Political Fact Is Stranger Than Fiction

Anyone who has written a contemporary thriller that touches on American politics [I recently completed the manuscript of my first] understands that today, fact can be far, far stranger than fiction. I’ve heard from numerous authors who note that our system is badly broken that any plot or characters they might conceive would pale in comparison to today’s absurdities. In this CrimeReads article, author David Pepper offers up nine essential books – fiction and non-fiction – that he says most effectively portray the real-world drama of American politics—the good, the bad and the ugly.

Scammers Now Are Targeting Authors

If you’re like me, you probably get at least 10 scam phone calls, emails, or texts every day. The IRS has cancelled my Social Security card. My automobile extended warranty has expired. My credit card on file with eBay has expired. Now, it seems, the fraudsters are turning their attention to the publishing business, with some new (and imaginative) schemes to wrest a few dollars from unsuspecting authors. They’re all a variation on a theme that you’ve probably experienced so, as this article from Feedspot cautions, think before you leap.

Judging The Perfect Movie

As I recently noted on Facebook, only a handful of films stand out as “perfect” movies (not to be confused with the “best” movies of all time). One of fewer than ten on my list that has touched this rarefied air is Chinatown, produced by Robert Evans and directed by Roman Polanski (three years before fleeing to Europe because of rape charges). From the first frame to the last line it includes every cinematic tool a “perfect” movie requires, and is heavy with nuances and subplots that leave even the most seasoned moviegoer stumped. Screenwriter Robert Towne crafted one of Jack Nicholson’s finest roles, with marvelous performances from Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, Perry Lopez, Burt Young, and John Huston. Anyone else have a perfect movie to share?

Lawmakers Push For

Library Relief In Covid Funding

As Congress debates a new round of Covid-19 relief funding, several lawmakers are working to ensure that public libraries are included, and particularly are urging librarians and library users to go to bat for the recently introduced Library Stabilization Fund Act. Introduced July 2 by Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed (pictured) and Michigan Democratic Congressman Andy Levin, LFSA would authorize $1.7 billion to be distributed to local libraries through state library agencies, via the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, with a minimum of $10 million in library funding going to each state based on population.

Covid Spiked Big Box Book Sales

While most book stores closed down during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, it turns out that book sales jumped at big-box stores, which stayed open and stocked essentials. According to The New York Times, such retailers as Walmart and Target, which were labeled essential businesses, experienced a spike in book sales as consumers came in to search for toilet paper and walked out with an extra novel or two. “They sell groceries, they sell toilet paper, they sell everything people need during this time, and they’re open,” said Suzanne Herz, the publisher of Vintage/Anchor. “If you’re in there and you’re doing your big shop and you walk down the aisle and go, ‘Oh, we’re bored, and we need a book,’ there it is.”

Love Of Mysteries Began With Hardy Boys

When I was ten years old our family moved from California to a quiet little hollow in southeastern Vermont. Our closest neighbors were almost a mile away, TV reception was nonexistent, and I was bereft. Fortunately, I soon discovered the town’s minuscule library was a short bike ride away, and I found that it housed nearly 40 volumes of Hardy Boy books. More than any other influence, those stories inspired my love of mysteries and crime novels and yes, I’ll admit it here, even induced me to read my some of my sister’s Nancy Drew books. I have not gone back to revisit them but, as Brandon Tensley wrote in The Atlantic last year, they continue to reflect a time that, for young people, means “boundless curiosity, challenging authority, and wrestling with questions of good versus evil.”

2020 Thriller Awards Announced

Congratulations to 2020’s ITW Thriller Award winners. Those who took home top honors at this year’s “virtual” ThrillerFest include:
Best Hardcover Novel: Adrian McKinty, The Chain (Mulholland Books)
Best First Novel: Angie Kim, Miracle Creek (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Best Paperback Original: Dervla McTiernan, The Scholar (Penguin Books)

Best Short Story: Tara Laskowski, “The Long-Term Tenant” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Best E-Book Original: Kerry Wilkinson, Close To You (Bookouture)
Best Young Adult Novel: Tom Ryan, Keep This To Yourself (Albert Whitman & Company)

Should The Pandemic Play

A Role In My Next Books?

Currently I’m dealing with a dilemma facing many contemporary authors: I wrote two novels prior to the pandemic that are scheduled for release next year, when Covid-19 most likely will still be with us. Would it be more honest to plead with my publisher(s) to make some revisions that at least make mention of the virus, or is it best to keep the manuscripts as they are and not acknowledge the pandemic. My agent and publishers have all weighed in on this question, but I’m curious what other writers – and readers – might think. Meanwhile, here’s an article from The Guardian (June 1) that addresses the issue.