#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
Many thanks to Bill Crider, who pointed me to this interesting and detailed article about Donald Hamilton’s MATT HELM books and how they compare to Dean Martin’s silly, swinging MATT HELM spy parodies. The article doesn’t examine the strangest twist in the page-to-screen saga of Matt Helm…when he became a private eye in a short-lived TV series starring Tony Franciosa.
Yesterday on this blog, I refered to a post by Richard Wheeler lamenting the demise of the western. According to an article syndicated by the Associated Press, the Science Fiction genre is also fighting for survival. They talk to author James Gunn, who heads the University of Kansas’ Center for the
Study of Science Fiction…
…which he started in 1982 as an extension of
the writers’ workshops he conducted and courses he taught to teachers looking to add science fiction to their lesson plans. These days, he and the center are gearing up for a new mission – to save science fiction, itself.
…The economics and social shift Gunn and his supporters face are daunting, however.
Andrew Grabois, director of publisher relations at Bowker, said the combined science fiction/fantasy category published 3,197 new titles last year and sold $484.8 million, its highest total in three years.
That’s dwarfed by romance novels, which sold $1.6 billion last year, and is even behind the production of mystery writers, who cranked out 4,181 new titles in 2004.
…Gunn, who considers "Star Wars" closer to a fairy tale than science fiction, says there’s less room these days for what he calls the "mid-level" books that may not sell as well but contain the most imaginative and thought-provoking writing.
"(Science fiction) has to change to remain relevant," he said."That’s harder to do today because the best seller needs to have broad appeal, so they’re less likely to be on the cutting edge. You need that to drive the genre forward."
It seems that every genre, with the exception of Romance, feels threatened with extinction. And yet Romance Writers, whose works outpace the sales of mysteries, scifi and westerns combined, complain (and rightly so) that they get no critical respect or recognition despite the enormous commercial popularity of their work.
The moral of this story? Writers are never happy.
Author Penny Warner writes in the Contra Costa Times today about her experience at the California Writer’s Club conference in L. A. last weekend… which I also attended. The event was held at a convent in San Fernando and many of the attendees actually spent the weekend there (and had to remember to return their towels to one of the club volunteers, who brought them from home). Here are some of my favorite excerpts from her column, which was in the form of a diary…
3 p.m. — Check itinerary. Hotel not open until five. Try sightseeing, see only
strip malls, graffiti walls, bail bonds, Taco Bell, Arby’s, IHOP….4 p.m. — Give up sightseeing, go to hotel, pray they will let us in early
for nap before conference. Discover "hotel" is actually a convent, with
religious statues, tolling bells, and nuns on wheels (golf carts?). Mother
Superior, who runs the office, is firm about check-in time, which is now 6 p.m.
instead of 5. Am I being punished?4:30 p.m. — Search neighborhood for place to take nap in rental car. Not
possible in L.A. Return to convent and park in shady spot near Jesus statue. Nun
shows up to check if we’re vagrants. Swear on Bible we aren’t. Tom naps. I keep
an eye out for more nuns on wheels.8 p.m. — Sneak out before "Senior Poetry Slam." Go to room. No key required.
Doors have no locks. So much for romantic interlude. Turn on single light bulb
and remove lampshade to read in semi-darkness. Drift to sleep hoping for
contagious disease so can go home.
That was day one. On day two, when I happened to be present…
Noon — Lunch cooked and served by nuns. Plain chicken, plain rice, plain
veggies, plain salad. No dessert. (Being punished?). Dig out Reese’s Peanut
Butter Cups from purse. Wolf them.2 p.m. — Give another talk on mystery writing with Tom Sawyer ("Murder She
Wrote") and Lee Goldberg ("Diagnosis Murder"). Twelve people attend.
The volunteers were nice, and their intentions were good, but it was a poorly organized and sparsely attended event. I have to say that, after being disappointed with the last few conferences/events I’ve participated in, I’ve decided I am going to be a lot more selective about accepting speaking invitations in the future.
Think of this as a companion piece to the "Day in the Life" post here a few days back. Author Harley Jane Kozak talks today about money, contracts, and the work-a-day life of a writer.
I was offered a contract this week. Actually, I was offered two. After a year of writing “on spec” as we say in Hollywood, that was pretty exciting news. It’s not that I made no money this past year; there were those first two books, and I still get residuals for the acting work I did in my previous life (another six bucks for that 1986 Highway to Heaven episode) but it’s safe to assume that I spent a lot more than I took in. Would that I could say the same about calories.
So, when I sold a short story to Ms. Magazine, and was offered a two-book deal from Doubleday on the same day, I called my husband at work to tell him the good news.
“Great!” he said. “How much?”
I told him.
Silence on the other end of the phone.
I could hear him mentally dividing the book advance by two (two books in two years), then subtract taxes and agent’s fee, then add up babysitting costs, marketing and promotion . . .
“Can you ask for more?” he asks.
My sister-in-law Wendy Duren has teamed up with fellow romance novel fan HelenKay Dimon to launch Paperback Reader, a blog born out of "our collective frustration about the seeming unwillingness of some reviewers to
write and post honest reviews of romance books." They write:
We complained for awhile on our individual blogs about how even slight
criticism of a romance novel touched off rants from everyone in the community
because you just don’t speak ill of romance novels and ruin the united front.
We should all agree that’s ridiculous. Reading romance doesn’t mean you leave
common sense and good taste aside. Then, we had an idea (Wendy had the idea,
actually) – why not give it a try. Show that we can write reviews about romance
books that are aimed at informing readers as well as giving constructive
feedback to authors. Are we always right? Well, no. These things are
subjective. These are our opinions and, frankly, there will be times when we
don’t agree with each other.
Sounds like fun. But HelenKay recognizes they may not be greeted warmly at first by the romance writers.
Now, this is risky. The general mood in the romance community seems to be that
it is wrong to even hint that there may be an imperfect romance novel out there
somewhere. The thought process is: if we admit some books aren’t as great as
others we’ll never get respect as a genre. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Which is exactly why a blog like Paperback Reader is such a good idea. Wendy says:
You’ll never see
either of us rain condemnation down on a book because we don’t like the hero’s
hair color or because the heroine makes birth control choices that are different
from our own. We will save the
condemnation for the clichés too much of the genre limps by on.
The first book up for review is Jennifer Crusie’s BET ME.
Alison Kent reports that the Romance Writers of America are suspending their "graphical standards" rules. The new rules would have, among other things, forbid the organization or any of its chapters from linking to any author or publisher websites that displayed the words cock,
cocksucker, cunt, fuck, motherfucker, shit and tit or featured bookcovers that showed images like a hand on a breast, an exposed female nipple, or g-string clad buttocks (which would have ruled out my author photo).
In a special phone call board meeting, RWA’s Board of Directors met to
discuss the Graphical Standards policies. The Board of Directors enacted the
following motions:1. The Graphical Standards have been temporarily suspended.
2. A Graphical Standards Ad Hoc Committee will be formed to seek
out membership input and investigate when, where and how such standards
might
be applied, with a report due to the RWA Board no later than September
1, 2005.
How about IF such graphical standards should be applied at all? It’s hard to believe that the RWA board is actually comprised of writers. They shouldn’t just scrap the rules…they should scrap the committee. Come to think of it, they should scrap the board members who thought these rules were a good idea in the first place.
UPDATE: The folks at Smartbitches take issue with an "inspirational romance writer" who doesn’t get what all the ruckus is about.
I wandered into a used bookstore in Ventura today and was delighted to find a handful of Clifton Adams westerns in mint condition…and for only a buck or two apiece. My finds were A NOOSE FOR DESPERADO (a spare copy, since I already have one in not nearly as fine condition), THE LAST DAYS OF WOLF GARNETT, HARD TIME BUNCH and BADGE AND HARRY COLE. Ed Gorman and Bill Crider have both recommended Adams, and particularly the two DESPERADO books, to me before, so I’m glad to add these to my collection.
When I got home, I was pleased to discover that several Harry Whittington books I’d won in various ebay auctions had arrived… they included DRAWN TO EVIL, HEAT OF NIGHT, LISA (written under the pseudonym Hallam Whitney) and GODS BACK WAS TURNED.
I also finished reading JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL and I heartily recommend it. The 800 pages just fly by… as if by magic.
Here’s the cover for the sixth DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel, which will be out in February 2006. The cover quote at the top, which is the same one they used for DM #5: THE PAST TENSE (which will be out this August) will change. They will be using one from Janet Evanovich instead.
I started writing the second MONK book today…and whenever I get stuck, which is about every five minutes, I glance at the just-arrived cover of MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE to remind myself that I’ve been in this exact same situation before. That’s one reason why I keep a few of my published books, and the tentative covers, amidst the mess on my desk…as little visual and tactile reminders that whatever creative woes I am experiencing today I have experienced before and not to lose confidence. All that whining aside, what do you think of the cover?