Libby Fischer Hellmann's Blog, page 50

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to “The Mystery Box” Anthology

I am delighted to announce the release of “The Mystery Box” anthology released by MWA (Mystery Writers of America) today. I am even more delighted to say that my story, “War Secrets,” is in it. It has—well—an unusual backstory.

I was casting around for an idea—the anthology’s premise is “Secrets,” which lends itself to a host of fascinating concepts. At the time I had just published  A BITTER VEIL, which tells the story of Anna Schroeder, a young student in Chicago, who meets Nouri Samedi, an Iranian engineering student. They fall in love, marry, and move to Tehran. However, the story takes place in 1978, and four months after Anna relocates, the shah is deposed. A BITTER VEIL depicts the brutality and loss of freedom under Ayaltollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic, and ultimately Anna is forced to escape. She does so with the help of her German father, who was at one time a member of the Nazi party, and a Kurdish Jew from the north of Iran.

I purposely did not explain the connection between the two men in VEIL; it’s what we call in the business a “loose end.” But I saw an opportunity to explore that relationship in “War Secrets,” which is set in Nazi Germany during the 1930’s.

Of course, “War Secrets” had to stand on its own to be included in the anthology, so I discovered not one, but two secrets held by the two major characters. One of the characters is physicist Erich Schroder who works in a lab in Leipzig. The other is Davood Sarand, a young Kurd who snags a privileged position in Schroder’s lab. Davood is a closeted Jew, at least until he falls in love with Julia, a German Jew. But Erich Schroder uncovers his own secret, which he elects not to pursue in the era of Deutsche Physik,  also called “Aryan Science.” Schroder is Anna’s father, and Davood is the son of the man who helps Anna escape Iran.

As writers, we learn that conflict is the most important ingredient in fiction, and I can’t think of a more extreme conflict than that imposed by war or revolution. The strife and stress turns some people into heroes, others into cowards. It’s not just individuals who are affected; families, communities, often entire cultures are tested, some irreversibly. That’s why I am continually drawn to settings like Nazi Germany or, say, the Iranian revolution, for inspiration.

Thus, “War Secrets” became not only a short story about secrets and their consequences during a time of extreme conflict, but also the “prequel” to A BITTER VEIL.

“The Mystery Box” Anthology was edited by noted thriller author Brad Meltzer, and includes stories by Joseph Finder, Laura Lippman, Karin Slaughter, R.L. Stine, and Jan Burke. among others.

It was just released today. Enjoy!

PS “Writing Lite” will be back next week.

 

 

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Writing Lite #3 — Raise the Stakes

In this week’s Writing Lite I talk about how to raise the stakes to build suspense into your work. Enjoy… and let me know what you think. And yes, I’m sorry I cut off a bit of my head in the frame, but I didn’t think you’d miss it. It’s not easy to produce and edit video myself. Where is Ingmar Bergman when I need him?

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My Favorite Non US Crime Authors

I started out thinking I’d write about my favorite Nordic crime authors, but as prolific as they are, I’m afraid my Nordic love affair is dimming. In fact, I’m loath to say it, since I am someone who loves the darkest shades of noir, but reading them has not been as satisfying as it once was. They’ve started to feel far too dreary, dark and cold. Even for me.

Then again, perhaps it’ll take a change of scene for me to appreciate them again… which is why I’ve decided to broaden the subject to six “non-American” authors instead.

Many US readers have always had a soft spot in their hearts for UK authors, and I’m no exception. So here are some of my favorite Brits as well as a sprinkling of authors from elsewhere in the world. I’ve already mentioned the marvelous Mo Hayder and Val McDermid before. So let’s start with…

Peter Robinson’s and Inspector Banks

Robinson is Canadian but sets his books in Britain. He hooked me with In a Dry Season, which introduced me to the stolid, never-wavering, rock music loving Inspector Banks. Annie Cabot provided vibrancy, color and heat. It’s too bad their relationship is so problematic. His latest, Before the Poison, is a stand-alone, or maybe the start of a new series, and it just won the Dilys award, so I know it’s going to be a great read. All of his novels are. But I’ve purposely not looked up the TV adaptations. I hear the actor who plays Banks invested him with character traits that Alan really doesn’t have.

 

 

 

Ann Cleeves’ compelling Scottish mysteries

I can’t resist Anne Cleeves’ books set on the Shetland Islands. I’ve read Raven Black and Dead Water and love Jimmy Perez. Cleves writes compulsively readable prose and creates finely-drawn characters in a fairly isolated setting. Normally a “small town” environment is too small for me, but I think the magnificence—and the danger—inherent on the Shetland Islands mitigates that claustrophobic feeling I sometimes get with British village mysteries. Sit down, pick up Ann Cleeves and you won’t surface until the end. I understand her novels been adapted for TV by the BBC. I hope they’re on Netflix.

 

 

Kate Morton, Australian magic from ‘down under’

Kate Morton isn’t primarily a crime author but she does write compelling mysteries. In fact, The Forgotten Garden changed my pre-conceptions about UK, or should I say, English-speaking writers. Her writing is normally everything I tend to disparage: a looong book, flowery (pun intended) language, and a slow pace. For some reason, though, she swept me up in her generational saga and I honestly couldn’t put it down, which was a shame, because I was in Italy for the first time while reading it! Her second, The Distant Hours, is on my bucket list. And I know I’m behind.

 

 

Philip Kerr’s remarkable Bernie Gunther novels

Oh, where to begin? I adore Kerr’s Bernie Guthrie novels on so many levels. They’re beautifully written, always exciting and tap into one of my favorite periods of history, pre-war Nazi Germany. Gunther is apolitical—kinda sorta— but you know he’s a decent fellow in an indecent environment. And Bernie’s interactions with actual historical figures like Heydrich are fascinating. Prague Fatale was wonderful. So was If The Dead Rise Not. And A Berlin Requiem. Give him a try and let me know what you think.

 

 

 

William Boyd’s seriously good British espionage

I loved the excellent Restless, another gripping WW2 (and aftermath) espionage novel, and I recommend it highly to anyone with a love of that period. I was impressed with how well he developed his female characters, too. I also enjoyed Any Human Heart, not so much a mystery as a full-blown saga. As you might know, Boyd was selected to write a new James Bond novel, and he just revealed the title: Solo. I’ll be waiting to see what he comes up with.

 

Jo Nesbo and the Snowman

Although I’m feeling less attached to Nordic mysteries, I can’t not mention Jo Nesbo. I started Redbreast but it must have been the wrong time because I couldn’t get into it. A few months later, though, I picked up The Snowman and couldn’t put it down. Harry Hole reminds me a bit of Connelly’s Harry Bosch, and I loved the juxtaposition of snow and the hellish evil he created. He’s one reason I’ll probably come back to the Nordic gang after a respite.

 

 

 

Who is your favorite non-US mystery author?

Let’s start a conversation – whose crime novels do you love? What makes them so good?

 

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WRITING LITE #2 — Beginnings

Hi, everyone. Welcome to WRITING LITE #2. I’m still talking about suspense, but this time I start at the beginning and discuss the power of that first line. I talk about why it’s important, how to approach it, and give you some of my all-time favorite examples.

It is a little longer than I anticipated (at three and a half minutes) but hang in there.

And, as always, let me know what you think.

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My Six Favorite Male Mystery authors

It’s so hard to whittle down my favorite authors. I’ve read so many wonderfully dark, nuanced stories over the years. But these are the male authors I have on automatic buy… or listen. Being the proud owner of an iPhone (plus the cool thingie you plug directly into the cigarette lighter to make the audio come out of the radio) means I’m becoming fonder of audio by the minute.

I’ve intentionally left out non US authors, of which I have a slew of favorites, especially Nordic and UK authors. But that’s another blog post…

What’s so great about Michael Connelly?

I read THE POET first, and fell in love. I’ve read most of Connelly’s early novels but lost the thread recently because he’s too bloody prolific! Before I was published, I read him quite a lot, and in a curious way, his writing inspired me to give it a try myself.  On the surface Connelly’s writing seems simple enough. It isn’t lyrical. It’s much more straightforward and direct, like the journalist he once was. Having been a broadcast journalist myself, I thought, “Hey, I can do that.”

It wasn’t until I actually started writing that I realized how much craft goes into a Michael Connelly book, and how wrong I was about it being easy. We live and learn. Connelly creates smooth, polished prose, and he unfailingly hooks readers into the story by end of the first chapter, no mean literary feat. I kind of regret he’s doing two books a year these days, it was always such a treat to look forward to the next Connelly release… anticipation is definitely part of the pleasure!

Elvis Cole, Joe Pike, Carol Starkey and the wonderful Robert Crais

The first Bob Crais book I read was LA REQUIEM, so I knew Joe Pike better than Elvis Cole. In fact, it took me a while to warm up to Elvis and his smart-ass attitude but I finally decided he’s a genuinely good guy. I loved Crais’ Angel novels, starring Carol Starkey, a bomb squad veteran now doing time as a Detective with LAPD’s Criminal Conspiracy Section, and I’m glad he’s carrying the series on. I read TAKEN – a great story – but enjoyed SUSPECT even more. Even the chapters written in the voice of the dog were terrific. You can always be sure you’re getting a great read with Crais. And, of course, who doesn’t like the classic, HOSTAGE?

Twenty one great reads by Thomas Perry

I cut my teeth on Perry’s excellent Jane Whitfield series, but enjoyed the Butcher Boy series more. To be honest I’ve only read five of his twenty one novels so far but I’m on the case. His attention to detail, depth of research and uncanny ability to build suspense puts him firmly in the ‘can’t ignore’ category.

Turning up the psychological heat with Thomas Cook

What a treat to read a Thomas Cook novel. So different, so intricately psychological, you genuinely never know where you’re going to end up. THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR, of course, was wonderful. But some of his quieter books, like RED LEAVES, are equally inspiring. I can’t get enough of the tension he builds as innocent people are railroaded. It’s powerful stuff.  And his prose is just gorgeous stuff.

Again I haven’t read anywhere near enough of this hugely entertaining author’s work… and there’s only one way to remedy that. Are there enough hours in the day? No!

Beautiful language crafted carefully by Dennis Lehane

Where do I start? I was given a copy of Lehane’s first book, A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR, and ended up racing through all of the Patrick/Angie books. I adored MYSTIC RIVER, his standalone, but loved his non mystery baseball book, THE GIVEN DAY, even more, mainly because of the stunningly beautiful language and the prose, which melts your heart.

Elegant prose and international drama from Daniel Silva

What do you get when you add up elegant prose, international scope, daring assignments and fine art? The unforgettable Gabriel Allon of course, and Daniel Silva’s remarkable series never disappoints.

I don’t know how he manages to capture me every time, but he does – I stop whatever I’m doing to read him, caught like a fly in literary amber! Maybe it’s because he’s in the fictional Mossad. Perhaps it’s because Ariel Sharon is still healthy in Shamron’s personage. Or maybe it’s the rich spy-catching-spy theater mixed up with art restoration. But I look forward to July every year because I know a brand new Silva will be waiting for me.

If you haven’t read Silva’s earlier series starring CIA agent Michael Osborne, do. They are pretty damn good too, but in my eyes he really found his voice with Allon.

Who is your favorite US male author?

Let’s start a conversation – who is your all-time favorite US male author, and why?

PS I already wrote about my favorite female mystery authors, and you can find that post here.

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In memoriam… Annette

 

And so ends a piece of our childhood:

 

 

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Introducing “Writing Lite” by Libby Hellmann

Hi, all. Some of you know I teach a number of different workshops devoted to the craft of fiction writing, especially crime fiction. For a while now, I’ve been toying with the idea of producing short videos about craft, and I decided to go ahead with them.

I’m calling the series “Writing Lite” because none of the videos will be over 3 minutes. (This one clocks in at 2:30), and it’s about suspense, which is probably my favorite workshop to teach. The plan is to have a new video every week, but we’ll see how that pans out. Bear in mind these videos will be short highlights, not a detailed tutorial. Still, I hope you get some worthwhile information from them.

At any rate, here’s the introductory video.  I hope you enjoy it. I’m hoping to improve the video quality going forward. Most important, let me know what you think.

I’ll be providing a written transcript of the video as well.

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No Ordinary Book Club Repost

Probably the most unusual—and moving—experiences I’ve had as an author was visiting a book club in a women’s prison to talk about my 3rd (and darkest)  Ellie Foreman novel, AN IMAGE OF DEATH. I’ve recounted that day in a blog post which Anthony Wessell at Digital Book Today has decided to repost over there.

Click here to go to it.

 

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Spring Steal of a Deal

Hi, all. Just wanted to let you know that The Georgia Davis Boxed Set, which includes my 3 thrillers EASY INNOCENCE, DOUBLEBACK, and TOXICITY is just $2.99 all week until April 6. For all three. A steep discount from the normal $9.99 price. So please, take advantage!!

You can find them here.

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Last Boomer Lit for a While

 

Here’s another excerpt from Set The Night on Fire, an example of Boomer Lit. In it, two characters, Rain and Dar, are seeing each for the first time since the late Sixties. They’re talking about another person they lived with back then. Remember, this is a thriller.

Rain opened her eyes. “You need to watch your back, okay? You remember what we used to think about Teddy?”

“What you used to think.”

“Listen to me. About fifteen years ago I got a package in the mail.”

Dar looked over, interested.

“Small. Carefully wrapped. No return address. Just a note with it that said, ‘You were right.’” She paused. “Took me a while to figure out who sent it and what it meant.”

“And?”

“It was from Payton. And it contains something that . . . well, it has to do with Teddy.”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Not here. Not now. But it’s important, and it’s in a safe place. If anything—ever—happens to me, you need to know that.”

“Still the theatrical one.” He smiled. “The Sixties are over, Rain.”

Her gaze hardened. “You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it over the years.”

“I’ve had forty years to think about everything.”

“Yeah, well, a month or so after I got the package, Payton had that fatal car ‘accident.’”

Dar laid his fork down.

“Like I said, watch your back.”

Now that you’ve read this, be sure to hop over here where you’ll find other Boomer Lit offerings by a variety of authors.

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