My Blog

Diversity or Die

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Mysteries have  thrived, author Richard Wheeler says, because the
authors, editors, and packagers have embraced diversity and allowed the genre to evolve in new directions. But westerns are dying because editors and packagers refuse to let the genre evolve…even if it means deceiving readers.

No
subgenres were allowed to flourish nor were any unorthodox stories
packaged truthfully. The packaging was often a lie, intended to deceive
the buyer. The novel might be a mining camp story about a gambler, but
the cover would be a cowboy with a gun. The novel might feature an
Indian warrior opposing western expansion, but the cover would likely
be a cowboy with a gun.

It’s a shame, because I think a lot of people who enjoy dark, gritty, mysteries would also embrace westerns if they could see past the cowboy covers (and they can’t). The westerns I’ve been reading lately are as noir as it gets (like Ed Gorman’s WOLF MOON and H.A. DeRosso’s GUN TRAIL). Scott Phillips’ COTTONWOOD, if it had been creatively and aggressively marketed, could have drawn noir lovers into the western fold…but, sadly, that didn’t happen.

I think the answer is to scrap the cowboy covers altogether. Aggressively market westerns not as westerns, but as novels. Forget they are westerns altogether. Banish the cover cliches of the genre…and reach for something different,  images and designs that reflect the tone of the book and the unique story being told. 

 

The Mail I Get

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I got this long, rambling email today.  Here are parts of it (I’ve removed the title of the book as a courtesy):

I am curious. As a published author myself, ("XYZ" Available at
http://www.lulu.com/XYZ and in stores in September) I was under the
belief that derivative works are the copywriter of the orginating copyright
holder. That basically Atlantis ASV belongs to Amblin/Universal
Entertainment. So my question is this: being the writer of seaQuest (which by
the way I happened to like, althought the final season was
disapointing)i found it odd that you gave them permission to continue with
their copyright infringment…

.. I am in the process of creating a similar work on the world in which
‘XYZ’  takes place. It will deal with animosities from a regime
change and a country that patrols the seas. The ships will be similar to
seaQuest (actually to the tech difference they are actually closer to Deep
Angel). Since my work is for profit, I don’t want to appear like I am
palagrising seaQuest, its derivatitve Atlantis or Deep Angel...

…So to wrap this long winded question: Where would you draw the line. How far
from preexisting story do I have to be to outside your window?

Here is how I replied. No offense intended, but you are a self-published author… that
is very different than being a "published author." That said, the rights to
SEAQUEST belong to Universal Television/Amblin. I didn’t give anyone permission
to do derivative works based on the series, nor could I, because SEAQUEST
doesn’t belong to me. 

 
The author of Atlantis can’t publish and sell his work without getting a
license from Universal, otherwise he faces the likelihood of legal action
against him by the studio. If your book is based on SEAQUEST, you would presumably face the
same risk.

I got this email from him in reply:

Thank you for your response. I know that the publishing world
mostly considers self publishing to be ‘vanity’ publishing. That don’t
bother me. And no it isn’t. My sub can fly in space because the tech level
of the world is more Babylon 5/Star Trek than seaQuest.

Huh? I have no idea what he’s talking about. I didn’t reply to this one, because it would obviously be a waste of time. But I find it fascinating that his  frame of reference for his original work is the technology of other science fiction TV shows (or fanfic based on the TV shows). What is the "tech level" of BABYLON 5 vs  STAR TREK vs SEAQUEST Fanfic? And why would anyone care? If you’re writing an original sf novel, it exists in its own world, the one you’ve created.

“Pseudo-Psycho-Fiction”

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I got this email today. It’s so, um, unique that the only way to do it justice is to reprint it in full.

Dear Mr. Golberg,

If you don’t delete this e-mail like I probably would,
I would like to ask you a question.

I have just completed my first book.
I Started this project with absolute unhappiness concerning a turn of events in
our society, and my idea to write about that unhappiness was helped along with
the encouragement of a friend of mine, and now it is a book. My original
intention was to do what the book suggests, but I found myself 1-million dollars
short of it happening.

To make a long story short, I was beyond words
unhappy with the unsettled massacre of Nicole Brown Simpson, and her boyfriend,
Ronald Goldman. I have written what I believe is the closest thing the world
will ever appreciate concerning justice in this matter.

I of course do
not know what your opinion of this matter is. You may think O.J. Simpson is
innocent. If that is the case, please stop reading this e-mail now, and continue
having a great life.

If on the other hand, you feel like I do…that
this injustice should not be forgotten, then continue reading. I have written a
book that is about 99% complete. It may have some subtle redundancies, and need
some fine-tuning, but I have worked over a year and a half on this book…24-7.
I usually got up at 3:00 am to go into work early to complete it, to my soon to
be ex-wifes angst. I guess few people understand writers…nuff said.

I
just do not know what to do with it. I understand your writing skills, and I
believe you understand obscure fiction. I have just ordered a copy of your book,
"The Walk" and I am sure from the description I have read that you are one of
the few people who may understand my writing style. I have recently submitted my
manuscript to LULU.com for self-publishing.

My question is this; I do not
have the resources to find a literary agent at this time, and I want this book
to be published before O.J. dies, which would in essence be a tragedy as far as
the book is concerned. Can you suggest a literay agent to me that I may offer my
manuscript to that would appreciate this form of vigilante justice? It is
pseudo-psych0-fiction, and hard to explain. I would be honored to send you my
entire book to take a look at if you so desire. I guarantee you you will not be
bored.
Thanks for your time.

Why do I get emails like this? I have to say, I am a loss as to how to respond to this one. Any suggestions?

Hypocrisy 101

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Robin Reid writes Real People Slash fanfic — fictional stories about real people having homosexual  sex (like, say Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio) and posts it on the Internet.  She doesn’t think it might be offensive or embarrassing to the real people involved or to their  spouses, children, family and friends.  Nor does she care. 

On the other hand, Robin thinks that quoting her biography, the one she posted publicly on the JACK website, is an invasion of her privacy and harassment. Honest to God. I’m not making this stuff up:

Luckily I’m a great big girl with tenure and academic freedom and publication
credit of my own, and I do not think anything that they are putting on the
internet about me is going to cause me problems. I’m pretty much "out" in major
ways on my campus mostly through the medium of my academic writing. My
department hired me, tenured me, and supports Academic Freedom, bless their
collective hearts.

However, I want to state that in principle what Lee and Paul Ziggy and Co.
are doing is invasion of privacy and harassment, simple and clear.

Let me see if I have this straight. Writing a story about two real people having sex and distributing it on the Internet isn’t an invasion of privacy or harassment… but quoting a publicly posted biography is.  Can someone please explain her "principles" to me? Because I don’t get it.

(Thanks to "Anonymous" for the heads-up).

Am I Blushing?

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I’m flattered to say that Ed Gorman has given THE PAST TENSE, the latest DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel, a rave review on his blog.

Goldberg’s sardonic voice informs every scene and that’s what makes his people
work…This is Lee Goldberg’s best Diagnosis Murder novel yet. Serious when it needs to
be-and he does have a lot of wry things to say about LA-but unflaggingly
entertaining all the way through. I’m looking forward to the next one, THE DEAD
LETTER, which is previewed in the back of this book. And yes, in case I
didn’t mention it, he can plot with the best of them.

You can see the rest on his blog, where he also heaps praise on Terrill Lee Lankford’s newest novel (as have author James Reasoner and critic David Montgomery).

Thank you, Ed!

Be Careful What You Blog About…

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The anonymous ex-editor-turned-literary agent at the Agent 007 Blog warns authors to be very careful what you blog about.

if you’re using your real name, don’t blog about your struggles to find an
agent, or your agent’s struggles to find you a publisher, or even your struggles
to get published by the New Yorker (unless you’re
really really funny about it).

Agents and editors can Google search,
too, and before we sign you, we usually do. It can be so hard to feel the
love when we read that you’ve already been rejected fifty times. We know it
happens, but we don’t need to know that it happened to you. And we certainly
won’t feel comfortable sending your work to editors with that kind of info so
readily available.

So what should you be writing about? All your success. Kind of hard to do if you haven’t had any yet, but I guess the message is… don’t whine. Unless you already ARE a success, and then it’s okay.

For those of you like SnarkSpot
who have already arrived in the publishing world, however, we welcome your
stories of struggle. They remind us that the road is long, but the destination
is so worth it.

Why Don’t Authors Smile?

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My sister Linda Woods took a tour of mystery & thriller author websites the other day and wonders…

Why did the author choose that photo for his home page?! Is looking mysteriously constipated a sales tool nobody told us about? Does being successful mean you can’t look happy about it? Does smiling make you less cool, less smart, less reliable?

So I pulled down some mysteries and thrillers off my shelf and did a casual survey of author photos. And my sister is right. The majority of authors try to look as grim and tough (okay, constipated) as the heroes they write about. The only consistently smiling faces I could find were women authors  like Sue Grafton, Elizabeth George and Denise Hamilton, even though they are writing about tough characters, too.

The only smiling guys I could find were Steve Cannell (if you were as happy, rich and successful as he is, you’d be smiling all the time, too) and Carl Hiaasen (but that’s because he writes comic thrillers). On some, it depends on the book they are writing.

Parkerhappy Judging by his author photos, Robert ParkerParkerdog_1 is happy to be writing westerns and Jesse Stone novels…but would rather be walking his dog that writing a Spenser novel.

Tjparker On the other hand, my friend T.J. Parker seems to get Tjparkerhappy happier with each book…and his increasing paychecks. In his next author photo, expect a grin from ear-to-ear.

Coben1 Coben2 And take a look at Harlan Coben. The way things are going, in his next book, he’ll have fangs.

I know what you’re thinking…Lee is going through his books looking at author photos? Why is he wasting time doing that?

Why do you think?

Yeah, writing’s not going too well today, but it’s only 10:30, there’s still time.

Read more

Please Curb Your Realtor

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E8bdbacf72034d35969af9a590135dd3 My sister has been finding a realtor’s droppings on her front porch and she doesn’t like it:

At least once a week a shady looking character leaves her promotional crap at my front door.  Kim, if you’re reading this, and I am sure you might be because you’re probably the type of person who checks her site stats hourly, I’LL NEVER HIRE YOU TO SELL MY HOUSE. I WILL, HOWEVER, BE LEAVING VISUAL CHRONICLES POSTCARDS, BOTTLE CAPS AND MAGNETS ALL OVER YOUR FRONT DOOR. SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT.

You go girl!

(That’s a picture of the realtor, not my sister, by the way)

A Screenwriter’s Process

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TV Writer Paul Guyot is about to start writing a pilot on a 12-day deadline…but before he gets started, he shares the details of his writing process. It’s fascinating…unique…and familiar all at the same time. Every writer has their rituals…here’s what Paul does if he hits a wall:

I’ll give myself usually no more than a few hours of "stop time" then I jump back in. In a new location, new clothes – yes I’ll actually change clothes – and hopefully with new energy.

I have a different ritual.  I take off all my clothes, sit naked in front of the computer, and work on some Real People Slash M-Preg Fanfic for an hour or two.