Monday, March 13, 2017
The Novella Renaissance: Guest Post by Nathan Walpow
Nathan Walpow:
The Novella Renaissance
Libby Fischer Hellman’s post about novellas last month resonated with me, because I too have been exploring this long-neglected intermediate story length. I’ve written four of them over the last few years, and I find 25,000-ish words a very sweet spot to write in. And it’s not just me.
In 2013 a couple of dozen mystery writers signed up to write for Stark Raving Press, a new imprint that promised to put crime novellas on the map. We would write them, they would format them, upload them to all the e-book outlets, sell them for $2.99 each, and promote the hell out of them. Mine was one of the first published, a tale about Logan, a vigilante of sorts who chases down people who do bad things to women and children.
There was lots of excitement, there was a big meeting of a whole bunch of authors … and the whole thing fell apart just as it was getting started. But at that meeting I ran into Paul Bishop, who was running another e-novella press. Mostly boxing stories, but starting to branch out into other martial arts. I had a pro wrestling story called “Push Comes to Shove” which I was rather fond of, and I offered to expand it to novella length. Which I did. The result was called Push, and I had a grand old time learning more about my unnamed wrestler’s life and travails. (You can read a bit about the process here.)
I found I enjoyed working at this in-between length. Once I got cooking, I could kick out the first draft of a novella in two weeks or less. Rather than facing many tens of thousands of words to be written, I had a goal that I could keep in sight even as I began. I decided to write another Logan, self-publish it, see what happened.
Which wasn’t much. You have to price an e-book at $2.99 or more to get a decent return. But everyone and his sister has been putting out full-length novels at that price (many of them utter bilge, but that’s another post), and no one wanted to pay that price for 25,000 words.
Then I found out that my friend Gary Phillips (another veteran of Stark Raving) had a collection of three novellas coming out from Down & Out Books. And Charles Salzberg (also an SRG vet) had a novella in another D&O volume, along with similar-length stories from two other authors.
So I sent a query, and shortly thereafter I had a contract for a book of three Logan novellas. I wrote the third, and The Logan Triad comes out this month in trade paper and e-book formats. My return to traditional publishing after several years of e-book purgatory. And I am so much more comfortable there. (That, too, is a story for another post.)
Next year Down & Out will publish the long-awaited (by me, at least) fifth Joe Portugal novel. The year after, a Logan novel. But with these two long-form works on the horizon, I want to be careful not to forget my newfound fondness for the novella. Libby’s book, as well as the ones Down & Out is publishing, show that there’s a place for mid-length work in today’s market. I’ll be watching for opportunities to help fill that place, and I know several other authors who’ll be doing the same.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Alfred Hitchcock Day
1. See a Hitchcock Movie on Netflix, Amazon or Hulu --or buy the DVD Collection: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (15).
2. Watch the TV series: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
3. Go see Sir Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock.
4. Take a Train Trip. Be careful whom you talk to.
5. Try to Spot Alfred Hitchcock Cameos
6. Read a Book about Alfred Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho,
Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light
Alfred Hitchcock on how to Master Suspense:
Alfred Hitchcock on The Birds:
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Breaking the Law to Die with Dignity: Guest Post by Sara Blaedel
Sara Blaedel:
Breaking the Law to Die with Dignity
Before even sitting down to do my usual obsessive planning for The Lost Woman, the type of intensive outlining and storyboarding that is an essential part of my process for all of my books, I knew I wanted to include and explore assisted suicide as a central theme. The concept became personal for me a few years earlier, after my parents were ill.
My mother, on top of being gravely sick, was suffering a loss of her identity. She tried to convey how profoundly she no longer felt like herself (“I’m not me anymore”), and how certain she was that she didn’t want to keep living with all that she was up against. She described wanting to secure a way out; a door being left open that would lead to freedom. I, of course, as her adoring daughter, was stunned and stricken by the very idea. I couldn’t imagine losing her; couldn’t even think about it. I cried and urged, and tried to reason, but my feelings were completely about my own experience. I couldn’t let go. What’s more, I couldn’t make sense of taking part in the passing of a loved one. For me at that time, it was new territory, and positively unthinkable. I’ve traveled miles since then.
My mother’s journey was the catalyst for my deep-rooted research into assisted suicide. Research is an integral part of my work as an author. Regardless of what I am writing about, it is imperative to me that I bring authenticity to my storytelling, be it about police procedurals, where the tales are set, or the elements that play a role in the lives of my characters (like crime, journalism, foster care, or religion, to name a few). I highly value research, and absolutely love the pursuit of information and an in-depth understanding of any given subject. I’ve developed a close and wonderful relationship with some heroic law enforcement figures, whose work I have studied, and who have been most generous with me over the years, advising, instructing, and making accessible the facts and figures I seek in order to organically capture the work they do. I travel to the locations in which I set storylines, even if it means flying to other countries (like England) or continents (the USA, for example). I go to the very spot where action will play out in my books, and take a measure of the atmosphere. It is super important for me to know how things look, feel, and sound, as I imagine my characters moving through a scene. Getting it picture perfect and pristine is not only a necessity, but a part of the process that I find especially rewarding and exciting.I was hungry to learn as much as I could about assisted suicide; how it works, what is at stake, the territorial legalities, and the significance of it as an option for those who are suffering severely, with no hope of recovery or chance for an end to their torturous pain. Assisted suicide is an extremely divisive matter, and as such, fierce debates play out across the world. In the USA, it is legal in some states, but not most. Stories of people who have taken their own lives with professional help have graced the covers of magazines and sparked emotional and political arguments. A high-profile pathologist (Dr. Jack Kevorkian) went to prison, willingly, so committed was he to providing relief, self-determination, and dignity to those who felt helpless and defeated. In my home country of Denmark, assisted suicide is against the law despite the fact that 70% of Danish citizens are in favor of the act being legal and available.
What I have tried to do in The Lost Woman is to introduce this urgent and timely issue with balance and honesty. My purpose was not to preach or influence, but rather to promote awareness and show both sides of this important debate. I hope I’ve moved readers to think, discuss, and dig in for their own research, while telling a story they’ll find compelling.
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