Benjamin Sobieck's Blog (202)

How 'bout I Cough in Your Cup and Charge You a Coffee?

How does this proposal sound?

1) You give me $1,500.

2) You write a 1,200-word story and give it to me. It doesn't matter if you've ever written anything beyond a grocery list. I don't care. Just put 1,200 words into a Word document and send it to me. My "editing services" will handle the rest.

3) I put your story into a compilation and "publish" it. I send you copies to sell.

4) You gain instant credibility as an author. This will help you promote your… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on April 14, 2010 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Review: "Ffolkes' Medicine" by B.R. Stateham

Pirate detective.

As absurd as it sounds, you have to give author B.R. Stateham points for creating a new subgenre of crime fiction with his novel, "Ffolkes' Medicine" (2010, Fireside Mysteries). The main character, Geoffrey Armitage Ffolkes, is a 17th Century pirate detective. But don't laugh. It works.…

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Added by Benjamin Sobieck on April 8, 2010 at 1:00pm — 4 Comments

Review: "Identity Crisis" by Debbi Mack

With so many lawyers running extracurricular sleuthing activities already in crime fiction, it's hard to latch onto yet another attorney with seemingly too much time on her hands. This is the feeling I had going into "Identity Crisis," by Debbi Mack (Lulu, 2009).…

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Added by Benjamin Sobieck on March 31, 2010 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

Step Right Up and Get Your Free Mini eBook

Ronco couldn't come up with a better offer.

For only three easy payments (please no checks or money orders) of $0.00 a month, we'll send you the first three chapters of "Cleansing Eden."

But wait! There's more.…

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Added by Benjamin Sobieck on March 2, 2010 at 1:48pm — No Comments

"Cleansing Eden" Gets New Clothes

The possible new cover of "Cleansing Eden" just switched to being the actual cover. I like the new one, especially since I picked out the cover image. A graphic designer handled the rest.

It's not that the other version was bad. Shadow Line Press did a good job coming up with something that represented the struggle of the main character. He's got a drug problem and it's not…

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Added by Benjamin Sobieck on February 28, 2010 at 2:30pm — 2 Comments

Always Bring Gum to a Food Fight

Andy Belmas is a writer in the Stevens Point area who was looking to interview a book author for his college class. Or master's class. At any rate, he seems to be a student of something somewhere. I wound up talking with Andy yesterday about "Cleansing Eden."

We ate lunch and chatted about writing "Cleansing Eden." I did my best to explain things between bites of a bacon, cream cheese and green chile (BCCGC) sandwich. Don't knock those flavors until you try them, but definitely… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on February 18, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

I Finally Get to Do Some Blatant Self-Promotion

I thought this day would never come, but I'm finally in the position to blatantly promote myself. My debut novel, "Cleansing Eden," will be published Nov. 4, 2010, by Shadow Line Press.

Don't buy one, buy 10! Read one and use nine for table coasters! Buy a crate of books and light it on fire! Buy 12 and throw 11 at your neighbor's cat!

If you're a fan of written words, you'll love "Cleansing Eden." It has 71,000 of them. If you like your words between covers, you're in for a… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on February 17, 2010 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

A Happy Thanksgiving Indeed

I signed today with Shadow Line Press, a publisher out of North Carolina. This is, how-you-say, "it." I started this journey in 2006, when I first started writing "Cleansing Eden." More than three years later, "it" arrived.

And "it" feels good.

So it's a very happy Thanksgiving.

I look forward to joining an author roster that includes CrimeSpace members B.R. Stateham and Dan Coleman (if there are any… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on November 26, 2009 at 5:23am — 7 Comments

A Disturbing Letter from a Disturbed Child

I received a rather strange letter from a kid named Timmy the other day. It was totally out of the blue. But once I read it, I knew I had to post the letter on a website. Per Timmy's demands, he said it had to be a website dealing with crime.

I'd been published online with Flash Fiction Offensive earlier this year, so I sent the letter there. The FFO editor agreed to post it, giving it the name "Timmy Says Post This on a Website."

Click here to read the letter:… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on November 8, 2009 at 12:56pm — 2 Comments

Vote or Die: The Nature of Crime

Political rhetoric usually focuses around one of two themes: destroy this or defend against that. Either way, the war is never over. The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. The War for America's Soul. The War Against You.

I went to the polls today with that in mind. This time, the front was public education. On one side of the trench was a school district seeking to bolster its war chest with millions more in levy dollars. Guarding the fort opposite them were the taxpayers of my area,… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on November 4, 2009 at 1:55pm — 6 Comments

Review of B.R. Stateham's "Murderous Passions"

B.R. Stateham’s “Murderous Passions” (Publish America, 2008) sets forth an ambitious task for its protagonists and readers: two detectives have four separate homicides to solve in one novel.

The result is manna for those starved for honest-to-goodness police procedurals. Stateham’s old school style shrugs off today’s trendy… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on October 15, 2009 at 2:00pm — 3 Comments

Guaranteed Way to Hear Back on a Full Submission

If you're waiting anxiously like a stray dog at a county fair trash can for a response on a full submission, try going on a honeymoon. As in, your honeymoon. My holiday from e-mail and the rest of reality yielded the one message I'd been anticipating for four months, from an agent who had requested a full.

(If on the off-chance someone thought the government finally hauled me off, my nuptial is why I haven't been very active in CrimeSpace of late.)

Alas, the high… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on October 4, 2009 at 12:00pm — 2 Comments

PMN Releases State of Crime Fiction Industry

The excellent blog Pimp My Novel recently wrote up a State of the Union of Crime Fiction of sorts. Click here to read it. Here are some of the highlights as copy/pasted by me:

1) Mystery sales account for almost a quarter of all adult sales (units), so as long as your… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on August 30, 2009 at 1:13pm — 2 Comments

Dominick Dunne Dead at 83

Dominick Dunne was one of the foremost journalist/novelist crossovers. He based much of his most celebrated crime fiction on real events, such as the murder of his daughter and a number of high-profile court cases. He also medaled in World War II, wrote for countless national magazines, made thousands of television appearances and had a hand in several movies. They don't make them like Dunne… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on August 27, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Agent: Exclusives with an Agent are a Bad Thing

According to Janet Reid, an agent with FinePrint Literary Management, "Exclusives aren't a good business practice." Click here to read why on her blog.

What do you think?

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on August 3, 2009 at 2:00pm — 4 Comments

Happy Fourth of July Weekend, Crime Authors

To me, the Fourth is about individuals coming together to assert their rights against a tyrannical government. At least, that's what is was like in the 18th century. Whether that tradition continues today is debatable. It seems lost in the smell of char-grilled meat, bastardizations of Frisbee golf and cheesy, uber-patriotic radio tunes.

But I don't think it's lost… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on July 4, 2009 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Purgatory at the Pump 'n' Loaf

That's the title of my first attempt at flash fiction. It was published today at Flash Fiction Offensive (FFO). It's a real honor to see my work next to the talented authors on the site.

Check out "Purgatory at the Pump 'n' Loaf" here. Be sure to poke around at the other stories on the site, too. You won't be disappointed.

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on May 22, 2009 at 1:05am — 1 Comment

A Beginner's Guide to Crime Fiction

One of my most-frequented Web sites, avclub.com, recently posted a primer for crime fiction. It's a useful guide for anyone looking to get into the genre. The article lists gateway authors, who beginners should avoid and where the initiated should aim. Read it by clicking here.

No, I'm not affiliated with avclub.com. I just like the site. It is an offshoot of the deliciously satirical rag "The… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on April 13, 2009 at 1:30pm — 1 Comment

Competition Win

Allow me to, for a moment, toot my horn. I have finally won a competition. It's not a writing competition, though. It's a competition hosted by an author. Does that still count?

Accomplished author and Crime Space member Shirley Wells recently asked people for their best tidbits of advice. The best would win a copy of her new novel, "Where Petals Fall." My entry, along with two other bits, won. Yee… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on March 30, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Match Pseudonym to the Genre

For many a year I was convinced I wanted a pseudonym. It felt like it added another layer to what I was doing, somehow upgrading the importance of what I wrote as this other entity. Atlas Soloman and Maynard Soloman were my two picks. I dreamed of exploding onto the scene as this anonymous writer.

"Who is this Atlas Soloman guy?" the people asked in my dreams. "I don't know, but I like his writing. He's like the Batman of fiction. What is his true identity? The mystery makes me… Continue

Added by Benjamin Sobieck on March 20, 2009 at 12:23pm — 1 Comment