News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #182 and #183…
Oops! I just realized that I didn’t post #182. Even though the audiences are very different, there’s some overlap in my email and online newsletters. I sent out the email newsletter, but I forgot the online one. My apologies. The following is a combination that will bring readers of this blog up to date just as well. A lot is happening now, but not that much in my publishing life. To wax optimistic, I can say that COVID has one positive: I’m reading and writing a lot more! (See below for both.)
The virus is still out there. We want to avoid it coming back, that is, leave “They’re here!” to that Poltergeist movie of 1982 (for COVID, “they” equals viruses). As we open up the tri-state economy, please continue to be careful. We deserve to congratulate ourselves, at least those of us who have followed good practices—going out only when necessary, using masks, staying away from crowds, and keeping apart by at least six feet. However, if we don’t continue these good practices, a new COVID wave will occur, as states like Arizona, Florida, Texas, and others that never left the first wave have shown.
Stay smart and be safe.
“Tyger tyger, burning bright…”. No “fearful symmetry” here, just a beautiful one. The tiger lilies are out to remind us that Nature can do rather well without us. We’re only passengers on spaceship Earth, so we shouldn’t be making such a mess of things. We can do much better in that regard! (See my blog post last week “The Cardinals” for another perspective.)
Bastille Day. The French national holiday last year gained more media attention because POTUS was there and came home wanting a parade down Penn Avenue that will outdo the festivities there. His July 4 events this year were poor imitations, though, only used by him to continue his divisive speeches.
Frankly, I’ve always admired the French. They helped in the American Revolution, which in turn inspired their own (a bit bloodier with Madame Guillotine, of course, but both began the end of aristocratic privilege that finally came after World War I). Their slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was enshrined in the Third Republic and is a good motto in these times when the world is turning once again to fascism. And the Statue of Liberty, though battered and bruised by the Trump administration, still stands at the entrance to New York Harbor, a gift from the French.
Their holiday celebrates the start of the French Revolution when French revolutionaries stormed that old prison to release the political prisoners. It’s no accident that my novel Goin’ the Extra Mile (#3 in the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries”) ends with Mary Jo and her family and friends in France after being pursued by the US, Russian, and Chinese governments. I couldn’t choose the UK. After all, the UK has its own Trump-clone in the fascist Boris Johnson!
Vive la France!
Speaking of Trump… To begin my list of recommended readings, let me suggest Masha Gessen’s Surviving Autocracy, where the author does a fine job analyzing the deranged mind of #45 and how he’s the typical fascist. (See my review last week. His niece Mary, a psychologist, analyzes that diseased mine even further.) Obviously Gessen’s little book isn’t for anyone who supports Trump. (If it’s any consolation to them, most politicians are deranged, but, to paraphrase Orwell’s Animal Farm, some are more deranged than others.)
Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra del Viento). I reviewed Carlos Ruiz Safón’s novel in 2008 in both Spanish and English (the review is now archived). It’s probably the greatest Spanish language novel since Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien Años de Soledad), which led to the Colombian receiving the Nobel prize (many good things come to us from Colombia, including the wonderful coffee). You don’t need to read Carlos’s book in Spanish, though, to escape into the magical world of books in Barcelona at a time when Franco and his fascist minions gripped Cataluña in their iron fists.
Carlos recently passed on to that great book deposit in the sky; he died too young at fifty-five. The NY Times didn’t mention the cause, but I can only assume that it was COVID-19, which hit Spain hard—and is currently rearing its ugly head again. (The Times also didn’t mention there are sequels. I read the first sequel and enjoyed that one too.)
Carlos will be missed. You can honor him by reading his books.
The Story of Ireland. For history buffs, I can recommend Hegarty’s history of Ireland. I wrote a review of it not long ago for this blog. The span of Irish history is so vast (the Times just had a story about the new discovery of prehistoric ruins north of Dublin), it’s hard to imagine how the author could cover so much of it in a single book. (The book seems to be connected with a BBC documentary. If anyone has a reference for that, let me know.) There are interesting tidbits about St. Patrick, Thomas Moore (no relation, as far as I know), and other legendary figures that I wasn’t aware of. However, St. Brendan, the true discoverer of America was not mentioned. It was still a welcome break from my fiction reading.
“Eve Mallow Series.” I’ve discovered a new mystery author, Clare Chase. Her main character Eve writes obits and solves mysteries while she interviews people in order to write the obits. Interesting concept. These are serious mysteries, not cozies, in the Christie-tradition with modern themes added. Set in Suffolk, England, you’ll probably have a lot of fun with all the twists and turns. (I reviewed the entire series recently—what’s available so far.) I just started her “Tara Thorpe Series”; it’s a bit darker and less approachable, but I’m beginning to like the main character.
Binge-Reading #2. While I binge on other author’s series, you can binge on mine. Last week, I featured the “Clones and Mutants Trilogy.” This week, please consider my “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” seven books that make concrete the first part of my trademark motto, “Around the world…,” because they generally start with a homicide in Manhattan but often move to other US and international settings. The one exception is Aristocrats and Assassins, which starts with Castilblanco and his wife Pam on vacation in Europe (Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden, a main character in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series, makes his first appearance here).
New books? None yet. Manuscripts are piling up, though. I have a lot more time to write with the pandemic going on. The sci-fi rom-com A Time-Traveler’s Guide through the Multiverse will be the first one published (soon coming from Carrick Publishing). New additions to the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective Series” and “The Last Humans Series” are in the wings waiting to come on stage. And A.B. Carolan tells me he’ll have a new sci-fi mystery for young adults and adults who are young at heart ready very soon. I’ll keep you posted on other publishing developments.
***
Comments are always welcome.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
