[I apologize to my friends on Facebook, where I usually share these posts.  Facebook has made it impossible to share.  You can follow me on Google+.  I recommend cancelling your Facebook accounts and creating Google+ accounts, if you haven’t already.]

Item.  Mary Jo is back!  In case you haven’t noticed, we (Carrick Publishing and I) just released Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By, the sequel to Muddlin’ Through.  Ex-USN Master-at-Arms Mary Jo Melendez is a stay-at-home gal in this one, but her new stomping grounds become the Silicon Valley.  She takes a job as security director for a computer games firm.  She’s just settlin’ in when she discovers she has a stalker.  Russian and U.S. agents are also pursuing her.  She employs a PI to protect her, and becomes romantically involved with the handsome Italian.  She befriends an autistic boy who also helps in thwarting her pursuers.  As in Mary Jo #1, the adventure and action are non-stop.  Enjoy!

Item.  The two sign-offs.  Readers have probably noticed the two sign-offs I use at the end of my blog posts.  I’ll let you in on a secret: they’re not original!  Instead, they’re a bow to two special icons.  “And so it goes…” honors the iconic Kurt Vonnegut.  His curmudgeonly cynicism in A Man Without a Country has always been my inspiration for the writing style you see in my op-ed posts on current events and news events.  “In elibris libertas,” used for posts about the writing business, book reviews, and author interviews, is a nod to public libraries everywhere (the version without the “e” is on a public library building in LA, if I remember correctly); the “e” was added after I completed my transition to ebooks with the second edition of Soldiers of God.  You can now enjoy my prose in ebook format—quality entertainment at a reasonable price.  Even the Infinity ebooks are less expensive than those from traditional publishers.  Now you’re in the know.

Item.  Cameos.  I guess there’s not much interest for this, but I’ll put it out there once again.  The first five readers who email me that they want to participate will receive a cameo appearance in More Than Human: The Mensa Contagion and a free copy of the ebook when it’s released.  Unlike the Apple watch, there are no lines, no need to bring your tents to wait for the doors to open, and it doesn’t cost anything—well, a wee bit of your time, needed to send me an email (use my contact page).  For those who only want to be characters in certain genres, More than Human is hard, traditional sci-fi, but a wee bit sexy and humorous to add some spice.  Teaser: you could be in the first Mars colony!  (Note: I’ll have to put a closing date on this soon so I can kick this novel out the door to my wonderful ebook prep team.)

Item.  World Enough and Crime.  I’d like to feature this anthology again, not only because I have a story in it (I won’t even say what it is), but because my esteemed publisher, Carrick Publishing, has put together a really good collection for readers of crime stories.  If you like crime tales and love short stories, this is a book you shouldn’t miss (it’s available as an ebook and pbook).  These short stories represent quality writing.  M. H. Callway, author of the short story “The Ultimate Mystery,” has been short-listed for the Derringer Award, for example.  Author Lisa de Nikolits gave the collection a good review too.  Just in time maybe to lounge in that hammock and soak up some sun when spring comes?  (Mary Jo will provide some of the same medicine, of course!)

Item.  Amazon Worlds.  Speaking of worlds!  What is it?  Should authors participate?  Should readers care?  “Dunno” is my answer to all three right now.  My knee-jerk reaction is negative.  My reason is simple: nothing good is the usual product coming out of committees.  You know the story about the IQ of a committee: its IQ is the lowest IQ of its participating members divided by the number of members.  (Congressional committees are very visible examples, but I’ve experienced the phenomenon at all levels.)  I can’t even imagine working with a co-author (the one time I suggested it, he stole my idea and used it in one of his own novels—I won’t mention names because it was my stupid mistake to trust someone).  Amazon Worlds is a more sophisticated form of Flash Fiction or internet soap operas, all creations done by a committee—fun for the participants I guess, but there’s all too often a dearth of quality control.

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[Note 1.  Like all my blog posts, this is op-ed, even though it’s about the writing business.  As such, I get first crack at expressing my opinions on things—I have lots of them, but you can only write so much!  But, because they are only my take on a current event or news topic, you might not agree, so anyone can comment.  Note 2. I apologize to my friends on Facebook, where I usually share these posts.  Facebook has made it impossible to share.  You can follow me on Google+.  I recommend cancelling your Facebook accounts and creating Google+ accounts, if you haven’t already.]

A few days ago, I read Joe Konrath’s report on a debate he had with Scott Turow.  Joe’s a brave soul, not because he faced Turow (well, that too), but because he played Daniel and walked into legacy publishing’s lions’ den, New York City.  The results of that debate were predictable.  The audience, more there to support Scott and legacy publishing, decided that Amazon is NOT the reader’s friend.  Exit polls (I’ll call them that) said that Joe won in a landslide—Amazon IS the reader’s friend.

It’s more debatable whether Amazon is the author’s friend, though, and whether it will continue to be if it is now.  That came up in the debate too.  We know which sides Scott and Joe are on, of course.  Scott’s made his millions with the old publishing paradigm we call legacy publishing; Joe started out there, became disgusted, and pursued indie publishing, making plenty of money too.  Amazon opened up the gates to hell, in Scott’s opinion; it opened up the gates to opportunity in Joe’s.  Both have had successful writing careers, unlike most writers, whether they be in the legacy or indie camp.

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[Note 1.  Like all my blog posts, even my ones on writing, this is op-ed.  As such, I get first crack at expressing my opinions on things—I have lots of them, but you can only write so much!  But, because they are only my take on a current event or news item, you might not agree, so anyone can comment, even Mr. Putin!  Note 2.  I apologize to my friends on Facebook, where I usually share these posts.  Facebook has made it impossible to share.  You can follow me on Google+.  I recommend cancelling your Facebook accounts and creating Google+ accounts, if you haven’t already.]

How many of these conspiracy theories do you believe?  Apollo never landed on the moon.  Bill Clinton had Vince Foster murdered to cover-up an affair between Hillary and Foster.  LBJ arranged for the murders of the Kennedy brothers.  Communist sympathizers hired John Hinckley to kill Reagan.  Putin ordered the Russian SVR to poison ex-spy Alexander LItvinenko.  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ordered special prosecutor Alberto Nisman murdered.  Putin ordered the Russian FSR to hire someone to assassinate opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

Some of these raise eyebrows, of course, because they trend toward UFOs and little green men.  The two that might cause some people to nod sagely are the Putin and De Kirchner references.  Why?  Because both Argentina and Russia have long-standing and violent fascist traditions associated with oppressive oligarchies.  No matter what leaders of these countries say, you’ll always have doubts.  While the U.S. isn’t necessarily beyond hanky-panky like this, we find it harder to believe, although fiction writers like me can make such things seem real (Clancy’s advice in the quote you see in the banner of this website).  Everyone loves a good conspiracy in mysteries and thrillers, but just maybe Argentina and Russia are a little too real?

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Item: Black or White.  The first Kevin Costner film we saw recently is a mixed bag.  White lawyer who drinks too much wants to keep his mixed-race granddaughter in his custody.  Her father’s family (the father appears later in the film) wants the child to be raised in the African-American tradition.  There’s a strong if screeching banshee performance by Octavia Spencer, but it’s better than Kostner’s.  Too many stereotypes, racial and otherwise, make this a flawed flick, including the arrogant black lawyer relative defending the kid’s dope-addicted father.  Race relations are bad enough in this country; we don’t need to reaffirm bigoted and non-productive stereotypes.  The actors are too often over-acting too.  C-grade, and not recommended.

Item: McFarland USA.  Does Costner have a monopoly on sports movies?  He plays a coach with anger-management problems in this movie, a role that isn’t too far from the white guy in Black or White, but he morphs into someone more likable here.  The Hispanic kids and their families are great.  I related because I felt a bit nostalgic.  You’ll relate most likely because this is an inspiring story.  It’s the true story of McFarland High’s cross-country coach Jim White as he prepares reluctant Hispanic teens for the first of nine championships.

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In my old day job, the young scientists and engineers would often ask about advanced degrees.  They’d have a BA or BS, or even an MA or MS, and be wondering if they could further their career by receiving more training via an advanced degree.  I’d often say two things: (1) the PhD is over-rated, unless you want to paint yourself into a very tight corner (aka over-specialization); and (2) experience in problem solving is the most valuable thing you can gain to further your career.

Now that I’m a full-time writer, is the advice any different?  Generally speaking, no.  (Considering this is a blog post and not a tweet, I won’t stop here, though.)  I know some sci-fi writers have (or had) a PhD—Asimov, Benford, Heinlein, Hoyle are examples of scientists turned writers, and their books are classics—and I suppose a few authors of legal or medical thrillers have advanced degrees, but I claim that while their degrees might aid them to create tight, logical plots, they otherwise are irrelevant.  You might say, “That makes sense.”  But your next question should be: “What about degrees that have to do with writing?”  What about the various Lit degrees—English Lit, French Lit, Russian Lit, for example—and what about MFAs or journalism?

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(A. J. Hartley, Tears of the Jaguar, Thomas and Mercer – Amazon Digital Services, 2012, ASIN B007CJUA84)

My readers probably know I do my “official reviewing” of books with Bookpleasures.com, but that’s often limited to new releases.  I’m an avid reader, so I do a lot of casual reading too, some not so new, and I often write reviews for those books.  Many of the latter are Amazon reviews (readers can look me up there and find almost all of my reviews, because the Bookpleasures reviews are often reposted to Amazon, at the author’s or publishing company’s discretion).  I believe this is the first case where I’ve perused an ebook in my casual reading that deserves to be included in the Stealth Reads section of my webpage “Steve’s Bookshelf,” though.

This book has everything.  The plot is reminiscent of Preston and Child’s best,  The Relic, only better.  The characters are very interesting and well-drawn.  The two main settings—the author’s native Lancashire, England, and the Mayan ruins of Mexico—are both steeped in history and exotic mystery.  There is action galore; witchcraft and magic; the following of clues, many of them historical; and many misdirects.  Some have called this a thriller.  I call it a mystery/thriller/suspense tour de force combined with historical fiction that has so much research behind it that I wonder how long it took the author to put it all together.

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Item: Harry Bosch from a parallel universe?  As Michael Connelly observed, the new Amazon series has made a “fair amount of changes” to his famous LAPD detective.  Why would we expect otherwise?  Hollywood always has to tinker when turning a book into a movie!  In this case, we’re talking two books, Bosch #3, The Concrete Blonde, and Bosch #8, City of Bones, for the premier of the TV series on Amazon Prime.  Bosch in the books is an ex-Vietnam tunnel rat; TV makes him re-enlist after 9/11 to become an Afghan tunnel rat too.  Bosch is played by Titus Welliver, an unfamiliar actor for me (probably a good thing—I have my own mental image of what the Bosch in my universe looks like).  Readers should stick with the books, in spite of the fact that they’re so damn expensive (probably more than what you’d pay for the series).  No movie allows you to get inside the heads of protagonists and antagonists like a good book!  Sorry, Amazon—you should just sell Michael’s books and leave well enough alone.

Item: What are people thinking?  To elaborate on the above, movies made from successful novels are always suspect.  The 007, Bourne, and Harry Potter series are three OK examples where Hollywood couldn’t begin to match the intensity and depth of the novels.  Gone Girl started with a bad book and ended up a very bad movie.  It set the tone for the screen version of Fifty Shades, a terrible series of books (no, I didn’t read either Gone Girl or was interested in any of the S&M found in Fifty Shades—the blurbs and peek-insides were quite enough to convince me to leave well enough alone, and friends’ subsequent comments only reaffirmed the wisdom of my decision).  I think the lines at the box offices formed by voyeurs waiting to buy tickets are highly amusing.  Good luck with that movie, people!  The only positive thing I can say is that the cases of Gone Girl and Fifty Shades have confirmed my belief that achieving writing success, if measured by book sales and/or number of readers, is a complete lottery; a fickle reading public can make any author, no matter how bad, a winner!

Item: The Facebook-Nazis strike again!  Over the years I’ve used up a lot of adrenalin being in a rage about the arbitrary shenanigans FB programmers pull.  Beware geeks bearing gifts!  They’re continuously adding features I don’t give a damn about, and most of them just cause me acid reflux.  The egregious trick perpetrated recently on an unsuspecting public is a “security test” for people wanting to share articles and pictures to Facebook, either to their timelines and/or fan pages (my author page, in this case)—both applied to me.  I liked to share my blog posts to Facebook and Google+ (Goodreads and LinkedIn are smart—I can just RSS to those sites—but no, FB’s programmers, in their infinite stupidity, don’t allow that).

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I had just finished Scott Dyson’s short story collection Dark Windows on Monday night a week ago, so I decided to cruise a bit through the 999 Comcast channels we pay so much for and so seldom use (anyone believe that the planned merger with TWC will make that any better?).  I came across Mike and Molly, a sitcom, on one of the traditional network TV channels.  I remembered an episode from a few weeks ago I watched under similar circumstances (rather than launch into a new book and stay up late, I often watch TV to make me drowsy—that and a finger of Jameson whiskey often works to cure insomnia).  In that episode, Molly, the ex-teacher, was finishing an erotic romance—it sounded better than Fifty Shades, though (that was parody #1).

In the new episode, Molly’s picked up by a big-time editor (publishing company not named, but the fancy, uncluttered desk implies he has plenty of minions to work through his slush pile).  He’s suave, sophisticated, and sociopathic (like that alliteration?), i.e. a snooty know-it-all.  He tries to convince Molly to rewrite the book.  She rebels, but he says he owns her (she signed a standard author’s contract, you see, complete with advance).  We now have parody #2 that offers a humorous critique of the traditional publishing paradigm—and maybe a painful reminder to midlist authors?

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[Aren’t you the lucky one?  This newsletter, after eighty editions, still isn’t cluttering up your email box.  It never will.  In particular, I’ll never use it to collect readers’ email addresses, so, if you feel guilty about reading my books, you’ll still be able to do so in anonymity.  It’s a feature most Friday’s right here at this blog, where I regularly talk about reading and writing…and books, others and my own.]

Item: Sequel? Prequel? So, they found Harper Lee’s lost MS, Go Set a Watchman, attached to an old copy of her famous novel, and now Harper Collins wants to make millions off it?  Beyond the dollars of profit involved, I can’t say whether publishing the book will be a valuable contribution to the reading world because I haven’t read the MS, but it might be pretty good if it comes anywhere close to To Kill a Mockingbird.  Word is out that maybe Ms. Lee never wanted this to be published because she didn’t think anything could hit the big time as well as Mockingbird.  With lawyers and traditional publishers involved and her health status, I’m suspicious that greed is the only driving factor here, and it doesn’t reside in Ms. Harper.

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One of the most exciting Super Bowls ever, right down to the last seconds.  I really thought the Seahawks had it.  A great show by two great teams and a fiesta for adrenalin-seeking sports fans.  Any team could have won this one…as it should be when two teams get this far.  Most of the playoff games this year were spectacular–excitement mixed with strategy in America’s unique game.

Now, back to writing….