Voting is open to select the winners for the BBAW Awards 2008. I don't know most of these sites, but I do have favorites in a few categories:
Best General Book Blog: Best Thriller/Mystery/Suspense Blog: Detectives Beyond Borders
Best Publishing/Industry Blog:
Best Author Blog: John Scalzi
I don't know why this blog wasn't nominated -- clearly they're prejudiced against sites that are only updated once a week when the writer sobers up.
Readers of blogs are consumers of information. There are blogs on virtually every subject known to man -- and plenty that you wouldn't want to know about. A few of them are interesting and/or useful, most of them are filled with nonsense. Included among that nonsense is a lot of bad advice, especially with regards to writing and publishing.
So here's a friendly reminder; a little something to keep in mind when wasting time on the blogosphere:
A person does not necessarily have to have done something in order to provide sound, useful information on the subject. However, before you go taking advice from some random person on the internet, it would behoove you to discover if that person has a legitimate basis from which to offer that advice. If they don't, you're probably better off clicking onward and finding something else to occupy your time.
(Note: I'm writing this with masculine pronouns because the first time through I tried using a lot of he/shes, etc. and it just looked clunky. So feel free to substitute feminine pronouns where appropriate.)
Elain Flinn has a new Evil E column up, featuring an interview with author Jason Starr. Here is my contribution:
DAVID:
Jason, you’re closing in on 50…Isn’t it time to cut the hair? Do you ever get tired of writing about creeps, crooks and cons and just want to write about a preschool teacher or something? (not that I want you to do that…unless it’s a preschool teacher who’s also a dominatrix.)
JASON:
Whoa, Dave, I think I have about a decade to go before 50, but nope, I ain’t cuttin’ it, not until it starts falling out in a serious clip anyway, and you never know when that’ll start to happen. We have a picture in my family of a great uncle who lived in Russia about 80 years ago. In most of the pictures he has this thick, dark hair, and then in the next picture, boom, Kojack. So I may wake up one day and find it all on the pillow… But I’ll tell you what - if Barry Eisler gets a crew cut, I will too. Deal? If I thought of a preschool teacher who I thought would make a great character in a crime novel, I’d go for it. But, as you say, there would have to be something off about him or her. I think my strength is in writing about edgy people, though I think in my recent books like THE FOLLOWER, and some of the other projects I’m working on (including a graphic novel for DC) I’ve been expanding my approach, varying points of view more.
Check out the whole thing. It's good.
I was on vacation for awhile, thus the lack of posts. But I'm back now. I read a few books on our trip: Jeffery Deaver's The Broken Window, Ken Bruen and Jason Starr's The Max and Victor Gischler's Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. (I never read very much on vacation.) I also picked up a couple books that I hope to read soon, including James Rollins' adaptation of the new Indiana Jones movie (which I haven't seen yet).
How 'bout you? What you been reading?
Paul Guyot has an excellent guest post over on Bryon Quertermous' blog. (Bryon just got married. Congrats, man!!)
Having blogged for almost 5 years now, I agree with almost everything he writes about the enterprise. It's seldom useful, always self-indulgent, of limited educational or promotional value, and probably a great big waste of time.
Yet I do it anyway. It's a kind of sickness when you think about it...
Proving that nothing on the internet ever dies, I had two separate conversations recently in which the name Miss Snark came up. Remember her? She was (allegedly) a literary agent who wrote an acid, often tongue-in-cheek blog where she discussed the publishing industry and dispensed advice to aspiring writers.
Miss Snark shuttered her blog nearly a year ago, her true identity still a secret. What's funny is that the two people I spoke to -- both informed, savvy folks -- each had the opposite story on the Snarky one. One said she was a rep at a small agency, while the other swore she wasn't an agent at all and the whole thing was a gag.
That got me curious. (As did the rumor that it was really two gay male agents at William Morris.) So, if anyone out there knows the truth, please spill. (You can email me if you don't want to leave a comment.) Or perhaps Miss Snark would like to out herself?
Update: Two correspondents have confirmed the identity of Miss Snark. I am not going to reveal that information because apparently she still wishes to remain anonymous and no point would be served by doing so. I can confirm, however, that she is a legitimate agent. So for all you aspiring writers out there, her advice is definitely worth paying attention to.
It's no secret how much I loved Robert Ferrigno's Prayers for the Assassin, last year's winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller. Now Ferrigno has returned to the world of a post-revolutionary, Islamic America, and the results are just as satisfying. In Sins of the Assassin, Rakkim Epps, Muslim special forces warrior, is sent into the Christian Bible Belt (the Old South of the former USA) to retrieve a secret weapon before the Christians can get their hands on. What ensues is an action-packed and suspenseful thriller, cast against a stunning backdrop of imagination. It's early in 2008, but this is one of the best books I've read so far this year.
I'm going to be gone for the next few days, so I won't be blogging. In the meantime, feel free to talk amongst yourselves.
Recommended topics:
Over 300 bloggers from the world of publishing are blogging today in support of the paperback release of Patry Francis' book, The Liar's Diary. Patry was recently diagnosed with cancer and has been frequently hospitalized. Since she's unable to do any promotion in support of her book, a few of her friends decided to help out.
Patry is blogging about her battle with cancer, in case you're interested in learning more.
To learn more about how she came to write The Liar's Diary, read her Backstory.
You can watch a trailer for The Liar's Diary on YouTube:
Here's hoping that Patry's health improves soon!
That absurd Patricia Cornwell post that I made last week has attracted more traffic, and almost as many comments, as anything I've posted in months.
So I deleted it.
Now I know why people attack bestselling writers: it gets attention. Since I don't want that kind of attention, I removed it. I will, however, leave all the boring posts active. Read those instead.
I'm doing a study on crime fiction/writing blogs and was hoping I could get your feedback on a couple of points.
What do you like best about the blogs you read? What don't you like about them?
What's the one thing you'd like to see on a blog that you don't see right now?
Any feedback you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated. You can either post a comment with your thoughts or email me.
Thanks!
The second installment of Paul Guyot's series on TV writing, this one focused on the Network Pitch, is now up at Murderati.
As always when I read stuff like this, I'm amazed that anyone wants to be a writer.
I've been meaning to link to this for a while, but kept forgetting. Paul Guyot, reluctant blogger and reformed television writer, has written the first part in a series on How Television Shows Are Created over at Murderati.
Guyot's blog essays are always worth reading and this one is particularly good. If you're interested in screenwriting, you'll definitely want to check this out. But even if you're not, it's still fascinating to read about the absurd world that is Hollywood.
The inestimable Oline Cogdill, one of my favorite crime critics and a woman possessed of excellent taste, is now blogging at the Sun-Sentinel's website. (Sharing the space with her will be Books Editor Chauncey Mabe, who once threw some work my way, so we know he's a good guy.)
Aside from the fact that it will be interesting to see what Oline has to say, the newspaper will be using the blog as a tool to help gauge how much reader interest there is in books coverage. So I invite everyone to stop over there and read some postings and maybe make some comments as well.
Dick Adler has returned to reviewing (and blogging) with The Knowledgeable Blogger, a site for his reviews of crime novels. Dick is one of the best critics in the business, so it's wonderful to have him back in the trenches.
Library Journal has published their list of Eight Top Mystery Blogs, of which this site was one.
Thanks, LJ!
www.sarahweinman.com/confessions
The must-read for industry folks, authors, and mystery fans. Insightful
commentary from the Baltimore Sun's crime fiction columnist on the
latest book deals, awards, people, and trends.
www.crimefictionblog.com Critic David Montgomery on publishing, authors, and reviews. He also edits Murderink, which has mystery and thriller reviews, as well as author interviews, and sponsors the Gumshoe Awards.
eurocrime.blogspot.com Keep up with the latest UK and European mysteries on this blog run by a British librarian. Also check out Detectives Beyond Borders and International Noir Fiction.
heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy “Mystery publishing from idea to bookshelf,” with comments from authors, editors, publishers, and publicists.
www.killeryear.com Look for the up-and-coming thriller writers here.
jasonpinter.blogspot.com As a St. Martin's editor and soon-to-be-published author, Jason Pinter knows both sides of the mystery fence.
poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com
Writers Julia Buckley, Lonnie Cruse, Sandra Parshall, Sharon Wildwind,
and Elizabeth Zelvin give their take on the mystery scene. For a cozy
perspective, look at The Cozy Chicks or the Cozy Library.
www.reviewingtheevidence.com/default.html
Created in 2001, this mystery review site archives thousands of online
reviews, searchable by author, title, reviewer, or keyword. Nice links
to authors' web sites.
Bryon Quertermous and Dave White put together the third Blog Short Story Project and several writers chose to play along. The requirements this time were that the story had to be under 1000 words and it had to involve blogs.
The stories (to be updated):
Patricia Abbott - "RE: University Protocol on Incidents of Student Plagiarism"
Stephen Allan - "Take That, You Prick"
Bill Crider - The Sunshine of My Wife
John DuMond - "The Truth Hurts"
JT Ellison - "Bits and Pieces"
Mike MacLean - "How Does It Feel?"
Christa M. Miller - Blogging a Fantasy
David J. Montgomery - "AmberSki77"
Karen E. Olson - "Smoking Gun"
Bryon Quertermous - "I Am Not Paul Avery"
Anthony Rainone - "Burning Down The House"
Stephen D. Rogers - "Comments Enabled"
John Rickards - "Your Friends"
Gerald So - Confession of a Spenser Fan
If you like food -- and who doesn't? -- check out my brother's blog:
Maybe if more people visit he'll stop being lazy and actually keep up with it.
On behalf of all of us here at the Crime Fiction Dossier, we'd like to offer a hearty thank you to Graham Powell and CrimeSpot.net. His wonderful site, winner of the 2006 Gumshoe Award for Best Website, is an invaluable resource to all crime fiction fans.
Thanks for everything, Graham!
Once again this year, the indomitable M.J. Rose is running a feature on her blog with people's letters to the BookBiz Santa.
Just write to BookBiz Santa, telling him what you want him to bring you for Christmas. The best letter, based on reader comments, will win the writer's favorite charity $100.
My wish list is a simple one: more good books, less lousy ones.
Mystery author Henry Kisor, formerly the book review editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and the man who gave me my start as a professional critic, has thrown caution to the wind and started a blog.
Henry's a terrific writer and a smart guy, so this promises to be very interesting. I hope he'll talk more about books in the future, although after 30+ years as a book review editor, he's probably sick of 'em.
I neglected to realize that last month was my 3-year anniversary as a blogger. I probably forgot because I can't believe I've kept it up for this long.
I have mixed feelings about blogs in general, largely because I think most of them are a waste of time. (And I don't exempt this one from that statement.) Still, there is occasionally something useful or interesting in the blogosphere, and I hope to contribute to that when I can.
Every few months or so I'll start to think that it's time to give it up. But then someone will say something nice about CFD, or I'll get an email from someone saying they enjoy reading it, and they suck me right back in.
So for those of you who are fans of the Crime Fiction Dossier...Cut it out! Maybe then I can quit and go back to changing dirty diapers in peace.
Happy anniversary! :)
Jerome Weeks, formerly the book critic for the Dallas Morning News, has started a blog to share his thoughts on publishing, books and literacy.
One of the first topics he visited is my ever-popular list of the 10 Greatest Detective Novels. He then followed that up with a second post, the latter including his own list of favorite literary thrillers.
I could quibble and say that the books he cites are, for the most part, mysteries (or noir novels), not thrillers...But it's a very good list, so why complain?
He also has some very interesting commentary that I found thought-provoking. I didn't need another blog to read, but I think I'm going to enjoy this one.
Welcome to the blogosphere, Jerome.
People discover the Crime Fiction Dossier through an interesting variety of ways. Every once in a while, I'll look through the stats to see which search terms people used to find this blog. Some of them make sense, and some of them are a little on the odd side.
Here is a sampling from the last few days:
And my favorite:
Over at Buzz, Balls & Hype, M.J. Rose has an excellent post on author blogging. Apparently, mega-publishing company Holtzbrinck (Holt, St. Martin's Press, FSG, Tor, etc.) has launched an initiative to get their authors blogging. Best of all, it will only take then 10 minutes a week, and they'll get tons of free publicity!
There's so much wrong about the whole concept, but M.J. explains it well, so I won't go into it. She does make a point, though, that I want to single out:
Blogging does NOT sell books for the average blogger in any way that justifies the time it takes.
In these days when the common wisdom is that "every author needs a blog," this is a crucial fact that doesn't get mentioned enough. There are always a few exceptions, especially people who got into the game early on. But for 90% of authors, blogging is a colossal waste of time. (Unless, of course, they simply enjoy doing it for its own purposes, in which case it's fine. If they're doing it for publicity, though, forget it.)
Publishers should be spending their time thinking of the NEXT way for authors to get publicity, not piling on the last way that hardly worked for anyone anyway. (And they should try to find ways that don't require the author spending several hours a week doing it! Ten minutes, my sweet patoot.)
Any author who launches Yet Another Blog at this point without some unique, exciting and valuable angle is just spinning their wheels.
On the other hand, you should have a MySpace account. :)
Bob Morris, the excellent Florida crime novelist and all-around terrific guy, has a blog. Okay, that's not much of a surprise, since the only person left on earth without a blog is my sainted mother.
But Bob has made an announcement on his blog that should be of interest to a lot of folks: He's helping put together an author gathering in Eustis, Florida (near Orlando) called Murder and Music by the Lake, featuring a passel of Florida mystery writers, including Randy Wayne White, Jim Born, Jon King and more.
(Separate thought: Why is it that so many damn fine crime writers live in Florida? Is it the humidity? The swamps? The flying cockroaches? What??)
Murder and Music by the Lake will be held next February and it sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I could be there! Unfortunately, now that I'm a papa, I'm not allowed to go anywhere.
I hope it all goes well. Best of luck to those involved.
All this posting has tired me out. I think I'll go to bed and read now. I'm in the middle of Gregg Hurwitz' new thriller, Last Shot. I'm enjoying it so far -- Gregg is an excellent writer -- although I think it might have a few too many plotlines. Either that or my concentration isn't at its best.
Hmmmm...
Good night!
Longtime Chicago Tribune mystery columnist Dick Adler is the dean of crime fiction reviewing, the Anthony Boucher of our time. He is a critic of impeccable taste and a fine writer, demonstrating a true dedication to and love of mysteries and thrillers.
He is also, apparently, a machine.
Dick has a column in the Tribune every two weeks, with more column inches than anyone else I know of. (Yes, size does matter.) He also contributes reviews to Publishers Weekly. As if that weren't enough, he recently started two blogs in order to have an outlet for the reviews he doesn't have space for in print: Paperback Mysteries and Paperback Thrillers.
Is he trying to make the rest of us look bad or what?
I'm reasonably prolific as a critic. I've read approximately 85 books so far this year (a rate that has slowed since the baby came). I've reviewed 44 books of those books, spread over 5 different newspapers. I also occasionally mention a book on here or over at Mystery Ink.
But that's nothing for Dick! He reviews that many books before breakfast. And these aren't those bullshit Harriet Klausner-type "reviews" either, but legitimate, thoughtful, insightful critiques.
I'd offer Dick my praise and congratulations, but I'm sure he's too busy reading to accept them.
The indomitable M.J. Rose has once again pledged to support a worthy cause by donating $5 to charity for every blog that links to www.MJRose.com and www.vidlit.com/mj/.
The Vidlit (a trailer for her latest erotic thriller The Venus Fix) is very cool, so make sure to check it out. You can find out more details on what M.J. is doing by visiting www.myspace.com/venusfix.
If you read this blog, you already know what I thought of The Venus Fix -- it's a terrific book -- and this is a great way to spread the word and support a worthwhile charity. If you have a blog, I hope you'll consider participating.
Also, if you'd like to win a personally autographed copy of The Venus Fix, just send an email to davidjmontgomery@yahoo.com with the word Contest in the subject line and your name in the body of the email.
Good luck!
"The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Fiction Writers" has an offer you can't refuse. A new blog shared by seven award-winning Chicago crime fiction authors, the "Outfit" will launch on Monday, July 10, 2006, and they invite readers to join them at http://www.theoutfitcollective.com. The blog will feature lively and provocative conversations by
Sara Paretsky
Barbara D’Amato
Kevin Guilfoile
Libby Fischer Hellmann
Michael Allen Dymmoch
Sean Chercover
Marcus Sakey
Topics will focus on writing, Chicago, and crime (past, present, and future). For more information, including author bios, bibliographies, photos, and links to individual websites, please visit www.theoutfitcollective.com.
Since I don't include a blog roll on the Crime Fiction Dossier, I thought I'd share some new/updated websites and blogs with you. These are some of the sites I've visited lately.
Robert Ward -- The official website of author/screenwriter Bob Ward. Bob's got a new book (Four Kinds of Rain) coming in October from St. Martin's Press, so I redesigned his site for him. (I'm not in the web business, but Bob's a friend, so I volunteered to do it for him.)
Buzz, Balls & Hype -- M.J. Rose's publishing blog always has great information and is a must-read for me. (M.J. now has a partner helping her out with the terrific Backstory blog.)
Thriller -- Spiffy new site for ITW's Thriller anthology. I think this is going to be the book of the season.
Mystery Circus -- A new central website for crime fiction info, including columns written by mystery world notables.
Murderati -- Multi-author blog with Elaine Flinn, Pari Noskin Taichert, Naomi Hirahara, JT Ellison, Denise Dietz, Simon Wood and Jeffrey Cohen.
Naked Authors -- Another multi-author blog, this one with Paul Levine, Patricia Smiley, James Grippando, Jacqueline Winspear and Cornelia Read.
James O. Born -- Jim Born is doing a pseudo-blog on the main page of his website.
Chris Mooney -- Chris is also doing a pseudo-blog on his website.
The Rap Sheet -- January Magazine's old Crime Fiction section (a Gumshoe Award winner) is now a blog. It's new, but looks promising.
I know the posts have been few and far between lately. I'm doing the final round of revisions on my novel to get it ready to send out, so that's been keeping me busy. I think it's going well.
I have a handful of reviews in the can that should be running soon. Check the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Sun-Times this weekend. I should also have things in the Boston Globe and South Florida Sun-Sentinel soon.
BEA (BookExpo America) is coming up at the end of this week, so that's where I'll be on Friday and Saturday. I'm on the big thriller panel (Friday @ 2:30pm) with James Patterson, David Morrell, Dan Conaway, Margaret O'Neil Marbury and Simon Lipskar. Should be fun -- I always enjoy talking about books. (Please holler at me if you're going to be there.)
Lots of good books are coming out this time of year, including new ones from Lee Child (now), Joseph Finder (also now), Barry Eisler (June) and M.J. Rose (June & July). I also enjoyed Jim Swain's pair of new poker mysteries, and Frederick Forsyth's latest thriller. There are many others, too, that I can't remember off the top of my head.
So everyone get to reading! I'll do the same.
Barry Eisler, author of the superb John Rain thriller series, is one of the brightest guys I know. That being said, he, like the rest of us, is occasionally prone to lapses in judgment, missteps or downright foolishness.
Case in point: Barry has decided to blog.
Eisler, formerly a secret agent with one of those three-letter agencies, will be writing about politics, language and what's going on in the world.
His blog is called The Heart of the Matter and the first post is already up. It's about what's wrong with the French, or something like that. It had too many words so I didn't actually read it.
I did, on the other hand, read Eisler's new book, The Last Assassin (due out this June from Putnam) and it's a terrific, exciting and emotional read; probably his best yet.
Whether or not his blog will rise to that level of brilliance, I don't know. On the other hand, if Eisler does decide to reveal his secret for keeping and coiffing a full and luscious head of hair, you can definitely count me among the readers.
Although I'm generally known as a mystery and thriller critic, I got my start as a reader in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and that is where my interest remained until I reached my early-20s. Only then did I start to read crime fiction.
These days I don't read much SF/Fantasy, although I have written a couple of reviews in the genre over the last year or two. (I reviewed John Sladek's The Complete Roderick for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and wrote about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for National Review Online.)
Despite that shift in my focus, the SF/F genre remains dear to my heart, and I have many fond memories of the books I grew up with.
Author James Reasoner shared a link on his blog to 100 Science Fiction Novels You Just Have to Read. I went over the list and found that I'd read 22 of the books, to the best of my recollection.
Some of my favorite authors are listed, including Roger Zelazny, Robert Heinlein and Douglas Adams. There are also some big names I never cared for, like Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov -- although I have to confess that I only tried a few of their books before giving up.
A handful of more contemporary writers are included as well, showing that the genre is still capable of producing great work today. Some of the current generation of authors listed, although they're hardly new anymore, are Orson Scott Card, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, all of whom have written books that I've really enjoyed.
I wish I had the time to read more science fiction or fantasy. I can't even keep up with a fraction of the crime fiction, though, which makes me feel guilty whenever I read anything else.
I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season, as we move through Christmas and Chanukah and into the New Year. I'm trying to tell myself that it's okay if I don't read as many books during this time of year, given how busy and distracting life becomes. But it's hard!
(I'm also under strict orders from James O. Born to read fewer books and watch more TV during the holidays. And he's a cop, so I have to listen. I'm trying, Jim.)
Here's hoping that 2006 is a great year for books, even better than 2005. It looks like most of our favorites will be back, plus I'm looking forward to a handful of killer surprises from authors both old and new who blow me away. Finding those books is really my favorite part of being a reader. (I don't know who they are yet, of course, but I'm sure they'll be out there.)
In the meantime, if you don't read as much during the holidays, that's okay. As soon as the new year comes, though, it's time to get back to work. There are 2000 mysteries published in this country each year and someone's got to read them. It might as well be us.
So best wishes to everyone! I hope that you'll be safe and happy and prosperous in the months to come. Be well, my friends.
My Letter to the Book Biz Santa is now available for reading over at M.J. Rose's blog, Buzz, Balls & Hype.
Enjoy!
Okay, so my retirement from blogging only lasted two weeks. Turns out I’m such an opinionated bigmouth that I couldn’t resist sharing my wisdom with everyone. Who knew?
Actually, there are some things I want to say, and some books I want to share, and there’s no better forum to do it than this one. (I also appreciated the fact that so many people wrote in to say they missed my writing. Be careful what you wish for!)
I had a very generous offer from M.J. Rose to blog part-time on her site, but it just didn’t feel right. If I’m going to spout off, I should do it in my own house and not mess up the carpet at somebody else’s place.
Don’t expect me to post as frequently as I once did. I’m planning to write when I have something to say, and stay silent when I don’t. The focus will remain largely the same (books, authors, reviewing and publishing), but I hope to concentrate on more substantive topics within those categories. There’s already enough fluff out there, right?
This new iteration of the Crime Fiction Dossier will not have the comment feature enabled. I find that the “discussions” that erupt on most blogs are counter-productive and too often negative, so I’ve decided to eliminate them. If you have something to say, you can always email me.
We’ll see how it goes this time around. Thanks for joining me!
David J. Montgomery writes about authors and books for several of the country's largest newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe.
In the past, he has contributed to such publications as USA Today, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Kansas City Star, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and National Review Online.
He lives in the Washington, DC suburbs with his wife and daughter.
