Jeff Miller's Blog, page 13

I always assumed that I’d use Jeffrey on the cover of my...

I always assumed that I’d use Jeffrey on the cover of my books.

Jeff sounds like a regular guy.  Jeffrey sounds like an author.  And I’ve always wanted to be an author.

But in daily life, I’ve never gone by Jeffrey.  I’ve always had people call me Jeff.  I know some Michaels who have no opinion about whether you call them Michael or Mike.  I can’t fathom that.  You’re either a Mike or Michael.  You’re either a Tom or a Thomas.  You’re either a Charlie or a Charles.  And I’m not a Jeffrey; I’m a Jeff.

I’m not sure why I hate the name Jeffrey, but it probably has something to do with Bill Cosby.  When I was little, I listened to Bill Cosby albums all the time.  I knew every word and every pause of every routine.  And Cosby had the routine about a Jeffrey that you see above.  Who would want to be a Jeffrey after that?

But still, I figured I’d be a Jeffrey as an author, because authors are formal and distinguished, and that requires syllables.  It’s not Ed Poe.  It’s not Nate Hawthorne.  It’s not Herm Melville.  It’s not Geoff Chaucer.  So maybe it shouldn’t be Jeff Miller, I thought. 

Except, that’s wrong, right?  For every Thomas Berger, there’s a Tom Wolfe.  For every Jonathan Swift, there’s a John Updike or a John Steinbeck.  Maybe there wasn’t a Dave Wallace, but there is a Dave Eggers.  So there could be a Jeffery Deaver and a Jeff Miller, right?  

And frankly, at the end of the day, it had to be Jeff, because otherwise people would start calling me Jeffrey, and every time I’d hear that Bill Cosby routine in my head.

People must be pre-ordering copies of The Bubble Gum Thief; its...

People must be pre-ordering copies of The Bubble Gum Thief; its ranking has shot up from around 500,000 to here.  

What a Review Can Mean to an Author

Writing is subjective, and there will always be people who do not connect with what you’ve written.  But when someone does find a connection, it’s magical, and elating, and sustaining.  Here’s a reader review that left me overjoyed to the verge of tears:

I didn’t expect much with this. In fact, I almost didn’t order it because of concerns about how well a male author could depict the complexities of a female FBI agent with an eating disorder. I needn’t have worried - this book was phenomenally written, both in the plot line and the character development.

The story begins with the theft of a piece of gum and the crimes escalate over time, not catching the attention of the FBI until after the first few offenses. The antagonist’s planning and thought-process and intent are more complex than they seem initially, and by the end, I found myself sympathizing with the character while still repulsed by his crimes. Miller uses bits of foreshadowing and hint-dropping but not so much that I figured everything out before he revealed it. I found the twists to be logical and believable without being too predictable, while the basic elements I expect from an FBI procedural were maintained (for example, investigative steps, etc.). Dagny is certainly a flawed protagonist, but her flaws are believable and intersect with the case in intriguing ways that help to move the plot along. (In other words, she’s not a weak female written in a condescending way by a male author, as often is the case in suspenseful fiction, but instead a strong lead whose shortcomings are purposeful in the plot.)

This didn’t just exceed my expectations; it blew me away. I think this is the author’s first book, and I will be on the watch for future ones. This was clever, well-written, and so enjoyable that I was sad when it finished, even though it’s more than 400 pages long.

When I started writing The Bubble Gum Thief,  I wanted to create the kind of complex, dynamic female protagonist rarely seen in thriller novels, and I put a lot of time and effort into trying to make her real.  I suspected that there would be justifiable skepticism about whether a male writer could pull it off.  (My first agent, Elaine Koster, wanted me to use a gender ambiguous pen name for this reason).  The reader above overcame her skepticism and had exactly the experience I intended for readers when I wrote the book.  I wanted her to enjoy the twists, and sympathize with the villain, and feel sad to leave the world of the book when it was done. To be able to hear all of this worked for someone is incredible.  I’m sure she can’t imagine how much this review means to me.  It’s Christmas and Hanukkah and my birthday rolled into one.

A stand-up comedian can react to the response from the crowd.  A film director can watch a screening of his film in front of an audience to see what works.  But a writer sits alone in a room, typing words on a screen, praying that they connect with people he doesn’t know in places he’s never been.  When someone lets an author know that they like what they’ve written, it makes that room feel a lot less lonely.  It’s the best thing in the world.

Vanity

I’m not sure why I needed to order these, but I did order these.

Wraparound Mugs by Vistaprint



And this:


Pens by Vistaprint

Ruminations on Time

I started writing The Bubble Gum Thief in 2006. After writing a dozen drafts over three years, I got an agent, and then reworked the book. My agent passed away. I got another agent. I reworked the book some more. We sold it. It went through editing, and then more editing, and then proofing. Now, we’re less than a month away from publication, six years after I started writing the book.

A lot happened in those six years. In my personal life, I got married. We had a boy, and then another. We moved back to Cincinnati. The world changed too. The economy fell apart. We had two presidential elections. Justin Bieber.

Sometimes, when things change, you have to change your book. Six years ago, Larry King, Lou Dobbs, and Keith Olbermann all had television shows. Each had to come out of the book as they retired.

Dagny is the type of person who would have an iPhone, but there was no iPhone in 2006. Over the years, I repeatedly toyed with the idea of changing her cell phone to an iPhone, but it would have been too difficult to make sure I caught every change. (I did remove every reference to flipping open her phone).

In 2006, Dagny was able to connect her laptop to the internet with a Spint EV-DO card, the workings of which I explained in now-comical detail. By the final draft, she was connecting to the internet with a 4G connection that I didn’t have to explain at all. It’s funny how time can make explanation unnecessary.

Time can change things about your characters, even if all of the words stay the same. There is a teenager in the first chapter who wears a faded Arcade Fire T-shirt. This detail tells something about the character to the reader. But this detail means something different now than it did in 2006, and so the kid changed a little, without me doing anything at all.

Dagny eats a meal at a steakhouse called The Waterfront, which closed in 2011. The restaurant floated on a barge on the Kentucky side ofthe Ohio River, so its patrons had a fantastic view of Cincinnati. Even though the restaurant closed, it’s still in the book, because that’s where I wanted Dagny to eat, and what’s the point of fiction if you can’t keep a place you liked alive. And who knows?—maybe the story takes place in 2011.

Overall, the passage of time is mostly a pain in the neck—it forces you to scour your work for references that have to be changed or modified.  It’s a good reason to write Fantasy.

Goodreads Giveaway

I’m giving out a few more ARCs at Goodreads:

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Bubble Gum Thief
by Jeff Miller

Giveaway ends November 13, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

"There are lots of twists and turns here, and just when the case appears to be solved, it isn’t. A..."

“There are lots of twists and turns here, and just when the case appears to be solved, it isn’t. A gripping plot and a terrific cast leave the reader hoping that this is the first of a series; these characters are too good for just one book.”

- From a starred review of The Bubble Gum Thief that will appear in the November 15, 2012 issue of Booklist.  It’s my first official review, and I’m delighted and relieved that it’s a a good one.

The Audiobook

They are recording the audiobook of The Bubble Gum Thief this week.   That is crazy.  Right now, hundreds of miles away, a woman is in a recording studio, reading my book into a microphone. 

I’d never thought about it before, but before they record an audiobook, someone has to make sure they have the proper pronunciation for every word in the book. If they don’t know the pronunciation, they have to research it, using things like YouTube to find people saying the words.  If they can’t find the proper pronunciation, they go to the author for help.  These are the words from my book that I was asked about:

66 Danschweida (name of boat)—German would be approx.          DAHN-shvī-duh I think.

88. César Gerónimo—This should be easy but everything on YouTube seems blocked.  Is it commonly pronounced  SAY-zahr, SEE-zer?     hayr-OH-nee-moh, Jәr-AH-ni-moh?  Or some other variant

164. Lanconide— LAN-kә-nīd?

188 Raul Manuel – rah-OOL  MAN-yoo-ehl  or man-WEHL ?

231 IAFIS—  AFIS is typically pronounced AY-fis, do we just say the letter I in front of that?  Ī-AY-fis?

All of these were easy for me except Lanconide.  It’s a white powder used for dusting for fingerprints on dark surfaces.  I’ve read about it, but never actually heard it said.  Suspense author Kendra Elliot told me I ought to ask fellow-author Tom Adair, who explained that he’d always pronounced it “LANK-a-nide,” which was good enough for me.  It was extremely nice of Kendra and Tom to help me out.  (I’ve been delighted to see that this kind of camaraderie is widespread among the triller author ranks.)

The best part of Bouchercon was going to dinner with some of the...

The best part of Bouchercon was going to dinner with some of the other Thomas & Mercer authors.  All these folks come from vastly differently places, but all of them love doing the same thing.  

Bouchercon was great. My publisher, Thomas & Mercer,...

My book, on a table, with other real books.


My name, on a board, with other real authors.


One of the many panels I attended.


Some of the free books I got.


My publisher, Thomas & Mercer, sponsored the opening ceremonies at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


Part of the Elvis exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


The Beatles stuff was my favorite stuff.


My last picture, before the Rock and Roll Security Team surrounded me and made me put down the camera.


Me, with world-famous author Jennifer Hillier.


World-famous Hillier's panel.

Bouchercon was great.  My publisher, Thomas & Mercer, sponsored the opening ceremonies, and bought me two lunches and a dinner.  I met authors that I knew from online.  I heard incredible authors speak.  I got some sleep.  And the Reds won without Cueto.  Can’t ask for more than that.