One Hundred Pages

I hope you all had as nice a Thanksgiving as I did.  Today, it’s back to work.  I may have mentioned earlier that I am trying to finish the first 100 pages of my next Alafair Tucker novel by the end of this month.  Poisoned Pen Press requires that a returning author submit the first 100 pages for editor’s approval before the new novel is accepted and assigned a place on the publishing schedule.  This prevents last minute delivery of a complete manuscript that either needs a lot of work, or is unpublishable.

I’ve been working on New Novel for two or three months, and as the Thanksgiving holiday came upon me, I needed to produce only six good pages to have my 100.  One would think this would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t one?  And sometimes, when one is in the Zone, it is.  The problem is that the Zone is a hard place to get to, and most of the time, pages are eked out one at a time in toil and travail.  

Also, the MS can’t just consist of any old 100 pages.  They have to be 100 good pages.  And therein lies the rub.  So, after spending the Wednesday before Thanksgiving typing my tail off, rewriting, rethinking, combining, I now need TEN pages.  

I expressed my woe and consternation about this setback to my brother on his Facebook page, since he’s participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)*, in which one attempts to write a 50,000 word novel in one month, and he had just posted a boast that he was up to 45,000 words (word number 45,000 : in).  He sent me the following factoid :

Douglas Adams was writing the radio play to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and had only one weekend to turn eight pages he had already written into a full 22-page script. After a full weekend of furious writing, when he came into work on Monday, those eight pages had shrunk to six.

It's a comfort to know I'm not the only one.

Speaking of noir, (see Charles’ entry, below),  as you may know, Dear Reader, Akashic Press puts out a series of books of noir short stories set in different cities around the world.  If I remember correctly, they started out with Brooklyn Noir, edited by Tim McLoughlin, and moved on to Boston Noir (Dennis Lehane), and  Baltimore Noir (Laura Lippman),   At last count, they were up to 34 editions, I believe, including Paris, D.C. Las Vegas, London, L.A, Toronto, and on and on.

In October, they issued Phoenix Noir, edited by Poisoned Pen Bookstore’s own Patrick Millikin, who is quite the scholar of noir literature.  The book is chock full of the most wonderfully nasty stories set Phoenix, written by many authors with whom I’m well acquainted, including Jon Talton, Charles Kelly, Diana Gabaldon, Lee Child, James Sallis, and Stella Pope Duarte, among others. (not Yours Truly, though.  I’m not known as much of a writer of noir).  I asked Patrick if he’d guest-blog for us on February 28, and he agreed, so if you’re a lover of the Dark Writing Arts, be sure and look for that.

And now, please excuse me.  Ten pages to go.

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* a friend of mine noted that it must have been a man who decided to have NaNoWriMo be in November.

Every day is Black Friday with Film Noir

After a busy T-day visiting family and friends, topped off with a late-night martini mix with Rose, I’m ready for some good old fashioned, self-indulgent marathon movie watching. But what movies to see? Our best friends, Rick and Paula, use days like this to re-watch the Godfather Trilogy (well, Paula anyway – Rick uses that time to catch up on his well-earned couch napping). A pal at the ad agency likes to watch the Dumb & Dumber movies back to back twice, a tradition worthy of the movies’ name. Rose and I used to like watching the Bond marathons but there are only a few Sean Connery and Daniel Craig movies out there and only two of the others worth watching. We’ve decided to finally watch season 1 & 2 of the A&E series, Mad Men, but for you I have an even better suggestion. Here’s my (to date) Top 5 film noir* Favorites.

1. Double Indemnity (1944) – Who’s better in the movie – average guy Fred MacMurray turned killer, archetype femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck, or the cop/not cop boss Edward G. Robinson? I can’t decide and when you watch it, you won’t be able to either.
2. Criss Cross (1948) – Burt Lancaster plays a guy even more weak-willed than me, but then he’s playing it across from Yvonne De Carlo so I understand. I prefer the ambiguous ending to the ‘restored’ ending.
3. The Maltese Falcon (1941) – The only question I have for myself is why isn’t this Number 1 on my list?
4. Touch of Evil (1958) – Orson Wells, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Marlene Dietrich in a Wells film I will argue (over drinks, you pay) is better than Citizen Kane. It’s even more fun if you read Head Games by Craig McDonald first.
5. No Country for Old Men (2007) – With Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and a standout performance (hard to do with those other guys in the mix) by Woody Hareelson, this Coen brother’s flick deserved every award it got and a few it wasn’t up for.

I’d better post this quick – I’ve already made two changes (dropping Chinatown for No Country) and I can feel myself getting ready to edit more.

*Note the use of lowercase in film noir, separating it from the firm definitions of Film Noir, which my pal Jared Case enforces with a ruthlessness reminiscent of Max and Al in The Killers, which now that I think of it should be on the list too…

Happy Thanksgiving

John here wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
In this post, I’ll try (I'm not as tech-savvy as my colleagues) to include some pictures from Keeley’s first birthday (earlier this week) and a list of the things for which this writer is thankful.

1. My wife Lisa and daughters Delaney, 11; Audrey, 8; and Keeley, 1
2. My health
3. The joy that comes with writing
4. The drive to keep finishing books, despite the fiction market

Whether you're a bestseller or not, as long as you're putting words to page there is much to be grateful for. Enjoy the day, everyone!

I've Got the Blues

If it’s Wednesday, it must be Debby, and I am in a bit of a slump. Though I recently trumpeted my relief at being a crime fiction writer as opposed to a pill counter, I’m a bit blue today. Maybe it’s the memoir topic, and the appalling facts that not only did S.P. receive a million-plus advance for the ghost-authored Going Rogue, her tour is getting the hype of a political campaign (a REALLY depressing thought).

I thought it was just my own low biorhythms—maybe I’m catching a cold—until I ran across Declan Burke’s blog on http://crimealwayspays.blogspot.com/2009/11/woe-is-me-etc-failing-writer-writes.html. Burke is a journalist and author of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE and THE BIG O, and has two more books under consideration by publishers. Not bad, I think, but here’s what he has to say, and I can relate.

“… lately I’ve started to hear a little voice in the back of my head suggesting that it might not be the best thing for me right now were either book to be published. That’s because, barring a miracle, what will happen is this: an offer will be made that will amount, in practical terms, to no more than a couple of months’ worth of mortgage payments. Following acceptance, edits and rewrites will follow (a good thing, by the way, because I like both stories and their characters, and I wouldn’t mind at all getting back into the stories, especially if doing so is going to improve them). Then the pre-publication promotion will begin, which is very time-consuming; then the publication promotion; and then the post-publication promotion. Most of this will be conducted via the web, given that I am (a) not wealthy enough nor remunerated enough to do it in person; (b) married with a small child, of whom I don’t see enough of as it is; (c) a freelance journalist who works a minimum of 70 hours per week at the job, and can’t afford to take time off, let alone spend good mortgage money on hauling my ass around the world at a time when house repossessions are starting to climb at an alarming rate back home.

“It really is becoming as stark as that. I decided over the weekend, after interviewing James Ellroy, that it is actually immoral of me to steal time to write fiction when I could be writing freelance material that will actually earn real money.”

Another oft-published author believes the future of publishing will be in the self-published book, or small press book. She may be right, and perhaps this isn’t a bad thing. But like Declan also says, “Someone who liked my books asked me over the weekend, rather facetiously, how come I haven’t sold a million books. I said, rather facetiously, that it was because no one put a million dollars worth of advertising behind them.” Like Declan, I couldn’t pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into publishing and publicizing my book.

I spent a hefty percentage of a royalty check on the book tour Vicki and I did together last March. At the same time, my husband and I are paying two college tuitions. I can beat my chest and bemoan the economy, big advances for people who haven’t written their own books, and the poor remuneration of all artists in this country. No matter. The hard, cold facts are that bills need to be paid. I have a part-time job in addition to my writing, but I’m considering increasing the hours per week, which means that I’ll have less time to write. That makes me sad.

Someone tell me things will change, a living can be made writing crime fiction. Please?

Meanwhile, I’m going to bury my sorrows in the thriller I’m writing now. It’s heating up, and I can’t wait to get back to it.

Mind if I climb inside your head?

I recently read an article in The Walrus — Canada’s answer to Harper’s — in which the author said something that really resonated with me.

Have you ever stopped to think that whenever you read something, you’re allowing the writer access to your consciousness at its most intimate level?

Like right now. I’m actually inside your head, talking to you. I’m making you visualize my words. As long as you keep reading this, I can dictate exactly what you’re thinking.

Hi there! I just made you hear those words inside your head, didn’t I? Now, imagine someone knocking very loudly on your front door. Could it be the cops? A bad guy? Someone selling magazines?

I’ll bet you “heard” the sound of those knuckles on your door, probably saw the cop, the bad guy, the magazine salesman. If you have a really good imagination, you probably even saw them as a more than rudimentary “images”. Reading my words made you do that — and you couldn't help yourself.

Now suppose I tell you that you’ve just returned home and found the dead body of someone you barely know, gruesomely murdered in your bedroom. You’ve barely had time to respond, your pulse is through the roof and you feel as if you’re going to pass out. That’s when you hear the loud knock at the door.

Hear it? Is your heart rate up even a teensy bit? Mine is and I’m writing this stuff!

As writers, we don’t really think about what sort of relationship we have with our readers, but it is pretty darn intimate when you stop and think, isn’t it?

It is also just about the coolest reason I can think of to keep doing what I love to do.

I’m leaving now. By the way, you really need to clean your monitor. There’s a big smudge on the lower right.

All about ME – how to write a Bestseller

Vicki here. I was listening to an interesting interview on CBC radio yesterday. They were talking about the increasing importance of memoirs in publishing. I’m sure you have noticed: walk into any bookstore and you can find the memories of self-important politicians (Hello S.P.), looking-to-blame-someone-else-soldiers (Hello General H.), tennis players, people who own dogs (like that’s unusual). Anything and everything. You don’t have to be rich and famous any more to write your autobiography, you just have to be self-important and the riches and fame will follow.

We all know by now that when James Frey wrote his novel A Million Little Pieces, no publisher showed an interest. He called it a memoir (i.e. said it was true) and a mega-star was born.

When Sylvia Plath wrote about her own experiences with mental institutions she fictionalized it and called it The Bell Jar. When Susanna Kaysen more recently wrote about her experiences, she wrote it as a memoir titled Girl Interruped and, again, mega-star status. Even a movie.

Aside from the point that people are more willing to reveal their secrets to anyone who will listen these days than in Plath’s time, it’s a lot more than the publishing biz driving these books.

It’s TV. Oprah and the rest don’t want to interview a fiction author. There is only so much they can talk about (where do you get your ideas?). Interview a memoirist however, and you can really get into the down and dirty about their secret habits, their families, their lives, their PROBLEMS. Remember how shocked SHOCKED!! and upset Oprah was to find out that Frey didn’t really live all that stuff in his book? Well she drove him, indirectly, to lie. He couldn’t get that book published without lying, and if he had found a publisher, Oprah wouldn’t have given him the time of day.

As for me, give me a good work of fiction anytime. A good novel tells a good story, about the world and the people who live in it without making it ALL ABOUT ME!

Guest Blogger: Charles Noland

I met today’s guest blogger at a book signing held in conjunction with a larger gala fundraiser for the Rochester chapter of Gilda’s Club. He took a path to publication many authors considered but few have attempted. It’s an inspiring story that shows what can be done if you believe in you work (and his books make a great gift for the kids in your life, too).

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The Road Less Traveled
By Charles Noland

As the author of a children’s chapter book series, The Adventures of Drew and Ellie, I am often asked—how long did it take you to find a publisher?

“Well,” I begin. “I only needed to look as far as the bathroom mirror.”

I’ve always been an avid reader and love getting drawn into one of those “I-can’t-put-it-down” novels of mystery and intrigue. But having grown up in a large family and then becoming an uncle more than twenty times over, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading children’s books too. Invariably I would often think, after setting one down, that I could’ve written it. That idea went on my mental list of things to do…someday.

My “someday” came in the early part of August, 2003. As I was reminiscing about two young children I had met months earlier, the idea and story for The Magical Dress just popped into my head. A few weeks later I presented a rough draft to some young children for their feedback. Encouraged with their positive comments, I decided to pursue publishing it. Never having done this before, I approached it the way my education in engineering taught me and that was to—research it.

Initially my findings were rather bleak, realizing that without an agent I wouldn’t get a publisher to look at me, and never having been published, I wouldn’t likely get an agent either. And, if I did manage to get my book published this way, the process could take years.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss and not knowing what I didn’t know, I plunged forward deciding to use a publishing service and gamble with a new technology called Printing-On-Demand. Heeding the advice I gathered from the Internet, I was careful about how much control I gave the publishing service and did most of the layout and design myself. By the time I got to my second book I was doing all the layout, design and editing. They merely needed to slap their logo and ISBN on it then send it off to the printer.

I should point out that my intention or motive for writing wasn’t just to be published but to convey stories that would teach children positive life lessons; stories that would inspire them to think and help them develop their creative problem-solving skills. It was also my hope that my books could be used for character development by teachers and parents.

It seemed that each step along this road prepared me for the next one, from the friendly account rep, who answered my 101 publishing questions; to the woman I met in Toastmasters who was running her own company. It was over lunch with her one day in 2005 that the most obvious question arose—since I was already doing most of it, why not do all of it and form my own publishing company? So with a leap of entrepreneurial faith, TMD Enterprises was born.

Along the way I was further encouraged by the book Inside the Bestsellers written by Jerrold Jenkins. In it, he profiles several famous authors that started by self-publishing and a couple even went on to form their own publishing companies.

TMD Enterprises suddenly gave me a lot more freedom and flexibility. Not only could I bring the price point of my books down, but there was still enough money left to donate a portion for a humanitarian cause and I started The Million Books Challenge™.

As I’ve progressed in knowledge and experience I’m now working on publishing books by other children’s authors. I’m even contemplating creating an imprint for adult books too.

So what would I tell a new author? Well, if your desire is just to get published then pursue it with vigor. But, if you have a message or story that you want to tell and it’s more important to get it to your readers, then consider the alternatives. No matter which road you choose, write with passion and believe in it! Also, it helps to surround yourself with people that believe in you, for those days when self-doubt tickles you.

Two tales worth mentioning before I close are about authors who were inspired to write merely for the reason of leaving something meaningful for their children—with no intention to publish it. They would even tell you that their success was purely accidental. In 1992 Richard Paul Evans wrote The Christmas Box for his daughters and it became the first self published book ever to make it to The New York Times Best Seller List. He eventually sold the rights for $4.2 million dollars. And in July of 2007, William Paul Young’s book The Shack was self published. What started out as a story for his six children, has now sold more than 8 million copies.

Accidental? I’m not sure. However, if you do anything with passion and belief, then success is just around the corner.