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Jersey Jack
New Jersey Shore
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Congratulations on the 20th novel. Sounds like a howl.
Hair and Goals
Jeff Cohen And so it begins. It's good to have a goal, something to shoot for in most aspects of life. Right now with my hair just beginning to grow back, I'm setting hair goals. I think the first--and I should be able to achieve this fairly quickly--will be the Joe Girardi. That's doable, ri...
Very thoughtful and important piece, M.J.
The Writer as Willy Loman
“I've been told, Tweet, Facebook, MySpace, blog, use all the free tools and use them all the time... I've been wondering how people write here and write there and still write books. I've been working on a balance but I feel like I'm not putting enough of my time in my books when I'm here and not...
You wonder if there will be ANY bookstores in 20 years. This trip on the airplane, I saw more than two dozen Kindles in the airport and on the plane. More Kindles than books on the plane. I was shocked.
Notes from the Bookselling Front
Robin Agnew The other night, the store hosted our monthly book club. We had a nice and detailed discussion of Alan Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Two of the women were already reading book two. Towards the end I got up to answer the phone and a couple of the women started t...
Not disagreeing, Pepper, but it's also true the most common way into history is soldiering. Joan of Arc helps make both our points, I think.
Strong women
I’m female and most people would probably categorize me as a strong woman… not all of them meaning that as a positive thing, of course. But still, it’s a concept I’m pretty comfortable with. Never been a big concern of mine when picking out my reading, though. Admittedly, I don’t go much for boo...
I'm reading Larson right now and enjoying it very much, but his craft makes the writing remote. Lots of authorial intrusion. POV hopping in the same scene. Passages of background like a magazine article. But the story's good, and "The Girl" is a fabulous character. Sometimes I think nobody notices craft but a certain kind of writer, but maybe these translations add to the remoteness, and that's what's been bothering you.
A foreign country
I think I’m about to make myself unpopular again, but what the heck, I’m a big girl, I can take the flak. Translated crime fiction seems to have been all the rage for a few years now, at least here in the UK. I keep finding well-known authors who list it among their favourite reads. The CWA f...
I'm on page 72 of A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION, and I can tell everyone Jeff is a funny man who writes clever novels with lots of laughs. The mystery is also wonderful, and though I can't be sure, I think the missing Sharon just might be connected to the plumbing problem in Elliot's theater. I know it's a longshot, but I have this hunch.
Go Yankees!
Swimming Against the Tide
Jeff Cohen Things I Love That Other People Hate 1. Black-and-white movies: What the heck is the problem with seeing something that might have been made before CGI? Was there Shakespeare before Leonardo di Caprio and Clare Danes? When Ted Turner colorized some of the MGM catalog, did young people...
I think the problem has been, and always will be, combining mystery with humor. The artist is torn -- Do I play for thrilling or funny? A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION tries hard, and is clearly the best cover.
With the new one, at least they can play up the female protag, put (like every urban fantasy novel I've seen this year) a leggy, attractive woman on the cover. Also, you've got the creepy Victorian mansion to work with, maybe ghosts peeking out an upstairs window.
This is going to be your favorite cover, I bet.
Ms. Copperman. :-)
Pulling Up the Covers
Jeff Cohen You'll forgive me if I don't use the old "don't judge a book by its cover" adage here. Because this week, I'm thinking about covers. Book covers. Real book covers. I have always (for seven years now=always) had a rather ambivalent attitude toward the covers of my books. While I like...
Did somebody complain about my Speedo?
Don't forget the lipstick
PJ Nunn I was browsing some professional journals the other day and came across something that bears repeating in Forbes (for the life of me, I’m not sure why I find some of these things in Forbes but it keeps happening so go figure). It was an article about how to maintain a professional appear...
Did you like the book?
The Long, Strange, Mysterious Trip that is Thomas Pynchon's INHERENT VICE
A Thomas Pynchon novel's not supposed to be read in a single sitting. And yet, with one large interruption to attend a tribute for Donald Westlake at Mysterious Bookshop Tuesday night, that's precisely what I did with INHERENT VICE, gulping down the raggedy narrative and colorful, off-kilter pro...
It's a conspiracy! Even the FBI is taking shots at us. "An FBI official called corruption 'a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state,'" the Associated Press said.
Of course, 130 public officials pleading guilty or being convicted of corruption in the last eight years does bring some bad publicity.
Does North Dakota even have 130 public officials?
The Middle Child Syndrome
Jeff Cohen Business first: If you happen to be in the vicinity of Broadway tomorrow evening, I'd urge you drop by the very funny and wonderfully performed Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, not only because it's a riotous take on Big Al's classic, but also because yours truly will be hosting a "Hi...
I don't want to be a vampire because I like food too much, but maybe us nice guys could get together once a month and discuss ways to improve our situation. Trade tips on being cruel, disrespectful, and dangerous, work on our insults. If I do the dishes one more time, I'm afraid my wife's going to leave me.
Fangs, But No Fangs
Jeff Cohen The bottom line is: I'm sick of vampires. When I was a kid (back when dinosaurs ruled the earth), vampires were scary. They were beasts. They were things you were supposed to be afraid of, to run out of the room when one was near, to fight with stakes and crosses and light and garlic...
Wish I'd read this post four years ago, PJ.
Make this part of your seminar. Call it, "BEFORE YOU GET PUBLISHED"
Mistakes authors make Pt. 2
PJ Nunn To continue the thoughts that I started with last week, here are a few more common things I deal with as a publicist these days. Authors who: 5. Listen to bad advice Let me clarify this one first, because it’s certainly not something anyone would do on purpose. And to be fair, many times...
Hard work doesn't always equal results. Too bad some clients don't get it. You rock, PJ.
One Hot Summer Night
PJ Nunn It's not a dark and stormy night, but still I’m reminded of many fictional interludes that represent the hot, summer night I’m sitting in just now. My a/c unfortunately decided to freeze up late yesterday. I thought it was a broken thermostat, which we attempted to replace throughout th...
Randy Newman wrote that song about a very specific, nasty little troll named Clive Davis, who is one of the most successful music guys in there is. Your theory, uh...falls short.
The Long and Short of It
Jeff Cohen For years now, I've been trying to crack the code of publishing success. Why do some authors become household names, while others (who sometimes but not always seem to write just as well) labor in obscurity when they are paid to labor at all? I've wracked my brain on the subject, w...
Hey, PJ, wasn't the Dallas area underwater last year at this time, too? Are floods an annual event?
What do authors need? Mostly hugs. It's a cruel world.
What a week!
PJ Nunn Wowzer, what a week! Seems ages since I've been here with you. It started when my son went into the hospital with what I thought was just another episode with infection causing his blood sugar levels to go amok, but ended up being meningitis and giving us all quite a scare. He's home now...
Some authors think I'm nuts, but librarians can be as helpful as booksellers, especially for us newbies. Thanks for the list.
Who Needs Crystal Balls When You’ve Got Frog?
by Barbara Poelle In yoga yesterday we were in this position that was so painful I think I may have time-traveled for a second. No really, I think that when your calf muscle actually separates from your shin bone, it opens a space/time continuum and I slipped right through it like I was lath...
I will, I won't, I will, I won't. You sound like my last date.
Friend Me, Friend You
Jeff Cohen I'm not discriminatory in most cases, but I feel like I have to have some guidelines in certain areas, and among these is the people whom I will contact about becoming "friends" on Facebook. I know some authors feel it's best to invite everybody (you can never have enough contacts wh...
Watched Thelma & Louise again last night. Not a mystery, of course, but interesting to see the cop as a well-intentioned antagonist, trying to stop the disaster.
No Villain Need Be
(with thanks to Elizabeth Linington, whose title I have borrowed for this post; and to Lexi Revellian, for suggesting the topic) The subject of the "bad guys" in mystery fiction has come up. I think we all spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a good protagonist, as well as a good suppo...
Thanks for sharing, Ms. B. Words escape me.
Blast From the Past
by Barbara Poelle Husband read this entry before I posted it and advised me to begin this entry with: Warning. The following content may not be suitable for some. Reader discretion is advised. At BEA I was on a panel and I also heard roughly 45-50 pitches in 2 hours. (Do the math. Then have a s...
Chandler never sent me to the dictionary in the middle of a story, a trip no reader should have to make.
China Mieville and the Conundrum of Crime Fiction
Over at John Scalzi's site, China Mieville contributes a guest essay on crime fiction, a genre he's tried out - very successfully, I might add, as did Denise Hamilton at the LA Times - with his new novel THE CITY AND THE CITY, which is published today. The essay tackles what too often is a big p...
I wish all your wishes come true, PJ. You are a special lady.
If wishes were nickels...
PJ Nunn If wishes were nickels...then we’d all be rich… It’s been a wishy week for me. I’m not the sort who indulges in wishes very often, but every once in a while, I wish: I could turn back time The one callback I’ve waited for all day wouldn’t come when I finally dashed to the bathroom ...
Billy Elliott. Go ahead and say it.
Subjectivity Just Means You're Wrong
By Barbara Poelle Last week Husband and I went to a highly-lauded Broadway show which boasted Tony winners and a captivating story. The house was full and so was my belly, so I settled happily in my chair to enjoy an evening on the town with some high quality entertainment seated next to my hand...
The Doc's right. Focus on writing the very best book you can. It's the only thing you can control.
THE DOCTOR IS IN
Hi, Dr. Sue – I’m an aspiring novelist who’s been working a long time learning how to write fiction. I’ve got the usual “first novel set aside” and I keep working. But my self-confidence has slipped lately. I attended a conference with an agents and editors panel. Someone asked what they’re loo...
Hey, lady, the absolute, number one way to steal from a supermarket is to walk out eating the food. Page two of Street Survival, 101. Let me see that receipt!
Springtime Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
By Barbara Poelle Well, I snapped at the security guy at Whole Foods. Totally justified, though. See, the thing is, you fight 7000 people to get to the frakin’ albacore tuna salad and then you stand in line for 6 or 7 hours in the check out, so by the end, simply putting your wallet away burns ...
I agree that we are artists, but our words don't have life without readers. We must think of them when we write, not just our own visions.
And as an editor, I must say when most new writers ask for a critique, they don't really want one. They seek only confirmation of their talent.
The Courage of Your Convictions/The Commercialization of Everything
There is a conversation going on over at Murdurati that is interesting to me for what no one is talking about. In short it's about an unpublished author ignoring the advice of a bestseller over a lunch and getting defensive about her work when the bestseller tries to point out what might be wr...
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