Found this joke about editors/publishers on the net:
What's the difference between a publisher and a terrorist?
Answer: You can negotiate with a terrorist.
Added by B.R.Stateham on August 14, 2009 at 12:00am —
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'A Taste of Old Revenge,' the second Turner Hahn/Frank Morales novel of mine is ready to send off to the publishers. The same one who did the first Turner/Frank novel. I gotta feeling I'm going to have to mimic the route Louis L'Amour took in climbing that literary mountain--doing dozens of Westerns seemingly in the closet until finally, someone catches on and takes notice.
Maybe the idea is to build a fan base large enough to force a major agent/publisher to take notice. Who knows?…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on August 12, 2009 at 2:46am —
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Another one of my homicide detective short-stories featuring Turner Hahn and Frank Morales is featured on the latest Eastern Standard Crime website. Take a peek and tell me what you think.
Added by B.R.Stateham on August 11, 2009 at 2:52pm —
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We hear all kinds of stories about bookstores, publishers, etc., pulling the shades and locking their doors permanently. So does it make sense for anyone to even consider opening a bookstore that would specialize in a particular genre? (for me, I'm thinking Detective/Mystery and anything directly related to it).
Would something like this have even a ghost of a chance to survive? would it have to be a brick-and-mortar store? Or do you think it could work just on the web? (of course,…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on August 11, 2009 at 7:26am —
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A writer comes home and finds his wife standing beside their home completely gutted by fiire. Beside the smoking embers his wife stands, sobbing.
"Honey, what happened!"
"Oh, darling! The phone rang this morning and I answered it. It was your agent. But when I answered the phone, I didn't see the frying pan filled with grease catch on fire. The curtains caught on fire, and then the ceiling began to burn. The dog started barking and bolted out the back door, taking the…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on August 4, 2009 at 4:10pm —
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I'm minding my own business, working on a couple of novels, when from out of nowhere this brand new character comes into my head. And he's insistent. He's packing a couple of stories with him and demands that I write them as fast as possible.
The thing is. . . the guy is sort'uv interesting. He's a cross between a Jason Bourne and Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin.
I can't say no to the guy. Yet I don't have the time, really, to write. So what do I do? I write the…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on July 6, 2009 at 6:23am —
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Speaking of historical detectives--you should read I.J. Parker's 'Island of Exiles.' I've just written a review for it on Amazon and, really, it's a damn good book. If you're a history buff you have to love feudal Japan in the Tenth or Eleventh Century!
Haven't read your newest yet, I.J. But I will . . . .
Added by B.R.Stateham on July 4, 2009 at 1:34pm —
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Don't know if anyone reads the historical-detective novels of Lindsey Davis. But her newest Marcus Didius Falco outing, called 'Alexandria' is a pretty good tour through the famous library of Alexandria. And the mystery isn't too bad, either.
Falco is an interesting character. He would have fit in well in Chandler's Los Angeles.
Added by B.R.Stateham on July 4, 2009 at 7:58am —
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The recent discussion going on in John's 'The Ending' spot brings up an interesting question.
So you're standing in the bookstore and there are three detective novels you're seriously considering to puchase. You can only buy one. One books totes itself as being 'The next great Nero Wolfe or Ellery Queen!" A genuine puzzle in the traditionalist's style of writing.
The second is a new James Patterson serial-killer. One of his better ones.
The third is a book who…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on June 30, 2009 at 6:00am —
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The last few weeks I've been using Craigslist.com to promote my books. I took up a suggestion to give it a try, not expecting much one way or the other. But it's free. And it has the advantage of targeting specific cities around the world and across the US. And did I mention it was free?
It works. Every time I use it books sales on Barnes&Noble go up. So what if it's from one book a month to maybe two books a month? The evidence suggests it goes up. Since I don't have a publisher…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on June 28, 2009 at 4:55am —
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What do you do when you're suddenly hit with a brass coated inspiratoion-stick, and THE STORY for your greatest novel EVER blasts into your conscience in full living color? Do drop everything and beign writing? Do you take notes and wait for a later time? Do you just log it in your memory and wait until that first flush of excitement blows over. Have you trained yourself to not get exicted with that first tingling rush of excitement?
How do you know this story ranks higher than…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on June 21, 2009 at 2:42am —
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Stories are circulating that J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise are working on a story-line for 'Mission Impossible 4.' Here we go again---a revamping of an old series. Still. . . . one can't just automatically pan it and say its rubbish. Cruise is still a bankable star, and after the success of Star Trek, Abrams is the biggest director in Tinsel Town. So the raw ingredients look attractive. Wonder what the plot is gonna be.
Added by B.R.Stateham on June 15, 2009 at 1:33am —
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It's not a mystery novel. . . and it is one of my dreaded 'self-published' novels. But it obtained a rather nice review from a British sci/fi online magazine. Go check it out at www.totalscifionline.com/reviews/3608-roland-of-the-high-crags-evil-arises
Not bad for an amateur.
Added by B.R.Stateham on June 11, 2009 at 4:00am —
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Crookedwebzine today has my short story, 'Justice' up and running. The story has my two homicide detectives, Turner Hahn and Frank Morales, it it. These two are in my novel, Murderous Passions. If you get time, drop by on the web and give it a look.
Added by B.R.Stateham on June 10, 2009 at 12:33am —
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It was really sad news to read this morning David Carradine apparently took his own life by hanging himself in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thialand. Carradine was seventy-two years old. Why did he choose Bangkok will be interesting to find out. As I said on another site, if I was a writer of detective fiction I would look at this story and become a wee bit suspicious. But, frankly, stranger things have happened.
Added by B.R.Stateham on June 5, 2009 at 5:51am —
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The British Arts Council has this thing called YouWriteOn.com. It's like Authonomy.com but a bit more formal--and far more stringent in its requirements. So I put up one of my manuscripts I'm shopping around (the Death of a Young Lieutenant script) and finally received two reviews--you need five reviews for it to be considered by agents, publishers, etc.
What's interesting about the reviews is this; both liked the story. But one was either an agent or editor. He gave good ratings on…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on May 27, 2009 at 2:52am —
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Finally figures out how to put music on my personal page (yeah, I'm slow). If you want to groove thru a mystery, try this little ditty.
Added by B.R.Stateham on May 22, 2009 at 12:53pm —
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Yahoo has two stories out about several US state Attorney Generals looking into the Google Settlement. It also has a story on the American Library Association wanting the Feds to closely monitor the Google Settlement. They're thinking that, basically, Google is setting up a monopoly on the acquistion of all these books and to access them, libraries are going to have to cough up some hefty change to pay for them
Did I not say this battle was far from over?
Added by B.R.Stateham on May 14, 2009 at 3:23pm —
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TV shows come and go. So many that they begin to blur in your memory. Very few really carve out a unique spot and live on as individuals separated from the pack of also-rans. Nash Bridges, for me, is one of those shows.
I miss Nash. Don Johnson really cut a different kind of cop in this character. Of course he was unbelievble. He was just too good at what he did. But there was a panache, a kind of chutzpah that I liked in the character.
No one on the small screen comes…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on May 7, 2009 at 12:38am —
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Somewhere a little birdy told me they're in the middle of production for the fourth Bourne movie. A movie this time not based off a book. Ooooh! Can't wait for that one! I love Bourne! In both the books and the movies!
Action movies are hard to make correctly. Simply throwing one more car chase or fake explosion onto the screen doesn't really satisfy me. But
controlled violence that has a purpose behind it is far more fascinating! So far the Bourne movies have delivered. We'll…
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Added by B.R.Stateham on May 5, 2009 at 5:07am —
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