D.R. Martin's Blog, page 3

Looking to Agatha Christie for Inspiration

Book three of the King Harald Mysteries is moving along, though slower than I had hoped. The tale plays out in only about twenty-four hours and all the action takes place at a vacation resort socked in by a blizzard. As I anticipated, I’m finding it tougher to write within those constraints of pacing and plot. All my other mysteries have had more elbow room, in terms of time and real estate. Although my work-in-progress is not a locked-room mystery per se, I thought I might find some inspiration watching how one of the titans of mystery handled a similar situation.

Several years ago Acorn, the distributor of British TV shows, bought a controlling interest in the Agatha Christie estate. And one of the first fruits of that new arrangement is the moody, stylish production of And Then There Were None. A few decades ago the title had been Ten Little Indians, now considered culturally insensitive. And Christie’s original title can no longer even be said in any kind of polite company. In this new three-part television version, the bit of doggerel nursery rhyme that the murders embody is called “Ten Little Soldiers.”

The plot, of course, is that ten strangers are invited to a house party at a mansion on an isolated island. The first evening there, they are accused—via a phonograph record—of all being murderers. Then they start dropping like flies, each in the manner of the little soldiers. The first one chokes to death (cyanide), the second fails to wake, etc. And, to everyone’s dismay, the boat that is supposed to fetch them fails to show up. The ten are stranded with a secret killer in their midst. Or, more properly, I should say that nine are stranded with the killer.

I haven’t read or seen the story in many years (in fact, since I was in a high school production of it, playing Dr. Armstrong). Even though I didn’t find much in the TV show that helped me out of the pickle I’ve gotten myself in, I still enjoyed seeing again how the great lady of mystery deals with murder and mayhem in a grim, isolated location. Of special note in this Acorn production is the performance of Toby Stephens in my old role of Dr. Armstrong. Of course, he does a much better job than this former seventeen-year-old member of the National Thespian Society. But then I wouldn’t expect anything less from the son of Dame Maggie Smith.

Thank goodness, nothing as dark and deadly as Christie’s plot is going to unfold at the Beaver Tail Resort and Conference Center. No one will die horribly. But—spoiler alert—at least two toes will be broken. And so will my heart, if I can’t figure out how to bring all the plot threads together for a really gung-ho finale. Maybe I need to pack up my unfinished manuscript and book a nice quiet room for a few days on an isolated island…

Cliff Simak, Grand Master of SF

For many years I read science fiction (SF) almost exclusively and even put in a fourteen-year stint as the SF/fantasy book reviewer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Back in my journalism years I had the chance to interview some big names in SF, including Clifford D. Simak, who ranked high in the genre’s firmament. Though today his work isn’t as well known as it deserves to be, he was at the time declared a Grand Master—an equal of Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke. I included two Simak interviews in my book Four Science Fiction Masters.

Simak was a gracious gentleman who twice hosted me at his suburban Minneapolis home. He worked fulltime as a newspaper reporter, and wrote novels and short stories on the side. His tales were almost always thoughtful and reflective, populated by everymen and everywomen who unaccountably found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Many of the stories were rural-set, reflecting his upbringing in the woods of southwestern Wisconsin. My particular favorite is A Choice of Gods, in which robots inherit the earth and preserve human culture, after humanity itself has fled to the stars. It is a type of breathtaking pastoral SF that is rarely seen anymore.

My interviews with Cliff Simak are from c. 1980. Here are some excerpts.

On the respectability of SF:

I think [attitudes] began to change in the ’50s, [when] we were sort of bottom of the barrel, [when] other writers and editors and publishers looked upon us with some disdain. We were not accorded any legitimacy whatsoever. And if it bothered any of us, I am not aware of it. We were doing what we wanted to do. I don’t know if you could say we had faith in SF to the extent that we were entirely oblivious to this disdain that was held for us. We have now, I think, become generally recognized, so that that attitude’s behind us… At one time I formed a fairly good friendship with a writer whose name you’d know if I said it, and I’m not going to. And he knew that I was writing SF and asked to read some of it. And he said you write so well it’s a shame you’re writing SF. Why don’t you get into an area where some good writing can be done? And that shook me up considerably, because this was from an expert, this was from a man who was one of the outstanding men in the field. But I successfully resisted it… I’ve stuck with SF and not done too badly with it through the years.

On Star Wars:

I thought that the first half was excellent. I was extremely struck by the desert scenes. I got an awful kick out of the hairy monster that was driving the spaceship… I enjoyed the bar scene. I wish they’d carried that out for a few more feet. That was sheer delight. The rest of it was pure hokum, pure crap. But I suppose we have to have our big battles. I wish they hadn’t descended into violence. I wish they’d not descended into spectacle. I think they could’ve carried it on without the last half of the picture. It would’ve been much better…. Instead of trying to put on honest-to-God SF, they’re looking to the comic books for their inspirations. They’re feeding us comic book material now… I thought, as a matter of fact, that 2001 was a helluva lot better piece of work than Star Wars.

On greeting an alien visitor to earth:

If one landed in my back yard, got out of his machine or conveyance, I think that I’d walk up to meet him, without any particular fear and with no hostile intent, being very careful that I made no move toward him that might seem hostile. I’d give him a chance of not taking the initiative, walking out to be close to him and meet him and presumably to greet him… Probably he’s not a creature to be afraid of. That probably he is as anxious not to harm you as you are not to harm him. And while you’re being careful not to make a hostile move, he’s being just as careful. I would hope that we might make some noises at one another. I don’t think that we would gain too much understanding of one another in a brief encounter… I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to go out and meet this creature, no matter how horrible he may look.

On humanity visiting the stars:

I would hate to see us, in the next several hundred years, be able to go to another planet where intelligent life might live, because I don’t think at this moment we’re civilized enough to do it. I think that we might be, we the human race, if we could go to another planet inhabited by intelligent beings, we might turn out to be the vicious life form that so many aliens have been in SF stories.

On being remembered:

I would hope that in SF circles a hundred years from now, once a year or so, somebody will say there was a man the name of Clifford Simak. I can’t be sure that that will happen. I’m not too upset that it may not. But I think that myself and Heinlein, Silverberg, Asimov, and Dickson and quite a few others that I could name, that we have been the pacesetters who will determine for a time the direction SF will take. Our influence will not be overwhelming, but we are the men who blazed the trail. And that gives me an awfully good feeling to think that.

St. Paul Pioneer Press Reviews Mary MacDougall

Two of my Mary MacDougall books just received a very nice review from Mary Ann Grossmann of the St. Paul Pioneer Press—one of the Twin Cities’ two major daily papers. Here is some of what she had to say:

“In the spirit of Nancy Drew and the Corner House Girls… Likable Mary is a bright, inquisitive young woman, although she’s sometimes too headstrong. It’s an old-fashioned series in the best sense of the word. Audry captures the turn-of-the-century period perfectly, when young women like Mary were trying to burst out of Victorian expectations to become their own person.”

You can read the whole review here, as a part of Mary Ann’s Minnesota authors roundup.

Third & Last Johnny Graphic Under Way

It’s been three years since I published the second Johnny Graphic novel. And I’ve been thinking about the third and final tale on and off since then. Well, one can brainstorm and outline only so much. Which is why, a couple of weeks ago, I started writing the thing. The working title—which may become the actual title—is Johnny Graphic and the Last Ghost.

You’ll recall that Johnny and his friends had just helped vanquish the zombie threat in the Royal Kingdom. Now it’s off to Okkatek Island to search for the dark mage Morbrec, who taught Percy Rathbone his evil tricks. Johnny, though, has other plans—plans that get him into big trouble.

Though the Johnny Graphic books are classified as “Middle Grade,” I’ve had lots of very positive reviews from grown-up readers, too. One of them even said that I did for ghosts what Isaac Asimov did for robots. That’s high praise indeed. (Pats himself on the back.)

Vivian Maier Legal Dispute Resolved

Many months ago I did a post here about the Chicago street photographer Vivian Maier. She was the children’s nanny who, over several decades, shot tens of thousands of street photos. Her work, of very high quality, was only discovered after her death, when photography collectors bought the bulk of her negatives at an abandoned goods auction. In 2013 there was a riveting documentary about Maier called Finding Vivian Maier. I highly recommend you check it out.

Well, subsequently a fly flew into the ointment, in the form of an attorney who located a cousin of Maier’s. This cousin, in all likelihood, owned some or all of the rights to her images. This led to the legal standoff just now apparently resolved.

On one side you had collectors who owned the negatives needed to make and sell prints and posters and other imagery involving Maier’s work. On the other side was the cousin who owned the intellectual property rights, without which none of the images could be sold. Kind of a legal deadlock.

But now, hopefully, we can begin to see more of the photographic riches that Maier mined over the course of her adult life.

Go here to read the Chicago Tribune story on the settlement. The details are being kept confidential by order of the judge.

King Harald & Johnny Graphic Updates

It was about a year ago that I published my second canine cozy mystery, King Harald’s Heist. I’m happy to report that the first draft of Harald and Andy’s third adventure is better than half completed. Its working title is King Harald’s Snow Job and it finds our two heroes snowbound in a luxury resort with the indomitable Aunt Bev, and several hundred other women. Needless to say, mayhem and mirth ensue.

In a cozy mystery, the clockwork of the plot is always challenging to work out. But in humorous cozies, such as the King Harald series, equally challenging is how to earn laughs without waxing corny. Sometimes to know if you’re doing it successfully, you have to put some distance between yourself and the story. So I’ve decided to let King Harald’s Snow Job marinate for a week or two, while I think it over and come back to it fresh.

During my break from Andy and Harald, I’ll be starting the third and final book of the Johnny Graphic trilogy—tentatively titled Johnny Graphic and the Last Ghost. I’m excited as heck to return to Johnny’s world, c. 1936. All hell is about to break loose, and only Johnny and his friends can stop it.

While Johnny Graphic isn’t primarily a humorous story, there are plenty of laughs and smiles. But unlike King Harald, the jokes in Johnny Graphic arise naturally from the people and ghosts and situations. I’m not looking for them—they just happen. It’s an easier type of humor to write. Just consider some of the classic kids’ stories, in books and in film. From Inside Out and Matilda to the early Harry Potters and Wind in the Willows. Serious stories unfold, but funny things happen along the way. They’re tales with humor, but not humorous tales.

I think that most authors would agree that humorous tales are hard to write. Simply consider the humorous yarns of P.G. Wodehouse. Those gut-busting waves of gags with Jeeves and Wooster were the result of meticulous, obsessive hard work—charted on walls like a military campaign or a complex piece of architecture. Humor, as they say, is a very serious business.

New Paperback Edition for Travis McGee & Me

A couple of years ago I took my twenty-two blog posts about the adventures of Travis McGee and turned them into an e-book. I’m happy to note that it has been a steady seller ever since. Now I’ve put Travis McGee & Me into print in this slender paperback edition. I guess it’s an appropriate sort of commemoration of my eight years of blogging on John D. MacDonald’s famous fictional hero and related topics—my first foray into blogging.

You can order it from Amazon here. To get the book from CreateSpace, click here.

The book will become available from other leading online booksellers in coming weeks. If your local bookstore has the capacity to order print-on-demand books, you will be able to buy the book there as well.

Daughter’s Doubt Blog Tour Now a Wrap

My blog tour for A Daughter’s Doubt wrapped up yesterday and it was a successful one. I more than doubled my Facebook likes and collected some very nice reviews. Thanks to Lori of Escape with Dollycas for managing the tour.

“I LOVE great historical fiction and this book delivers. From the descriptions of the tableaux vivants in the beginning of the book to details of travel, dress, and healthcare, this book is written with a deep understanding of the time period that pulls the reader in.” ~I Read What You Write!

“I loved this book with its historical aspects and I also enjoyed learning about the fun things they did in the summer in Mackinac Island …” ~Community Bookstop

“No motor cars, no cell phones, just horses, buggies, trains, and the brains God gave her Mary does everything she can to expel A Daughter’s Doubt and it was a perfect escape for me!” ~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

“The mystery itself was interesting and fast paced. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen until it was revealed …” ~I Wish I Lived In a Library

“This historical cozy mystery was an enjoyable read that I didn’t want to put down until Mary found out ‘whodunit’.” ~Brooke Blogs

Record Store Day at Hymie’s

Today is Record Store Day and I thought I would hike up to Lake Street in Minneapolis to check out the celebrations at the leading vinyl emporium, Hymie’s, in my neighborhood. Musically speaking, it is hipster central in these parts.

There were hundreds of folks up there listening to music acts. The blues duo you see is Crankshaft. And there were hundreds of free LPs given away. As I write this, I expect those fine Lawrence Welk sets seen below are still waiting for that special someone. Is it you?

The second photo down shows old album covers repurposed as notebook covers. Only $15 each.

You may wonder: Am I into vinyl? Sorry, no. I had thousands of albums at one point, but am now down to about 50 LPs. I like CDs just fine. I know this dates me, but what can you do?

 

 

A Daughter’s Doubt: Mary MacDougall Goes on Tour

Beginning Monday, April 4, my new Mary MacDougall novel, A Daughter’s Doubt, goes on  a 15-stop blog tour, organized by Lori Caswell of Escape with Dollycas. (Thanks, Lori!) If you care to check into any of these fine blogs—which include reviews of the book and interviews with yours truly—here are all the dates and links.

April 4 – I Wish I Lived in a Library  – REVIEW

April 5 – Cozy Up With Kathy – INTERVIEW

April 6 – Community Bookstop –  REVIEW

April 6 – View from the Birdhouse – INTERVIEW

April 7 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

April 8 – Deal Sharing Aunt – INTERVIEW

April 9 – Musings and Ramblings – INTERVIEW

April 10 – Off

April 11 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, INTERVIEW, SPOTLIGHT

April 12 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW

April 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

April 14 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

April 15 – Author Annette Drake – INTERVIEW

April 16 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

April 17 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW