GUEST BLOGGER: NEIL PLAKCY

I am delighted that Neil agreed to be my guest blogger. He is a fine writer, and a genuinely nice guy. Here are his thoughts on...

Conferences and Conventions

A few years ago, when I was first breaking in to the mystery field, I asked a friend who had published a couple of novels about going to Bouchercon. I’d heard that it was a big deal in the mystery community, and wanted to know more about it.
“It’s not worth going to unless you can be on a panel,” she told me. “If you’re not on a panel then you can’t have a signing, and you can’t sell books.”

I didn’t know enough back then to realize the basic fallacy in this statement. Bouchercon is a convention for fans of the mystery. If you’re a reader, as I am, then there’s a place for you, even if you don’t have a book to promote. As a matter of fact, I think it’s more fun to go to a convention like Bouchercon if you’re not trying to sell a book. You can just hang out with other people who like the same kind of books you do, listen to your favorite authors on panels, and mingle with them at the cocktail hour. If you’ve got a book to push, conventions and conferences are a lot more like work.

There are two different kinds of events in the mystery world: conferences and conventions. Sleuthfest, for example, is a writer’s conference. The panels and presentations are geared around researching, writing and promoting mystery books. If you’re a fan, you might enjoy listening to your favorite authors talk about their craft; if you’re a writer, then they can be a great chance to hear from technical experts (coroners, detectives, gun guys, and so on) as well as get insights into character development, story structure and other points to improve your writing.
You might sell a few books at a writer’s conference—mostly to your friends, to the lady you sat at lunch with, or an aspiring writer who’s interested in your niche. But the big selling point is the chance to mingle with other writers, learn from the masters, and maybe even get some comments on a manuscript in progress.

At a fan convention, though, most of those in attendance will be readers—that most precious commodity to a writer. There are three big fan-based conventions, and the granddaddy of them all is Bouchercon, where there can be upwards of 1,000 attendees. Bouchercon moves around from year to year, organized by dedicated volunteers in each city. I started attending in 2005, in Chicago; it moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 2006 and then Anchorage, Alaska, in 2007. This fall, it will be in Baltimore. Because Alaska was so far for many people, B’con 2007 was relatively small, and word on the street is that Baltimore will be huge, because of all those who didn’t trek to Anchorage last year.

Left Coast Crime is another conference that moves around, though as its name indicates it’s focused on the west coast. This year’s was in Denver, and it was a well-run event, including things like a crime tour of Denver by bus and an extra day for skiing, if you wanted. Next year it will be on the Big Island of Hawaii, and that promises to be a lot of fun.

Malice Domestic, which celebrates the “traditional” mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie (though there’s always a wide range of authors there) is held every year in Arlington, Virginia in May. I went last year, and I couldn’t have asked for a warmer welcome. Even though my mystery series is a little harder-edged, the fans and the other writers were incredibly nice, and I felt welcomed from the moment I checked in.
Did I have a great time at these conferences just because I had that little word “author” on my name tag, and because I sold a couple of books? I don’t think so. I love reading mysteries, and have since I was a teenager devouring the collected works of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy L. Sayers and Erle Stanley Gardner. I was delighted not only to meet people who’ve read my books, but people who’ve read other books I have, and who’ve read books I want to read.
In short, if you’re a writer, especially one who isn’t published yet, you can’t lose by attending a writer’s conference. There are dozens around the country, many of them sponsored by local chapters of the Mystery Writers of America. And if you’re a mystery fan, then a convention is a chance to meet others who love the genre you do.

Neil Plakcy is the author of Mahu, Mahu Surfer, and Mahu Fire, mystery novels which take place in Hawaii. He is co-editor of Paws & Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog (Alyson Books, 2006) and editor of the gay construction worker erotica anthology, Hard Hats. A journalist, book reviewer and college professor, he is also a frequent contributor to gay anthologies. His website is http://www.mahubooks.com.

Claire Cook Book Group Giveaway!

Got this email from Claire and thought I'd pass it along...

My oh-so-generous publisher, Voice, has agreed to give advance copies
of my upcoming novel Summer Blowout (up to 20 copies) to one lucky book
club! The winning book club will also get a Summer Blowout phone chat
with the author – that’s me!

All you have to do is send an email with SUMMER BLOWOUT BOOK CLUB CONTEST in the subject line to claire@clairecook.com including:

Name of book club
Zip code of book club
Name and email address of book club leader
Names and email addresses of all book club members
Why Voice should pick YOUR book club. (Did your group just read
something seriously depressing and you could really use a good laugh? Has your
club read all my other books, and you’re just counting the days till
Summer Blowout comes out in June? Do you simply need a good reason to
get a new summer hairdo? Come on, have some fun, so I can post some of
your comments on my website!)

HURRY -- the deadline for entries is April 30!

Don't have a book club yet? Well, it just might be the perfect time to
start one! And thanks so much for forwarding this email to your friends
and family who already belong to book clubs.

He Wrote 200,000 Books (but Computers Did Some of the Work)
By NOAM COHEN

It’s not easy to write a book. First you have to pick a title. And then there is the table of contents. If you want the book to be categorized, either by a bookseller or a library, it has to be assigned a unique numerical code, like an ISBN, for International Standard Book Number. There have to be proper margins. Finally, there’s the back cover.

Oh, and there is all that stuff in the middle, too. The writing.

Philip M. Parker seems to have licked that problem. Mr. Parker has generated more than 200,000 books, as an advanced search on Amazon.com under his publishing company shows, making him, in his own words, “the most published author in the history of the planet.” And he makes money doing it.

Read this story in its entirety here: New York Times

Bible is America's favorite book

When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons."

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand."

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons."

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

Pulitzers

Fiction
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

History
What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815-1848, by Daniel Walker Howe

Biography
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, by John Matteson

Poetry
Time and Materials, by Robert Hass and Failure, by Philip Schultz

General Nonfiction
The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945, by Saul Friedlander

Tracy Letts won the drama prize for August: Osage County and Bob Dylan was given a special citation in music.

Laurie R. King Gives Books to Libraries!

In a celebration of National Library Week in mid-April, the Laurie R. King web site is giving away--to libraries--fifteen sets of the gorgeous Picador trade paperback editions of the first four novels in her Mary Russell series: The Beekeeper's Apprentice (included in the 100 favorite mysteries of the 20th century by the IMBA), A Monstrous Regiment of Women, A Letter of Mary , and The Moor. Readers of Laurie's blog and Virtual Book Club are being urged to nominate libraries, but there's no reason libraries can't nominate themselves.

Anyone interested should send their favorite library's name and address to info@laurierking.com with the subject: Libraries. The deadline for entering is April 15 at midnight, Pacific time, and the drawing will be conducted the next day.

2008 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

Fiction
A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

Nonfiction
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

Children's Literature
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

Children's Illustrated
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, by Mo Willems

GUEST BLOGGER: LEIGHTON GAGE

Leighton Gage is the author of The Silva Series, crime novels based in Brazil. His first book, Blood of the Wicked, has recently been published in the US. Gage has some interesting thoughts on reading...

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

How many fiction titles did you go through last year? If you’re reading this, it’s going to be more than one. For people who read the Bookbitch’s Blog, reading a book a year is nothing.

But for most people reading a book a year seems to be too much:

• 80% of American families didn’t buy or read a single book last year. The remaining 20% are classified as “regular readers”.
• Of all readers, only a little more than half read fiction.

So, if you haven’t already done so, give yourself a pat on the back. As a “regular reader of fiction”, you’re a member of an elite group that doesn’t exceed 10% of the U.S. population. And to be “a regular reader of fiction”, you only have to read a single book a year.

It gets worse. If you’re reading a book a month, you’re reading at what one scholar called a “hugely disproportionate” level. Sounds like an exaggeration, doesn’t it? Statistically, though, he’s right.

Here’s another statistic: the publishers approved by the Mystery Writers of America bring out, collectively, well over than 2,000 mystery/thrillers a year. If you add the smaller presses, and the authors who self-publish, the total goes up to at least 5,000, some say as many as 8,000 titles. It’s just one category, but it’s the biggest one, representing almost 20% of new fiction.

Many of those (at least) 5,000 books have been vetted by agents and/or editors. Many of their authors have survived a tortuous path to publication, sometimes after years of effort. At least a couple of hundred of those books are bound to be good books, books from writers I’d enjoy reading, or from whom I could learn something that will help me to polish my craft. But I wind up missing them, wind-up not reading them. It’s the old reader’s lament: too many books, too little time.

The book-a-year folks stick with the tried and true. They read new books from authors they’ve read before. But we, the “hugely disproportionate” minority, quickly run-out of “name” authors whose work we enjoy. And because we do, we’re the people who give new writers a chance at success.

Define success, you say? My definition doesn’t matter. What matters is how publishers define it. And they define it in terms of numbers. No writer can live on royalties from the sale of 5,000 books, but a publisher can survive, and sometimes survive very well, by bringing out many books that sell 5,000 copies each. That number brings most publishers safely beyond the breakeven point on the money they’ve invested on the majority of books from first-time authors.

What happens if a book sells 500 or a 1,000 copies? There are writers who’d be satisfied with that, at least for a first book. So they hold on to their day jobs. And that’s a wise thing to do, because the odds are they’re going to get dropped by their publisher.

As a newbie writer, I have an enormous amount of empathy for the folks who’ve traveled the same path as I have, but with less luck, and are falling by the wayside. They’re stuck in limbo with little chance of publishing a second book because they’ve been ambushed by the arithmetic.

If you, too, feel some empathy, here’s something you can do: Take a little extra time when next you visit your favorite bookstore. Have a closer look at the men and women whose names appear in a typeface smaller than the title of their work. Go out of your way to pick up one from someone you’ve never, ever heard of. Read a page or two. If you like it, buy it, read it, and donate it to your local library.

If your budget is limited, and you can’t afford to buy the book, make a note of the title and have a chat with your local librarian. Ask her if it was reviewed in Library Journal, in Publisher’s Weekly, in Kirkus, in Bookweek. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe they missed it. Maybe they’ll buy it.

One of the best ways to support a new author is to make sure she gets read. And that’s what libraries do. They circulate books among lots of readers, securing fans for the author. Indeed, I’ve heard it said that library editions are the best advertisements for an author’s work.

And I firmly believe it to be true.

ITW Thriller Awards Nominees

Nominees for the 2008 Thriller Awards, which are sponsored by International Thriller Writers and whose winners will be announced at the ThrillerFest Gala Banquet on July 12 in New York City, are:

Best Novel

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
The Watchman by Robert Crais (S&S)
The Ghost by Robert Harris (S&S)
The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz (Viking)
Trouble by Jesse Kellerman (Putnam)

Best First Novel

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell (Dutton)
Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover (Morrow)
From the Depths by Gerry Doyle (McBook Press)
Volk's Game by Brent Ghelfi (Holt)
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Morrow)

Best Paperback Original

The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco (Ballantine)
A Thousand Bones by P.J. Parrish (Pocket)
The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirilli (Bantam)
The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon (Pocket)
Shattered by Jay Bonansinga (Pinnacle)

I read two out of five of the Best Novels and didn't love either one.

The line seems to be blurring (again) between Thriller and Horror, with Joe Hill nominated here for Heart-Shaped Box, a horror novel. If you recall, ITW founder David Morrell won the Bram Stoker Award for best horror novel for his thriller, Creepers.

I love PJ Parrish and I was really thrilled for them last year when they won the Thriller Award for best paperback for An Unquiet Grave, which is definitely a mystery. So again, more blurring between mystery, which is what they write, and thriller. This nomination seems more appropriate to me, I have no trouble with A Thousand Bones being considered a thriller, but will this relatively new organization pick the same winner as last year in this category?

Things are definitely looking interesting for the Thriller Awards this year.

LEFT COAST CRIME
Guest Blogger: Becky LeJeune

As a 26-year-old self-proclaimed book junkie, I often read about other people’s convention experiences with green-eyed envy. Well no more! With Left Coast Crime being held right here in Denver, there was no way I could miss it. Despite my looming deadline at work and the fact that I don’t drive around Denver at all if I can help it, I brought along my ever-useful Nuvi and made my way to the Adam’s Mark hotel each morning with excitement and anticipation of what the day would hold.

Day one at Left Coast Crime and I spied Toni McGee Causey as soon as I walked in the building! I was much too shy to go introduce myself until later when she was signing, but I was totally stoked about recognizing my fellow Southerner right off the bat and it was, for me, the perfect start to my weekend.

That day I attended panels on the use of sidekicks in mysteries, Cozymania, comedy in mystery, and psychological thrillers. Some of the interesting topics that came up included the difference between thrillers and mysteries (the consensus was pacing and the why more than the who – mystery can allow for a slower pace and is usually concerned with whodunit while the psychological thriller has to keep a faster pacing and is concerned with the whydunit) and the use of labels - a topic that is very interesting to me as a former bookseller.

The second day at the convention I sat in on the Dicks with Baggage, Modern PI panel, the hilarious Sex and Violence panel, a cross-genre panel with a supernatural twist, a panel focused on historical mysteries, and finally the International Thriller Writers Thrills and Chills Panel.

Various points of discussion included the traditional versus the modern PI, whether there can be too much sex or violence in a book (a unanimous no amongst panelists who all agreed that as long as it is relevant and necessary to the story, there can never be too much), again, the label topic this time in regards to the ever-growing list of sub-genres specifically in regards to urban fantasy, what sparks interest in a historical author, and the methods used by the ITW authors when trying to keep you up all night.

Saturday’s panels included the two Mystery Writers of America panels on character and plot development. Thanks to JT Ellison who picked me out of the crowd for the character exercise, making me a woman from a broken home considering the use of a hit-man for husband elimination! It was an absolute blast. I also attended an “endless discussion” on tough broads with panelists Jeanne Stein, JT Ellison, Michelle Gagnon, Alexandra Sokoloff and Pari Noskin Taichert. I caught the tail end of the Authors on the Hot Seat panel in which Twist Phelan talked about her hilariously nightmarish signing experience.

Overall my first convention experience was fantastic. I walked away with some interesting bits of information and met some fantastic authors – Toni McGee Causey, Simon Wood, Laura Benedict, Marcus Sakey, Jeanne Stein, Mario Acevedo, Pari Noskin Taichert, JT Ellison, Michelle Gagnon, CJ Lyons, Laura Caldwell and many, many more. I bought a ton of books having had my interest piqued by many of the authors on the panels. It was a totally indulgent weekend for me and it definitely won’t be my last convention!

Pictures:

Alexandra Sokoloff in the Where do These Stories Come From (plot panel)

Michelle Gagnon and JT Ellison in the Tough Broads discussion









Pari Noskin Taichert and Jeanne Stein in the Tough Broads discussion

Pari Noskin Taichert in the Where do These People Come From (character panel)

GUEST BLOGGER: CJ LYONS

I am delighted to introduce CJ Lyons, whose fabulous new thriller, LIFELINES, hit bookstores everywhere on March 4.

Award-winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. She has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy and has worked in numerous trauma centers, as a crisis counselor, victim advocate, as well as a flight physician for Life Flight. Publisher's Weekly proclaimed her debut medical suspense novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), "a spot-on debut….a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" and Romantic Times made it a Top Pick. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Why all Librarians live in Heaven….

When I was a kid growing up, the biggest treat (aka bribe) my mom could offer me was a trip to the library. I loved our library, its solemn architecture, hushed atmosphere, it was like being invited into another world.

A world made even more delightful when my mother convinced the librarian that instead of the children's library card (which meant an adult had to okay your books and they could only come from the children's section) but at the ripe old age of ten, I was given the golden pass, the Disney E ticket, the keys to the kingdom….the coveted adult, free-range, choose all you can carry, library card!

I still remember the feeling of browsing those stacks of books towering so high over my head. And oh, the friends I found there! In mysteries there were: Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Frances and Richard Lockridge, Leslie Charteris, Josephine Tey, Ellery Queen (who, along with Archie Goodwin, I had a crush on).

Turn the corner and the science fiction section beckoned with the likes of Isaac Asimov (who I actually met once), Ray Bradbury (who I would love to meet!), Tolkien, Heinlein, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, and so many others.
And then, oh my, there was the fiction section. Tales of drama, family sagas, historicals (I was probably the only girl in school who read all seven of the Musketeer series), tales of intrigue, revenge, love, and loss….

Mom was lucky I left the library at all. To me it truly was heaven, even though the roof leaked, most of the books were old and falling apart, the floors sagged, and there was a strange black crud that crept over the ceiling and down the walls. Which is why years after I left home, our town replaced my library with a non-leaky, non-moldy, cold-hearted, brick edifice. Crisp, clean, modern, spacious—everything my library wasn't.

Except for one similarity. Inside there are still books waiting to invite children of all ages to other worlds and there are still their generous, kind-hearted guardians: librarians.

Somewhere along the line, I decided to create my own worlds and share them with others. And now with my first novel being released (on March 4th!!!), I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the librarians in all the libraries in all the cities I've lived in for their hospitality and nurturing of the written word.
Getting a library card is still the very first thing I do whenever I move to a new town—there's nothing like that thrill of heaving open the heavy doors (ever notice how all libraries have very heavy doors?) and stepping into a world of possibilities!
And now those possibilities include my own novel, LIFELINES!!! What a dream come true!

How have libraries and librarians changed your world? I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading,
CJ

PS: for any librarians (or anyone!) wanting to learn more about LIFELINES, feel free to visit my website, http://www.cjlyons.net

Guest Blogger: THEO GANGI

Theo Gangi is a new author - his first book, BANG BANG, came out in November.

A fan of Elmore Leonard, Theo shares his thoughts...

REUNITED

I’ve never tried to hide how much my favorite crime writer, Elmore Leonard, has influenced my writing. Up until I began reading him, I was struggling to figure out how to reconcile the diversity of my characters and style. I wanted to pull people in from all over the urban/ethnic landscape, so watching Leonard do it with such ease gave me hope I could do it too.

I have to pace myself with reading him—monogamy might work with relationships, but not with books. Though I don’t mind how my influence has been recognized by some of the reviews for Bang Bang, such as Mystery Scene Magazine referring to me as “The hip hop Elmore Leonard,” I’ve got to be careful to preserve my own voice.

It had probably been close to a year since I read one of his books. I’d found myself in a book rut, jumping restlessly from title to title—speed dating, as it were. Tried them out, had a couple laughs, but nothing worth committing to. Then I found a copy of Leonard’s Touch on a downtown bookseller table for two dollars. It was an old mass market Avon copy from the 80’s with those great noir covers featuring the props used in the novel—a bottle of Thunderbird, the Detroit Free Press, cash, incense, panties and a revolver on a red satin sheet. I bought it just for the cover and began leafing through on the way home.

Then I got hooked. Touch jumped to the top of my stack. I didn’t plan it, it just happened.

This book might not be what you’d expect from a crime writer. Touch is the story of Juvenal, a man afflicted with the stigmata who bleeds from Christ’s wounds and works as an AA counselor. As often happens in Leonard’s novels, the schemers/other characters figure out very creative ways to make money off of Juvenal, mostly involving the public viewing of Juvenal’s ability to heal people. The treasure hunt in this book is Juvenal himself, a would-be saint who falls in love like a teenager and is as nice to the drunks as he is to the right wing fanatics trying to cash in off of him.

An overall great read, impossible to put down, and, as always, makes you see people in a new and interesting light. Leonard’s plotting is remarkable– the tumbling, organic sense that his books are living as you read them. Leonard was known to claim he wrote his books to see how they ended, and as you read him, his stories have the organized chaos of a Charlie Parker solo, the improvisations of a master of form.

As a reader, I try to get a really diverse sample of the writing out there—in and out of crime fiction. But when the party starts, sometimes you’ve got to dance with the one that brung you.

Oprah Offers Free Download

Oprah Winfrey announced a free downloadable version of Suze Orman's bestselling book WOMEN & MONEY (published a year ago by Spiegel & Grau) is available at Oprah.com today and tomorrow through 5 pm Pacific time only. The PDF file is offered in both English and Spanish versions, and the site includes this message: "This book is copyrighted. You may view and download the file, but you may not copy the file or share or forward it to any other person."

Orman was featured on today's show, helping out a family in financial crisis.

The publisher notes "this represents the first time Ms. Winfrey has offered an entire book for free to her viewing audience."

Oprah download page

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got an email from the Internet team at Harlequin Romance that I thought I'd share...

>> We thought we would give you some advance notice about a special Valentine's Day gift from Harlequin that might be of interest to BookBitch readers. On February 14th, we are giving a free download of the eBook mini “Valentine's Wedding Dress” by bestselling author Sherryl Woods at www.ebooks.eharlequin.com

James O. Born is insane, but in a good way...

...and he makes me laugh.

Check it out:

Pneumatics and Mnemonics with James O. Born