Ed Teja's Blog, page 9

Keeping on keeping on

I promise myself that I will blog more often, and naturally, I don't. I get immersed in doing the writing instead of writing about the writing. That's okay, though, as life tends to have quite enough documentation already. Besides, information overload is a clear and present danger in our culture.

The truth is I've been working. Writing every day. I finished a couple of short stories (IMITATING ART and A MEXICAN DIVORCE) and the first draft of the second Martin Billings novel. This one is called DEATH BENEFITS. Like the first story, this takes place in Venezuela, along the north coast, ranging from Puerto La Cruz to Cumana.


I've sent the manuscript to Tony Held for editing and while he does his work, I am brainstorming the third one.

I've spent a bit of time researching cover designers as well. I'd like to find a consistent look for the series. I was rather happy with my own cover for the first book, UNDER LOW SKIES but I'm sure I can find something better, working with a professional designer.

It also leaves me more time for writing. As usual, I have far too many projects in the pipeline.

If things go well, you can expect to see DEATH BENEFITS out mid May.

A taste of Traveling Ed's crime fiction

Here is a great chance to get acquainted with my new fiction at no risk. The ebook of my crime short story A Mexican Divorce will be free on Amazon from March 30, 2014 to April 3, 2014.

Here is the blurb:

How is a girl supposed to have fun on vacation when blackmailers are going to try and make her pay them for pictures of it all? And what will Bart say if he finds out? Of course she can't little thing like a greedy blackmailer ruin a perfectly good setup.  

 

An Asian story

Friends and fellow travelers have asked when I'd get around to writing a story from the years living in Asia. I did do a story of a sailor in Hong Kong, called Chancy. That one I wrote with John Pocock and it included wonderful photos by my good friend and former colleague in HK, Tom Tsui. It wasn't really about Asia, though, even though it took place there.

Now I've released a short story (99 cents for an introductory period that is as yet indeterminate) called Imitating Art. This one combines my observations of expats in SE Asia with an experience from my time in the Caribbean. (The cover photo is one I took in Thailand). If you look at the description, I billed it as a crime story, as it is, in a way. I am terrible when it comes to fitting into genre, just as I haven't ever fit well in social niches, and this is really a story about a writer, an expat, in Asia. The crimes (and it refers to more than one) are not really the issue. The title suggests the connection between the crimes and the story.

I am quite happy with this story, and would like to do more along this line, combining my interest in mysteries with explorations of Asia. It's only up on Amazon as an ebook now but it interests readers, then I'll be doing more of these.

Hemingway wrote that you need distance from a place you've been before you could write about it honestly, and I'm just beginning to understand what he meant. I am still writing stories of the Caribbean and, in some rather interesting ways, the place and people are clearer to me than it was when I lived there.  That is just starting to happen with Asia.

To help keep my other stories in front of people and hope they find more readers, I've lowered the price on the ebooks for my Venezuelan murder mystere (book one in the Martin Billings stories, as it is turning out) UNDER LOW SKIES to $3.99 and THE LEGEND OF RON ANEJO (the story of the world's best Caribbean boat bum) and FLOAT STREET NOTES to $2.99. The new prices will be reflected at Amazon and Smashwords later today and ripple through to the other outlets over time (I don't control that).

New story and a reminder

I've put a new crime short story up on Amazon, called  A Mexican Divorce. This was a fun story to write and involves Mexico only tangentially, but it does involve it. It is a story about a woman who doesn't see wedlock the same as some do, and perhaps sees the world a little different too. At any rate, it asks the question, what happens when you try to blackmail someone who doesn't play by the rules?

The story won't be available anywhere but Amazon for a time. Eventually I will collect some of the crime and mystery stories (there is no mystery in this one) into an anthology and probably make it available in both print and ebook formats.

I also want to remind you that UNDER LOW SKIES is on available in ebook format from Amazon for only $2.99 from today through the end of the month. My birthday present to you.

Where as well as when

The other day Dagny and I were talking about places we haven't lived, where it might be fun to live. There are fewer now than their used to be, largely because some places have fallen off the desirable list. I sometimes feel that McDonalds and I live in mutually exclusive worlds. Globalization is making problems for folks like us who like to drift about. Information begets more information and governments are best at increasing and complicating paperwork for doing anything. And then, places have changed since we last visited (had it really been twenty odd years since we were in Bali?) and the way the place is now is often quite different. The current edition of the place often gives romantic tinges to the memories. Although it brings advantages, globalization is also homogenizing things in ways that I find unpleasant.

What we realized is that it isn't just the place, but the time that matters. For instance. Dagny lived in Kenya a long time ago. The climate sounds perfect. She liked it. Current reports (both in the media and from people who visit Africa) make it sound less than ideal at the moment. Not that the country suddenly became a bad place, but because it is caught up in the swirl of chaotic stuff that I find uninteresting when I am feeling kindly and unpleasant when I am feeling more critical. Perhaps it is (currently) a great place to visit, but not one I would go to live (a notion subject to change). And sometimes I think of Paris. But when I see pictures of modern day Paris, I realize I am thinking of Paris in the 30s (I was there briefly in the late 50s and that would do). Not quite the same place.

I suppose this is all inevitable and I am not railing a particular place or against the forces of entropy and change. No, I am being nostalgic for places and ways of living that don't exist any longer and made unhappy by people thinking that if they have the same stores and silly crap the rest of the world has they will somehow be happy when it is quite clear that the folks who already have them are far from happy. A nice beach is pleasant. A nice beach with a guest house is fine. Add a high rise and it becomes unpleasant. Add a few boutiques and why is it different than Hawaii?

Technology is a fuel of this shift. High-tech communications and travel give people the wants. Now let me confess that although I am not a Luddite, recently I feel Ned Ludd gaining ground on me. His hot breath is on the back of my neck.

Take a look around me. Well, since you can't, I'll tell you that I have no smart phone, no tablet computer. I don't think I need them. So far, I don't want them. If I had a tablet, then it would likely be my everything computer, as this laptop is now (it replaced my desktop, so I adopt, albeit at a pace that allows glaciers to whiz by me).

I used to, when young, often feel out of place. I have lived in many, many places, giving me a lot of places to feel out of. Now I feel more out of time. Perhaps that is inevitable. Perhaps it can be cured. But the places I want to go are increasingly rooted back in time a bit (sometimes more than a bit).  Maybe if I stand still long enough, I can write contemporary novels and label them historical and thus find my niche. So you see, there is a silver lining to all this change.
(Thailand, without riots.)

Goals and intentions

I have a planning allergy. Even the word gives me chills. Plans are elaborate creatures that tend to go wrong when they go at all. I am far more comfortable with goals and intentions. They seem to incur less wrath of The Powers That Be. Maybe because they are less arrogant.

That's how I see things anyway.

In line with that, my current intentions are focused on mysteries. I have written them before and want to write more. Beyond that, my intention (goal) is to absorb them as I have in the past--read other writers by the ton, both contemporary and those in the pantheon. Not that I haven't been reading mysteries, but I have read them on a causal basis, as one came to hand. But down at the library yesterday (for you younger people, that is a building that is full of books without having quite enough books in it) I was noting the size of the mystery section. I knew mysteries were popular, but it looked out of proportion. Given that librarians treasure the space available I am sure that is just my perception.

As a mystery lover, it makes sense to focus on them for a time. Reading them intensely, while writing more of my own, can't hurt. So yesterday, at that archaic building I still visit, I picked up Dorthy Sayers' Whose Body?, Georges Simenon's Maigret Bides His Time and Mickey Spillane's Black Alley and brought them home to devour.

I don't think I've set myself a difficult or onerous task.

Birthdays and Mysteries

When I lived in Venezuela I found a charming cultural difference regarding birthdays. I am not a big fan of having people throw parties for me and I am terrible at picking presents for other people. When we were invited to the birthday party of our dear friend Jose Marrero I was delighted to learn that the custom there was for the person having the birthday to invite friends to a dinner that they put on for them. Given that Jose and his lovely wife Hilda ran El Mochimero, which was the best restaurant in the country (okay I admit to a slight bias) you'll understand what a treat that was. We all had a great time.

It seems an appropriate custom to me, to celebrate another year by offering something to friends and supporters. This month is my birthday and I although can't invite everyone I'd like to over for dinner (most of you live a bit far away and the house isn't all that big), but I can offer something of value to me... one of my books. Again, with an eye on appropriateness, between February 22 and 28th I am reducing the price of my novel UNDER LOW SKIES (the cover is just to the right). The novel is a murder mystery/suspense novel based in Venezuela (mostly in Cumana and Mochima). It will be available on Amazon in ebook form for $2.99 (normally $5.99). I also have some limited copies of the paperback available. The list price is $14.99 (Amazon discounts it to $13.49) but during that week I will be happy to sell you an autographed copy for $7.99. You can order a copy by emailing me with a mailing address at edteja at gmail dotcom and I will send a paypal invoice. You can actually order them now if you want, and I will send them out that week.  For that matter if you want to order the ebook from me in any format at all, you can do it the same way. Send an email, I send a paypal invoice and off it goes.

Clay McKenzie

Although writing moves on, THE LEGEND OF CLAY MCKENZIE slowly gains traction. We've gotten some wonderful reviews (thank you reviewers) and good reader feedback. So I keep looking for ways to promote it, to let more people know.

Part of the interest in the book is in the character of Stephanie Masters, a young editor who takes a risk to make certain a great book (in her opinion) gets published despite all odds. Her interest isn't entirely altruistic and she is hoping to make her mark in the industry. Taking the gamble, what it does for her and to her, is a core theme. She goes about it knowingly and here is a quote from the book, a thought she has when she irrevocably makes her decision.

When a writer is a publisher

It's become commonplace to take the view that publishing is in chaos and that change is the only constant. Although those statements are repeated endlessly and possibly even true, I wish I would stop hearing them. My concern is that these statements confuse writers--make them think that writing is in chaos, that they need to keep a weather eye on the changes. It isn't and they don't.

Okay, the publishing business is certainly changing fast and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. How books will be sold and even what constitutes a book is up in the air. But for writers the world, the job hasn't changed at all. Being a successful writer still means writing stories people want to read. So the job is to find a story you are passionate about and tell it well. Then do the next one.

As a reader I don't want my favorite writers wasting time worrying about what ebook format or e-reader will dominate, whether their books will be read on cell phones or tablet computers, or worse yet, if the demise of the print book is real, immediate, a gradual trend, or total bullshit.I want them writing stories, thinking about storytelling. And writers have enough distractions as life is. They have enough ways to keep from writing without spending hours and days on forums bemoaning or cheering (as their belief set dictates) the changes or even lack of change in the world of publishing.

Mickey Spillaine once told a story about dealing with writer's block. With no ideas of what to write, he went to Florida for an extended vacation. He was bored. One day his accountant called and told him that his income wasn't keeping up with his outgo. The situation wasn't critical; he had money in the bank, but he needed to pay a little attention--generate some income.

Almost instantly, he said, he had several good ideas for stories. Not for ebooks, mind you. Not paperbacks. Not hardcover books. Just stories that he wanted to write.

When I hear (or read) the thoughts of many writers, however, they seem to focus on the ins and outs of publishing; they talk about distribution channels; the ups and downs of various outlets (say of Barnes & Noble) are the stuff of their day. Not stories. When money is tight, instead of it generating story ideas, that concern seems to produce thoughts (some rather desperate) about ebook pricing, how to market on social media better, and perhaps concerns about the work of their current cover artist. While the business of writing certainly means understanding, addressing and dealing with all of those things (and a lot more), if they become the primary focus, the writer becomes more publisher than writer. The person produces business and marketing strategies instead of novels. They become more business person than artist or communicator. To be your own publisher (self, indie...fixate on the terminology if you enjoy the exercise) does require finding a balance that Mickey Spillaine didn't worry about. (But rest assured that he had other balancing acts to deal with.)

Of course a person's focus is their choice, but if they are a writer I enjoy it can be a loss. My loss. And let's be honest here. I am taking the viewpoint of the reader here. If my favorite writers are spending too much time on publishing and not writing, I lose out.

Hey, that gives me an idea for a story. See, a writer has finished his book and.... No, sorry, we won't talk about it until it is done.

Albuquerque Book Signing

On Friday (Jan 3rd) I loaded up the car with books and stuff and made the drive up to Albuquerque, NM for a book signing for The Invention of Clay McKenzie at BOOKWORKS on Saturday. This is a store that does good promotion of its events. I was pleased to see the marque promoted my appearance. My cowriter, Jim Beckett was supposed to go along, but got sick and had to cancel out. So the event coordinator made adjustments accordingly, as you can see.


The staff were wonderful. Ollie hosts the events and spends time getting to know the writers and their books. He asked some questions and was well prepared.


Unfortunately, the timing wasn't the best. Jimmy Santiago Baca is a popular local poet and he was on after I was, and people were coming to see him. In addition, this event was right after the Christmas season when money for luxuries is thinner than at other times. So attendance was thin and it wasn't great from a financial point of view. The store took several books on consignment and it still might pan out, plus it was good to meet people who love books.

By the way, if you are an ebook reader, my books are in the Amazon Matchbook program, which means if you buy the paperback, or have bought it already, you can get the Kindle version for free!!