Alan Orloff's Blog, page 15

Bouchercon, Baby!

For those of you who don't know, the biggest mystery convention is Bouchercon. It's happening this week, in St. Louis (at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand), and I'll be there!

Here's my schedule:

Thursday, 9/15, 8:30 a.m. – Panel: Laughter of the Clowns: Comedy in crime fiction. With Gary Alexander, Allan Ansorge, Jack Fredrickson, Alan Orloff, Robin Spano. Moderated by Jerry Healy. Book signing to follow.

Friday, 9/16, 11 a.m. – 12 noon – I'll be signing ARCs of my upcoming DEADLY CAMPAIGN in the Midnight Ink booth in the book room.

Friday, 9/16, 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – I'll be taking part in the charity bowling tournament at Flamingo Bowl. Go Bowling Prose!

Saturday, 9/17, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. – Come "Meet the Author" (me) in the Midnight Ink booth in the book room.

Otherwise, you might find me hanging around in the lobby or taking up space in the bar. Come up and say hi!

King and I

When I'm asked which writers have influenced me the most, I always tick off names from a very exclusive list: Robert B. Parker, Dean Koontz, Stephen King. And of those three, I think I've spent the most time reading Stephen King. As a teenager, I devoured his stuff, eagerly looking forward to his next book even as I turned the pages of his current one. Whenever I began one of his stories, I knew I'd be taking a suspenseful—and extended—journey (he wrote some very long books!).

A short, fictional, homage:

They say you can't go home again, but I thought I'd try. Although those were misery-filled days—plagued by insomnia—I did my best to keep the desperation at bay and my rage in check. Thankfully, those were different seasons back then. Would I feel the same way now that I'd returned to the town where I'd been raised?

Just after sunset, I decided on a stroll to see how things had changed. Main Street seemed like it always had: the shining glazed doughnuts under the dome in the coffee shop window, the dead zone where my cell never worked.

I continued the long walk toward the quarry—the green mile, as it were—past the skeleton crew night shift assigned to the roadwork, past the shack where Dolores Claiborne's two daughters, Christine and Carrie still lived, to a spot across the street where the black house used to loom, with its dark tower and secret windows overlooking the stand of gnarled cypress trees. Of course, that was before the storm of the century blew through here turning the old house into a bag of bones and giving the regulators something to argue about when old Rose Madder applied for a rebuilding permit.

I sat at the edge of the quarry and stared into space, thinking about the time gone by. I must have dozed off, because later, at four past midnight, I gazed into the night sky again, and the black void was absolute: full dark, no stars. Only nightmares and dreamscapes to keep me company.

(For extra credit: How many Stephen King titles can you pick out in the above story?)

So why blog about Stephen King now? Well, I'm excited to say he's coming to town (at least my town) to speak at the Fall for the Book festival. This terrific week-long book event is held in Fairfax, VA, every fall, and it draws a ton of great writers and fans. This year, Stephen King is one of the headliners (he's being presented with the Mason Award), and I've got tickets to hear him speak on Friday, September 23 at 7:30.

But that's only half of why I'm excited.

Here's the other half: I get to be on a panel "opening" for Stephen King!

The Stephen King event is co-sponsored by MWA (he is a Grand Master, after all), and they've arranged to have a mystery writers panel (with Donna Andrews, G.M. Malliet, Marcia Talley, and me) that will precede his speech, in an adjacent auditorium (our panel begins at 5:30). No tickets are required for our event, so if you're in the area, come on by! (If you don't have tickets for the King speech, there will be a drawing for ten tickets during our panel. So if you feel lucky…)

Did I mention I was excited?

And there's one other Stephen King "connection" I'd like to note. Until now, my books have fallen into the mystery/suspense genre. I'm happy to announce that I've epubbed a horror/thriller in the Stephen King/Dean Koontz vein. Called THE TASTE, it's available for Kindle and Nook. If horror/thrillers are your cup of tea, check it out!

 

(This entry is "simul-posted" on InkSpot)

Meet Zak Allen

I'd like to introduce someone who is very (very!) near and dear to me, Zak Allen.

Zak has just epubbed his first novel. Called THE TASTE, it's a full-length horror/thriller, in the tradition of Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

Take it away, Zak!

 

 

Thank you, Alan, for letting me take over your blog today. (It's a nice blog and all, but you really should work harder to increase its readership. Maybe you should blog more frequently. And being clever would help, too. Just sayin' )

As you mentioned, I've just epubbed a novel, and I'm very proud of it. It's really a thriller with a horror premise, but it's not too gory. (Although some people might find it a bit revolting in spots.) It takes place in the hinterlands of West Virginia and it was a lot of fun to write. I hope people think it's a lot of fun to read, too!

Here's the "cover flap" description:

After his mother dies, Jake Wheeler returns to his birthplace of Dark Springs, West Virginia, seeking solace among his kin. But his family's unique comfort food includes some ingredients Jake's not sure he can stomach.

They eat dead people.

Discovering that skeleton in the pantry and adjusting to a new diet turn out to be the least of Jake's worries. Storm clouds have gathered over Dark Springs, threatening the family's peaceful existence. Ax-wielding clan patriarch Dallas Pike and his band of renegade followers have decided upon a violent plan to increase the dwindling food supply. Why wait for your next meal to die naturally if you can hunt it down instead?

With the survival of the entire clan at stake, Jake wages war against madman Pike.

He also battles an even more terrifying opponent.

Himself.

After all, Jake has THE TASTE.

 

 

THE TASTE is available for Kindle and NOOK, for only $2.99. Download a free sample today and check it out!

 

 

Thanks for coming by the blog today, Zak! And best of luck with THE TASTE! You can follow Zak on Twitter (@ZakAllenBooks) and "like"" his Facebook page. (Nice author "photo," by the way!)

We Interrupt This Blog, Part II…

…for a brief update.

In light of today's hurricane activity, I have decided I am not moving to a Caribbean island or the Outer Banks.

Too soggy.

We Interrupt This Blog…

…for a brief update.

In light of yesterday's seismic activity, I have decided I am not moving to California, or any Pacific Rim country.

Too freaky.

Bookmark Time

I've been working on the bookmark for my upcoming release, DEADLY CAMPAIGN.

A peek, front and back:

Your Turn

A glance at the calendar tells me it's summer, mid-August to be exact.

A glance at the thermometer confirms it.

Which means it's vacation time. And one of my favorite things to do on vacation is golf gamble hike eat travel sight-see read!

So I thought I'd throw the blog open today to recommendations. Now, these don't have to be "beach" reads. They can be any books you've read lately that you're really passionate about. Something that you can be an evangelist for. (To keep this from becoming a Midnight Ink-fest, let's exclude books written by MInkers.)

I'll go first.

I read a lot of books, and most of them fall in the pretty-good-to-mediocre range. But every once in a while, I'll read a gem that I really, really wish I'd written myself. One that I'll recommend to other readers without even being asked for a recommendation. One I'll even Tweet about!

One recently-read book that rocked my world was THE LOCK ARTIST by Steve Hamilton. (Of course, it's not like this was a lucky find. It won an Edgar, for goodness sake!).

Now it's your turn. What are some outstanding books you've read lately?

(This entry is "simul-posted" on InkSpot. Click over to join the fun!)

Snap, Crackle, Pop (or Story, Notes, Snips)

Another "classic" blog post to beat the summer doldrums.

When I write, I work with three basic documents.

The first document is the manuscript itself, my "Story." I begin at page one and I'm off. I usually write in linear scene order, start to finish. If I don't know something, I'll put in a line of XXXXXXX's. If I need to check on something I've written, I'll highlight the section in red or yellow. Sometimes I don't even worry about chapter breaks. I just keep my head down and plow ahead, knowing I'll figure everything out during the revision process.

The second document I use is my roadmap ("Notes"). Even though it's a single "document," it's really a mish-mash that serves several functions (it's just easier for me to do it this way, especially when I know I'm going to end up searching frantically through it five months later looking for that certain vital detail I needed YESTERDAY!).

This Notes file includes:

The outline of the novel, scene by scene

A list of character names used, sorted by letter of the alphabet, so I don't have too many names beginning with the same letters (too confusing for readers and too confusing for me)

A brief character sketch of the major players (anywhere from a sentence or two ("uncoordinated, couldn't hit his mouth with a cheeseburger"), up to a few paragraphs). For more detailed bios, I will sometimes open new files--but I've found I rarely consult them!

Other information I want to include somewhere in the manuscript: nicknames, setting descriptions, types of cars, pets, jokes, possible character names, cool phrases I've decided to plagiarize, etc. I put all this miscellaneous stuff here because I know I'll review the entire file during the revision process.

The third document is my "Snips" file. In it go all the words, sentences, paragraphs, scenes, and chapters that I've written, then decided don't fit. I cut them out of my draft and put them here, just in case I change my mind and need them again. When I finish and realize I'm 8,000 words short, this is where I look first to see if there's anything worth salvaging. Hey, I've learned you can't be too careful.

 

What "document" system do you use when you write?

Nom de Bad Guy

It's summer (in case you couldn't tell from the high temps and humidity), so I thought a blog rerun (or two) might be in order.

Darth Vader, Voldemort, Saddam Hussein, Professor Moriarty, Hannibal Lechter. All bad guys. All with great "bad guy" names (and one isn't even fictional!). Without even reading/seeing their story, I'd guess they were bad dudes. Why is that?

I'm no linguistics professor, but I can detect a few underlying "clues." "Darth Vader" sounds like "Dark Invader." Voldemort and Moriarty have "mort" or "mor" in their names, bringing death immediately to mind. "Hannibal" rhymes with "cannibal." "Saddam" is close to "sadist." All negative connotations. (And what about Voldemort and Vader both being called "Lords"? Not negative, but…interesting.)

People develop certain preconceptions about names. If you were terrorized by a bully named Chris Newsome in second grade (just sayin'), then you'd probably have negative feelings toward any other Chris Newsomes you encounter--in real life, or in fiction. (Too bad his name hadn't been Darth Newsome. Then kids might have instinctively known to avoid him.)

Some of my favorite villain names come from Dean Koontz. I read an article by him (or maybe it was from his great, out-of-print book How To Write Best-Selling Fiction (1981)) where he talked about giving his antagonists "harsh-sounding" names, full of hard consonants (v's, d's, c's, and k's are popular), double letters, and difficult-to-pronounce consonant blends. Check out some of his baddies: Edglar Vess, Vladimir "Corky" Laputa, Bryan Drackman, Preston Maddoc, Vince Nesco, and Thomas Shaddack. Don't these names just ooze badness?

Of course, most of Koontz's books are horror stories and thrillers. Obvious bad guy names don't work as well in mysteries, where the reader isn't supposed to know who the bad guy is until the end. Still, they'd make good red herrings...

Sometimes I think it would be nice to write satire or cartoons or kid's books. Then you can be a little more literal with your villainous  names: Snidely Whiplash, Cruella De Vil, Boris Badenov, Bugs Meany (from Encyclopedia Brown, one of my favs), Dr. No, and Dr. Evil. Those must be fun to make up.

A character's name can have a profound effect on how readers picture him or her. Try portraying a character named Mal Madoff as a philanthropist--it's not going to fly!

What are some of your favorite names of fictional villains?

Writers, how do you name your bad guys?

Take My Genre, Please.

The brisk air crackled with unanticipated excitement on the septuagenarian morn; blue-black crows cawed their nervous greetings above the ever-rolling hills, purveyors of nuisance. Beyond the craggy, distant, snow-covered, imposing peaks,—

Muse: Stop. Please stop.

—a plume of wispy smoke wisped up to the azure sky, signaling—

Muse: Oh, stop, stop, stop, STOP!

Me: What?

Muse: What are you doing?

Me: Writing a scene. Why?

Muse: I step out for a minute to stretch my legs and this is what happens? What's with all the adjectives? And dude, use a dictionary.

Me: I thought I'd try something different.

Muse: We've been through this. Your readers don't want different. They want you. Your voice. Writing what you write. No space aliens. No romance novels. No vampires.

Me: What's wrong with vampires? They're popular, you know.

Muse: There's nothing wrong with vampires. But you've never bitten about vampires before.

Me: Hey, I'm the writer; you're just here for inspiration. Please leave the wordplay to me.

Muse: See what happens when you try something new?

Me: Point taken. So you're saying to stick to what I do best.

Muse: Exactly.

Me: Like simple sentences with simple words? Sentence fragments? One adjective per page? Stories about normal people in sticky situations?

Muse: It's what your readers want. Frankly, you can't handle much more than that.

Me: So no stories about talking trees? I was hoping to branch out.

Muse: Maybe we should both lay off the wordplay.

Me: Agreed.

Muse: Take your Last Laff mystery series. Please.

Me: Of all the muses I could get, I'm blessed with Henny Youngman? I thought we were going to stop the funny-biz.

Muse: Sorry. But seriously, in that series, you've taken a fairly normal protagonist, at least for a stand-up comic, and put him into a sticky situation. That's what your readers expect from you. That's what will make them happy.

Me: Not my sense of humor?

Muse: You're lucky it's not that. In your books, there's some humor, but they're primarily suspense/mystery stories. The humor is just a backdrop. At least that's what you've been telling me.

Me: So what should I do if I feel the burning desire to write in another genre?

Muse: Try to quench it.

Me: And if I can't?

Muse: That's what pseudonyms are for. And personal journals. And Twitter. And epublishing.

Me: Oh.

Muse: One more thing. According to my union, it's one muse per genre. So you and I would have to part company. And I know you don't want that.

Me:

Muse: Well?

Me: Is my next muse likely to be funnier than you? Or at least nicer?

Muse: No.

Me: Okay, then. Let's get back to work.

 

What about you, writers? Have you had the urge to write something in another genre? What's been your solution?

 

(BTW, that's a picture of my muse working a pool party on his day off. I guess I don't pay him enough.)

 

This entry is "simul-posted" on InkSpot