NEWS AND VIEWS

I hope to get back to my Wednesday Blog post schedule, but am posting this early (or very late) because, after almost two months of e-mails with Amazon, my memoir, THE GREEN BOUGH, is finally going into their Countdown program. For seven days, starting June 3rd, it will be priced at $.99 instead of $2.99.

That’s the e-book. The paperback version is getting its slight updating now and will be published by Createspace soon.

I’ve mentioned before, I think, that the paper book has been my most popular at all the 2-3 book fairs I’ve attended every year for six years, and customers often come back for extra copies to give to friends and relatives.

Recently, however, looking for a possible new audience for the story, I did a bit of rewriting, added a teen romance, titled it A YEAR IN PARNEL, and submitted it to Kensington’s Lyrical imprint for New Adult books. I received the following rejection.

“I’ve had the opportunity to read your book and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, as a romance imprint of Kensington, your NA submission doesn’t have strong enough romantic elements for me to offer contract.

“But so you know, even when I knew the book wasn’t necessarily for Lyrical, I still kept reading because I thought it was that good. Well-written, historically accurate and enjoyable. Even though there is a bit of a romantic thread throughout the story, it’s more about the awakening of this young woman, which, by the way, is really well done. Lovely in itself.

“Thank you for considering us and I wish you all the best.”

It’s not often one gets a rejection as complimentary as this, and, if I submit it elsewhere and get a contract, I’ll let you know.

Meanwhile, my three Sherlock Holmes novellas are on Amazon (promotion to be done later), I have a straight romance coming from Coffeetown Press in November, plus I submitted my two cozy mysteries to a California publisher and received a contract for both for 2016. So the year is going well.

THE BACK LIST

It’s amazing how books I wrote recently (to me, recently means within the last five years) are now Back List and it’s time to give them new life. Many multi-published authors say this, so it’s not an original idea. Check the blogs of writers like J.A. Konrath, Russell Blake and Louisa Locke.

Since I’m doing this myself, I can share my thoughts about what to change, and what not to, here today.

1. The Title. No, don’t change the title. Even if you sold very few copies when the book made its debut, changing the title would be a mistake. Someone who bought an earlier version might buy the new one and get very angry when finding they already read it under a different title. Angry enough to give you a one-star review or vow never to buy one of your books again.

2. Names. Although I don’t recommend this, character names can probably be changed without damaging your reputation, but don’t do it unless absolutely necessary (like a main character has the same name as a suddenly-notorious serial killer).

3. Plot. This ranks as another place to tread carefully. I think it’s a good idea to reread your older novel and make notes of anything that seems odd, or unclear. Such changes might improve the experience for your reader.

4. Word choices and grammar. Be sure your grammar is correct, but also set your “search” feature for “was, were, that, had” or words ending in ly. (adverbs)” Also sentences that begin with “And” or “But” or “It was” or “There was.” These, perhaps, can all be improved and therefore strengthen your writing skills. Words such as “seemed,“ and “felt” can be changed to better ways to show how characters thought and behaved. Similarly, look for “saw,” “watched,” “looked,” and “turned,” to give readers a more tangible vision.

5. I’m giving “said” a paragraph of its own. If you haven’t already changed old-fashioned speech tags such as “laughed, groaned, replied and opined,” replace them now with “said.” In fact, I recommend trying to eliminate “he said” and “she said,” by putting the character’s action in the same paragraph with his/her speech, which will make it clear who’s talking.

I wrote some of this in an earlier blog post, but I think it bears repeating. I sincerely hope it helps and results in new sales for your older books.

THE ANTHONY AWARDS

The next batch of writing awards go to the winners of the Anthonies, named for Anthony Boucher, the late mystery writer, reviewer and editor. An annual convention, the Bouchercon, has been held every year in a U.S. city since 1970. The 2015 conference will be October 8-11 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Unlike other awards, Anthony winners are chosen during the conference by the members who are creators and fans of mystery and detective fiction. Nominees, however, are chosen in advance, and this year they are:

Best Novel

LAMENTATION. Joe Clifford. Oceanview Publishing
THE SECRET PLACE. Tana French. Viking
AFTER I’M GONE. Laura Lippman. William Morrow
THE LONG WAY HOME. Louise Penny. Minotaur
TRUTH BE TOLD. Hank Phillippi Ryan. Forge

Best First Novel

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD. Kristi Belcamino. Witness Impulse
ICE SHEAR. M.P. Cooley. William Morrow
INVISIBLE CITY. Julia Dahl. Minotaur
THE LIFE WE BURY. Allen Eskens. Seventh Street
THE BLACK HOUR. Lori Rader-Day. Seventh Street

Best Paperback Original

STAY WITH ME. Alison Gaylin. Harper
THE KILLER NEXT DOOR. Alex Marwood. Penguin
THE DAY SHE DIED. Catriona McPherson. Midnight Ink
WORLD OF TROUBLE. Ben H. Winters. Quirk
NO STONE UNTURNED. James W. Ziskin. Seventh Street

Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work

THE FIGURE OF THE DETECTIVE. Charles Brownson. McFarland
DEATH DEALER. Kate Clark Flora. New Horizon.
DRU’S BOOK MUSINGS. Dru Ann Love. Dru’sbookmusings.com
POE-LAND. J. W. Ocker. Countryman.
WRITES OF PASSAGE. Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ed. Henery Press

Best Short Story

HONEYMOON SWEET. The Bouchercon Anthology 2014. Craig Faustus Buck. (Down and Out)
THE SHADOW KNOWS. Chesapeake Crimes. Barb Goffman. (Wildside)
HOWLING AT THE MOON. Ellery Queen Mystery Mag. Paul D. Marks
(Dell)
OF DOGS AND DECEIT. Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Mag. John Shepphird. (Dell)
THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US. Ellery Queen Mystery Mag. Art Taylor (Dell)

Best Anthology or Collection

FACE-OFF. David Baldacci, Ed. Simon & Schuster.
MURDER AT THE BEACH. Bouchercon Anthology 2014. Dana Cameron, Ed. Down and Out.
TROUBLE IN THE HEARTLAND. Crime Fiction Inspired by songs of Bruce Springsteen. Joe Clifford, Ed. Gutter.
IN THE COMPANY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Laurie King & Leslie Klinger, Eds. Pegasus Crime.
CAROLINA CRIMES. Karen Pullen, Ed. Wildside.

Since 1989, a “Lifetime Achievement Award” has also been given at Bouchercon. Some of the winners were Donald Westlake, Robert Parker, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton. In 2015, it will be presented to Margaret Maron.

Of the 25 authors of books or stories this year, 11 were women, with a possible two more if initials disguised the gender. Whether a man or woman, J. W. Ocker’s POE-LAND, has already won the Edgar and is nominated for an Anthony. The most winning novels by a publisher was three by Seventh Street. I was also pleased by the nomination of the collection, IN THE COMPANY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, since my series of stories featuring the great detective is already up on Amazon and a launch will be held soon.

THE EDGAR AWARDS

Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2015 Edgar Allen Poe Awards on April 29th at the 69th annual Edgar Awards Gala Dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The winners of the best Mystery writing of 2014 were:

Best Novel
MR. MERCEDES. Stephen King. Simon & Schuster

Best First Novel by an American Author
DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY. Tom Bouman. W.W. Norton

Best Paperback Original
THE SECRET HISTORY OF LAS VEGAS. Chris Abani. Penguin Books

Best Fact Crime
TINSELTOWN: MURDER, MORPHINE AND MADNESS AT THE DAWN OF HOLLYWOOD. William J. Mann. Harper Collins

Best Critical, Biographical
POE-LAND: THE HALLOWED HAUNTS OF EDGAR ALLEN POE.
J. W. Ocker. W.W. Norton

Best Short Story
“WHAT DO YOU DO?” - ROGUES. Gillian Flynn. Bantam Books

Best Juvenile
GREENGLASS HOUSE. Kate Milford. Clarion Books

Best Young Adult
THE ART OF SECRETS. James Klise. Algonquin Young Readers

Best Television Episode Teleplay
EPISODE 1, HAPPY VALLEY. Sally Wainwright. Netflix

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award
GETAWAY GIRL, ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Zoe Z. Dean.
Dell Magazines

Raven Awards
Ruth & Jon Jordan. Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder

Ellery Queen Award
Charles Ardai, Editor & Founder, Hard Case Crime

Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award
THE STRANGER YOU KNOW. Jane Casey. Minotaur Books


The finalists (who went on to win in their categories) were announced in my Blog Post on March 6th. Of the 13 winners, six were women, and five were men. Unless Chris Abani and J. W. Ocker are men, in which case, seven were men. Pretty even. All of the books were from traditional publishers, not self-publishers.

* * *

For those still waiting for THE GREEN BOUGH to go on Amazon’s Countdown, the latest news is that, due to two minor changes having to do with Front Matter and Back Matter, plus missing photographs, Amazon considers this a new submission and the book must be in KDP Select for a certain length of time before it’s eligible for Countdown. The new date is June 3rd.

CORRECTION

I usually only post a blog once a week, but here it is Monday and I’m doing it again. Reason? I think there’s a Murphy’s (or somebody’s) law that governs situations like this. Perhaps it’s, “If something can go wrong, it will.”

As you know, I wanted to put my memoir THE GREEN BOUGH in Amazon’s Countdown, lowering the price from $2.99 to $.99. And it was to start today, April 27. Didn’t happen. Sorry.

Not just one thing went wrong, and not just one person is to blame, but I am one of the culprits who was too trusting (or too inexperienced) to forsee the problems and avoid them.

Maybe next week it will work as planned, although I will no longer make deadline promises. If you want to buy a digital copy of THE GREEN BOUGH, you should go to its Amazon page and check the price first. Don’t order it until you see Amazon shows the price at $.99.

Thanks for the thought anyway.

Phyllis

COUNTDOWN - THE GREEN BOUGH

Yes, time flies. It was January 14 that I promised a lower price for one of my most popular books. I also said it would be only a few weeks, but here it is almost May, and between then and now, I blogged about several other things. One was my six weeks’ tribute to the memory of the Titanic, which sank on April 15, 1912.

As you may remember from my January blog post, THE GREEN BOUGH is a memoir as told to me by my husband’s Aunt Gladys, who was a schoolteacher in a logging camp in Oregon in 1913. I also got some information about the time and location from the Oregon History Society. The picture on the cover is from a snapshot of her one-room schoolhouse that Gladys’s brother, Fred, took, and the black-and-white photos inside are from her own photo album. Gladys lived to be 101 and knew about my book before she died.

As also mentioned before, the paperback version of THE GREEN BOUGH is my most popular seller at the two or three book fairs and signings I do every year. Readers have also asked for extra copies to send to friends and relatives in other parts of the country or to give as gifts. I think Gladys would have been pleased to know that.

The Countdown begins on Monday, April 27, and lasts for seven days, during which time the digital version of THE GREEN BOUGH will drop from $2.99 to 0.99. This will be a good time to get your copy, follow Gladys’s adventures and learn a little history from a hundred years ago.

AFTERMATH

Today is April 15, 2015, 103 years since Titanic sank. So this will be my last Titanic blog post. At least for this year.

On April 25, 1912, firemen from Titanic’s sister ship, Olympic, refused to work on the ship because of insufficient lifeboats, and they went on strike. The firemen were accused of mutiny, but the magistrates refused to fine or imprison them. When enough usable lifeboats were replaced, the strikers returned and the ship sailed on May 15.

On learning of the Titanic sinking, a U.S. Senator called for an inquiry which was held in New York. Another inquiry was held in London, and the result of those was a reform of the laws governing ocean travel. In addition to enough lifeboats for everyone on board, other safety measures were adopted. More ships were outfitted with double hulls, and watertight compartments had complete bulkheads. Crews were required to be proficient in handling lifeboats, and passengers had to attend a boat drill to learn how to don a life vest and which lifeboat to board. Cruise ships still do that today.

North Atlantic shipping lanes were moved forty miles south during winter if there was any danger of ice, and ice patrols were formed to keep ships out of the path of icebergs. This became our present day Coast Guard.

One of the most important changes in England came about gradually but the Titanic disaster is often cited as the beginning of the end of the worst excesses of the British class system. The lower classes began to insist on respect, changed their attitude and took control of their lives. The U.K. still has a queen, princes and Lords and Ladies, yet immigrants continue to come here because of our declaration, “...that all men are created equal.”

Cameron’s TITANIC is the most accurate, but not perfect. The ship was found before Cameron made his film, so he knew it broke apart before sinking. Yet he shows people sliding down steep decks, not described by survivors, just as there were no locked gates. He also shows the lookouts in the crow’s nest shivering in their heavy coats because the temperature had dropped below freezing. At the same time Jack and Rose are dancing on the deck and she wears a short-sleeved party dress. He also shows all women wearing bright red lipstick, which was unlikely in 1912. I wrote a memoir about my husband’s aunt in 1913 and she assured me only actresses and other “fast women” wore lip-rouge at the time.

Earlier, black and white films got a few things wrong, the worst being 1953's TITANIC, depicting a wealthy man, played by Clifton Webb, buying steerage tickets from an immigrant because there were no more first-class cabins. Not true. Titanic left Southhampton with many empty ones.

When I gave a talk about Titanic at a local library, I answered many questions about the things I discovered during my research. One was about bathtubs. Third-class, or Steerage, on board the ship was much grander than the homes many passengers came from. Titanic had heat, electric lights and running water, which were luxuries to some. There were two bathtubs for the 700, one for men and one for women, and the water was changed between uses. Today that sounds inadequate, but the voyage was to take only seven days and in 1912 many people only bathed once a week, probably in a tub on the kitchen floor. Some people probably didn’t bathe that often, believing it was unhealthy.

I take up a new topic next week, one you’ll like because it involves a new low price on one of my books. See you then.