Reb MacRath's Blog, page 24
March 12, 2014
Live now: the blue suede truth revealed!
You'll find my account of How Fat Elvis Murdered Princes Di now on Authors Electric at:
http://tinyurl.com/pe6eftl
http://tinyurl.com/pe6eftl
March 9, 2014
Did Fat Elvis Murder Princess Di?
The blue suede truth will be revealed n my 3/12 post on the Authors Electric blog. Link to be provided. Grab hold of your socks, kids.
March 6, 2014
Prose and Cons: Literary Factories 1
There's a world of difference between a prolific writer and a literary factory. In fact, there's another world of difference between a literary factory and a literary factory superintendent. The distinctions lie at the heart of this new series, Prose and Cons, whose main theme is writing from a reader's point of view. So, to keep the debut short, let's start with the distinctions--and a thought about the different demands of the three classes of readers.
1) The prolific writer. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton readily come to mind as present-day examples. Any writer capable of turning out a book each year, or every other year, should have their name on this list. King proved prolific enough, years ago, to have had to resort to a pen name for his surplus novels. But the key points distinguishing prolific writers from factories is: their concern with quality and their abiding conviction that they are serious writers. Readers still expect quality from these writers and are capable of criticizing work not perceived as first-rate.
2) The literary factory. Quantity for this group overshadows quality. The legendary Frederick Faust could be their patron saint. Faust, who wrote as Max Brand and at least eight other names, turned out more than 500 novels and as many shorter stories. Total lifetime output: 25-30 million words. Speed: 12,000 words in a weekend. You'll have names of your own that belong on this list: Edgar Wallace, Isaac Asimov, Erle Stanley Gardner, ebook writer Russell Blake (25 books in 2 years). Some wrote for money, some wrote for fame...and some wrote, I believe, because they could not stop. The process of production, not the quality of the end product, drove them to put out again and again. Variety is welcome by readers as long as it's seen to run true to the brand.
3) The literary factory superintendent. Alexander Dumas caused a fury when his habit of 'farming out' parts of his books became public knowledge. No one minded his having a staff of researchers and assistants. But readers felt duped by his practice of having others write the parts that bored him or were beyond his ken. The Dumas brand, however, proved far stronger than the scandal. And I wonder how many readers today would be alarmed to know the practice still runs strong today. Publishers and agents are silent on the subject while they agree it does exist--and that readers would be shocked if they knew how prevalent it is. James Patterson deserves a good deal of credit for tearing down the Chinese Wall...and listing the names of his 'partners'--aka, employees. Readers of this last group's books want repetitive experience. They don't want a new book from James Patterson in the sense of something different. They want the same book as the last one they read, but with a different cover. Above all, they want the addictive formula: the third person opening that segues to the first person...short chapters...snappy sentences...by-the-numbers characters...etc.
In Part 2 we'll have a look at the likely differences between a novel written in a year and one written in a month.
1) The prolific writer. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton readily come to mind as present-day examples. Any writer capable of turning out a book each year, or every other year, should have their name on this list. King proved prolific enough, years ago, to have had to resort to a pen name for his surplus novels. But the key points distinguishing prolific writers from factories is: their concern with quality and their abiding conviction that they are serious writers. Readers still expect quality from these writers and are capable of criticizing work not perceived as first-rate.
2) The literary factory. Quantity for this group overshadows quality. The legendary Frederick Faust could be their patron saint. Faust, who wrote as Max Brand and at least eight other names, turned out more than 500 novels and as many shorter stories. Total lifetime output: 25-30 million words. Speed: 12,000 words in a weekend. You'll have names of your own that belong on this list: Edgar Wallace, Isaac Asimov, Erle Stanley Gardner, ebook writer Russell Blake (25 books in 2 years). Some wrote for money, some wrote for fame...and some wrote, I believe, because they could not stop. The process of production, not the quality of the end product, drove them to put out again and again. Variety is welcome by readers as long as it's seen to run true to the brand.
3) The literary factory superintendent. Alexander Dumas caused a fury when his habit of 'farming out' parts of his books became public knowledge. No one minded his having a staff of researchers and assistants. But readers felt duped by his practice of having others write the parts that bored him or were beyond his ken. The Dumas brand, however, proved far stronger than the scandal. And I wonder how many readers today would be alarmed to know the practice still runs strong today. Publishers and agents are silent on the subject while they agree it does exist--and that readers would be shocked if they knew how prevalent it is. James Patterson deserves a good deal of credit for tearing down the Chinese Wall...and listing the names of his 'partners'--aka, employees. Readers of this last group's books want repetitive experience. They don't want a new book from James Patterson in the sense of something different. They want the same book as the last one they read, but with a different cover. Above all, they want the addictive formula: the third person opening that segues to the first person...short chapters...snappy sentences...by-the-numbers characters...etc.
In Part 2 we'll have a look at the likely differences between a novel written in a year and one written in a month.
March 1, 2014
What do you want in a mystery series?
It strikes me that the bookstore shelves, physical or virtual, could be filled with better books if we were more decisive about what we want. Decisive and enlightened. To that end, I'll offer my want list for example. With luck, though I'm dealing with mysteries, you'll find some carryover into other genres.
What I want in a mystery series:
--Speed in production without sacrifice of quality. I don't want to wait 5-10 years between entries of 800-1000 pages. But then again I don't want sloppily written, badly edited, by the numbers trash that might have been cooked up by chimps on the sauce.
--I want a book with some meat on its bones but one I can quickly digest. So when it comes to series entertainment, I want something in between Umberto Eco and James Patterson. My series favorites: Lawrence Sanders, Brad Strickland writing as Ken McKea, Micheal Connelly, Valerie Laws, Diane Rapp, Chris Longmuir, John Sandford, Bill Kirton...
--A strong and polished style, neither florid nor banal. The writers whom I follow are stylistic Yoga masters, able to adapt their prose to the particular business at hand: now gritty, now sexy, now suitably lush.
--I want mysteries that test my hero's wits and mine. I don't want to be ten steps ahead...or behind.
--What really floats my boat is Amateur Razzmatazz: amateur detectives in over their heads sometimes but drawing on pluck and vast stores of resourcefulness. Police or trained detectives thrill me less than Lisbeth Salander, Miss Marple, Stephanie Plum...or Boss MacTavin.
--A series lead with real Jenny say Craw. That's a French expression often mis-written as Je ne sais quoi. Though I don't know who Jenny is or why she says Craw, I do know the expression means a certain something we can't define. And the best writers have it.
--The sexy thing. Young or old, flush or poor, thin or plump, male or female, the characters I want to hang with have qualities that turn me on. No sullen drunks or quitters will find any room in my heart.
--Crackling wit and dialogue. These two things are hard to nail, but here is where we separate the first-rate from the second. So much dialogue we get is dull or forced or precious. Even pack horse dialogue, loaded with prosier details, should have some spring in its step. As for wit, make it sparkle or leave the quips out.
--Next to last, for now: suspense. Tough to swing in a first-person series, but if we love a character we're prepared to imagine the worst. Over and over and over again.
--Finally, I want a lead who grows from book to book without ever losing the spirit I love.
Now I need to return to my hero, Boss MacTavin, and try a little harder to put these points to work.
What I want in a mystery series:
--Speed in production without sacrifice of quality. I don't want to wait 5-10 years between entries of 800-1000 pages. But then again I don't want sloppily written, badly edited, by the numbers trash that might have been cooked up by chimps on the sauce.
--I want a book with some meat on its bones but one I can quickly digest. So when it comes to series entertainment, I want something in between Umberto Eco and James Patterson. My series favorites: Lawrence Sanders, Brad Strickland writing as Ken McKea, Micheal Connelly, Valerie Laws, Diane Rapp, Chris Longmuir, John Sandford, Bill Kirton...
--A strong and polished style, neither florid nor banal. The writers whom I follow are stylistic Yoga masters, able to adapt their prose to the particular business at hand: now gritty, now sexy, now suitably lush.
--I want mysteries that test my hero's wits and mine. I don't want to be ten steps ahead...or behind.
--What really floats my boat is Amateur Razzmatazz: amateur detectives in over their heads sometimes but drawing on pluck and vast stores of resourcefulness. Police or trained detectives thrill me less than Lisbeth Salander, Miss Marple, Stephanie Plum...or Boss MacTavin.
--A series lead with real Jenny say Craw. That's a French expression often mis-written as Je ne sais quoi. Though I don't know who Jenny is or why she says Craw, I do know the expression means a certain something we can't define. And the best writers have it.
--The sexy thing. Young or old, flush or poor, thin or plump, male or female, the characters I want to hang with have qualities that turn me on. No sullen drunks or quitters will find any room in my heart.
--Crackling wit and dialogue. These two things are hard to nail, but here is where we separate the first-rate from the second. So much dialogue we get is dull or forced or precious. Even pack horse dialogue, loaded with prosier details, should have some spring in its step. As for wit, make it sparkle or leave the quips out.
--Next to last, for now: suspense. Tough to swing in a first-person series, but if we love a character we're prepared to imagine the worst. Over and over and over again.
--Finally, I want a lead who grows from book to book without ever losing the spirit I love.
Now I need to return to my hero, Boss MacTavin, and try a little harder to put these points to work.
February 28, 2014
Coming on Sunday, 3/2
.I'll tell you what I want from a good mystery series, then serve up a list of the writers who score.
If you like it, let me know and I'll follow up with more pieces in this vein.
If you like it, let me know and I'll follow up with more pieces in this vein.
February 26, 2014
Reb MacRath, Action Manifester: Flash Bulletin 6: Part 2
Part 1 laid out my strategy of 'writing' my way out of a corner that fear and inertia had painted me in. I'd treat the move as if I were writing a long book--breaking it down into doable parts...then breaking those down into each day's work. These parts resembled chapters...and, in the adventure, as in a good book, I had to keep things moving at a good clip and in a clear progression. So far, so good.
I saw the parts quite clearly: deciding on a date...selecting employers to approach and ways of doing so effectively months in advance...figuring how to coordinate leaving my apartment in August, when the lease expires, and finding a room till it's time to move...etc.
I set into action mode by downsizing with a vengeance: filling giant trash bags with everything I didn't need. Within a week I'd bagged and trashed about 600 pounds and felt that I was on my way. Even so, however, I needed something more: I needed a turbocharged version of the secret weapon I'd invented in November.
I can't reveal its name yet or all of its specifics. But it's 'job description' may prove to be equally useful. It needed to be pocket-sized...capable of tracking my steps easily and monitoring my progress...giving me daily updates of my status with the timeline...and it had to drive me relentlessly to take more significant action.
With the changed weapon at my service, I:
--Began organizing all personal papers while bagging more trash.
--Contacted truckers and storage firms for quotes.
--Revised my basic resume, intended for clerical work, and began to draft a new one for editorial or proofreading work.
--Registered with a nationwide temp agency.
--Returned to gym after months of home workouts.
--Completed the recovery of my lost new novel, soon to be my seventh ebook.
--Emailed the publisher of a Seattle paper about my doing a column when I arrive.
I think I can say I'm approaching high gear!
I saw the parts quite clearly: deciding on a date...selecting employers to approach and ways of doing so effectively months in advance...figuring how to coordinate leaving my apartment in August, when the lease expires, and finding a room till it's time to move...etc.
I set into action mode by downsizing with a vengeance: filling giant trash bags with everything I didn't need. Within a week I'd bagged and trashed about 600 pounds and felt that I was on my way. Even so, however, I needed something more: I needed a turbocharged version of the secret weapon I'd invented in November.
I can't reveal its name yet or all of its specifics. But it's 'job description' may prove to be equally useful. It needed to be pocket-sized...capable of tracking my steps easily and monitoring my progress...giving me daily updates of my status with the timeline...and it had to drive me relentlessly to take more significant action.
With the changed weapon at my service, I:
--Began organizing all personal papers while bagging more trash.
--Contacted truckers and storage firms for quotes.
--Revised my basic resume, intended for clerical work, and began to draft a new one for editorial or proofreading work.
--Registered with a nationwide temp agency.
--Returned to gym after months of home workouts.
--Completed the recovery of my lost new novel, soon to be my seventh ebook.
--Emailed the publisher of a Seattle paper about my doing a column when I arrive.
I think I can say I'm approaching high gear!
February 20, 2014
Reb MacRath, Action Manifester: Flash Bulletin 6: Part 1
Sometimes when we paint ourselves into a corner we may need to write ourselves out. This Flash Bulletin will tell you how I need exactly that when faced with a life goal that mocked me--and two demons that blocked my escape.
Though I'd moved across country a half-dozen times--once with 300 bucks to my name--my dream of a move to Seattle grew more distant by the time. I'd grown older, times had changed and the move's logistics floored me. Seattle was close to becoming the dream that got away.
I was living from payday to payday and couldn't see how I could finance the move. The harder I tried to figure it out, the more fiercely the demons assailed me. Can't-itis, the king demon, said: You can't find a job out west until you make move and you can't find an apartment there until you have a job and you can't even send your stuff until you have those two. This demon's cousin, Too-Too, pitched in: You're too old to pull this off and you've been working way too long at your present joe job and you're too poor to find a mate and there's too much competition for you to win at selling ebooks.
But something astonishing happened this week: a miraculous shift of perspective. I'd come to see myself, at least in regard to the move, as a helpless sad sack trapped in a pitiful circle of woe. When the miracle happened on Tuesday, I felt flooded in the most wonderful light. I saw with perfect clarity that I wasn't trapped at all. Not if I chose to see myself as the hero of a story that I had the power to write. Say, a thriller about a man down on his luck and facing some mighty tall hurdles...
Now, I knew something about writing after publishing ten books. And among the top lessons I'd learned were these:
1) I need to work by outline, blocking out my stories in clearly defined parts.
2) On the road to redemption, the hero must show a fighting spirit no matter how often he falls. And we need to see this early on.
3) He must move forward, tackling his demons and taking key steps at key times. We can't abide a loser for 80% of a book, though we may abide a loser who shows a winning streak even if he stumbles. Certainly, by the halfway point he'd better show his stripes.
4) In the writing itself, the key thing is to stay on track, getting it down on paper, no matter how wretched the first draft may be.
With these lessons in mind, the move seemed eminently doable--if I broke it down just so, and continued to regard myself as an action hero...temporarily down on his luck. I chose a move deadline: October, 2014. Next, I listed the slew of things I'd have to do: from packing to research to making the money to move, etc. The list looked as formidable as finishing a novel. But then again, I'd published ten. So I did what I'd do if writing the move as a novel:
I broke it down into parts, things I'd need to do each month. And to start off on the right action footing, I filled a 55-gallon trash bag with clutter and garbage and junk I won't need.
Part 2, coming soon, will offer more specifics--and tell you how I put to work the secret weapon I mentioned a few months ago.
The Seattle Can-Can has begun!
Though I'd moved across country a half-dozen times--once with 300 bucks to my name--my dream of a move to Seattle grew more distant by the time. I'd grown older, times had changed and the move's logistics floored me. Seattle was close to becoming the dream that got away.
I was living from payday to payday and couldn't see how I could finance the move. The harder I tried to figure it out, the more fiercely the demons assailed me. Can't-itis, the king demon, said: You can't find a job out west until you make move and you can't find an apartment there until you have a job and you can't even send your stuff until you have those two. This demon's cousin, Too-Too, pitched in: You're too old to pull this off and you've been working way too long at your present joe job and you're too poor to find a mate and there's too much competition for you to win at selling ebooks.
But something astonishing happened this week: a miraculous shift of perspective. I'd come to see myself, at least in regard to the move, as a helpless sad sack trapped in a pitiful circle of woe. When the miracle happened on Tuesday, I felt flooded in the most wonderful light. I saw with perfect clarity that I wasn't trapped at all. Not if I chose to see myself as the hero of a story that I had the power to write. Say, a thriller about a man down on his luck and facing some mighty tall hurdles...
Now, I knew something about writing after publishing ten books. And among the top lessons I'd learned were these:
1) I need to work by outline, blocking out my stories in clearly defined parts.
2) On the road to redemption, the hero must show a fighting spirit no matter how often he falls. And we need to see this early on.
3) He must move forward, tackling his demons and taking key steps at key times. We can't abide a loser for 80% of a book, though we may abide a loser who shows a winning streak even if he stumbles. Certainly, by the halfway point he'd better show his stripes.
4) In the writing itself, the key thing is to stay on track, getting it down on paper, no matter how wretched the first draft may be.
With these lessons in mind, the move seemed eminently doable--if I broke it down just so, and continued to regard myself as an action hero...temporarily down on his luck. I chose a move deadline: October, 2014. Next, I listed the slew of things I'd have to do: from packing to research to making the money to move, etc. The list looked as formidable as finishing a novel. But then again, I'd published ten. So I did what I'd do if writing the move as a novel:
I broke it down into parts, things I'd need to do each month. And to start off on the right action footing, I filled a 55-gallon trash bag with clutter and garbage and junk I won't need.
Part 2, coming soon, will offer more specifics--and tell you how I put to work the secret weapon I mentioned a few months ago.
The Seattle Can-Can has begun!
February 17, 2014
One Day Delay
The promised manifestation update has been delayed till Monday, 2/17. Meantime, do check out my post on Facebook today regarding a bus-bound adventure and topless teenage nymphos.
February 15, 2014
Coming Monday!
The snow from hell has melted. Once more we set boldly forth to the fray while the year is still young and our plans still have spunk.
On Monday the 6th Action Manifesting Flash Bulletin will bring you up to date, give you some tools you can use...and provide some telling clues to the nature of my 'secret weapon'.
Here, Live on Monday.
On Monday the 6th Action Manifesting Flash Bulletin will bring you up to date, give you some tools you can use...and provide some telling clues to the nature of my 'secret weapon'.
Here, Live on Monday.
February 11, 2014
Make Love to Your Kindles with this Valentine's Day Sale!
From February 12-18 Books-a-Fire offers twenty great gifts for all Kindles--from free to just $.99! Choose from aranormal, romance, mysteries, suspense, fantasy, nonfiction....
Two of my books--Southern Scotch and April Yule--are included. And I'm thrilled to be part of this lineup.
Here's the link:
http://www.booksafiregiveaway.com/
Two of my books--Southern Scotch and April Yule--are included. And I'm thrilled to be part of this lineup.
Here's the link:
http://www.booksafiregiveaway.com/
