Reset?
After publishing a new novel (or maybe in this case two, The Klimt Connection and Celtic Chronicles, #8 and #9, respectively, in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series), I often pause, take a breather for a few days (in this case, it’s like running two marathons!), and think about future plans. Is it time for a reset? I always ask myself. Sometimes the answer is “yes,” and that’s when I write something I believe is entirely different, even experimental, like The Secret Lab or A Time Traveler’s Guide through the Multiverse (or even Rembrandt’s Angel).
But with some self-analysis, I realized this time that even with that YA sci-fi mystery (reedited and rewritten by A. B. Carolan) and that sci-fi rom-com, thriller elements still dominate my novel writing. I might call those “Esther Brookstone” novels mysteries (Agatha Christie in a way motivated that first book in that series) and the other two sci-fi novels, thriller elements are ubiquitous in all of them. They’re evident in the “Clones & Mutants” and “Chaos Chronicles” trilogies as well. Why is this?
More self-analysis leads me to a partial answer: H. Rider Haggard! I read a lot as a lad, Dame Agatha for mysteries and Asimov for sci-fi (although his Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun are also mysteries) just two “classic” authors who influenced me, but I can’t forget Haggard. I wonder if he influenced J. K. Rowling as well. By her own admission, Hagrid’s name—that burly giant tippler and surely the most interesting character in the Harry Potter series—came from the 
old English word for a bad night that tipplers often willingly have, and I suspect the modern English word haggard originates with that old English one hagrid. So, maybe she also used that name to recognize another English author’s contribution to thriller literature? (In Haggard’s day, not that distant from mine as an early reader, those novels were called “adventure stories, not thrillers.)
In any case, when I’ve reread some of H. Rider’s novels (most recently, King Solomon’s Mines) and enjoyed his famous character Alan Quatermain yet again (whom I identify more with Sean Connery now than James Bond), it’s clear that his novels are what we call thrillers today. Sure, H. Rider’s works mirror his times—they’re racist, elitist, and very British (but so are Christie’s!)—yet their thriller aspects entertained me as a young reader who imagined myself in adventures “around the world and to the stars.”
Of course, it might just be that all my novels are just evidence of my belief that storytelling should focus on the stories and ignore genre classifications. I’ll revisit these musings after the next novel, I’m sure!
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The “Clones and Mutants” Trilogy. While all my titles, including those above, are reasonably priced, you might not want to miss this June’s 99-cent sale on Smashwords! All novels in this trilogy are on sale: In Full Medical (VJ53C), you’ll meet the clones; in Evil Agenda (UD66S), a nubile mutant is added to the mix; and in No Amber Waves of Grain (UV43P), the arch-villain from the first two books teams up with a clone and mutant to thwart another villain and mutant’s plan to destroy the West. All these are “evergreen,” i.e. as suspenseful and entertaining as the day I finished their manuscripts. The sale price $0.99 should appear when you peruse each book’s page on Smashwords, but you can use the indicated coupon codes if they don’t. Enjoy!
At pubprogressive.com tomorrow: “Again?” (my plea for common-sense gun control).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
