Steven Tyler's Blog, page 3

Amateur Detective Luna Susan George of “One Little Lie” interviews her creator Steven Tyler

Susan: You’re not the singer Steven Tyler, are you?

Tyler: (Laugh). No. But I did meet him once at a restaurant in Los Angeles. I was writing at one of the patio tables and he asked me what I was working on. He’s a nice guy.

Susan: Please tell the readers how you came about creating me.

Tyler: I wrote a dozen screenplays before switching to the long form novel. All the protagonists in my literary works are women. The macho, macho man persona doesn’t fit my personality. Thus, I have found writing women lead characters much easier.

Susan: “One Little Lie” is about an amateur detective investigating a case involving millions of dollars in stolen art. Why art theft?

Tyler: “One little Lie” is actually my second book. “The RTT Killer” is the first. RTT is a humorous story about a serial killer. I decided to put RTT aside once it was completed before going back to do a re-write, which is presently underway. It was a desire to write a story that did not involve a murder that led me to perform research of other types of crimes. That research revealed that art theft and forgery are actually the fourth most prevalent crimes worldwide. Besides, I like art.

Susan: Would you call “One Little Lie” a cozy mystery?

Tyler: Cozies are usually defined as having an amateur detective, who lives in a small town, and there is no sex in the story. “One Little Lie” does have an amateur detective but it’s set in Los Angeles. I live in L. A., it’s a city of many wealthy people, and several museums with paintings by the Masters, and so it figured to be a good place to set the story. And there’s only a one page where you hook-up with a guy and nothing is described in detail.

Susan: My love interest in the story, Shaunessey O’Halloran, is a detective in the LAPD Art Fraud Unit. I didn’t know that the police even had a unit to deal with art crimes.

Tyler: There’s an episode of the TV show “Frazier” where Frazier is snookered into buying a piece of fake art. Frazier’s father Martin, a retired cop, tells him to call the Seattle Fine Arts Theft Unit. Frazier calls and is laughed at by the police for believing there would be such a unit. Martin has a good chuckle at his son’s naiveté. Few people may know that there is actually an art fraud unit in the LAPD.

Susan: Please tell us about some of the other characters in “One Little Lie.”

Tyler: Part of the fun in writing is creating the characters. “One Little Lie” is filled with kooky characters which makes it an enjoyable, humorous read. There’s Strom Cecil, the trust fund son of the art owner, Viola Cecil. Strom is a big and I mean big believer in Earthly visitations by outer space aliens. His trust fund sister Diamond is, well, shall we say, the elevator does not go to the top floor.

Susan: Diamond’s elevator doesn’t get off the first floor let alone go the penthouse.

Tyler: (Laugh) You said it, not me.

Susan: What about the two sixteen year old skateboarders?

Tyler: Wiggins and sidekick appear in four chapters. Originally, they were only going to appear once. Then I found a reason for you to use them a second time, two days later. To have them appear twice and then just disappear would have left the book unbalanced, so I had them re-occur in every other chapter after their initial introduction. This gave the book balance and they’re really funny, to boot.

Susan: As you said, “One Little Lie” is filled with kooky characters. Describe some of the others, please.

Tyler: Viola Cecil herself is a loon. There’s her naive personal assistant, Patricia Ashley. Two egotistical men: art dealer William Roger and veterinarian Prakash Kumar. Also, there’s the cold as ice personal manager for Mrs. Cecil, Roxanne Ray and the butler, Walter Eric, who your intuition tells you is someone who is hiding something.

Susan: How did you come up with me?

Tyler: I needed a fish-out-of-water protagonist, so I made you recently divorced, which explains why there aren’t any men in your life. New to the city of L. A., from Pittsburgh, which explains why you didn’t have any friends, and working for your older brother who is the real private-eye.

Susan: My brother Leslie Samuel George goes away on his honeymoon when I’m mistaken for being the Shamus. How did that come about?

Tyler: The Bob Hope movie “My Favorite Brunette. Hope is a baby photographer who steps into the next door office of P.I. Alan Ladd and Dorothy Lamour mistakes Hope as the detective. In “One Little Lie” Sam is away with his bride when Patricia comes into the office looking to hire a detective to find Mrs. Cecil’s missing cat. A rare breed of cat by-the-way that is worth twenty-five thousand dollars.

Susan: Sam and I both go by our middle names and have the same initials so the misunderstanding is easy to occur.

Tyler: Exactly! I then gave you a degree in Art History to explain how you were able to determine that some, but not all, of the art hanging on Mrs. Cecil’s walls is fake. That deduction leads you to investigate the phony art under the pretext of searching for the whereabouts of the missing cat.

Susan: Even the cat’s name is a joke but we’ll let the readers find that out for themselves when the read “One Little Lie.” Please tell everyone about the ending.

Tyler: I’m a film noir fan, so I used “The Thin Man” method of deduction where the detective gathers all the suspects in a room at the end of the story and one-by-one explains how each suspect had motive and opportunity to commit the crime before identifying the culprit.

Susan: Yeah, gee thanks for that. You don’t know how nervous I was having a dozen people waiting for me to tell them who was the bad guy or gal and I didn’t even know myself.

Tyler: That’s part of the fun, Susan.

Susan: Am I going to be solving other crimes of missing pets and paintings?

Tyler: Not at this time although you will appear in my third book, which is partially completed.

Susan: What’s that book about?

Tyler: It’s the story of a ghostwriter who meets a real ghost.

Susan: Ghosts! Please no, I’m afraid of ghosts.

Tyler: “Searching for My Soul” will be a different undertaking for me as it dispenses with the humor my works usually provide, although there are funny moments, and concentrates on injustices that have occurred to those who are now deceased. It’s Gothic Horror at its finest.

Susan: How did you come to name this book “One Little Lie?”

Tyler: It’s your “One Little Lie” of pretending to be the private detective that gets you into all the trouble.

Susan: Where can our readers find out more about “One Little Lie?”

Tyler: There’s the book Website: www.OneLittlelie.com where they can read the first two chapters for free and order the book directly so they can find out how you get yourself out of the mess you created.

Susan: You mean the mess you created for me. Is there anything you’d like to ask of our readers?

Tyler: Yes, thank you. Please read the book and provide positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I need to increase my book sales to pay for the cost of independently publishing “One Little Lie” and the my forthcoming projects. I am sure everyone will enjoy One Little Lie. Readers can also contact me at Belittlement

Susan: Thank you for your time.

Tyler: No, thank you, Susan. One Little Lie is the best thing I have written and everyone who has read it shares how much they liked it. You made it all possible, Susan.

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Interviewing Myself

One web site that I approached to review my book, “One Little Lie”, said that they were too busy to perform a review but they did offer to have me post an announcement blurb on their webpage. Omnimystery News suggested different types of approaches for the blurb and I selected one which I thought would be fun. This technique is to have one of the characters of the book interview me, the author, regarding the creation of “One Little Lie.” Naturally, I selected the protagonist, Luna Susan George, as my interviewer.

It was fun to have this mythical person ask me questions regarding the creation of “One Little Lie” but it was also spooky. I felt uneasy. It took me a while to figure out what I was feeling and the best way to describe it is to say that I felt a little like Dr. Frankenstein. I had assembled a creature. My creation taken from bits and pieces of this and that.

I used the Bob Hope movie “My Favorite Brunette” as the vehicle to set the wheels in motion. The technique applied from that movie is for the protagonist to be mistaken as the private detective because he/she is standing in the detective’s office, when the P. I. is out of town, and a woman wonders in seeking a Shamus.

The ending was right out of The Thin Man series of movies. My Shamus gathers all the suspects into one room and goes down the line, one-by-one detailing how each of the suspects had motive and opportunity to commit the crime before disclosing to all who is the guilty culprit.

I won’t be crass and say that it felt like God when Susan asked me, “Will I be returning in any other adventures?” What I felt was sadness. Sad because I’m not intending any further Luna Susan George mysteries at the moment. It felt like speaking with a person who wasn’t going to exist any more. Sort of like saying goodbye to an astronaut about to leave on a mission to explore the universe never to return.

Susan will be back as a minor character in my third book, “Searching for my Soul.” She reacted hesitantly when I told her that, that story was about ghosts. I guess Susan’s not a big fan of phantasms. I guess–I don’t know–because characters you create take on their own lives sort of like the Monster Dr. Frankenstein created.

They say characters in books live on forever. I hope so. Susan’s a nice person and it’s sad to think she would cease to be because I have other stories to write. That would be a ghostly tale of its own.

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Book review of “Murder Wears a Tee-Shirt”

“Murder Wears a Tee-Shirt” by Christy FiField.

It is good that murder is clothed. We wouldn’t want to see a naked murder, now would we?

Murder may adorn itself with many disguises, yet sometimes it’s blatantly obvious. “Murder Most Foul” is a crime solved by everyone from twelve year-old Flavia De Luce to the octogenarian Ms. Marple. Christy Fifield’s sleuth is neither a British adolescent nor English Dame. Glory Martine is a Floridian with a novelty shop and a parrot who, like the ghost in Hamlet, recites quotes that spew of past dirty deeds.

There’s the usual assortment of supporting characters: the gal-pal; a divorced, sexy, reporter; two gay, male friends who own their own antique store; and the mysterious male hunk who moves to town and opens a book store across the street from Glory’s shop.

In “Murder Wears a Tee-Shirt” the local high school football hero dies in a car crash, but Glory’s parrot, a reincarnation of her long dead uncle, lets her know that the crash is really “Murder Most Foul.” Investigation ensues, the murder is solved, and the secret behind the past of mister gorgeous across the street is left dangling for subsequent installments, as is the reason for Uncle Louis’ return from “The Great Blue Yonder.”

This cozy is a quick, fun read where a clue to the solving of the crime is in plain sight. After all, “Murder Wears a Tee-Shirt.” Read the book and you’ll understand.

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Renaming The RTT Killer

A book title is important for attracting readers. “The RTT Killer” doesn’t sound like a title that will motivate a potential, enthusiastic book grabber to rip a paperback copy from the shelf. It doesn’t communicate to reader what is the story between the covers, but how do you express in three or four words that the novel is a humorous tale about a serial killer? Let’s try out a few alternative titles:

“What would you do if one of your three ex-boyfriends was a serial killer? Bridget Jones never had a problem like this.” Not too bad but a little long.

How about:

“Sixteen murder victims and not one of them was my ex mother-in-law.” Sounds like a title that might attract men rather than women. Probably not a good idea since the protagonist is a female cop who has never been married.

There’s also:

“One cop, two computer nerds, and three suspected serial killers, what is a girl to do?” I kind of like that one!

Maybe I should run some kind of contest and give away a signed copy of the book in exchange for suggestions of a new title.

Here’s a synopsis of “The RTT Killer.” Tell me what you think the title should be.

L. A. P. D. Homicide Detective Katelyn Selma Blair has a little problem. Everyone who has ever made a pass at her is being murdered. The prime suspects are her three ex-boyfriends: the paramedic, the assistant district attorney, and the reporter. Things only get worse when two geeky guys show up with a nutty idea and a crazy device that just might work to catch the killer. The end is like something out of a movie with the heroine in danger and help galloping to her rescue. Will she survive? Who is the culprit? Who would have ever thought that a story about a serial killer thriller could be so funny?

See more at: http://www.onelittlelie.com/

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The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

I like to read mysteries that take place during the Edwardian era. It’s a time free of cell phones, computers, and all the forensic sciences. The Interpretation of Murder deals with the science of psychoanalysis as part, but not whole, in the solving of a murder set in 1909 New York.

Doctor Stratham Younger escorts doctors Freud and Jung, who have come to America for a series of speeches, around New York. The three discuss and debate the Oedipus Complex while Dr. Younger assists the New York City Police with investigating two recent attacks on young women, one of which has resulted in a death. It’s an interesting idea and why I was attracted to this novel.

My grade of Mr. Rubdenfeld’s, A Yale Law Professor, The Interpretation of Murder is an “A” for effort, “B” for historical accuracy and content, and “C” for characters and story. The C grade comes the main character, Dr. Younger, and the police detective, Jimmy Littlemore, the character I liked the most, both falling in love with their female interest at first sight. One person falling at first glance I could accept.; two is one too many.

Detective Littlemore’s gal-pal is a hotel maid of Italian ancestry named Betty. Now I’m from New York and I don’t remember meeting any Italian women named Betty. This seventeen year-old woman who has to support her mother and three younger brothers speaks perfectly structured English and knows what is a deposition, remember it’s 1909, there’s no Law and Order on TV. Ah, sorry, she’s a little to savvy for a lower class domestic of the Edwardian epoch.

Littlemore has a sense of humor, which makes him enjoyable to read. Younger’s instant falling in love with Nora, one of the victims, made me like him less. I think Olé Doc Younger needs to spend less time figuring out other peoples’ issues and more time on the couch with Sigmund or Carl if he’s going to fall gaa-gaa for a seventeen year-old at the first “Hello.”

The C for story structure is derived from Rubenfeld’s attempt to build suspense by creating actions but not telling the reader who is acting out the act. Rubenfeld uses devices like, “The man got out of the cab.” Rather than saying, Hugel, Thaw, or Banwell got out of the cab. The non-disclosure of which of the “suspects” is causing the action reads like, “well I don’t know how to write this better, so I’m just going to try and make it mysterious.” Sorry, professor, it didn’t work.

The “B” grade is warranted because the historical facts were interesting, as were the feud between Freud and Jung. I’ll give almost anyone an “A” grade for effort so long as the end product is decent.

Don’t quit your day job professor Rubenfeld, The Interpretation of Murder is like a dream you forget as soon as you awake in the morning.

Steven Tyler

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Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was this past weekend and I had two signing sessions at two different booths. One of the booths was for Sisters in Crime and the other was for the Mystery Ink Bookstore. Unfortunately, no books were sold.

Supposedly, 140,000 people were expected to attend the two day event. One of the other writers thought that attendance was down from previous years. There were booths of many different varieties not related to books. State Farm Insurance had a booth, as did Korean Airline. One of the booths was for the stoppage of Malaria. I didn’t know Los Angeles had a malaria problem.

The Festival also had bands performing and poetry readings. I hypothesized that the attendees were there for other attractions rather than to find new books of which to read but other members in the booths disagreed. Whatever the reason, there were no sales, so I took my books and went home.

Hey, maybe I should stand at a freeway exist and hawk by novel. It work for the guys selling the flowers.

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Goodbye Columbus

My second book, “The RTT Killer”, is a funny tale about a serial killer.

A visitor to my writing critique group suggested reading “Goodbye Columbus” because he said it was the funniest book he has ever read. This visitor also said that the scripts for the TV show Barney Miller were no funny on the page but made humorous by the actors’ talent.

I am afraid that this visitor, who has not returned, is still living in the ’60s and ’70s. “Goodbye Columbus” is obviously a dated work. What was appealing in the 1960’s is today tripe. The story and the characters became more and more unappealing with the turn of every page.

Some people may say that you have to appreciate Jewish humor to find it pleasing. Mel Brooks said, “Think Yiddish, write British.” Sorry Mr. Roth “Goodbye Columbus” is totally unappealing dreck.

Mazel tov

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The RTT Killer Re-write

I am working daily on the re-write of The RTT Killer. RTT stands for Retinal Terminus Theory. It was a nineteenth century hypothesis that if you put a camera to the eye of a deceased and took a photo, a picture would appear of the last image the ceased saw.

The theory turned out to not to work but that was the nineteenth century. We live in the twenty-first century now and technology has changed. Will the RTT hypothesis now work? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

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The RTT Killer (Coming 2015)

The RTT Killer

by Steven Tyler

(No, not that Steven Tyler)

L. A. P. D. homicide detective Katelyn Selma Blair has a problem. Everyone who has ever made a pass at her is being murdered. The prime suspects are her three ex-boyfriends: the paramedic, the assistant district attorney, and the reporter. Things only get worse when two geeky guys show up with a nutty idea and a crazy device that just might work to catch the killer. The end is like something out of a movie with the heroine in danger and help galloping to her rescue. Will she survive? Who is the culprit? Who would have ever though that a Serial Killer thriller could be so funny?

 

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Marketing vs. Sales

I was listening to a Podcast where the guest was speaking about the difference between marketing versus sales when it came to an author promoting his book. This guest interviewee is a person who has written books and has given lectures pertaining to book promotion.

My problem with what this guest speaker was saying was that everything he said I learned in my Marketing 101 class in college. The impression I received from listening to him was that he was very good at promoting himself but the only person who would make any money from listening to what he said would be himself, from his book sales and lecture fees.

It is odd that a writer will spend a lot of time not writing. A writer will come up with excuses why not to write. He’ll say to himself that I have to clean the house or watch This Old House of TV rather than write. I used to think that it was the fear of failure, fear of success syndrome. There is the thought that writing is hard and watching TV is easy. Truthfully, I don’t know what the real reason is why a writer won’t write. But then again, I writing this so what do I know.

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