Earl Merkel's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T13:00:10ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkelhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60988746?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2vvs6y1yjfclx&xn_auth=noSpring Housecleaning: An Update (Of Sorts)tag:crimespace.ning.com,2015-05-29:537324:BlogPost:4072702015-05-29T15:53:59.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>Whew— it's been a busy spring...</p>
<p>My new thriller <strong>FALLOUT</strong> (the third installment in the Beck Casey series) was released April 7. <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765449?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765449?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="75"></img></a></p>
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<p>My new mystery-thriller <strong>THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES</strong> (the first in my new Faulk Carpenter thriller series) was published yesterday (May 28)...…</p>
<p>Whew— it's been a busy spring...</p>
<p>My new thriller <strong>FALLOUT</strong> (the third installment in the Beck Casey series) was released April 7. <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765449?profile=original"><img width="75" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765449?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="75"/></a></p>
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<p>My new mystery-thriller <strong>THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES</strong> (the first in my new Faulk Carpenter thriller series) was published yesterday (May 28)...<a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765553?profile=original"><img width="75" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765553?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="75"/></a>...as an Amazon e-book original.</p>
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<p>And now the folks at Amazon write to say that they will re-publish my <strong>VIRGINS AND MARTYRS</strong> (a "starred"/ "highly recommended" <em>Library Journal</em> selection when originally published a coupl<span class="text_exposed_show">e of years ago, featuring several of the characters who return in The Law Of Unintended Consequences) "sometime before the end of June."</span></p>
<div class="text_exposed_show"><p><<em>chuckle</em>> I haven't seen a new cover treatment (yet) for V&M, so its image here in my trifecta of 2015 releases-to-date is the original cover. <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765485?profile=original"><img width="75" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70765485?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="75"/></a></p>
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<p>But I'm happy with the book-jacket "rogues gallery" of what is looking like a prolific year...</p>
<p>...and I've promised the second Faulk Carpenter book (working-title'd <strong>"The Wrong Kind Of Girl"</strong>) by fall of this year.</p>
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<p>If I live that long...</p>
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<p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Earl Merkel</em></p>
</div>Book Marketing: It's Not Just For The Sane Anymore...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2015-04-18:537324:BlogPost:4056632015-04-18T13:40:55.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>Part of any author's life is the <em>"joy"</em> of shouldering the hobo-stick, pulling on the walking shoes... and hitting the highway (literally, or on the Internet's Information Highway) to <strong><em>MARKET</em></strong> the flippin' thing.</p>
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<p>That is a "given" for all scribes, whether publisher-published or indie/self-pubb'd variety, if only because nobody will market the everlovin' <em>hell</em> out of your books like YOU will.</p>
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<p>It can be akin to an…</p>
<p>Part of any author's life is the <em>"joy"</em> of shouldering the hobo-stick, pulling on the walking shoes... and hitting the highway (literally, or on the Internet's Information Highway) to <strong><em>MARKET</em></strong> the flippin' thing.</p>
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<p>That is a "given" for all scribes, whether publisher-published or indie/self-pubb'd variety, if only because nobody will market the everlovin' <em>hell</em> out of your books like YOU will.</p>
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<p>It can be akin to an interminable, horrific bed-and-breakfast Sentence In Writer-Hell... or one can just suck it up, shake off any reluctance, and use it for a bit o' mischief & wry giggles.</p>
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<p>I chose the latter, though I'm not sure my New York-based publisher...<em>uh</em>... fully supports the creative direction I took.</p>
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<p>My new book—<strong>FALLOUT</strong>, number three in my <em>Beck Casey Thriller Series</em>— is indeed a thriller.</p>
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<p>For my pre-pub marketing, I went with... <em>humor</em>.</p>
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<p>There's (<em>some</em>, I'd admit) method to my madness. The Prime Axiom Of Book-Marketin' reads thusly: <strong>"Nobody buys a book of which they've not heard."</strong> The Number One Fact of today's publishing biz is: <em>"There is a freakin' tsunami of new books released each month, traditional or self-published."</em></p>
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<p>And the Essential Problem Of Book-Producing Authors is: <em><strong>"How do you make your title stand out in this veritable flood of other titles competing for attention??!?"</strong></em></p>
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<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2"><strong>FALLOUT</strong> was scheduled for official release early in April. But even weeks before the official release, I began a campaign of videos and graphics posted on social media and Internet websites that were intended to make book-buyers laugh... and to remember <strong>FALLOUT</strong>'s title long after the chuckling stopped.<br/> <br/> There's a quote from Oscar Wilde that says <i>'If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh; otherwise they'll</i> kill <i>you.'</i> My novels center around terrorism, espionage, political intrigue. There's not a heck of a lot that's intrinsically funny about the topics themselves—but willy-nilly (or at minimum, in <em>my</em> nilly), that's no reason why you can't make a title stand out among the crowd through humor.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">Hence began a pre-pub social-media campaign... featuring such luminaries as the Mona Lisa, Pope Francis, Salvador Dali, Mr. & Mrs. George Clooney, and others (for ecumenical equality, a thesis-blurb "nailing" Martin Luther was included)—all prominently praising, endorsing, carrying (and even, in some religiously prepared images) blessing <strong>FALLOUT</strong>... its cover prominent in the arms and hands of those featured.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">(<em>A short video of some of these is at:</em> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJAC6P1fMI&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJAC6P1fMI&feature=youtu.be</a>)</font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">Late this past week, a Media Release kicked off in a mass e-mailing pitching not the book itself, but the oddity of the marketing campaign, as a hook.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">I'll quote from it here (<em>below</em>)... and let you all know later how this overall approach worked. Meanwhile, check out my <strong>Facebook</strong> page ( <a href="https://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel">https://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel</a> ) and my <strong>Author's Website</strong> ( <a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com">www.earlmerkel.com</a> ) for an ongoing look at the still-ongoing social media ads and other continuation of this arguably maniac campaign.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<p style="text-align: right;"><em><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">— EM</font></font></font></font></font></em></p>
<p><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2"><em>From the Media Release:</em><br/> <br/> ...The promotional materials are broadly humorous enough for a non-writer audience—but Merkel admits he often tucks in <i>"inside jokes"</i> to others who also write books— or desire to do so.<br/> <br/> "Authors and new writers knock themselves out trying to get celebrities to provide a complimentary cover-blurb," Merkel says. "It's almost an obsession with us, it's hard as hades to do, and we get <i>wildly</i> jealous when other writers score one." <br/> <br/> He laughs. "So several of my promotions for <strong>FALLOUT</strong> were 'endorsement-blurbs,'" he says. "From Pope Francis, from Martin Luther, and even from Barack Obama and George Bush—those latter two, obviously uncomfortable at being in the same photo. There's also a vaguely threatening letter—'signed' by President Obama—responding to the alleged 'endorsement' of <strong>FALLOUT</strong>. A threat-letter blurb from the President? In reality, that would be an author's dream!"<br/> <br/> As a journalist and talk-radio broadcaster, however, Merkel believes that presenting both sides of an issue is essential. In addition to the "praise" FALLOUT has "received," he felt strongly that naysayers also be portrayed.<br/> <br/> "So there was a graphic that showed ISIS terrorists mass-burning copies of <strong>FALLOUT</strong>," he admits. "But I added a line of <i>very</i> large type that begged readers not to let the terrorists win, and urged them to buy a copy today."<br/> <br/> Reaction to the marketing materials has been what Merkel terms "gratifying."<br/> <br/> "They've been Tweeted and re-Tweeted, 'shared' on Facebook, pinned on Pinterest," he noted. "But I'm afraid I'll have to design something exceptionally outrageous to achieve the coveted goal of going 'viral.' Not even an 'endorsement' from a near-nude Kim Kardashian accomplished that. Yet."<br/> <br/> Merkel credits "the easy availability of potentially lethal Photoshop software" and what he terms "long on-the-job abuse by various City Editors and broadcast producers" for the particular flavor of humor in the materials.<br/> <br/> "The first gives you the desktop tools," he says, "the second gives you the off-kilter motivation."<br/> <br/> Does the author still feel this campaign will work?<br/> <br/> "This is one of those news-feature stories you read where it ends with the phrase <i>'only time will tell,'</i>" Merkel says, and grins hugely. "I've written a <i>lot</i> of that kind of story myself. And I always add the phrase, <i>'but for right now, it looks pretty good.'</i>"<br/> <br/> ° ° °<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>Bio information for Earl is online at</i>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.earlmerkel.com/EM%20about%20the%20author%20webpage.html">http://www.earlmerkel.com/EM%20about%20the%20author%20webpage.html</a><br/> <br/> <i>Earl's website is at:</i> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.earlmerkel.com">www.earlmerkel.com</a> <br/> <br/> <i>A</i></font></font> <font size="2"><font size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><i>video link to his</i> <b>"Anatomy Of A Marketing Campaign - FALLOUT"</b> <i>is at:</i> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJAC6P1fMI&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJAC6P1fMI&feature=youtu.be</a></font></font></font> <br/> <br/></font> <font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><i>Video trailers for each book in the Beck Casey Thriller Series are at:</i><br/> <br/> FALLOUT: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5WsaRXJcck&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5WsaRXJcck&feature=youtu.be</a></font></font> <br/> <font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font size="2">FINAL EPIDEMIC: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB5wr3f_fRU&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB5wr3f_fRU&feature=youtu.be</a></font></font> <br/> FIRE OF THE PROPHET: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQSquiOzE0&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQSquiOzE0&feature=youtu.be</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></p>Well— This Video Cracked ME Up...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-09-24:537324:BlogPost:3785442013-09-24T12:46:54.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>In this brief "video trailer"for our new, author-centric radio show... <em>uh</em>... I did include my name, as well as the show name, a ...<em>uh</em>... couple of times in the video for "<strong>The Book, With Earl Merkel."</strong><br></br><br></br>Most egregiously, in the closing credits.<br></br><br></br>In my defense, it is for <em>"branding."</em><br></br><br></br>Which I no doubt richly deserve, with a very hot iron.<br></br><br></br>(Click …</p>
<p>In this brief "video trailer"for our new, author-centric radio show... <em>uh</em>... I did include my name, as well as the show name, a ...<em>uh</em>... couple of times in the video for "<strong>The Book, With Earl Merkel."</strong><br/><br/>Most egregiously, in the closing credits.<br/><br/>In my defense, it is for <em>"branding."</em><br/><br/>Which I no doubt richly deserve, with a very hot iron.<br/><br/>(Click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=477564312342871&set=vb.100002679206219&type=2&theater" target="_blank">HERE</a> to view the video)<br/><br/>— Earl Merkel<br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/>Visit us at: <a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com" target="_blank">www.earlmerkel.com</a><br/><br/>"Friend" us on Facebook at: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel</a><br/><br/>My latest thriller, Fire Of The Prophet, is now available on Apple's iBookstore and Amazon.com. For a description (and to order it, of course) click <a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com/EM%20buying%20the%20books%20webpage.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br/><br/>Barnes & Noble has named my Fire Of The Prophet as its "Nook First" featured selection! Click to v<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696" target="_blank">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696</a>isit <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696</a> for special deals and promotions, and to order Fire Of The Prophet online and in B&N stores.<br/><br/><br/>Earl Merkel<br/>radio show<br/>The Book With Earl Merkel<br/>video<br/>video trailers<br/>video trailers for radio shows<br/>video trailers for radio shows that my therapist should DEFINITELY analyze</p>Sunday, on "The Book:" Martin J. Smith, & LIVE Call-In...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-06-27:537324:BlogPost:3740542013-06-27T13:39:47.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>In a wildly dangerous experiment, this Sunday evening "The Book, With Earl Merkel" will break into our usually pre-recorded programming --in mid-show-- for a "LIVE, on-air listener call-in" chapter-segment...<br></br><br></br>... where YOU can call in to introduce yourselves --and to interrogate, with waterboarding intensity-- Mary Cummings, the head of the fast-growing publishing house Diversion Books (New York).<br></br><br></br>In an era where many publishing houses are cutting back, Ms. Cummings' house…</p>
<p>In a wildly dangerous experiment, this Sunday evening "The Book, With Earl Merkel" will break into our usually pre-recorded programming --in mid-show-- for a "LIVE, on-air listener call-in" chapter-segment...<br/><br/>... where YOU can call in to introduce yourselves --and to interrogate, with waterboarding intensity-- Mary Cummings, the head of the fast-growing publishing house Diversion Books (New York).<br/><br/>In an era where many publishing houses are cutting back, Ms. Cummings' house is aggressively on-the-hunt for new talent and new books-- and her proven expertise in negotiating the perilous waters of today's digital-and-traditional publishing world is a resource every writer will want to tap.<br/><br/>So g'wan: let's grill the lady, mercilessly! (And let her hear about YOUR manuscript too!)<br/><br/>Don't miss this opportunity to call-in LIVE at 9:30 p.m. ET via our Audience Hotline -- (347) 884-8266 -- with your questions about how to break into the "published author" pantheon... and maybe, even to "pitch" your own book to Mary, eh?<br/><br/>"The Book, With Earl Merkel" --this Sunday, with a live "audience call-in" segment... with a hilarious interview with author Martin J. Smith ("OOPS! - 20 Life Lessons from the Fiascoes That Shaped America")... with another sparkling essay from Contributing Editor Rich Le Cropane... and much, much more!<br/><br/>ALSO FEATURED: Newspaper columnist DEL STONE talks about the perils (including the occasional death-threat) and oft-unclear "joys" of returning to the column-writing salt-mines... in a digital age when putting the crosshairs on opinion-writing-reporters has become easy for the Internet loonies. SUNDAY, on "The Book, With Earl Merkel."<br/><br/>The fun airs Sunday (June 30) starting at 9 p.m. (with LIVE call-in segment starting at 9:30 p.m.) at: <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/07/01/the-book-with-earl-merkel-martin-j-smith-mary-cummings">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/07/01/the-book-with-earl-merkel-martin-j-smith-mary-cummings</a><br/><br/>— Earl Merkel<br/><br/>KEYWORDS:<br/>Del Stone<br/> Earl Merkel<br/> LIVE CALL-In (347) 884-8266<br/> Martin J. Smith (<br/> Mary Cummings of Diversion Books<br/> Rich Le Cropane<br/> The Book With Earl Merkel</p>"E. Merkel Tops Greece In Debt Total" (Author Debt, Of Course)tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-06-24:537324:BlogPost:3736182013-06-24T13:56:43.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>More indebtedness incurred by author Earl Merkel, rapidly becoming known as <strong>"the Greece of the Writing World"</strong>-- this from the lovely Lis Wiehl, who writes the "<em>Triple Threat Club</em>" mystery series when she's not doing legal analysis on television:</p>
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<p><em>"If you're at loose ends waiting for Showtime's <strong>HOMELAND</strong> to return next fall <strong>FIRE OF THE PROPHET</strong> by Earl Merkel is your salvation. It's…</em></p>
<p>More indebtedness incurred by author Earl Merkel, rapidly becoming known as <strong>"the Greece of the Writing World"</strong>-- this from the lovely Lis Wiehl, who writes the "<em>Triple Threat Club</em>" mystery series when she's not doing legal analysis on television:</p>
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<p><em>"If you're at loose ends waiting for Showtime's <strong>HOMELAND</strong> to return next fall <strong>FIRE OF THE PROPHET</strong> by Earl Merkel is your salvation. It's <strong>better</strong>.</em></p>
<p><em>"From chill-inducing scenes set in some of the most dangerous locales in the world, to the gripping narrative of the race to head off a nuclear terrorist attack in the nation’s capital, to thrilling and realistic deadline pressures inside television newsrooms and editing suites— FIRE OF THE PROPHET has it all, populated with characters drawn so real-life that you can almost see them sweat.</em></p>
<p><em>"Earl Merkel has it all in here. You won’t find a better 'summer read' than this book."</em></p>
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<p><strong>Lis Wiehl</strong>,<br/> bestselling author of <em>Waking Hours,</em><br/> <em>Face Of Betrayal, Hand Of Fate, Heart Of Ice,</em><br/> and legal analyst for Fox News.</p>
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<p>This --plus the exceptionally kind reviews just penned by author <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RobtWalker" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Robert Walker</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003966720681" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Elisabeth Zguta</a>, as well as the blurbs from author <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shane.gericke" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Shane Gericke</a> and FBI undercover street agent Bob Hamer (both of which --their blurbs, as well as their names-in-a-heart-- I've been getting tattoo'd on my overly pale flesh)-- are making for a VERY nice Sunday.</p>
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<p>*** Which I'll likely wreck when <strong>"The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong> airs each Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on <strong>Authors On The Air Global Radio Network</strong>. (But hey-- I'm feelin' lucky at <em>this</em> moment...)</p>
<p><em>— Earl Merkel</em></p>
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<p><em>Visit us at:</em> <a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.earlmerkel.com</a></p>
<p><em>"Friend" us on Facebook at:</em> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel</a><em> </em></p>
<p><em>My latest thriller,</em> <strong>Fire Of The Prophe</strong><em>t, is now available on <strong>Apple's iBookstore</strong> and <strong>Amazon.com</strong>. For a description (and to <strong>order</strong> it, of course) click <strong><a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com/EM%20buying%20the%20books%20webpage.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here</a></strong>.</em></p>
<p><em>Barnes & Noble has named my <strong>Fire Of The Prophet</strong> as its</em> <strong>"Nook First"</strong> <em>featured selection for the month! Visit</em> <em><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696</a> for special deals and promotions, and to order Fire Of The Prophet online and in B&N stores.</em></p>
<div class="terms terms-inline"><br/><br title=""/></div>Wanna Read YOUR Stuff, On-Air? Our ‘Limits’ Are Flexible…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-06-24:537324:BlogPost:3737252013-06-24T13:51:55.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>Re: those <strong>“audio essays”</strong> I’m asking you Faithful Readers/listeners of <a href="http://earlmerkelblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-book-promo-6-9-13.jpeg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="Image" src="http://earlmerkelblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-book-promo-6-9-13.jpeg?w=487"></img></a></p>
<p>to send me for airing on <strong>"The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong>: this comment to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mommylah?directed_target_id=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lori Hays</a>, in response to my parallel request to other AOTA hosts for short…</p>
<p>Re: those <strong>“audio essays”</strong> I’m asking you Faithful Readers/listeners of <a target="_blank" href="http://earlmerkelblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-book-promo-6-9-13.jpeg" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://earlmerkelblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-book-promo-6-9-13.jpeg?w=487" alt="Image"/></a></p>
<p>to send me for airing on <strong>"The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong>: this comment to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/mommylah?directed_target_id=0" rel="nofollow">Lori Hays</a>, in response to my parallel request to other AOTA hosts for short “promo spots” for their own shows, might ease some fears you <strong>potential-essay-submitters</strong> might have:</p>
<p>“<<em>chuckle</em>> Nobody I know can limit their speech to 30 sec, Lori. Heck, that’s why I solicit <em>“no more than three minutes”</em> for the “audio essays” from writer-listeners: I <strong>KNOW</strong> they’re gonna go longer (even without our “edits” to add music, sound FX, needed “breath pauses,” etc.), but it does seem to keep ‘em under a half-hour “read.” So go for it; I’ll deal with “Moby Dick-Length” submissions here, myself….”</p>
<p>Hence, if any of YOU have something you’d like to read on-air on <strong>“The Book, With Earl Merkel,”</strong> send it to me via the “Contact Earl” link on my website, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlmerkel.com&h=IAQGSST0a&s=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.earlmerkel.com</a>.</p>
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<p><<em>grin</em>> If it goes longer than the so-called “mandate” of three minutes… well, so be it.</p>
<p>BTW, if you missed our first two editions of <strong>“The Book, With Earl Merkel,”</strong> they’re archived for downloading/streaming audio at the <strong>Authors On The Air</strong> website. Here’s a direct link to last night’s (June 9) show, but our June 2 debut is also there: <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/06/10/the-book-with-earl-merkel-lawrence-block-i-view-6-9-13" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/06/10/the-book-with-earl-merkel-lawrence-block-i-view-6-9-13</a></p>
<p><em>— Earl Merkel</em></p>
<div class="terms terms-inline"><span title="" class="keywords"> </span></div>Vince Flynn & Neil Gaiman: Featured On "The Book, With Earl Merkel" *** Listen HEREtag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-06-24:537324:BlogPost:3738022013-06-24T13:47:11.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>Attention, <strong>Vince Flynn</strong> fans --or <strong>Neil Gaiman</strong> fans, since he's featured there too this week-- Sunday night's episode of <strong>"The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong> is now available on the radio archives.</p>
<p>Hearing both these outstanding writers discuss their lives & their works is, IMHO, well-worth the "click" on the link below.</p>
<p><strong>Show Synopsis:</strong> After a month's-long "foreshadowing" --okay; sure, it's a hoary writing tactic,…</p>
<p>Attention, <strong>Vince Flynn</strong> fans --or <strong>Neil Gaiman</strong> fans, since he's featured there too this week-- Sunday night's episode of <strong>"The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong> is now available on the radio archives.</p>
<p>Hearing both these outstanding writers discuss their lives & their works is, IMHO, well-worth the "click" on the link below.</p>
<p><strong>Show Synopsis:</strong> After a month's-long "foreshadowing" --okay; sure, it's a hoary writing tactic, but it DOES work, eh?-- at long last Sunday's "<strong>The Book, With Earl Merkel"</strong> brings you the interview that had Lawrence Block snorting coffee from his nose earlier this month...</p>
<p>... our classic interview with Neil Gaiman, wherein Neil himself tells the story of his confidence-reinforcing, three-hour, long-distance phone "read" of a full manuscript to his patient overseas editor.</p>
<p>True, or just a good writer's-fantasy? Larry Block had his doubts... but now YOU can decide for yourself!</p>
<p>(You can also decide whether Harry Potter was an "inadvertent" re-cast of a decade-earlier Gaiman character, Tim Hunter: as Neil describes his own Tiny Tim, a 'spectacles-wearing 12-year-old boy with an owl, who discovers he is destined to be the greatest wizard in the world.")</p>
<p>"The Book" also pays tribute to the late, great thriller novelist <strong>Vince Flynn</strong>, who tragically passed earlier this week.</p>
<p>Vince Flynn was a master of the thriller-writing craft... and in this chapter-segment, he talks about how he wrote, as well as why.</p>
<p>All this, plus Contributing Editor <strong>Rich Le Cropane</strong>'s intriguingly allegorical piece <em>"The Emperor's Muse"</em> --and MORE, all at 9 p.m. ET on this Sunday's edition of "The Book, With Earl Merkel."</p>
<p>Miss it at your own peril, Faithful Readers (and listeners)...</p>
<p>On Authors On The Air Global Radio Network! Listen "live" on Sunday nights</p>
<p>To hear the Flynn-Gaiman show visit the broadcast archives at: <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/06/24/the-book-with-earl-merkel-neil-gaiman-i-view" target="_blank">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsglobalradionetwork/2013/06/24/the-book-with-earl-merkel-neil-gaiman-i-view</a></p>
<p><em>-- Earl Merkel</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>* * * </p>
<p><em>Visit us at:</em> <a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.earlmerkel.com</a></p>
<p><em>"Friend" us on Facebook at:</em> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/earl.merkel</a><em> </em></p>
<p><em>My latest thriller,</em> <strong>Fire Of The Prophe</strong><em>t, is now available on <strong>Apple's iBookstore</strong> for pre-order (in advance of the May 21, 2013 pub-date). For a description (and to <strong>order</strong> it, of course) click <strong><a href="http://www.earlmerkel.com/EM%20buying%20the%20books%20webpage.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here</a></strong>.</em></p>
<p><em>Barnes & Noble has named my <strong>Fire Of The Prophet</strong> as its</em> <strong>"Nook First"</strong> <em>featured selection for the month! Visit</em> <em><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-of-the-prophet-earl-merkel/1115375361?ean=2940016470696</a> for special deals and promotions, and to order Fire Of The Prophet online and in B&N stores.</em></p>
<div class="terms terms-inline"></div>Someone To Watch Over Metag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-09-25:537324:BlogPost:2510572010-09-25T14:36:32.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<h2 class="page sifr-red" style="font-size: 21px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(153, 17, 0); font-family: Arial, calibri, Helvetica, san-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 12.5px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; line-height: 21px; font-size: 10px;">by…</span></span></h2>
<h2 class="page sifr-red" style="font-size: 21px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(153, 17, 0); font-family: Arial, calibri, Helvetica, san-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 12.5px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; line-height: 21px; font-size: 10px;">by <a href="http://www.redroom.com//blog/earl-merkel/someone-to-watch-over-me" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Earl Merkel</a></span></span></h2>
<div id="node-217838" class="node" style="clear: none;"><p class="author-time" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">September 25, 2010, 7:22 am</p>
<div class="content"><div class="image-attach-body" style="float: left; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><a href="http://www.redroom.com/node/" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"></a><div class="caption"></div>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">One of the fascinating aspects about researching any given topic is that one can usually find that somebody else is doing the same thing, on the same topic.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Thus it was that this morning --remember, the day after I posted my blog re: researching privacy & data-mining (<strong>"Content Analysis & Your Writing,"</strong> <em>below, on my Crimespace.com author-home page</em>) -- an excellent article by <strong>Doug McIntyre</strong> in DAILY FINANCE.com popped up on my "Today's News" list, published a few hours ago.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">For those interested in "who's watching YOU" (again, solely for use in your writing, of course), it's a nice digest that lists a few of the folks data-mining each of us today. The full article is online at: <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/credit/who-is-watching-you-nine-industries-that-know-your-every-move/19629445/?icid=fbuzz" target="_blank" class="ext">http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/credit/who-is-watching-you-nine-industries-that-know-your-every-move/19629445/?icid=fbuzz</a>|who-is-watching-you-nine-industries-that-know-your-every-move/19629445/</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">--Earl Merkel</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">---<br/><strong>Who Is Watching You? Nine Industries That Know Your Every Move</strong></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">DailyFinance 9/25/10</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">By <strong>DOUGLAS MCINTYRE</strong></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Don't kid yourself. Real privacy no longer exists in this country.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">We've long had government organizations collecting data that paints a pretty clear picture of what we do with our time. The Internal Revenue Service knows everything about what you earn and any major transactions you make. It can access every bit of information it needs to determine how much money you should be sending on April 15.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">The most important gatherer of personal information in the country is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It keeps a database of over 90 million fingerprints, which can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">It also has an extensive database of DNA, the most specific marker of personal identity. The bureau's ability to collect information expanded following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It now tracks a large portion of mail, cell phone traffic and Internet activity of people it deems suspicious.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Thanks to advances in technology, however, there are also now numerous private enterprises that track and record your every move. Although they don't usually give out this information, there are often worrisome leaks and security breaches where they inadvertently release sensitive information about their customers.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Taken together, these industries have data on where you are, who you are communicating with, how you are earning your money, how you are spending that money, as well as the hobbies and interests you are pursuing.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">DAILY FINANCE examined a large number of organizations to find the most intrusive firms and industries. Here they are, ranked by the number of people they track:</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>1) Credit Rating Agencies</strong> <br/>With each firm having files on over 200 million people, the three credit bureaus -- Equifax (EFX), Experian (EXPGY), and TransUnion -- know not only your credit history, but also have the data to project your credit future. The companies collect a history of all credit use by an individual, including payment of bills, mortgages, and credit cards. The agencies also track the frequency with which a person applies for credit. That information is used to determine a person's credit risk through a credit score. These scores are produced using secret algorithms, ensuring that the bureaus know much more about you than you know about them.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>2) Cell Phone Service Providers</strong> <br/>As cell phone popularity has increased and technology has evolved, cell phone companies have come to possess a wealth of information about their customers. Covering over 90% of the American population, cell phone providers can tell who you call, when you call, how often you call certain people and what you say in your text messages. With GPS, they also now know where you are whenever you have your phone. As smartphones become the equivalent of miniature computers, cellular companies can also track personal behavior, such as use of multimedia and wireless e-commerce transactions.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>3) Social Media Companies</strong> <br/>In its ascent to Internet superpower, social enterprise Facebook has amassed an enormous amount of user information. Who your friends are, what you like, and what photos you are in are all information that the company has access to. That, however, is not the full extent of it. Facebook also tracks which profiles you view, who you communicate with most often, companies and causes you support, your personal calendar, and a great deal of personal information about your friends and family. Perhaps most surprising,Facebook can access much of the information you may have deleted, including photos and status updates, from their servers.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>4) Credit Card Companies</strong> <br/>There are currently 610 million credit cards owned by U.S. consumers. In an economy dominated by credit, the amount of power held by credit card companies, such as Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and American Express (AE), should not be surprising. They know their customers' credit scores, credit histories, what they buy, when they buy, and when they are likely to default on their payments. The interest rates charged for credit fluctuates based on their analysis of individuals' ability to pay back the debts they incur. Some of the information kept by credit card companies can help consumers, however. Algorithms that study buying patterns, for instance, are used to detect fraud.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>5) Search Engines</strong> <br/>Every search you perform on Google (GOOG) goes into the Internet giant's database, which it uses to keep a profile of your habits and interests. The search engine also keeps track of which links you click on during your search and which advertisers you visit. Google uses your interest profile and search history to place targeted ads in your browser. Perhaps most disturbingly, Google uses its Gmail service to monitor the content of your email in order to place targeted advertising in your email account. Google also keeps records of account and credit card information for everyone who uses their "Checkout" service, tracks which videos people watch on YouTube, where people are planning to visit, and what they plan to do there.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Google's location-based map systems also allow the search company to know where people are in real time through the use of smartphones and other GPS-enabled devices.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>6) Retail Chains</strong> <br/>Walmart (WMT) uses data-mining services to collect and store information for all its customers in a central location. This allows it to determine the purchasing behavior of people who shop in its stores or on its website. It also optimizes inventory distribution by determining which products people are most likely to buy in the future. In August, Walmart began installing Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) in their underwear and jeans, which lets them track items and customers around the store. This means they are able to determine how much time someone who buys a specific pair of pants spends in each aisle. Walmart plans to use this data to reorganize displays and further control inventory. The retail giant also sell this information to thousands of other businesses, who use consumer profiles for advertising and demographic research.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>7) Casinos</strong> <br/>Casinos like the Wynn Resorts (WYNN) are increasingly using "loyalty cards" to monitor the behavior of their patrons. The Wynn "red" cards are used in place of tokens, and allow the casino to keep track of which machines and tables each gambler visits on a regular basis, the path they take during their visits (using RFID chips), and even how often and how much they are willing to lose before giving up. When a slot machine in Wynn detects a gambler is close to his breaking point, it will issue a small payout in order to keep him spending money.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>8) Banks</strong> <br/>Large banks, such as Bank of America (BAC), Chase (JPM) and Citibank (C), have access to customer account information, which includes savings, employer payroll deposits, and the time and date of ATM and teller visits. They track transfers made by account holders to third parties. A bank also knows your income, your salary, and your balance, moment-by-moment. Perhaps among the most confidential data a bank keeps is how often people move money in and out of accounts. Banks know how much you save each month, and often exactly how those savings are invested. Banks use this information to assess the risk of giving you a mortgage or loan, and they are legally allowed to use data-mining companies to check your website activity.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>9) Life Insurance Companies</strong> <br/>About 140 million households currently have life insurance. In order to apply for life insurance, applicants generally must disclose their health history. This includes incidence of heart disease, height, weight, smoking habits, and often includes full records from your doctors. Perhaps more invasive, life insurers seek disclosure of hospitalization for mental illness, use of illegal drugs, and whether or not you have had to file for bankruptcy. Insurance companies use a national prescription database to determine whether or not you have ever been prescribed medication. And certain high-risk professions and hobbies usually have to be disclosed.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><em>--Daily Finance</em></p>
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</div>'Content Analysis' & Your Writing...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-09-24:537324:BlogPost:2508912010-09-24T13:30:00.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<h2 class="page sifr-red" style="font-size: 21px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(153, 17, 0); font-family: Arial, calibri, Helvetica, san-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 10px;">by…</span></span></h2>
<h2 class="page sifr-red" style="font-size: 21px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(153, 17, 0); font-family: Arial, calibri, Helvetica, san-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 10px;">by <a href="http://www.redroom.com//blog/earl-merkel/content-analysis-your-writing" style="color: rgb(86, 10, 12); font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Earl Merkel</a></span></span></h2>
<div id="node-217713" class="node" style="clear: none;"><p class="author-time" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">September 24, 2010, 6:39 am</p>
<div class="content"><div class="image-attach-body" style="float: left; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><a href="http://www.redroom.com/node/" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"></a><div class="caption"></div>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">There's a research technique that professional analysts (far more expert in it than I'll ever be) swear by, when it comes to finding the trends-within-the-trends. I've watched some of them in action, and often been both startled and impressed by the insights their technique can produce.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">It's called "content analysis," and writers in any genre can (IMHO) certainly profit from awareness of it-- both for general non-fiction as well as to provide color and storyline points for fiction. You'll have to look at a <em>lot</em> of "published" media content --content analysis is a cumulative process, usually used to identify a larger trend-fact thru finding a lot of "tidbits" in individual stories-- and you'll have to steel yourself to look for the tidbits that keep surfacing in 'em.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">For instance, I've been doing some light research into the topic of privacy in today's era of Google/Nexus-Lexis searches, networked surveillance cameras on every street corner (<em>one tidbit:</em>among cities worldwide, London has the most; Chicago currently comes in second), and the general capability now to data-mine the details of any individual's life.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">That (and my general interest in all things beer-buying-related) is probably why a line in an article in this morning's Chicago-suburban <em>Naperville Sun</em> jumped out at me.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Here's the first few grafs of the article (<strong>boldface</strong> <em>emphasis in text is mine</em>):</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">--<br/><strong>Sunday liquor sales to start at 8 a.m.</strong></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">By Jenette Sturges <br/>Sep 23, 2010</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">The Naperville City Council voted 8 to 1 to approve expanding packaged liquor sales to 8 a.m. on Sundays, in an upset deserving of a sports analogy.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">After all, it will mean no longer missing kickoff for a beer run.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">But members of the City Council cited reasons other than football for allowing grocery and liquor stores to begin selling at 8 a.m. Sundays.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>“When we went and researched through Jewel, we found that many of our residents were going outside the city to make purchases,”</strong> said Mayor and Liquor Commissioner A. George Pradel. “There are a lot of tax dollars going to other communities.”</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong>The data provided by Jewel-Osco stores was compiled from shoppers swiping their Jewel Preferred Cards..."</strong></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">--<br/>A lot of people enjoy using these "preferred cards," if only because Jewel (and many other stores) generally provide discounts on prices in exchange. Similarly, the convenience of-- say-- the Illinois Tollway's iPass system speeds drivers along their way without the delays of (all too frequent) toll-booth stops.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">But the latter provides detailed information on location, time, movement, etc.; it's already been ruled admissible evidence in lawsuits and criminal prosecutions. The former-- which identifies such activities as liquor purchases (what, how much, how often... and, given the identifier numbers on the card, who) has now been provided (at least, in some form) to a governmental unit. (It's also likely to be available for data-sale to other entities, including an insurance company looking into a policy application.)</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">I'll leave the ramifications and/or implications of this to the real privacy-rights' experts (or at least to folks who have recently spent a night at a Holiday Inn Express).</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">But strictly from a <strong>writer's POV</strong>, could this real-life situation create, revise or enhance some aspect of the book, story or article YOU are writing? Might it provide additional drama, conflict, etc. to YOUR storyline?</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">My friend Shane Gericke, who has written three nationally-popular thriller-novels set in Naperville IL, might well think so; specifically, he might want to include the info as a factual basis for a fictional turn-of-events right there in his hometown... and including real-life stuff in fiction almost always helps readers in their own quests to suspend disbelief and more fully engage with the non-real-life story.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">But you can't <strong>write</strong> it "real" unless you <strong>see</strong> "it," and <strong>recognize</strong> that "it" might be useful to your writing.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">I suspect, given the potentially sensitive nature of telling people you've just checked their liquor-purchase records, the Naperville IL City Council/Jewel Foods cooperation isn't something the two parties would have <em>publicly</em> announced -- but if you're on the lookout for such tidbits, you can "content analyze" your writing in an interesting (and potentially profitable) manner.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">--Earl Merkel</p>
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</div>Be Thankful It Wasn't An STD...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-08-07:537324:BlogPost:2454572010-08-07T20:51:03.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.8056px; line-height: 25px;">From our ongoing chronicles of "<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Dogs Are Man's Best Friend</span></span>," the following heart-warming tale from Reuters. <br></br><br></br>--Earl Merkel <br></br><br></br>--------------- <br></br><br></br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog chews off Michigan man's toe, saves his life…</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.8056px; line-height: 25px;">From our ongoing chronicles of "<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Dogs Are Man's Best Friend</span></span>," the following heart-warming tale from Reuters. <br/><br/>--Earl Merkel <br/><br/>--------------- <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog chews off Michigan man's toe, saves his life</span> <br/><span style="font-style: italic;">Wed, Aug 4 2010</span> <br/><br/>DETROIT (Reuters) - A Michigan man credited his dog with saving his life by chewing off his diseased big toe as he lay passed out in a drunken stupor. <br/><br/>Jerry Douthett, 48, woke up on a Saturday night in late July in his Rockford, Michigan home to find his Jack Russell Terrier, Kiko, had gnawed off his right big toe. <br/><br/>"The dog always lays with me on the bed," said Douthett. "That night, I woke up and looked down at my foot, and it was wet. When I looked it was blood, and there was the dog looking at me with a blood mustache." <br/><br/>Douthett's wife, Rosee, rushed him to a hospital where doctors found he was suffering from Type 2 diabetes. His toe was badly infected and surgeons amputated the remainder of the digit. <br/><br/>Douthett's wife, a registered nurse, had been urging him for weeks to have his infected toe examined by a doctor. <br/><br/>On the night Kiko ate his toe, Douthett said he had been out with his wife and drank about "six or seven beers" and a pair of giant margaritas "big enough to put goldfish in." <br/><br/>"I was self-medicating at this point," he said. <b>"The moral of the story is that the dog saved my life, because otherwise I never would have gone in to see a doctor."</b> <br/><br/>The couple said they were amazed that Kiko appeared to know Douthett had an infection that needed treatment. <br/><br/>"He kind of chewed off the infected part and stopped at the good bone," said Rosee. "We joked that we shouldn't have had to pay the co-pay because he did half the job by chewing off half of the toe."</span><div style="text-align: center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 36px;">- # -</span></font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 36px;">(EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm pretty certain that Mr. Douthett missed the <i>real</i> moral of this story, but a six-pack-plus and a couple of bird-bath Margaritas tend to cloud the <i>actual</i> life-lessons we stumble upon in such circumstances. And isn't that one of the sweeter mysteries of life? --EM)</span></font></div>
<div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.8056px; line-height: 25px;"><br/></span></div>
</div>Tough-Love In A Writer's Critique...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-08-04:537324:BlogPost:2449952010-08-04T16:00:00.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 95%/120% calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 100%; text-align: left;"></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 95%/120% calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 100%; text-align: left;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">"Be honest," he pleaded, passing me the submission package and sample chapters for his novel. "Be <i>brutally</i> honest."</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">"Okay," I replied, warily.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">And thus did the critiquin' commence...</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><b>----</b></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear <<i>name deleted to avoid retribution</i>>:</span></p>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As promised, here’s my quick critique of your submissions package for <span style="font-style: italic;">(your debut novel m/s).</span> I preface it with the <b>black-box warning</b> that these are ONLY my observations— certainly not graven in stone, definitely not infallible, and (if and/or when you see a suggestion) not necessarily what YOU should do. <br/><br/>In books such as yours, there’s always much more good stuff (writing and story-telling, for instance) than there are problems. But since it’s the problems that will kill your chances for publication, I tend to focus on those. <br/><br/>Bottom line: You want strokin’, find a Vietnamese massage parlor; <i>we</i> deal in leather, whips and handcuffs here. <br/><br/>And overall, pls be assured that this analysis is not intended to offend, even tho my smart-assed critique writing style is virtually guaranteed to do so. Sadly, I’m pretty certain most editors would <i>think</i> the very terms that I <i>write</i> below—they just wouldn’t put ‘em in a carefully polite rejection form-letter. <br/><br/>--Earl Merkel<br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">--------------<br/><i>Analysis Of Your Proposal Submission Package</i></span> <br/><br/>• First, I’d lose the “cover design” concept you include --some publishers take it as an insult to their art departments-- at least as how you’ve designed it here. From my reading of your sample chapters, your book is apparently <i>not</i> a light & comedic novel. What then, pray, is a somewhat “chick-lit” –looking design doing at <i>the very first page</i> of this submission? As an acquiring editor, I’d initially think this is a <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> different book than what you subsequently present; at that point, I’d wonder about both your understanding of basic communications… <<i>grin</i>> as well as, perhaps, your sanity. While the latter is not <i>essential</i> for a successful book, it is likely a bit too early in the relationship to raise any suspicions in this area. <br/><br/>• In your letter, you’ve promised “me-the-editor” a mixture of James Patterson (bestselling thriller/suspense) and Dan Brown (bestselling mystery/suspense, even if he is a talentless hack). But two grafs down, you dangle a <i>vastly</i> differing bait: <i>“Their lives are revealed in ways that are both funny and sad as Art attempts to break the family curse and unravel the mysterious Vigenere’s code, leading him to a host of colorful characters and his family legacy in Georgia.”</i> Funny and sad? Colorful characters? Don’t make an editor ask “Has this freakin’ guy ever <i>read</i> Patterson or Brown?” <br/><br/>• I’m not a fan of <i>any</i> synopsis, and certainly not one that is more than three or four grafs long—but that’s <i>my</i> prejudice, and I’m woefully aware that all the writing guides (and often, the official “submission guidelines”) insist that you include one. <br/><br/>Okay—but me-the-editor has 50 other submission queries on my desk, so at least shorten this thing from your current 15 pages to (preferably) a single page or (if you really, <i>really</i> must) two—and make it sound exciting, insightful, and a must-read, not just a recitation of proposed plot. Get me ASAP to the sample chapters (where <i>I’ll</i> decide if you can write dialogue & narration, create compelling characters and generally thrill the editorial pee outta me). <br/><br/>• You’ve bought yourself a hefty problem with your opening chapter (IMHO). This is where the reader (or editor) has to invest in buying (and, of course, buying <i>into</i>) your book. Sometimes that involves a thrilling opening, full of suspense and/or derring-do; sometimes (and usually more effectively, IMHO) it involves introducing (in a captivating way) a character --often THE main character, whom you want readers to spend 400 pages with (tho a really good supporting player can sometimes work wonders). <br/><br/>Here, you open with Confederate President Jeff Freakin’ Davis and “some guy” named Zeb, who talk; 13 generally nameless guys at a table, some of whom talk; and then <i>more</i> talk between Majors and Lt’s and… well, you get my point here, yes? <br/><br/>Chapters 2 thru 4 apparently continue this, the combined effect being one of a rather un-exciting “info dump” … with little action to entice (and more important, to <i>illustrate</i> the essential <i>natures</i> of the characters). <br/><br/>Me, I’d maybe consider dropping all this as a <i>narrative</i> flow, and maybe opening with a (short) <i>“Entry From The Diary Of Col. Zebediah Barfoot, CSA,”</i> (or whatever) in which only a tantalizing <i>part</i> of the historical setup is revealed. I’d return to the “diary” (which, perhaps, Art “discovers” in the main, present-day narrative) to fill in the historical background as needed. But that’s just one path to take, and I’m sure you’ll find many others if you decide to make revisions here. <br/><br/>• I may have missed part of the file’s transmission: from Ch 4 (<i>circa</i> Civil War’s end) do you jump to Ch 9 (still <i>circa</i> Civil War’s end) …and then to Ch 11 (present day, lawyer’s office)? Is Ch 11 where the “real” main characters are introduced? If so, that’s a lo-o-o-o-ng coffee break to get to the essential storyline and characters. <br/><br/>I know, I know: you wanted to show that the book spanned both eras. But I-the-editor want to know if you-the-writer can craft a compelling, logically structured, character-rich story, at book length. If your samples show that to (apparently) be the case, I’m far more likely to request a read of the entire m/s. <br/><br/>• Suicide attempts (Ch 12) are always (well… <i>usually</i>) more compelling than an office discussion of competing job offers (Ch 11). Word to the wise, eh? Don’t “bury your lead” under a steamin’ pile of minutiae. And both Art and Vanessa are <i>far</i> too laid-back here—they “converse” about “sad stuff” –right after V finds A about to blow his friggin’ skull apart? Here is a chance for some real drama, missed. <br/><br/>• Ch 15 is a fantasy/”dream” sequence; as such, the set-up to it is critical. I dunno how you handled the setup, since we again jump across intervening chapters here. <br/><br/>• You spend no small amount of time talking about the main character suddenly having an attack of Bell's Palsy. Sure: Bell’s Palsy is interesting, in a clinical sort of way—but where’s the flippin’ missing gold, dammit? I betcha Patterson --or even that hack Brown-- would have Art <i>knee-deep</i> in the stuff by now. Probably surrounded by a mutilated body (or 10), too… and, for the story’s sake, rightly so. (Remember, you <i>promised</i> me JimDan in your letter!) <br/><br/>• Ch 20: “Out of water, no food for days, signs of hostile Indians abound. But I did find this mysterious book (finally) to ease my travail… if <i>only</i> I knew what it was!” –From <i>The Diary Of ‘Are We There Yet, Zeb?’</i> <br/><b>(D: Sorry… but I <i>warned</i> you about my snarky critique-writing style. –E)</b> <br/><br/>• Ch 21 thru 26: “Still can’t make heads ‘r tails out of this goddam diary… but at least a hot, cock-teasing chick has arrived!” (<i>Ibid</i>.) <br/><br/><br/><b>OVERALL OBSERVATION:</b> <br/><br/>At present, you’re trying to do <i>way</i> too much here. Simplify the storyline; decide if this is going to be a book about finding mysterious lost gold, about a couple trying to overcome grief at the loss of a child, about a man overcoming an onset of Bell’s Palsy… or something else entirely, even. For example, I think nailing your late-arriving hot-chick Susan character would make for a good novel, if the details are juicy enuf. (BTW, I think I’m leering as I write this.) <br/><br/>Right now, you’ve attempted a mixture of genres (which many acquiring editors <i>hate</i>; they don’t know how they’d market it), and provided a large number of non-sequential sample chapters (which don’t illustrate your ability to tell a story --again, <i>at book length</i>). <br/><br/>Overall, I suspect you’ve written too much, <i>about</i> too much. You can fix it, but IMHO you’ll have to get back to the grindstone to do it. <br/><br/><br/><b>INEVITABLE APOLOGY (and CONCLUSION)</b> <br/><br/>And so I apologize, amigo. But at this point, I’m uncertain if your proposal –and more importantly, your <span style="font-style: italic;">book</span>-- is ready yet to go out. The good news is that you obviously love to write, and the better news is that all that time-investment gives you an excellent place (actually, a <i>lot</i> of places: see "<i>decide if</i>," above) to start a re-write. <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;"><i>ABOVE ALL, DON’T GIVE UP THE DREAM!</i></span> Hell, if this book-authoring stuff was easy, there’d be no honor in working so hard to get it done right. <br/><br/>Best, <br/><br/></span><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--Earl Merkel</span></p>
</div>What the Journolist 'Scandal' Costs Us All...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:BlogPost:2432822010-07-23T20:03:04.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 95%/120% calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 100%; text-align: left;"></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 95%/120% calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 100%; text-align: left;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">Since posting my previous blog on the Journolist Affair this morning, I've been deluged by private messages (tho oddly, no "public" responses yet). Several messages focused on the need for "one honest (reporter / politician / etc. <<i>pick one</i>>) to stand up and "lead."</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">I've selected one of 'em to respond to, but I'm talking to the many. My response is below, names changed to protect myself.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">--Earl Merkel</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;">-----------------</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; font-size: 14px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your points are thoughtful, (<i>name withheld</i>) --<<span style="font-style: italic;">grin</span>> see? I'm working on "civil discourse," folks!-- but I'd posit that a central <span style="font-style: italic;">theme</span> within your overall posting is also one of the central <span style="font-style: italic;">problems</span> we face. <br/><br/>To wit: You seem to suggest that we need one or more leader(s) to show us the way. In the media, that invariably leads to ideologues (and at its worst, to demagogues); in politics, it invariably leads to charlatans... and at its worst, to tyrants. <br/><br/>A republic is based on accountability-- to a people's ability to <span style="font-style: italic;">hold to account</span> those we select to govern. To do so, we need valid information on what they do, and a mechanism to voice approval or disapproval regarding those acts. (With luck, we can also vote by... well, <span style="font-style: italic;">voting</span>.) <br/><br/>Still, elections don't occur often enough to trim the sails of an off-course government (and I wouldn't want 'em to; I think they still close the bars on Election Day, no?), and the need for constant vigilance by a <span style="font-style: italic;">responsible</span>media is, presumably, why the Constitution contains the "freedom of the press" clause: to serve as a watchdog on government. <br/><br/>So who watches the watchers?</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; font-size: 14px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today --in the case at hand-- it appears that Tucker Carlson and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Daily Caller</span> did. Tomorrow, we may have to line up Tucker and the whole DC staff against the wall, and shoot 'em for trying to pull one over on <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span>. Today, it was in TCarlson's self-interest to be a champion of truth&justice etc.. But tomorrow? Self-interest is the beast that lives inside every breast (I think I saw it several times yesterday, on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Playboy Website</span>), and buyer-beware is <span style="font-style: italic;">always</span> good advice for us consumers of information. I don't want to anoint Tucker as my "info-leader" just yet, personally. I'm sure you join me in my caution. <br/><br/>But as for the "information" we all consumed over the past couple of years from the Journolist conspirators... hey-- I'm no computer guy, but I know about "GIGO." <span style="font-style: italic;">"Put Garbage In, you'll get Garbage Out."</span> When watchdogs become partisans, advocates (and ultimately) participants in a specific ideology, GIGO is inevitable. That's why "spin" has become so much a part of governance today: if you can control the message, you can control... <span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span>. But it's handy to start with influencing election results. <br/><br/>So what's new, you may ask? After all (at the risk of inflaming any old Lefties who hold sacred their younger, idealistic days) it's <span style="font-style: italic;">arguable</span> that good ol' Walter Cronkite was a hack himself -- for instance, when he allowed his emotions to define as "news-fact" that the Vietnam War was "unwinnable." This, after being appalled at the Tet offensive that <b>--</b><span style="font-style: italic;"><b>in his opinion</b></span><b>--</b> showed that there was no light at the end of the tunnel... but in variance to the fact that in the weeks after the Tet attacks, the VC and NVA were virtually decimated and (many say, even in today's Vietnam) ripe for the end-game. <br/><br/>But in the words of LBJ, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country." <br/><br/>So those you cite --Limbaugh, Hannity, Oberman, <span style="font-style: italic;">et al</span>-- appear have much in common with Cronkite, the "most trusted man in America" on whom you say (and millions agreed, back then) we could "count" upon. <br/><br/>I'd suggest we could not, and still cannot-- not on any <span style="font-style: italic;">single</span> one of them. Information --good, hard factual information-- isn't a one-a-day multi-vitamin. It's not easy to get, even if it can be harder to take. <br/><br/>So what do we do? <br/><br/>Jesus, don't ask <i>me</i>; to eschew any mantle of leadership myself (I don't wanna be no politician) I'd just borrow the evasive answer of our current Leader when he responded to a dangerous question by saying: "That's above my pay grade." <br/><br/>But, if pressed, some possibilities suggest themselves. <br/><br/><b>Investigate. <i>Read</i></b> everything you can find, and <span style="font-style: italic;">focus</span> on finding differing (and certainly, <span style="font-style: italic;">opposing</span>) points-of-view. I may (or may not) find Rachel Mallow a screeching harpy, Chris Mathews a political prositute, or Sean Hannity a simplistic one-trick-pony-- but mixing my viewing input of MSNBC with CNN and Fox News certainly gives me several variations to interpret the same "fact." Similarly, expand the type and political orientation of the written works you read.<br/><br/>The American media has been accurately described as the "best collector of <i><b>raw</b></i> intelligence ever created;" but as with all raw intel, the basic "fact" inside it must be uncovered and defined... and the interpretation of what the "fact" <span style="font-style: italic;">means</span> being the ultimate objective. I'm a believer in (if not always a practicioner <span style="font-style: italic;">of</span>) the basic common sense <span style="font-style: italic;">most</span> sentient adults possess; I'd urge a trust of it-- certainly, more than a trust in the various "analysis" of leaders, whether in media or in politics. <br/><br/>And <span style="font-style: italic;"><b>go look for yourself</b></span><b>,</b> too. Not easy either, no over-the-counter remedy available... but your own eyes and mind, honestly applied, remain the best "BS filter" ever devised. All too often, you'll find that it's <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> raining (despite the "experts" swearing there's a cloudburst occurring). Instead, you may realize that they actually <span style="font-style: italic;">ARE</span> peeing on your leg. <br/><br/>Oops! Slipped into a sermon there, for a minute. Sorry. <br/><br/>But please, <i>please</i> don't look for a "leader." At least, not one you don't intend to watch like a paranoid hawk, and are committed to hold to account when their clay-coated feet invariably, inevitably try to smash down on your neck. <br/><br/></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; font-size: 14px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--Earl <i>"Chex And Balances Make For A Healthy Breakfast"</i> Merkel</span></p>
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</div>JOURNOLIST: We WILL Get Fooled Again...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:BlogPost:2431432010-07-23T13:46:58.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<div class="content"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Since a number of us in a Chicago-area writers' group still commit journalism from time to time in the public press (or e-media), it's doubly noteworthy that a series…</span></p>
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<div class="content"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Since a number of us in a Chicago-area writers' group still commit journalism from time to time in the public press (or e-media), it's doubly noteworthy that a series published this past week in The Daily Caller dealt with an important aspect of our group's own recent Tea Party Discussion... which became <em>very</em> heated at times.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Our group's on-line discussion noted at one point that Dave Weigel, a Washington Post reporter assigned to cover conservative politics for the paper, was dismissed after revelations on <strong>Journolist</strong> (a "locked" online forum of about 400 journalists, intellectuals and other media persons, which limited membership to those of liberal views) that Weigel actually <em>detested</em> conservatives- and said so, on Journolist, in no uncertain terms. Belatedly, The Post felt this might somehow color his reportage.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Through publication of other Journolist discussion threads (ironically, "leaked" by participant(s) to The Daily Caller) the public has now been made aware of other activities by journalists participating in Journolist discussions... including collaborative discussion on such matters as</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">-- how to "position" Sarah Palin unfavorably in stories to be published about her,</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">-- how to defuse the Rev. Wright / Obama controversy during the 2008 campaign (i.e., one prominent columnist advocated to fellow Journolist members, to pick random GOP personalities and "call them racists" in articles and columns) and when possible, to ignore covering the Rev. Wright / Obama situation altogether</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">-- what "group-think" talking points Journolist members should repeatedly emphasize in the "news" stories they write that would --and this was stated explicitly in the discussions-- "bring about election of Barack Obama."</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">-- serious discussion, after the election, that the new administration be urged to use the FCC and other means to "shut down" such organizations as Fox News (an effort to block Fox News from access to briefings and appearances of administration officials was attempted several months ago, as we may recall).</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Participants in those specific Journolist threads included members actively "covering" those issues for Time Magazine, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, The Atlantic magazine, New Republic, and others news and opinion-shaping publications.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">For those of us who count on honest, unbiased and --yes-- objective coverage of the issues that impact our lives, it was both appalling and disheartening to read the Journolist message threads. To those of us who recognized how often those talking points actually ended up in "news" coverage during the campaign --and they did-- it was both frightful and chilling.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The fact that our writers' group on-line discussion attracted five-hundred-plus views from members--over the past five years, our threads had averaged about 15 "hits" for any given posting-- seems to indicate some interest in the subjects of partisanship and what one participant scoffed at as the relevance of "high journalistic standards" (or the lack thereof) makes The Daily Caller's series about Journolist relevant here.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The complete coverage of the Journolist disclosures is at: <a href="http://dailycaller.com/buzz/journolist/" target="_blank" class="ext">http://dailycaller.com/buzz/journolist/</a></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">But the open letter below, from The DC's editor-in-chief, is a good starting point for those who may be interested in what has happened to the American "free press," which the founding fathers saw as so important that it is the only "private enterprise" granted Constitutional protection.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Then tell me --as several participants in my writers' group did-- that none of it really matters anyway.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>(NOTE TO CRIMESPACE READERS:</strong> I've posted all this on the discussion forum for the writers' group where the previous "Tea Party discussion" elicited so much participation. <chuckle> We may not get 500 "hits" in this discussion --or 50, or even 5.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">But for the sake of intellectual honesty alone, we should.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">--Earl Merkel</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">----------------------</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Letter from Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson on The Daily Caller’s Journolist coverage</b> <br/>By Tucker Carlson <br/>The Daily Caller <br/>07/22/2010</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">We began our series on Journolist earlier this week with the expectation that our stories would be met with a fury of criticism from the Left. A hurt dog barks, after all.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The response hasn’t been all that furious, actually, probably because there isn’t much for the exposed members of Journolist to say. We caught them. They’re ashamed. The wise ones are waiting for the tempest to pass.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">There have, however, been two lines of argument that we probably ought to respond to, if only because they may harden into received wisdom if we don’t. The first is that our pieces have proved only that liberal journalists have liberal views, and that’s hardly news.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">To be clear: We’re not contesting the right of anyone, journalist or not, to have political opinions. (I, for one, have made a pretty good living expressing mine.) What we object to is partisanship, which is by its nature dishonest, a species of intellectual corruption. Again and again, we discovered members of Journolist working to coordinate talking points on behalf of Democratic politicians, principally Barack Obama. That is not journalism, and those who engage in it are not journalists. They should stop pretending to be. The news organizations they work for should stop pretending, too.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The second line of attack we’ve encountered since we began the series is familiar to anyone who has ever published a piece whose subject didn’t like the finished product: “You quoted me out of context!”</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The short answer is, no we didn’t. I edited the first four stories myself, and I can say that our reporter Jonathan Strong is as meticulous and fair as anyone I have worked with.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">That assurance won’t stop the attacks, of course. So why don’t we publish whatever portions of the Journolist archive we have and end the debate? Because a lot of them have no obvious news value, for one thing. Gather 400 lefty reporters and academics on one listserv and it turns out you wind up with a strikingly high concentration of bitchiness. Shocking amounts, actually. So while it might be amusing to air threads theorizing about the personal and sexual shortcomings of various New Republic staffers, we’ve decided to pull back.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Plus, a lot of the material on Journolist is actually pretty banal. In addition to being partisan hacks, a lot of these guys turn out to be pedestrian thinkers. Disappointing.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">We reserve the right to change our minds about this in the future, but for now there’s an easy solution to this question: Anyone on Journolist who claims we quoted him “out of context” can reveal the context himself. Every member of Journolist received new threads from the group every day, most of which are likely still sitting in Gmail accounts all over Washington and New York. So feel free to try to prove your allegations, or else stop making them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">One final note: Editing this series has been something of a depressing experience for me. I’ve been in journalism my entire adult life, and have often defended it against fellow conservatives who claim the news business is fundamentally corrupt. It’s harder to make that defense now. It will be easier when honest (and, yes, liberal) journalists denounce what happened on Journolist as wrong.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, Helvetica, Arial, san-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">--Tucker Carlson, editor-in-chief, The Daily Caller</span></p>
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</div>In Praise Of The 'Screeching Diva'tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-11:537324:BlogPost:2413812010-07-11T14:41:03.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
In an age where self-awareness has become a kind of reverse cardinal virtue, <b>Florence Foster Jenkins</b> has become a hero of mine-- a forerunning Titan among the many who today populate our empty-celebrity world.<br></br>
<br></br>
She believed she had a talent for singing... and, by God, she was gonna <i>sing</i>, dammit!<br></br>
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And did. Boy-oh-boy, <i>did</i> she. She even rented Carnagie Hall (at her own expense) for her public performances, which were all the rage during her "career" as the…
In an age where self-awareness has become a kind of reverse cardinal virtue, <b>Florence Foster Jenkins</b> has become a hero of mine-- a forerunning Titan among the many who today populate our empty-celebrity world.<br/>
<br/>
She believed she had a talent for singing... and, by God, she was gonna <i>sing</i>, dammit!<br/>
<br/>
And did. Boy-oh-boy, <i>did</i> she. She even rented Carnagie Hall (at her own expense) for her public performances, which were all the rage during her "career" as the wildly popular, profoundly tone-deaf "Screeching Diva."<br/>
<br/>
An essay by Simon Doonan (published this week in <i>The Daily Beast</i>) profiles this stalwart lady. It's a very good read-- and I have the honor of possessing one of the rare recordings of Ms. Foster Jenkins performances: Mozart's <i>Die Zauberflote - Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen</i>. I only wish I could attach it as an audio file here, for your listening rapture.<br/>
<br/>
However, a few bars of it are used as the opening musical "bumper" for my on-air interview entitled "<b>Oops: A Hilarious Interview With Author Martin J. Smith</b>" on my Redroom.com website, under the "media" section on the page. It's at <a href="http://www.redroom.com/author/earl-merkel/">http://www.redroom.com/author/earl-merkel/</a><br/>
<br/>
You don't want to miss it; it also makes a valuable ring-tone for your cell phone that is guaranteed to ensure you'll never miss another call.<br/>
<br/>
But read the story below first, for perspective.<br/>
<br/>
(I first discovered Ms. Foster Jenkins a couple of years ago when I interviewed Martin J. Smith, co-author of <i>Oops! 20 Life Lessons From The Fiascoes That Shaped Americ</i>a, for the <b>MONEY & MORE radio show</b> I produced and co-hosted. Again, that hilarious audio interview segment is available online at my website -- <a href="http://www.redroom.com/author/earl-merkel">http://www.redroom.com/author/earl-merkel</a> -- in the "media" section at the top center of the page, if you want to hear me completely crack-up on national radio.)<br/>
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--Earl Merkel<br/>
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Dead Cool: Florence Foster Jenkins<br/>
by Simon Doonan<br/>
July 10, 2010<br/>
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In the age of talentless nobodies becoming miraculously famous, still-talentless somebodies, it’s time to remember Florence Foster Jenkins, the genre’s patron saint.<br/>
<br/>
We are living in a post-skill era--a hilarious famous-for-being-dreadful world where the likes of Snooki, Speidi, wards of Gloria Allred, and kamikaze reality-show hopefuls consistently monopolize the airwaves. The roster of lacking-accomplishment-but-famous-anyway names grows longer every day. So hilariously replete with spray-tanned, talentless scene-stealers is our contemporary culture that one is tempted to think of it as a contemporary phenomenon. But it’s totally not: it’s happened before.<br/>
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Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… Florence Foster Jenkins!<br/>
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Back in the first half of the last century, when Kim Kardashian’s great-great-grandmother was still mesmerizing Armenian shepherds with her ass-tastic butt, Florence Foster Jenkins was rocking the Manhattan social scene-- with derisive laughter, that is. Her fame was based on the fact that she mistakenly thought she could sing, and not only that, but she thought she could sing things like Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria and Delibes’ “Lakme,” and she thought that she was so good that she should be singing them in public.<br/>
<br/>
Florence Foster Jenkins had an unstoppable ability to take criticism and derision, and repackage it as “professional jealousy” or adoration for her own consumption. How gorgeous is that?<br/>
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But she could not sing. Not at all. Flo was not just mediocre: she was catastrophically tragic, tone-deaf, screechy and, as Randy Jackson would say, “pitchy, dawg!” Simply put, when Florence Foster Jenkins sang, she sounded like a turkey being gang-raped.<br/>
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Born in Pennsylvania in 1868, Florence was unconventional and fame-hungry from the get-go. Thwarted by straight-laced parents, vivacious Flo eventually eloped to Philly with a doctor and then divorced. In 1909 she inherited papa’s dosh and embarked on a me-me-me odyssey that would take her all the way to Carnegie Hall.<br/>
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At first she bankrolled her own performances. ‘Ere long, word spread of her operatic antics and fans were more than happy to pay good money in order to witness her oblivious caterwauling. Inspired by notices from astonished critics she headed to the Big Apple where she became a star, and then a legend. A typical F.F.J. performance was a multi-sensory feast: ramparts of exotic blooms perfumed and enhanced the diva’s offerings. And oh, her look: with her mantillas, snapping fans and angel wings, Florence possessed a Gaga-esque love of costume.<br/>
<br/>
The denouement of her career came on October 25, 1944, when she sold out Carnegie Hall. Wartime austerity did not prevent people coughing up as much as $20 for a scalped ticket. She warbled and wobbled through the recital and was greeted with thunderous applause. Her dreams achieved, she popped her clogs one month later, at age 77.<br/>
<br/>
What was so cool about this compulsive chanteuse/narcissist/exhibitionist? Florence Foster Jenkins had an unstoppable ability to take criticism and derision, and repackage it as “professional jealousy” or adoration for her own consumption. How gorgeous is that? She privileged her own expression and enjoyment over that of her audience. As she herself said, “Some people said I couldn't sing, but no one could say I didn't sing." She wanted to sing, and sing she did. Very cool.<br/>
<br/>
Florence Foster Jenkins represented the joy of the amateur. When Andy Warhol said, “I can only understand really amateur performers or really bad performers, because whatever they do never really comes off, so therefore it can't be phony,” you cannot help but think he was referring to good old un-phony Florence.<br/>
<br/>
This July 19th, celebrate Diva Jenkins’s birthday by heading to your local karaoke bar and attempting something way out of your vocal league. Mariah Carey? How about a little Stevie Wonder? Experience the cathartic joy of making a complete idiot out of yourself, and remember Florence, the patron saint of happy-but-deluded amateurs.<br/>
<br/>
Simon Doonan, is known for his provocative "Simon Says" column in the New York Observer.Boy Reads Book; Now In 'Extensive Therapy'tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-07:537324:BlogPost:2409582010-07-07T20:14:22.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">True story from what we'll call <span style="font-style: italic;"><b>"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword" -Chronicles</b></span><b>:</b> After reading a book at his local library, a young lad is now institutionalized and in "extensive therapy." <br></br><br></br>This article was published earlier this week in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Northwest…</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">True story from what we'll call <span style="font-style: italic;"><b>"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword" -Chronicles</b></span><b>:</b> After reading a book at his local library, a young lad is now institutionalized and in "extensive therapy." <br/><br/>This article was published earlier this week in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Northwest Florida Daily News.</span> <br/><br/>It's a cautionary tale: as writers, we wield tremendous powers. Use them for good, not for evil. (But remember: the evil stuff sells a <i>whole</i> lot better.) <br/><br/>--Earl Merkel <br/>----- <br/><br/><b>Mom: Son in 'extensive therapy' after viewing library book</b> <br/><br/>July 05, 2010 <br/>Brian Hughes <br/>Florida Freedom Newspapers <br/>CRESTVIEW, Florida — A Japanese serial graphic novel genre popular with young teens has raised the ire of a Crestview mother whose teenage son got hold of an adult version of the genre from the Crestview Public Library. <br/><br/>“Manga” depicts highly stylized adventure and, occasionally, violence in fantasy settings. <br/><br/>Margaret Barbaree, founder of a citizens’ group called Protect Our Children, presented examples from a manga book to the Crestview City Council last week that she described as “graphic” and “shocking,” taken from material she said is “available to children” at the Crestview Public Library. <br/><br/>“My son lost his mind when he found this,” Barbaree said of the manga book from which her examples were taken. <br/><br/>She said her son had removed the book unsupervised from the library’s general stacks last summer and put it in his backpack. She has kept it ever since. <br/><br/>“Now he’s in a home for extensive therapy,” she said. <br/><br/>Several months ago, Barbaree had circulated a petition bearing 226 signatures of citizens protesting the availability of manga, which she mistakenly referred to as “anime,” or Japanese animation. <br/><br/>However, the library said some patrons complained they were misled when they signed the petition. <br/><br/>“They told us she (Barbaree) approached them at the Christmas parade and asked them to sign a petition protesting pornography in the library,” said Resource Librarian Sandra Dreaden. <br/><br/>Barbaree said Library Director Jean Lewis explained to her that there is a demand for manga, and that the library strives to meet the needs of its patrons. <br/><br/>City Council President Charles Baugh Jr. assured Barbaree that “we have safeguards in place to protect our children and we have committees that review library purchases so they meet the standards of the (American) Library Association.” <br/><br/>The books that concerned Barbaree “are in the library for those who wish to partake of them and they are in a section of the library” for adult patrons, said Baugh, who visited the library himself the day after the council meeting and said he found the manga available in the young adult section perfectly innocuous. <br/><br/>“We follow up with our citizens’ concerns,” Baugh said after meeting with library staff and viewing the young adult manga. <br/><br/>Baugh also confirmed that the book Barbaree’s son had taken was in the general stacks well away from the children’s and young adult books. <br/><br/>“Our library is well managed and well staffed,” Baugh told Barbaree while assuring her, “I am a family man and I understand what you are saying.” <br/><br/>Lewis said the manga available in the young adult section of the library is oriented toward young teen readers and does not contain the adult themes of the book Barbaree’s son took. That book had been in the general stacks, on a top shelf in a section with other graphic novels and comic books not geared toward young readers. <br/><br/>“We have policies and procedures in place to prevent underage children from accessing those materials,” Baugh said.</span>To Outline Or Not: Was My Advice Wrong?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-04-30:537324:BlogPost:2340162010-04-30T15:14:08.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<br></br>
<br></br>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">A fellow writer asks: “Aged old debate - to outline or not to outline?” <br></br> <br></br></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I respond, and ask you: was I right? …<br></br> <br></br></font></p>
<br/>
<br/>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">A fellow writer asks: “Aged old debate - to outline or not to outline?” <br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I respond, and ask you: was I right? <br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Continues my correspondent: “Here's something I read that relates to the idea of creating some sort of design document to guide your creative process: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">‘Some writers dislike being reminded that they’re in charge of creating the reader’s experience… I think letting your unconscious write your books is like asking a group of nine-year-olds to design the next roller coaster at Disney World. The kids know what they like, but only a real pro can create the experience for them.'”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b>My reply:</b><br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Regardless of the aged-ness thereof, I enjoy meaningless debate as much as the next guy-- or gal, in the case of (<i>how-to-write author’s name deleted on probable advice of counsel, if I had one</i>). <br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I'm a little less enthusiastic about the folks who, also like (<i>author</i>), hawk "how to write" -books that contain such unflinchingly sage observations as her dictum on outlining, and foist 'em on an eager-but-unsuspecting audience of people who sincerely want to write. I could be wrong --often am-- but going by the passage cited, I strongly suspect she's just one more of those "buy my book" vultures who prey on the dreams of those who aspire to write at book length. <br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Outline, don't outline-- I know authors who do, those who don't, and those who switch back-and-forth between the two practices. In non-fiction, an outline can certainly have value as an organizational tool... but since you're going to have to do one to sell the damn thing (i.e., in NF, most books are sold on the basis of a strong proposal, two or three sample chapters and an outline to show the rest of the book's content), willy-nilly you're into outlining anyway. Enjoy (but know that even in non-fict the final product frequently evolves --and usually <i>should</i>-- into a book that doesn't follow the preconceived diagram). <br/>
<br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">But in fiction, you have a choice whether to bullet-point the book. If outlines help you get going, by all means crank 'em out; if it is a way to procrastinate-- to avoid actually writing the book-- don't. <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Still, in neither case should you count on it helping your novel get representation or publication. Virtually no reputable publisher will buy (or reputable agent agree to rep) a novel on the basis of an outline; why would they? <i>Everybody</i> has an "idea for a great novel" (which is generally true; everybody does), but it's the submitted manuscript (full & complete, not just a few chapters) that demonstrates whether any particular writer has produced a great (or even less so) book. Even demonstrably skilled short-story writers frequently stumble when going for book-length competency. <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">That's probably because in fiction, certainly compared to non-fiction, so many elements are in play. Translated, that means so very, very much can go wrong and foul the final pudding. Sadly, few of these<br/>
elements can be resolved (or even identified) through outlining. <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">For instance, outlining tends to fixate on plotting a storyline-- great for helping ensure that a story that starts at "A" actually hits point "B" and ultimately continues to "Z" in a consistent (albeit, often woefully predictable) manner. But an outline is of less utility when it comes to actually telling a story, which requires effective style, distinctly evocative voice, fully formed character(s), compelling (and suitable) pacing, and a myriad of other elements that defy either the outline's roadmap or (<i>author’s</i>) dictated recipe. <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">By the way, what's wrong with asking nine-year-old kids to "design" a rollercoaster, anyway? As (<i>author</i>) perhaps unwittingly admits, they tend to know more about what is exciting (to <i>them</i>, at least), and it will still take a careful craftsman to turn all those "great ideas" into a working/workable thrill-ride.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">There's much to be said for this little dictum (<i>copyright E. Merkel 2010</i>): "Unleash your own inner nine-year-old." With <i>that</i> little bastard running amok in your cranium, you have a shot at writing something that may far surpass any potentially anal-retentive list of plot-points to "hit" along the way. <br/>
<br/>But in the event, if an outline motivates you to progress your project, by all means outline like crazy. Or not.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">In my own humble opinion (accent on "opinion") here's how to write a book, designed for the novel but<br/>
generally applicable to any writing project: <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b>1. Apply ass to chair. <br/>
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b><br/></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b>2. Start writing... something, anything (say, an overlong screed like this one on, say, the CrimeSpace blogosphere. Sorry.). It puts your mind in writing mode, gets you into the rhythm of writing again... and only then should you shift over to work on your book, which is the story you really want to tell. <br/>
<br/>
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">3. Produce five pages (or whatever, but make it some daily minimum).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br/>
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">4. Repeat the process the next day, and the next, etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br/>
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">5. And when you think you've told your story to <i>yourself</i>, re-read and start re-writing to tell it to <i>other <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b>people... i.e., people who don't reside in your own skull.</b></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<br/>Simplistic, I'll admit; for instance, with apologies to (<i>author</i>), I'm the first to chant "story flows from character." You'd <i>better</i> know your character(s) at least as well as you know yourself. You'll then be able to portray how they will honestly respond in any situation you parachute 'em into. You'll know what they'd say (and sometimes even more important, what they wouldn't say), and understand how they'd say (or not say) it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br/>
<br/>And yes, (<i>author</i>): characters <i>do</i> go rogue and take over "your" story... that is, when (and if) the writer is exceptionally fortunate. But when it does happen, any writer is well-advised to whisper a prayer of gratitude... and hang on like crazy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br/>
<br/>But the awareness of a suddenly-sentient character, and much more, comes from rigorous application of the above "Five Rules." That's where you'll gain the dawning wisdom that you <i>discover</i> how to write well... only by writing a lot, and acknowledging that much of what you write will be crap.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br/>
<br/>It's the price of the ticket, and there are no discount fares. Happily, though, you don’t have to pay any royalties for it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br/>
--Earl Merkel <br/>
<br/></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">(P.S.: Don't think I'm criticizing anyone for buying "how-to" -books; I've contributed my fair share to the incomes of various writing "experts," but there's always a ton of chaff among the sparse grains of real wheat. I do suggest reading --hell, memorizing-- Larry Block's <b>TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT</b>, one of the few advice-on-writing books that I've actually found invaluable. But even there, pick&choose what works for <i>you</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, in my own experience I've found my limited book-budget better spent on books --almost without exception, <i>novels</i>-- that I either wish I had the skill to have written... or that I recognize were beyond the skill-set of the guys who <i>did</i> write them. <br/>
<br/>So read a <i>lot</i>-- as much as you can. You'll read a lot of clunkers along the way, but you'll learn far more about how to write/how <i>not</i> to write by reading 'em all. --EM)</span></p>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>How Cable TV Fills The 24-Hr. News Cycle...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-03-11:537324:BlogPost:2296992010-03-11T12:46:26.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
If you've ever wondered how cable news is generated and produced, don't miss this rib-tickling video from those fine folks at <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Onion</span>, one of the few consistent sources of humor around today... <br></br><br></br>...except, of course, for cable news channels themselves. <br></br><br></br>It's online at: <br></br><br></br><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4Ha9HQvMo&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4Ha9HQvMo&feature=player_embedded…</a>
If you've ever wondered how cable news is generated and produced, don't miss this rib-tickling video from those fine folks at <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Onion</span>, one of the few consistent sources of humor around today... <br/><br/>...except, of course, for cable news channels themselves. <br/><br/>It's online at: <br/><br/><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4Ha9HQvMo&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4Ha9HQvMo&feature=player_embedded</a> <br/><br/>--Earl MerkelAudi's Superbowl "Green Police" Ad: Seig heil?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-02-08:537324:BlogPost:2265732010-02-08T21:59:38.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<p>The award for the most off-target (I fervently pray) Superbowl ad is in: Audi's "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Green Police</span>," a fascist nightmare that inexplicably parallels the 1950's-era anti-Commie paranoia films-- in the Audi ad,
presumably to <em>sell</em> eco-friendly vehicles. <br></br></p>
<p><br></br></p>
<p>It's jaw-dropping in its appalling "vision" of a police-enforced "green" society, in which only the driver of a bio-diesel car escapes the horrific consequences…</p>
<p>The award for the most off-target (I fervently pray) Superbowl ad is in: Audi's "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Green Police</span>," a fascist nightmare that inexplicably
parallels the 1950's-era anti-Commie paranoia films-- in the Audi ad,<br />
presumably to <em>sell</em> eco-friendly vehicles. <br/></p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>It's jaw-dropping in its appalling "vision" of a police-enforced "green" society, in which
only the driver of a bio-diesel car escapes the horrific consequences of<br />
non-compliance. All that's missing are scenes from the<br />
carbon-neutral concentration camps.</p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>Unless this ad was a devious reverse-psychology experiment --did a cartel of petroleum companies and coal-mining interests secretly
purchase Audi to sacrifice as a loss-leader?-- I cannot think of<br />
anything so off-message having reached the commercial airwaves... <em>ever</em>. <br/></p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>The ad is online at <a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo"><br/></a></p>
<p>The Audi ad uses a tagline: "Green Has Never Felt So Right." May I suggest a new tagline for the company? How 'bout: "Ve haf <em>vays</em>
of making you buy und Audi..." <br/></p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>--Earl Merkel</p>Poe's Mystery Visitor... Disappearstag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-01-20:537324:BlogPost:2248752010-01-20T01:24:21.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
January 19, 2010, 5:07 pm<br />
<br />
There's an ominous, potentially sad feel to the air tonight, especially in a quiet cemetery in Baltimore. For the first time in decades, Edgar Allan Poe's mystery visitor... failed to visit.<br />
<br />
Below, from the AP's Joseph White.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
<b>Nevermore? Mystery visitor misses Poe's birthday</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
BALTIMORE – Is this tradition "nevermore"?<br />
<br />
A mysterious visitor who left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe each year on the writer's…
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
January 19, 2010, 5:07 pm<br />
<br />
There's an ominous, potentially sad feel to the air tonight, especially in a quiet cemetery in Baltimore. For the first time in decades, Edgar Allan Poe's mystery visitor... failed to visit.<br />
<br />
Below, from the AP's Joseph White.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
<b>Nevermore? Mystery visitor misses Poe's birthday</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
BALTIMORE – Is this tradition "nevermore"?<br />
<br />
A mysterious visitor who left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe each year on the writer's birthday failed to show early Tuesday, breaking with a ritual that began more than 60 years ago.<br />
<br />
"I'm confused, befuddled," said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum. "I don't know what's going on."<br />
<br />
The tradition dates back to at least 1949, according to newspaper accounts from the era, Jerome said. Since then, an unidentified person has come every Jan. 19 to leave three roses and a half-bottle of cognac at Poe's grave in a church cemetery in downtown Baltimore.<br />
<br />
The event has become a pilgrimage for die-hard Poe fans, some of whom travel hundreds of miles. About three dozen stood huddled in blankets during the overnight cold Tuesday, peering through the churchyard's iron gates hoping to catch a glimpse of the figure known only as the "Poe toaster."<br />
<br />
At 5:30 a.m., Jerome emerged from inside the church, where he and a select group of Poe enthusiasts keep watch over the graveyard, and announced to the crowd that the visitor never arrived. He allowed an Associated Press reporter inside the gates to view both of Poe's grave sites, the original one and a newer site where the body was moved in 1875. There was no sign of roses or cognac at either tombstone.<br />
<br />
Jerome said the Poe toaster has always arrived before 5:30 a.m. There was still a chance the visit could occur later in the day, but Jerome said he doubted the person would risk a public unveiling by performing the task in daylight, when other visitors could be there.<br />
<br />
"I'm very disappointed, to the point where I want to cry," said Cynthia Pelayo, 29, who had stood riveted to her prime viewing spot at the gate for about six hours. "I flew in from Chicago to see him. I'm just really sad. I hope that he's OK."<br />
<br />
Pelayo and Poe fans from as far as Texas and Massachusetts had passed the overnight hours reading aloud from Poe's works, including the poem "The Raven," with its haunting repetition of the word "nevermore." Soon they were speculating, along with Jerome, about what might have caused the visitor not to appear.<br />
<br />
"You've got so many possibilities," said Jerome, who has attended the ritual every year since 1977. "The guy had the flu, accident, too many people."<br />
<br />
Tuesday marked the 201st anniversary of Poe's birth, and Jerome speculated that perhaps the visitor considered last year's bicentennial an appropriate stopping point.<br />
<br />
"People will be asking me, 'Why do you think he stopped?'" Jerome said. "Or did he stop? We don't know if he stopped. He just didn't come this year."<br />
<br />
There have also been recent controversies over which city should be regarded as Poe's rightful home, with some making the case that the remains perhaps should be moved to Richmond, Va., Philadelphia or Boston, cities with their own Poe legacies.<br />
<br />
Jerome said he thinks it's unlikely the dispute is connected to the Poe toaster's no-show. If anything, Jerome felt the visitor might have weighed in on the controversy by leaving a note with the roses and cognac, as has been done in some previous years.<br />
<br />
One such note was left in 1993, when the visitor wrote: "The torch will be passed." Years later, another note indicated the man had died in 1998 and had handed the tradition to his two sons.<br />
<br />
Sam Porpora, a former historian at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Poe is buried, claimed in 2007 that he was the original Poe toaster and that he had came up with the idea in the 1970s as a publicity stunt. Jerome disputed Porpora's claims by citing a 1950 article in The (Baltimore) Evening Sun that referred to the annual tribute.<br />
<br />
Poe was the American literary master of the macabre, noted for poems and short stories including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." He is also credited with writing the first modern detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," which appeared in 1841.<br />
<br />
He died Oct. 7, 1849, in Baltimore at the age of 40 after collapsing in a tavern.<br />
<br />
As for the fate of his annual visitor? That's a new mystery.<br />
<br />
Jerome said he will continue the vigil for at least the next two or three years, in case the visits resume.<br />
<br />
"So, for me," he said, "it's not over with."'Publisher Seeking Authors!' Danger, Will Robinson?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-10-18:537324:BlogPost:2168082009-10-18T17:30:00.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
<b>'Publisher Seeking Authors!' Danger, Will Robinson?</b><br />
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
October 16, 2009, 9:05 am<br />
<br />
A writer e-mails me to ask about ad ("Publisher Looking for Authors!").<br />
<br />
I reply-- but is <i>your</i> answer different? Respond, and I'll forward your comments.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
-----------------------<br />
<b>Original E-Mail to Earl Merkel:</b><br />
<br />
Sent: <i>Thu, Oct 15, 2009 10:17 am</i><br />
<br />
Subject: FW: publisher looking for authors<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Earl: I received this through my writing group. The article talks…
<b>'Publisher Seeking Authors!' Danger, Will Robinson?</b><br />
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
October 16, 2009, 9:05 am<br />
<br />
A writer e-mails me to ask about ad ("Publisher Looking for Authors!").<br />
<br />
I reply-- but is <i>your</i> answer different? Respond, and I'll forward your comments.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
-----------------------<br />
<b>Original E-Mail to Earl Merkel:</b><br />
<br />
Sent: <i>Thu, Oct 15, 2009 10:17 am</i><br />
<br />
Subject: FW: publisher looking for authors<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Earl: I received this through my writing group. The article talks about publishers – have you heard of the the publisher in question?<br />
Steve<br />
<br />
(<i>Partial text of "request for authors" -release follows:</i>)<br />
<b>We're Looking For Authors To Publish!</b><br />
(<i>Name of publishing company</i>) <i>is a small, independent publisher. They use print-on-demand technology. There is no need for warehouses and no inventory risk. That reduces costs over a traditional print run. As a result, they take more chances on unknown authors. They pay royalties differently. Authors receive a share of the book's gross profits-net receipts less printing fees-usually 35% to 46%. As more books sell directly to readers, profit margins increase and greater royalties go to the authors.<br />
<br />
"All our titles are available wherever great books are sold."</i><br />
<br />
---------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Reply from Earl Merkel:</b><br />
<br />
Dear Steve:<br />
<br />
I don't know anything about (<i>name of "publisher" deleted on advice of my attorney</i>), but I'll bet you'll end up doing your <i>own</i> editing if you work with them: whoever wrote this company solicitation can't make up his/her/their mind(s) whether to use the third-person "they" or the first-person "our." That is not, IMHO, a good sign.<br />
<br />
But to get specific about your question-- again, no; I haven't heard about the company of which you write. That fact should not be surprising-- there are a growing multitude of "publishers" around these days who advertise for authors, often in the most prestigious of publications aimed at writers. I suppose the solicitation could be innocent, even a genuine opportunity for you.<br />
<br />
But personally... well, to <i>me</i>, it feels not unlike the sensation I'd expect if I stepped on a big rock... and heard an ominous hissing beneath my feet.<br />
<br />
Since in today's world there's <i>such</i> a chronic shortage of people who want to get their books published --okay, I admit I'm not all that expert at sarcasm-- a publisher who sends out a mass e-mail begging for submissions seems to me a <i>big</i> red flag; it makes me wonder whether perhaps this is an operation where the <b>Prime Axiom of Author Economics</b> --"money must flow <i>to</i> the author, not <i>from</i> her/him"-- is regularly violated with an unseemly capitalistic glee.<br />
<br />
Such operations certainly exist-- and have, all too frequently, represented a step more perilous than even naked vanity publishing, where one simply ponies up the cash to have his or her own book printed up by somebody else. (No: I am definitely <i>not</i> going to debate whether "self-publishing" falls under this admittedly simplistic definition; some books do, some don't-- and I don't want my e-mailbox flamed by proponents of <i>either</i> persuasion.) But in either instance, no outside for-profit "publishing company" can continue to exist without wetting its own beak somewhere (and somehow) along the way. If (<i>publisher</i>) charges you for publishing your own book (and it certainly seems it does), beware: remember that the vanity of being able to say you're a "published author" is why the term "vanity press" was invented in the first place.<br />
<br />
Even if one of these "pay-to-play" shops does offer a token advance --and it doesn't look like (<i>publisher</i>) is one of 'em-- look over the terms warily. You may be committing to a personal outlay that eats up the so-called "advance" they offer, through "reading fees," "promotional allowances," "editing charges," "photocopying costs," "layout-design/illustration levies" and other expenses. The camoflagued costs can be onerous.<br />
<br />
But potentially worse, once you've placed a book with <i>some</i> of these publishers, you may be limited in what you <i>can</i> sell in the unlikely event it somehow proves successful; one POD house I know of has a clause that says they get a <b>50 percent share of any subsequent income</b> if a "traditional" publishing house later picks up, let's say, mass-market paperback rights-- or, say, if a production house options movie rights. Publishin' folks don't stay in bid'ness because they're dumb: they cover <i>any</i> chance to hike their profit potential.<br />
<br />
Hence, cost-wise you may be better off just setting yourself up as an "independent" publisher and producing your own book --especially if you do it as an "print-on-demand" arrangement; at least that keeps you from filling up your garage with cartons of inventory that, willy-nilly, you'll likely end up pushing on family and friends anyway. (And while that can make Thanksgiving dinner somewhat uncomfortable --for <i>all</i> concerned-- at worst you'll still have a place to park your car.)<br />
<br />
The company you ask about apparently pays no advance up-front: it promises future royalty percentages "<i>less printing costs</i>." I vaguely recall hearing that a major publishing house has set up a new imprint that also follows this model (the no-advance policy, that is; <i>please</i> don't tell me we'll soon be reimbursing S&S or HarperCollins for printing costs!), and cites the same basis for doing so. I'm still having nightmares about cannibal-sautee'ing my children while awaiting the quarterly royalty checks.<br />
<br />
But in the case of the publisher you cite, Steve, what it means is that you're still paying the middleman. If that's worth it to you-- if only to avoid the time & learning curve of editing/designing/producing your book yourself-- shop around the legions of such companies. Many are reputable and have fine references from satisfied customers. Find the best terms and most advantageous deal before you sign with anybody to do what is, in effect, the essence of what they offer: a decent printing-and-binding job. Some provide more: design and illustration, new-release catalogues, even distribution and fulfilment services... often, though, at additional cost. Do your research, and shop wisely.<br />
<br />
BTW, re: the ad you received: The tagline "available wherever great books are sold" is also a touch misleading. You <i>do</i> get listed in (<i>publisher's</i>) catalog, and I'm sure that list is included in the digitized books-database used by B&N, Borders etc.; but I can just about guarantee that you won't be on the store shelves (so someone will have to be specifically looking/asking for your book to be able to <i>order</i> it), and probably won't have ARCs (advance reader copies) sent to reviewers (result: most individual readers outside of friends 'n family won't even know it exists, even if they might have wanted to order it). And as for the sometimes-lucrative library-sales market-- well, with today's economics, even the best libraries face pitifully low new-book budgets. In too many cases, that means most institutional purchases of new authors are usually limited to those with "starred" reviews in <i>Library Journal</i> or <i>Publisher's Weekly</i>-- and even there, mainly for hard-cover (seldom MMPB or even trade-paperback) releases.<br />
<br />
I mention all this not to discourage, but to point out the fact that so-called "real" (i.e., "traditional") publishers tend to provide this valuable --nay! <i>essential</i>-- support, because they already have skin in the game (the advance-against-royalties they've paid an author). More to the point, they make their money through actual book sales, not through author-paid printing fees. I'm sure some of the new breed of non-traditional publishers are also profoundly committed to the books they produce, too... but always, always keep the aforementioned <i>Prime Axiom Of Author Economics</i> foremost in your thoughts (if not tattoo'd across your forehead).<br />
<br />
So, as in most aspects of life, the questions is "what is your objective here?" If the ability to hold up a book and show that one is "published" is the goal --and, hey... for many authors that <i>is</i> the Holy Grail-- all the reservations I've described may not matter.<br />
<br />
And probably won't.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
<b>POSTSCRIPT:</b><br />
<br />
A reader of this blog kindly e-mailed me to point out that there's an excellent website where information on scams (or possible scams) are discussed in great detail. The site is administered by the always-vigilant <b>Victoria Strauss</b>, it's sponsored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, it contains a regularly updated list of proven scam publishers (and "agents" who aren't legitimate agents), and it's located on the Internet at http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/<br />
<br />
I hadn't visited the site for a while, but a quick check just now shows it is still operating-- helping to protect writers of all genres and experience from the sadly thriving industry of scammers and crooks who prey on the hopes and dreams of writers. We all owe Victoria and the SFWA our gratitude for this (free) service.<br />
<br />
--EMLetterman Blackmailed? No-- T'was Just A Misunderstanding...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-10-02:537324:BlogPost:2153882009-10-02T15:30:00.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
October 2, 2009, 7:50 am<br />
<br />
There's a myth --started, I suspect, by writers-- that all writers write "not because we <i>want</i> to, but because we <i>have</i> to." The compulsion to write is, we tell people, an "artist sort of thing."<br />
<br />
Uh-huh. <i>Ri-i-i-ght</i>.<br />
<br />
Yeah-- that explains why so many of us stare at the morning's blank computer screen, motionless hands poised over the keyboard, until our eyeballs bleed.<br />
<br />
And then we do random Google searches, check our e-mail, surf for…
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
October 2, 2009, 7:50 am<br />
<br />
There's a myth --started, I suspect, by writers-- that all writers write "not because we <i>want</i> to, but because we <i>have</i> to." The compulsion to write is, we tell people, an "artist sort of thing."<br />
<br />
Uh-huh. <i>Ri-i-i-ght</i>.<br />
<br />
Yeah-- that explains why so many of us stare at the morning's blank computer screen, motionless hands poised over the keyboard, until our eyeballs bleed.<br />
<br />
And then we do random Google searches, check our e-mail, surf for porn (or --<i>ahem</i>-- even dash off a blog).<br />
<br />
It's called "procrastination," and I have yet to meet a writer who --when pressed hard enough-- doesn't confess that there have been countless times that he or she will do just about anything to avoid the admittedly hard work of actually getting down to writing.<br />
<br />
But perhaps the worst case of writer's procrastination in recent years was unveiled last night on the <b>David Letterman Show</b>.<br />
<br />
By now, you've already heard the ... uh... bones of the story: as it turns out, Mr. Letterman has his own (private) "Top Ten List." Someone --reportedly, a fellow employee at CBS-- did a little back-story research, pulled together some of the steamy details, and proceeded to pen what was either the worst "project-pitch" proposal in literary history or --as a New York grand jury termed it-- a blackmail note. As reported, the as-yet unnamed scribe suggested to Mr. Letterman that the story would make a <i>great</i> screenplay as well as a sure-fire blockbuster book.<br />
<br />
Well-- so far, so good: Letterman's production company, Just Pants, is certainly a logical venue to pitch a screenplay. And as Mr. Letterman himself agreed during his on-air discussion of the incident, a companion-piece book clearly has the makings of a potentially profitable marketing combination. One suspects that discussion of the accompanying action-figure spin-off -- perhaps even a "MA" -rated video game-- wasn't far behind. In this initial-discussion phase of the pitch, Mr. Letterman and his legal counsel appeared open to --even encouraging of-- green-lighting the project.<br />
<br />
It was here that the writer made a serious negotiating blunder.<br />
<br />
Close your eyes and picture the scene: Presumably acting without the guidance of a competent agent, the writer begins to blue-sky provisions of the proposed contract-- specifically, asking for a two-million-dollar advance. Just to get the inevitable dickering over compensation started, of course...<br />
<br />
But incredibly, Mr. Letterman snaps up this opening bid-- and I suspect that it is here that our hapless writer had a terrible realization.<br />
<br />
<i>Oh, crap! I could have asked for more!</i><br />
<br />
And haven't we all been <i>there</i>?<br />
<br />
Suddenly, we're faced with the enormity behind the contract we've just landed. We're confronted with the god-awful prospect of actually having to do the grunt-work: the volumnious additional research, the scheduling of interviews with the principals involved, the inevitable associated travel, the drudgery of tracking expenses that won't trigger alarms at the IRS, <i>et al</i>.<br />
<br />
Worse, after all of that we're going to have to apply-ass-to-chair and <i>write</i> the damn thing. We're looking at a minimum of six months, probably a year, of sheer, unmitigated salt-mine/ galley-slave labor...<br />
<br />
And all of a sudden, two million bucks seems like a trifling sum-- chump change, compared to the effort involved.<br />
<br />
For our indicted-but-unnamed protagonist, it is here, I am sure, that the ol' writers' nemesis, procrastination, reared its multi-horned head.<br />
<br />
C'mon... surely you can hear <i>yourself</i> saying the fatal words?<br />
<br />
<i>"Er...uh... hey! I've just had this crazy idea, Mr. Letterman-- but it might just work out great for both of us. Just thinking out loud, now... what if you still pay me the two million --hear me out, okay?-- but then I <b>don't</b> write the screenplay or the book? Whatcha think, huh?"</i><br />
<br />
And the rest, as they say, is history.<br />
<br />
Some may call it "extortion." But as writers, we know the real truth.William Safire, RIP: Language Loses An Outspoken Champion...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-09-27:537324:BlogPost:2150292009-09-27T23:49:06.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 27, 2009<br />
<br />
Another good one bites the dust.<br />
<br />
If you're not familiar with William Safire's ON LANGUAGE columns, you're simply not as good a writer as you could be. <i>Period</i>.<br />
<br />
He was also a take-no-prisoners -type of columnist-- and one who backed up his opinions with carefully researched fact. No "nabob" he, Mr. Safire will be missed by those who savor both finely honed writing and the practice of column-writing as a blood-sport.<br />
<br />
--Earl…
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 27, 2009<br />
<br />
Another good one bites the dust.<br />
<br />
If you're not familiar with William Safire's ON LANGUAGE columns, you're simply not as good a writer as you could be. <i>Period</i>.<br />
<br />
He was also a take-no-prisoners -type of columnist-- and one who backed up his opinions with carefully researched fact. No "nabob" he, Mr. Safire will be missed by those who savor both finely honed writing and the practice of column-writing as a blood-sport.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
---------------------------<br />
<b><br />
William Safire, Nixon Speechwriter and Times Columnist, Is Dead at 79</b><br />
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN<br />
<br />
William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a <b>Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language</b>, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.<br />
<br />
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Martin Tolchin, a friend of the family.<br />
<br />
There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: there was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”<br />
<br />
He was a college dropout and proud of it, a public relations go-getter who set up the famous Nixon-Khrushchev “kitchen debate” in Moscow, and a White House wordsmith in the tumultuous era of war in Vietnam, Nixon’s visit to China and the gathering storm of the Watergate scandal that drove the president from office.<br />
<br />
Then, from 1973 to 2005, Mr. Safire wrote his twice weekly “Essay” for the Op-Ed Page of The Times, a forceful conservative voice in the liberal chorus. Unlike most Washington columnists who offer judgments with Olympian detachment, Mr. Safire was a pugnacious contrarian who did much of his own reporting, called people liars in print and laced his opinions with outrageous wordplay.<br />
<br />
Critics initially dismissed him as an apologist for the disgraced Nixon coterie. But he won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and for 32 years tenaciously attacked and defended foreign and domestic policies, and the foibles, of seven administrations. Along the way, he incurred enmity and admiration, and made a lot of powerful people squirm.<br />
<br />
Mr. Safire also wrote four novels, including “Full Disclosure,” (Doubleday, 1977), a best-seller about succession issues after a president is blinded in an assassination attempt, and nonfiction that included “The New Language of Politics,” (Random House, 1968), and “Before the Fall,” (Doubleday, 1975,) a memoir of his White House years.<br />
<br />
And from 1979 until earlier this month, he wrote <b>“On Language,”</b> a New York Times Magazine column that explored written and oral trends, plumbed the origins and meanings of words and phrases, and drew a devoted following, including a stable of correspondents he called his Lexicographic Irregulars.<br />
<br />
The columns, many collected in books, made him an unofficial arbiter of usage, and one of the most widely read writers on language. It also tapped into the lighter side of the dour-looking Mr. Safire: a Pickwickian quibbler who gleefully pounced on gaffes, inexactitudes, neologisms, misnomers, solecisms and perversely peccant puns, like “The President’s populism and the First Lady’s momulism.”<br />
<br />
There were columns on blogosphere blargon, tarnation-heck euphamisms, dastardly subjunctives and even Barack and Michelle Obama’s fist bumps. And there were Safire “rules for writers”: <b>Remember to never split an infinitive. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. Avoid cliches like the plague. And don’t overuse exclamation marks!!</b><br />
<br />
Behind the fun, readers said, was a talented linguist who could not resist his addiction to alliterative allusions. There was a consensus too that his Op-Ed essays, mostly written in Washington and syndicated in hundreds of newspapers, were the work of a sophisticated analyst with voluminous contacts and insights into the way things worked in Washington.<br />
<br />
Mr. Safire called himself a pundit — the word, with its implication of self-appointed expertise, might have been coined for him — and his politics “libertarian conservative,” which he defined as individual freedom and minimal government. He denounced the Bush administration’s U.S.A. Patriot Act as an intrusion on civil liberties, for example, but supported the war in Iraq.<br />
<br />
He was hardly the image of a buttoned-down Times man: The shoes needed a shine, the gray hair a trim. Back in the days of suits, his jacket was rumpled, the shirt collar open, the tie askew. He was tall but bent — a man walking into the wind. He slouched and banged a keyboard, talked as fast as any newyawka and looked a bit gloomy, like a man with a toothache coming on.<br />
<br />
His last Op-Ed column was “Never Retire.” He then became head of the Dana Foundation, which supports research in neuroscience, immunology and brain disorders. In 2005, he testified at a Senate hearing in favor of a law to shield reporters from prosecutors’ demands to disclose sources and other information. In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Mr. Bush. From 1995 to 2004, he was a member of the board that awards the Pulitzer Prizes.<br />
<br />
William Safir (sic) was born on Dec. 17, 1929, in New York City, the youngest of three sons of Oliver C. and Ida Panish Safir. (The “e” was added to clarify pronunciation.) He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and attended Syracuse University, but quit after his second year in 1949 to take a job with Tex McCrary, a columnist for The New York Herald Tribune who hosted radio and television shows; the young legman interviewed Mae West and other celebrities.<br />
<br />
In 1951, Mr. Safire was a correspondent for WNBC-TV in Europe and the Middle East, and jumped into politics in 1952 by organizing an Eisenhower-for-President rally at Madison Square Garden. He was in the Army from 1952 to 1954, and for a time was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network in Europe.<br />
<br />
In 1959, working in public relations, he was in Moscow to promote an American products exhibit and managed to steer Vice President Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev into the “kitchen debate” on capitalism versus communism. He took the photograph that became an icon of the encounter. Nixon was delighted, and hired Mr. Safire for his losing 1960 run for the presidency against John F. Kennedy.<br />
<br />
Starting his own public relations firm in 1961, Mr. Safire worked in Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller’s 1964 presidential race and John V. Lindsay’s 1965 campaign for mayor of New York. Mr. Safire also wrote his first book, “The Relations Explosion,” (Macmillan, 1963).<br />
<br />
In 1962, he married the former Helene Belmar Julius, a model, pianist and jewelry designer. The couple had two children, Mark and Annabel. They survive him, as does a granddaughter.<br />
<br />
In 1968, he sold his agency, became a special assistant to President Nixon and joined a White House speechwriting team that included Patrick J. Buchanan and Raymond K. Price Jr. Mr. Safire wrote many of Nixon’s speeches on the economy and Vietnam, and in 1970 coined the “nattering nabobs” and “hysterical hypochondriacs” phrases for Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.<br />
<br />
After Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher of The Times, hired Mr. Safire, one critic said it was like setting a hawk loose among doves. As Watergate broke, Mr. Safire supported Nixon, but retreated somewhat after learning that he, like others in the White House, had been secretly taped.<br />
<br />
Mr. Safire won his Pulitzer for columns that accused President Jimmy Carter’s budget director, Bert Lance, of shady financial dealings. Mr. Lance resigned, but was acquitted in a trial. He then befriended his accuser.<br />
<br />
Years later, Mr. Safire called Hillary Clinton a “congenital liar” in print. Mrs. Clinton said she was offended only for her mother’s sake. But a White House aide said that Bill Clinton, “if he were not president, would have delivered a more forceful response on the bridge of Mr. Safire’s nose.”<br />
<br />
Mr. Safire was delighted, especially with the proper use of the conditional.Who Cries For The Slain Pro-Lifer?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-09-13:537324:BlogPost:2133962009-09-13T22:42:32.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 13, 2009, 2:40 pm<br />
<br />
As a recovering journalist, I still find my decades-old j-school training occasionally reminding me how lazy --even cowardly-- I often feel these days. It nags particularly loudly when I catch myself personally avoiding that most rare of today's journalistic attributes: an impartial fairness in dealing with an uncomfortable story.<br />
<br />
I try to ease that guilt by telling myself that I'm no longer subject to either unyielding deadlines nor old-school,…
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 13, 2009, 2:40 pm<br />
<br />
As a recovering journalist, I still find my decades-old j-school training occasionally reminding me how lazy --even cowardly-- I often feel these days. It nags particularly loudly when I catch myself personally avoiding that most rare of today's journalistic attributes: an impartial fairness in dealing with an uncomfortable story.<br />
<br />
I try to ease that guilt by telling myself that I'm no longer subject to either unyielding deadlines nor old-school, "report-both-sides" gruff city editors; today, I can cherry-pick my own stories... avoiding any potential for a disquieting relevation that perhaps I'm no longer courageous enough to tackle subjects that may challenge my own ideological smugness.<br />
<br />
Perhaps that's why the article below, by <b>Jeffrey Weiss</b> of POLITICS DAILY, had such a personal impact on me. By no means a conservative, Mr. Weiss nonetheless dared the furies of political correctness to raise the question: when an anti-abortion proponent is gunned down, where are the public condolences and trumpheted cries of outrage?<br />
<br />
Oh, I've dealt with this particular issue in my <i>fiction</i>; in <b>Virgins And Martyrs</b>, I had my main character (perhaps self-righteously) state: "I'm on the side that's against bombs and sniper rifles." So what? Aside from the lunatics, who <i>isn't</i>?<br />
<br />
But that said, I have to confess --with the shame of a self-realized serial hypocrite-- that my finger has hovered over the "delete" button several times while writing even this brief blog item... which, in the end, only introduces a piece written by another writer.<br />
<br />
And in my mind, that makes Mr. Weiss' courageous journalistic decision to raise this painful issue all the more laudable.<br />
<br />
Good job, Jeffrey Weiss. I've never met you, but I suspect you're a far better journalist than I ever was.<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<b><br />
Where Are The Condemnations of Abortion Protester James Pouillon's Murder?</b><br />
<br />
By <b>JEFFREY WEISS</b><br />
<i>POLITICS DAILY Contributor</i><br />
09/12/09<br />
<br />
James Pouillon, aka "the sign guy" was the abortion rights opponent gunned down in suburban Owosso, Michigan, early Friday morning. Shortly after his murder, a Facebook Friend of mine with a conservative political outlook posted the question: "Where is the outrage?"<br />
<br />
Her point being that when famous abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered a few months ago, expressions of condolence from all sides of the abortion debate rocketed through the Internet within a short time.<br />
<br />
My response to her was to wait. At that point, we didn't know if Pouillon had been targeted because of his abortion stance or whether the killer had some more personal motive. If this were a domestic killing of some sort, his abortion protests might have been totally unrelated.<br />
<br />
Well, we now know what the authorities are telling us. According to the <i>Detroit News</i>:<br />
<br />
"We believe Mr. Drake was not happy with the way Mr. Pouillon was protesting," said Chief Shiawassee County Assistant Prosecutor Sara Edwards.<br />
<br />
The day that Dr. Tiller was killed, I was easily able to cull a series of condemnations from my e-box from individuals and organizations opposed to abortion.<br />
<br />
Those who made statements included Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; the president and board of directors of Catholics for Choice; Interfaith Alliance Board Chair the Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich; and Operation Rescue.<br />
<br />
The suspect in Dr. Tiller's murder has been linked to some more extreme anti-abortion organizations, but not to any of the groups I just cited. Nonetheless, they felt some moral imperative to condemn the killing. And even if you think the statements were pro forma, the statements <i>were</i> quickly made.<br />
<br />
Condemnation from the other side of the debate was less surprising, and there was plenty of it.<br />
<br />
Even President Barack Obama issued his condolences before nightfall that Sunday.<br />
<br />
Let's grant that Dr. Tiller was famous before he was killed and that nobody much outside of Owosso had ever heard of Pouillon a week ago. And let's also grant that nobody has come up with any connections thus far between the suspect in Pouillon's murder and any organization with any stand concerning abortion.<br />
<br />
But Pouillon is sure famous now. And two days after his murder, I can find no statements about it, pro forma or otherwise, on any of the websites of any of the prominent organizations that support abortion rights.<br />
<br />
Not NARAL. Not NOW. Not Planned Parenthood. Not Catholics for Choice.<br />
<br />
And nothing from Obama.<br />
<br />
Asking Mr. Google for help hasn't been all that helpful, either. I can find news reports that Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, made a statement condemning the murder. (I can't imagine why it's not on the group's website, though.)<br />
<br />
But that's it.<br />
<br />
From all the news accounts, Pouillon was an older man who trundled around an oxygen tank along with his awful signs. I can't find any photos, but from the descriptions I know the images he used: Bloody, graphic pictures of aborted fetuses. Images that could stir nightmares for students attending the school outide of which he had set up shop the day he was murdered.<br />
<br />
But here's the thing: What he was doing wasn't simply legal, it was guaranteed protection by the U.S. Constitution. Like Dr. Tiller, he was doing nothing that gave any loony the right to violence. As with the murder of Dr. Tiller, the murder of Pouillon diminishes us all.<br />
<br />
Pro forma matters. Even the obligatory boilerplate recognition that something bad has happened reinforces the broader cultural standards that there are lines that should not be crossed.<br />
<br />
It's why there are always questions by the ignorant about why American Muslim organizations "don't condemn terrorism." And it's why American Muslim organizations do, routinely, issue statements of condemnation against acts of violence committed in the name of Islam.<br />
<br />
I can't understand why any organization that lobbies in favor of abortion rights hasn't already put out a statement – on their websites and filling the media's e-boxes – saying that there is no room for the kind of violence that ended Pouillon's life.<br />
<br />
And while the president of the United States cannot be expected to release a statement about every murder in America, I'm surprised that this one has as yet escaped his attention.<br />
<br />
Whatever our position about abortion, surely there is no controversy that murderous violence against this particular protestor -- apparently targeted because of his protests --deserves to be condemned?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* * *My I-view with Rod "Blago" Blagojevich...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-09-11:537324:BlogPost:2132992009-09-11T14:51:52.000ZEarl Merkelhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/EarlMerkel
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 11, 2009, 6:09 am<br />
<br />
Did he try to barter Obama's Senate seat? Well, he says, yes-- not, he insists, for money... but for love. The interview referenced below is in the second bloc of our show, but you guys might enjoy the rest of the program, too. Still, if you just want to hear Mr. Blagojevich choke-and-stutter, it's at about 12:50 min into the program. <<i>chuckle> Please note the opening and closing musical "bumpers" we used, in honor of Blago's…
by Earl Merkel<br />
<br />
September 11, 2009, 6:09 am<br />
<br />
Did he try to barter Obama's Senate seat? Well, he says, yes-- not, he insists, for money... but for love. The interview referenced below is in the second bloc of our show, but you guys might enjoy the rest of the program, too. Still, if you just want to hear Mr. Blagojevich choke-and-stutter, it's at about 12:50 min into the program. <<i>chuckle> Please note the opening and closing musical "bumpers" we used, in honor of Blago's oft-proclaimed love of Elvis music.<br />
<br />
--Earl Merkel<br />
Fresh from those hard-hitting interviews on the <i>Jimmy Kimmel Show</i>, NBC's <i>TODAY Show</i>, and ABC-TV's <i>The View</i> (typical question: "Did your wife enjoy being on that celebrity-survivor show?") indicted former Illinois Governor <b>Rod Blagojevich</b> visits with Earl Merkel and David Latko on talk-radio's <b>MONEY & MORE</b> to discuss such topics as<br />
<br />
--how it feels, as a former prosecutor himself, to have been wiretapped by the FBI while allegedly trying to auction off the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama,<br />
<br />
-- life after impeachment and removal from office,<br />
<br />
-- his upcoming trial on sundry federal charges,<br />
<br />
-- and --oh, yeah-- his just-released book about it all entitled THE GOVERNOR.<br />
<br />
Unlike Joy Behar, what we ruffle is not the ex-Governor's hair...<br />
<br />
You can hear the show before everybody else by visiting <a href="http://www.moneyandmoreonline.com" target="_blank">http://www.moneyandmoreonline.com</a><br />
Just enter the site, and click on "recent" at the top of the web-page to go to the streaming audio page-- for an advance listening of the scheduled broadcast everybody else will hear on Saturday, Sept. 12 on affiliates around the country (including WJOL-AM 1340 in Chicagoland).<br />
<br />
It's all (to borrow a quote from the federal wiretaps) "eff-ing golden" on this weekend's MONEY & MORE!