Martin Roy Hill's Blog, page 3
December 5, 2016
Fascism in America in Fact and Fiction
Since November's presidential election, many of my friends and colleagues have commented with dismay on the number of news photos and videos they've seen of Americans brandishing swastikas and raising their arms in the Nazi salute. After all, this is America, a country that spent substantial blood and treasure in defeating Adolf Hitler and his evil empire in WWII, right?
I tell them I'm not surprised. Fascism, in its various disguises, has been part of the American underbelly for the better part of a century. It's also been the source of inspiration for many fine works of literature.
The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of fascism not only in Europe but in the United States as well. This inspired Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here, about a populist fringe candidate who becomes president and turns the country into an armed camp. The same period in history also inspired Phillip Roth's novel The Plot Against America, about anti-Semitism in the United States after a pro-fascist Charles Lindberg defeats President Franklin Roosevelt.
Arthur Miller's 1945 novel, Focus, was also inspired by the rise of fascism and anti-Semitism in the Thirties. In Focus, however, Miller predicts anti-Semitism in the U.S. wouldn't end with the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Without meaning to place myself on the same level as those literary stars, some of my own work was inspired by the events of the 1930s. In my alternative history short story, "Hitler Is Coming"—originally published by ALT HIST: The Journal of Historical Fiction and Alternative History and now available at Amazon.com—I visualize a defeated United States occupied by the German military and pro-fascist Americans.
In Hitler Is Coming, Paul Klee, former police officer and OSS spy, is forced to work for the Nazi SS on an assignment to protect a victorious Hitler as he visits the U.S. for the first time. A second Paul Klee story, The Thirty-Fourth Man, will be published by ALT HIST in early 2017.
Both stories explore what the United States might be like if defeated by the German Nazis and, in the process, explain a part of American history not taught in schools. Both feature many of the fascist groups that gained popularity in the 1930s.
Throughout that decade, for instance, brown-shirted and jackbooted thugs of the German American Bund—essentially the Nazi Party affiliate in the U.S.—marched proudly through American streets, spreading their religion of bigotry and hate. There were Nazi enclaves in the woods for training, and summer camps for the children of American Nazis. In 1939, 22,000 Bund members held a massive rally in New York's Madison Square Garden.
But they weren't alone.
Even before the Bund, there was the Fascist League of North America, an umbrella group composed primarily of Italian-American supporters of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini, considered by many to be the father of modern fascism. Mussolini coined the word fascism, comparing the rule of government by corporations for corporations to a fascine, in which weak sticks bound together create a strong foundation.
The Silver Legion of America, also known as the Silver Shirts due to their uniforms' silver camp shirts, at one time boasted at least 15,000 members. They owned a militarized compound in the hills surrounding Los Angeles. In 1936, their leader, William Dudley Pelley, ran for president on a third-party ticket.
The German-American Businessmen's Association, commonly called the DAWA (the German acronym for the Deutsch Amerikanischer Wirtschaft Auscbuss), focused primarily on ruining Jewish-owned businesses. Instead using the physical brutality, the Nazis in Germany did on Kristallnacht in 1938, the American DAWA used boycotts to destroy Jewish businesses.
Closely allied with these groups--particularly the Bund--was the Christian Front which, despite calling itself Christian nevertheless sowed violence throughout New York. The Front denounced Jews and other non-Christians, and praised Hitler and Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco.
It would be easy to dismiss these groups as simply a fanatical political fringe, but the bloody fingers of fascism reached much deeper into 1930s American politics. Many members of Congress--mostly Republican but also some conservative Democrats--openly supported in speeches these American fascist groups as well as the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. In 1942, mystery novelist Rex Stout published The Illustrious Dunderheads, a collection of pro-fascist speeches given by conservative American politicians during the 1930s.
There were some American fascists who chose action over words. In 1933, retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, a two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor, was approached by two men representing wealthy and conservative American bankers and industrialists. The men explained they had been sent to Europe to study fascism and how best to bring it to the United States. Their backers decided a coup was the best idea, and they wanted Butler to lead it.
Butler played along and gathered evidence for the FBI and a subsequent Congressional investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Known by many names—The Business Plot, the Wall Street Plot, and The American Putsch—the plot was largely swept under the Capitol's rug, since so many well-known millionaires (and political contributors) were apparently involved.
In 2007, the BBC reported Prescott Bush, father, and grandfather of two American presidents, was one of those wealthy financiers involved in the American Putsch. Bush was a well-known supporter of Hitler's rise to power and was prosecuted for continuing to do business with the Nazis even after Hitler declared war on the United States in 1941.
In the aftermath of WWII, many wanted to forget the exuberance with which they embraced fascism in the 1930s. The rise of the Soviet Union as the next great enemy gave many conservatives what they needed to distract Americans from the recent past. The McCarthy Era with its numerous and unsubstantiated claims of commies everywhere was simply a means of making voters forget the sins of the conservative right prior to the war.
Since WWII, American fascism had lain hidden in the political shadows. Certainly, over the decades, overt images of it--neo-Nazis, KKK, and so on--were occasionally seen in the media. But there also was a latent vestige of fascism that shunned the term "fascist" but cheered the concept of "nationalism"—one of the markers of fascist thought--and its memes like "American exceptionalism." Sinclair Lewis predicted this in his book, It Can't Happen Here, when he wrote: "[T]he worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”
Many decades ago, American writer George Santayana warned us, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Those are good words to live by.
References and further reading:
German American Bund: http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ameri...
Fascist League of North: America: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
Silver Legion: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
German-American Businessmen's Association (DAWA): http://archive.jta.org/1934/05/13/arc...
Christian Front: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract...
Illustrious Dunderheads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
House Committee report on the American Putsch: http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/...
http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/...
http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/....
BBC report on Prescott Bush and the American Putsch: http://www.prisonplanet.com/audio/240...
I tell them I'm not surprised. Fascism, in its various disguises, has been part of the American underbelly for the better part of a century. It's also been the source of inspiration for many fine works of literature.
The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of fascism not only in Europe but in the United States as well. This inspired Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here, about a populist fringe candidate who becomes president and turns the country into an armed camp. The same period in history also inspired Phillip Roth's novel The Plot Against America, about anti-Semitism in the United States after a pro-fascist Charles Lindberg defeats President Franklin Roosevelt.
Arthur Miller's 1945 novel, Focus, was also inspired by the rise of fascism and anti-Semitism in the Thirties. In Focus, however, Miller predicts anti-Semitism in the U.S. wouldn't end with the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Without meaning to place myself on the same level as those literary stars, some of my own work was inspired by the events of the 1930s. In my alternative history short story, "Hitler Is Coming"—originally published by ALT HIST: The Journal of Historical Fiction and Alternative History and now available at Amazon.com—I visualize a defeated United States occupied by the German military and pro-fascist Americans.
In Hitler Is Coming, Paul Klee, former police officer and OSS spy, is forced to work for the Nazi SS on an assignment to protect a victorious Hitler as he visits the U.S. for the first time. A second Paul Klee story, The Thirty-Fourth Man, will be published by ALT HIST in early 2017.
Both stories explore what the United States might be like if defeated by the German Nazis and, in the process, explain a part of American history not taught in schools. Both feature many of the fascist groups that gained popularity in the 1930s.
Throughout that decade, for instance, brown-shirted and jackbooted thugs of the German American Bund—essentially the Nazi Party affiliate in the U.S.—marched proudly through American streets, spreading their religion of bigotry and hate. There were Nazi enclaves in the woods for training, and summer camps for the children of American Nazis. In 1939, 22,000 Bund members held a massive rally in New York's Madison Square Garden.
But they weren't alone.
Even before the Bund, there was the Fascist League of North America, an umbrella group composed primarily of Italian-American supporters of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini, considered by many to be the father of modern fascism. Mussolini coined the word fascism, comparing the rule of government by corporations for corporations to a fascine, in which weak sticks bound together create a strong foundation.
The Silver Legion of America, also known as the Silver Shirts due to their uniforms' silver camp shirts, at one time boasted at least 15,000 members. They owned a militarized compound in the hills surrounding Los Angeles. In 1936, their leader, William Dudley Pelley, ran for president on a third-party ticket.
The German-American Businessmen's Association, commonly called the DAWA (the German acronym for the Deutsch Amerikanischer Wirtschaft Auscbuss), focused primarily on ruining Jewish-owned businesses. Instead using the physical brutality, the Nazis in Germany did on Kristallnacht in 1938, the American DAWA used boycotts to destroy Jewish businesses.
Closely allied with these groups--particularly the Bund--was the Christian Front which, despite calling itself Christian nevertheless sowed violence throughout New York. The Front denounced Jews and other non-Christians, and praised Hitler and Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco.
It would be easy to dismiss these groups as simply a fanatical political fringe, but the bloody fingers of fascism reached much deeper into 1930s American politics. Many members of Congress--mostly Republican but also some conservative Democrats--openly supported in speeches these American fascist groups as well as the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. In 1942, mystery novelist Rex Stout published The Illustrious Dunderheads, a collection of pro-fascist speeches given by conservative American politicians during the 1930s.
There were some American fascists who chose action over words. In 1933, retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, a two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor, was approached by two men representing wealthy and conservative American bankers and industrialists. The men explained they had been sent to Europe to study fascism and how best to bring it to the United States. Their backers decided a coup was the best idea, and they wanted Butler to lead it.
Butler played along and gathered evidence for the FBI and a subsequent Congressional investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Known by many names—The Business Plot, the Wall Street Plot, and The American Putsch—the plot was largely swept under the Capitol's rug, since so many well-known millionaires (and political contributors) were apparently involved.
In 2007, the BBC reported Prescott Bush, father, and grandfather of two American presidents, was one of those wealthy financiers involved in the American Putsch. Bush was a well-known supporter of Hitler's rise to power and was prosecuted for continuing to do business with the Nazis even after Hitler declared war on the United States in 1941.
In the aftermath of WWII, many wanted to forget the exuberance with which they embraced fascism in the 1930s. The rise of the Soviet Union as the next great enemy gave many conservatives what they needed to distract Americans from the recent past. The McCarthy Era with its numerous and unsubstantiated claims of commies everywhere was simply a means of making voters forget the sins of the conservative right prior to the war.
Since WWII, American fascism had lain hidden in the political shadows. Certainly, over the decades, overt images of it--neo-Nazis, KKK, and so on--were occasionally seen in the media. But there also was a latent vestige of fascism that shunned the term "fascist" but cheered the concept of "nationalism"—one of the markers of fascist thought--and its memes like "American exceptionalism." Sinclair Lewis predicted this in his book, It Can't Happen Here, when he wrote: "[T]he worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”
Many decades ago, American writer George Santayana warned us, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Those are good words to live by.
References and further reading:
German American Bund: http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ameri...
Fascist League of North: America: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
Silver Legion: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
German-American Businessmen's Association (DAWA): http://archive.jta.org/1934/05/13/arc...
Christian Front: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract...
Illustrious Dunderheads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
House Committee report on the American Putsch: http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/...
http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/...
http://www.claytoncramer.com/primary/....
BBC report on Prescott Bush and the American Putsch: http://www.prisonplanet.com/audio/240...
October 20, 2016
Everything Old Is New Again—Especially in Hollywood
Recently, thriller master David Morrell, of Rambo fame, sparked a discussion on Goggle+ about Hollywood's lack of imagination in developing new movie offerings. David thought too many new movies today suffered from recycled plots and ideas.
Just look at recent offerings and you can see what he means. Franchises for Batman, Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and who knows what else are being "rebooted." Hollywood also resurrected the popular 1960s spy show The Man from UNCLE and, more recently, the classic 1960 western The Magnificent Seven (which itself was a remake of the Japanese movie Seven Samurai). As a result, going to the movies (if you can afford it these days) is more like watching summer reruns from the 1960s than watching a new creative endeavor.
Sean Carlin, a Los Angeles-based screenwriter and novelist who took part in the Google+ discussion, pointed us to a blog post he'd recently written about this very topic. In the wake of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Sean says, movie studios realized they didn't need to pay writers to create new stories and plots; they could just rehash the franchises they already owned. Sean points out, however, the myriad of recent reboots have not done so well at the box office or with the critics. (You can read Sean's post here.)
Unfortunately, movie studios aren't alone in this. The new reboot of the once popular MacGyver TV series is just the latest of resuscitated TV shows. Battlestar Galactica, The New Odd Couple, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, were all remakes of popular 20th century series.
A television series doesn't even have to be an old-time classic to be rebooted. CSI sparked spin-offs set in Miami and New York. NCIS did the same for New Orleans and Los Angeles. The last I particularly consider ridiculous. As I point out in my soon-to-be-released new novel, The Butcher's Bill, a sequel to The Killing Depths featuring NCIS agent Linus Schag, there is no NCIS office in Los Angeles for the simple reason that there hasn’t been any Navy there since the Reagan administration closed the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in the 1980s. (Lest you think I bootlegged the idea for Schag from the TV series, I will point out my first Schag story was published by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine in 1996, more than half a decade before the show first aired.)
The book publishing industry isn't guiltless in this either. Though not exactly the same as rehashing old movie franchises, book publishers do tend to keep book series on life support long after the original author has died. British author Ian Fleming died in 1964 after penning fourteen James Bond books. Since then, nearly thirty more Bond novels have been published—authored by a variety of writers—and they are still being written.
Raymond Chandler died in 1959, leaving a legacy of eight published Phillip Marlowe novels, and one unfinished manuscript (which was completed and published after his death). Since then, four additional Marlowe novels have been published, written by four different writers.
There are, admittedly, certain elements that course through all stories. There are, after all, a limited set of plots from which all stories draw—seven to thirty-six, depending on whom you read. However, retelling the same story repeatedly eventually grows old. How many times do we need to see Peter Parker bitten by a radioactive spider, or Bruce Banner's Hulk muscle out of his shirt before we start checking our watches? How many times must we endure James Bond seducing some femme fatal underwater or in earth orbit?
The problem with rebooting movie franchises and continuing book series long after the author's death is it overcrowds an already overcrowded marketplace. Moviegoers and readers have only so much free time to spend in those pursuits. Moreover, as Sean points out, all those reboots cater to a mid-20th century mythos while we are now well into the 21st century. If studios, publishers, and even writers don't pay attention to the need for a 21th century mythos, moviegoers and readers will turn away.
It says a lot that some of the most successful novels and movies of the last few years started as independently published novels. The success of Andy Weir's The Martian and E. L. James 50 Shades of Gray, both originally successful indie books, shows a hunger for new blood on both the written page and silver screen.
Digital technology led to the birth of independent movie producers who rebelled against the gatekeepers at the big studios. The same technology also gave birth to the independent music industry and, more recently, independent book publishers. The failure of traditional studios and book publishers to provide for the needs of today's moviegoers and readers may open a path for independents to take the lead. As the old saying goes, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
Just look at recent offerings and you can see what he means. Franchises for Batman, Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and who knows what else are being "rebooted." Hollywood also resurrected the popular 1960s spy show The Man from UNCLE and, more recently, the classic 1960 western The Magnificent Seven (which itself was a remake of the Japanese movie Seven Samurai). As a result, going to the movies (if you can afford it these days) is more like watching summer reruns from the 1960s than watching a new creative endeavor.
Sean Carlin, a Los Angeles-based screenwriter and novelist who took part in the Google+ discussion, pointed us to a blog post he'd recently written about this very topic. In the wake of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Sean says, movie studios realized they didn't need to pay writers to create new stories and plots; they could just rehash the franchises they already owned. Sean points out, however, the myriad of recent reboots have not done so well at the box office or with the critics. (You can read Sean's post here.)
Unfortunately, movie studios aren't alone in this. The new reboot of the once popular MacGyver TV series is just the latest of resuscitated TV shows. Battlestar Galactica, The New Odd Couple, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, were all remakes of popular 20th century series.
A television series doesn't even have to be an old-time classic to be rebooted. CSI sparked spin-offs set in Miami and New York. NCIS did the same for New Orleans and Los Angeles. The last I particularly consider ridiculous. As I point out in my soon-to-be-released new novel, The Butcher's Bill, a sequel to The Killing Depths featuring NCIS agent Linus Schag, there is no NCIS office in Los Angeles for the simple reason that there hasn’t been any Navy there since the Reagan administration closed the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in the 1980s. (Lest you think I bootlegged the idea for Schag from the TV series, I will point out my first Schag story was published by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine in 1996, more than half a decade before the show first aired.)
The book publishing industry isn't guiltless in this either. Though not exactly the same as rehashing old movie franchises, book publishers do tend to keep book series on life support long after the original author has died. British author Ian Fleming died in 1964 after penning fourteen James Bond books. Since then, nearly thirty more Bond novels have been published—authored by a variety of writers—and they are still being written.
Raymond Chandler died in 1959, leaving a legacy of eight published Phillip Marlowe novels, and one unfinished manuscript (which was completed and published after his death). Since then, four additional Marlowe novels have been published, written by four different writers.
There are, admittedly, certain elements that course through all stories. There are, after all, a limited set of plots from which all stories draw—seven to thirty-six, depending on whom you read. However, retelling the same story repeatedly eventually grows old. How many times do we need to see Peter Parker bitten by a radioactive spider, or Bruce Banner's Hulk muscle out of his shirt before we start checking our watches? How many times must we endure James Bond seducing some femme fatal underwater or in earth orbit?
The problem with rebooting movie franchises and continuing book series long after the author's death is it overcrowds an already overcrowded marketplace. Moviegoers and readers have only so much free time to spend in those pursuits. Moreover, as Sean points out, all those reboots cater to a mid-20th century mythos while we are now well into the 21st century. If studios, publishers, and even writers don't pay attention to the need for a 21th century mythos, moviegoers and readers will turn away.
It says a lot that some of the most successful novels and movies of the last few years started as independently published novels. The success of Andy Weir's The Martian and E. L. James 50 Shades of Gray, both originally successful indie books, shows a hunger for new blood on both the written page and silver screen.
Digital technology led to the birth of independent movie producers who rebelled against the gatekeepers at the big studios. The same technology also gave birth to the independent music industry and, more recently, independent book publishers. The failure of traditional studios and book publishers to provide for the needs of today's moviegoers and readers may open a path for independents to take the lead. As the old saying goes, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
August 17, 2016
Internet Research for Writers
When I was an investigative journalist back in the pre-Internet days, doing background research was an incredibly time-intensive ordeal. Obtaining court documents meant hours sitting in front of a microfiche machine looking up case numbers then asking the clerk to find the file for you. Simply looking up a newspaper article meant doing much the same thing in the public library.
Thank God for the Internet.
Yet many people today still believe the Internet is untrustworthy source of information. True, there is a lot of junk information on the Net, but there is a lot of good information, too. You just need to know how to look for it.
For example, while writing my sci-fi novella Eden, which deals with American soldiers discovering an ancient Sumerian temple and the secrets hidden within, I wanted to include actual Sumerian language in the narrative. Searching the internet, I found two Sumerian to English dictionaries that allowed me to salt my story with the ancient language.
My current work in progress (WIP) culminates with a supertanker destroyed by a massive explosion. From my U.S. Coast Guard service, I knew such events occur; I've actually witnessed the aftermath of a deadly tanker explosion. However, for my book, I needed a realistic means of creating a blast that fit the plot.
Scanning the Internet, I was able to read the official findings of investigations into tanker explosions. I also discovered a merchant marine education site that had electronic versions of shipboard safety manuals. Between those two sources, I was able identify the realistic for making my supertanker explode that fit with my plot.
Not long ago, a friend sent me an advance reading copy of his latest novel. In one scene, he had members of a SWAT team using axes to enter a secret tunnel. I was trained as a SWAT medic when I served as a sheriff's reservist, so I knew a breaching charge would be more effective for opening the tunnel. After five minutes on the Internet, I discover a SWAT team handbook on breaching charges, identified an appropriate charge, and sent that information to my friend. He subsequently rewrote the scene with data I provided.
Where did I go to find such information? The best place to start is the old, reliable and ubiquitous Google. Google maintains a massive index of online information, and its search engine is powerful. The secret is how you use it.
Depending on the subject matter, you might start with a general search. For instance, assume you are researching spy craft used in WWII by American OSS operatives. If you simply search for "spy craft," you'll receive in 444,000 citations—which makes finding the information you need equivalent to looking for that needle in the haystack.
On the other hand, narrowing your search to "spy craft OSS WWII" reduces those results to a more manageable 15,000 citations. Adding the word "handbook" to the search reduced that to just over 6,000 citations and led me to a reproduction of an actual WWII-era book used to train Allied spies.
Scholarly articles can also be a valuable source of background research for writers. One of the best sources for such research, assuming you do not have access to a research library as I do in my day job as a Navy research analyst, is Google Scholar.
Using the same search as above, the search term "spy craft" returns 1,100 citations. Using the extended search term "spy craft OSS WWII" narrows that to 144 academic citations. In some cases, the full article will be available through Google Scholar; in others, only the citation is available which you can use to look the article up.
One online resource many writers don't think of is YouTube. As I mentioned earlier, my current WIP ends aboard a supertanker. Having served in both the Coast Guard and Naval Reserve, I've been aboard several ships, but never a supertanker. Fortunately, many merchant sailors like to video their voyages and post the videos on YouTube. I was able to find dozens of such videos that were the equivalent of a walking tour of a supertanker, from the main deck to the bridge, to the cargo tanks, to the crew cabins, to the engineering spaces. I discovered these ships are so huge, they even have swimming pools for the crew!
Setting a scene is important for pulling readers into your story. If you're writing science fiction or fantasy, you can rely entirely on your imagination. However, if your scene takes place in a real life location some distance away, you may need to do some on scene research. But what if you don't have the funds to travel?
I use Google Maps.
Google Maps has the ability to take you right down to a street level view of most places on earth. For instance, in preparing this article, I used Google Maps to view Uppsala, Sweden, a city I spent some time visiting following college. I was able to view street level photos—some including 360-degree views—to see places I had visited when I was there. After leaving Sweden (virtually), I dropped into Italy and walked (again virtually) the streets of Rome. Unfortunately, I couldn't sample any of the cuisine or wine!
What about Wikipedia? Certainly, much of the information on the "free internet encyclopedia" is suspicious—largely because some people and/or corporations use it for propaganda—but there is still good information, too. It is, at least, a good place to start your research. The key is to check the references at the bottom of each entry's page. Those references often contain live links that take to additional information.
For instance, using the same research subject "spy craft" on Wikipedia takes you to a page titled "Tradecraft," a synonym for spy craft. The page contains a list of various techniques used in intelligence gathering. Go to the bottom of the page, and you'll find a link to "A Compendium of Analytic Tradecraft Notes," published by the CIA.
Many government web sites, in fact, can provide writers with the research they need. For instance, thousands of historical documents, photographs, and paintings can be found at the Library of Congress. Writing a spy novel and need to set a scene in the CIA's McLean facility? Check out the virtual tour of CIA headquarters.
For more advice on using the internet for research, check out this primer from Brooklyn College.
Thank God for the Internet.
Yet many people today still believe the Internet is untrustworthy source of information. True, there is a lot of junk information on the Net, but there is a lot of good information, too. You just need to know how to look for it.
For example, while writing my sci-fi novella Eden, which deals with American soldiers discovering an ancient Sumerian temple and the secrets hidden within, I wanted to include actual Sumerian language in the narrative. Searching the internet, I found two Sumerian to English dictionaries that allowed me to salt my story with the ancient language.
My current work in progress (WIP) culminates with a supertanker destroyed by a massive explosion. From my U.S. Coast Guard service, I knew such events occur; I've actually witnessed the aftermath of a deadly tanker explosion. However, for my book, I needed a realistic means of creating a blast that fit the plot.
Scanning the Internet, I was able to read the official findings of investigations into tanker explosions. I also discovered a merchant marine education site that had electronic versions of shipboard safety manuals. Between those two sources, I was able identify the realistic for making my supertanker explode that fit with my plot.
Not long ago, a friend sent me an advance reading copy of his latest novel. In one scene, he had members of a SWAT team using axes to enter a secret tunnel. I was trained as a SWAT medic when I served as a sheriff's reservist, so I knew a breaching charge would be more effective for opening the tunnel. After five minutes on the Internet, I discover a SWAT team handbook on breaching charges, identified an appropriate charge, and sent that information to my friend. He subsequently rewrote the scene with data I provided.
Where did I go to find such information? The best place to start is the old, reliable and ubiquitous Google. Google maintains a massive index of online information, and its search engine is powerful. The secret is how you use it.
Depending on the subject matter, you might start with a general search. For instance, assume you are researching spy craft used in WWII by American OSS operatives. If you simply search for "spy craft," you'll receive in 444,000 citations—which makes finding the information you need equivalent to looking for that needle in the haystack.
On the other hand, narrowing your search to "spy craft OSS WWII" reduces those results to a more manageable 15,000 citations. Adding the word "handbook" to the search reduced that to just over 6,000 citations and led me to a reproduction of an actual WWII-era book used to train Allied spies.
Scholarly articles can also be a valuable source of background research for writers. One of the best sources for such research, assuming you do not have access to a research library as I do in my day job as a Navy research analyst, is Google Scholar.
Using the same search as above, the search term "spy craft" returns 1,100 citations. Using the extended search term "spy craft OSS WWII" narrows that to 144 academic citations. In some cases, the full article will be available through Google Scholar; in others, only the citation is available which you can use to look the article up.
One online resource many writers don't think of is YouTube. As I mentioned earlier, my current WIP ends aboard a supertanker. Having served in both the Coast Guard and Naval Reserve, I've been aboard several ships, but never a supertanker. Fortunately, many merchant sailors like to video their voyages and post the videos on YouTube. I was able to find dozens of such videos that were the equivalent of a walking tour of a supertanker, from the main deck to the bridge, to the cargo tanks, to the crew cabins, to the engineering spaces. I discovered these ships are so huge, they even have swimming pools for the crew!
Setting a scene is important for pulling readers into your story. If you're writing science fiction or fantasy, you can rely entirely on your imagination. However, if your scene takes place in a real life location some distance away, you may need to do some on scene research. But what if you don't have the funds to travel?
I use Google Maps.
Google Maps has the ability to take you right down to a street level view of most places on earth. For instance, in preparing this article, I used Google Maps to view Uppsala, Sweden, a city I spent some time visiting following college. I was able to view street level photos—some including 360-degree views—to see places I had visited when I was there. After leaving Sweden (virtually), I dropped into Italy and walked (again virtually) the streets of Rome. Unfortunately, I couldn't sample any of the cuisine or wine!
What about Wikipedia? Certainly, much of the information on the "free internet encyclopedia" is suspicious—largely because some people and/or corporations use it for propaganda—but there is still good information, too. It is, at least, a good place to start your research. The key is to check the references at the bottom of each entry's page. Those references often contain live links that take to additional information.
For instance, using the same research subject "spy craft" on Wikipedia takes you to a page titled "Tradecraft," a synonym for spy craft. The page contains a list of various techniques used in intelligence gathering. Go to the bottom of the page, and you'll find a link to "A Compendium of Analytic Tradecraft Notes," published by the CIA.
Many government web sites, in fact, can provide writers with the research they need. For instance, thousands of historical documents, photographs, and paintings can be found at the Library of Congress. Writing a spy novel and need to set a scene in the CIA's McLean facility? Check out the virtual tour of CIA headquarters.
For more advice on using the internet for research, check out this primer from Brooklyn College.
July 7, 2016
Flash Fiction: When Less Is More
Recently, at the urging of a colleague, I have been dabbling in flash fiction. If you're not sure what flash fiction is—I wasn't when I started—it is a very brief form of short story ranging from 1,000 words to as few as 150 words. Some people also call it sudden fiction, drabbles, nano fiction, or just short-short stories.
Don't confuse flash fiction with an excerpt, such as a scene from a larger work. Flash fiction has a fully developed plot with a beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes, however, the reader needs to read between the lines to find those elements. Think of this nano story, the authorship of which is often attributed (perhaps erroneously) to Ernest Hemingway: "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."
Hemingway, of course, honed his craft writing vignettes of only a few hundred words. These made up the content of his first published book, in our times. Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Philip K. Dick also were practitioners of this form of short story.
Back in college, being a Hemingway devotee, I practiced writing vignettes just as Papa did. Back then, it was just for practice. I never imagined there was a market for such brief stories. Maybe there wasn't back then. There certainly is now.
Today there are numerous markets for flash fiction. Most science fiction publications feature flash fiction, and some online venues—such as Flash Fiction Online and Flash Fiction Magazine—specialize in it. In the mystery field, there are online markets like Shotgun Honey, The Molotov Cocktail, and Flash Bang Mysteries. There's even a National Flash Fiction Day in the UK.
When my colleague urged me to try my hand at flash fiction, I took it as a challenge. I've written full-length novels, a novella, and longish short stories as seen in my collection Duty. I wanted to see if I could go in the opposite direction and write something short and tight. I wanted to see how lean a story I could compose, hoping it would improve the writing of my larger works.
My first attempt at flash fiction came when I heard about a publisher seeking submissions for an anthology of weird sea stories. The story I wrote—inspired by the true story of a long lost ship that keeps reappearing every few years—came to just under 1,000 words. The next two—one about a freelance assassin's last job, the other about a workplace shooting—both came to just over 300 words each.
Whether these short pieces of fiction sell is not important. The act of writing them tight, then editing and cutting them to be even tighter, was a wonderful writing exercise. I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying my hand at more flash fiction in other genres.
If you want to learn more about writing flash fiction, check out David Gaffney's piece in The Guardian or Tara Laskowski's article at Something Is Going to Happen.
Don't confuse flash fiction with an excerpt, such as a scene from a larger work. Flash fiction has a fully developed plot with a beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes, however, the reader needs to read between the lines to find those elements. Think of this nano story, the authorship of which is often attributed (perhaps erroneously) to Ernest Hemingway: "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."
Hemingway, of course, honed his craft writing vignettes of only a few hundred words. These made up the content of his first published book, in our times. Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Philip K. Dick also were practitioners of this form of short story.
Back in college, being a Hemingway devotee, I practiced writing vignettes just as Papa did. Back then, it was just for practice. I never imagined there was a market for such brief stories. Maybe there wasn't back then. There certainly is now.
Today there are numerous markets for flash fiction. Most science fiction publications feature flash fiction, and some online venues—such as Flash Fiction Online and Flash Fiction Magazine—specialize in it. In the mystery field, there are online markets like Shotgun Honey, The Molotov Cocktail, and Flash Bang Mysteries. There's even a National Flash Fiction Day in the UK.
When my colleague urged me to try my hand at flash fiction, I took it as a challenge. I've written full-length novels, a novella, and longish short stories as seen in my collection Duty. I wanted to see if I could go in the opposite direction and write something short and tight. I wanted to see how lean a story I could compose, hoping it would improve the writing of my larger works.
My first attempt at flash fiction came when I heard about a publisher seeking submissions for an anthology of weird sea stories. The story I wrote—inspired by the true story of a long lost ship that keeps reappearing every few years—came to just under 1,000 words. The next two—one about a freelance assassin's last job, the other about a workplace shooting—both came to just over 300 words each.
Whether these short pieces of fiction sell is not important. The act of writing them tight, then editing and cutting them to be even tighter, was a wonderful writing exercise. I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying my hand at more flash fiction in other genres.
If you want to learn more about writing flash fiction, check out David Gaffney's piece in The Guardian or Tara Laskowski's article at Something Is Going to Happen.
June 9, 2016
Two Software Programs to Help Your Writing
Not long ago I wrote a blog on how I use a number of apps to help me find time to write. More recently, I wrote about how to tweak Microsoft Word to improve your writing. In this blog, I'm going to follow up on those two technology-related blogs and describe two software packages I use to stay productive and organized.
Shortly before my latest novel, The Last Refuge, was released, a writing colleague called me to tell me how much he enjoyed reading the advanced reading copy I'd sent him. He did, however, point out one problem. There was a certain word I overused throughout the book. I immediately corrected the problem before the book was released.
My friend recommended a software app he uses to catch such problems—͞Autocrit. I immediately researched AutoCrit but opted for a competing software program called ProWritingAid by Orpheus Technology. Both have similar capabilities to identify writing problems such as overused words, buried verbs, adverbs, grammar problems, etc. ProWritingAid, however, was quite a bit cheaper.
An online version of ProWritingAid is available to use free, but I opted to use the downloadable premium edition at the cost of $40 per year. Once downloaded and installed, ProWritingAid places an icon on the Word tool bar the way Acrobat and Endnote do. Before using it, you need to set the style of writing you do--creative, business, legal, academic, etc.
After scanning your manuscript, ProWritingAd lists the problems it found in a sidebar to the right of your screen. All similar problems are grouped together in the sidebar and color coded in both the sidebar and in your document. ProWritingAid provides advice on how to correct the problems, but it's up to you to go through your document, find the color-highlighted words, and use your own innate writing talent to clean up your copy.
It goes without saying that no software application can replace a professional editor. But programs like ProWritingAd will help you get your manuscript to a higher level of professionalism and completeness before you send it to your editor.
So now your manuscript is polished and you're ready to send it to a publisher or a magazine. Fine. But how do you keep track of when you sent it out and to whom? Many writers I know use spreadsheets to track their submissions. I used to do that myself. Now I use a submission tracking software called Sonar 3.
There are many submission trackers out there, but Sonar 3 has two outstanding qualities. One, it's free. Two, unlike other submission trackers, which are online, Sonar 3 is a full-function software package that installs on your computer and allows you to maintain a totally private database of your submissions.
Sonar 3 allows you to build a database of all publications to which you might submit your work. A pop up data entry form allows you to record the publication's name, editor, email, URL, postal address, and submission guidelines. My Sonar 3 publication database must have somewhere near a hundred markets in it now, and I keep adding new ones all the time.
Another data entry form allows you to insert details about each of your manuscripts—͞title, genre, number of words, etc. After you submit a manuscript to a publisher, you enter Sonar 3, and click the story's title. A form pops up and, using a drop down window showing all the markets in your database, you choose the publication to which you've just submitted your work. That's it.
Sonar 3's opening screen lists each of your works, whether it's under submission and when it was submitted, and whether it was returned or sold. It even lists how much you were paid.
Australian science fiction writer, Simon Haynes, is the creator of Sonar 3 and he has a host of other writing related applications at his website—͞all free. One is an app that makes sense out of those confusing sales reports Amazon provides. I haven't tried that one yet, but I will.
Shortly before my latest novel, The Last Refuge, was released, a writing colleague called me to tell me how much he enjoyed reading the advanced reading copy I'd sent him. He did, however, point out one problem. There was a certain word I overused throughout the book. I immediately corrected the problem before the book was released.
My friend recommended a software app he uses to catch such problems—͞Autocrit. I immediately researched AutoCrit but opted for a competing software program called ProWritingAid by Orpheus Technology. Both have similar capabilities to identify writing problems such as overused words, buried verbs, adverbs, grammar problems, etc. ProWritingAid, however, was quite a bit cheaper.
An online version of ProWritingAid is available to use free, but I opted to use the downloadable premium edition at the cost of $40 per year. Once downloaded and installed, ProWritingAid places an icon on the Word tool bar the way Acrobat and Endnote do. Before using it, you need to set the style of writing you do--creative, business, legal, academic, etc.
After scanning your manuscript, ProWritingAd lists the problems it found in a sidebar to the right of your screen. All similar problems are grouped together in the sidebar and color coded in both the sidebar and in your document. ProWritingAid provides advice on how to correct the problems, but it's up to you to go through your document, find the color-highlighted words, and use your own innate writing talent to clean up your copy.
It goes without saying that no software application can replace a professional editor. But programs like ProWritingAd will help you get your manuscript to a higher level of professionalism and completeness before you send it to your editor.
So now your manuscript is polished and you're ready to send it to a publisher or a magazine. Fine. But how do you keep track of when you sent it out and to whom? Many writers I know use spreadsheets to track their submissions. I used to do that myself. Now I use a submission tracking software called Sonar 3.
There are many submission trackers out there, but Sonar 3 has two outstanding qualities. One, it's free. Two, unlike other submission trackers, which are online, Sonar 3 is a full-function software package that installs on your computer and allows you to maintain a totally private database of your submissions.
Sonar 3 allows you to build a database of all publications to which you might submit your work. A pop up data entry form allows you to record the publication's name, editor, email, URL, postal address, and submission guidelines. My Sonar 3 publication database must have somewhere near a hundred markets in it now, and I keep adding new ones all the time.
Another data entry form allows you to insert details about each of your manuscripts—͞title, genre, number of words, etc. After you submit a manuscript to a publisher, you enter Sonar 3, and click the story's title. A form pops up and, using a drop down window showing all the markets in your database, you choose the publication to which you've just submitted your work. That's it.
Sonar 3's opening screen lists each of your works, whether it's under submission and when it was submitted, and whether it was returned or sold. It even lists how much you were paid.
Australian science fiction writer, Simon Haynes, is the creator of Sonar 3 and he has a host of other writing related applications at his website—͞all free. One is an app that makes sense out of those confusing sales reports Amazon provides. I haven't tried that one yet, but I will.
May 4, 2016
Tweaking MSWord to Work for You
Let's face it. Microsoft Word is the most ubiquitous word processing program in the world. If you're an author, you're probably using Word to write your stories. Oh, sure, there are a number of alternative word processers, but the odds are you're still using Word for at least some of your writing needs. And if that's true, you're probably sick to death of Word's spell and grammar check.
The problem with those two apps is they just don't know good writing when they see it. Okay, maybe that's not the problem. The problem really is Word doesn't recognize you're writing a novel, not a college term paper. But you can change that.
Most users, including writers, use Word as it comes right out of the virtual box. Few realize you can tweak Word to make it work for you, and one of those tweaks includes how the spell and grammar check apps work. By making a few changes, Word can help you edit your work and create a cleaner product before shipping it off to a human editor.
How you make changes to your Word will depend on which version you currently use, but the differences in the procedure is minimal.
In most modern versions of Word, you need to click on File, then scroll down to Options. When the Word Options view pops up, click on Proofing. This is where you can make changes to how Word checks your document.
One of the best changes you can make here is to ensure the "Use contextual spelling" box is checked. In my experience, Word comes with this option disabled. Enabling it will make Word differentiate between such words as "its" and "it's." That can be a real time saver.
I also prefer to have Word check grammar at the same time it checks spelling. If you want that option, make sure the "Check grammar with spelling" box is checked.
The option called "Writing Style" is probably the most powerful tool for writers. Here you can have Word look only for grammar errors, or grammar and style. I choose the latter, then tweak it for my particular needs by clicking the "Settings" button.
The first three options under Settings can save you a ton of proofing time. A comma after the last item in a sequence? Punctuation inside or outside quotes marks? One or two spaces between sentences? The last is particularly important for those of us old enough to have learned how to type on a typewriter. Back then, we learned to put two spaces between sentences. In the computer age, the style is now just one space. This option will automatically correct that for you.
The rest of the selections allow you to tweak Word to your personal writing style. Do you write in the first person? Then tell Word not to check for it. By default, Word will urge you to not to use contractions. However, most dialogue is written with contractions because that's how people talk. So uncheck the "Contractions" box. Do you have a tendency to use clichés? Make sure the "Cliche's, Colloquialisms, and Jargon" box is checked.
By default, Word always checks for passive writing. Depending on how you write, you may want to disable this option while working on your first draft, then turn it back on when you are doing your later drafts. (That's what I do.) I find this option challenges me to tighten my writing.
On the proofing page, you can also add custom dictionaries. This is handy if the piece you are writing uses foreign or technical words. When I was writing my sci-fi novella, Eden, I used dozens of words from the ancient Sumerian language. Spell check drove me crazy, especially when I told it to remember a Sumerian word that I misspelled. Had I known about custom dictionaries, I could have created a Sumerian language file and imported it into Word. It would have saved me hours of checking and rechecking Sumerian spellings. If you're writing a Star Trek fan novel with a lot of Klingon dialogue, this option is for you.
One word of warning. Make certain Word is using the proper dictionary for your version of a language. As I was proofing on my latest novel, The Last Refuge, Word kept telling me I had an incredibly large number of misspellings. I discovered Word had switched to UK English instead of US English. (Remember, we are two countries separated by a common language!) No matter how many times I manually switched Word's spell checker back to US English, the program would end up using the Queen English instead.
It turns out some fonts are used more often by one country than others. When Word encounters such a font, it automatically switches to that country's dictionary. I had laid out my book using a template with an embedded font used primarily in the UK; hence, Word kept switching the UK English dictionary. I switched to another template, and the problem went away.
Of course, there is no way Word’s spell check and grammar check apps will replace your manuscript’s need for a professional editing. However, tweaking Word to work for you will make life easier for both you and your editor.
The problem with those two apps is they just don't know good writing when they see it. Okay, maybe that's not the problem. The problem really is Word doesn't recognize you're writing a novel, not a college term paper. But you can change that.
Most users, including writers, use Word as it comes right out of the virtual box. Few realize you can tweak Word to make it work for you, and one of those tweaks includes how the spell and grammar check apps work. By making a few changes, Word can help you edit your work and create a cleaner product before shipping it off to a human editor.
How you make changes to your Word will depend on which version you currently use, but the differences in the procedure is minimal.
In most modern versions of Word, you need to click on File, then scroll down to Options. When the Word Options view pops up, click on Proofing. This is where you can make changes to how Word checks your document.
One of the best changes you can make here is to ensure the "Use contextual spelling" box is checked. In my experience, Word comes with this option disabled. Enabling it will make Word differentiate between such words as "its" and "it's." That can be a real time saver.
I also prefer to have Word check grammar at the same time it checks spelling. If you want that option, make sure the "Check grammar with spelling" box is checked.
The option called "Writing Style" is probably the most powerful tool for writers. Here you can have Word look only for grammar errors, or grammar and style. I choose the latter, then tweak it for my particular needs by clicking the "Settings" button.
The first three options under Settings can save you a ton of proofing time. A comma after the last item in a sequence? Punctuation inside or outside quotes marks? One or two spaces between sentences? The last is particularly important for those of us old enough to have learned how to type on a typewriter. Back then, we learned to put two spaces between sentences. In the computer age, the style is now just one space. This option will automatically correct that for you.
The rest of the selections allow you to tweak Word to your personal writing style. Do you write in the first person? Then tell Word not to check for it. By default, Word will urge you to not to use contractions. However, most dialogue is written with contractions because that's how people talk. So uncheck the "Contractions" box. Do you have a tendency to use clichés? Make sure the "Cliche's, Colloquialisms, and Jargon" box is checked.
By default, Word always checks for passive writing. Depending on how you write, you may want to disable this option while working on your first draft, then turn it back on when you are doing your later drafts. (That's what I do.) I find this option challenges me to tighten my writing.
On the proofing page, you can also add custom dictionaries. This is handy if the piece you are writing uses foreign or technical words. When I was writing my sci-fi novella, Eden, I used dozens of words from the ancient Sumerian language. Spell check drove me crazy, especially when I told it to remember a Sumerian word that I misspelled. Had I known about custom dictionaries, I could have created a Sumerian language file and imported it into Word. It would have saved me hours of checking and rechecking Sumerian spellings. If you're writing a Star Trek fan novel with a lot of Klingon dialogue, this option is for you.
One word of warning. Make certain Word is using the proper dictionary for your version of a language. As I was proofing on my latest novel, The Last Refuge, Word kept telling me I had an incredibly large number of misspellings. I discovered Word had switched to UK English instead of US English. (Remember, we are two countries separated by a common language!) No matter how many times I manually switched Word's spell checker back to US English, the program would end up using the Queen English instead.
It turns out some fonts are used more often by one country than others. When Word encounters such a font, it automatically switches to that country's dictionary. I had laid out my book using a template with an embedded font used primarily in the UK; hence, Word kept switching the UK English dictionary. I switched to another template, and the problem went away.
Of course, there is no way Word’s spell check and grammar check apps will replace your manuscript’s need for a professional editing. However, tweaking Word to work for you will make life easier for both you and your editor.
March 20, 2016
The Other Side of Book Reviews: How Writing Reviews Can Improve and Promote Your Books
You hear it all the time, the importance of reviews for selling your books. You work hard lining up colleagues, friends, even family members to read your book and leave a review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads.
But have you ever considered how important it is for you to write book reviews? Posting book reviews on any of the sites mentioned above is a great and inexpensive way to get your own writing recognized. Moreover, learning how to produce a professional book review can help improve your own writing.
Let's take that last sentence first.
Reviews written by casual readers are usually quite simple. "I liked it a lot!" "Couldn't put it down." "Exciting, rip-roaring read!" What's usually missing is any explanation of why the book was enjoyable.
As a writer, you are not a casual reader. Any time you read a book, you should be taking it apart piece by piece. What is the plot, conflict, and theme? How well developed are the characters? How is the book structured? What is the pacing? What did the author do (or not do) to make the book stand out?
Researching the author can add to your insight. One of my favorite authors, thriller writer David Morrell, lost his father in WWII, had a bad relationship with his step-father, and later lost a young son to cancer. Father and son relationships are a recurring theme in many of his books. I recently read Karl Marlantes Vietnam novel Matterhorn. Looking up his biography showed his novel was based largely on his own experiences as a Marine Corps infantry officer in that war, particularly a battle in which he earned the Navy Cross for heroism. It took Marlantes 30 years to write the novel, probably as a way to exorcise old ghosts.
Analyzing a book this way does two things: it gives a greater understanding of what the author did (or didn't do) to make the book a success or failure; and understanding this will help you improve your own work.
The analysis should also provide the grist for your review. Start the review with a short description of the book. Pretend you're writing a cover blurb for the novel, explaining the premise of the book in a way that entices the reader but doesn't explain the plot step-by-step.
In my recent review of Bob Mayer's political thriller, The Kennedy Endeavor, I simply lay out the historic facts of the October Cuban Missile Crisis and its aftermath.
"For thirteen days in October 1962, the world stood on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. Only back-channel diplomacy between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev averted a world-ending nuclear war. But was there more to their diplomatic agreement than history recorded?
"Within a year, Kennedy was dead, ostensibly killed by the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald. A year later, Kennedy's long-time confidant and one-time lover, Mary Meyer, was also dead, shot execution-style. And the day after Meyer's death, Khrushchev was ousted from power and placed under house arrest. Were these events an attempt to hide the real reason the world survived the Cold War?"
The true events cited in those paragraphs lay out Mayer's premise for the book: Was there something more to ending that crisis than we've been told about in history books?
Comparing a book to other well-known books in the same genre is a quick and easy way to let readers know something about the book you're reviewing, while also letting them know how well read you are. My review of Marlantes' Matterhorn started like this:
"There are few truly great war novels. Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, Anton Meier's Once An Eagle, and Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny all come to mind—novels that explore themes of leadership (or lack thereof), camaraderie, sacrifice, and, ultimately, the futility of war. To these great novels I would add Karl Marlantes' Vietnam novel Matterhorn."
In that one paragraph I tell the reader that Matterhorn is a serious piece of literature and not some sort of shoot-'em-up action war novel, that it will be a story about the sacrifices and sufferings of fighting men enduring unbearable hardships and absurdities.
Sometimes a book hits a personal emotional note with you. When that happens, it's perfectly fine to use it in your review. My review of the nonfiction book, The Finest Hours, recently made into a major motion picture, begins like this:
"I have to confess up front, I'm a bit biased about this book. The Finest Hours is about one of the most dangerous rescue missions in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard, and I spent 13 years of active and reserve duty in the Coast Guard. Moreover, this book focuses on the exploits of four men who were members of my part of the Coast Guard—the Boat Force, those Coasties serving in small boats who "have to go out, but don't have to come back."
I go on to explain I thought the authors did a good job of describing the dangers of operating small, open rescue boats in a heavy sea. I was able to give this insight because I've done it myself, though not in any way near the size of the seas described in the book.
Very well, you say. You can see how thoroughly analyzing a book and writing a professional, critical review can help improve your writing. But how does it help promote your own books?
When you post thoughtful, well-written reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc., you become something of a subject matter expert on writing. I have hundreds of "friends" on Goodreads, but I was recently surprised to find I have quite a few Goodreads subscribers who simply follow my reviews. If they are interested in my reviews, odds are they will someday check out my own novels. Frequently, I will get a notification that someone "liked" one of my reviews posted months or even years before, then next I frecieve a friend request. One more person who gets to know me as an author.
The same thing can happen on Amazon. Few people realized this, but when you sign up for an Amazon account you automatically get a reviewer's profile page— a profile page separate from your author's page. Each review you post contains a link (i.e., your name) to that page. On that profile page, you can provide information on your own books and links to your web site and social media pages.
Amazon used to have signature lines for reviewers. Mine said, "Author of Mysteries and Thrillers." Unfortunately, Amazon appears to no longer include the sig lines on reviews. Nevertheless, each time a reader indicates your review was helpful, it moves up on the list of reviews. The more "helpfuls" your review gets, the more often it will appear on the buy page of the book you're reviewing, providing your name more exposure.
Very often the art of promoting your books isn't hitting readers over their heads and telling them to buy your books. Sometimes it's gently leading them to the conclusion they should try your books.
But have you ever considered how important it is for you to write book reviews? Posting book reviews on any of the sites mentioned above is a great and inexpensive way to get your own writing recognized. Moreover, learning how to produce a professional book review can help improve your own writing.
Let's take that last sentence first.
Reviews written by casual readers are usually quite simple. "I liked it a lot!" "Couldn't put it down." "Exciting, rip-roaring read!" What's usually missing is any explanation of why the book was enjoyable.
As a writer, you are not a casual reader. Any time you read a book, you should be taking it apart piece by piece. What is the plot, conflict, and theme? How well developed are the characters? How is the book structured? What is the pacing? What did the author do (or not do) to make the book stand out?
Researching the author can add to your insight. One of my favorite authors, thriller writer David Morrell, lost his father in WWII, had a bad relationship with his step-father, and later lost a young son to cancer. Father and son relationships are a recurring theme in many of his books. I recently read Karl Marlantes Vietnam novel Matterhorn. Looking up his biography showed his novel was based largely on his own experiences as a Marine Corps infantry officer in that war, particularly a battle in which he earned the Navy Cross for heroism. It took Marlantes 30 years to write the novel, probably as a way to exorcise old ghosts.
Analyzing a book this way does two things: it gives a greater understanding of what the author did (or didn't do) to make the book a success or failure; and understanding this will help you improve your own work.
The analysis should also provide the grist for your review. Start the review with a short description of the book. Pretend you're writing a cover blurb for the novel, explaining the premise of the book in a way that entices the reader but doesn't explain the plot step-by-step.
In my recent review of Bob Mayer's political thriller, The Kennedy Endeavor, I simply lay out the historic facts of the October Cuban Missile Crisis and its aftermath.
"For thirteen days in October 1962, the world stood on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. Only back-channel diplomacy between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev averted a world-ending nuclear war. But was there more to their diplomatic agreement than history recorded?
"Within a year, Kennedy was dead, ostensibly killed by the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald. A year later, Kennedy's long-time confidant and one-time lover, Mary Meyer, was also dead, shot execution-style. And the day after Meyer's death, Khrushchev was ousted from power and placed under house arrest. Were these events an attempt to hide the real reason the world survived the Cold War?"
The true events cited in those paragraphs lay out Mayer's premise for the book: Was there something more to ending that crisis than we've been told about in history books?
Comparing a book to other well-known books in the same genre is a quick and easy way to let readers know something about the book you're reviewing, while also letting them know how well read you are. My review of Marlantes' Matterhorn started like this:
"There are few truly great war novels. Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, Anton Meier's Once An Eagle, and Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny all come to mind—novels that explore themes of leadership (or lack thereof), camaraderie, sacrifice, and, ultimately, the futility of war. To these great novels I would add Karl Marlantes' Vietnam novel Matterhorn."
In that one paragraph I tell the reader that Matterhorn is a serious piece of literature and not some sort of shoot-'em-up action war novel, that it will be a story about the sacrifices and sufferings of fighting men enduring unbearable hardships and absurdities.
Sometimes a book hits a personal emotional note with you. When that happens, it's perfectly fine to use it in your review. My review of the nonfiction book, The Finest Hours, recently made into a major motion picture, begins like this:
"I have to confess up front, I'm a bit biased about this book. The Finest Hours is about one of the most dangerous rescue missions in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard, and I spent 13 years of active and reserve duty in the Coast Guard. Moreover, this book focuses on the exploits of four men who were members of my part of the Coast Guard—the Boat Force, those Coasties serving in small boats who "have to go out, but don't have to come back."
I go on to explain I thought the authors did a good job of describing the dangers of operating small, open rescue boats in a heavy sea. I was able to give this insight because I've done it myself, though not in any way near the size of the seas described in the book.
Very well, you say. You can see how thoroughly analyzing a book and writing a professional, critical review can help improve your writing. But how does it help promote your own books?
When you post thoughtful, well-written reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc., you become something of a subject matter expert on writing. I have hundreds of "friends" on Goodreads, but I was recently surprised to find I have quite a few Goodreads subscribers who simply follow my reviews. If they are interested in my reviews, odds are they will someday check out my own novels. Frequently, I will get a notification that someone "liked" one of my reviews posted months or even years before, then next I frecieve a friend request. One more person who gets to know me as an author.
The same thing can happen on Amazon. Few people realized this, but when you sign up for an Amazon account you automatically get a reviewer's profile page— a profile page separate from your author's page. Each review you post contains a link (i.e., your name) to that page. On that profile page, you can provide information on your own books and links to your web site and social media pages.
Amazon used to have signature lines for reviewers. Mine said, "Author of Mysteries and Thrillers." Unfortunately, Amazon appears to no longer include the sig lines on reviews. Nevertheless, each time a reader indicates your review was helpful, it moves up on the list of reviews. The more "helpfuls" your review gets, the more often it will appear on the buy page of the book you're reviewing, providing your name more exposure.
Very often the art of promoting your books isn't hitting readers over their heads and telling them to buy your books. Sometimes it's gently leading them to the conclusion they should try your books.
February 27, 2016
…ever wondered where fact and fiction merge in a novel?… Author Martin Roy Hill knows…
My friend and fellow thriller author, Seumas Gallagher, recently asked me to write a guest post for his blog on how I came up with the plot elements for The Last Refuge, which becomes available on March 1. With Seumas' permission, I am reposting it here in its entirety. To find out more about Seumas' wonderful Jack Calder series, visit his website: https://seumasgallacher.com/.
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…I recently read Martin Roy Hill’s new Peter Brandt novel, THE LAST REFUGE… it’s a cracking 5-star story, and due for launch on the Great God Amazon Kindle on February 29th… it seems so real… and here’s why… listen to Martin:
‘THE LAST REFUGE’ Plot
I’m often asked how I came up with the plot elements of The Last Refuge— he greed, corruption, and government secrets in the story line, as well as the friendly fire incident that launches the book. Easy. It all happened.
All of the plots in my books are based on some historical fact. True life events inspired the plot elements in both of my Peter Brandt mysteries, Empty Places and The Last Refuge, some of which I covered as a journalist.
For instance, the inspiration for the opening scene in The Last Refuge—the deadly friendly fire incident during Operation Desert Storm in 1991—were several actual incidents that occurred during that war. There were at least eleven blue-on-blue attacks during Desert Storm, two of which served as the models for the attack that opens The Last Refuge. No government likes to admit mistakes, and cover-ups of friendly fire incidents are not unknown. Just look at the attempted cover up of the death by friendly fire of former American football player Pat Tillman while serving with the U.S. Rangers in Afghanistan in 2004.
I was an investigative journalist in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and one story I covered was how the U.S. helped finance Iraq’s massive weapons program. Both the Reagan and Bush administrations covertly provided Hussein billions of dollars in funding which he used in his weapons of mass destruction programs. After Desert Storm, there was a scramble by the White House to cover up its involvement in Hussein’s weapons build up.
In the 1980s, the Reagan administration’s reckless defense spending fostered a corrupt environment in the U.S. defense industry, resulting in a three-year probe by the FBI called Operation Ill Wind.
Then, in the early 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War caught the U.S. defense industry flat-footed. Defense contractors struggled to win what few military contracts there were, and the industry underwent a dramatic downsizing, leaving thousands laid off. The U.S. economy went into a tailspin that took years to come out of.
I used these historic facts to create the environment The Last Refuge takes place in. Unfortunately, we saw similar scandals during the most recent war with Iraq. But you’ll have to wait for my next book to see how I handle that.
__________________
My thanks again to Seumas for the chance to talk to his readers. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, check out Seumas's latest Jack Calder novel KIller City here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/KILLER-CITY-J...
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…I recently read Martin Roy Hill’s new Peter Brandt novel, THE LAST REFUGE… it’s a cracking 5-star story, and due for launch on the Great God Amazon Kindle on February 29th… it seems so real… and here’s why… listen to Martin:
‘THE LAST REFUGE’ Plot
I’m often asked how I came up with the plot elements of The Last Refuge— he greed, corruption, and government secrets in the story line, as well as the friendly fire incident that launches the book. Easy. It all happened.
All of the plots in my books are based on some historical fact. True life events inspired the plot elements in both of my Peter Brandt mysteries, Empty Places and The Last Refuge, some of which I covered as a journalist.
For instance, the inspiration for the opening scene in The Last Refuge—the deadly friendly fire incident during Operation Desert Storm in 1991—were several actual incidents that occurred during that war. There were at least eleven blue-on-blue attacks during Desert Storm, two of which served as the models for the attack that opens The Last Refuge. No government likes to admit mistakes, and cover-ups of friendly fire incidents are not unknown. Just look at the attempted cover up of the death by friendly fire of former American football player Pat Tillman while serving with the U.S. Rangers in Afghanistan in 2004.
I was an investigative journalist in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and one story I covered was how the U.S. helped finance Iraq’s massive weapons program. Both the Reagan and Bush administrations covertly provided Hussein billions of dollars in funding which he used in his weapons of mass destruction programs. After Desert Storm, there was a scramble by the White House to cover up its involvement in Hussein’s weapons build up.
In the 1980s, the Reagan administration’s reckless defense spending fostered a corrupt environment in the U.S. defense industry, resulting in a three-year probe by the FBI called Operation Ill Wind.
Then, in the early 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War caught the U.S. defense industry flat-footed. Defense contractors struggled to win what few military contracts there were, and the industry underwent a dramatic downsizing, leaving thousands laid off. The U.S. economy went into a tailspin that took years to come out of.
I used these historic facts to create the environment The Last Refuge takes place in. Unfortunately, we saw similar scandals during the most recent war with Iraq. But you’ll have to wait for my next book to see how I handle that.
__________________
My thanks again to Seumas for the chance to talk to his readers. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, check out Seumas's latest Jack Calder novel KIller City here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/KILLER-CITY-J...
February 4, 2016
A New Planet, Sci-Fi, and Human History
The redoubtable Mark Twain once wrote, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't."
Maybe I had that in mind a few months ago when talk show host Arthur Schwartz interviewed me about my sci-fi novella Eden. Eden is about a group of American GIs in Iraq who stumble upon an ancient secret about the beginnings of humankind. As I explain in the book’s author’s note, Eden was inspired by the ancient alien theory, which proposes that man's biological and cultural evolution was influenced by extraterrestrial beings who visited earth in pre-historic times.
Arthur wanted to discuss what influence the work of Zecharia Sitchin had on me while writing Eden. Sitchin was a Russian-born writer and, along with Erich Von Däniken, was an early proponent of the ancient alien theory. While Däniken's research focused largely on known archeological sites, Sitchin's research was largely focus on the ancient Sumerian civilization.
Sumerian civilization sprang up in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) between 5500 and 4000 BC, and is considered one of the earliest, if not the first, human civilizations. Sitchin taught himself to read cuneiform writing, and from reading ancient Sumerian tablets developed his own ancient alien theory.
In his 1976 book, The 12th Planet, Sitchin proposed that extraterrestrials called the Annunaki visited earth and influenced the development of human culture. In fact, that is the basic Sumerian creation myth, which claims "sky gods" called the Annunaki came to earth and created man to mine riches for them. I used this same basic mythology as part of the plot for Eden.
But Sitchin went far beyond the known Sumerian mythology. Based on his reading of the Sumerian texts, Sitchin proposed the Annunaki came from Nibiru, an undiscovered planet in our own solar system orbiting just beyond Neptune. Sitchin maintained Nibiru was unknown to astronomers because its large elliptical orbit meant the planet took thousands of years to complete one trip around the sun. Sitchin also claimed Nibiru's orbital plane was at an acute angle to the plane on which the known planets orbit the sun.
In our interview, I told Arthur this was where Sitchin and I parted company. I said I found the idea of such a planet existing preposterous. If it did exist, I insisted, astronomers would detect some evidence of its gravitational effect on other members of our solar system. In my considered opinion, it was far more plausible that some alien culture traveled here from some distant solar system using faster than light or worm-hole jumping technology.
Harrumph.
I'm sure damn glad I didn't bet my hat on that assertion. I'd be eating it right now.
On January 20, Caltech astronomers Michael E. Brown and Konstantin Batygin announced they found gravitation indications of a ninth planet (Pluto no longer being considered a planet) orbiting the sun in an elongated orbit that takes the planet 10 to 20 thousand years to complete. Based on mathematical calculations and not direct observation, the astronomers believe the planet to be at least as large as earth and probably much larger, and orbiting at an acute angle from the normal orbital plane. Moreover, they theorized the planet's orbit would place it just beyond Neptune's orbit—right where Sitchin said Nibiru's orbit lay.
As I read the initial news story about the astronomers’ theory, I found myself speechless. The similarities between Sitchin's Nibiru and the planet predicted by the Caltech calculations are striking, perhaps too much so to be coincidence. If Drs. Brown and Batygin are correct, is this unseen planet Sitchin's Nibiru? And if it is, what does that mean for what most people believe is human history?
I am beginning to feel like Eden’s protagonist, Captain Adam Cadman, an archeologist turned soldier, who discovers everything he’s been told about human history is wrong.
Twain was certainly right. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Maybe I had that in mind a few months ago when talk show host Arthur Schwartz interviewed me about my sci-fi novella Eden. Eden is about a group of American GIs in Iraq who stumble upon an ancient secret about the beginnings of humankind. As I explain in the book’s author’s note, Eden was inspired by the ancient alien theory, which proposes that man's biological and cultural evolution was influenced by extraterrestrial beings who visited earth in pre-historic times.
Arthur wanted to discuss what influence the work of Zecharia Sitchin had on me while writing Eden. Sitchin was a Russian-born writer and, along with Erich Von Däniken, was an early proponent of the ancient alien theory. While Däniken's research focused largely on known archeological sites, Sitchin's research was largely focus on the ancient Sumerian civilization.
Sumerian civilization sprang up in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) between 5500 and 4000 BC, and is considered one of the earliest, if not the first, human civilizations. Sitchin taught himself to read cuneiform writing, and from reading ancient Sumerian tablets developed his own ancient alien theory.
In his 1976 book, The 12th Planet, Sitchin proposed that extraterrestrials called the Annunaki visited earth and influenced the development of human culture. In fact, that is the basic Sumerian creation myth, which claims "sky gods" called the Annunaki came to earth and created man to mine riches for them. I used this same basic mythology as part of the plot for Eden.
But Sitchin went far beyond the known Sumerian mythology. Based on his reading of the Sumerian texts, Sitchin proposed the Annunaki came from Nibiru, an undiscovered planet in our own solar system orbiting just beyond Neptune. Sitchin maintained Nibiru was unknown to astronomers because its large elliptical orbit meant the planet took thousands of years to complete one trip around the sun. Sitchin also claimed Nibiru's orbital plane was at an acute angle to the plane on which the known planets orbit the sun.
In our interview, I told Arthur this was where Sitchin and I parted company. I said I found the idea of such a planet existing preposterous. If it did exist, I insisted, astronomers would detect some evidence of its gravitational effect on other members of our solar system. In my considered opinion, it was far more plausible that some alien culture traveled here from some distant solar system using faster than light or worm-hole jumping technology.
Harrumph.
I'm sure damn glad I didn't bet my hat on that assertion. I'd be eating it right now.
On January 20, Caltech astronomers Michael E. Brown and Konstantin Batygin announced they found gravitation indications of a ninth planet (Pluto no longer being considered a planet) orbiting the sun in an elongated orbit that takes the planet 10 to 20 thousand years to complete. Based on mathematical calculations and not direct observation, the astronomers believe the planet to be at least as large as earth and probably much larger, and orbiting at an acute angle from the normal orbital plane. Moreover, they theorized the planet's orbit would place it just beyond Neptune's orbit—right where Sitchin said Nibiru's orbit lay.
As I read the initial news story about the astronomers’ theory, I found myself speechless. The similarities between Sitchin's Nibiru and the planet predicted by the Caltech calculations are striking, perhaps too much so to be coincidence. If Drs. Brown and Batygin are correct, is this unseen planet Sitchin's Nibiru? And if it is, what does that mean for what most people believe is human history?
I am beginning to feel like Eden’s protagonist, Captain Adam Cadman, an archeologist turned soldier, who discovers everything he’s been told about human history is wrong.
Twain was certainly right. Truth is stranger than fiction.
November 9, 2015
Are We Over-Writing Our Stories?
In a recent review of my book, Eden: A Sci-Fi Novella, a SFreader.com reviewer wrote, "It's a bit of a shock to find someone who can tell his story in 100 pages flat. Usually it's a trilogy at least. But Hill pulls it off." While I certainly appreciated the compliment, the reviewer's statement started me thinking. Are we guilty of over-writing our stories?
People have repeatedly asked me before why I wrote Eden as a novella rather than a full novel. I explained that when I started writing Eden, I initially considered it a short story. The deeper I got into the story, however, I realized it needed a larger forum. When I felt the story telling was complete, it was novella length.
That's not an unusual story. I remember hearing once — and this may be apocryphal — that Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness began as a short story. When his editor asked why it was taking so long to write, Conrad retorted, "It grows." Whether this is true or not, obviously Conrad wrote the story of Marlow and Kurtz to the length he consider appropriate and no more, and left us with a classic in English letters.
Some of literature's finest books are, in fact, novellas. Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, Mann's A Death in Venice, Melville's Billy Budd, Steinbeck's The Pearl, and Dicken's A Christmas Carol are only a sampling of short novels that have added to the world's great literature.
By no means would I put Eden up with such works, but science fiction has its famous novellas, too. First to come to mind is Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, a sci-fi classic that spawned three movies and, although it had nothing to do with zombies, is nevertheless considered the grandfather of the walking dead genre.
Writing novellas doesn't mean an author can't write longer works. Melville, after all, also wrote Moby Dick, a novel nearly as massive as its namesake. Leo Tolstoy, author of the equally imposing novel, War and Peace, also wrote several novellas.
Obviously, Melville and Tolstoy understood that a good book should only be as long as the story needs it to be. On the other hand, I once read a sci-fi novel that went on for nearly 1,000 inane, action-padded pages, and never reached a conclusion. The author seemed to assume if I got that far along, I'd buy the sequel to find out what happened to his characters. I didn't.
Not long ago I read an article on how short story markets, on the decline for decades, are making a comeback. Perhaps there is a growing interest among readers for short but high quality stories and, one hopes, short novels as well.
People have repeatedly asked me before why I wrote Eden as a novella rather than a full novel. I explained that when I started writing Eden, I initially considered it a short story. The deeper I got into the story, however, I realized it needed a larger forum. When I felt the story telling was complete, it was novella length.
That's not an unusual story. I remember hearing once — and this may be apocryphal — that Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness began as a short story. When his editor asked why it was taking so long to write, Conrad retorted, "It grows." Whether this is true or not, obviously Conrad wrote the story of Marlow and Kurtz to the length he consider appropriate and no more, and left us with a classic in English letters.
Some of literature's finest books are, in fact, novellas. Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, Mann's A Death in Venice, Melville's Billy Budd, Steinbeck's The Pearl, and Dicken's A Christmas Carol are only a sampling of short novels that have added to the world's great literature.
By no means would I put Eden up with such works, but science fiction has its famous novellas, too. First to come to mind is Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, a sci-fi classic that spawned three movies and, although it had nothing to do with zombies, is nevertheless considered the grandfather of the walking dead genre.
Writing novellas doesn't mean an author can't write longer works. Melville, after all, also wrote Moby Dick, a novel nearly as massive as its namesake. Leo Tolstoy, author of the equally imposing novel, War and Peace, also wrote several novellas.
Obviously, Melville and Tolstoy understood that a good book should only be as long as the story needs it to be. On the other hand, I once read a sci-fi novel that went on for nearly 1,000 inane, action-padded pages, and never reached a conclusion. The author seemed to assume if I got that far along, I'd buy the sequel to find out what happened to his characters. I didn't.
Not long ago I read an article on how short story markets, on the decline for decades, are making a comeback. Perhaps there is a growing interest among readers for short but high quality stories and, one hopes, short novels as well.
