Leopold Borstinski's Blog, page 5

So what do you think?

I mentioned my threat last week, but now is finally the time for me to ask you to spend a few minutes of your time to complete my annual reader survey. Just go to the survey and be honest.

There are only a handful of questions and your answers will shape what I do in the future. I’ll keep it open for a week so you can let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance

Leo

PS The link again is https://www.leopoldborstinski.com/survey/f184829f-9838-4415-b4ee-842995d64f18/

Happy New Year

Well, another twelve months has gone by and I speak for many us when I say: good riddance.

Not that there hasn’t been any highlights, but across the world there have been too many moments of sadness, if not outright despair. To this who have lost family and friends – and those lucky enough not to have – I wish you all a healthy, happy and successful 2022.

From my point of view, I have been one of the lucky ones. Although two friends are extremely ill at present, Covid is not the cause of either situation. I hope they both survive.

In terms of writing? The Alex Cohen series has gone from strength to strength. Thank you to everyone and anyone who has been kind enough to buy a copy of one of the books. The final book, The Mensch is due out this Spring and I am about halfway through the first draft.

Several months ago, I threatened you with an end of year survey and I haven’t forgotten about it, but I have decided to wait until January to send it out.

The other thing I want to mention is that there is a very strong chance that in a month, I will go exclusively with Amazon for the Alex Cohen novels. At that point, the only place to buy any of those ebooks will be on Amazon. This means they won’t even be available on my website. So if you are a Kobo, Apple or B&N reader then please do grab any of those books, literally before they go. Paperbacks and hardbacks will remain available from all the usual retailers and my site. I’ll make more information available once I have the details to share. The reason I am considering this? I want to see if going into Kindle Unlimited improves my sales and the books must be exclusive for them to be included.

Enjoy.

Leo

I love and don’t love technology

I use a mix of a laptop and an iPad to write and edit my novels. There is also an iPhone in my pocket most of my waking day. You would be right in thinking that I am not just comfortable with technology; I love it too.

But there is one place where I draw the line on all this tech, and that is in my writing. You see, one of the joys of writing crime novels is that the cops don’t have to get their guy. In the 1930s, US law enforcement first used fingerprints to identify criminals using unseen evidence left at the scene of a crime, It was a mob hit by Murder Inc. but I won’t go into details in case I use it in a future story. By the 1980s, DNA evidence was available to help the bad guy get convicted.

And that is what I don’t like. The heart of the pleasure I get from crime novels is the frisson of excitement at the thought that the bad fella will walk clean away. Knowing that a few flakes of skin can convict the dude ruins it for me. So I don’t write in the modern era and if it is important, my characters wear gloves. The 1930s to 1950s were a golden era of criminality as far as I am concerned. To be clear, I am talking about fictional crime: none of the acts of barbarity that my people perform should be enveloped in the warm glow of romanticism. I like my cold heartless killers to be cold and heartless.

One of the reasons the Italian and Jewish mobs began to lose their influence in the 1970s was due to changes in US laws, but also the improved technology employed by the Feds. That is one of the reasons that the Alex Cohen series will end by 1975. I don’t want some gumshoe with a magnifying glass giving Alex what he deserves. That’s my job.

Thrilling opportunity

And now for a Crime Thriller collection of novels for you to get your hands on.

This is a set of free books for you to download, as many as you want. So if you enjoy thrilling tales of criminal activity, and I think you might well quite like those kinds of stories, then head over and fill your boots.

Enjoy.

Leo

What the Deuce?

I appreciate this happened quite a while ago, but I was reminded of the excellent David Simons TV series, The Deuce this week. Why? The show follows a group of New York men and women in the throes of creating the modern porn film industry.

This ties in with Alex Cohen’s business activity in The Mensch, the final book in the series, although Alex is based further south. In fact, in the early Seventies, there was a push across the country, focused around the major cities, as adult entertainment moved from flickering images shown in private homes and the breakthrough when certain cinemas were prepared to let the projectors whirl.

As the TV show amply shows, the cause of the expansion was the increase in investment  in the distribution side of the business. And who wanted to pump the money into the business? The mob, of course.

Hello Books

And now an opportunity to grab yourself some low-cost or free books to read at Hello Books.

This is a relatively new reader service launched earlier this year by acclaimed thriller writer Mark Dawson. Each week you will be sent an email with a handful of titles that are free or 0.99 in the Amazon US or UK stores in genres you are interested in. Why do I mention this? Because Bowery Slugger is discounted this weekend and is being covered by Hello Books.

Fill your boots.

Leo

Personalized books

I thought I’d try something a little bit different and offer something unique on my website.

For any book in the Alex Cohen series, if you buy a paperback or hardback direct from me then for a small extra fee, I will write an inscription or message to you in the book. And if you buy a Kindle or eBook from the website then I will make a one-off electronic novel for you with your inscription inside too.

Now, I’ve come across writers signing physical books and adding messages, but I haven’t come across anyone doing that with an ebook. If someone has got there before me, then that’s great. And if not, then woohoo.

Either way, pop over to www.leopoldborstinski.com and pick yourself up a personalised book.

Leo

The Many Saints of Newark

While the Hollywood Bilker blog tour carries on apace, I thought I’d mention that I went to see The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark last week.

If you hadn’t seen the original TV series, I’d be surprised if you were in the cinema and if you did find yourself in the theatre, I’m guessing you’d spend the time experiencing a complex mix of emotions: what on earth is going on and why are there so many characters to figure out in such a short space of time etc.

But if you have watched the show, then it is a great romp through Tony’s formative years and a wonderful evocation of a bygone New Jersey mafia world. And on that basis, I’d recommend it.

What do you think?

Blog tour starts soon

Just a quick note to let you know that the Hollywood Bilker blog tour starts on October 13 and runs for 10 days, so if you so-minded, do pop over to one of the stops and find out what people think of the new novel.

And, of course, it is on sale now at all the usual ebook sales platforms. The paperback version should be out in November, I hope.

Enjoy!

Leo

October book collection

This Fall, why don’t you check out a fine selection of mysteries available on sale as we speak. All you have to do is head over to the page and grab yourself some top thrilling action.

Fill your boots.

Leo