COMING THIS FALL: THIRD NOVEL IN THE NJA SERIES

First things first. Thank you to all who read my book, especially those who take time to review and rate it. Nothing helps a writer more than genuine feedback from a reader. (There are times authors don’t feel that way, but good writers learn to appreciate any feedback that genuinely expresses a reader’s reactions.)

Between sales, Kindle Unlimited readers, and Amazon giveaway days, several thousand copies of each novel have been read, with hundreds of ratings and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Several readers have contacted me directly, though sadly, few by posting on this blog. The posts are being read; that’s established by analytics, but few comments or likes. Both are valuable guides in determining what interests readers the most. The numbers do tell me which posts and short stories drew the most visitors and how long they remained, but don’t tell me if they liked or disliked the piece, or their reasons why. 

On the other hand, I am more than pleased with reader response to the two novels in my NJA series, Bangkok Shadows and Bangkok Whispers. Sitting down and writing two novels taught me more than I ever learned in school, books on writing, or all-night bull sessions with poseurs. I learned at least as much from reader feedback. A serious writer is constantly seeking to improve, and there is no ceiling on how good one can become. (Nor is there any floor as to how bad one can become if they grow sloppy and disinterested.)

A writer who steadily produces work, while considering what readers are saying, is far more likely to improve  than one who ignores anything but their own opinion.

Note the distinction between “improve” and “grow.” They are related but different. A writer improves by becoming more adept in structure, and learning to keep readers interested through  whatever device they use to prevent the reader from closing the book less than halfway through. These  include stakes, risks, unresolved conflicts, mysteries to be solved, dangers to be avoided. Improvement does not happen in total isolation; constructive criticism is a must. There are technical and procedural means which you will learn and they will improve the quality of dialogue, teach you to edit out unnecessary words, and stay on track with the plot. These must be mastered if a book is to have any chance e of pleasing readers. There are ways to learn; go out and find them!  It is essential for the beginning writer to have some group or person to fill this role. Writers groups are an available way to obtain constructive criticism from other authors. The advice varies, like the quality of the writers. I was fortunate to find perfect writing group when I became serious about this stuff. (See KEYBANGERS BANGKOK). 

Being technically more proficient dos not necessarily make the content better.Technically perfect writing, following every rule of gramme,  can be incredibly boring if it lacks the essence of good fiction: plot, tension, dialogue, character, description. Fiction needs a soul,  not always easy to locate, even in one’s own work-in-progress. Writers groups and proofreaders will not fill this role. Only readers will do for this.

A writer grows by seeing what works with readers and what does not. Readership numbers are only one indication, and if you are nor doing well, the numbers don’t say why. (If your book is dong well, you’re likely to stick with what is working.) What readers say about a book is quite different than what you gain from the constructive criticism of other writers. Readers generally provide less “technical” or “professional” feedback. nor do they offer marketing tips or advise on how to secure an agent; they are far more likely to inform what they liked and did not like, which is what an author needs to hear. Readers will never waste your time with pseudo-literary gibberish like “information dump” or “arc of the story”, nor will they push books on writing they swear will lead to a best-seller. (Though never for them.)  Readers will  tell what they liked and didn’t like.

I’m not going to give away the plot of the third novel, tentatively titled Bangkok Blues, but I am delighted to share some interesting features that will make this book similar yet different from the first two novels:

Bangkok Blues Is Written in the Third Person

Bangkok Blues and Bangkok Whispers were written in the first person, told through the eyes of American expat criminal lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen. Glenn is wealthy and intelligent, yet so often  hopelessly insecure and conflicted, often oblivious to  the obvious. Part of the fun is seeing Glenn come to understand what is happening, and rise to the occasion through his brainpower. 

First person is a perfect vehicle for developing a protagonist, certainly easier for a writer, especially a first or second time novelist.There’s only one point of view to consider. Human beings are generally programmed to go for the easiest option. Of course, in writing as in life, nothing is quite as it seems, and first person presents obstacles as well as benefits. It’s harder to reveal the thinking and feelings of characters other than the protagonist, as every one of their words and deeds are seen and interpreted through the main character. Thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Nick Carraway, narrator of The Great Gatsby, readers never know if the protagonist/narrator is totally reliable.

Everything we know about the other characters in the two novels is what Glenn wants us to see. It is all his view, his take on things. We can accept what Glenn tells us, or question his observations, but it is all dependent on him. 

In Bangkok Blues, readers will travel into the minds of the General, Oliver, Sleepy Joe, Wang the Cook, Edward the Money Launderer, and a host of brand new characters, Thai and expat, male and female. Readers will learn what these people think of Glenn, each other, themselves, Thailand, and the world at large. If readers know them know, they will know them even better!

I gave great thought to this shift in point of view. My goal was to provide deeper understanding and context for my characters, without changing their essence or the way they relate to each other. Would knowing how each person really feels change the relationships? Will it change the way readers receive them? 

The answer is that no one knows until the book is written.I believe it will be the best of the three books, but then again, I may be slightly biased. 

I have enjoyed the change to third person. I have gotten to know the supporting cast in the same way readers of the first two novels came to know Glenn: through his own words and recollections. This is the first time I’ve gone directly into the minds of Sleepy Joe, Oliver, the General and the rest of the permanent cast. In Bangkok Blues, I meet them where they are, not where Glenn perceives them. I’ve worked with all of these people through two books,  and know them as well as anyone; they are my creations, after all. Yet many times, after setting up the circumstances of a scene, I am  surprised where my muse takes them. This is fiction writing at its most most rewarding, at least for me. 

Glenn Will Continue Expressing his Political Views

Glenn Murray Cohen holds strong political views; he is  an outspoken progressive Democrat, virulently anti-Trump. (Not entirely unsurprising, considering his creator.) A few readers have commented unfavorably on Glenn’s references to our not-so-dearly-departed former President, particularly Glenn’s references to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the Tump campaign’s collusion with them. Their rhetoric is standard Trumpie, from angry people irked that Glenn accepts these facts,  declaring Trump an incompetent,  corrupt racist. (I may be writing fiction, but these are facts.)

In Bangkok Blues, Glenn’s political views will continue to be expressed, unabated. The setting is late 2019, early 2020, pre-COVID, just as the America election cycle heats up. I’m not going to change Glenn-or any character- just because their views annoy a few Trumpie crackpots. Besides, I have a well-informed and educated speculation that for every Trumpie who is enraged, there are dozens of normal readers who share my views, or understand them as the feelings of one character in a novel that isn’t even a political work. In the real world, people have political opinions; why wouldn’t this be true of characters in a novel?

Other characters in both books express views distinctly at odds with Glenn’s. Oliver, his dear friend and source of any needed information, is a staunch supporter of the Australian Conservative Party. The General is a retired military officer, a monarchist and member of the wealthy Bangkok elite, fiercely anticommunist, strongly pro-American, enamored of Ronald Reagan and the Israeli Defense Force. Rodney Snapp, Glenn’s “frenemy” in the CIA,  is a fascinating character, a seemingly decent and patriotic man who is willing to commit terrible and criminal  acts on behalf of his country, sometimes as bad as the people he is fighting, rationalizing them all the while. Rodney ‘s code is diametrically opposite Glenn’s yet the two men respect and like each other beneath the layers of mutual suspicion. Sleepy Joe, Glenn’s best friend and male soulmate, is a professional killer who shares little of Glenn’s humanitarianism and compassion. Yet these strange and diverse men band together as brothers, willing to de for each other if necessary. No political views ever come between them. The novels show how people of different backgrounds and cultures grow to respect and love each other like brothers. (I’d like to add “sisters”, but aside from Glenn, these guys are hardly feminists. Recognizing this, I try to add several women characters in each book, as diverse as the men. Namwahn, the trained killer who became Sleepy Joe’s girlfriend by the end of Bangkok Whispers, is thus far the only woman to make it into the guys’ inner circle. It helped that she can use an assault rifle and is a trained firearms instructor.)  The Trumpies’ cultish obsession with their disgraced hero has prevented them from seeing this. They cannot imagine a world where people who think differently get along so well. They wouldn’t be Trumpies if they could.

Glenn may be a principled and decent man, but like all of us, he is a great hypocrite as well. He came to be independently wealthy by stealing a  dead drug dealer’s money before the police found it, and used his gray-market lawyer buddy, Charlie, to hide his money and live without Uncle Sam knowing. Glenn increased his wealth dramatically by working for the CIA, where he engaged in just about every action he otherwise condemns. Glenn had his reasons, but doesn’t everyone? The fun part of both writing and reading fiction is untangling these crossed strings, and coming  appreciate the depth of interesting characters. 

Readers may wonder what qualifies me to state what expats in Thailand thought about American politics. I lived in Bangkok during the 2016 primaries and electionsand the following few years, and learned firsthand what expats thought and said.  The race for the Presidency, and the subsequent disaster of the Trump Administration were constantly discussed among expats of all nations, and few were shy about expressing their opinions. Everything my characters say about politics was absolutely said in some similar form at one point or another by voices I  heard. One cannot write a novel about an American expat living abroad during the election cycles of 2016 and 2020, and completely ignore American politics. It plays roles in why people are expats, and whether they will ever return home. It effects the eternal longing for the homeland, even among those who claim otherwise. 

Now, it is entirely possible that an agent or publisher might tell a writer to keep their politics to themselves, because they might offend some readers. Isn’t that the case with any topic a writer chooses? What good is the First Amendment if we are not able to exercise it? That’s why I am a proud independent, published author, writing what I feel, not for an agent, not for a publisher, surely not for the Trumpies. 

Any writer should be pleased when something in their work prompts a strong response from a reader, even if the response is not favorable. (Consider the source and the reasons.) I’m pleased if I cause any reader to think about my work, and if it pisses off a Trumpie, that’s icing on the cake

It's Not a COVID Novel

Since it seems every other writer in the world plans a COVID 19 novel, I decided to pass. Bangkok Blues takes place just before the pandemic was fully  realized as such; there are a few brief mentions, but the virus plays no role in the plot or action. 

There is an other reason for this, besides trying to stand out from the crowd. Many readers and reviewers have praised thew two novels for bringing the reader into Thailand, and allowing them to met the people and learn a bit about the culture and history along the way. A few kind folks have actually said they felt as if they had been taken to Thailand! In both novels, the characters  travel about the city and Kingdom, meeting and interacting with Thais and foreigners in a wide range of situations, usually the kind that occur only in Thailand. It would be exceedingly difficult to this again if the characters are in a Thailand  subject to lockdown and travel restrictions. Right now, that’s not how I want to write about Thailand.

There Will Be a Box Set

Of course there will be a box set,  for e books and print on demand. (I’m considering adding audiobooks as well,) The box set will be sold at a discount. I do a lot of giveaways, mostly the first book, Bangkok Shadows, so many readers will be purchasing the box set to read the other two books, and there should be a deal for them. Not to worry. I’ll be running regular sales where the three book box set will be available for less than the price of two separate books. Like any obsessed author, I want as many people as possible to read my books.

Once Again, Thanks for Reading!