E.Michael Helms's Blog: Michael's Musings, page 4

FINAL DAY for RONE AWARDS!

FINAL DAY! - RONE Awards Nomination/Best Mystery - ‪#‎DeadlyRuse‬ Register/vote: http://www.indtale.com/2015-rone-awar...
VOTING ENDS TODAY!

(My heartfelt thanks to all of you who took the time and trouble to vote for "Deadly Ruse." I am truly blessed and humbled. With friends and supporters like you, I'm already a winner!)

FINAL DAY for RONE AWARDS!

FINAL DAY! - RONE Awards Nomination/Best Mystery - ‪#‎DeadlyRuse‬ Register/vote: http://www.indtale.com/2015-rone-awar...
VOTING ENDS TODAY!

(My heartfelt thanks to all of you who took the time and trouble to vote for "Deadly Ruse." I am truly blessed and humbled. With friends and supporters like you, I'm already a winner!)

* * *RONE AWARDS NOMINATION* * *

I have a HUGE favor to ask of you. I just learned that "Deadly Ruse: A Mac McClellan Mystery," has been nominated for In'Dtale Magazine's 2015 RONE Awards in the Mystery category. This first round is determined by reader votes (yes, more or less a popularity contest). Books receiving the most fan votes will advance to the next round which will be decided by a panel of independent judges. Here is the URL:

http://www.indtale.com/2015-rone-awards

Now it gets a bit complicated. Voters must create an account to vote (very simple to do, and free). Once you register, In'Dtale will send you 3 e-mails (quickly). The first is Account details with a confirmation link that must be clicked on, the second is a welcome message, and the third is another Account details -- this one with the link for voting. The category is Mystery (under Week Six voting). Voting runs from May 18-24.

I know you're all very busy, but if you could possibly do this for me, it will be greatly appreciated. Also, if you would spread the word to any friends/contacts you have, that would be great.
I know it's a lot to ask, but winning could mean a big boost to the Mac McClellan Mystery series, especially with the new publisher taking over.

Thank you all very much!

--Michael

Interview & GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY!

An autographed copy of the first two Mac McClellan Mysteries, DEADLY CATCH & DEADLY RUSE.

Details and enter here:

http://purejonel.blogspot.com/2015/05...… … …

CHANCE TO WIN $$$

"HELP! I need somebody. HELP! Not just anybody. H-E-L-P!!!
--The Beatles

Okay, now that I hopefully have your attention: Stairway Press, publisher of my autobiographical novel, THE PRIVATE WAR OF CORPORAL HENSON, is holding an in-house contest for its authors this month. The winner in sales for the month wins a CASH prize (undetermined amount, but hey, money is money!).
THE PRIVATE WAR OF CORPORAL HENSON (Kindle ebook version) is on sale throughout April for .99 cents! That's a great price for a (ahem) great book! Here's the deal: IF I win, YOU win! Anyone who buys a copy from Amazon.com this month and writes me at: emichaelhelms63@yahoo.com will have a chance to win whatever prize money I win! Yes, that's right, I'll hold a fair drawing of the entrants and the winner will take home whatever prize money I'm awarded IF I win the contest. Even if you have the book, hey, .99 cents isn't a bad investment to possibly win much, much more. And you can even "gift" the book to someone with a birthday or whatever coming up. So, hit the link below, order the book, and make us BOTH possible winners! Thanks so much!

http://www.amazon.com/Private-War-Cor...

I just signed with CAMEL PRESS!

I just signed a deal with Camel Press to publish the next FOUR books in my Mac McClellan Mystery series!

Camel Press is a small house but well-respected in the publishing industry. Here's the info from their "About" page:

Your Source for Books Guaranteed to Deliver Thrills and Chills of Every Description

Camel Press is the genre imprint of Coffeetown Enterprises, Inc. located in Seattle, Washington. (Coffeetown Press publishes memoir, nonfiction, some literary mysteries, and literary fiction). Camel Press is a feisty little publisher with a mission: to be your trusted purveyor of popular literature—the stuff that makes you lie in the sun too long and read in bed until the cock crows, the urban chickens start clucking, or your neighbor leaves for her 6 am shift. We snap up the good stuff that slips by the big guys, the publishers who are too worried about photogenic authors and the bottom line to care what’s between the pages.

Camel Press is going to transport you out of the desert of boredom into an oasis of imaginary worlds. Onto other planets, into love nests, inside gritty police precincts, adrift in exotic seas. Any place your imagination can take you—the more fantastic, the better.

In more practical terms, Camel Press publishes genre fiction: romance, mystery/suspense, science fiction, fantasy and horror. We publish the books that grab you and hold you in their grip long into the night.

Camel Press’ books are available in trade paperback and just about any eBook format you can imagine.

CAMEL PRESS is an approved publisher of ….

Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

International Thriller Writers (ITW)

Romance Writers of America (RWA)


Camel has some well-respected names in their stable of authors, and I'm proud to be among them!

Visit their website and take a look -- you'll be glad you did!

www.camelpress.com

GREAT GIVEAWAY IN PROGRESS!

Great GIVEAWAY for DEADLY CATCH & DEADLY RUSE going on now at #PureJonel -- Check it out!

http://purejonel.blogspot.ca/2015/02/... … … 

GREAT WEBSITE FOR WRITERS!

Stumbled across a GREAT website for writers. Check it out!

http://bobandjackswritingblog.com/

NEW REVIEW of THE PROUD BASTARDS

Great review of #TheProudBastards by @AbigailPfeiffer at http://www.abigailpfeiffer.com/
Please check it out! Thanks!

Book Review: The Proud Bastards: One Marine’s Journey from Parris Island through the Hell of Vietnam
by ABIGAIL PFEIFFER on FEBRUARY 5, 2015

E. Michael Helms
Have you ever had one of those bad days that everything seems to be going wrong? Maybe your car broke down, or the restaurant messed up your order, or your internet is running slow (oh the horror!). We’ve all been there. But I would take any of these problems over the type of hell soldiers go through in war.

Recently I read the Vietnam War memoir The Proud Bastards: One Marine’s Journey from Parris Island through the Hell of Vietnam written by E. Michael Helms. In this account, Helms takes the reader through his time in the Marine Corp, starting with his very first days as a Marine at Parris Island to his subsequent deployment to Vietnam in 1967. Helms gives a vivid account of what Marine recruits experience during boot camp with a sense of humor that keeps the reader engaged and entertained, especially with his humorous tales of overly strict Marine boot camp officers. An example of Helms colorful portrayal of Marine boot camp life include this gem: “This evening at chow I got caught talking in the chow line with Dan Coker, a buddy of mine from South Carolina, and now we are going to pay for it but good. It was just a quick whispered exchange about how hungry we both always are, but ol’ Eagle-ears Burns heard us. I swear, that bastard could hear a gnat fart during a tornado.” (Helms, 24) Normally I don’t find myself laughing when reading a war memoir, but in this case, Helms hit my funny bone!

After his experience at Parris Island, Helm was sent to Dong Ha and assigned to the Second Battalion, Fourth Marines – an outfit that had seen substantial combat action by the time Helms arrived. Helms, like every FNG (fucking new guy) in Vietnam, experienced a time of uncertainty upon arrival. After training with the same group of men at Parris island, he found himself knowing only one other soldier from training. As Helm’s tour continued, he became an “old salt” after several combat experiences. Helm’s does a masterful job writing about his combat experiences and making the reader feel a bit of the anxiety a soldier feels during a combat excursion. In Chapter 10, Helms writes about his experience laying an ambush: “Picked out one of the figures and waited for the gun team to blow the ambush. And waited…..and waited…..Jesus H. Christ, guys, they’re getting awfully close….shit, they’re almost on top of us now. What the hell’s the matter with you assholes? God, they must have been sleeping. Should I shoot? Better wait….better blow it now or it may be too late. God, somebody fucking do something!” (Helms, 77)

Helms' had similar experiences as other young American Vietnam vets – especially the horror of watching friends die violent combat deaths and the incompetency of the military leadership. In Chapter 20, Helm’s writes about going out on an LP (Listening Post – each night a group of soldiers leaves the perimeter and listens for any enemy activity), which needless to say, is not a desired activity by most soldiers. In this particular incident, Helms’ LP group almost mistakenly fired on another group of Marines, as the communication from leadership did not alert them to the other Marine’s presence and Helms’ group assumed they were the enemy. His anger shows through in this passage: “Somebody back at the CP is fixing to catch hell from one lowly PFC. I came that-fucking-close to blowing those bastards away, and if I had they would’ve died and maybe we all would’ve died and who the hell put two LPs in the same area? Worthless sons-of-bitching brass-fucking office pogue rear-echelon bastards can’t even get their shit together enough to keep LPs away from each other so we don’t blow our own shit away! Goddam ‘em, and their fucked up war!” (Helms 183-184)

Perhaps the most troubling part of the book is when Helm’s describes the murder of an American soldier at the hands of another American soldier. When men were sent to Vietnam, they all understood that they risked dying in Vietnam in combat. What most of them probably didn’t anticipate was death by another American. This is a testament to what can happen to men in extended combat situations and how PTSD is a condition that negatively affects our soldiers.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in a grunts view of the Vietnam War. It is a straightforward account of one man’s experience in Vietnam in 1967. The reader does not need to be well versed in military jargon in order to enjoy this memoir. While every soldier had their own unique experiences during this war, The Proud Bastards highlights a common thread from most combat memoirs: survival, the brotherhood of soldiers, the crippling fear of combat, and the intense relief to have survived the tour.

DEMYSTIFYING THE MYSTERY

What makes a good mystery? Could there be a simpler question? On the flipside, could there be a more broad-based question? Each reader has his or her tastes and opinions, as does every writer. I can’t—and won’t— presume to have THE answers. What I WILL do is share some aspects of what I believe, as a reader, makes a good mystery, and what works for me as a writer.

A good mystery is plot-driven.
Without a well-paced and intriguing plot (storyline), the mystery is dead in the water. You’ve heard it a million times, but it’s worth repeating again: you MUST pull the reader into the story, and the sooner the better. In my first Mac McClellan Mystery, DEADLY CATCH, the opening sentence sets the stage:
<< The first cast of the day turned my dream vacation into a nightmare. >> Short and sweet, but doesn’t it make you want to read more and find out why?
Had I opened with back-story, how Mac had recently retired from the Marine Corps and traveled to the Florida panhandle for a fishing vacation, you might have kept on reading for a while hoping the pace picked up. Personally, I would’ve thought, “Ho-hum.” Before the third chapter of DEADLY CATCH ends, Mac discovers a body, is suspected of murder, and warned not to leave the area by the local sheriff. Information important to back-story can be fed in by piecemeal as the story progress, but keep that plot moving! And speaking of moving, it’s the characters that drive the plot! Every scene, every action, every sentence or phrase of dialogue, MUST be used to reveal character or propel the storyline forward. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong.

In a good mystery there is no cardboard allowed!
(Okay, maybe for book covers.) The characters, especially the protagonist/hero and important secondary characters must be well-rounded and three-dimensional. Everybody has good traits. Everybody has flaws. Even Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite (and Lois Lane). Mac McClellan is a southern gentleman, a combat veteran, and has a wry sense of humor. He’s also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is bitter toward his ex-wife, and drinks too much. Kate Bell, Mac’s girlfriend and partner in solving mysteries, is independent and strong-willed; she also has a slightly shady past that she keeps hidden from Mac until it comes out in the second Mac McClellan Mystery, DEADLY RUSE.
The villain must also be a complex person. No Satans allowed! Every good (meaning bad) villain should have a redeeming quality or two. In an upcoming Mac McClellan Mystery, the villain suffered abuse as a child. Said villain (no spoilers here) is also intelligent and a great achiever. But the past often overpowers and shapes the future. Even minor characters must be minimally fleshed-out. If they are worth mentioning by name, they deserve to be more than cardboard cutouts.

In a good mystery the crime must be worthy of the story.
Meaning—almost without exception—MURDER! Even most cozies have a murder (or more) as the catalyst of the plot. Violence and bloodshed should fit the mystery’s sub-genre. Most cozies (which I enjoy, by the way) involve a murder happening “offstage.” And, in most cases, there is little blood and gore. The darker the mystery, the more ramped-up the murder and violence can be.
Also, the murder should happen fairly early in the story. It’s what draws the hero/heroine into the plot, the driving force behind his/her compulsion to dig-in and solve the mystery. In DEADLY CATCH a body is discovered in Chapter One. There are/have been exceptions, but today’s reader generally wants things upfront and happening quickly. There is way too much competition today for an author to chance dragging things out too long.

In a good mystery the killer can’t come from “out of left field.”
Nothing infuriates mystery readers more than having the killer introduced late and with little involvement in the story, only to learn that he/she is the real perpetrator of the crime. The bad guy/gal should be inserted into the plot early and often. The perp can be a “friendly” or a suspect, one of few (or several). In DEADLY CATCH Mac is acquainted with the real villain (via back-story, fed-in later) before the opening scene. Of course, Mac is unaware that he/she is the murderer. That info comes later—much later—as it should. In a good mystery, the later the killer is revealed, the better.
A couple of years ago I read a mystery by a well-known author (who shall remain nameless) where the killer turned out to be the brother of a secondary character who wasn’t an important “player” in the story. The problem is, this brother was introduced late in the storyline, with very little information revealed about him. Only near the end (after the case was wrapped) did I learn he had a very sordid past. That was a “left field villain” if I ever saw one!

In a good mystery, you’d better get your facts right!
Today’s readers are a savvy bunch. Almost nothing slips by them. If the murder victim has a big hole blown through him, the murder weapon had better not be a .22 caliber rifle or pistol. If the victim dies of poisoning, the poison used better match the dying throes a witness observes, or the autopsy results. Radio transmissions should be accurate. For example, if a cop is taking a break for coffee and doughnuts, he’d better not call in an 11-99! If the private eye is tailing a suspect in a real location, the streets and landmarks had better be correct. There is no excuse for not getting the facts straight in this day and age of computer access.

In a good mystery there are red herrings, dead ends, and clues—oh my!
Tidbits of information scattered here and there throughout the story are inherent to a good mystery. Red herrings, dead ends, and clues are key elements to get the reader involved in solving the mystery along with the protagonist.
With apologies for preaching to the choir, a red herring is simply a clue that takes the reader and/or characters in the wrong direction. Think smoke and mirrors, or in football, a misdirection play: the offensive linemen pull and block to the right side as the quarterback fakes a handoff to the running back and slips the ball to the fullback who hits the left side of the line of scrimmage. By faking a run to the right and running to the left, the offense has just handed the defense a red herring.
A dead end is simply a clue that leads nowhere, wasting the sleuth’s time. Or does it? Maybe following the false lead, only to be stymied, allows our hero to cross off a suspect, or points the finger at another possible perp, or leads in an entirely new direction that might prove invaluable as the case unfolds.
In a good mystery, when a clue actually points to the real killer, it shouldn’t be obvious. No bells and whistles allowed. Subtlety is the keyword here. Perhaps pursuing a red herring or dead end results in our hero eliminating a suspect from her list, only to realize later as things play out that “this” minor clue and “that” subtle clue were telltale signs that she’d overlooked at first.

In a good mystery the hero will face conflict, resistance, danger . . . and prevail!
There is no room in a good mystery for the hero to have a pleasant walk in the park, conveniently find and pocket clues, and waltz to the other end unopposed. There must be conflict and resistance, even from those close to the protagonist. “Yes” people are boring beyond words. The pathway through the park (the plot/story-line) must be strewn with tripwires, stumbling blocks, antagonistic characters, and danger. Without those elements, why bother? Will the reader give a hoot? I don’t think so. Above all, our hero must find herself in hot water, the hotter the better. And just when it looks like all is lost, she must use intestinal fortitude, wits, and a bit of (believable) luck to turn the tables.
After all, as Sherlock Holmes would say, it’s “Elementary.”