Theodore’s Comments (group member since Apr 01, 2017)

Theodore’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Carole wrote: "Congrats!!"

This be where the action is!

The audiobook for my first novel, Full Circle, just went "live" on Amazon's Audibles. This is my 11th audiobook on that platform.

Currently, one more novel is under review by ACX (Frozen in Time, the first book in The Antarctic Murders Trilogy), a Martelli and YA novel are in production, and two more novels in the Trilogy are under contract.

Carole wrote: "Let us know."

Will do. ENT was always my go-to site over the last 2 or 3 years.

Carole wrote: "Any thoughts on this site?

https://reedsy.com/discovery"

I have no experience with them.

BTW, I recently ran a promotion with Book Doggy (October 13th). While it featured one of my Martelli novels (House of Cards, Kindle edition, on sale for 99 cents), I discounted five in the series to that price. They all went on sale on the 13th, and so far, I've sold 21 copies, which brings me to break-even on the investment. This is the first time I've used this service, so have no way to gauge the action.

Tomorrow, ENT will be running one of my Flash Fiction anthologies (#3) as Book Of The Day. The fact is, I'll have the first six books in the series on sale for a week at 99 cents. It'll be interesting to see how much interest they generate, given that genre isn't as popular as Romance, Mystery/Thrillers, and the like.

Carole wrote: "Please share

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/storytel..."

Very nice...quite a lady with whom you worked.

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "...a field scientist in North and South America, Asia, and Antarctica. ..."

What field of field science?"

MS, Physics; PhD, Geophysics"

Interesting..."

If you want to make G_d laugh, tell Her your plans.

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "...a field scientist in North and South America, Asia, and Antarctica. ..."

What field of field science?"

MS, Physics; PhD, Geophysics

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "Ah, but MY fiction is drawn from real life..."

Sure, and as you say, all fiction is to some degree so drawn. But "drawn from real life" is not the same as "is real life." I'm real..."

No, not really...there's always something to learn from these exchanges.

I think I write the way I do--with truth (real life) entwined through and through in my fiction--is because my favorite "read" is a biography. I read little if any fiction for pleasure, but give me a good biography, and I'll stay up late into the night to devour it. I find "real life" so much more engaging than anything a fiction writer could conjure up that a person's life story, well-told, just grabs and holds me. I truly believe this is one of the major reasons I infuse my stories with so much real-life material based on my own life, my travels, people I know or have known, and so forth. It's also the reason I'll probably never be able to write science fiction, though I'm trained as, and have worked as, a field scientist in North and South America, Asia, and Antarctica.

In all the time I have been writing fiction--and I started in 2009--only one person has even mentioned swear words in my books. That person was a Catholic priest. Obviously, he was not a fan of that language (though he was, and still is, a friend).

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "Not much time for the "ums" and "ahs" in this scene (;>)"

Exactly my point. Realism is fine up to a point, but if carried too far it makes a story disjointed and unreadable. I don..."

"...fiction is absolutely not real life. It's fiction, even if carefully arranged to fool the reader into thinking it's real."

Ah, but MY fiction is drawn from real life...MINE. And how what I've experienced is embellished and expanded up--the mix of fact and fiction (faction)--is at times so entwined that even those who know me well--who have known me all my life--have a difficult time unraveling the two.

In fact, all of my books mix fact and fiction in this way, from my first novel (which basically chronicles my life as a violinist) through the flash fiction anthologies; they all contain that signature mix on which I base my writings.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but then, I don't write for everyone. To do so would, by definition, result in the production of mediocre books.

C.L. wrote: "My first book starts off with a seventeen year old girl yelling at her parents, "What the F*CK IS WRONG WITH MY ATTITUDE?"

I'm sure it puts a lot of people off. I've even had some school teachers..."

Here's a discussion on the subject:

https://www.tckpublishing.com/is-expl...

The fact is: teens swear. I included mild swearing in my YA novel, The Hypnotist (written under the pen name Alyssa Devine) and...AND...this book still was named one of two books (the other is Witness for the Prosecution) in the Neshaminy High School's (Bucks County, PA) Core Genre (Mystery) Reading Program. It's been in the program since 2016, where I guest lecture on mystery and flash fiction writing. Kids are smart...they can smell a "con" a mile away. Treat them as children and they'll reject your writing faster than anything you can name.

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "Really? Many parts of my novels, short stories, and flash fiction writings include dialogue in voices that mimic EXACTLY how I have heard people speak."

Including all the "ums" an..."

Not much time for the "ums" and "ahs" in this scene (;>)

Okay, just for grins...

Here's an excerpt from one of my Det. Louis Martelli, NYPD, mystery/thrillers...it contains adult language, which, below, I masked by using asterisks (in the published text, the words are spelled out). The scene is one in which two men whose friendship dates to their teens meet for the first time since high school. (Both are in their 40s, now.) Tell me how this scene should be "cleansed" without draining the energy and realism from the book:

Kyle Lambert may have left South Beach, but South Beach never left Kyle Lambert. His Body Tint tattoo parlor on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn looked much the same as its predecessor on Ocean Drive in Miami. Brightly lit with a plethora of neon signs hung for decoration and wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling framed tattoo art from which patrons could choose their next tat, the shop was viewed by many as a mecca for aficionados of the art. It was one of the few shops in the five boroughs open 24-hours a day, and even in bad times it did a staggering business. Lambert held down the first of four booths, the one closest to the door, right behind the receptionist. He was just finishing with a customer when Martelli and O’Keeffe entered and presented their credentials. The time was 3:20 PM.

Martelli smiled broadly when he saw Lambert.

“Holy s***, it’s Lou Martelli!” Lambert bellowed, shooting both hands into the air. “I give up. I did it! I’m guilty!”

Martelli turned to O’Keeffe. “Book ’em, Danno!”

O’Keeffe had a look on his face as if to say ‘What the f*** is going on here?’

Before O’Keeffe could even ask what was on his mind, Lambert and Martelli threw their arms around each other in a bear hug and Lambert started blurting words like an UZI spitting slugs at a thousand rounds per minute. “Lou, you old fart, how the hell are you? I heard you lost a leg in Iraq. That’s bad s***, my friend. How’s Stephanie? Gosh, you two were inseparable in high school. You’re a lucky man, Lou. And wasn’t that a shame about our old classmates, Vince and Elena Ponticelli? I was blown away to learn you were the one who arrested him. Sad their nine-year-old boy died. Wow, it’s good to see you.”

“Sean, meet Kyle Lambert, one of my closest friends in high school,” bellowed Martelli.

Lambert and O’Keeffe shook hands. “Kyle ran the fastest 100-yard dash of anyone in our high school’s sports division. His record hasn’t been beaten to this day, if my read of the sports pages is correct.”

From Wheel of Fortune
Copyright, Theodore Jerome Cohen
All rights reserved

Carmel wrote: "I have nowhere near the amount of experience as the rest of you, but when I wrote my book, I struggled with this concept. I didn't want readers to throw it down in the first chapter, due to languag..."

If you publish on CreateSpace, as I do, there's a checkmark for Adult Language when you publish your book. The readers are warned.

Dale wrote: "I'm going to offer an alternative viewpoint. My personal background is such that I don't particularly like profanity, although I have no choice but to be immersed in it. (Call me a snowflake if you..."

"It's important to remember that dialogue is not conversation. Dialogue is cleaned up conversation. If you wrote your dialogue the way people really speak, it would make terrible reading."

Really? Many parts of my novels, short stories, and flash fiction writings include dialogue in voices that mimic EXACTLY how I have heard people speak. I want my readers to "hear" my characters in their heads when they read my works, regardless of whether the characters be medical professionals who are discussing an illness in proper English or sharecroppers in Alabama who barely made it through the 4th grade and are talking about planting 'baccy. I make the dialogue fit the character. To me, that's as important as setting the scene and pushing on through the plot.

People don't speak perfect English (nor perfect anything). They start, stop, do a little of this, do a little of that (vamping), swear, do all kinds of things to their conversations. I love sitting in airport terminals (well, not actually, but what can you do until you plane is ready?) and listening to what people are saying around me. Some of the conversations have actually become grist for my mill (with the names removed to protect the guilty).

Buy hey, each to his own. I'm a stickler for reality. In my books, if the tide is coming in at an inlet on Long Island, then you can check the date and time in the tide tables against the dates in my novels, and by G_d, it'll be just as listed in the tables. Realism, baby!

D.J. wrote: "I had a high tech swear jar in Missing Remnants that Detective Track was single-handedly contributing to. I couldn’t have that if he’d wandered around muttering “oh dear me”."

Stephanie Martelli maintained a conventional Swear Jar in her kitchen, to which Louis contributed generously. It paid for most of their miscellaneous expenses on their annual vacations to Lost Wages. Their son and daughter were known to contribute now and then, as well. Here's one portion from an early book in the series:

Stephanie went to the foot of the stairs and called to Rob, “Tell your sister she’s already used half the electricity generated at Niagara Falls during the past twenty-four hours and she has exactly one minute to get her butt out of the bathroom and into the kitchen!”

Within a few minutes, both teenagers were eating their breakfast with their parents. “By the way, you two,” Stephanie noted, “each of you owes the Swearing Jar a dollar. I heard what you called each other up there.”

The children got up from the table and went to their book bags, from which each withdrew a dollar bill. The bills then were placed in a large jar, the Swearing Jar, on the counter to which was affixed a sign: VEGAS OR BUST!

Or this excerpt:

When Rob and Tiffany, the two Martelli children, asked their mother, Stephanie, at breakfast the morning after their father captured the Iranian terrorists, what happened to his face, she told them she had caught him with another woman and hit him with a golf club. Rob was heard to remark, “Holy s*** [spelled out in the actual text], dad, don’t get caught next time!” Stephanie immediately ordered him to put one dollar into the Swearing Jar on the kitchen counter, which at that time held $156, much of which had been deposited by his parents.

Carole wrote: "This was my response on anotehr thread= I have spent my entire adult life around the transportation industry and for a loooong time, I was the only female in the room. Profanity was a big part of t..."

Well said!

Carole wrote: "hahah. lol.. that's my belly laughing!!!"

G_d forbid someone utter a disparaging word. Have you been near a playground these days (assuming children are even let outside to play)? The language kids use is astounding? Between television and the Internet, not to mention homelife, anyone who complains about profanity in books meant for adults is on a crusade...and a losing one, at that.

Dennis wrote: "Reviews are coming in for our newest scifi thriller. Some are five star and no mention of the profanity. Some reviewers are put off by it, and focus on it and give it two stars. I would love to hea..."

I use it in my Martelli novels. If the snowflakes don't like it, let them cover their ears. Life is life.

D.J. wrote: "I hit a few things on the screen on my phone and saw the review. He’s quite amusing. Not a fan of the book then. Lol."

I guess not LOL