I. J. Parker's Blog – September 2009 Archive (4)

Writing to the Market

As if my plate isn't full enough at the moment, my agent seems to have started offering my literary thriller again, because here are two rejections. One says "nicely written" but rejects because "our readers" aren't terribly interested in Prussia. The setting of the novel is 18th century Germany. Prussia is only involved because the novel begins at Freiberg (Saxony!) with the final battle of the Seven-Years war. This was won by Frederick of Prussia. The rest takes place near Lake Constance and… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on September 26, 2009 at 5:04am — 13 Comments

CONVICT'S SWORD among Uncle Edgar's August bestsellers.

From time to time we talk about the specialty bookstores and their gracious way of hand-selling mysteries. A few years ago, Jeff Hatfield, one of the owners of Uncle Hugo's/Uncle Edgar's bookstores in Minneapolis, wrote a wonderful review of HELL SCREEN in the store magazine. It was long, detailed, intelligent, and insightful and appeared together with a review of one of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels. I felt greatly honored. Now, several years later, Jeff Hatfield's customers apparently… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on September 13, 2009 at 1:29am — 13 Comments

THE CONVICT'S SWORD gets another review

They've been thin as hens' teeth, but now some of the electronic mystery review sites seem to be picking up the book. This is the first (and one hopes not the last). What I like about this one is that the reviewer "gets" the characterization and that she still likes, or likes even better, my protagonist in this novel. I've been a little nervous about other comments that found Akitada to be unlikeable in this novel, when all I was trying to do was to show that even good people sometimes lash out… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on September 10, 2009 at 12:51am — 7 Comments

More Thoughts on Writing to your Audience

The month of August should have brought the rewards for many months of writing and revising (not to mention other hassles and expenses associated with getting a book into print). It should have been a month of gathering reviews, the fruits of my labors. I love reviews, all of them.

But there weren’t any.

Perhaps I exaggerate a little. I’m horribly disappointed because I consider THE CONVICT’S SWORD my best book. If any book of mine will ever make an impression, I thought,… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on September 5, 2009 at 1:31am — 8 Comments