Michael J. McCann's Blog: Open Investigations, page 18

An Interview on The Ghost Man

In honor of Halloween this week, I have included an excerpt from my interview on The Ghost Man with YA novelist Ruth Silver for the Paranormal Palooza:


What type of novels do you write?

I write both the Donaghue and Stainer Crime Fiction series and supernatural thrillers. My first supernatural thriller is The Ghost Man,which was originally published by Saga Books in 2008. I reacquired the rights to it, revised and updated it, and published it under The Plaid Raccoon Press imprint on January 13, 2013.


What inspired you to write The Ghost Man?

I wrote it for my son Tim, who loves horror stories. As I was writing it, I ran my story ideas by him. If he said, “That sounds cool,” it meant that the idea would survive the cut. Also, I had done a lot of research on my father's family, who originally came from Westport, Ontario, and I was able to use this as background for The Ghost Man. The fictitious town of Coburn Falls in the novel is based on Westport.


What do you enjoy about writing in the paranormal genre?

I read voraciously as a youngster—juvenile sports novels, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction— just about anything I could get my hands on. I love a good story, and the paranormal/supernatural genre is a natural medium (no pun intended) for telling stories. I can draw from a wealth of sources, including myths and legends, oral story-telling traditions, and modern paranormal investigations. I will be setting all of my supernatural thrillers in Canada (my crime fiction novels are set in the United States), because Canada has its own abundance of lore concerning hauntings and the supernatural. As I always say, ghosts can appear anywhere, so why not right around here? I have a lot of story ideas I'd like to develop into novels.


What are you working on right now?

I'm writing a supernatural thriller set in Ottawa, which is the story of a police negotiator who must negotiate with a ghost who has taken a paranormal investigation team hostage. If you thought hostage negotiation was a difficult occupation, just imagine the stress of negotiating with “the other side”. I think it makes for a fascinating story.


For the full text of the post, please visit Ruth Silver's blog, Write Away Bliss, at http://writeawaybliss.com/the-ghost-m....

Voting on the Best Crime Fiction

In honor of its 60th anniversary, the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) will be announcing the "Best Ever Crime Writer", "Best Crime Novel", and "Best Series" as voted on by its membership. The announcement will be made in London at a gala event on Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, which is the actual day of the founding of the organization.

As noted in an article in Crime Fiction Lover, this announcement will supersede the organization’s 1990 listing of the "Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time" in which Josephine Tey’s 1951 historical crime fiction entitled The Daughter of Time placed first, followed by Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep (1939), and John le Carre’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1963).

For the full text of the article, please see http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2013....

Any favorites you'd like to see in contention?

Halloween Haunts

Open Investigations is back after a brief hiatus. As my first post, I'd like to take a departure from crime fiction for a moment to invite fellow lovers of the horror genre to visit the Horror Writers Association's month-long Halloween Haunts feature on their Dark Whispers blog at http://www.horror.org/blog/.

The Horror Writers Association has also set up a Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/14177.... This page provides updates on Halloween Haunt posts and giveaways by your favorite horror writers.

If you're interested in sharing my reminiscences of Halloween as a kid, my post will appear in Halloween Haunts on October 16.

Thanks and Happy Haunting!

Time for a Breather

I'm taking a break from my three weekly blogs, The Overnight Bestseller, Open Investigations, and Behind the Walls of Nightmare until about mid-October so I can start writing a new supernatural novel.

In the meantime, The Rainy Day Killer, the fourth Donaghue and Stainer crime fiction novel, is up and running on NetGalley. Our Plaid Raccoon Press is doing a soft release of the novel. It has been posted to Amazon as a Kindle selection, and the trade paperback version and other electronic formats will be available in October.

If you'd like to read and review this novel, I've posted information below on how to access it through NetGalley:

Here's your chance to read The Rainy Day Killer via NetGalley, an
online site that provides digital galleys to reviewers, bloggers, media, librarians, booksellers, and educators.

If you're not already a NetGalley user, you can register for free at www.NetGalley.com, create a profile, and browse their catalog to select titles. Then just hit the “Request” button for the title(s) you want.

Once you request the title, you’ll just need to wait until the request is approved, and then the galley will appear on your NetGalley homepage (under “New Invitations to View Titles”). You will receive an email notification once your request is approved, so that you’ll know to log in to view the galley.

You’ll have the option to download the galley to your computer or read it on a variety of devices.

Be sure that you download Adobe Digital Editions (the program you’ll need to view our galley) first – it’s quick and free: http://www.adobe.com/products/digital....

If you have any questions, feel free to contact NetGalley at support@netgalley.com.

More Innovative Library Services

In my past two posts, I've looked at projects that help bring books out of the library to the public at large to encourage reading. If you missed them, they are at http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_... and http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_....

In doing the research, I came across an article from earlier this year that talks about various innovations in libraries, including those that help readers embrace new technology. This is an extremely interesting article that you might like to check out if you haven't already done so: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013...

Here are some of the innovations:

- technology "petting zoos" where readers can handle tablets and e-readers, and library staff is on hand to explain how these gadgets work;

- teen tutors(who better?) to explain to older adults how to use computers;

- various "ask a librarian" texting and online services (among the most popular new programs); and

- in Colorado there is even a "Librarian in the Home" program where specially-trained librarians will go to rural areas and teach people how to use technology.

There are also numerous programs encouraging the direct application of learning (for example, the LibraryFarm program that teaches food literacy) and numerous fun programs aimed at children such as Read to a Dog programs; stuffed animal sleepovers; and various theme parties. (Check out the Puke a Pumpkin program in Wisconsin.)

The article is proof positive that learning can be fun. Hats off to library innovators!

Books on Bike

Last week's post looked at little free libraries which are a new model for making books accessible. I came across another example of libraries promoting reading in an article in NPR Books. This time the books are traveling via bikes in a Seattle pilot project bringing books to the people in a way that reduces the carbon footprint. Books are placed in an orange trailer, about the size of a steamer trunk, and are pedaled by bike to locations around the city such as farmers' markets. The trailer holds 500 pounds of books. The traveling librarian is also equipped with an iPad to register new library users.

For the full text of the article, please see http://www.npr.org/2013/08/11/2102489....

Do you know of any innovative library projects in your area that you'd like to share?

The Little Free Library Model

The Oklahoma Gazette reports on a new type of low-tech lending library. The portable libraries, which are about the size of a dollhouse, have been established by the roadside in various locations in Oklahoma and are spreading across the United States and around the world. Each site is maintained by a "steward" who oversees installation and upkeep. The initial books were donated by Barnes & Noble, with the steward and community responsible for keeping titles current. Books are lent and returned on an honor basis. The structures have been constructed to look like birdhouses, mailboxes, and British telephone booths, among other designs. These portable libraries have been designed as a way of encouraging literacy and a love of reading.

For the full text of the original article, please see http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/art.... For a map of these libraries, please see http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Full Circle Books in Oklahoma City, 1900 NW Expressway, for drawing my attention to these new "pocket" libraries. Please visit their website at http://www.fullcirclebooks.com/.

The Bottom Line

One of the major news items for the book industry in July was the global merger of Penguin and Random House. In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, the scale of the merger is noted: the new company has 250 separate publishing imprints spanning five continents and will control 25% of the American trade-book market (with an even higher percentage in Canada).

According to Markus Dohle, the CEO of the new Penguin Random House, the combined resources of the two companies will allow them to reach readers “more directly and effectively than anyone else”. There are plans to develop a new model for communicating with readers to encourage their loyalty. Dohle also talks about the “societal assignment” of Penguin and Random House to “have a hugely positive impact on our future society” through the influence of the books that the company publishes and actively promotes.

Elsewhere, however, Dohle indicates that his mission is to assure the new company will be “top-line revenue-growth-oriented, both domestically and worldwide.” In an industry where the bottom line dictates that publishers promote recognizable author names with previous bestsellers in order to generate this revenue, does Dohle seriously believe that these are the people we want influencing (rather than entertaining) us?

For the full text of the article, please see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/b....

Famous First Words

In a recent interview in The Atlantic, Stephen King describes how important to him is the first sentence of a novel, not only in capturing the reader's attention but also in identifying the "voice" of the novel. He suggests that a novel's voice--like a singer's--is as distinctive as a fingerprint: "With really good books, a powerful sense of voice is established in the first line." He believes that the opening line is equally important to the writer because it is also his way into the novel. King states: "When I'm starting a book ... I'll try to write a paragraph. An opening paragraph. And over a period of weeks and months and even years, I'll word and reword it until I'm happy with what I've got. If I can get that first paragraph right, I'll know I can do the book." The full text of the interview can be found at http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainm....

During the interview, King suggested offhandedly that the interviewer might want to do a survey among writers to determine their favorite first lines. For the results, please see http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainm....

How important is the first line of a novel to you? Will it determine whether you continue with a novel, or are you wary of its value, knowing that it will try to hook you as a reader? Food for thought...

What's In a Name? Apparently A Great Deal

You have probably read by now the story of how leaked information from one of J.K. Rowling's lawyers resulted in her outing as the author of The Cuckoo's Calling, published in April as a “debut” novel under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Before Rowling was unmasked as the author, the novel had sold about 1500 copies. Now that the news is out, there has been an additional print run of 400,000 copies.

In fact, the novel received some favorable reviews before the true identity of its author was revealed and could probably have stood on its own merits. But as Mark Lawson has perceptively noted in a recent review in The Guardian, “[Rowling's] experience with The Cuckoo's Calling does seem to show that unknown first-time novelists are likely to get nice reviews but zero publicity and low sales: the novel was pottering along selling mere hundreds of copies until it started Pottering along.”

For the full text of the article, please see http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/....