To Review or Not?

by Marlyn Beebe.

I've often been asked what I look for when I review a mystery. At first, I thought there was no way for me to do that, because my decision depends on how I feel about a book.

But let me try to take you through my process and see what happens.

When I receive a book (from a publisher/author/PR firm), the first thing I do is decide whether I want to read it. If it’s a mystery, chances are good that I will. Of course it’s important that the book be well-written: if the book is filled with grammatical errors, I’m probably not going to get past the first chapter.

Another thing that turns me off is a large number of characters, especially if they are similar. Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express each have a dozen or more passengers who figure in the story, but their names and occupations vary enough that there’s minimal confusion.
If a story requires a large number of characters that could be mixed up, a cast list at the beginning or end of the book helps a lot. I have not reviewed (and sometimes not even finished) books in which I couldn’t keep track of who was whom.

Too much technical detail is another problem. I’m a librarian, and if I don’t know something, I know how to find out about it. But I’m not going to enjoy a book if I have to keep looking stuff up. Medical and legal mysteries that focus on a complex procedure rather than how they affect characters, relationships or plot don’t hold my attention.

Some reviewers love writing scathing reviews, and I must admit that constructing these can be sort of fun and cathartic. My thinking is that I’d rather not alienate those who provide me with the material I work with. People send me books because they believe I’m skilled at what I do, and that my opinions might be helpful, and I certainly don’t want them to stop because they’re afraid I’ll rip them to shreds.

At the same time, I’m not a sycophant. I do try to make my reviews positive, but if there’s a little thing that bothers me, I will mention it, along with the fact that it is just my opinion.

Because, in the end, a review is nothing more than one individual’s reaction.

An Open Letter to Authors

By Peg Brantley


This post originally appeared on my blog, Suspense Novelist. I'm trying to finish up the first draft of my new manuscript so I have another book to add to the many millions that are available. That's how crazy I really am.




Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000,000 books are published each year in the U.S. alone. That's more than 83,000 a month.  2,700 a day.

114 books a minute. Every minute. In the time it takes you to read and comment on this post, more than 1,000 books are likely to have been released.

Is it any wonder that it's difficult for new authors to get noticed?

The internet, which has given us wonderful things like Google and Amazon has also given us social networking opportunities like Facebook and Goodreads. There's Twitter and Pinterest and LinkedIn and new things popping up almost every day. As authors, we're are using these things like crazy to try and get the word out about our books.

There's nothing wrong with marketing ourselves. We all have to do a certain amount of promotion regardless of whether we're traditionally published or independently published. Doing nothing pretty much guarantees that your books will languish at the bottom of the pile. And the pile just keeps getting bigger.

Most of us are learning that a constant blast of "notice me" in any form is sure to backfire. But there's more than just the one-dimensional person who is only about Blatant Self Promotion, there are those who are so desperate to get attention they'll do almost anything, including buying followers on Twitter.

Are you kidding me?

There are so many Don't Go There possibilities we've all heard about. From writing fake reviews (positive for you and negative for an author you consider competition) to spreading rumors to calling yourself a "bestselling author" because your book hit the top 10 when it was free.

Here are some of my personal requests to all of my fellow authors:

1. DON'T ask me to vote for your book if I haven't read it. I'm constantly asked to vote for a book or a short story in one competition or another and I'm pretty darned sure the author knows I've never read anything they've ever written. They're desperate and I understand that, but don't ask me to sacrifice my honor for your fake moment of pride. Because it would be fake, wouldn't it?

2. DON'T offer to trade reviews with me. What if I don't like your book? Are you going to dis mine? And don't give me a great review, then send me your book expecting the same in return. That just feels sleazy. And once again, you could be asking me to basically lie.

3. DON'T ask me to "like" a review for a book I haven't read. I hereby announce that I will no longer trade my self-respect for one stupid "like" just because someone I truly do like asked me. And by the same token, don't ask me to say a bad review wasn't helpful for a book I haven't read. Between you and me, those bad reviews can be goldmines for sales. Something to think about.

4. DON'T ask me to "like" every Facebook page your mind can dream up. Some of you caught me unaware and it took me five or six pages before I finally realized you were in serious need of an intervention.

5. DON'T ask me to read your manuscript with the idea you can save money on an edit. I'm not an editor. You need to hire one. Sorry, but you do. And don't go cheap.

These are mostly Facebook and Amazon things, but I'm sure there are plenty of Twitter issues along the same lines.

As a new author, I appreciated the support of those who had gone before me, and I want to do the same. But desperate to the point of total crap doesn't cut it with me.

Authors—what have I missed? What requests or other things make you cringe?

Readers—have you come to be able to see through a lot of these ploys? Is there anything you trust any more?

The Mystery of the Missing Rejection Letter

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 1,000 authors and imprints.

As some of you know, I spend a fair amount of time at the Amazon KDP (Kindle Digital Platform) author's forums, a task I was requested to do by KDP personnel when our company apotheosed to the Amazon Professional Converter's List.  Even though that was a few years back, I still visit the forum and provide helpful hints to DIY publishers, and a recurring thread has led me to this post.

Two of the most common posts at the KDP, in the General Questions forum, are variants of these: 

"Can you please take a look at my book listing here (insert link), and tell me what you think?" or, "OMG, I received a bad review!  I've read and re-read my book, and this is obviously a malicious review, this person is out to get me, and I want everyone here to agree that this is clearly evil."

Now, this inevitably leads to an unhappy author, as people will unfortunately tell him/her exactly what they think.  In the case of the former, often, the author has never asked a stranger what they thought of her novel--this is the first time that someone who isn't near and dear to them has viewed it.  Almost inevitably, when I view the "Look Inside" for someone in this category (of unaudited books) I wince.  It's usually pretty awful. 

In the case of the latter (malicious review complaint), another unhappy series of occurrences happens in rapid sequence, which usually inflames the situation.

When an author on the KDP posts that s/he has received a bad review, you can rely upon the instantaneous angry reaction from his fellow authors.  A mob mentality arrives faster than an ambulance to an accident scene, and the poor upset author is urged to report the malfeasant for "malicious reviewing."  Unfortunately, they almost always follow this advice and try to a) get the review removed, and b) "report" the reviewer for malicious reviewing.  It's enough to put me right off reviewing books, I can tell you that for nothing.

Now, I recently wondered why this happens.  I mean, I get it; a person's feelings are hurt, they're angry, and they want revenge/payback/gratification that they're right, and proof of their theory that the reviewer is secretly their 8th-Grade frenemy Charlotte who's come back to haunt them.  But--why does this happen?  I don't remember, even a mere 10 years ago, this type of crushed reaction to a simple "bad review." 

The Rejection Rumba

Then it dawned on me--we're now talking about an entire generation of authors who've never known a rejection letter.  I mean, think about this seriously:  authors who've never thrown a manuscript over the transom; who've never received a rejection letter.  Who've never been ignored, or turned down by, an Agent.  They've determined to write and  publish a book, and they do so.  Isn't the phrase itself, "author who's never received a rejection letter" oxymoronic?  Isn't it practically a fantastical creature?  When this struck me, I wrote a  post on the KDP, with words to this effect (the KDP "upgrade" seems to have nuked older entries, so I can't find what I originally wrote):

There was a time when a rejection letter was a rite of passage for any writer.  Everybody had them; everyone you know who wrote anything had them.  Some took them hard; some took them apparently lightly; but a rejection letter was always a cause for an authorial get-together, usually over a bottle of booze with ever-declining levels, during which everyone commiserated with you and diligently searched the rejection letter word-by-word, poring* over it, seeking any tiny pearl, any wording or phrasing that led you to believe that the Acquistions Editor didn't think that you were a completely hopeless loser.  Usually (in private), there might be tears.  Maybe the now-empty bottle would meet a hapless wall.  And always, a hangover ensued**.  But then life would go on; you'd curse the tasteless acquisitions editor, who after all, turned out to be a cretin (obviously); and you'd start writing again.  Maybe you'd rewrite bits of what you'd submitted; maybe you would start on something new while you submitted and resubmitted the rejected manuscript...but you'd keep writing.  And the cycle would repeat. 

And if it didn't...if you couldn't take the rejection letters...you'd leave the game. 

And that, I believe, is the difference.  The difference in why so many new authors, self-published through the KDP (or any other platform) never develop the traditional Rhino Hide (Of the genus Nauagahyde) formerly required for a writer to truly make it in the world.  They've never undergone the Rite of the Rejection Letter, or the abusive snark of an overworked Agent.  Nor have they, it seems, in ever-increasing numbers, used critique groups, editors, proofreaders, manuscript assessment services (caveat emptor), writing partners, or even beta readers that aren't their family or their best friends.  Like far too many politicians, they've only developed synchophantic "readers" of their work.  No one ever tells them what they don't want to hear. 

The Planet is My Critique Group

Thus, when they unwittingly decide to use the entire English-speaking portion of the planet as their critique group (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), they're devastated to learn what they should have learned in a Creative Writing 101 class, a good writing course, or simply by using a rotten human as a sounding board.  When I've mentioned this to those who've inquired, they reply that "critique groups are mean," and thus they won't use them.  Is it truly better, I must wonder, to use the public as a critique group?  How is that less painful?  How can they possibly be prepared for the reality of reviews, when they've never even had a critique?  Is there greater anonymity in being blasted with scathing reviews than suffering the slings and arrows of a writing partner or class or group?

I'm not sure when this happened.  I don't know when the tide turned, and people who'd always wanted to write a book simply sat down and wrote one, without what used to be "de rigueur" for a published work.  But turned it has.  If you spend a week of time glancing at the books promoted/asked about on the KDP, that much is clear. 

But now, in addition to the "kindness of strangers" known as the Amazon review, we also have Amazon itself playing the game, sending ever-more-frequent takedown letters to authors who have even the slightest of typos--never mind unreadably bad writing--in their books.  How will this affect these selfsame authors, if at all?

I'm left to wonder.  I wonder if reviewing, given the recent scandals and what I see daily on the KDP as near-hysteria over bad ones, will be eliminated from Amazon.  I wonder if the Customer Service burden of investigating every reported "malicious review" will cost Amazon so much money, and so much brain-damage, that they'll decide it's not worth it--either self-publishing or reviews. I wonder if the flagrant disregard of any type of pre-publication critique means that these lower-quality books will create a permanent underclass of books that tars Indies with the same brush. 

I hope not.

# # # 

* (Yes, I mean poring, not pouring.)
** Now I eat Haagen-Dazs, no demon rum for this girl, with far too many Irish ancestors.  ;-)

Once more, with feeling

By Gayle Carline

My plan for today was to review a book I just read (once again invading Marlyn's space), but in reviewing it, I found myself thinking about the difference between a good read and a great read, for me. So I'm going to start with a short review, then talk about the kind of material that gets to me as a reader.

The book I wanted to review is "Black and White" by Wes Albers. It's a mystery and a procedural and a fine cop story that rings with truth. I'll go ahead and disclose that, although I did purchase this book, I've known Wes for quite a few years. In addition to being in law enforcement for eons, he is one of the directors of the Southern California Writers Conference, which I attend. He's also a damned good writer.

The story revolves around John Hatch, a patrol cop in the San Diego area and a veteran on the force. There is a murder to be solved, but the real story is about a man who has been at his job for such a long time, it has grown into his skin and penetrated his heart. He is saddled with a young partner and even younger sergeant. Each one pulls at him to leave his years of experience and instincts behind to join a world of computers, procedures and statistical studies that run counter to his street smarts.

There's plenty of action, and even a little romance. I loved the way Wes weaves information about police procedures in with each scene. Not only was I entertained, I felt like I was more knowledgeable about the how and why of chasing, capturing, and questioning suspects.

But more importantly, I liked the way this book left a feeling with me. By the last page, I was weary of the way some things never change, resigned to the fact I could not change them, and resolved to try to change them anyway. In other words, I had become the main character, to the extent that I will always remember and connect with that book on a visceral level.

I've read a lot of good books by a lot of wonderful authors. The stories are rich and well-told, the writing is perfect for the piece. But the books I remember are the ones that leave me with a feeling. I can always single out two books that had that effect.

One is "The Good Shepherd" by C.S. Forester. The story follows the captain of a battleship during WWII who is part of a convoy, escorting supply ships through U-boat infested waters, from the U.S. to England. It takes place over a three-day period where they know there is at least one U-boat in the vicinity and they are trying to keep their supply ships safe. Everyone is on high alert. The captain must keep his ship ready, but not trigger happy. For three days, he does not sleep, barely eats, and has to plan his visits to the head. The reader is there for all of it.

By the end of that book, I was exhausted. It's been years since I read it, and I still recall the scene where he downs a pot of cold coffee, grounds and all, because it is there and he needs fuel.

The other is "Wanderer of the Wasteland" by Zane Grey. Too many drinks lead to a gunfight over a pretty girl, forcing a young man to run for his life, straight into the Mojave Desert, where he has a bigger fight on his hands – how to stay alive where there is no food, no water, nothing but unrelenting sun during the day and shivering cold at night. It's a tale of self-discovery as much as survival.

The book has a funny, O. Henry-esque ending, but what sticks with me is the desert. I was parched by this story. Reading it made my skin feel as warm as if I were in that unbearable sun.

"Like breath of a furnace the heat rose from the rocky, sandy soil; and from above there seemed to bear down the weight of the leaden fire."

It's not just, when I think of these books, I feel these feelings. It's also, when I have these feelings, I think of these books. On days when I'm running from one task to the other and wolfing down a McD-burger in my car on my way to the next emergency, I think of that captain trying to figure out if he's got enough time to pee before the next U-boat sighting. Lately, it's been unbearably hot in southern California, and our air conditioning is on the fritz. I sit in the kitchen, under the fan, all the windows open, with a wet towel around my neck, and picture that young cowboy, throwing himself on the rocks in his despair and exhaustion, only to scramble back to his feet because the ground burns his skin.

And in these election days, I think of John Hatch's wealth of knowledge and know what a millstone it is, to have seen it all, know it's not going away, and yet be unable to keep from trying to stop the crazy.

Are you drawn to books that punch you in the gut until they're in your muscle memory? Or are you in love with finesse? Forget good books. What are some of the books you live with?

Is Social Media Making Us All Too Vanilla?

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers
Several recent blogs made me think about the writer’s role and how social media has made us all so likable and homogenous.

First there was Sandra Parshall’s great piece on Poe’s Deadly Daughters in which she asked the question: Should writers keep their opinions to themselves online so they don’t offend readers? She mentioned instances in which readers said they would never read so-and-so’s work again because of something they had posted on Facebook or Twitter. I’m guessing it was something political, and the readers were of the other persuasion.

This has weighed on my mind because I have succumbed to self-censorship. Every day, I make a choice to not post links to liberal commentaries I enjoyed. When others post political statements I agree with, I’ll click the Like button but typically won’t comment. My thinking is that conservatives buy novels too, so why offend them? But it also makes me cringe. Until this point in my life—when I became a very public person—I’ve always spoken freely and said what I thought. Maybe too much so, I hear my husband say in my head.

I even moved The Sex Club—my bestseller and a book readers loved—out of my Jackson series and into the standalone thriller list, because the book is political and I didn’t want to lose readers before they even gave the series a chance. But now Amazon wants to market it as part of the series, and I said yes. I’m a little worried about the backlash, but I’m also happy to take ownership of my politics again.

The other interesting post that dovetailed into this discussion was in Slate magazine and subtitled The Epidemic of Niceness in Online Book Culture. The author made the point that when writers friend, support, and Like! everyone, it becomes nearly impossible to give an honest critique of their work. How can you say something even mildly critical about a novel if the author just gave you an online hug?

In my experience, most writers are by nature really nice people. We’re typically very supportive. We want to help each other, and post great reviews on Amazon, and retweet book links. And l love it. I’m part of that culture. But is it honest? If I were a professional book reviewer who didn’t know some these authors personally, would I have a different assessment of their work? In that scenario, my loyalty would be to readers, to give them a full honest appraisal of the book.

If I post on Twitter than I’m reading a particular book and someone asks me if I like it—and by then I’ve stopped reading it—what do I say? If I post that it was too slow for me, I risk offending several people and maybe that reader will decide we must like different books so they won’t bother to try mine.

This is why I don’t read much fiction or talk about what I read—unless I love it. And I turn down almost all requests to review novels. My nature is to be supportive—often to an extreme—but I also have a loyalty to my readers, and I shouldn’t steer them toward books just because those writers are my friends whom I have great affection for.

I love social media and connecting with people and I’ll keep doing what I can to cultivate friends and encourage people to like me. But some days, the self-censorship makes me not like myself.

What do you think? Is the online writer community too nice? Do you ever wish you could cut loose and say something critical or political—without losing readers or friends?

And The Silver Bullet of Book Marketing is...

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

This week's entry is from our Social Networking Genius  extraordinaire, Steve (Stephanie) Nilles, who holds down the fort on Tweeting and Facebooking, Pinteresting and other "stuff" over at Booknook.biz, and has taught me all I know about Twitter, et al.  She will be guest blogging for me while I recover from a shoulder problem, and to provide a different perspective than I usually have.  Take it away, Steve:

I'm not an agent, publisher, or aspiring novelist. I'm a working musician. About a year and a half ago, while taking a month-long break from the road, I happened upon part-time work for a well-established and traditionally published mystery writer who was just starting her own e-pub company. I have since edited manuscripts and provided marketing assistance for an ebook producer, as well as for mystery, science fiction, romance, children's books, and nonfiction authors, ranging from the seasoned and well-known to the obscure writer pushing his very first novel. Predictably, my work in publishing has drawn enlightening parallels to my work in the music business. In short, publishing seems to be about 20 years behind the music industry, at least in terms of adjusting to a preference for digital. And as an outsider temporarily peering into a world of energetic bordering on frantic writers and publishers, I've found the clamoring for the magical marketing plan that will give birth to the next Amanda Hocking, H.P. Mallory, or John Locke to be … amusing.

The obvious explanation for what now makes being a musician or author nearly impossible is that “everyone can do it.” Perhaps screenwriter Aaron Sorkin put it best in a particularly wry interview: Interviewer: "Look, I don't want to step on your toes, you don't want to step on mine. We're both writers."  Sorkin: "Yes, I suppose, if we broaden the definition to those who can spell."

As technology provides limitless tools for distribution, self-promotion, and even production of the artform itself, the internet has, as Mark Bowden puts it, "replaced everyman with every man." From art of every medium to the once revered science of journalism, press critic A.J. Liebling's 1960s fear of a dystopia with only one newspaper, "a city with one eye," has been replaced by a city with a million eyes.

Much like a writer, when I tell a stranger that I am a "musician," I'm painfully aware that my self-proclaimed title conjures up images of a dramatic and self-medicated kid, sulking in her bedroom and writing break up ballads in her diary. I am a 28-year-old that has spent 23 years playing music, 15 of those years nearly 5-10 hours a day. I'm on the road 8 months out of the year. I play 150 gigs a year. So imagine my displeasure at sharing the semantics of a vocation with an overnight YouTube sensation who recorded a 4 song EP in a basement with a Fisher Price tape recorder.

My 28 years notwithstanding, I think I've amassed an interesting cross section of experience witnessing the worlds of music-making as well as book publishing, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that what works in music works in publishing--whether you're writing what one of my clients calls The Great American Novel or the next paranormal romance Kindle millionaire-maker. If we define "success" as "consistently selling books" (and I have yet to find a better definition), the most successful authors I've worked for have one and only one thing in common: they spend all of their time writing more books. And each book is better than the one that came before it.

Sure, there are marketing shortcuts. But the old adage "live by the media, die by the media" rings true. About a year ago, I was helping with the marketing of a very cute and unique mystery with a chick lit bent. A genre book with a fascinating twist, it seemed a marketing no-brainer. We pushed social media, tried various angles to introduce it to target readers on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and LibraryThing. Paid promotions resulted in temporary boosts of sales from 20 to the hundreds overnight. We ran a genre-specific blog tour. All these contributed, over time, to 50-plus amazon reviews at an average of 4.6 stars, and to positive reviews in a couple of publications we did not pitch to with an ideal readership demographic. As marketing boons calmed down, the book settled at selling 20-30 books a day. At first. We've continued to push the book via social media and advertisements, but six months later, the author has written nothing new. And its sales have dwindled to 1-2 books a day.

Contrast this with a literary black comedy that was released around the same time. Although beautifully written, it seemed it would be difficult to market, as it fit into no overt niche. But the marketing plan employed has been similar to the one outlined above. The book currently has 20-some amazon reviews with a 4.8 star average and is consistently selling 15-30 books a day. Why? It is the author's eighth book, and she has since written and published two others, each as beautifully-written as the eighth. And press procured for the most recent books, whether solicited or not, have markedly boost sales of all other books.

There are other attractive shortcuts and marketing go-tos. Launching a KDP Select Free Campaign, if done so correctly can help an indie author to the tune of thousands of free downloads a day, with fall off of a noticeable boost in sales. One popular thriller author I’ve worked for has had a good deal of success with handfuls of free days, which boost the sales of the other books in that particular series, as well as their Amazon rankings. But I've never seen this sales boost last longer than a week, and I've never seen the sales numbers exceed 20 in a day. I should also note that the writer I mentioned, an Edgar and Macavity nominee, has to date written 12 books across 3 series, spanning 20-odd years. And he’s still producing new work.

Paid promotions at least guarantee that your book will make some sort of appearance on a website, as opposed to investing exhaustive time into submitting your book to bloggers for review--they almost never review your book, let alone respond to your request, and even when they say they will, they almost always forget, or by the time your book is scheduled to reach the top of their queue, their blog will have mysteriously disappeared... I've seen some Kindle sites' paid promotions generate tens to hundreds of sales overnight, but victory is perpetually a flash in the pan. Sales always die down to where they were previously within the week.

Best-selling author Kristen Lamb addresses the importance of writers focusing on writing in her blog entry The Five Mistakes Killing Self-Published Authors. "Even in traditional publishing," she says, "it usually takes about three books to gain traction. In traditional publishing, this takes three years because we are dealing with a publisher’s schedule. In self-publishing, we can make our own schedule, but it still takes THREE BOOKS MINIMUM. I know there are exceptions, but most self-published successes hit at about book three. The ability to offer multiple titles is a huge part of why John Locke became successful." Lamb also discusses the dangers of self-publishing before an author is ready, jumping in before understanding basic business principles, and misusing free campaigns.

In both music and publishing, there’s something to be said for distinguishing between adapting to change and reinventing the wheel. Artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors that prove to be successful long term require long, hard work. No amount of technological innovation is likely to erase this axiom. Yet whenever I’m asked to begin working with a new author, I’m repeatedly amazed at his or her inability to grasp the concept of patience. Writer and publisher Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses this in terms of self-publishing, specifically: “The readership—and the income—will grow exponentially if the writer continues to produce work. One day, the indie writer will wake up and realize she’s making $1,000 per month on a single title, and that amount spread out over a year is more than she would have gotten as an advance for a first novel … If she’s a good storyteller (and her book has a decent cover and is copy edited, and if she keeps writing and publishing new material), she’ll make a living wage over time.” Rusch even goes on to suggest that promotion in publishing, be it in the traditional or indie realm, is utterly pointless: “I buy [books] because of word-of-mouth, just like every other reader on the planet. That’s why traditional publishers only spend advertising dollars on the bestsellers. They’re not informing you of a new writer. They’re letting you know that a favorite writer has a new book. They’re relying on word-of-mouth and habit. So indie writers who promote their book instead of writing the next book are wasting their time. The more books you’ve written, the more books you’ll sell. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.” 

====================

Thanks, Steve.  For those of you that like jazz, our Steve is a smokin' musician.  Warning:  ADULT lyrics and music, don't go to the page with your kids in the room, but her lyric, "facebook is a gateway drug to stalking" should be used in a bestselling  novel!   Visit her site at:  http://www.stephanienilles.com , and will start work on her new Album in about 3 weeks.  

Breaking Glass

A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge hardcover, 17 July 2012).

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.

Since we met journalist Hannah Vogel in A Trace of Smoke, she's lost her beloved brother Ernst, adopted a boy named Anton, and messed up several relationships.

This time around,  writing fluff pieces for a Swiss newspaper called Neue Zürcher Zeitung, she's in Poland to write a feature about the town of Poznań's November 11th St. Martin's Day Festival.  Although her editor has given this assignment in order to keep her from harm after some anti-Nazi articles she wrote resulted in a spate of threatening letters, Hannah is unhappy.  


Thinking that her son might enjoy the Festival, she's brought Anton with her, and almost immediately she regrets it.  She learns that the Germans have arrested a thousands of Polish Jews and forced them back across the border.  Certain that she can get a story out of this, she instructs her driver to take them to the village where the refugees are being held.


And just like that, Hannah once again lands herself in the middle of trouble.  Questions raised by her talks with the refugees lead her back into Germany, where she's persona non grata, and where Anton has no identity.  Hannah is determined that news of the German's injustices be made public, and since she's ideally situated to do this, she does, regardless of what danger she lands in. 


Although the story is  fictional (it's based on the real Kristallnacht), Cantrell's prose is so vivid that the reader feels involved in incidents that could quite easily be real, especially since the narrative is written in the first person from Hannah's point of view.  


The next book in the series is in the works, and it can't come soon enough!






FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the author, who sent me an advance copy of the book for review purposes.

Book Review: The Grey Tier

I know I'm supposed to be posting about how I write my mysteries, but sometimes I get tired of hearing about me and want to talk about something else. Marlyn gets all the fun of reviewing books, so I thought I'd take a day off from my stuff and tell you about a mystery I just read.

The Grey Tier (A Dead Celeb Mystery) is Michele Scott's millionth book (okay, I might be exaggerating, but the woman is prolific), and I loved it. Devoured it, actually, in a couple of sittings, although I admit I'm a fast reader.

The story is a typical whodunit but the circumstances and characters are unique, as well as the paranormal world Michele has created. You can tell that she had fun putting this together, figuring out where we go when we die (according to the story) and making the rules that govern the otherworld.

She also had a lot of fun with the characters. It usually takes a while for me to warm up to the main character, but I liked Evie Preston almost from the start. I'll talk about her later, though. It's the supporting cast I loved from the get-go. From Evie's mentor, Betty LaRue, to the mysterious Mumbles, these were all real people with real hopes and problems… even the dead people.

There are several dead folks wandering about, some good and some evil, some famous and some not. Michele made them all interesting, mostly by making their appearances "full-fleshed" as opposed to vapory apparitions. Of course, only Evie can see them, even if they do seem real to her, in all of her senses. There's always a sense of humor in the scenes where she walks into her (haunted) house and smells marijuana because Bob Marley has come to pay a visit.

As far as the secondary characters, I was particularly surprised by Evie's boss, a pop-star named Simone. She begins the book as a typical diva - demanding attention, tossing a fit if she's unhappy, and behaving badly in general. Over the course of the story, she shows actual growth. Not in a huge, Ebeneezer-on-Christmas-morning way, but in a realistic way that made me think she might become human some day.

Now, back to Evie - main characters can make or break a book. I might find a plot or cast of characters engaging and fun, but I've got to not only like the protagonist, but believe in them. Evie struck the right balance with me of young but not stupid-young. She has the qualities that you like to see in a friend: empathy, respect, resourcefulness. She also has the qualities we need in a sleuth: curiosity, stubbornness, courage.

It's a hard balancing act for a writer. Your sleuth must be likeable, but not a pushover. They must poke their noses into places they have no business, places you and I would not go. But they can't be stupid about it either. Although I am far from Evie in age, it was easy to identify with her, and even do a little vicarious walking in her shoes.

My only problem with this book was there were unanswered questions - questions to obviously be answered in the next book. Michele reports that she's writing as fast as she can.

If you're interested in The Grey Tier, click here to get it.

This is the blurb, in case I didn't convince you to buy it:

What happens when a small town girl moves to Hollywood to pursue her dreams and winds up smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation, haunted by famous dead celebs, and working for the biggest pop star in the music industry?

Introducing Evie Preston: Small-town girl and under-the-radar healer, currently trapped in a po-dunk Texas town but yearning for something more. When fate gives her the opportunity to move to Hollywood to follow her dreams, Evie finds herself navigating through the land of glitz and glamour, and the realm of (dead) celebrities…

Raised in Brady, Texas by her minister father and her beauty shop-owner mother, Evie has been trying to get out of town for years. When an old family friend gives her an unexpected gift on her birthday, Evie finally gets the chance to start fresh out west. Against her father’s wishes, she packs up her guitar, her dog, Mama Cass, and heads for California.
Once in L.A., Evie finds a singing gig at a local dive bar where she meets a slew of interesting characters including the owner himself, a former child star with a hidden past. She also scores a day job doing make-up for a famous and foul-mouthed pop diva. One of the job perks includes house sitting at a Hollywood Hills mansion. But what Evie doesn’t know is the house is also home to some famous celebrity spirits, including that of former Grunge rocker, Lucas Minx.

As if things weren’t complicated enough, Evie finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and discovers she’s being targeted by some nasty spirits. And to top things off, she’s developed a Texas-sized crush on her hot, but very dead, roommate, Lucas.

Maybe her dad was right and the City of Angels really is the City of Devils—all of them after her.

WARNING: Strong language, sexual content, and mild violence.

Bought it yet? What are you waiting for?

Book Review - Fever Dream

By C.J. West

Fever Dream by Dennis Palumbo is the second Daniel Rinaldi mystery. Palumbo is building a series that goes well beyond the mystery in each book by deepening our understanding of a wide ranging cast of characters.

Daniel Rinaldi is a consulting psychologist to the Pittsburgh Police Department and as an outsider and a mental health professional, he gives us interesting insights into the struggles facing the cops that begrudgingly call him to work for them. Rinaldi is also affiliated with a psychiatric hospital and meets with patients and former patients that give us an unvarnished view of characters suffering from mental illness. For the writers here, Palumbo's characterization of characters with mental illness alone is reason to study his work.

Fever Dream opens with a bank heist that spins out of control and becomes a hostage situation. In the first two dozen pages, Palumbo displays his mastery of the genre by planting the seed that a twist is coming, even this early in the book, and then delivering it in a way that is at once unexpected but also foreshadowed. The plot continues to twist, deepening with each turn. The possibilities seem endless as the book nears its conclusion offering connections to several characters with plausible links to a crime that itself morphs as the story unfolds.

Palumbo’s work as a licensed psychotherapist gives him insight into human relationships that really sparkles in his writing. In Fever Dream the relationship between Treva Williams, one of the victims in the bank heist, and Eleanor Lowrey, one of the detectives investigating, was so strongly done I had to stop reading and consider how well the reveal had been written.

Here is another example of a relationship splendidly portrayed:

             “She noticed me then, too, and we exchanged brief, sad smiles. 

And not just because of our shared grief about Andy’s death.

        It was more or less the way we always greeted each other 

other, no matter how much time had gone by.

And probably always would.”

In the passage above, Palumbo describes a heart-rending longing between Rinaldi and a former coworker that is so poignant you can’t help but feel his angst. Relationships deepen in this second novel, and Rinaldi's pain is visceral even as he works to help solve the bank heist and treat Ms. Williams, his emotional struggles bubble to the surface. Palumbo masterfully manages to deepen numerous series characters while telling a story that can be enjoyed without having read the previous book.

Seasoned writers talk about focusing on character and allowing the story to grow out of character. Fever Dream displays Palumbo's mastery of both. He delivers a great mystery with characters that really sparkle. I highly recommend Fever Dream, and Mirror Image, the first Daniel Rinaldi mystery.

Palumbo works with writers to help them overcome writer’s block and other mental obstacles to producing their best work. For the writers who regularly visit CFC, you’ll want to check out his book, Writing From The Inside Out. This is a great resource for writers to understand how their emotions and their perspective on their own work affects their productivity.

If you’re looking for more from Dennis Palumbo, you can find him at www.dennispalumbo.com. You can also listen to my Blog Talk Radio interview with him as we discuss his books, Mirror Image and Writing from the Inside out.

A Review, A Review, My Kingdom for a Review...

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 500 authors and imprints. 

(This article is a reprint from the Booknook.biz website)

As many of you know, I have long touted the amazing Jenny Blake Spreadsheet as a detailed roadmap to self-published success, coupled with the Locke book.  For those  of you who missed my proselytizing on the subject, the discussion of the Blake Spreadsheet was discussed by the ubiquitous Seth Godin on his Domino Project website, here:  http://www.thedominoproject.com/2011/06/a-spreadsheet-for-the-self-published.html which I wrote about in my following month's newsletter.  If you haven't read the newsletter, the articles on my website or Jenny's own site (http://www.lifeaftercollege.org/), you should check her out, and more importantly, download and use that damn spreadsheet, folks!

However, one topic that keeps arising, both in the various writer's groups to which I belong, and the KDP fora (forums) is the inability to score reviews.  Last year, we posted some articles with review links, and I thought listing them again might prove useful.

Below is a list of networks and otherwise useful sites, which provide book and ebook publishing news, commentary, reader and writer forums, and reviews or features that can be submitted by anyone and everyone. These sites are helpful tools in your navigating of networking, enabling you to more quickly find popular and/or effective blogs for review, and in stocking up on voluntary reader reviews for your book, which often make landing a big-time blogger review more likely.

Websites are listed by Alexa ranking, which rates blogs according to traffic and therefore popularity.

• -http://www.amazon.com 17: A website on which consumers can buy, sell, and review books and ebooks... as well as pretty much everything else.
• -http://www.goodreads.com 1,009: A network/forum focusing on readers, featuring book recommendations, book clubs, trivia games, and giveaways.
• -http://www.mobileread.com 7,885: A forum for e-reading, featuring e-book and e-reader recommendations and news.
• -http://www.Librarything.com 8,066: A personal book cataloger, allowing readers to catalog books from Amazon, Library of Congress, and 690 other world libraries, and to find new books based on what others have read with similar tastes.
• -http://www.kindleboards.com 15,928: A forum in which members can "feel free to talk about anything and everything related to Kindle!"
• -http://www.absolutewrite.com 20,898: A bulletin featuring newsworthy deadline information for commercial authors and forums for writers.
• -http://forum.writersdigest.com 32,083: News and forums for writers on how to write better and how to get published.
• -http://www.sellingbooks.com/ 72,365: A guide to writing, publishing, and marketing books and ebooks. (Not a review site, per se; but worth reading & subscribing to, really!)
• -http://www.authonomy.com 77,981: A networking community for writers, readers, and publishers developed by HarperCollins.
• -http://www.Redroom.com 121,918: A network connecting published authors, aspiring writers, readers, publishers, agents, associations, students, and researchers.
• -http://kindlenationdaily.com/ 127,724: A site that catalogs free kindle books, gives kindle tips, and provides related news and commentary. It features "books of the week" by genre and price.
• -http://www.nookboards.com/forum 150,145: A forum featuring the Barnes and Noble nook.
• -http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/ 175,292: An online magazine devoted to legitimizing self-publishing: news, book reviews, publisher reviews, interviews, opinion, how-to's, and a social network for writers.
• -http://www.webook.com 178,015 :"Writing community for writers, readers, and literary agents: Submit works, read and rate writings."
• -http://www.writingforums.org 205,616: A network of discussion forums and site announcements for creative writers, featuring contests and author interviews.
• -http://www.writersbeat.com 374,125: A forum for writers only, featuring  discussions on the writing craft, marketing ideas, and enabling posts for critique from fellow writers.
• -http://kindlereader.blogspot.com 1,729,177:  An Amazon.com affiliate blog run by a librarian that features kindle books that cost $4.99 or less. It is designed to be "a time-saving menu of reading choices," as opposed to a review site.
• -http://indiebooksblog.blogspot.com/ 3,758,915: A blog that features (not reviews) independent writers' books. Follow the directions to submit a book: http://indiebooksblog.blogspot.com/p/get-featured.html
• -http://indiebookman.com/ 22,641,246: "A meeting ground for the Indie Publishing Revolution blogging all things of interest to self publishers, indie presses, guerrilla book marketers and other soldiers of the revolution." (check out his blog radio shows)

Next blog:  more review sites and other goodies. 

In the meantime, as a shortcut CHEATSHEET to understanding all those tedious "how-to" posts on Social Media, we thought you might like this:  http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=174046

Happy writing, all!

Do Authors Deserve a Little Respect?

By Andrew E. Kaufman

Let me first say that I will, until the day I die, defend a reader’s right to give an honest assessment—good or bad—about any author’s work, my own included. It's their right, and after all, that’s what reviews are about. It’s a safe bet to say that opinions will vary greatly in this business, often going from one extreme to the other. Some may love a book, some may hate it, while others may have no opinion either way. I get that. But do they also have the right to be disrespectful or even downright mean?

I’m not so sure.

I do come across these from time to time and it kind of bothers me. I suppose that’s because as an author, I understand how incredibly difficult it is to write a novel and how much we give of ourselves during that process. Granted, we choose to make ourselves fair game—it’s what we sign up for. I’m just not sure whether ridicule and name-calling are supposed to be part of the deal. And if a reader wants people to take his or her review seriously, isn't that more likely to occur if they give their opinion in a manner that's thoughtful rather than disrespectful and angry?

photo by Hannibal Poenaru

I once had a reader call one of my books dumb, stupid, and ridiculous, not once, but four times in a review. Fortunately, his opinon was in the minority; most of the eighty-six reviews were five starred. But even so, I found it a bit troubling. I can’t imagine what I’d done to make him so angry—after all, it’s just a book—but I have to wonder if whatever that was, it merited such hostility.

I also have to wonder if he realized that as authors, most of us write because we want to give our readers enjoyment and that we’re just as disappointed when we don't as they are—maybe even more so. 

Of course, I do realize this is the exception, that the majority who leave reviews on Amazon are extremely courteous and constructive, even when they don’t like a book.

But I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter, both as readers and as writers. Is it no-holds-barred where reviews are concerned? Is an opinion just an opinion, no matter how strong the language might be? Do we, as authors, give up the right to be human, to have feelings, and does our right to get respect end where the word "published" begins?

The Price of Integrity

By Andrew E. Kaufman

As if Amazon reviews weren’t already the subject of intense scrutiny, here’s something else guaranteed to make your skin crawl. There’s a new breed of fibbers in town: they’re called review factories, promoters who will speak well of your novel for a fee. And it doesn't end there. More and more, individuals are offering the same service.That’s right. Apparently, rave reviews are no longer something you have to earn—they’re something you can buy. Cheaply.

Here’s an example. I randomly pulled these ads from fiver.com, a website where you can offer any service for five bucks:

• I will write two Amazon reviews from two different reviewers for your product or book for $5.
• I will give your book a glowing five star review on Amazon for $5
• I will vote Amazon reviews as helpful or unhelpful and report a review as inappropriate for $5

Huh?

Okay. We all know this is wrong. No-brainer, right? And we also know that engaging in this sort of activity does nothing but adulterate the review process—that is to say, render it useless. And it no doubt hurts those of us who work hard to actually earn our good reviews.

But on a much deeper level one has to wonder: is it really worth it? Seems like a shallow victory to me. I know, I know, anyone who engages in this sort of behavior probably doesn’t much care about fulfilling a dream or chasing their passion. More than likely it’s all about the money.

Not that there’s anything wrong with making a buck, but if that’s the case, I’m thinking there are much easier ways to go about doing it. I speak from experience here. I’ve sold a lot of books, and when you consider how long it takes me to write one, I’m absolutely positive I could have earned the money in half the time doing any number of other things. Seems to me that writing books just for the purpose of making money is sort of like trying to dig your way to China with a plastic pail and shovel.

What about the props? Is that what it’s all about? Bragging rights? I doubt it, but on the slight chance that’s the case, here’s a question: how about just writing a damn good book? And if they can’t do that, if they don’t have the ability, why are they wasting their time writing bad ones? I mean, they have to be bad, right? If they were good, they wouldn't have to pay someone to say so.

If I sound a little angry it's because I am. But what about you? What do you think? Authors: how's it make you feel? And readers: does it make you want to take reviews less seriously? Not read them at all?

Talk to me.

The Care and Feeding of Authors

By Peg Brantley, Author at Work, Stumbling Toward Publication


It's gotta be chocolate, right?

Nuh-uh.

Some kind of booze?

Nope.

But what I'm about to share with you creates an even higher high for those of us who wrangle words. Since I'm not yet published (with 3.375 practice novels stuck in a drawer), I'm taking this opportunity to speak for those who are.

I was talking with a friend the other day who absolutely loves to read. And to anyone who will listen (particularly another reader) she will share her thoughts and bubble with enthusiasm about a particular book or its author. I love spending time with her, especially when I have my Kindle to download samples while we're talking.

But she doesn't write reviews on Amazon. What? She hates reviews that give away plots, doesn't want to commit the time, and can't believe that what she thinks could possibly have any impact. When I told her she could write a review that didn't need to reveal any of the plot (hello . . . Amazon . . . book description), and simply say what she enjoyed about the book, or the writing style, her eyes lit up.

Most writers won't ask a reader to write a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or anywhere else. But I'm here to tell you that those reviews can make a huge difference to your favorite authors. Maybe even feed them for a month. Now that's power.

My sister, Lala Corriere, whose first book was released for Kindle last November and expects to have her second book released before this November, flew sky-high because some readers, people she'd never met, took the time to write her and tell her how much they'd enjoyed her first book. The fire of passion those few words lit under her butt provided her the loving care she needed at that moment. She was propelled to a higher level of energy. And that's the kind of loving care she'll be able to look back on when she's having a rough day in order to re-energize and motivate. Talk about leftovers!

So here it is:

• buy their books (duh—this definitely falls under feeding);
• write reviews. Even three-liners that say, "I liked this book. You might, too! Get it now!" Whether it's on Amazon or Goodreads or an online loop of readers. As readers, you have more power than you realize, and your author will be so appreciative;
• let the author know if his or her efforts gave you a nice escape, something to think about, or just good beach-reading. A few nice words from you equates to thousands from them. A pretty fair exchange, don't you think?

Even at the point where I am in this career, encouragement is a necessary element to my existance. Just the idea that there are a couple of people out there, ready to give my initial effort a test run, keeps me going. Can you imagine how huge the reality will be?

Feed your favorite authors. Don't be shy. Don't think what you have to say won't possibly make a difference.

I promise you, it will.

Readers, is there something else you've done to feed a favorite author? Are you willing to write a review?

Writers, what keeps you nourished and well fed?

Welcome back, Irene!

Disturbance by Jan Burke.*

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.

We last saw Irene Kelly in 2006's Kidnapped. She's finally back, and facing an old nemesis, Nick Parrish (to whom we were introduced eleven years ago in Bones). In the earlier novel, serial killer Parrish developed an obsession with Irene when he was temporarily allowed out of prison to lead a search for one of his victims. In this book, Parrish has recovered from the paralyzing injuries he sustained during his earlier escape attempt, thanks to an enterprising surgeon.

Although he's still incarcerated in a maximum security facility, Irene worries that Parrish will seek revenge. Despite friends' assurances of her safety, she's still afraid of the Moths, Parrish's rejuvenated online "fan club". She is certain they are the ones behind the terrifying "pranks" that occur when she's at home alone. But when the corpse of a young woman is found in the trunk of a car parked outside her house, the body painted with images of moths, Irene's suspicions are confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Las Piernas News Express is folding, and Irene has to find a way to keep from sitting around the house worrying about Parrish and the Moths.

Jan Burke's skill continues to increase with each novel she writes. Her characters are well-described and the plot is so gripping and suspenseful that this reviewer was forced to read through the night to finish the book.

One caveat: it does help to read the Irene Kelly books in sequence; the impact will be so much less otherwise.

Hop on over to Stuff and Nonsense, where I have a Q & A with Jan Burke! One lucky reader of Crime Fiction Collective and Stuff and Nonsense will receive a copy of Disturbance courtesy of the publisher. Please comment on any or all of the blogs by midnight on Saturday, June 18th to be entered in the contest.


*Many thanks to Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab program for the opportunity to review this book before publication.

Vampires, and Werewolves, and Faeries! Oh My!

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris.

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.

In the unputdownable eleventh Sookie Stackhouse novel, Sookie is minding her own business, waitressing at Merlotte's, providing room and board for two of her faerie relatives, and just being the girlfriend of the vampire sheriff of Louisiana when a Molotov cocktail is thrown through the window of the bar while she's at work. Luckily, she's not seriously hurt, nor is the building. Sookie and Sam at first assume that it's the work of militant weres, angry because Sam has forced the two-natured to "come out".

Meanwhile, Sookie is troubled by the bond between herself and Eric Northman (her husband, by vampire standards), which allows them to sense strong emotions in each other. She knows that Eric is deeply troubled by something, the details of which he won't share with her. And everything they do is monitored closely by the new vampire King.

The popularity of this series has grown since it was made into the television series True Blood in 2008, and with the help of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (both books and films), the subject of vampires has become an international craze.

Yet vampires have actually been part of popular culture since before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, based on a folk legend, in 1897. Stoker might also have looked to John Polidori's The Vampyre (1819) and Carmilla (1872) by Sheridan Le Fanu. Then there was Annie Rice's Interview with a Vampire series in the 1970s and 80s, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series in the 1990s and early 2000s.

It has been theorized that in the 19th Century, vampires symbolized the male as a predator versus the innocence of the female in a "paternalist world in which women were constantly threatened by seducers, and the consequences of pregnancy outside of marriage really were life and death"*.

And today? Grady Hendrix on Slate says "Many male vampires are portrayed in popular media as sensitive, literate and emotionally available, the ideal for a lot of women."

Though Eric Northman may be literate and is very sensitive to Sookie due to their special bond, he is definitely not emotionally available. This is especially evident in Dead Reckoning as he refuses to tell Sookie what is disturbing him until she finally guesses. Of course, Sookie doesn't open up to Eric much, either, but it can be argued that she's just a woman trying to cope with an unusual amount of stress.

What do you think?

*Peter Logan, Professor of English at Temple University, Philadelphia.