Jon Say's Blog, page 4

Santa Stuffed My Stocking With Website Hits!

I guess I've teased you long enough with hints that website traffic here the week of Christmas was, to say the least, surprising to me.  I haven't let on the nature of the surprise – elation due to a spike in traffic, or despondence due to a dropoff.

You'll recall that the average weekly number of hits has been 1,300 or so in the last couple of months, with a high of 1,749 the week of December 12 and a low of 921 the week of November 21.  That was the week of Thanksgiving, and it made sense to me that people had things to do that may have taken priority over reading my blog that week.  So I expected the same sort of dip the week of Christmas.

Christmas week, however, was different.  The site recorded 2,799 hits during the week, over 1,000 more than the previous week, and the highest weekly total ever.  It marked the fourth consecutive week of rising traffic since Thanksgiving.

I'm thrilled with the increase in eyeballs here, although at somewhat of a loss to explain it.  I have consistently posted here three times per week, and hopefully the topics have been interesting and the writing engaging.  To all of you who faithfully check in here, and to those who have recently discovered the site, thank you beyond words and I hope the site continues to give you what you are looking for!

Also, thank you to everyone who has registered as users of the site.  Those numbers have been increasing as well, and I urge you to leave comments if you are so inspired, or to email any questions to me at jon@jonsay.com.  I'll be certain to answer them to the best of my ability.

As I'm sure you're aware, it is New Year's Eve.  2010 was an interesting year, and I'm highly optimistic that 2011 is going to exceed it in all positive aspects.  (One of my English teachers in college – can't remember her name, but she had long strawberry blonde hair, strong convictions, and promised all of us that if we ever used the word 'aspect' in any of our assignments, we would receive 'F's as our grade.  I don't know what she had against the word 'aspect', but I find myself still hesitant to use it.  Incredible what stays with you, isn't it?)  I hope that 2011 exceeds all of your expectations, as well!

On Monday, research begins in earnest on Rubbed Out.  I had an interesting experience doing the plotting for the second story line last night, which I'll blog about on Monday.  Suffice it to say that you never know when inspiration will come calling.

Read something this weekend that marks a fresh start for you!  Happy New Year!  And as always, thanks for reading.  -Jon

Parallel Plot Lines – A Useful Technique!

One technique I've noticed in many stories I've enjoyed is the use of parallel plotting.  This consists of two or more main plot lines running independent of and parallel to each other in the story, and their convergence and resolution at the climax of the tale.  As they develop they may be related and they may not, but by the end they will be inextricably intertwined.

One example of this from a hit television series comes from the recently completed season of "Dexter".  If you read this blog regularly, you know that "Dexter" is one of my favorite all-time shows, and I've got Showtime solely for watching this series.  Seriously, I don't watch anything else on Showtime.  Anyway, during this last season two of the main plot lines consisted of Dexter and Lumen trying to exact vengeance on the group of men responsible for torturing and killing a dozen women (Lumen was to be the thirteenth, but escaped with Dexter's unwitting help).  The second plot line running parallel to this is Homicide Detective Debra Morgan, Dexter's sister, tracking down the same group of men through official channels while Dexter and Lumen work to avoid her detection of their involvement.  A third plot line is the romance between Deb and Quinn, her partner in Homicide who suspects Dexter of dark things and has gone rogue undercover to try to prove it, risking his job and romance with Deb in the process.

You can see how all three plotlines are related to each other, although none of them intersect directly until the final episode.  In a twelve episode season, there is enough time to develop all three plotlines fully and bring them to a satisfying conclusion.  The writers and actors do an incredible job of just that, and this series always keeps me on the edge of my couch which is one of the reasons I love it.

Another example of this technique from a novel is in "Hush Money", by Robert B. Parker.  The main character, Spenser, is a P.I. who is hired to investigate why a senior professor at a local university was denied tenure.  He is also hired to simultaneously investigate who is stalking a friend of his girlfriend.  They are two seemingly unrelated cases, but Mr. Parker's skill brings the two plotlines together very satisfyingly in the end.

The key to using this technique well is to alternate between them during the story, leaving the reader on edge each time you switch between one plot line and the other.  It creates a pace where the reader is given mental breaks from each plot, and the stakes get raised with each event.  There is room to use humor to break the tension, and if done well, the story flies by and gives the reader a terrifically exciting ride all the way to the end.

I'm using this technique in writing "Rubbed Out", the sequel to "Flesh Wound".  There will be two parallel plot lines.  The first focuses on Ae-Cha, the South Korean girl who gets sucked into the human sex trafficking trade and winds up in Los Angeles and San Francisco working in massage parlors.  Max is hired by her cousin to find her and help her escape.  The second plot line focuses on a character to be named by one of my readers (see my blog of December 6 for the details), who suffers a serious accident that results in his heart stopping and an out of body, near-death experience with which he is trying to cope.  Part of his coping involves becoming a client of Faye, who has her hands full with the challenge of helping him.  The two plot lines will come together and be resolved at the end of the story.  My goal is to explore each plot line in enough depth to captivate the reader and bring them together satisfyingly at the end.  I'm having a ball so far.

Well, I never got to the topic of website hits today, so I'll talk about that on Friday.  You won't believe what the online traffic was during Christmas week!

Read something today that fills you with the nostalgia of the year ending!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

No One Has a Bad Time Sledding

One of the things that comes along with becoming a parent is that you get to re-live all the joys and traditions of growing up as you watch your children go through them.  As a parent of a five-year old in the Upper Midwest in late December, one of those traditions is going sledding.

This morning, my wife, daughter, and I piled the sleds and ourselves into the car and drove to the local sledding hill.  (See picture at left.)  We decided that my wife would ride down the hill with our daughter (each on their own sled), and I would play goalie at the bottom of the hill to keep our daughter from flying into the woods that formed a natural barrier at the end of the run.  That was fine with me; I've been nursing a sore hamstring suffered while horsing around with our daughter anyway, and trudging up the hill over and over wouldn't have helped it much.

While they were climbing up to the starting point, I looked around the dozen or so groups of people on the hill and realized a couple of interesting things.  First, there was no reason whatsoever for any of them or us to be there except for one thing – to have fun.  This was not part of a workout regimen, it wasn't a school assignment, it wasn't part of the 'other duties as assigned' in some job description.  Everyone there had gotten dressed in their outdoor winter clothes, found a sled, and made the journey to the hill for the sole purpose of screaming their lungs out in joy as they hurtled down a steep, snow and ice covered slope at terrifying speeds.  Over and over and over and over.

Second, there were groups of all ages there.  Parents with small kids, groups of teenagers, groups of college kids, and families with dogs present were all represented, and the dogs were included in several of the runs, having as much fun as the people. The joy of sledding is not limited to young kids.

Third, everyone there without exception was having a ball.  There is no doubt in my mind that everyone showed up at the sledding hill today in pursuit of a meaningful emotional experience.  Why else go sledding other than for how it makes you feel?  It wasn't possible for my own spirits to do anything but be buoyed by the joy and laughter of the people who were there for no other reason than to feel good on a winter day.

It's almost a cliche to get stressed out during the holidays.  With all the decorating, shopping, logistical challenges of seeing nearly everyone you know, card writing and sending, and pressure to make this the best Christmas ever, sometimes the most genuine moments come when you are doing something for no reason other than to feel the wind on your face, scream your lungs out, and feel good.  I hope that this holiday season held some of those moments for you, and there are more to come.

In my next blog entry on Wednesday, I'm going to talk about the number of hits my website received during Christmas week.  Do you think it would be fewer or more than an average week?  The only hint I'll give you is that the number surprised the socks off of me.  Also, I'm changing the backstory of the character you can name in my next novel.  I'll give details of those changes and how to submit your entry on Wednesday as well.

I hope your holiday season is going well!  Do something or read something today for no reason other than it makes you feel good!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

So This Is How Rivers Carve Canyons

I watched a movie yesterday that I really enjoyed when it first came out in 1999.  It was "The Thomas Crowne Affair", starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.  I rented it from Blockbuster because I had been thinking about the plot lately, and how cleverly the art heist had been orchestrated and then resolved.  But an interesting thing happened as I watched the movie for the second time, some eleven years after first seeing it – I didn't think it was that great anymore.

Now, how can this happen?  The movie hadn't changed; it still centered on a self-made billionaire (Mr. Brosnan) who amuses himself by stealing paintings from the Met in New York, and the equally self-made insurance investigator (Ms. Russo) who is determined to prove he did it.  There were clearly two plot lines.  The art heist, and how the return of the painting would be resolved; and the budding romance between the staunchly single billionaire and just as staunchly single insurance adjustor.  Romance is too tame a word, actually.  No sooner has a priceless Monet been lifted than the two of them are chasing each other around spectacularly opulent bedrooms and staircases in exotic locations all over the world, making crazed love to each other.  (In one scene, Ms. Russo pours vodka over the head of Mr. Brosnan straight from the bottle, spurring him to redouble his efforts at ravishing her.  If I was making love to someone, and they poured vodka over my head in the middle of it, I don't think the effect would be to increase my desire.  But who am I to knock it?  I'm not a self-made billionaire, and he used to be James Bond.)

If the movie hadn't changed, that just left me.  I found that I still liked the art heist plot, and thought it was just as clever as it had been the previous decade.  The romance plot, though, rang so hollow that it was distracting.  This had nothing to do with the actors, by the way.  If Mr. Brosnan and Ms. Russo weren't as talented as they are, the story would have failed because of the implausibility of the two of them hooking up at all.  It was the writing that made me groan, the clunky dialogue and clumsy attempts to be seductively clever that fell flat.  The final line of the movie is delivered by Ms. Russo to Mr. Brosnan, after a passionate reconciliation onboard a jumbo jet crossing the Atlantic:  "If you ever try anything like that again, I'll break both your arms."  Not exactly, "We'll always have Paris," or, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

What I found myself thinking about after I'd turned off the DVD player was that when I had first watched the movie, I hadn't noticed any of this.  I thought the dialogue was just fine, that the two of them had insanely hot chemistry, and the whole movie was one that I wanted to own and watch over and over, being enthralled every time.  So what had happened in the last ten years?

The simple answer, of course, is that I have had ten years to read more, watch more, and experience more of life, and my standards for what constitutes good writing have risen in the process.  In that time, I've written three novels as well (Flesh Wound is the only one published to date), and that experience has taught me to be a better writer, and to expect others to be, as well.

The funny thing is I don't feel any different than I did ten years ago.  There are markers at points in your life that have the capacity to freeze in time the person you were when you passed them, and sometimes you have the chance to look at back those markers when you are further down the road and see who you must have been at the time.  (Movies are great for this, as is music.  Songs I thought were amazing when I was in college don't always impress me the same way when I hear them now.)  It is only then that you are able to measure the difference between that person and who you are now.

And that is how rivers carve canyons.  If you walk past the river each day, you don't notice any change in its course or where the banks lie.  If you walk past the river once, then come back in ten years and walk past it again, you notice how the path has changed and how the surrounding cliffs are just a bit higher than they used to be.  Let enough time go by, and you find yourself in the Grand Canyon.  But I guess that is the point of life, isn't it?  And the canyon walls are quite beautiful.

Have a terrific holiday!  I won't be blogging again until the 27th, so until then be well and read something that makes you notice your own canyon walls, and make sure you appreciate their beauty.  Thanks for reading!  -Jon

Appreciating the Talent of Others

Most people who read for pleasure but have no interest in taking up the task of writing a story often are thrilled with the unexpected plot twist, a certain character that resonates with them, or the exotic setting of a book, but they rarely go back to deconstruct the plot once they've turned the last page.  As a writer, I get caught up in the same emotions as everyone else when I read a story (a good story, anyway), but I find myself going back to deconstruct how plot elements were pieced together to produce the final impact on the audience.  For example, when that blood showed up on the shoe in Chapter 32, the writer wasn't only going for the tension of whether the character would notice it at the time, but also made it a critical point in an unrelated parallel plot line three chapters later, when the now-dried blood became overwhelming circumstantial evidence against the character, forcing them to decide between telling the truth or losing their lover forever.  I always wonder whether the writer wrote Chapter 32 knowing how important the blood would become in Chapter 35.  To me, that is elegant plotting.

I've had the good fortune to experience three great stories lately, one each in the medium of television, novels, and movies.  The example I just gave occurred during the last two episodes of the fifth season of "Dexter", simply one of the best dramas on television.  Showtime allows the writers of the show a free hand in telling the story of a serial killer who works for the Miami Metro Homicide Department as a blood spatter analyst, and the way the plots engage me every season makes this a must-DVR show.  It is inspiring to watch how a serial killer, normally a social pariah, gains the sympathy of the audience to the point you are cheering for him.  Spectacular.

This week I finished "Chance", the novel by Robert B. Parker written in 1996, and found myself admiring the descriptions of how organized crime would operate in a major city.  The character development of the mobsters was so convincing that it made you wonder how Parker came by the knowledge.  Again, inspiring.

Today I saw the movie "The Tourist" with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but was utterly delighted with the characterizations played by both Depp and Jolie, and was drawn completely in by the story of an American tourist preyed on by the stunning femme fatale, only to have the plot jettison them both out of the expected outcome of their initial encounter.  And, it made me want to spend time in Venice, Italy.

After seeing any work that makes me forget where I am and draws me so deeply in that seeing the conclusion becomes a need rather than a want, the feeling that this is what I want to do with my life becomes reconfirmed.  I want to create stories that make people feel how I feel when I am taken with a work.  I always put down the book, turn off the TV, or leave the movie theater inspired to sit down with my latest project and make it better.  That is one of the great things about creating – there is always room in the world for another great story.

Just a reminder that the you can name a character in my upcoming novel, "Rubbed Out", by submitting your suggestion to me via email at jon@jonsay.com or by leaving a comment on this blog.  The contest ends December 31!  If your suggestion is chosen, you'll win autographed copies of "Flesh Wound" and "Rubbed Out"!  You can read a backstory of the character to be named by clicking on this link:

Naming Contest Backstory

I hope you find something to read or watch during the upcoming holiday that makes you forget where you are!  Thanks for reading!  -Jon

A Writer's Christmas List

There are a lot of things that I'd like to put in my letter to Santa this year, and like a lot of the best gifts, they are things that you'd like to have but don't really need.  Things like season tickets to the Milwaukee Bucks about three rows behind the visitors bench; for Time Warner Cable to work out a deal with the NFL Network; for college football to abolish the BCS in favor of a 16-team playoff.  But if one of Santa's elves visited me in a dream and said I could have any three things I ask for that would benefit me strictly as a writer, here's what I'd put on my list:

1) Time to write.

2) The ability to absorb the disapproval of others without it affecting what and how I write.

3) The ability to write and stay detached from the outcome of my writing.

I have a feeling that if I turned in that list to Santa, when I woke up Christmas morning the only thing that would be waiting for me under the tree is a letter from the big jolly guy that would go something like this:

"Well now, Jon, you've been a fairly good boy this year and I always keep my promises, so here's what I've brought you for Christmas:

1) Time to write: Now Jon, you know as well as I do that everyone has all the time there is.  It's merely a matter of how you choose to spend it.  If you want more time to write, there is only one way to get it:  stop doing something else you're currently doing.  It's all your choice, Jon.  If you were to go to bed one hour earlier each night, and forego that West Coast Lakers game, final Sportscenter, or great show on the Biography channel, you could get up one hour earlier in the morning when you are rested and fresh and the house is quiet, and write.  If you did that every day, you'd gain 7 hours of writing time per week, 30 hours of writing time per month, and 365 hours of writing time per year.  That is the equivalent of 45 eight hour days of uninterrupted writing time.  How many pages do you think you'd produce if you could do that?

2) The ability to absorb the disapproval of others without it affecting what and how I write. Jon, remember this: how people react to your writing, or the fact that you're writing at all, or for that matter, how they react to the clothes you choose to wear, has much more to do with them than it does with you.  No matter what you do with your life, or what you choose to write, you will find people that agree with your choices and people who don't.  The only person you need to pay attention to is you; more specifically, how you feel when you are writing and what you feel about what you are writing.  If you feel that you are doing the right thing, well then, you are doing the right thing.  You are smart enough to know this.  Trust yourself.

3)  The ability to write and stay detached from the outcome of my writing. Jon, of all the things you've asked for, this is the toughest one.  By "outcome", I am sure you mean the number of copies of the book you are writing is going to sell.  And while you are writing it, to stop thinking about how the story should go to so it appeals to the most people and thus sells the most copies.  The thing I can give you is this advice:  You can't possibly write a story that will have guaranteed appeal to everyone.  Can't do it.  Instead, honor the story.  Do you recall how you feel when you write a chapter that is especially good, or come up with a particularly compelling plot twist?  That is the story that is tugging at you to be told, and your reward for telling it is the deep feeling of satisfaction that comes when you re-read what you wrote and know in your heart that it works.  That is the only outcome you need be concerned with.  Everything else will take care of itself.

Finally, Jon, just write.  The more you do, the more easily the three things on your Wish List will come to you. And you will have the opportunity to touch the lives of people you will never know, and give them a gift that will excite them anew every time they pick it up.  Merry Christmas!  -Santa"

So how about that – I already have everything I asked for!  It's all about execution now.  I'm going to pin the letter Santa gave me up on the wall above my writing desk, and read it before I start every writing session.  And I can't wait for the next one!  Have a terrific weekend, and read something that you want to write down and tack up on a wall somewhere where you'll see it often!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

The Paradox of a Writer's Life: Creation vs. Selling

Final Cover for Flesh Wound

The act of writing is a solo endeavor.  Every writer has their process – longhand or computer, meticulous plotting and outlining before the first chapter is begun, or just starting to write and seeing what develops (interestingly, Stephen King has said he writes this way, and by golly hasn't it worked for him) – but the one thing they all have in common is when it is time to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, the writer is doing it alone.  To finish a project of any length, the writer must be able to be by themselves for long stretches of time.

Then the work is completed, and the task becomes the polar opposite of what was required during its creation.  The writer (prior to having an agent, anyway) has to become the salesperson, contacting agents and publishers and "selling" the manuscript to them in an effort to get it published and out into the world for millions (hopefully) to read and enjoy.

I think this is one reason a lot of very good work never sees the light of day.  The skills required to do both tasks successfully are completely different.  How many good salespeople have the desire and discipline to isolate themselves for a few months and create a great book?  People who excel at selling are extroverted, love being around people, and not just talking to them but influencing them to buy something.  They get energized by personal interaction.  Not being able to do that for a few months straight would deprive them of the very activities that inspire them in the first place.

Conversely, how many great writers look forward to and embrace going on book tours?  Emerging from the background where it's easy to observe others unnoticed, making mental notes about how people interact and thinking about how that can be woven into a compelling story, and having to jump up in front of scores of people they don't know over and over to talk about – eeeek! – themselves, the work they created, hearing first-hand the things readers liked and didn't like about it, being told what they ought to do differently, and then having to make small talk while signing their names on title pages over and over and over.  I smile every time I hear an author interviewed and they talk about how much they dislike book tours.

The drive to write comes from inside.  If you love writing, you'll do it whether it's your primary occupation or not.  You'll do it even if you are the only person on Earth to read what you've written.  If you become lucky enough to be able to write full-time, it means you've taken on the perhaps uncomfortable job of being the salesperson, the advocate for your work to countless people you don't know, almost all of whom (agents and publishers, in particular, at least until someone else has taken the maverick step of publicly saying they like your work) will tell you your work isn't good enough to be published.  Good for you!  The reward for staying with it is great.  There is no feeling like holding a book in your hands, looking at the cover, and seeing your name on it.  Then opening to the first page, and recognizing the words you wrote, all dressed up in 12-pt. Minion Pro.

Just a reminder that the you can name a character in my upcoming novel, "Rubbed Out", by submitting your suggestion to me via email at jon@jonsay.com or by leaving a comment on this blog.  The contest ends December 31!  If your suggestion is chosen, you'll win autographed copies of "Flesh Wound" and "Rubbed Out"!  You can read a backstory of the character to be named by clicking on this link:

Naming Contest Backstory

Have a terrific Wednesday!  Read something today that was written by someone you know, or feel that you know.    Thanks for reading!  -Jon

The Ads Are Out…So What?

Royal Purple, page 2 ad for Flesh Wound

Now that we're in mid-December, the newspaper ads for Flesh Wound have run for two consecutive weeks in the UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh student newspapers, and in the December 2 issue of the Wisconsin Gazette.  The final ad runs in this Thursday's Gazette.  The bills are coming in for those ads, but what has their impact been?

Outside of a marked spike in sales, one way of measuring the impact of the ads is website hits.  The ad directs readers to http://fleshwoundthebook.com, and the ad is the only place that URL is found, outside of the posters I hung up at UW-W and UW-O.  So the activity on the site is being driven either by the posters or by the ads.  Here are the weekly website hits at http://fleshwoundthebook.com since the site went up in early November:

Nov 7:  41 hits

Nov 14: 48 hits

Nov 21:  40 hits (Thanksgiving week)

Nov 28:  47 hits

Dec 5:   85 hits

The week of Dec 5 was the first in which the ads were on the street.  It looks like the initial impact of the ads was to boost web traffic by almost 100%.  This is great!  What I want now is for that increased traffic to translate to book sales, website comments, and return visits to the website, keeping FW and its characters top of mind for readers.  My job is to keep updating the blog there so return visitors will have additional material to read.

The activity on this website http://jonsay.com remains consistent on a weekly basis.  With the exception of Thanksgiving week, the volume has been steady and strong.  Here are the numbers:

Nov 7:  1,278 hits

Nov 14: 1,313 hits

Nov 21:  921 hits (Thanksgiving week)

Nov 28:  1,261 hits

Dec 5:   1,418 hits

Thank you to all the consistent readers of this blog, I hope you continue to find it interesting, informative, and entertaining!  If you have any questions about living as a full-time writer, getting published for the first time, or anything else, leave a comment or email me at jon@jonsay.com.

Enjoy the final full week before the holiday break!  If you're in the Upper Midwest (like me), try to stay warm.  It is currently 11 degrees with a wind chill of -5 (yes, that's below zero), and the low tonight is going down to 1 degree with wind chills approaching -15.  If it stays like this, Santa better wear his long underwear next week.  Read something today that takes you to a location you've been dreaming of visiting!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

Two Weeks Until Christmas…It's Practically Here!

As we roll into the final two weeks before Christmas, it's getting harder and harder to find time to sit down and write in between the holiday preparations, visits from friends, and Christmas concerts and school parties for the kids.  While it is frustrating to not have the chunks of time I'd like to have to write, I also see the value in participating fully in the holiday cheer.  Christmas is a great time to take a moment to reflect on the year and think about what is coming next, and recharge your batteries by connecting with the people in your life who mean the most to you.

I don't know how much writing will get done between now and January 1, but the great thing about being a writer is that your mind never stops working.  I read somewhere that the human brain is capable of processing five separate tracks of input at one time, although you may be giving only partial attention to most of them.  For example, while you are driving your car (eyes on the road = track 1), you may be listening to the radio (track 2), operating the brake, accelerator, turn signals, windshield wipers and holding onto the steering wheel (track 3), and checking your cell phone to see who is calling or emailing you (track 4) all at the same time.  This leaves track 5 (if you're me) to ponder plot twists, character traits, dialogue, or any of the other millions of things that go into the creation of a good story.  So although I may not have pen to paper much between now and the end of the year, "Rubbed Out" is going to be moving forward nonetheless. 

I want to remind everyone that the contest to name a character in the sequel to Flesh Wound will continue until 12/31!  Get your vote in today either through emailing me at jon@jonsay.com or leaving a comment on this blog.  Thanks to everyone who has submitted entries so far, there are some good ones!  The winner will receive an autographed copy of "Flesh Wound", and of "Rubbed Out" when it is published, and acknowledgment at the beginning of the book.

Once again, here is the backstory of the character to be named via the contest:  He is in his late 30s, a former Wall Street bond trader who crashed and burned in the latest financial crisis because of he took risks he didn't understand in the subprime lending market.  He lost his job as a result, and is currently trying to figure out what to do next with his life.  He is disillusioned and questioning his belief system, and comes to Faye as a new client.  The problem is, he is unable to find meaning in any of their sessions, which alarms him even more, and he embarks on a search for his destiny.

Have a good weekend!  Read something that makes you feel sunny and warm!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

Always Time For One Of The Masters

One of the largest influences on my writing has been Robert B. Parker.  If you've read him, you know he's impressively prolific, and best known for bringing hard-boiled private eye stories into this generation.  In fact, he finished the manuscript that Raymond Chandler, another of my literary heroes, left upon his death (Poodle Springs), carrying the mantle of the noir novel from the 40s to present day.  He then wrote "Perchance to Dream", a novel starring Chandler's famous character Philip Marlowe, successfully keeping Marlowe's character as Chandler envisioned him.  Not an easy task.

So after reading several different books since my last Parker, I felt it was time.  I picked up "Chance", a novel featuring Parker's tough-guy Spenser, written in 1996 when Parker was 64 years old.  The primary features of Parker's writing – sparse, efficient dialogue; short chapters; plot moving forward almost always by Spenser's action rather than something happening to him – are there in full force and make reading the novel something to be savored as opposed to rushed through.

That Parker's plotting is formulaic and recognizable from story to story is irrelevant and not distracting whatsoever.  To complain about it would be like saying it's distracting to drink one bottle of a Napa Zinfandel after the first one because they were both made the same way.  That thought never crosses one's mind.  You just pour, drink, and are thankful.

As a writer, it is inspiring to read good writing, and makes one want to strive to become better.  I go through my days now savoring the prospect of their last portion, when the covers are pulled up and I've settled in with Spenser for as long as I can keep my eyes open.  And I wake up raring to pick up my virtual pen and try to imbue Max and Faye with the same grace and clarity that Mr. Parker wields in bringing Spenser to life.

Thanks for reading!  Enjoy the rest of the week and read something today that makes you say, "Damn, that is good!"  -Jon