Martin Roy Hill's Blog
November 13, 2023
Codename: Parsifal The True Story Behind the Story
My latest thriller, Codename Parsifal, recently Codename Parsifal: A WWII Thrillerarrived on bookshelves. My eleventh novel and my twelfth published book, Parsifal is the story of three commando teams—American, Nazi, and Russian—racing to find the legendary Spear of Destiny in the last days of WWII.
The Spear, which according to legend was used to stab Christ’s chest as he hung on the cross, is more than a historic relic. The myth surrounding the spear claims that whoever possesses it will control the destiny of the world. General George Patton wants it. SS leader Heinrich Himmler wants it. And Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin wants it.
Codename Parsifal, of course, is fiction, but the Spear of Destiny is not. It has been part of the Holy Roman Relics since Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler of Rome, carried it into battle. And in the waning days of WWII, there was a very real search for the spear—and that search was the inspiration for Codename Parsifal.
So, this is the “story behind the story.”
During the heyday of the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Relics—bejeweled swords, crowns, and other items used in the coronation of new emperors—resided in Nuremburg, in what is today Germany. In the 1800s, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte coveted the Spear of Destiny, and as his army marched toward Nuremburg, the relics were moved to Austria for “temporary” safekeeping. Unfortunately for Nuremburg, the Austrians decided to keep the Roman relics. They remained in a museum in Vienna for decades.
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who grew up in Austria, also coveted the Spear of Destiny. In March 1938, the Nazis marched into Austria unopposed, an event known as the Anschluss. Within hours, the SS packed up the relics and shipped them to Nuremburg, where they stayed on public display until American and British bombs began to pound the city. The relics were removed from public display and disappeared.
In February 1945, Lieutenant Walter Horn, a German-born American Army officer, was interrogating German prisoners of war when one POW, eager to gain favors, mentioned he knew where the missing Holy Roman Relics were hidden. The Nazi SS had hidden them in a secret underground bunker built beneath a bakery in an area of Nuremburg known as Blacksmith Alley. The POW knew this because his parents owned the bakery.
The information stunned Horn. As a professor of art history at UC Berkeley, Horn knew well the value and historical significance of the Holy Roman Relics. He dashed off a report to his higher ups, then went on with his mundane interrogation of German POWs.
Horn’s report landed on General Patton’s desk. Patton believed in reincarnation and that he had lived several past lives as a warrior extending back to the Roman Legions. He also had an interest in the Spear of Destiny, having written a poem in which he fancied himself as the legionnaire who stabbed Christ. Before Horn knew it, he was standing in front of the general receiving orders to recover the spear—oh, and the other relics, too.
There was one problem, and it was a big one. The Germans were still in control of Nuremburg and were fortifying it night and day. Recovering the relics would have to wait until the city’s capture.
Or maybe not.
The Battle of Nuremburg was one of the most vicious battles of the European war. The fighting was literally street-by-street, house-to-house, door-to-door. Still, as the battle raged, on Patton’s orders an infantry company was ordered to fight its way to Blacksmith Alley and capture and secure the bakery and its secret underground bunker. They succeeded, but at a high cost in blood and lives.
Horn arrived at the bunker after the battle and found that the vault holding the relics was still sealed. After some wrangling and dickering, Horn persuaded local city officials to open the vault. What he found stunned Horn. The Spear of Destiny was there, but many of the most valuable relics were missing. Where did they go and why? And why wasn’t the spear taken with them?
It would take Horn weeks of dogged investigation to finally discover there was a second secret underground bunker only a hundred yards away from the first. There he found the missing relics. But that didn’t end the story.
Patton, a notorious collector of war “souvenirs,” wanted to keep the relics as war booty. General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, Allied supreme commander, wanted them returned to the museum in Vienna. Only after receiving direct orders from Ike did Patton reluctantly release the relics for return to the museum.
Of course, the plot to Codename Parsifal is nothing like Horn’s adventure, though the young lieutenant does make a brief cameo toward the end. Instead, the book's plot and telling parallels the story of Camelot's Sir Percival (renamed Parsifal for Wagner's famous opera) and his search for the spear and the Holy Grail.
And what about the Spear of Destiny itself? Does it possess some kind of mystical power as legend suggests? Who knows? Unlike other books or movies featuring the spear, I purposely avoided bringing the paranormal into the plot.
The fact is, the Spear of Destiny taken from the Vienna museum may not even be the “True Spear.” Another spear said to be the Spear of Destiny resides in the Cathedral Museum in Poland. And the Vatican claims the True Spear is held in secret in St. Peter's Basilica.
Which, if any, is the real Spear of Destiny? That may be a mystery never to be solved.
The Spear, which according to legend was used to stab Christ’s chest as he hung on the cross, is more than a historic relic. The myth surrounding the spear claims that whoever possesses it will control the destiny of the world. General George Patton wants it. SS leader Heinrich Himmler wants it. And Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin wants it.
Codename Parsifal, of course, is fiction, but the Spear of Destiny is not. It has been part of the Holy Roman Relics since Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler of Rome, carried it into battle. And in the waning days of WWII, there was a very real search for the spear—and that search was the inspiration for Codename Parsifal.
So, this is the “story behind the story.”
During the heyday of the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Relics—bejeweled swords, crowns, and other items used in the coronation of new emperors—resided in Nuremburg, in what is today Germany. In the 1800s, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte coveted the Spear of Destiny, and as his army marched toward Nuremburg, the relics were moved to Austria for “temporary” safekeeping. Unfortunately for Nuremburg, the Austrians decided to keep the Roman relics. They remained in a museum in Vienna for decades.
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who grew up in Austria, also coveted the Spear of Destiny. In March 1938, the Nazis marched into Austria unopposed, an event known as the Anschluss. Within hours, the SS packed up the relics and shipped them to Nuremburg, where they stayed on public display until American and British bombs began to pound the city. The relics were removed from public display and disappeared.
In February 1945, Lieutenant Walter Horn, a German-born American Army officer, was interrogating German prisoners of war when one POW, eager to gain favors, mentioned he knew where the missing Holy Roman Relics were hidden. The Nazi SS had hidden them in a secret underground bunker built beneath a bakery in an area of Nuremburg known as Blacksmith Alley. The POW knew this because his parents owned the bakery.
The information stunned Horn. As a professor of art history at UC Berkeley, Horn knew well the value and historical significance of the Holy Roman Relics. He dashed off a report to his higher ups, then went on with his mundane interrogation of German POWs.
Horn’s report landed on General Patton’s desk. Patton believed in reincarnation and that he had lived several past lives as a warrior extending back to the Roman Legions. He also had an interest in the Spear of Destiny, having written a poem in which he fancied himself as the legionnaire who stabbed Christ. Before Horn knew it, he was standing in front of the general receiving orders to recover the spear—oh, and the other relics, too.
There was one problem, and it was a big one. The Germans were still in control of Nuremburg and were fortifying it night and day. Recovering the relics would have to wait until the city’s capture.
Or maybe not.
The Battle of Nuremburg was one of the most vicious battles of the European war. The fighting was literally street-by-street, house-to-house, door-to-door. Still, as the battle raged, on Patton’s orders an infantry company was ordered to fight its way to Blacksmith Alley and capture and secure the bakery and its secret underground bunker. They succeeded, but at a high cost in blood and lives.
Horn arrived at the bunker after the battle and found that the vault holding the relics was still sealed. After some wrangling and dickering, Horn persuaded local city officials to open the vault. What he found stunned Horn. The Spear of Destiny was there, but many of the most valuable relics were missing. Where did they go and why? And why wasn’t the spear taken with them?
It would take Horn weeks of dogged investigation to finally discover there was a second secret underground bunker only a hundred yards away from the first. There he found the missing relics. But that didn’t end the story.
Patton, a notorious collector of war “souvenirs,” wanted to keep the relics as war booty. General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, Allied supreme commander, wanted them returned to the museum in Vienna. Only after receiving direct orders from Ike did Patton reluctantly release the relics for return to the museum.
Of course, the plot to Codename Parsifal is nothing like Horn’s adventure, though the young lieutenant does make a brief cameo toward the end. Instead, the book's plot and telling parallels the story of Camelot's Sir Percival (renamed Parsifal for Wagner's famous opera) and his search for the spear and the Holy Grail.
And what about the Spear of Destiny itself? Does it possess some kind of mystical power as legend suggests? Who knows? Unlike other books or movies featuring the spear, I purposely avoided bringing the paranormal into the plot.
The fact is, the Spear of Destiny taken from the Vienna museum may not even be the “True Spear.” Another spear said to be the Spear of Destiny resides in the Cathedral Museum in Poland. And the Vatican claims the True Spear is held in secret in St. Peter's Basilica.
Which, if any, is the real Spear of Destiny? That may be a mystery never to be solved.
Look. Up in the Sky. It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's a ... UFO?
I recently filed my first UFO report.
There, I said, it. I actually, officially, authentically, for real filed a report on a sighting I had two years ago of an unidentified flying object. Well, I guess they’re called unknown aerial phenomenon (UAP) now.
The sighting occurred in March 2021 right outside my house. Why did I wait two years to report it? I considered filing a report back then, but I had no photo and no fellow witness (that I know of) and, frankly, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen something strange in the air.
The first time I saw a UFO, I was in third or fourth grade—and, yes, there were flying machines way back then. A classmate and I were dragging our feet returning to class after recess when something in the sky caught our attention. It was a sleek, black rocket ship like nothing we’d ever seen. It was flying very low, so we got a good view of it. In fact, we thought it might be landing. Frightened that some bug-eyed, alien monster might eat us, we ran back to class and told the teacher, but she thought we were making it up as an excuse for being late.
A few years went by, then I saw it again, the same strange, sleek, all-black aerial craft. This time it was displayed on the top of a model airplane kit. The model was of the SR-71 “Blackbird” spy plane, successor to the U-2 spy plane. The Blackbird was a variant of the USAF’s secret A-12 aircraft, a jet plane with multiple variants, including a bomber and an interceptor, and which first flew out of Area 51 in 1962. Eventually, the A-12 bomber/interceptor program was cancelled, but the streamlined, radar-evading design lived on as the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.
Usually, the A-12/SR-71 aircraft flew at extremely high altitudes, well out of view of observers on the ground. But occasionally during test flights, mechanical problems occurred that forced the aircraft to fly low over well-populated areas. The result was always an increase in reported sightings of UFOs.
My second sighting occurred in my junior or senior year in high school. I grew up in Redondo Beach, California. My friend, Charlie, and I were attending a beach party one night and spotted a single bright light making strange maneuvers over the ocean. We watched in fascination as it soundlessly made zig-zag turns no known aircraft could make. At the time, Charlie and I were both enrolled in a two-year aero-science college prep course, so we understood the dynamics of flight. Not even a helicopter could have made those turns.
At this point, try to imagine a calendar with its pages being torn off one after another indicating the march of time, like in those old black-and-white movies. Somewhere around my forties, I learned that the Redondo Trench, a subsurface canyon that runs along the coast of southern Los Angeles County right where Charlie and I had our sighting, was known as a hotspot for sightings of both UFOs and USOs or unidentified submerged objects. (If you want to read more about USOs, check out my sci-fi novel, Polar Melt.)
That sparked another memory. In the 1970s, I was stationed at Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor with the U.S. Coast Guard running small boat search-and-rescue missions. On more than one occasion, we were called out at night or in the early morning to search for aircraft that reportedly crashed in the ocean just off the coast where the Redondo Trench resides. Each time there were multiple reporting witnesses, including police officers, who said they saw the lights of an aircraft enter the sea. Each time, we’d respond along with local lifeguard and harbor patrol boats. And each time we’d find no evidence of a plane crash—no debris, no oil slick, nothing.
Once I learned about the Redondo Trench’s reputation as a UFO hotspot, I remembered those reported airplane crashes and thought, “Well, that would explain it …”
So, I never reported my 2021 sighting. At the time, I made a contemporaneous Facebook post. But it wasn’t until this month—after the Pentagon’s admission it was still investigating UFO/UAPs, and Congress’ hearing on UFOs—that I decided to file a report. I went back into my Facebook archives and found my original post and used that to reconstruct the sighting. I filed my report with both the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and Enigma Labs, another reporting service.
If you’d like to read the report, you can find it here: https://enigmalabs.io/incident/279098
There, I said, it. I actually, officially, authentically, for real filed a report on a sighting I had two years ago of an unidentified flying object. Well, I guess they’re called unknown aerial phenomenon (UAP) now.
The sighting occurred in March 2021 right outside my house. Why did I wait two years to report it? I considered filing a report back then, but I had no photo and no fellow witness (that I know of) and, frankly, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen something strange in the air.
The first time I saw a UFO, I was in third or fourth grade—and, yes, there were flying machines way back then. A classmate and I were dragging our feet returning to class after recess when something in the sky caught our attention. It was a sleek, black rocket ship like nothing we’d ever seen. It was flying very low, so we got a good view of it. In fact, we thought it might be landing. Frightened that some bug-eyed, alien monster might eat us, we ran back to class and told the teacher, but she thought we were making it up as an excuse for being late.
A few years went by, then I saw it again, the same strange, sleek, all-black aerial craft. This time it was displayed on the top of a model airplane kit. The model was of the SR-71 “Blackbird” spy plane, successor to the U-2 spy plane. The Blackbird was a variant of the USAF’s secret A-12 aircraft, a jet plane with multiple variants, including a bomber and an interceptor, and which first flew out of Area 51 in 1962. Eventually, the A-12 bomber/interceptor program was cancelled, but the streamlined, radar-evading design lived on as the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.
Usually, the A-12/SR-71 aircraft flew at extremely high altitudes, well out of view of observers on the ground. But occasionally during test flights, mechanical problems occurred that forced the aircraft to fly low over well-populated areas. The result was always an increase in reported sightings of UFOs.
My second sighting occurred in my junior or senior year in high school. I grew up in Redondo Beach, California. My friend, Charlie, and I were attending a beach party one night and spotted a single bright light making strange maneuvers over the ocean. We watched in fascination as it soundlessly made zig-zag turns no known aircraft could make. At the time, Charlie and I were both enrolled in a two-year aero-science college prep course, so we understood the dynamics of flight. Not even a helicopter could have made those turns.
At this point, try to imagine a calendar with its pages being torn off one after another indicating the march of time, like in those old black-and-white movies. Somewhere around my forties, I learned that the Redondo Trench, a subsurface canyon that runs along the coast of southern Los Angeles County right where Charlie and I had our sighting, was known as a hotspot for sightings of both UFOs and USOs or unidentified submerged objects. (If you want to read more about USOs, check out my sci-fi novel, Polar Melt.)
That sparked another memory. In the 1970s, I was stationed at Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor with the U.S. Coast Guard running small boat search-and-rescue missions. On more than one occasion, we were called out at night or in the early morning to search for aircraft that reportedly crashed in the ocean just off the coast where the Redondo Trench resides. Each time there were multiple reporting witnesses, including police officers, who said they saw the lights of an aircraft enter the sea. Each time, we’d respond along with local lifeguard and harbor patrol boats. And each time we’d find no evidence of a plane crash—no debris, no oil slick, nothing.
Once I learned about the Redondo Trench’s reputation as a UFO hotspot, I remembered those reported airplane crashes and thought, “Well, that would explain it …”
So, I never reported my 2021 sighting. At the time, I made a contemporaneous Facebook post. But it wasn’t until this month—after the Pentagon’s admission it was still investigating UFO/UAPs, and Congress’ hearing on UFOs—that I decided to file a report. I went back into my Facebook archives and found my original post and used that to reconstruct the sighting. I filed my report with both the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and Enigma Labs, another reporting service.
If you’d like to read the report, you can find it here: https://enigmalabs.io/incident/279098
October 18, 2023
Not So Intelligent Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligent apps have the writing world in a tizzy. To listen to AI proponents, writers—book authors, content writers, journalists—will soon be going the way of the buggy whip. But before we wordmeisters throw out our computers and style manuals, let’s take a deep breath and consider some facts.
AI refers to a form of intelligence created by humans and, let’s face it, humankind isn’t the brightest bulb in the cosmic chandelier. That also goes for software engineers who program the AI apps. The idea that humans can create anything intelligent is laughable.
I worked with programmers for many years when I was a Navy research analyst. They exist in a world of algorithms consisting of “if this, then that” statements. Programmers are not omniscient (who is?), so they rely on “subject matter experts” like me to tell them what those algorithms should do. And the one thing algorithms can’t do is think—at least not yet.
Any writer who relies on AI to produce novels, journalism, or online content will end up with mud on their face just as happened to the attorney who got caught relying on AI to write his inaccurate court filings.
Recently, I tested one of the better-known AI content mills by asking it to write a Wikipedia entry about me. The results were interesting—and entirely wrong. Here are a few examples:
“Martin Roy Hill is an American author and former military officer known for his gripping and suspenseful thriller novels. With a background in law enforcement and military intelligence, Hill brings a unique blend of experience and expertise to his writing.” (Not really. I was a medical service corps officer then later converted to military police.)
“Martin Roy Hill was born on March 12, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois.” (Wrong date, year, city, and state).
“Hill pursued his academic journey at Northwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.” (I received a BA in journalism from CSU Dominguez Hills).
“Following his graduation, Hill joined the United States Army, where he served as a military intelligence officer.” (I joined the US Coast Guard Reserve after high school with subsequent enlistments in the USNR and the California Guard).
“After leaving the military, Hill transitioned into law enforcement, joining the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He worked as a patrol officer and later as a detective in the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division. (I served as a volunteer medic with the San Diego Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Reserve. I made my living as a journalist and, later, as a military analyst).
“In 2012, Hill published his debut novel, "The Killing Depths," which introduced readers to his recurring protagonist, Peter Brandt, a former Navy diver turned investigative journalist.” (“The Killing Depths” features Linus Schag, an NCIS special agent. Peter Brandt, an investigative journalist, is featured in another one of my series. Neither is a former Navy diver.)
The AI-produced bio went on to credit me with authorship of several short stories written by other authors as well as writing awards I never won. Yet, it only listed four of the twelve books I’ve published and none of the writing awards I actually have won.
I made several more attempts with this robo-writer, all with similar wrong results. The similarity in the writing of those attempts led me to believe the AI was simply using a pre-established template, which is not how artificial intelligence is supposed to work.
Now, a real writer—by that I mean a human—could get a pretty good idea of my background and my work by simply visiting my webpage (martinroyhill.com), which includes a lengthy biography. But even when I directed the AI to my website, it continued to regurgitate inaccurate information.
Which proves my point: As stupid as humankind is, we are still smarter than artificial intelligence. At least for now.
AI refers to a form of intelligence created by humans and, let’s face it, humankind isn’t the brightest bulb in the cosmic chandelier. That also goes for software engineers who program the AI apps. The idea that humans can create anything intelligent is laughable.
I worked with programmers for many years when I was a Navy research analyst. They exist in a world of algorithms consisting of “if this, then that” statements. Programmers are not omniscient (who is?), so they rely on “subject matter experts” like me to tell them what those algorithms should do. And the one thing algorithms can’t do is think—at least not yet.
Any writer who relies on AI to produce novels, journalism, or online content will end up with mud on their face just as happened to the attorney who got caught relying on AI to write his inaccurate court filings.
Recently, I tested one of the better-known AI content mills by asking it to write a Wikipedia entry about me. The results were interesting—and entirely wrong. Here are a few examples:
“Martin Roy Hill is an American author and former military officer known for his gripping and suspenseful thriller novels. With a background in law enforcement and military intelligence, Hill brings a unique blend of experience and expertise to his writing.” (Not really. I was a medical service corps officer then later converted to military police.)
“Martin Roy Hill was born on March 12, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois.” (Wrong date, year, city, and state).
“Hill pursued his academic journey at Northwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.” (I received a BA in journalism from CSU Dominguez Hills).
“Following his graduation, Hill joined the United States Army, where he served as a military intelligence officer.” (I joined the US Coast Guard Reserve after high school with subsequent enlistments in the USNR and the California Guard).
“After leaving the military, Hill transitioned into law enforcement, joining the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He worked as a patrol officer and later as a detective in the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division. (I served as a volunteer medic with the San Diego Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Reserve. I made my living as a journalist and, later, as a military analyst).
“In 2012, Hill published his debut novel, "The Killing Depths," which introduced readers to his recurring protagonist, Peter Brandt, a former Navy diver turned investigative journalist.” (“The Killing Depths” features Linus Schag, an NCIS special agent. Peter Brandt, an investigative journalist, is featured in another one of my series. Neither is a former Navy diver.)
The AI-produced bio went on to credit me with authorship of several short stories written by other authors as well as writing awards I never won. Yet, it only listed four of the twelve books I’ve published and none of the writing awards I actually have won.
I made several more attempts with this robo-writer, all with similar wrong results. The similarity in the writing of those attempts led me to believe the AI was simply using a pre-established template, which is not how artificial intelligence is supposed to work.
Now, a real writer—by that I mean a human—could get a pretty good idea of my background and my work by simply visiting my webpage (martinroyhill.com), which includes a lengthy biography. But even when I directed the AI to my website, it continued to regurgitate inaccurate information.
Which proves my point: As stupid as humankind is, we are still smarter than artificial intelligence. At least for now.
October 8, 2022
The Secret Life of a Novelist's 'Mews'
Hello, my name is Princess Amber Francesca of Tabbivor, felioness and fur daughter to the man you know as Martin Roy Hill. Father is somewhat indisposed today—I warned him about too much catnip—so he, ah, asked me to write this column for him.
And why shouldn’t he? I know as much about his work as anyone. That’s because unlike my siblings—Princess Seeley Alexandra of Calico and Prince Samwise Harry of Kittiton—I am father’s writing muse. Or maybe I should say "mews."
You know, all the great writers had cats for their muses—Mark Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells. Ernest Hemingway had those six-toed cats Those freaks! I mean, what do when they count? What do they use—base 12 math?
Anyway, father relies on me to break him out of his writing doldrums and inspire him to write his fanciful tails—er, tales. I tell you it is not easy being a writer’s muse. Mostly it’s just long boring hours of staring out his study window or napping behind the computer screen or under the desk next to his feet. Okay, sometimes I knock over his waste basket and pull everything out so I can nap in it. What’s a muse to do?
Most of the time that’s all the inspiration he needs. But sometimes when he’s struggling with a scene, I walked across his keyboard and leave him suggestions. This is one of my personal favorites: “lkjlksfduihnlkakSHOFJPLKMLHlkjfdsljn!” When he saw that, he pulled on his hair and declared that it had replaced an entire chapter of his book Chimera Island. Imagine ... and he never credited me as his co-author.
It will soon be two years since my siblings and I came to Hill House. We were young and carefree then. We hadn’t yet taken up our royal household duties, such as holding court so father, mother, and our furless brother, Brandon, can pay us tribute. These days it’s one royal chore after another: waking father up for breakfast (our breakfast); shedding fur to make sure he gets plenty of exercise pushing around what he calls “that g-damn carpet sweeper;” and following him into what we call “the big water bowl rooms.” We call them that because of the big water bowls that we're not allowed to drink from. In fact, father often sits on the bowls to keep us from drinking from them.
Seeley and I split up that last chore; I’m responsible for the two upstairs water bowl rooms, and she takes care of the tiny one downstairs. No matter where in the house father is, our brother keeps him on his toes by insisting he follow Sam into the kitchen several times a day and pet him while he snacks on kibble. Dear sweet, oversized Sam…
But we love father, especially at dinner time. He's working very hard to learn our language. He tries to repeat what we say to him, and he even sings little songs for us in our language. But his accent is so bad he might as well be speaking Siamese. Still, father works very hard writing his novels in the morning and editing books for other writers in the afternoon in order to, as he says, “earn kitty food.”
After father’s work is done, he likes to play one of his guitars or, as he puts it, “torture the strings.” He calls me his Number One fan and groupie because I stay with him in the study as he plays. What father doesn’t know is, just as cats have a third eyelid, we also have little flaps inside our ears that can shut off noise we don’t want to hear, which is why cats never come when you call them.
Oh, dear. I hear daddy coming up the stairs. I better finish up and send this newsletter out before he realizes I rewrote what he originally had written—some gibberish about the lonely life and solitude of a writer. Lonely? How could he be lonely? He’s got three of us! It’s enough to make me hack up a fur ball into his shoe.
Oops, here he comes. Gotta go!
And why shouldn’t he? I know as much about his work as anyone. That’s because unlike my siblings—Princess Seeley Alexandra of Calico and Prince Samwise Harry of Kittiton—I am father’s writing muse. Or maybe I should say "mews."
You know, all the great writers had cats for their muses—Mark Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells. Ernest Hemingway had those six-toed cats Those freaks! I mean, what do when they count? What do they use—base 12 math?
Anyway, father relies on me to break him out of his writing doldrums and inspire him to write his fanciful tails—er, tales. I tell you it is not easy being a writer’s muse. Mostly it’s just long boring hours of staring out his study window or napping behind the computer screen or under the desk next to his feet. Okay, sometimes I knock over his waste basket and pull everything out so I can nap in it. What’s a muse to do?
Most of the time that’s all the inspiration he needs. But sometimes when he’s struggling with a scene, I walked across his keyboard and leave him suggestions. This is one of my personal favorites: “lkjlksfduihnlkakSHOFJPLKMLHlkjfdsljn!” When he saw that, he pulled on his hair and declared that it had replaced an entire chapter of his book Chimera Island. Imagine ... and he never credited me as his co-author.
It will soon be two years since my siblings and I came to Hill House. We were young and carefree then. We hadn’t yet taken up our royal household duties, such as holding court so father, mother, and our furless brother, Brandon, can pay us tribute. These days it’s one royal chore after another: waking father up for breakfast (our breakfast); shedding fur to make sure he gets plenty of exercise pushing around what he calls “that g-damn carpet sweeper;” and following him into what we call “the big water bowl rooms.” We call them that because of the big water bowls that we're not allowed to drink from. In fact, father often sits on the bowls to keep us from drinking from them.
Seeley and I split up that last chore; I’m responsible for the two upstairs water bowl rooms, and she takes care of the tiny one downstairs. No matter where in the house father is, our brother keeps him on his toes by insisting he follow Sam into the kitchen several times a day and pet him while he snacks on kibble. Dear sweet, oversized Sam…
But we love father, especially at dinner time. He's working very hard to learn our language. He tries to repeat what we say to him, and he even sings little songs for us in our language. But his accent is so bad he might as well be speaking Siamese. Still, father works very hard writing his novels in the morning and editing books for other writers in the afternoon in order to, as he says, “earn kitty food.”
After father’s work is done, he likes to play one of his guitars or, as he puts it, “torture the strings.” He calls me his Number One fan and groupie because I stay with him in the study as he plays. What father doesn’t know is, just as cats have a third eyelid, we also have little flaps inside our ears that can shut off noise we don’t want to hear, which is why cats never come when you call them.
Oh, dear. I hear daddy coming up the stairs. I better finish up and send this newsletter out before he realizes I rewrote what he originally had written—some gibberish about the lonely life and solitude of a writer. Lonely? How could he be lonely? He’s got three of us! It’s enough to make me hack up a fur ball into his shoe.
Oops, here he comes. Gotta go!
January 11, 2022
What Makes You a Writer?
Recently, I saw a Twitter post from an aspiring writer who asked if she was wrong to consider herself a real writer if she didn’t make her living writing. It’s not an uncommon thought. I think most people who identify themselves as writers have been asked, “But what do you do for a living?” Such a remark can shatter our fragile writer’s ego and send us scurrying for our little writer cubbyholes. But the truth is, very few—let me emphasize that, very few—book writers make a living off their book sales. That includes best-selling, traditionally published authors.
Notice I said “book writers.” For close on to thirty years I did make my living writing. I was a journalist—a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, and newspaper editor. For sixteen years after that, I was a U.S. Navy analyst. I authored technical papers and the occasional article for peer-reviewed journals. During most of those years, I was actively writing novels and short stories. Even though I’ve now published ten books and dozens of short stories, I have never lived off any income from those sales.
I retired in 2018, and now with the help of Social Security and additional income from teaching a few writing-related courses and from freelance editing other writers’ works, I can say I’m a full-time—or at least near full-time—author.
A friend of mine, the late G. M. Ford, wrote best-selling mysteries published by some of the nation’s largest traditional publishing houses for thirty years. But he couldn’t write full-time until he retired from his teaching career. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, only worked on his spy novels parttime. For most of the year, he worked as a newspaper editor in London. Each summer he would take a leave of absence to write his Bond thrillers.
If you saw Ken Burns’ video-biography of Ernest Hemingway, one thing stood out: even the Nobel Prize for Literature laureate need financial help to support his writing. During his Moveable Feast salad-days in Paris, Hemingway worked as a newspaper reporter to support his writing (not to mention his first wife and baby). After marrying his second wife, he lived off her substantial trust fund.
Of course, in the Twenties and Thirties, even a few dollars went a long way. Unfortunately, book advances and royalties haven’t much changed since then.
Some writers can make a living from their novels, but they work extremely hard at it. My late father-in-law, Robert Wade, and his late writing partner, H. Billy Miller, made a comfortable living writing mysteries and thrillers in the post-WWII years. They were most famous for their mysteries published under the penname Wade Miller, but they also wrote under at least a half dozen other pseudonyms and published several books each year. And they were good enough—or lucky enough—to have several of their books turned into movies for the big and little screens.
Prolific contemporary authors like James Rollins and Jonathan Mayberry make their living publishing several books year. Mayberry, in particular, is a writing machine. Sci-fi and military action writer Bob Mayer makes a living producing several books a year and sponsoring writer retreats. James Patterson has sold enough books to live off his living, but he also has his own publishing endeavor and a popular thriller writing course. The late Tom Clancy stopped writing books himself and set up a production line for novels written by other writers from his ideas. Novels with Clancy’s name on the covers are still published nine years after his death.
These are the exceptions, however.
In 2018, the Author Guild published a study revealing that the median income of all authors surveyed for all writing-related activities (writing, teaching, etc.) was $6,080 in 2017. That was down from more than $10,000 in 2009. Median income for book-related activities (royalties) dropped 21 percent in the same period, going from $3,900 to $3,100. About a quarter of responding writers reported making no money at all from writing activities in 2017.
Writing is an art forum, perhaps the loneliest and least available art form at that. Musicians and singers perform in public spaces—concert halls, saloons, even public parks—and can received instant gratification in the form of applause if not money. Painters can have their work displayed in public spaces such as art galleries, museums, restaurants, and parks, and receive feedback such as approving looks and nods, if not money. But writers work in solitude then must sit back to see if the result of that work—their books—can wind their way into the hands of readers. They never get to see the expressions of approval from readers. If lucky, a reader will leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads. And, most likely, they will never make a lot of money.
So, if you are writing daily and diligently, if you are doing the demanding work of rewriting and editing, and rewriting again, and being a true artist but not an artiste, you are a writer. You may not be making a living off your writing, you may not make any money at all, but you are a writer.
Notice I said “book writers.” For close on to thirty years I did make my living writing. I was a journalist—a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, and newspaper editor. For sixteen years after that, I was a U.S. Navy analyst. I authored technical papers and the occasional article for peer-reviewed journals. During most of those years, I was actively writing novels and short stories. Even though I’ve now published ten books and dozens of short stories, I have never lived off any income from those sales.
I retired in 2018, and now with the help of Social Security and additional income from teaching a few writing-related courses and from freelance editing other writers’ works, I can say I’m a full-time—or at least near full-time—author.
A friend of mine, the late G. M. Ford, wrote best-selling mysteries published by some of the nation’s largest traditional publishing houses for thirty years. But he couldn’t write full-time until he retired from his teaching career. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, only worked on his spy novels parttime. For most of the year, he worked as a newspaper editor in London. Each summer he would take a leave of absence to write his Bond thrillers.
If you saw Ken Burns’ video-biography of Ernest Hemingway, one thing stood out: even the Nobel Prize for Literature laureate need financial help to support his writing. During his Moveable Feast salad-days in Paris, Hemingway worked as a newspaper reporter to support his writing (not to mention his first wife and baby). After marrying his second wife, he lived off her substantial trust fund.
Of course, in the Twenties and Thirties, even a few dollars went a long way. Unfortunately, book advances and royalties haven’t much changed since then.
Some writers can make a living from their novels, but they work extremely hard at it. My late father-in-law, Robert Wade, and his late writing partner, H. Billy Miller, made a comfortable living writing mysteries and thrillers in the post-WWII years. They were most famous for their mysteries published under the penname Wade Miller, but they also wrote under at least a half dozen other pseudonyms and published several books each year. And they were good enough—or lucky enough—to have several of their books turned into movies for the big and little screens.
Prolific contemporary authors like James Rollins and Jonathan Mayberry make their living publishing several books year. Mayberry, in particular, is a writing machine. Sci-fi and military action writer Bob Mayer makes a living producing several books a year and sponsoring writer retreats. James Patterson has sold enough books to live off his living, but he also has his own publishing endeavor and a popular thriller writing course. The late Tom Clancy stopped writing books himself and set up a production line for novels written by other writers from his ideas. Novels with Clancy’s name on the covers are still published nine years after his death.
These are the exceptions, however.
In 2018, the Author Guild published a study revealing that the median income of all authors surveyed for all writing-related activities (writing, teaching, etc.) was $6,080 in 2017. That was down from more than $10,000 in 2009. Median income for book-related activities (royalties) dropped 21 percent in the same period, going from $3,900 to $3,100. About a quarter of responding writers reported making no money at all from writing activities in 2017.
Writing is an art forum, perhaps the loneliest and least available art form at that. Musicians and singers perform in public spaces—concert halls, saloons, even public parks—and can received instant gratification in the form of applause if not money. Painters can have their work displayed in public spaces such as art galleries, museums, restaurants, and parks, and receive feedback such as approving looks and nods, if not money. But writers work in solitude then must sit back to see if the result of that work—their books—can wind their way into the hands of readers. They never get to see the expressions of approval from readers. If lucky, a reader will leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads. And, most likely, they will never make a lot of money.
So, if you are writing daily and diligently, if you are doing the demanding work of rewriting and editing, and rewriting again, and being a true artist but not an artiste, you are a writer. You may not be making a living off your writing, you may not make any money at all, but you are a writer.
September 22, 2021
Have You Met Jack?
According to reader reviews of my latest Peter Brandt mystery thriller, The Fourth Rising, the most popular character in the book is Jack. Jack is a big guy. He wears his red hair long. He has a hardy appetite. He’s tough and doesn’t like strangers coming around his digs. And he likes to have his tummy rubbed.
Jack is a cat.
Jack came into Peter’s life as a tiny, rain-soaked kitten he found howling on his front doorstep. Little did Peter know that Jack—named after Peter’s favorite author Jack Kerouac—was a Maine coon. Maine coons grow, and grow, and grow for up to four years. When we meet Jack in The Fourth Rising, he’s fully grown and the size of a small dog. He’s also spoiled because, as Peter states, “he has sharp teeth and claws. He might kill me in my sleep.”
Jack offers a little lightness in a book about a dark subject—the rise of modern-day fascism around the world. Like many of the human characters in my books, Jack’s character was inspired by a real-life feline … well, actually six of them.
Both my wife and I have had cats our entire lives. Together we raised three generations of feline siblings and all but one of them were long-hair red tabbies. (One, Molly, was a tortoiseshell calico, which is how most females with orange tabby genes come out. Actual female orange tabbies are rare.) All of them were the inspiration for Jack.
Max, a red tabby, and his sister, Molly, the tortie, were part Maine coon and grew from tiny kittens into outsized adult cats. When I held either under their shoulders, their bodies stretched from my chin to below my knees. Harry and Alex, our last two orange tabbies, were highly territorial. It was not unusual to be waken in the middle of night as the two of them howled and hissed at visiting raccoons.
Our first two sibs, Teddy and Franny, were average in size but huge in personality. Franny used to hold court for all the neighborhood male cats who came to pay homage to her. She loved to pose for photographs. She once appeared on a magazine cover after the professional feline model had a hissy fit. Teddy, whose courage was unmeasurable, once faced off with a full-grown German Shepard while his sister dashed for safety in our house. (All our cats since Teddy and Franny have been house cats.)
When The Fourth Rising was published last year, I dedicated the book to these beautiful fur-babies who honored us with their love and gave me the inspiration for Jack. Unfortunately, Harry—whose brother passed a few years earlier—died at the age of seventeen before I finished the book.
That’s not to say we are catless today. As far as I’m concerned, a house without a cat is not a home. We have since adopted three kittens, all sibs and all long haired, but not a red tabby among them. Amber is a gray and black tabby with crop-circle striping and amber highlights.
Her sister, Seeley, is a calico and their brother, Sam, is simply black-and-white with a black patch over one eye. (We call him the Dred Pirate Sam.) They are at least part Norwegian Forest Cat which, like Maine coons, grow exceptionally large. They recently turned two and are still growing—especially Sam. When he finishes growing, I’m planning to buy a lion tamer’s costume and join the circus with him. But that’s another story to tell.
Jack is a cat.
Jack came into Peter’s life as a tiny, rain-soaked kitten he found howling on his front doorstep. Little did Peter know that Jack—named after Peter’s favorite author Jack Kerouac—was a Maine coon. Maine coons grow, and grow, and grow for up to four years. When we meet Jack in The Fourth Rising, he’s fully grown and the size of a small dog. He’s also spoiled because, as Peter states, “he has sharp teeth and claws. He might kill me in my sleep.”
Jack offers a little lightness in a book about a dark subject—the rise of modern-day fascism around the world. Like many of the human characters in my books, Jack’s character was inspired by a real-life feline … well, actually six of them.
Both my wife and I have had cats our entire lives. Together we raised three generations of feline siblings and all but one of them were long-hair red tabbies. (One, Molly, was a tortoiseshell calico, which is how most females with orange tabby genes come out. Actual female orange tabbies are rare.) All of them were the inspiration for Jack.
Max, a red tabby, and his sister, Molly, the tortie, were part Maine coon and grew from tiny kittens into outsized adult cats. When I held either under their shoulders, their bodies stretched from my chin to below my knees. Harry and Alex, our last two orange tabbies, were highly territorial. It was not unusual to be waken in the middle of night as the two of them howled and hissed at visiting raccoons.
Our first two sibs, Teddy and Franny, were average in size but huge in personality. Franny used to hold court for all the neighborhood male cats who came to pay homage to her. She loved to pose for photographs. She once appeared on a magazine cover after the professional feline model had a hissy fit. Teddy, whose courage was unmeasurable, once faced off with a full-grown German Shepard while his sister dashed for safety in our house. (All our cats since Teddy and Franny have been house cats.)
When The Fourth Rising was published last year, I dedicated the book to these beautiful fur-babies who honored us with their love and gave me the inspiration for Jack. Unfortunately, Harry—whose brother passed a few years earlier—died at the age of seventeen before I finished the book.
That’s not to say we are catless today. As far as I’m concerned, a house without a cat is not a home. We have since adopted three kittens, all sibs and all long haired, but not a red tabby among them. Amber is a gray and black tabby with crop-circle striping and amber highlights.
Her sister, Seeley, is a calico and their brother, Sam, is simply black-and-white with a black patch over one eye. (We call him the Dred Pirate Sam.) They are at least part Norwegian Forest Cat which, like Maine coons, grow exceptionally large. They recently turned two and are still growing—especially Sam. When he finishes growing, I’m planning to buy a lion tamer’s costume and join the circus with him. But that’s another story to tell.
January 31, 2021
Three Tips for Moving Your Writing Forward
There’s an old saying that goes, “Every novel has three parts—the beginning, the end, and the muddle.” Anyone who has ever written or tried to write a novel knows this saying is as true as it is humorous. You start off knowing how the book begins and how it ends, but somehow no matter how much you plot, the middle remains amorphous. You know where you’re going but you’re not sure how to get there. It’s like your writing GPS has suddenly shut down.
As a freelance book editor, I frequently find my clients lose their way as the plot nears the halfway mark. They either push too hard to get through the “muddle” and end up leaving out necessary plot points, or they wander through it as if seeking escape from a maze and end up with page after page of pointless prose.
Here are three tips I use to get through the middle without it becoming a muddle.
To tell or not to tell: Writers often get bogged down writing more than they need. For instance, if the hero develops a plan to accomplish a certain mission, they spend pages explaining the plan before he executes it. Then in the following pages, the writer describes the hero doing what the author previously told the reader what he was going to do.
Here’s a tip: If your hero’s plan succeeds, don't tell the plan beforehand. If the plan is doomed to failure, do tell the reader the plan beforehand. In the former, you build tension because the reader is anxious to discover what the plan is and whether it succeeds. In the latter, tension is built as the reader sees the plan falling apart. Only if the reader knows the plan beforehand can they know when it begins to falter.
Scene vs. narrative: Every writer has heard the old saw, “Show, don’t tell.” But what about scene vs. narrative? When do you use a scene to move the plot forward and when do you use a narrative summary?
In scenes, the reader experiences events as they happen rather than being told about them. A narrative summary tells the story rather than letting the story unfold through the actions of the characters. In a scene, the character is actively doing something to move the story forward. A narrative summary is used to move the story forward when the characters are inactive. One reason to use a narrative summary is to skip over a period of time in which nothing pertinent to the plot occurs.
If you're, stuck on writing, do something else: Many writers scoff at the idea of writer’s block. They barrel through the writing despite not knowing where they’re going, leaving that “muddle” behind them. Often, it’s because they face a publisher’s deadline. However, if you find yourself having problems moving the story forward and you have the luxury of not facing a deadline, give yourself a break. Put the book away for a day or two, maybe a week. Work on another writing project or just putter around the garden—anything to let your head clear and your subconscious work on the problem.
Every writer has their own way of working, but I find these tips work for me and my author clients. I hope they help you, too.
As a freelance book editor, I frequently find my clients lose their way as the plot nears the halfway mark. They either push too hard to get through the “muddle” and end up leaving out necessary plot points, or they wander through it as if seeking escape from a maze and end up with page after page of pointless prose.
Here are three tips I use to get through the middle without it becoming a muddle.
To tell or not to tell: Writers often get bogged down writing more than they need. For instance, if the hero develops a plan to accomplish a certain mission, they spend pages explaining the plan before he executes it. Then in the following pages, the writer describes the hero doing what the author previously told the reader what he was going to do.
Here’s a tip: If your hero’s plan succeeds, don't tell the plan beforehand. If the plan is doomed to failure, do tell the reader the plan beforehand. In the former, you build tension because the reader is anxious to discover what the plan is and whether it succeeds. In the latter, tension is built as the reader sees the plan falling apart. Only if the reader knows the plan beforehand can they know when it begins to falter.
Scene vs. narrative: Every writer has heard the old saw, “Show, don’t tell.” But what about scene vs. narrative? When do you use a scene to move the plot forward and when do you use a narrative summary?
In scenes, the reader experiences events as they happen rather than being told about them. A narrative summary tells the story rather than letting the story unfold through the actions of the characters. In a scene, the character is actively doing something to move the story forward. A narrative summary is used to move the story forward when the characters are inactive. One reason to use a narrative summary is to skip over a period of time in which nothing pertinent to the plot occurs.
If you're, stuck on writing, do something else: Many writers scoff at the idea of writer’s block. They barrel through the writing despite not knowing where they’re going, leaving that “muddle” behind them. Often, it’s because they face a publisher’s deadline. However, if you find yourself having problems moving the story forward and you have the luxury of not facing a deadline, give yourself a break. Put the book away for a day or two, maybe a week. Work on another writing project or just putter around the garden—anything to let your head clear and your subconscious work on the problem.
Every writer has their own way of working, but I find these tips work for me and my author clients. I hope they help you, too.
September 13, 2020
Want to Be a Writer? Adhere to the King’s Advice
According to Stephen King said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things: above all others, read a lot and write a lot.” This advice is straightforward and simple advice. But unfortunately, it’s advice often ignored by beginning and experienced writers.
I know people who spend their time attending writing courses and conferences, participating in writers’ groups, or spending day after day “planning” their Great American Novel rather than writing their Great American Novel. They think they’re writers, but they haven’t written anything.
The only thing that makes you a writer is writing.
You don’t need to create perfect prose; you just need to write. The way to do this is to set a daily word count and aim at getting that word count written each day. Some days you may not meet that word count; other days you’ll exceed it.
So how many words should you aim at?
That all depends on you.
Stephen King aims at writing 2,000 word every day. On the other hand, Ernest Hemingway’s goal was 500 per day. The late Michael Crichton wrote an incredible 10,000 words a day. Yet Crichton realized writing so fast didn’t generate publishable prose. “Books aren’t written,” he said, “they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”
That’s also the mark of a good writer—reworking your pose. As a freelance book editor, I can’t tell you the number of aspiring authors who hire my services and present me with what is obviously a first draft. Rewriting is the core of being a writer. As I always say, the art of writing is in the rewriting.
My writing schedule is this. I write in the morning for about two hours (after that I edit other people’s books). I aim for 500 words a day. I chose that number because when I worked a “day job,” I only had an hour a day to write. Now I usually write more than 500 words, but I still limit my time to just two hours.
My practice is to review and revise the previous day’s work before launching into new writing. When I finish a chapter, I rework the whole chapter again before moving on to the next chapter. When I finish the first draft of a book, I put it aside for a couple of weeks before starting the second draft. When that’s finished, I again put it aside for a while before starting the third rewrite. As part of the third rewrite, I run the full manuscript through ProWritingAid, a grammar checker and more. (There are similar programs, such as Grammarly. I recommend to all my clients they invest in one.) Only then do I send it to my editors.
When I’m not working on a novel, I write short stories and posts for two blogs—this one you’re reading, and a blog about politics with a historical perspective.
But still there are days when I just don’t write. Usually it’s due to illness, sleepless nights, or just because I don’t want to do s**t. It happens. Don’t hate yourself. Sometimes we all need a break. Just suck it up and get back into your writing groove the next day.
The second part of King’s advice— “read a lot”—is just as important as writing every day. Read books or articles about writing. Research your plot. But most of all, read books in your genre. How can you write a mystery if you’ve never read one? Don’t confuse watching a mystery movie or TV show as the same as reading one. Scriptwriting has entirely different requirements than book writing.
Don’t just read for pleasure. Study how successful authors in your chosen genre develop their plots and characters, structure their story lines, and write dialogue. Don’t just read one or two of your favorite contemporary authors; explore the history of your genre. If you write private eye novels, read Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Robert Parker. If you write sci-fi, reread some of those greats you were forced to read in high school—Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Robert Heinlein.
Besides looking at writing style, look for the theme. Every great book needs a theme. Chandler wrote about the corrupting effects of wealth. The theme of Wells’ classic War of the Worlds was the evils of imperialism.
If all this sounds like you’re going back to school—well, you are. You are learning skills and training for a profession. To be a writer, act like a writer—and write.
I know people who spend their time attending writing courses and conferences, participating in writers’ groups, or spending day after day “planning” their Great American Novel rather than writing their Great American Novel. They think they’re writers, but they haven’t written anything.
The only thing that makes you a writer is writing.
You don’t need to create perfect prose; you just need to write. The way to do this is to set a daily word count and aim at getting that word count written each day. Some days you may not meet that word count; other days you’ll exceed it.
So how many words should you aim at?
That all depends on you.
Stephen King aims at writing 2,000 word every day. On the other hand, Ernest Hemingway’s goal was 500 per day. The late Michael Crichton wrote an incredible 10,000 words a day. Yet Crichton realized writing so fast didn’t generate publishable prose. “Books aren’t written,” he said, “they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”
That’s also the mark of a good writer—reworking your pose. As a freelance book editor, I can’t tell you the number of aspiring authors who hire my services and present me with what is obviously a first draft. Rewriting is the core of being a writer. As I always say, the art of writing is in the rewriting.
My writing schedule is this. I write in the morning for about two hours (after that I edit other people’s books). I aim for 500 words a day. I chose that number because when I worked a “day job,” I only had an hour a day to write. Now I usually write more than 500 words, but I still limit my time to just two hours.
My practice is to review and revise the previous day’s work before launching into new writing. When I finish a chapter, I rework the whole chapter again before moving on to the next chapter. When I finish the first draft of a book, I put it aside for a couple of weeks before starting the second draft. When that’s finished, I again put it aside for a while before starting the third rewrite. As part of the third rewrite, I run the full manuscript through ProWritingAid, a grammar checker and more. (There are similar programs, such as Grammarly. I recommend to all my clients they invest in one.) Only then do I send it to my editors.
When I’m not working on a novel, I write short stories and posts for two blogs—this one you’re reading, and a blog about politics with a historical perspective.
But still there are days when I just don’t write. Usually it’s due to illness, sleepless nights, or just because I don’t want to do s**t. It happens. Don’t hate yourself. Sometimes we all need a break. Just suck it up and get back into your writing groove the next day.
The second part of King’s advice— “read a lot”—is just as important as writing every day. Read books or articles about writing. Research your plot. But most of all, read books in your genre. How can you write a mystery if you’ve never read one? Don’t confuse watching a mystery movie or TV show as the same as reading one. Scriptwriting has entirely different requirements than book writing.
Don’t just read for pleasure. Study how successful authors in your chosen genre develop their plots and characters, structure their story lines, and write dialogue. Don’t just read one or two of your favorite contemporary authors; explore the history of your genre. If you write private eye novels, read Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Robert Parker. If you write sci-fi, reread some of those greats you were forced to read in high school—Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Robert Heinlein.
Besides looking at writing style, look for the theme. Every great book needs a theme. Chandler wrote about the corrupting effects of wealth. The theme of Wells’ classic War of the Worlds was the evils of imperialism.
If all this sounds like you’re going back to school—well, you are. You are learning skills and training for a profession. To be a writer, act like a writer—and write.
September 8, 2020
What Is the Primary Job of a Thriller?
What is the primary job of a thriller? Entertainment? Escapism? Or to provoke thought?
I recently joined group of authors who tackled this question as part of the International Thriller Writers’ weekly Thriller Roundtable series. It was interesting to see that to a person we each agreed that the primary job of a thriller was to entertain the reader.
If a book isn’t entertaining, why would readers pick it up in the first place? An entertaining book provides the reader an escape from the realities of everyday life, especially in these days of the novel coronavirus.
But that doesn’t mean a thriller can’t be thought-provoking.
Getting into the Way-Back Machine and looking at some of our ancestral authors, we can find some great thought-provoking thrillers. Mary Shelley’s Gothic thriller Frankenstein questions the meaning of life and the morality of trying to create it. H. G. Wells’ sci-fi thriller The War of the Worlds is a thinly veiled commentary on European colonialism and questions the right and morality of nations conquering less advanced populations. Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim isn’t taught in English lit classes as a thriller, but it is one exciting, action-packed adventure story. At the same time, its plot involving a disgraced seaman seeking redemption raises questions of courage, cowardice, trust, and betrayal
Moving back to contemporary times: In Cormac McCarthy’s neo-western thriller, No Country for Old Men, a drug deal gone wrong launches a manhunt for a cache of stolen drug money that pits cartel hit men, a troubled lawman, and a dishonest hunter against each other. The novel throws out the old western good-guy vs bad-guys theme and raises questions about ethics and redemption.
Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is a rip-roaring page turner, but it also entertains thoughtful questions about divinity. To wit: If Jesus had descendants, does that mean his teachings were not divinely inspired?
My most recent Peter Brandt thriller, The Fourth Rising, revisits the post-WWII idea that the Nazi Party did not die with the surrender of Germany in 1945. It’s a familiar road traveled by Frederick Forsyth’s The Odessa File and Ira Levin’s The Boys from Brazil
. Together they raise questions about the undying evil of Nazism that still plagues the world today.
But thought-provoking questions don’t sell books. Without readers, the questions can never provoke thoughts. So, indeed, I think the primary job of a thriller is to entertain.
I recently joined group of authors who tackled this question as part of the International Thriller Writers’ weekly Thriller Roundtable series. It was interesting to see that to a person we each agreed that the primary job of a thriller was to entertain the reader.
If a book isn’t entertaining, why would readers pick it up in the first place? An entertaining book provides the reader an escape from the realities of everyday life, especially in these days of the novel coronavirus.
But that doesn’t mean a thriller can’t be thought-provoking.
Getting into the Way-Back Machine and looking at some of our ancestral authors, we can find some great thought-provoking thrillers. Mary Shelley’s Gothic thriller Frankenstein questions the meaning of life and the morality of trying to create it. H. G. Wells’ sci-fi thriller The War of the Worlds is a thinly veiled commentary on European colonialism and questions the right and morality of nations conquering less advanced populations. Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim isn’t taught in English lit classes as a thriller, but it is one exciting, action-packed adventure story. At the same time, its plot involving a disgraced seaman seeking redemption raises questions of courage, cowardice, trust, and betrayal
Moving back to contemporary times: In Cormac McCarthy’s neo-western thriller, No Country for Old Men, a drug deal gone wrong launches a manhunt for a cache of stolen drug money that pits cartel hit men, a troubled lawman, and a dishonest hunter against each other. The novel throws out the old western good-guy vs bad-guys theme and raises questions about ethics and redemption.
Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is a rip-roaring page turner, but it also entertains thoughtful questions about divinity. To wit: If Jesus had descendants, does that mean his teachings were not divinely inspired?
My most recent Peter Brandt thriller, The Fourth Rising, revisits the post-WWII idea that the Nazi Party did not die with the surrender of Germany in 1945. It’s a familiar road traveled by Frederick Forsyth’s The Odessa File and Ira Levin’s The Boys from Brazil
. Together they raise questions about the undying evil of Nazism that still plagues the world today. But thought-provoking questions don’t sell books. Without readers, the questions can never provoke thoughts. So, indeed, I think the primary job of a thriller is to entertain.
August 17, 2020
Common Writing Mistakes
As a freelance book editor as well as a novelist, I’ve seen several beginning authors—and one or two published authors—make the same obvious mistakes. To many beginners, writing seems an easy accomplishment—hell, you got a passing grade in high school English class, right? I’ve made a living writing for most of my life, as a newspaper reporter, an investigative journalist, a freelance writer, and newspaper editor, and I can tell you writing still isn’t easy. I can’t teach people to be good writers; I don’t believe that is teachable. But as a book editor, I can provide advice on the most common mechanical mistakes I see writers make.
Standard Manuscript Format: Whether submitting a short story or a full-length manuscript, publishers expect you to submit your work in the standard manuscript format. The standard manuscript format is based on an 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper. Most manuscripts today are submitted electronically, but your electronic page should be set up as an 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper. Set your margins at 1, 1.25 or 1.5 inches, and your paragraph indentation at one half inch. Set your indentation in the paragraph format window of your word processor; never use tabs to indent your paragraphs.
Your type font should be 12- or 10-point Courier or New Times Romans (or similar serif font). Normally, the manuscript should be double spaced but with electronic submissions some publishers want single-spaced manuscripts, including the spacing between paragraphs. Use only one space between sentences.
The upper left portion of your first page should include your name, address, email, and phone number, and a word count. Your title and author name should be centered halfway down the first page. On succeeding pages, an abbreviated title, your last name, and page number should be in the upper righthand corner. (Place this in the header on an electronic manuscript.) For examples of the standard manuscript format see https://www.shunn.net/format/story/1/.
Punctuation: Too many beginning writers don’t understand the conventions of simple punctuation. They misuse and overuse punctuation marks like ellipses (…) and exclamation marks (!). Both should be used judiciously. They are like seasoning for dialogue. When cooking, a little seasoning adds flavor to the food; too much seasoning and the food becomes unpalatable. Too many exclamation marks or ellipses not only distracts the reader, they lose their impact as well. An exclamation mark indicates just that—an exclamation. The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes an exclamation as “a sharp or sudden utterance” and a “vehement expression of protest or complaint.” Listen to how people actually speak. They don’t shout, scream, yell, with every sentence. If they do, move slowly away from them.
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, ellipses indicate a pause in dialogue, or dialogue that drifts off to silence. Use an em dash (—) to show dialogue that has been interrupted somehow. An ellipsis used in the middle of a sentence to indicate a pause should have a space before and after it. Em dashes used mid-sentence to separate a clause have no spaces between words. For more information, see https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/e... and https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/e....
Passive voice/verbs. Many beginning writers write in the passive voice. That means they use passive verbs in which the subject undergoes the action rather than doing it. With active verbs, the subject does the action. For instance, in this sentence the verb is inactive: “He had been planning to go to college but…” The active voice is: “He planned to go to college but…” Active voice brings immediacy to the writing. It also tightens the writing by reducing the number of words used. Though passive verbs can’t always be avoided, you should strive to reduce their numbers. You can learn more about passive/active voice at these two websites: https://www.lexico.com/grammar/active... and https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/edu....
Capitalization. Many writers have a habit of capitalizing improper, or common, nouns. Proper nouns—names of people or places (John F. Kennedy, Mt. McKinley)—are capitalized. All other nouns are lowercase. Titles and military ranks are also lowercase unless used with a proper noun such as a person’s name. (“General Patton gave an order…” vs “The general gave an order…”)
Excessive hyphenation. English is a living language and it changes all the time. Many words that once were hyphenated are no longer hyphenated. I suggest keeping the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary open on your computer when writing and use it to double check spellings and hyphenations. I do that with my own writing. In U.S. publishing, the first entry for a word in MW is the preferred spelling.
Overuse of “that”: In most sentences, the word “that” is superfluous. Removing unneeded words tightens writing.
Use adverbs (-ly) sparingly: Adverbs describe verbs (“She sang loudly…”) Like exclamation points, adverbs should be used sparingly. Like passive verbs, however, sometimes they can’t be avoided. Just be aware when you use them.
Avoid “empty” words: Beginning writers often use empty words like “very,” “some,” “really,” “many,” and “a lot.” Try using more descriptive words. (“A lot of soldiers came over the hill…” vs “A battalion of soldiers poured over the hill…”) You can find a chart showing ways to avoid using the word “very” here: https://writerofscreen.tumblr.com/ima....
This is by no means an all-inclusive list of common mistakes writers make, but if you can overcome these problems, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a professional writer.
Standard Manuscript Format: Whether submitting a short story or a full-length manuscript, publishers expect you to submit your work in the standard manuscript format. The standard manuscript format is based on an 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper. Most manuscripts today are submitted electronically, but your electronic page should be set up as an 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper. Set your margins at 1, 1.25 or 1.5 inches, and your paragraph indentation at one half inch. Set your indentation in the paragraph format window of your word processor; never use tabs to indent your paragraphs.
Your type font should be 12- or 10-point Courier or New Times Romans (or similar serif font). Normally, the manuscript should be double spaced but with electronic submissions some publishers want single-spaced manuscripts, including the spacing between paragraphs. Use only one space between sentences.
The upper left portion of your first page should include your name, address, email, and phone number, and a word count. Your title and author name should be centered halfway down the first page. On succeeding pages, an abbreviated title, your last name, and page number should be in the upper righthand corner. (Place this in the header on an electronic manuscript.) For examples of the standard manuscript format see https://www.shunn.net/format/story/1/.
Punctuation: Too many beginning writers don’t understand the conventions of simple punctuation. They misuse and overuse punctuation marks like ellipses (…) and exclamation marks (!). Both should be used judiciously. They are like seasoning for dialogue. When cooking, a little seasoning adds flavor to the food; too much seasoning and the food becomes unpalatable. Too many exclamation marks or ellipses not only distracts the reader, they lose their impact as well. An exclamation mark indicates just that—an exclamation. The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes an exclamation as “a sharp or sudden utterance” and a “vehement expression of protest or complaint.” Listen to how people actually speak. They don’t shout, scream, yell, with every sentence. If they do, move slowly away from them.
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, ellipses indicate a pause in dialogue, or dialogue that drifts off to silence. Use an em dash (—) to show dialogue that has been interrupted somehow. An ellipsis used in the middle of a sentence to indicate a pause should have a space before and after it. Em dashes used mid-sentence to separate a clause have no spaces between words. For more information, see https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/e... and https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/e....
Passive voice/verbs. Many beginning writers write in the passive voice. That means they use passive verbs in which the subject undergoes the action rather than doing it. With active verbs, the subject does the action. For instance, in this sentence the verb is inactive: “He had been planning to go to college but…” The active voice is: “He planned to go to college but…” Active voice brings immediacy to the writing. It also tightens the writing by reducing the number of words used. Though passive verbs can’t always be avoided, you should strive to reduce their numbers. You can learn more about passive/active voice at these two websites: https://www.lexico.com/grammar/active... and https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/edu....
Capitalization. Many writers have a habit of capitalizing improper, or common, nouns. Proper nouns—names of people or places (John F. Kennedy, Mt. McKinley)—are capitalized. All other nouns are lowercase. Titles and military ranks are also lowercase unless used with a proper noun such as a person’s name. (“General Patton gave an order…” vs “The general gave an order…”)
Excessive hyphenation. English is a living language and it changes all the time. Many words that once were hyphenated are no longer hyphenated. I suggest keeping the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary open on your computer when writing and use it to double check spellings and hyphenations. I do that with my own writing. In U.S. publishing, the first entry for a word in MW is the preferred spelling.
Overuse of “that”: In most sentences, the word “that” is superfluous. Removing unneeded words tightens writing.
Use adverbs (-ly) sparingly: Adverbs describe verbs (“She sang loudly…”) Like exclamation points, adverbs should be used sparingly. Like passive verbs, however, sometimes they can’t be avoided. Just be aware when you use them.
Avoid “empty” words: Beginning writers often use empty words like “very,” “some,” “really,” “many,” and “a lot.” Try using more descriptive words. (“A lot of soldiers came over the hill…” vs “A battalion of soldiers poured over the hill…”) You can find a chart showing ways to avoid using the word “very” here: https://writerofscreen.tumblr.com/ima....
This is by no means an all-inclusive list of common mistakes writers make, but if you can overcome these problems, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a professional writer.
