Item: Hachette-bias at the Times.  It continues.  David Streitfeld, a Times reporter, brought out the barbs again in his article, “A Writerly Chill at Bezos’ Fire” (Sunday, Sept. 21).  Let’s ignore the fact that “writerly” isn’t even a word (being able to write isn’t a skill most Times reporters have, so I won’t embarrass Mr. Streitfeld by harping on this).  To summarize: every fall, Mr. Bezos invites well-known novelists to his Campfire, a literary weekend in Santa Fe, NM.

To quote Mr. Streitfeld in all his eloquence, “Writers loved it.  There was no hard sell of Amazon, or soft sell.”  Yet this year some writers won’t attend.  You guessed it: all the thoroughbred horses in the Hachette stable, along with any other one-percenter authors following Doug Preston and James Patterson’s rallying calls for attacks on Amazon, these are the people who aren’t going.  Hugh Howey, sci-fi writer and champion of indie publishing, doesn’t want to go either because readers and writers are caught in the middle of this mess.  PeePee (Patterson and Preston) won’t be invited, to be sure—would Churchill have invited Hitler over for a little campfire shindig?

I harped about the Times’ biased reporting on this issue before.  They’ve taken sides and, as usual in Times reporting in these cases, they won’t present the other side’s viewpoint.  The word “fit” in “all the news fit to print” means “what we want our readers to know.”  Opinions belong on the editorial page in the op-ed and editorials, not in the news reporting.  Yeah, I know, every paper has its slant, but the Times “slant” towards Hachette is huge.  Of course, the Times IS a big publisher, ipso facto.  They know they’re becoming irrelevant (see the next item), and they think they must support the Big Five to survive.  How one implies the other is beyond me.

Item: NY Times’ search for relevancy.  I guess it’s the day to bash the Times.  Authors, did you ever wonder how the Times generate those book review lists?  Well, don’t waste your time because what they do is similar to what Coca-Cola Bottling does: they use an arcane formula to prepare something that’s ultimately poisonous for you.  To make matters worse, the Times just added 12 new monthly lists in their search for relevancy in the internet age.  The Book Review isn’t relevant for readers or writers, so ignore it.

Item: Why I love Joe.  Last Wednesday I commented on Joe Konrath’s list of things authors can do if sales are flat.  I recently spotted a great quip from Joe.  A wee bit of background: Some dark and mysterious group that Dan Brown should write about sent a letter to Amazon’s board of directors in support of Hachette recently.  The group is called Authors United.  I guess Doug Preston is the de facto spokesperson, the anointed Pope among this College of Cardinals.  Here’s the quip:

Authors United: “…commentators and Amazon itself may not realize that traditional publishing houses perform a vital role in our society.”

Konrath: “So did outhouses.  Then that pesky tech upstart, indoor plumbing, came along.”

Love ya, Joe!  I’ll just add that neither Amazon nor Hachette has done much for solving humanity’s important problems.  That’s not their gig.  Neither has performed “a vital role” if by that we mean something that helps all human beings (“vital” is the key word here).  But Amazon has given me and many other authors a chance to be a writer and entertain some readers.  Also, Amazon has created numerous new readers and supported new authors who provide innovative books for them to read.  Legacy publishing failed and fails miserably at that.  I doubt that Authors United’s writers ever understood Fahrenheit 451—I’d bet some haven’t even read it!

Item: Characters with varied ethnic backgrounds.  I have many of them in my novels.  Many probably saw my post celebrating the National Hispanic Heritage Month.  I have many reasons to include Hispanics in my novels.  One obvious one is that Hispanics and Asians represent the fastest growing minorities in the U.S., hence my Detectives Rolando Castilblanco (Puerto Rican American) and Dao-Ming Chen (Chinese American).  From Jay Sandoval in Full Medical to Mary Jo Melendez in Muddlin’ Through, nearly every ebook has a Hispanic protagonist.  I have relatives who have Hispanic heritage (Colombian) and relatives who have Chinese heritage.  I believe the grand melting pots like Canada and the U.S. along with many other countries make our countries stronger.  Why not celebrate that in my writing?

I’ve noticed that some writers try to make their characters and their plots suffer a version of ethnic cleansing.  Bland names are used—not quite as bad as Dick, Jane, and Spot—but enough like Cream of Wheat to catch my attention as reader and reviewer.  The other side of this coin is found with laughable stereotypes.  In period literature (e.g. Huckleberry Finn), characters are often the precursors to stereotypes, but in current fiction, I’d watch out for them.  Even when the stereotype is complimentary, I’d avoid it.  However, political correctness is over-rated, especially when dealing with sketchy issues that no one wants to talk about (my new novel, The Collector, will deal with the problem of sex trafficking for prostitution, porn, and worse).  We shouldn’t imitate ostriches (do they really hide their heads in the sand?).

Item: Colombia.  Bolivar dreamed of creating La Gran Colombia.  It split into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, if my memory of Latin American history serves me correctly (later Teddy Roosevelt stole Panama from Colombia).  Both Soldiers of God and Muddlin’ Through contain insights into that region in general and Colombia in particular, knowledge gleaned from my 10+ years living in Colombia and traveling around South America (knowledge not available for the most part from Google).  Years have passed, so I might have a few things mixed up, but those memories served me well as I wrote those novels.

Two titles also reflect my love of Latin America—Sing a Samba Galactica and Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand!  The samba in the first title is a bow to the Argentine samba, not the Brazilian dance.  The cumbia in the second is a bow to that slow and graceful Colombian dance, not the fast dances and music that have unfortunately co-opted the name.  The two books, of course, are the second and third novels in “The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy” (the first is Survivors of the Chaos), my Foundation trilogy, if you will (sorry, Isaac Asimov, my Universe has ETs).

By the way, Colombia must be always spelled with the second o.  Otherwise, you’ve anglicized something that shouldn’t be (Columbia University is correct, though, as is “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean”—we were a British colony, but Colombia, the country, never was).

Item: The Collector.  Coming soon!  Like Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder, this one’s more mystery than thriller.  I’m alternating a wee bit now, although not intentionally.  While my thrillers have a who-done-it component (you don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen and/or who’s going to do the dirty deed), that’s the main point in the mysteries.  Some readers might call the latter police procedurals because Chen and Castilblanco are NYPD homicide cops.  I wouldn’t say they follow procedure very well, though, especially when Feds are involved, as they are in this novel and Teeter-Totter.  Yep, they’re all on the same team, C & C know this, but guess which part of the team thinks it’s better than the other!

Item: World Enough and Crime.  Coming soon!  This new anthology prepared by the Carrick Publishing team (Donna and Alex are the editors, Sara is the cover-artist) is also just about ready for release—a wealth of crime cases and clever sleuthing to entertain you (but lock the doors and windows).  Look for it!  (FYI: you’ll find Castilblanco’s first case here, and nowhere else.)

Item: Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder.  Its price is reduced to $2.99, effective Sept. 15.  [Note that with the special deal on Aristocrats and Assassins (see below), you’ll be all set for The Collector, the next entry into the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.]  Only on Amazon!

Item: Alpha and Omega promotion.  Did you graduate from Mt. Whitney High School (Visalia, CA) in 1964?  Did you graduate from U. Massachusetts (Amherst, MA) in 1985?  The first ten who respond in each category will receive one free ebook from my opus—your choice.  To participate, drop me an email (steve@stevenmmoore.com), indicate your desired title, and answer one of the following questions:

Mt. Whitney graduate: 1) In what stadium were football games played?  (2) Who was the band and orchestra director when you went there?  (3) Who was the faculty advisor and what was the name of the writing club on Mt. Whitney’s campus?

UMass graduate: 1) What’s the name of the old science building on the main drag and in front of the Student Center?  2) What building had the bad habit of losing bricks?  3) How much did the PVTA bus charge to go from the art center to downtown Amherst?

This is a permanent promotion until ten readers in each category have responded.  If you wish, you can choose a future release (currently, The Collector is almost ready).  If you’re in both categories, I’ll give you two ebooks of your choice, of course (this is highly unlikely, but possible).  Otherwise, one ebook per reader, please.  [Please note I have lists, so even if you’re clever enough to Google and find the answer to one of the above questions, I reserve the right to check your name before sending the ebook.]

Item: The “Casting Castilblanco” promotion is now closed.  There’s another promotion related to Mr. C at the end of The Collector, though.  So, who’s my choice to play Mr. C, Scott Dyson, author of The Striker Files, asked?  I really don’t have a good one.  Scott liked Javier Bardem.  My beta-reader made some good suggestions too (Richard Kind for Mr. C and Ming Na Wen for Ms. C), but she’s part of my publishing team and gets to read manuscripts for free anyway, so she can’t play in this one—sorry, Debby.  I’d thought of Jean Reno (the detective in The Da Vinci Code)—but I’m not eligible for the contest either.  I’d certainly avoid Tom Cruise (what was Lee Child thinking?).  You can still make suggestions, especially if you’re a Hollywood producer interested in one of my books!  You just won’t get a free C&C book.  Sorry!  Look for other offers in the future…and sales.

One thing I learned (or taught myself?) with this contest?  Casting is difficult.  No wonder Hollywood gets it wrong so often.  The Cruise case is an example.  Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon didn’t work for me either, but he was surprisingly good as Captain Phillips (maybe over-acted a bit, though).  Harrison Ford as the android hunter in Blade Runner was a superb choice.  Casting success is also very subjective in the sense that each viewer will think about it differently.  You might disagree with me completely on all these cases.  I wouldn’t be offended either.  If you’ve seen the movie, why shouldn’t your opinion count more than mine?  So, who was the best James Bond actor?

In libris libertas….    

This entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2014 at 4:00 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.