Pirates, arghhhh

I recently finished the penultimate Crichton novel, Pirate Latitudes. His last novel is still in editing and is rumored to be a techno-thriller, for which he is best known. But Dr. Crichton could write a mean historical tale of adventure as well (Eaters of the Dead being the other one I'm thinking of).

As I understand it, an assistant found a copy of this manuscript buried in one of his computers, finished but forgotten. The publishing industry being what it is, they grabbed it up and printed a million copies! I'm not sure why this would have been locked away, but I suspect he wasn't done with it. It was a rougher read. Crichton tells a good story, Jurassic Park, Andromeda Strain. Science gone awry with a small group of people trying to survive. In PL, Crichton tells of a 17th century pirate. Affected voice, more exposition than usual, jumpy narrative. That sort of thing. It was Fine. No Treasure Island or anything, but I enjoyed it alright.

Immediately after, I started in on my next read, the Last Raider by Douglas Reeman, also a tale of Naval Hijinks. Not to take anything from an obviously great man and writer, but there is sure a notable difference between someone writing about something they have experienced (Reeman was a sailor in WW2) and someone writing about something who hasn't.

ISFDb

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database now has a Rick Farnsworth page...who'd'a thunk?

Ch,Ch,Ch. Changes...

I read my first Jim Butcher book recently. 'Changes' is the most recent installment of the Harry Dresden Files series. You may have heard of this from the show on the scifi channel a few years ago. Dresden is one of the leading Urban Fantasy series out there written with a male voice. (a large preponderance of Urban Fantasy slips easily into the 'paranormal romance' or 'chicklit')

For the unenlightened among you, Urban Fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy where mythic elements are found in an urban setting. It could be any time period, just set in an urban environment. You usually find elves, dwarves, fairies, magic mixed with the modern world. The second hellboy slipped into an urban fantasy.

I think I should have started at the beginning with Harry though. As with most series the author needs to up the ante as the character goes along, right? Changes is #12, so the events, rather than being the story of a wizard in a modern setting (which sounds clever), turn pretty quickly into epic battles between a vampire army, along with every mythic figure, from norse, to celtic to aztec, that I have ever heard of. Butcher is a competent writer, his first person narrative is believable and he has an interesting premise. I can see why he has a following. I wasn't a fan of the all-in and kitchen sink approach to fantasy though. It felt like a long mixed metaphor, but understandable if all of the characters had been introduced over the past few years.

My friend Elmore

I recently finished the novel Glitz by Elmore Leonard. I think this is over number 12 for me (of his crime books, I haven't read many of his early westerns, 3:10 to Yuma for instance). It was an early eighties vintage tale of bad guys, doing bad things and the women who watch them do it. Atlantic City, Puerto Rico, and the human psyche. One thing I enjoyed was the seeming randomness of events and the banality of the bad guys. No evil geniuses masterminding the end of the world, just bad people doing bad things for stupid reasons.

Like all 'EL' books, it was a satisfying read. If you read 'how to write better' books, you'll find that he is often singled out as an example for pacing, and snappy dialogue. And it's true. The thing to keep in mind is, there's only one Elmore and trying to ape his style is a bad idea. So go for the flow, be cool, don't plagiarize the actual verbage.

EL was also the person who I think gave the most sublime writing advise.

His ten rules of writing go something like this:

1. Never open with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than said to carry a dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said'.
5. Keep your exclamation marks under control.
6. Never use the word 'suddenly'.
7. Use regional dialects and patois sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Ditto, places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Clearly number 10 is my favorite, and the one I try hardest to follow.

Amazon Review

My first Amazon review was published today. Hooty Hoo!

Check it out here {Click Here with your mouse cursor}

I think it was pretty good, hope I can be as circumspect when I get one that's less complimentary. But that is part of putting your work out there for others to see, isn't it?

My publisher sent a note that orders through Reliquary Press will be sent out in the next day or so. They are just now getting in from the printer.

*NOTE: orders of the last week shipped Thursday 5 Aug*

Book Reviews...

STG has popped on the 'currently reading tab' at Paperback Horror! Paperback Horror is a book review blog that covers the horror genre, which Succumbing to Gravity can fall into.

Remember in a previous blog post where we discussed genre? I don't think what I write falls neatly into a genre bin, but you have to put a label on books so that they can be filed in the right section of the book store, or library, right? And I am a member of the horror writers association...so.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror are often grouped under the title 'Speculative Fiction' or Specfic. Horror can be further split into a large number of 'subgenres'; supernatural horror, psychological horror, splatterpunk (think blood splatter) and on and on. It gets more complicated when you realize that the psychological horror novels are often also marketed as crime. Think Silence of the Lambs or the Red Dragon- psychopathic serial killers. Sounds like Horror to me.

As I mentioned, I don't think STG fits neatly into a genre, though I am glad PBH is reading it. The non-neatness-of-fit is not just my opinion. I sent it off to a number of agents before I sent the manuscript to Reliquary and a common complaint was that it didn't fit 'neatly' into a genre. Complaint because agents want big books that can be easily marketed, not untidy books that one must equivocate on the genre from the start. STG had elements of religiously or supernaturally inspired horror, dark fantasy; one agent even said after review that it seemed more urban fantasy than horror but with elements of both. (I queried around 50 agents, 20 of them asked for partials to review and almost half of those asked to read the whole manuscript. So I did get a good sampling of people who knew what they were talking about.) And here I thought it was just a little road-trip book about a fallen angel, with a heroin habit, that was just trying to get by in the world.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what the reviewer thinks about STG. Unless he pans it, of course. That I can wait for.

Hellnotes and HWA

David Silva runs the Hellnotes blog, a blog about...well, hell. Really it's a book review site for horror, dark fiction, movies books, etc. He was swamped with reviews so didn't have time to review STG, but being a Class Act he posted my press release all the same.

Check it out here. (Click on 'here' -I figured out how to do that hyperlink thing)

Also, since I'm a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) I rated a note on their members new release website. Also cool.

Invitation Only Anthology

You know you're making headway as an author when you get an Invitation to submit a short story to an upcoming 'Invitation Only' anthology. Most anthologies have open calls, you submit a story, wait a year, bump your way up from slush, to hold, to final selection list to contract etc.

Jen Brozek sent me a note the other day asking that I submit a short story for consideration in the new werewolf anthology by Graveside Tales. (Gift of the Bouda appeared in the first GST werewolf anthology.) Exciting. Not the same as a a guaranteed slot- that's the next step (and it's a big step). It should be a great anthology as Jen just published a really nice one for Apex (Close Encounters of the Urban Kind) that is on the Stoker recommendation list for 2010.

First a book published, then an anthology invitation. Hooty hoo.

Hotcakes and Giveaways

Well, STG is moving. It peaked (so far) as the 65,000th most popular book on Amazon!

Admittedly it has a ways to go to make the NYT bestseller list (or to be compared to hotcake sales), but still, copies are moving and this is good. My own copies will be here from Reliquary any day now (and I can hardly wait).

The ladies (and one dude) in the book club at work were generous enough to select STG as their book for August, and they asked me to sit in on the lunch-time review. Yikes. I'm not sure how I'll stack up against Reading Lolita in Tehran, or the Kiterunner..but they also read Paluniak's Survivor and Gaiman's Graveyard book, so maybe not so bad.

So the Giveaway you ask? I loaded a picture in Amazon, and tagged the book, but I stop short at providing a review. So I leave that to you dear reader. To the first person that leaves a (generally positive) review I will mail you your own free copy of STG. Gratis. Freeeeeee. Should you have already purchased one on which to base your review, and don't want another, I would be happy to substitute a copy of Abominations: 17 Spine-Tingling Tales Of Murderous Monsters And Horrific Creatures (Shroud Publishing, ISBN-10: 098018701X) which holds pretty steady at under 200,000th most popular book. Yes, I have a story in it- BEKs.

So there you go, post a copy of your review and email in the comments section, and I will delete your email before I post it. I'll contact you and get a shipping address, and these fabulous prizes will be yours!

Succumbing to Gravity- Now available

Yes, I know you have all been waiting with bated breath for the release of Succumbing to Gravity. Well, wait no longer, here it is! (Click on 'here')

The Back cover copy:
**************************
Succumbing to Gravity
by
Richard Farnsworth
Greg used to be an angel, but that was an eternity ago. Back when he was Araqiel, part of the celestial chorus. Back before he gave in to his temptations. Before he fell. Now he roams the wet streets of a hopeless city, feeding his addictions and punishing himself for sins that cannot be forgiven. But when a desperate girl and a host of vengeful demons cross his path, Greg must choose between redemption and damnation. For him, the two may not be so different.