, I won't go on to the next sentence until the last sentence is as watertight as I can make it. And this means how it is joined to the sentence before and the sentence to come. The term 'laborious' applies!

Her conclusion is that she is her own harshest critic because she’s the slowest writer.

Morris Dickstein, distinguished professor of English and theater at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author, said:

“The professional reviewer, who has a literary identity, who had to meet some editor's exacting standard, has effectively been replaced by the Amazon reviewer, the paying customer, at times ingenious, assiduous, and highly motivated, more often banal, obtuse, and blankly opinionated."

Frankly, I’ll believe the opinion of the latter rather than those who have a literary pedigree and smell.

Book Review: Following the Whispers

 Following the Whispers, a brutally honest memoir by Karen Walker, was a 2009 Finalist in the New Mexico Book Awards. Karen doesn’t hold back. She lays out her childhood and her adulthood for the reader, without glossing over anything. I think it may be the most sincere memoir I’ve read.

She starts the book in her childhood when she was three and refused to go to bed and the punishment she received from her mother. There are stories in the book that are difficult to read, but I kept reading because I know Karen online; therefore, I know she survived. I know that she becomes whole.

She takes readers along on that journey to become whole. We live through the bad times and the good times -- through her spiritual journey to the point where she is now. This is not to say that everything is perfect in her life. She tries many paths, religions and books until she learns to listen to the whispers of Spirit within herself.

That journey is a most interesting one, although until she begins to trust and believe in herself, it is often a sad and complicated journey. The story of her life affected three generations: her parents, herself, and her son.

This is from the first page of her story:

Childhood should be a sanctuary -- a refuge before the onslaught of life -- a cocoon in which one feels unconditionally loved….My childhood was no such thing.

Karen shows us how this affected her teenage years and her adulthood - as well as the life of her own son. How it still affects her today.

Following the Whispers by Karen Walker
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

I give Following the Whispers a rating of Hel-of-a-Story.

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FTC Disclaimer: The author Karen Walker sent me Following the Whispers. That did not affect my review. Her memoir, a story of finding inner peace and self-acceptance despite all that happened to her, affected my review. Although, I would say to Karen, You need to put a warning on this book: Do Not Read in Public. I read Following the Whispers on a flight from Austin to El Paso. Then I had a four-hour wait until my husband arrived from Denver before we could head to Las Cruces, New Mexico. So I sat near the baggage area and read. And cried. And tried to hunker down when security kept eyeing me.

Book Review: So Close the Hand of Death

So Close the Hand of Death is the sixth book in J.T. Ellison’s Taylor Jackson thriller series. Taylor Jackson, a Nashville homicide lieutenant, has her hands full in this one. She’s dealing with multiple serial killers, all under the command of one man, known as The Pretender. Each of those killers takes on the persona of past mass murderers, the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam, recreating those horrific killings.

As more bodies turn up, Taylor is desperate to stop the killings, especially as she begins to realize that she is the one The Pretender is really after. The closer he gets to her, the more she pulls away from those she loves, in an effort to save them from becoming collateral damage.

So Close the Hand of Death is fast moving, action packed, and tense. J.T. Ellison has written a thriller where no character is safe. And, in The Pretender, she’s created a killer who manipulates others to do his bidding, while saving the prize kill, Taylor, for himself.

So Close the Hand of Death is the first in this series that I’ve read. It took a little while to understand the dynamics of Taylor Jackson. I consider this a good thing, since I’m not fond of series books that put a paragraph or two upfront to get new and past readers caught up. I like getting to know the protagonist through action. And in this one, Taylor hit the floor running.

The Pretender is a truly demonic guy, but we don’t really see him until near the end. By that time, we know him, though. We know him through his manipulations and minions.

So Close the Hand of Death
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Also available for eReaders

I give So Close the Hand of Death a rating of Hel-of-a-Story.

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FTC Disclaimer: Magdalena Burnham of Planned TV Arts sent So Close the Hand of Death to me, but that did not influence my review. I do not know the author nor do I know any serial killers. Although I do know a serial golf player, but that’s another story -- a story which would not be nearly the page-turner J.T. Ellison’s book is. If you’re looking for a fast read with interesting characters and you don’t mind being scared, I recommend So Close the Hand of Death. I would not recommend you go play golf, leaving your wife alone at home on the one day in months that the sky is dark and thundering and raining in Texas. Oops, lights just blinked. Gotta go. What was that noise?

Dog Gone It!

One writer’s writing has gone to the dogs. Specifically, it’s gone to the White House dogs. Dorothy St. James agreed to stop by today and talk about the dogs in her book, Flowerbed of State. Dorothy knows her dogs and politics since she’s worked in all branches and all levels of government including local, regional, state, and federal. She even spent time during college working for a non-profit environmental watchdog organization.

Please welcome Dorothy St. James.

Chasing after the Commander-in-Leash

One of the best things about researching life at the White House for my new book series—the White House Gardener Mysteries—has been learning about the presidential dogs. I’ve always been a dog nut. (And a cat nut, too.) So it was only a given that a presidential pooh would show up in my cozy mystery.

Milo, the president’s naughty puppy in Flowerbed of State.

Milo, a goldendoodle mix rescued from a shelter, was a gift to President Bradley and his wife, Margaret in Flowerbed of State, the first book in the White House Gardener Mysteries. Milo quickly becomes a favorite with the White House staff. At the same time, he’s all puppy who keeps my tireless heroine, Casey Calhoun, on her toes as he digs up rose bushes and rushes toward the gates whenever they’re open.

Historically, the White House gardener has served as caretaker for the presidents’ pets. The current White House Horticulturalist, Dale Haney, has cared for every White House dog since King Timahoe, Richard Nixon's Irish setter. For the past 40 years, when the First Family was out of town, Haney becomes the unofficial dog walker.

Bo Obama under a Japanese magnolia in the Rose Garden

(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Barney Bush fielding questions in the Press Room

(Official White House Photo by Alex Cooney)

Having a gardener care for the family’s dog(s) makes sense since the “commander-in-leash” spends much of his time romping across the lawn and following behind the gardening staff.

Dale Haney often personally washes off muddy paws using a hose on the north lawn. You can’t let a muddy puppy tromp through the state rooms ruining historically significant oriental rugs.

Using this research, I’ve breathed life into my fictional president’s new puppy. Milo quickly became one of my favorite characters and a talented scene-stealer.

I didn’t realize how realistic I had made the rambunctious Milo in Flowerbed of State until I volunteered to take in a few foster puppies from a local shelter. These two have exhausted me as I’ve chased after them to keep them from digging up, chewing, or rolling over my vegetable plants and flowers. Recently the pair of angels has turned their attentions to lopping off all the blooms on my blanket flowers.

My two foster puppies (Onslow and Rosie) diving into my garden.

Like Casey, I’m happy to do it. These little scamps can melt my heart with one soulful look.

What puppy antics have you tolerated? Do you have any suggestions on encouraging these two young puppies away from my vegetable garden?

Thank you Dorothy!

Dorothy St. James (wildlife biologist and paper pusher) is the author of the White House Gardener Mysteries with Berkley Prime Crime. The first book in the series, FLOWERBED OF STATE, has been called “spunky” (Library Journal), “fast-paced” (Publishers Weekly), and “it quite simply blew me away” (Criminal Element).

Before you zip away to pet your own dog or pet, leave a comment or question for Dorothy.

Book Review: Blood and Groom

 A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Blood and Groom by Jill Edmondson, but then left on two trips. I’m back now and wanted to review this mystery. The author, Jill Edmondson, lives in Toronto and teaches communications in the Faculty of Hospitality at George Brown College. While I have no idea what the Faculty of Hospitality is, I do know that Edmondson writes a fast-moving book with a hip protagonist named Sasha Jackson.

Sasha is fairly new to the private investigation world. Her former occupation was “rock band singer.” She gets hired to investigate the murder of a groom-to-be. The would-be bride is close to bankruptcy, but she hires Sasha, who’s happy to have her first major client. Just when you think Sasha has hit a wall in the investigation, she comes up with a way around the block, always pushing forward, on the trail of the murderer, getting people to talk to her, even when there’s no reason they should want to talk and every reason why they should not talk.

Sasha is a PI who doesn’t listen to those who tell her “no.” She thinks on her feet and can improvise when needed. Her tenacity leads her into the world of art, insider trading, drugs, high-finance, and high-society. Sasha also has a second, quite interesting job, but if you want to find out what that job is, you’ll have to read the book.

I liked following Sasha Jackson as she worked the case and the people involved. We get to be in her head and see how she’s thinking, which for me was an interesting experience since she’s a lot braver than I am

Blood and Groom
Amazon
Kindle

I give Blood and Groom a rating of Hel-O since Jill Edmondson is a new-to-me author and Blood and Groom is a fast-paced, fun read.

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FTC Disclaimer: The author sent this book to me, but that did not influence my review of Blood and Groom. What did influence me were all the words in-between the opening line and the closing line of the book: “Some women seemed naked without makeup….Case closed.” Just when you think Sasha has come to a dead-end, she finds a new path, sometimes creating that path to get to the truth or the next step in solving the case. I’m not a private investigator and I’ve never been in a rock band. I can, however, learn from Sasha’s never-give-up attitude and I can identify with her need to finish what she started. And I’m hoping the next in the Sasha Jackson Mystery Series will teach me how to play drums in a rock band.

Bookstores

My question to you is: In this rapidly changing world of books, what is the purpose of bookstores? An immediate answer might be: to sell print books. Of course, that’s true. But in this age of digital books is that its primary purpose?

In a column in Publishers Weekly, Chris Morrow said that the bookstore is where people find good books. “The role of the bookstore as showroom, as filter, as arbiter of taste is here to stay and needs nurturing.” He calls bookstores publishers’ “best marketing and sales outlets.”

Personally, I’m not so sure bookstores are the arbiters of taste. Those bookstores carried stacks of Snookie’s lastest book, right next to other celebrity self-promotion books. Every politician, past or wannabe, can get his/her book on the shelves.

I think if bookstores want to stay “the primary vehicle for book discovery” they need to totally revamp their thinking. First, instead of depending on publishers to tell them what is worthy and good, they need to think for themselves. Second, stop carrying three hundred copies of a celebrity or wannabe-celebrity/politician’s book, which in a month they’ll have to return to the publisher. Third, change their entire model of selling books. They can still be the place people browse for books, but they will be a different store. Instead of three or five or fifty copies of a book, they’ll have one. That one copy is for patrons to look through. If they decide they want the book, they have it printed out there on the premises.

Doing it this way would allow a bookstore to have many, many more books “in-stock” and ready to buy. People like going into bookstores. I love browsing through books. But bookstores are not arbiters of taste. And at this point, they can’t shelve enough books. Last week, I wanted a particular, extremely popular book. I went to my local B&N. They didn’t have it. I drove to a close-by town to their B&N. They didn’t stock it. I came home and ordered it online. I wanted that book and I wanted it in print. If they had had an Espresso machine or another such printing machine, they could have printed it in minutes and sold it to me. Instead, they lost a sale and bit by bit, they’re losing customers and money.

What do y’all think?

More Paraprosdokians

This past Wednesday, I started this list of figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. Here’s the wrap-up of them. Enjoy!

Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot. (That one is for author Ann Summerville. Read my review of her book, if you’re wondering why.)

I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

I always take life with a grain of salt, plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Thanks to my “word wizard” Bill Wheeless for these paraprosdokians.

Author Douglas Corleone

 DOUGLAS CORLEONE is the author of the Kevin Corvelli crime series, published by St. Martin's Minotaur. His debut novel ONE MAN'S PARADISE won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award. A former New York City criminal defense attorney, Corleone now lives in the Hawaiian Islands, where he writes full-time. NIGHT ON FIRE is his second novel. The official book launch party for NIGHT ON FIRE took place last Saturday at Barnes & Noble at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. Today, though, Douglas is here with us to talk about e-books and royalty statements.

Please welcome Douglas Corleone.

Publishing Hardcovers During the E-Book Revolution

Book lovers (or rather physical book lovers) worldwide are panicking about the possible end to the publishing of hardcover books. The predictions are grim. Experts say that in 2011, e-books will account for 25% of all book sales, and that by 2014, that number will rise to 50%. We’ve already seen publishers cutting back on the number of paperbacks they’re putting out. My debut novel ONE MAN’S PARADISE is a victim of this cutting. Over the past half-century, authors who published with major houses could expect their novel to live a second life with the release of their book in mass market paperback. Nowadays, that’s no guarantee. Indeed, for me, it’s a harsh reality: I will never see a single paperback sale for PARADISE.

It’s to be expected, we’re told, because of the so-called e-book revolution. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against e-books. I own a Kindle and I use it. I’ve read at least 50 books on my Kindle over the past two years, and I have at least 50 more waiting to be read. Still, I love physical books…especially my own.

That’s why my first real royalty statement filled me with mixed emotions. E-book sales accounted for only 2.5% of total sales. According to industry experts, e-books currently account for approximately 17% of all book sales. So why such an anomaly on my royalty statement?

The only reasonable hypothesis I could formulate was a frightening one – that it’s even more difficult for new authors to be discovered by e-book readers than it is to be discovered by readers who still search the aisles of brick-and-mortar bookstores!

Wasn’t it tough enough already?

Then again, it makes sense. How many books do you see when you go to Amazon.com to make a purchase? I’d venture not nearly as many as when you walk into your local Barnes & Noble bookstore. How long do you linger on Amazon’s pages? I’d venture not nearly as long as you typically take strolling through the aisles of your local independent. As a reader I’m worried about losing the brick-and-mortar bookstore experience. As a new author, I’m absolutely petrified.

I see a lot of bad advice given to aspiring authors, both on the Internet and in the pages of writing magazines. But none worse than this: “You don’t need an agent or publisher. You don’t even need a physical book. Go to Amazon’s CreateSpace , put your book out there for $2.99, and market away.”

If you already have a genuine platform, maybe. (In fact, bestselling author Barry Eisler is doing just that). If you’re not so concerned about sales figures and just want a book out there, okay. But if you’re serious about the business of publishing – and if you’ve written a full-length novel, I assume you are – then I still urge you to take the traditional path.

I’ll happily update you on the e-book sales for my second novel NIGHT ON FIRE. In fact, if you’d like to prove me wrong, there would be no better way than by heading over to Amazon right now and purchasing NIGHT ON FIRE for your Kindle.

Thank you Douglas.

To learn more about Douglas Corleone, you can visit his website. But before you link over, leave a question or comment for him.

I’ll start the questions: Douglas, you mentioned publishers cutting back on issuing paperbacks. Do you think it may eventually come down to hardbacks being printed for those who love them and will continue to pay the high cost to have them, while e-books will become the “new” paperbacks?

Paraprosdokians

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on the list.

If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.

A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "In an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.