SleuthFest Reviewed

Celine and I left Key West at 5 a.m. on Feb. 29, and arrived at the Deerfield Beach Hilton at 9:30 a.m. I missed the 9 a.m. panel, but got there in time for “The Devil Made Me Do It” panel, with Bob Morris, Don Bruns, and Philip Cioffari. The panel discussed the whys of evil doings in their characters. Or why sometimes good characters have to do bad things, like kill. Bob is a friend who wrote a blurb for my novel, Chasin’ the Wind, and last year I met Don at SleuthFest. Google them, you might just like their books as much as I do. I am glad I caught the panel.

Celine worked the registration desk, because we couldn’t check in to our room at the Embassy Suites until after 3 p.m. I hung out with her after the 10 a.m. panel, because by the time I finished talking with Bob and Don, it was too late to get into a panel discussion; or at least I felt it would be disrespectful to walk in halfway through.

Lunch was good and the guest speaker was Douglas P. Lyle, M.D. Doug is a forensic doctor and has a number of books out on forensic science and a couple of mystery novels; Forensic for Dummies being in my library. He also helps writers, via his website, with simple forensic questions. I know he has responded to my questions a few times. He is another one you should Google and check out.

His talk was interesting and funny! I don’t know why the funny part surprised me. I guess I expected him to be more dour. Anything but!

After lunch, 2:15 p.m., Sun-Sentinel writer/columnist Oline Cogdill and I were the panel for “Write a Better Blog.” Oline blogs for her paper. Let’s see, if I say the room was half-full, I am what? An optimist, right? So, it was half-full. Oline talked about how papers are using blogging, especially, for our concerns, for book reviews. Papers are also cutting back the size, and, in some cases, getting rid of book review sections, so we all agreed that the blogs were important. Maybe they are the future of book reviews.

I talked about blogs I liked and why, and asked the audience what blogs they liked and why. Some people were hesitant to begin a blog, but as writers, a blog, we decided, is a good way to get readers to your website. Group blogs seemed like the best idea, I pointed out, because writers who take time daily to blog, are taking time from their writing.

After the panel, Celine and I checked into the Embassy Suites, napped for an hour, and then went back to the Hilton to meet a few other writers from Five Star, my publisher.

Around 7 p.m., my friend Emily Roach and her husband, Ernie Dick, came by. Emily and I worked on the Key West Citizen together. She has left for a bigger and better position and recently moved to the Boca Raton area. It was nice seeing them and catching up on old times. I sure miss her professionalism.

Saturday began with a big, free breakfast at the Embassy Suites and then back to the Hilton.

Agents and editors held a morning panel on “From Publishing’s Front Lines: A Look Ahead.” For a new writer, or someone wanting to be published, it was not good news. It keeps getting tougher to get an agent, as well as a publisher! Tell me something I don’t know.

James O. Born, and ex DEA agent, now a FDLE agent, hosted the “Exotic Lethal Weapons” program, before lunch. Jim is great and tells it like it is. His novels are well written and, yeah, Google him, too. He always brings along weapons (unloaded, he likes to point out) and displays their uses.

Lee Child was the luncheon speaker and did a good job. Before he spoke, the MWA held an auction and sold off lunches with writers, you can buy your name into a writer’s next novel and/or get a critique for a published writer. I don’t remember how much was raised, but it all goes toward an MWA sponsored charity.

Lee Child and Charles Todd were on the panel discussing “Writing Dynamic Dialogue.” It was worth the trip. Lee’s Reacher’s books are a good read.

The agents & editors cocktail party was fun and by the pool. This year the food was outrageous! Celine and I grabbed a table by one of the serving stations and were soon joined by Jerry Healy, Sandy Balzo, and then by Lee Child, Don Bruns, and Jim Born. It made for some interesting conversation.

A few years ago, the ladies of SleuthFest over heard the men in the bar (where else?) talking about the babes, so they came up with their version of a hot male of SleuthFest award. It’s done with a lot tongue-in-cheek and good humor. Doug Lyle beat out Lee Child and Jim Born! It was a fun way to end the evening. Doug is wearing the pink boa in the photo above! Leave it to the ladies, a pink boa and bottle of Jack Daniels!

Jimmy Berslin, the Mafia, and Omertá

Jimmy Breslin could write a grocery list and I would want to read it. His collected columns, in at least two books, are exciting reading because of how he records characters, especially criminal characters. The small details he catches are wonderfully revealed in his writings. While he often uses wit in presenting details, the underlying facts of criminals, especially the old Mafia, comes through as he attended, cold, brutal, and often foolish.
Any mystery writer that uses organized criminals as characters, or even as background, should go and get Breslin’s new book, “The Good Rat.” Breslin spent time researching the incidents he writes about and attended the trail of the two NYPD detectives, Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, who were recently convicted as murder-for-hire contract killers for the Mafia.
Nothing in the organized criminal life is sacred to Breslin, not the legends, long departed, or the new Mafia and its misfits. He definitely eliminates any belief by today’s organized criminal in the Mafia’s blood oath, Omertá – silence.
“The Good Rat” is in the research section of my home library and it should be in every writer’s, because it takes the glamour out of organized crime and brings it down to the human level, greed, and power and how it doesn’t always fall to the brightest.
For two reasons, Breslin has included part of the court transcript in the book. One reason, he tells the reader, is because he couldn’t write it better than it played out in court. The second reason, though he doesn’t clearly admit it, is some of the testimony is so unbelievable, written as prose might leave the reader doubting its honesty.
In the ‘90s, many of us were infatuated with the trials and tribulations of the Teflon Don, John Gotti and his henchmen. Breslin’s handling of Gotti, and how he helped destroy the old guard Mafia, made me stop and wonder why he was handled with such kid’s gloves in the media during his trials. Gotti, Breslin writes, broke the rules to get to be boss and, in so doing, began the decline of the Mafia.
The FBI, which denied the existence of the Mafia thanks to J. Edgar Hoover, has, in the past decade, brought many of the foot soldiers, made men, and bosses to justice; more often than not, because of the failure of Omertá among its members.
Breslin writes with authority, because he knew many of the old time Mafia bosses and drank and ate at their hangouts. His recounting incidents are often humorous, but the underlying facts show blown up egos and callous individuals.
I think some of the humor that Breslin has put in all his writing, columns, books and magazine articles, is because if he only presented the facts to us, the excitement read into the pieces would be gone and replaced with boredom. He has taken boring individuals, ala Damon Runyon style, and made their story interesting.
A native New Yorker, he grew up with many of the old gangsters and, thankfully, he says, many of them loved to see their names in the paper, so they often wanted him to hang around the same restaurants and bars as they did.
Yeah, it is a good reference book for mystery writers. I mean, come on, how many of us could come up with names like Thomas “Three-finger Brown” Lucchese or Jimmy “the Clam” Eppolito or have a Jewish gangster, Burt Kaplan, working with the Mafia, help bring down two NYPD hit men because he feared an old friend was gonna rat him out first?
The scary part of this book is how matter-of-factly Kaplan talks of robbery and murder, sometimes to friends, during the trial.

SleuthFest and the release of "Chasin' the Wind"

I am preparing for two important events in my life.
First, I am the ‘panel’ for an afternoon discussion on blogging at SleuthFest; second, is the release of my book, Chasin’ the Wind, on March 19, and I have begun to set up readings and signings. Both are exciting and new experiences, to me.
I am going to SleuthFest 2008, a Mystery Writers of America – Florida Chapter annual event held at the Deerfield Beach Hilton, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Feb. 29 – March 2. I am hosting a discussion on “How to Write a Better Blog,” on the afternoon of the 29th. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are probably wondering how I got that assignment. I’m wondering too!
I thought it was a panel discussion I was assigned to, and when I asked why I was the lone panelist, I was told, “No one else volunteered.” I guess I was out of the room when I volunteered, because I missed my doing it.
I have put together handouts for the program. I have a two-page list of blogs I read and then I took my cheat-notes and decided to put headings on ‘em and now they are included in the handouts. Of course, I have no idea how many copies I need. Make too few and I have unhappy attendees and make too many and I look like an egomaniac! How’s that for a no-win situation.
Since blogging is a personal decision, with a gazillion varying likes and dislikes, I’ve decided to make the 50-minute program audience participation. I will raise the questions, give a short suggestion based on my likes and dislikes, and then pool the audience. The handout will give an outline of the topics and, I hope, will get the participants thinking a head, so quiet won’t blanked the hall when I’ve stopped speaking.
I want to know what you like, or dislike about blogs you read. Let me know and it may help me get through this, especially if you hit on something I missed. If you’re a blogger, let me know your secrets.
With a little bit of luck, I will keep everyone busy talking for 50-minutes. Wish me luck.
If you attend SleuthFest, and come to the blogging program, please introduce yourself. Even if you don’t attend my panel, say hi in the hallway.
The only negative, for me, is that my book will not be available by SleuthFest and I miss the opportunity to reach many people who might be interested in reading it. Getting a signed first edition of a first book makes it a collectable book, but alas, the gods were not smiling when they chose a publication date. Hopefully, some potential readers will remember to order it online or at their favorite bookstore, after they arrive home.
For more information on SleuthFest, go to www.mwa-florida.org.
Even more exciting than being the lone panelist at SleuthFest is the publication of my mystery novel. Chasin’ the Wind ships on March 19th and that should put it in stores by the 28th – one month too late for SluethFest! Anyone that pre-ordered Chasin’ the Wind on Amazon.com can expect it in the mail around that time.
The closer the publication date gets the more anxiety I have. I heard, but didn’t believe, that writers are very insecure individuals. I believe it now!
I have three signings in Key West: April 5, Key West Island Books; April 12, Fairvilla 1-3 p.m., and April 25, at the Hog’s Breath Saloon. Times are being discussed for the bookstore and the Hog signings.
I am also going to be interviewed by Ed Scales on his Sunday afternoon show on US1 Radio and on Richard Grusin’s talk show, Crusin’ with Grusin, on a Sunday morning, also on US1 Radio. When I know the dates and times, and you are interested in listening to the shows, I will post the information on my website, so you can listen to US1 Radio on the web: www.us1radio.com.
There are also two Friends of the Library talks scheduled. On March 27th, I am with the Friends at the Marathon Library and May 22, with the Friends in Fort Lauderdale.
The anxiety hits when I remember other writers talking of signings and readings where no one came to buy a book! How frightening, if that happened in Key West!
I am also preparing to follow up with bookstores in New Jersey/New York area and Southern California that I approached last year about signings. Ideally, I would sign at bookstores in NJ/NY in mid June. That would allow me to meet my new granddaughter, whose due in late March. Of course, I also get to see the proud new parents, Seanan and Paul. And my recently married daughter, Chela, and her husband Bryan, too. My major cost would be the airline ticket, since I would stay the weekend with Seanan and Paul.
If you live near any of these bookstores, please stop in or call and ask them to host a signing, because you want to buy the book: Barnes & Nobel in Paramus, NJ and the Barnes & Nobel in West Nyack, NY; also the Borders in Ramsy, NJ. I would appreciate it.
I hope to go to Southern Cal in July. There, I stay with my sister Patty and her family, Uncle Howie, Coco Joe and Alexis. Hey, don’t knock it, I am saving a fortune on hotels in both NJ and California.
In NJ, I could sign at the three stores during a long weekend visit, and in Southern Cal, I could do the signings during a two-weekend stay.
If you live in Southern California and visit any of these bookstores, please stop in or call and ask them to have a signing: Dutton’s, in Brentwood; The Mystery Bookstore located by UCLA; Mysteries to Die For, in Thousand Oaks; the Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse, in La Canada Flintridge.
I suppose I would be disappointed if all three stores in NJ/NY and the ones in Southern California turned me down. I would go even if only one store held a signing for me. I left my press package and an advanced reading copy of the book with each store in NJ/NY, and am preparing to send the ADRs to the stores in California, where I left a press package, less the ADRs, last July.
The problem is the publisher. Five Star’s distributor doesn’t offer a good discount to bookstores. Don’t ask! It’s a long screwy story! But Five Star does offer a 40-percent discount if the store buys directly from them for an author signing and gives the author a form with a discount code for the store to fill out before placing its order.
You would think that’s a good thing, right? Well, too many of the bookstore managers I talked to were hesitant to have to go through the extra work to order directly from the publisher. A visit or call from you would be a great help.
And I thought writing the book was the hard part!

Adrian McKinty on James Ellroy

One of my favorite blogs is Irish writer Declan Burke’s http://www.crimealwayspays.blogspot.com/. As if there are not enough American mystery writers, my library is now beginning to hold Irish mystery writers, because of Declan.

Irish writer Adrian McKinty now lives in Colorado and even taught at one of the state’s universities. He has an interesting guest blog on crimealwayspays that deals with James Ellroy’s work.

McKinty, no slouch himself, with his “Dead Trilogy,” The Dead Yard, Dead I Well May Be and The Bloomsday Dead (the last honoring James Joyce and his Ulysses and, like Joyce’s novel, The Bloomsday Dead takes place on June 16, for 24-hours in Ireland) along with a stand alone novel, Hidden River. I have read them all and McKinty's writing leaves you breathless.

McKinty is well worth reading and when Dec’s Eightball Boogie and The Big O are published here in the states, within the next few months, they too will be worth reading. Or, I guess, you can do like I did and order them through his website and be the first in America to discover this talented Irish writer.

Back to McKinty, his blog has an interesting take on Ellroy’s work and I thought you might enjoy what McKinty said and why he said it.

Enjoy the site.

A Writer's Courage: Patry Francis

Mystery and thriller writers vary in age, sex, religion, political persuasion, hair color, as well as lack of hair, and in so many areas, I’d better stop here, but you get the point. So many differences, that it is amazing we are, more often than not, quiet-living, loving people, eager to help fellow writers, who are our competitors in a field that narrows almost daily.

While most of us writers sit down alone and face the cold, blank page on our computer screen, our characters also share a trait. Alone, and against overwhelming odds, many of the characters in mysteries and thrillers search out justice and they have to face outrageous situations that make them draw on an inner courage that we, as readers, have to wonder about. Would we find that courage in ourselves, under the same circumstances?

Do you, as a reader or writer, know anyone really like Jack Reacher, Elvis Cole, Dave Robicheaux, Alex Rutledge, John Cuddy, Max Freeman, Thorn, Harry Bosch, or one of your favorite author’s characters? Do they even exist off the written page?

I doubted if real people existed that were like those characters, but a few weeks ago, I heard about a courageous woman, who, as only befits the twists and turns of any good mystery, is a mystery writer.

Patry Francis’ book "Liar’s Diary" comes out in paperback today, Jan. 29, but, unlike many of us writers – me included – who would be eagerly signing copies of our book in stores on its release date, Patry won’t be. She is fighting cancer, instead.

I probably relate better to what she is going through than some, because I am a cancer survivor and though it’s been more than 30-years since I heard those frightening words, I remember them, the operation and six-months of cobalt treatments as if it were only yesterday. Facing ones mortality head-on has to be one of life’s most terrifying experiences.

Patry could have withdrawn, could have given up, could have survived for a while on sympathy, but, instead, she faced the bastard head-on and continues to fight the good fight. She blogs almost daily and shares the many complicated facets of her struggle and talks about writing.

If you want to meet a real hero, go to her blog http://www.simplywait.blogspot.com/ and see what an amazing and courageous woman Patry is.

To learn more about Patry, visit her website, http://www.patryfrancis.com/. If Patry’s website or the synopsis piques your interest, please buy or order a copy of "Liar’s Diary" today.

Liar’s Diary

What would you do if your best friend was murdered—and your teenaged son was accused of the crime? How far would you go to protect him? How many lies would you tell? Would you dare to admit the darkest truths — even to yourself?Jeanne Cross is an ordinary suburban wife and mother with a seemingly "perfect" life when Ali Mather arrives on the scene, breaking all the rules and breaking hearts. Almost against her will, Jeanne is drawn to this powerfully seductive woman, a fascination that soon begins to infect Jeanne's husband as well as their teenaged son, Jamie.Though their friendship seems unlikely and even dangerous to their mutual acquaintances, Ali and Jeanne are connected by deep emotional needs, vulnerabilities, and long-held secrets that Ali has been privately recording in her diary.The diary also holds the key to something darker. Though she can't prove it, Ali is convinced someone has been entering her house when she is not at home-and not with the usual intentions. What this burglar wants is nothing less than a piece of Ali's soul.When Ali is found murdered, there are many suspects; but the evidence against Jamie Cross is overwhelming. Jeanne's personal probing leads her to the question none of us would ever want to face. What comes first: our loyalty to family—or the truth?"

Here a Muse, there a Muse, everywhere but with me, a Muse

Writers’ block. What is it? And, do I have it?

I am probably within 50 pages of finishing my sequel to “Chasin’ the Wind,” – Free Range Institution – and haven’t written in weeks! I have re-read the manuscript twice, making changes in it and I know where it’s going and how it ends; I know who the good-guy that turns out to be a bad-guy is. I like it and think it’s good.

I sit and stare at the screen that holds two pages of the chapter I can’t seem to finish, even though I know what happens. I have never had this problem before. Oh, I’ve been stuck because I’d written myself into a situation I couldn’t get out of. But not this time. I know where it’s going, but that ever-important next sentence won’t come.

It’s Friday and I am afraid to go home and face the computer screen. Key West has been my Muse for more than 10 years and she has blessed me. Where is she now? Is this a form of depression? Is there a Muse pill I can take? Is there a shrink who can explain why she left and let me know if she’ll come back?

I escape to my refuge, the Hog’s Breath Saloon, in Old Town. Everyone’s friendly. Bruce Issacson is playing alone for the second time since Red died from a heart attack during the holidays. Many local musicians will show up and sit in with Bruce. We all loved Red. He and Tim Carter are the best fiddlers whoever came here. I would’ve paid money to watch Red and Tim fiddle together. It won’t happen, now.

I sit with my back to the parking lot, the stage to my left. Boston Frank is the bartender and he brings me a Jameson on the rocks.

“Can I have bottled water, Frank?” I ask, taking the drink.

Frank brings me the water and an ashtray. I smile my thank you and listen to Bruce as he tunes up, alone on a small stage and he looks small, up there alone. Locals have filled the outdoor area and yell encouragement to him.

This is a refuge because I observe talk and characteristics in people – locals and tourists – that will find their way into my writing. I make rapids notes as some half-drunk tourist tries to pick up a girl. She’s with friends and I wonder what would happen if he was successful. I make a note on the page: what would happen if . . .

There’s a guy across the bar I’m watching. He inhales his cigarette smoke, exhales, takes a sip of beer, and then scratches his nose. Does the beer tickle him? He does it each time he drinks. Inhale, exhale, drink, scratch.

A another guy sits with his back to the bar and stares into the parking lot. Who is he waiting for? His wife, a girlfriend, a buddy with money from the ATM? He fondles his beer bottle and sips. He’s wearing an obscene T-shirt from one of the Israeli T-shirt shops on Duval Street.

I make notes on all this.

“No cigar,” Frank asks, noticing no cigar and that my drink appears untouched because the ice has melted and replaced what little I drank. “Is it Lent already?”

During Lent, I often give up either drinking or cigars. One year I gave up both. Friends told me later that I was a holy terror for 40-days and 40-nights! I thought I’d done well. I can give up drinking easier than giving up my cigars, but today, without my Muse, and maybe with writers’ block, I had no desire for either. I wanted to write.

“Naw, Frank, I’m tryin’ to keep a clear mind for the long weekend,” I lie.

“I’m in the next book, right?”

“You’re in the first one,” I lie again.

He smiles and leaves to wait on a customer.

“Finding characters?” Art, the manager asks, as he stands behind me and looks at my notebook.

“Something like that. How’s the writing going?”

A few months back, Art read one of my short stories and decided if I could write and drink at the Hog, he could probably write better than me.

“I think I have writers’ block,” he frowns and sits down. “You ever get it?”

“Not me.” I assure him.

“I just can’t get my idea from my head to the computer screen.”

“Finger exercises,” I say and drum my fingers on the bar as if I was typing. “It loses them up.”

“Really?” Art types on the bar.

“That and read and work on your notes.”

“Not enough time in the day,” he says and types. “Puts a little feeling into the fingers.”

“Exactly,” I say and smile.

“You make it look easy,” he says slowly. He stops typing. “You’ve got one book published and you’re done with the second one. I don’t know how you do it. Where do you find the time?”

“You make it,” I grin. “You get up an hour early, you take your notebook to lunch, you skip your favorite TV show at night. You do it, because it’s more important than sleep or food or TV.”

“Sounds like you give up life,” Art mumbles. “I didn’t know about all that.”

“You trade one life for another, Art. But, if you need to think about it, maybe it’s not what you’re supposed to do,” I tell him. “If writing isn’t what drives you, you’re not a writer. It’s not about sales – though sales are good – it’s about writing, turning that idea in your head into words.”

“I won’t bother you,” he says and stands up. “I know how important those notes are. Thanks for the advice.” He walks away.

I put money on the bar and walk out through the T-shirt shop. I want to go home and write. I’d find her, my Muse, she was just playing hard to get, but I’d find her.

Ending 2007 and SleuthFest 2008

It’s a New Year, but I’d like to mention the last days of 2007.

Celine, Alex, and I left Key West and flew to a freezing New Jersey for my daughter Chela’s New Year’s Eve wedding. It was colder than a witch’s tit – especially for someone from Key West, where I put an electric blanket on the bed when the temperatures fall below 75!

But we braved the weather and enjoyed a week with my pregnant daughter Seanan (pronounced Shannon, but spelled in Gaelic) and her husband Paul Carpino.

It was a little hectic, as you can imagine the days leading up to a wedding are supposed to be. The wedding was beautiful, and, of course, the bride was too! The groom, Bryan Papaccioli, and Chela have dated since high school. His father, Lou, and mother, Colleen (yes, a good Irishwoman) are great people.

This has nothing to do with writing, but it is the reason I didn’t do any writing during the holidays, and it was a great way for me to end the Old Year and bring in the New Year with my daughters, their husbands, Cline and Alex, my sister Patty Bolter and her family and a large group of my ex-in-laws from California.

Imagine, if you can, a hall half-filled with Italians, ¼ filled with Irish and ¼ filled with Mexicans! Now that’s a party!

2008

The Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America will hold its annual SleuthFest event in Deerfield Beach Feb. 28 – March 2nd. Lee Child will be one guest speaker. I hope you have read at least one of Lee’s Jack Reacher books. The second guest speaker is Dr. D.P. Lyle, the forensics specialist. His book, “Forensics for Dummies” is mandatory for any writer’s reference library and his website – http://www.dplylemd.com/ – is well worth checking into.

And, finally, I am going to meet Florida writer Bob Morris at SleuthFest. We have used emails and the internet to form a friendship and were supposed to meet in Key West during Jimmy Buffett’s ParrotHeads’ “Meeting of the Minds” festivities, but the unexpected death of a friend kept him away. Check him out – http://www.bobmorris.net/ – you won’t be disappointed. He was also nice enough to read, “Chasin’ the Wind” and he gave me a nice blurb for it.

Bob and I are on SleuthFest panels, but not the same one. Bob, along with Don Bruns and Phillip Cioffari are on a panel called “The Devil Made Me Do It,” at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 29th. (Yeah it’s a Leap Year). I have the Friday afternoon panel, right after our luncheon, at 2:15 p.m., titled “Write a Better Blog.” As of right now, I am the only panelist! But, officials assure me there will be others.

Not having a lot of faith in authority, I have already put together a handout list of blogs I read for whoever attends. If I am the only panelist, I have to use up about 45 minutes and, in a pub that wouldn’t be a problem, after a full meal and listening to Lee Child speak, I am not sure how much into blogging I am going to be!

I am hoping that you might respond to this and give me the name and web addresses of some blogs you enjoy going to. It might help me expand the list and give me somethting more to talk about.

Thank you and let me end with wishes to you for a Happy New Year.