#193:  Review of Malena.  Some readers might have noticed that I added Edgardo David Holzman to my list of up-and-coming authors for his Malena (see last Monday’s review).  If Edgardo never writes another book, this one still puts him high on the list of historical novelists.  I happen to love Argentina and its people but hate its juntas.  This is my common perception of most of Latin America.  Nevertheless, first and foremost, Edgardo wrote a good story—that’s what it’s all about.

I’ve also added Stephen Kinzer’s Overthrow to the recommended list of non-fiction titles.  Frequent readers of this blog know that I have mentioned this book on several occasions—I kept forgetting to add it to the list.  Error corrected.  This book offers thirteen case studies where the U.S. has overthrown legitimate governments, beginning with the annexation of Hawaii.  Our problems with Iran, Cuba, and much of Latin America can be traced to these heavy-handed policies.  Yes, indeed, we, as a nation, have blood on our hands.  Like Pontius Pilate, it doesn’t wash off easily.  Between Overthrow and Malena, you might develop a different perspective on American foreign policy.

#194:  Speaking of good stories….  Infrequently, would-be writers can find in Writer’s Digest (that damn apostrophe always seems to be in the wrong place) a few golden nuggets beyond the magazine’s money-making contests and obsequious attitude toward Big Six publishers, agents, and authors.  Ms. Elizabeth Sims often is the author of these nuggets.  I would like to recommend her article “How to Develop Any Idea into a Great Story” in the November/December issue.  While I can think of many ideas that don’t make a great story (we don’t need more paranormal romance novels about vampires, werewolves, or more YA tomes about boy magicians), this article, plus Elizabeth’s previous ones, with maybe my “The Eightfold Way” thrown in, are not bad ones for fiction writers to consider when writing and editing their books.

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(Edgardo David Holzman, Malena, Nortia Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9842252-7-9)

Malena (1941) is the name of a tango with lyrics by Homero Manzi (Homero Nicolás Manzione Prestara) and music by Lucio Demare (this duo wrote two other tangos I like, namely Negra Maria from 1942 and Tal Vez Será Su Voz from 1943).  Malena is also the name of a character in Edgardo David Holzman’s fictional portrayal of some of Latin America’s darkest days—the Dirty War in Argentina from 1976 to 1983.  This novel uncovers the heart and soul of this beautiful and often troubled South American country.  Pick it up for a few cozy evenings to learn what happened during that period in Argentina; spend the rest of your life trying to forget it!  I read it cover to cover in three installments—you need to stop periodically and take a deep breath.

Fascism and genocide are often evil fraternal twins locked in an incestuous embrace—Turkey’s persecution of the Armenians, the Nazi holocaust before and during WWII, Argentina and los desaparecidos, Pinochet’s Chile, the ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, and many other cases where human beings become monsters, torturing and killing thousands (millions in the case of Nazi Germany and Ottoman Turkey).  In the U.S., we take comfort that this has never happened here, yet our consciences should not be clear—we have let it happen elsewhere and, in some cases, been willing accomplices.

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Summary:

The sci-fi thriller Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in your Hand! completes “The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy,” a vision of the future that is troubling, inspiring, and astounding.  Survivors of the Chaos, the first book in the series, starts in dystopia and ends with hope for a new future on a planet in the 82 Eridani system.  In Sing a Samba Galactica, the second book, humans find friendly ETs there and battle unfriendly ones on another colony and Earth, but if you thought they and their ET friends would live happily in the Galaxy’s near-Earth space after the Singer saved the Swarm, you were wrong.

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As a special treat today, I offer you an interview with fellow thriller author Gina Fava.  A Buffalo, NY native, Gina lives in New England with her husband, Jamie, and their two children.  A writer of award-winning short stories, Gina Fava is working to publish two novels, The Race and The Sculptor, both suspense thrillers based in Rome, Italy.  She’s currently writing her next thrillers in both series.  She travels to Italy often to research first-hand the red wines that her characters imbibe.  An active member of MWA, ITW, and SinC, Gina’s a thrill-seeking bridge jumper, a Formula One racing fanatic, and a nut for blogging about skeletal recomposition.  You can learn more about Gina at her website.  Thank you, Gina.

1)  Why, how, and when did you start writing?

I started writing to entertain myself in grade school.  In high school, Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot blew me away, and his Night Shift short stories prompted me to write to entertain family and friends.  It wasn’t until I returned from studying abroad in Italy that I sent my short stories and feature articles out to the rest of the world.  I think I needed to experience life a bit before I realized that I had novels clamoring to get out too.

2)  What is your biggest problem with the writing process. How do you tackle it?

Characterization.  I love my characters from inception, but it takes some development in their infant stages until I grow close enough to them to appreciate their true personalities.

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#188:  Interview on “Phalanges.”  Gina Fava, also an author of thrillers, interviewed me for the Q/A section of her blog called “Phalanges.”  I will review her here shortly.  I also look forward to having her write a guest post for this blog on various topics.  Meanwhile, check out her website. (www.ginafava.com)  [Also, see my interview policy on my “Join the Conversation” webpage.]

#189:  Try a book.  I will soon have ten books (see below).  Maybe it’s time to try one.  They are all sci-fi thrillers, although some are more sci-fi than thriller, or vice versa.  There are three series:  “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco,”  “Clones and Mutants,” and “The Chaos Chronicles.”  The first books in each series are The Midas Bomb, Full Medical, and Survivors of the Chaos.  Try one of these.  Or, introduce yourself to my fiction with the YA novel The Secret Lab (for young adults and young-at-heart adults) or the short story collection Pop Two Antacids and Have Some Java—both are only $0.99.  [See “Books and Short Stories.” ]

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[I needed to deliver a message to Santa Claus recently.  I finally found him on an undisclosed and clothes-optional Caribbean island with the help of Rudolph, who has a big mouth as well as that well-known drunkard’s nose.  Santa hadn’t told his elves where he was going and didn’t take his iPhone 4S.  He had wi-fi in his beach hut, though, so I talked to him via Skype.]

Steve:  Santa, I wanted to tell you I finally finished editing that trilogy and it will be released soon.  You can put it on Christmas lists.

Santa:  It’s about time.  I hope it’s not like those Fifty Shades books.  [Pops his speedo as if to cool his privates.]  I gave the first one to Mrs. Claus.  Her list of toys she wants for Christmas is now ten pages long.  I hope that’s not going to be the norm this next Christmas!

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Among the world’s five great religions, Islam is the youngest.  It shows.  Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and Jews have generally matured enough to get beyond fanatical and savage protests in reaction to perceived insults to their religion and they punish those who participate in such protests—not so Muslims.  People in the other religions shrug off the intolerance, turn their backs on it, and go on with their lives—not so Muslims.  If Islamic believers who have matured beyond fanatical responses still can’t control their savage and fanatical brethren, something is wrong.

A Muslim quoted in the NY Times yesterday said something like, “I respect Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets.  Why can’t the U.S. respect the Prophet Mohammed.”  This is an example of the myopic thinking of many Muslims, not just fanatics.  How dare they presume to dictate to me or anyone else how I feel about the prophets or anything else?  This kind of ignorance and arrogance is precisely what stands in the way of any solution for Middle East peace.  It’s like trying to reason with your five-year-old about world-shaking issues after he’s caught raiding the cookie jar.  You can’t have a mature discussion with people who are driven to deadly tantrums by their emotions.

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(J. Elder, Entity, MuseItUp Publishing, B008QWRL9M)

This novel is the sequel to the author’s Spectra, which I also reviewed.  Consider this review a sequel to the first.  In that review, I introduced the idea of sci-fi thriller, a sub-genre of science fiction.  My definition differs from Hollywood’s, where “thriller” often signifies an over-abundance of action to the detriment of the thrills and suspense.  Both Spectra and Entity are fine examples of sci-fi thrillers:  they are Goldilocks books where the author gets the balance just right.

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I write sci-fi thrillers.  Readers and writers have preconceived notions about what that means.  The sci-fi part is well understood—or is it?  The whole Star Wars juggernaut was fantasy, not sci-fi, for example—or, at best, a fantasized rendering of Asimov’s Foundation series souped up with language from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series (Jedi warriors, the white beast on the ice planet, etc).  Still, I’ll give you that sci-fi writing is well defined, even if Hollywood doesn’t know the definition.

Hollywood has also played fast and loose with the concept of thriller.  A modern movie thriller has a protagonist who faces unspeakable adversity and violence, suffers through interminable car chases or escapes from murderous robots, zombies, vampires, or werewolves, and saves one or two unnaturally slim and buxom women in the process.  Compare Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity with the movie version.  If the movie is a sci-fi thriller, the women become super smart scientists as well (the movie version of I, Robot comes to mind).  It’s hard to find a few cinematic seconds that are devoid of sex, violence, or other intense action.

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The death of Neil Armstrong at 82 from heart operation complications is a nail in the coffin we’ve been building for humanity’s adventures in space.  Some consider this only another example of public apathy or antagonism toward science and scientists.  I consider it a concerted effort to end a dream on the part of individuals who need to use their imagination more.

Another nail was the cancellation of the shuttle program.  But, even before that, the cancellation of the Apollo program was a bureaucratic castration—step 1, if you will, a pulling back from the great adventure.  The shuttle program’s cancellation was step 2, as the incompetent asses in government continued to opt for military expenditures over science in their clumsy and insane budget choices—the budget ax fell on the easy targets with special interests and lobbyists prevailing (call it the military industrial complex, with double meaning intended).

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