Pen N. Hand

Take Your Kid to a Bookstore Day

2011-12-03T14:31:00.006-06:00

Today, December 3rd is Take Your Kid To A Bookstore Day. This special day after the hassle of Black Friday is the brainchild of Jenny Milchman http://jennymilchman.com/. Jenny's favorite people are kids & indie authors and her favorite places to hang out are bookstores & the Internet.
Nash Black fully supports the idea of introducing children to the world of books and pleasure of reading. It took me a while to locate the photo of my first attempt to introduce a kid to the world of books. I grabbed her hand to keep her from tearing my book, blurring the photo. Eventually, my kid sister learned to read and today, it is her chief form of recreation. My helper became a writer and a reader from what was started a few weeks after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Take your favorite child to a bookstore and enjoy the peace and quiet of a gift of a lifetime. Reading is one activity that has little sound.
Join Jenny and her friends as we celebrate this special day.
Nash Black, author of Visitors, http://amzn.to/nQis4a , a holiday story.

Haints Makes October Haunting.

2011-10-14T19:04:00.008-05:00

Nash Black's award nominated collection of traditional Appalachian ghosts, Haints is an October special at $.99 on Kindle. Below is the opening of the first story:

Don't Go There.
"Drinking and driving don't mix. I was headed to the lake to work off a binge by doing some late night bank-fishing. Not paying attention, at the crossroads I turned right instead of left onto Clifty Creek Road. When the pavement dropped off to rough gravel I discovered my mistake. I was down Jump Off Road heading to Swan Pond Bottom with no place to turn around.
The moon shed a hazy light on the old dirt road that sees new gravel once every decade or so. I eased along looking for a gate to squeeze a turn. On my left I spotted a break in a field of daffodils. I stopped and rolled down the window. The night-bleached flower heads lifted their faces to the stars. The clumps bumped across the dark field in random profusion separated by narrow paths where cattle had foraged sweet-grass in safety. Every bloom, blade, and bulb is safe from predators because of the poison they contain, but they were lovely to watch as they nodded on vagabond currents of air."

The place names are real and as is the field of daffodils described in the story. Across the road is a boarded-up house where it is alleged that shotgun blasts killed one bootlegger and injured another on Dec. 16, 1971.
Paige Cummings author of Under the Liberty Oak gave us the idea for this story when she blogged about driving in the country and seeing square blocks of flowers blooming in fields which indicated that a house, now long gone, stood within said square.
Do ghosts of the past walk among the living? Join Bob Ford and his friends when they relate their experiences with haunting in Nash Black's Haints http://amzn.to/faZoCO

Book Selling to Small Markets

2011-07-21T19:19:00.005-05:00

The most difficult thing for a new writer to do is break into an already crowded market.
Social media is effective, but it takes work, understanding of the medium, and perseverance to establish yourself as an author of quality books.
The first item of business is to investigate your market. Who do you expect to read what you have produced? Where are you known?
It isn't much help if your home town is New York or St. Louis or Burbank, but if like us you live in a small rural area then your best introductory market will be near home.
The Harrodsburg Festival of Books & Arts is a niche market. It is a newer book festival that is in its second year. The pre-festival activities earn us a display of our books in the lobby of the public library and a review of our newest title in the local paper. We had previously established ourselves as members of the community through business endeavors and by taking part in service club activities. This work established a readers base that helped our book sales.
When our non-fiction title, Writing as a Small Business was published and reached the finals of the Independent Publishers Awards the local paper ran a review with our picture and a headline above the banner. "Local Couple Tell You How to Do It."
We don't know if it sold many books, but it did garner us some strange looks when we entered a restaurant.
Look to home for your initial marketing activities before you tackle the national scene. It is an excellent place to hone your marketing skills and become known.
Nash Black

Kindle Sales Killed by Publishers

2011-06-22T12:51:00.003-05:00

Do you ever feel cheated with a Kindle download? A short story at full price with no indication in the information that it is a short story. This happened to me yesterday and when I went into Amazon to review the story. I noticed that every other person who placed a review felt the same and as such the reviews weren't helpful.
I'm like every other reader in this time of rising prices and deminishing income. I have to watch my pennies and they still count in my budget. This is one reason for the growth of e-book sales--low cost for a book you will only read one time.
Readers who encounter an e-book placed on a site by a publisher recognize it immediately. Amazon states on the listing that the book price was established by the publisher. A quick click and the customer is in the used book section where many books are listed for .01 to .10. Add the postage and the cost of the book is less than the list price of the e-book.
Both the publisher and the author have lost a sale with the resulting royalities (income) as books sold on the secondary market are valuable only to the dealer.
Common sense tells me that if the publisher would reduce the asking price of an e-book to one dollar below the cost of shipping it would be more bentifical to their income sheet and all parties. The same is true for short stories. To parade them as full titles creates dissatisfied customers. No one likes to feel cheated even if it is a good story. Those potential buyers will never return to that author.
Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH.

Mother and Daughters

2011-05-07T20:06:00.009-05:00

"Do whatever it takes to make you happy."

My mother said the above to me when I was eighteen years old with rare confidence that her job of rearing me was finished. I have two younger sisters and do not know what she may have said to them when they came of age. Those are secrets that are seldom shared.
She gave us wings and expected us to chart our own course.
I know now that this process must begin in early childhood to give a child confidence in themselves as a person with a vital respect for their own abilities. It is a delicate task that requires a master's touch. It requires great strength to let a child stumble, fall, and pick themselves up to move on under their own power.
In all things educational, career wise, and professional we always had her full support even when we made decisions that lead to twisted paths.
She never said another word to me about the subject though there were times she didn't think the man I was dating was the right person for me. She would have my best friend over for tea to discuss the matter. Later she fell in love with the man I finally found for a life's companion and adopted him.
Mother adored men and her daughters have laughed that if she'd had a son he wouldn't have been fit to live with for any woman because he would have been spoiled rotten.
We were late-life children born to a woman who's siblings had children older than she. Her life was never easy, but for the day and time it was comfortable.
We know very little about her as a person. She never shared her hopes, dreams, or ambitions. The one thing we do know is we were loved, but it was never an overt exposing of affection. Mothers provide many things for their children. For us her most outstanding gift was stability. She was always there.
I'm very proud when a life-long friend tells me I look like my mother or my sisters mistake an old photo of her for a younger me. I never thought we looked alike because her eyes were brown while mine are green.
She is missed everyday by her three daughters though she has been gone from our lives for over a quarter of a century. She also told me I have an angel behind my left shoulder now I wonder if she has taken its place to watch over me.
Catharine Josephine Piper Black, this is Mother's Day. You are loved and remembered by all three of your daughters who will have all turned 70 by the end of the year.

Review a Book on its Own Merit -- Five Ways

2011-04-20T15:08:00.006-05:00

A reader of a post asked me how you can review a book on its own merit without comparing it to other writer's work. The following are five elements that stand out for me when I write a review.

1. Characterization --- Do the characters come alive without pages of description as to their appearance, their attitudes, their childhood, their love life, etc. Remember secondary characters are also important to the movement of the story. Are they stereotypes or real people in their own right? What kind of tension or conflict exists among the characters? When does it get too much and everyone is trying to get on first base at the same time?

2. Plot -- What is the story line? Where is it going? Does it reach a comfortable destination? Subplots add richness to a story, but should not overshadow the main action.

3. Point of View -- Who is telling the story? Multiple points of view are fine and expand the narrative, but it can reach a point where there is too much head-hopping. Whenever the reader must go backwards to discover who is talking that reader is lost to the story line.

4. Pacing -- How fast does the story move? Is it a page turner or is its tale pipe dragging? Pretend you are watching a stage play. When the curtain falls are you so deep into the action your eyes blink in surprise?

5. Information Dumps -- Information comes in many guises and is important to the story, but when it is inserted into a narrative in clumps then the action stops. A common major offense is when the POV character enters a room and the reader gets "the inventory" of the room's contents plus a detailed (long-winded) description of each occupant, down to the color of their shoe laces.
If the volume is part of a series, a certain amount of back story is necessary for clarity as to relationships, etc. It is also fun to catch where the author sneaks in a preview of the forthcoming installment.

Please, do not give an author a trash review if you do not like the book. Odds are you will not finish it. Put it in a yard sale and forget it.

For books you do enjoy, find one little thing to talk about in your review that hasn't been previously mentioned by other reviewers, but no synopsises or giving away the ending. If the prospective reader knows how the story ends, why should they bother to read it?

There are dozens of other points that make a book stand on its own merit and I'm sure other reviewers have their favorites.

My thanks to the post reader who gave me a great idea for a blog that hasn't been worked to death.
Thanks, also, to Virginia Slims' You've Come a Long Way Baby note cards. I kept the above for nearly forty years and still wonder what the gal in the back is looking at with such shock. We might say Pen N. Hand has joined the technology revolution.

Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death coming in June.

Owed Two a Spell Cheque

2011-02-14T08:57:00.004-06:00

Eye halve a spelling chequer
it came with my pea sea.
It plainly marques, four my revue,
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
and weight for it two say,
Weather eye am wrong oar write
it shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid,
it nose bee fore two long.
And eye can put the error rite
it's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased two no.
Its letter perfect awl the weigh,
my chequer toiled me sew.
Anonymous

This came to me from that great writer in cyberspace to whom all credit must be given. Too good not to share with all my fellow scribes.
Nash Black, Sandprints of Death coming in 2011

Color and Type on Bookspines

2010-01-11T18:51:00.011-06:00

Rows and rows of books line the shelves of bookstores to entice a buyer to make a selection. Those most often seen are those at eye-level and pity an author who lands on the bottom row. After years of crawling around on my hands and knees looking for a book, I can tell you; it isn't fun.

A customer will rapidly scan the titles giving less than three seconds to each offering. This action makes the spine of the book the most important section of cover design. The spine must be a feature that will catch the eye and entice the buyer to remove the book to look at the front & back cover for further consideration. The amount of space given to the spine runs from a little over an inch to one fourth of an inch for a small title.

Nancy J. Cohen asked the question, "What kind of crime novels do you keep on your shelves?" Since I had recently finish re-shelving my personal library I took an appraising look through my collection. I did not intend to notice what I found.

This is a list of famous, infamous, and obscure crime novelists that I have collected who have a commonality: Barnes, Barr, Bass, Bentley, Black, Brandon, Brown, Buchanan, Burke, Coel, Coulter, Crombie, DePoy, Doss, Ehrhart, Francis, George, Grafton, Grimes, Hooper, Lane, Lanier, MacInnes, MacLeod, Muller, Painter, Paretsky, Pearson, Perry, Peters, Rinehart, Ryan, Scottaline, Slaughter, Spillane, Stabenow, Stewart, Walker, Wiehl, Woflmont Press, and Woods.

Each of the above author's cover designer made the same mistake with color on their their major public appearance (the spine), either with the title or the author's name.

Black denotes mystery, evil, darkness, sophistication and in feng shui it represents career or life's work. Red, of course, is the color of blood, yet in feng shui it denotes money or wealth.

Red and black have the same color value and blend into the other with no division or contrast to catch and hold the eye for that all important second look.

I made the illustration using a black background and three styles of type at 60 points (much larger than is used on spines). The fonts are script, serif, and sans serif. I hunted for a word to illustrate differences in letter forms within the same font--stew served my purpose.

It gets worse when all caps are used and I won't discuss quirky type faces where it takes a magnifying glass to make out the words.

Look back at the illustration and feel your eyes as they gets tired when focused on the words. Imagine being in a bookstore or library watching the spines marching down the shelves, blending and smearing into one another. Then ask yourself how many sales or readings were killed because of the spine didn't sell the book from the point it is most often seen.

It is seldom that I find myself in such august company as the above authors, but we are guilty with our title, Haints. It is a small book, less than a half inch and the type is a script style.

Visit Nancy J. Cohen at http://nancyjcohen.wordpress.com/. Enjoy one of her Bad Hair Day cozy mysteries like Killer Knots. She is to blame; she got me started on this post.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Four Letter Words

2009-12-31T16:31:00.007-06:00

Somewhere on planet Earth people are celebrating the coming of the New Year, 2010. Here in the United States we have a few hours to go before the celebrations begin, but for many saying goodbye to 2009 will bring a sigh of thanksgiving.

2009 has brought many changes that have either been long desired or frequently dreaded, but a major change has been in how we view four letter words.

Transmutation is a four syllable word that means "to change from one form to another." The four letter words I'm going to discuss are not crude expletives, but common ones we hear everyday and seldom pause long enough to study their meaning.

During 2009 the citizens of the United States grasp a litany of hope for a change in their circumstances. Reality cast a heavy hand as work became the goal for millions who had lost their jobs in industries that may never rise again. It was sometime in the late 70s when the greatest manufacturing nation in the industrialized world changed from a producer of goods to a conveyor of services.

We end 2009 in a state of confusion as to how to attempt to recover from the staggering loses that have not occurred since the 1930s.

A population who learned to acquire what they want on borrowed money is now faced with living with what they need as the time has come to repay their debts or lose their home. This in-of-itself is the breaking point of a consumer economy because production of goods builds a strong foundation, not the consumption of services.

2010 is a new year when we as Americans must look within ourselves not with fear of the future in our eyes, but to care in our hearts for our country, so the gift our ancestors gave the world will not be transmuted into take from our neighbors.

My wish to you for the new year is to know the meaning of other four letter words.

I dedicate this essay to Mr. Robert Ritche who once told me, "Blackie, I know you speak formal, standard, colloquial, and street English, but would you please not use them in the same sentence." I don't think I have, but then I've mellowed with the years though I still use four letter words.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Seasonal Greetings

2009-12-12T14:39:00.006-06:00

This house covered with snow is my memory of December's holiday season.

It was this view of our home my parents used for a greeting card in 1947.

Over fifty years have passed since I grew up in this house and even more since a fellow high school friend's grandmother was born in the same dwelling.

It has stood through eight wars, numerous police actions, earthquakes, tornadoes, ice storms, and a collision with a runaway lumber truck on its 22 inch thick limestone block foundations.

It is those strong foundations that I think of during the holiday season, which has existed in one form or another for centuries in the northern hemisphere. This is the time of the beginning of winter equinox when the sun, by slow degrees, rises higher in the sky each day.

Countless peoples rejoiced with the reappearance of the sun. This festival time has taken on religious significance, but each celebration revolves around the new coming of light. The holiday season can be remembered as the birthday of a Roman god, a Druid rebirth, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas, but the flowing motif through all the festivities is light and its reemergence from darkness on earth.

Be thankful that we live in a county whose founders provided for all beliefs and celebrate the coming of light in your fashion. If you're greedy, like me, try to work in a bit of all its aspects or create your own; just light a light for the season. Family are those you love, not just those who are related to you.

Nash Black, author of Travelers, a haunting Christmas ghost story, which is available from Amazon.com.

GET REAL

2009-08-10T20:15:00.006-05:00

Donald E. Westlake's Get Real was his final book in the wonderful Dortmunder series. This review is more on the lines of an obituary as Mr. Westlake died this year and he will be missed by his legions of fans. In the realm of the humorous mystery Westlake had few equals and the Dortmunder series of five burglars was an enduring classic of light mystery, tongue-in-cheek spoofs, and no violence.

John, Kelp, Stan, Tiny and Judson (the kid) agree to stage a heist for a reality television program, with plans of their own to supplement their wages. The idea of W-2 forms and Social Security numbers has them in a panic until the crafty producer/director has them hired by a German company under assumed names.

Something of value must be hidden on the locked room floor a the warehouse used as a studio since in requires a hand-print identification to be admitted. The gang seeks answers as "The Heist" is being film, but they fall for the screen version of themselves and want everyone to see them on TV.

Get Real is a delight to read even if you are like me and have never seen a reality television production. I suspect that Westlake's version is much better than the real thing.

Pick up anyone of Donald's books anywhere and enjoy reading for pure fun and laughter. Mr. Westlake, we of the book world grieved when we learned of your passing.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

http://nash-black.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/Pennhand

Louisville Public Library Flood Disaster

2009-08-05T07:23:00.007-05:00

Yesterday six inches of rain poured on Louisville, KY in little over an hour.
The city was flooded both by the rain and from the Ohio River surging out of its banks as the storm had earlier hit Cincinnati, OH. The Louisville Public Library's collection of books and computer equipment was either ruined or destroyed. I have not received any news of the Folsom Library which houses the historical collections and archives of documents for research in Kentucky history. Nor do we know the state of the libraries at the colleges and the University of Louisville.
Louisville is a city that has been hit with three water related major disasters in less than a year, an inland storm surge from Hurricane Ike, followed by a devastating ice storm during the winter, and now this summer summer storm. Clean up and restoration had not been completed from the previous smacks of mother nature on a rampage.
It will take a while to access the damage and begin restoration when the entire city is staggering. Libraries will be on a low priority list for funding while essential services are restored, but the time will come when help will be desperately needed. If anyone has any ideas on how people can help the libraries and not get in the way please added a comment and I will see that it gets in the right channel. Don't consider sending books at this point, there is no place to store them nor anyone available to handle the special library processing until other aspects are in order.
At the beginning of the Great Society programs there was a segment called Books for Appalachia. Rail-car lots of books poured into Berea College Library with no facilities to handle them. When asked how the books should be distributed I suggested using them for wall insulation in homes. I was young and very serious. I almost lost my job over that comment, but the American Library Association backed me up with an editorial in Library Journal that suggested the program would put reading back fifty years in Appalachia.
During the aftermath of the 1970s tornadoes, I was involved with the cleanup of the school libraries in Xenia, OH and Central State University (a few miles away), which was virtually destroyed. Later that same year Sinclair Community College in downtown Dayton, OH lost most of its collection when an unmapped storm sewer broke dumping three feet of
water into their underground library. The Ohio libraries had the wonderful help of the huge freezers at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and much of Central States collection was restored by freeze drying. As far as I know Louisville does not have access to facilities of that magnitude.
Thank you for listening to me, we all know it will take millions to restore the libraries and replace their collections and equipment. Millions neither the library or the state has to spend on a library.
Nash Black
http://nash-black.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/Pennhand

Advance Reader's Copies for New Books

2009-06-28T14:25:00.007-05:00

Advance Reader's Copies or ARCs in the publishing industry are copies of books that are distributed to selected readers prior to official publication. They are a means of advertising a new work by an author in exchange for a review or an advance order. The titles may be bound in white board or carry a facsimile cover of the book jacket of the hardcover edition.

These books may resemble a soft cover title, but they are labeled on the front cover as ARCs and it is stipulated that they are not for sale. Neither the author or the publisher receives a monetary compensation for these volumes. They are distributed to bookstores, media outlets, review publications and professional organizations with affiliation to a subject to entice an action from the recipient to generate publicity for the forthcoming title. The ARCs produced for the a new title by a major author or for a hot subject can equal the final print run for a lesser known individual or an obscure subject. They are an integral part of a marketing campaign and important to the industry.

Not for Sale means just that yet authors have been discovering the ARCs for their books in bookstore remainder bends, used bookstores, garage & estate sales, and fund-raising sales much to their chagrin.

Until recently, I reviewed books that I had purchased or obtained from the library. My reviews could not be considered crucial to the sucess of the titles as they were too late in the major marketing process. It is something I enjoy doing and a few authors have requested I review their work. At first I was hesitant to accept these offers from someone whose work I did not know, but to my surprise the books I've received have been of exceptional quality. They are keepers for my personal collection as they contain inscriptions or private notes from the author. My personal reviews are on Bird's Eye View at http://nash-black.blogspot.com.

I've also reviewed books on Amazon as a reader of mysteries and other titles for several years. But now I'm reviewing books I've selected from a list from Amazon for their "Vine" program and have received ARCs. What do I do with the titles I do not want to keep once I've fulfilled my obligation to Amazon?

I've give mine to my favorite poverty stricken library, but is this an acceptable solution? Contributing to landfills is not the answer. So I'm asking you as fellow authors: How would you like for your ARCs to be disposed of when the recipient has completed their assignment?

A second question as to Advance Reader's Copies: As a cost cutting measure should the industry reduce the number of ARCs they distribute for a given title without deluting the value of the product?

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Reading -- Pleasure or Agony

2009-05-24T08:33:00.005-05:00

"Why don't people read?" was a question asked on http://poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com/. The question ignited a lively discussion and subsequent blogs, which I followed with avid interest.
Many respondents were authors. When they had inquired of friends, fellow authors, or strangers they had received a response of "I don't have time" or another version of the same. This is an old figure and I'm being generous, but it is estimated that all reading is done by 7 to 10% of the population. At the highest point that means 90% of the citizens of the United States do not read.
Seventeen years ago, I watched a father chase his son down the street with a large stick because the son had been hiding under the counter of the hardware store reading R. Kipling's Jungle Stories. As the public librarian I could do nothing unless the father hit the child. What were the father's motives? No one will ever know, but this was a child who risked punishment to read.
As with many of the personal issues writers give their characters, the habit of reading for pleasure is acquired in childhood. For an author, the end consumer is a reader and it is disillusioning to be confronted by people who abstain from reading after their formal education has ceased.
Which way did the child mentioned above travel into adulthood? For non-reading adults, the issue may be buried in suppressed memories.
Carolyn Hart used the bird-reading groups as a minor theme for her award nominated novel, Dare to Die. The victim was a member of the lowest reading group and endured the shame with her fellow students. Below are three simple examples of reading obstacles I've observed over the four decades I worked with readers of all ages.
Children are admonished not to move their lips while they read to themselves. The lips cease moving, but their brain still pronounces each word. Hence, the reader cannot read silently any faster than they can speak. This makes reading slow and difficult, but it becomes a life-long habit that is difficult to identify and correct.
Phonics has been a standard method of teaching reading for over half a century. It has definite drawbacks, one of which is comprehension. I've had more than one student who could read orally everything I put in front of them, but they were lost as to the meaning of the piece.
There is a mild form of dyspepsia, which affects about 7% of the population. This is were in a child the central nervous system sends mixed messages to the brain. Three indicators of it's presence are the inability to spell, the child complaining of not being able to hear, or they are unable to pronounce words with fluency though the student has an accurate understanding of the word.
I listed to a student teacher quietly scream in remembered pain, "You're considered a dummy if you can't spell" and I remembered Einstein, who was considered retarded because he had trouble learning to read.
These may be simplistic answers as to why adults forgo reading for pleasure; there are many others. What I've written is not the entire story, but it may be a new perspective for writers to consider when the ask someone if they read.
A note to authors: Not all is lost with non-readers for your work. The world of "talking books" or the audio book, which was originally designed for the blind is still growing. Cracker Barrels have audio-book racks, truck stops have lending libraries for their customers, and Sirius has an audio-book channel. These commercial concerns would not stock a product that does not sell. The written word does have an audience and it is expanding as people turn to old/new forms of entertainment where their own imagination can create the pictures.
Nash Black, Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Spring Comes to the Cumberland

2009-04-18T15:14:00.005-05:00

Spring in the Cumberland region is a time when all of the trees bloom. The edges of wooded areas are dotted with the deep wine of the redbud, while the understory is coated with frothy layers of white dogwoods.

The Cumberland is an east/west old mountain range that extends across the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. The Cumberland River meanders through the plateau in all directions before it enters the Ohio from Kentucky. This includes a broad dip through downtown Nashville. It was once the major highway through the region, but is now home to many TVA lakes and great fishing.

Spring is an odd time and the locals who live close to the seasons describe the cold snaps as "winters."

Linen Britches Winter is the first cold spell. This occurs when you've been fooled by a warm spell and put away your winter togs for light linen clothing.

Dogwood Winter follows close on its heels when the dogwoods are in bloom.

Blackberry Winter is so named for when the blackberries bloom.

Stump Winter is the last one, it is so described because you've burned everything but the stumps from your winter fuel supply.

Each "winter" is milder than the previous and it isn't unusual to find violets and daffodils blooming through the snow. This past winter has been particularly difficult for many Kentuckians so any evidence of an early spring brings delight and joy.

Does anyone out there have another folk name for the spring cold snaps?

Nash Black, Writing as a Small Business and Haints

Addicted to Reading

2009-01-25T14:34:00.005-06:00

The photo is mute evidence of my addiction. The books piled on the floor are waiting to be read, while a computer file contains a list of authors and titles I hope to obtain in the future.

The piles were rearranged to prevent tottering before the photo session. But there is no way to hide the dependence and like all addictions the addict is pushed to find the means to support their habits.

It is physically impossible for me to bypass a pile of books when they are new in a bookstore or a chain. I must stop and explore. A friend and I would give our selves a treat if we could manage to exit a bookstore without a purchase. We didn't gain any weight.

The same affliction is true for a used book emporium, an antique store, a flea market, a library discard sale, or a garage sale. Dull gray is the best color to wear for these excursions into the confines of the discarded as it doesn't show the dust.

The thrill of the hunt, an old title by a favorite author you haven't read. I once found the last missing title from a collection on the front porch of an antique store waiting for the garbage pickup. The spine was sun faded, but the signed first edition was a worthy prize.

Like all addicts, my funds are consumed by my dependence and home storage capacity. The above photo is part of one wall (I made the contractor close in the windows he'd planned) of my personal library, there are books lining the other three.

The book shelves are slowly being limited to collections of favorite authors, first or signed editions, and the initial title for a series I enjoy.

To aid my storage problem, the world of reading and books is changing. The technology revolution for publishing is making electronic books, which can easily be discarded after one reading. It saves the embarrassment of meeting the head librarian on the street when she requests you tell your father the college library doesn't have any more space for his gifts.

I inherited my addiction and will continue to collect books, while I take advantage of our new world. Who knows the electronic book may lead to a sale for the author if I discover another favorite I want to add to my shelves. Besides, my husband always knows where to find me when we get separated while shopping. I'll always be at the book display we passed; lost in the world of books.

Nash Black, a life-long bibliophile who cherishes an addiction to books.

Life is Research

2009-01-18T18:50:00.004-06:00

Facing a summer of frenetic events sure to prohibit my writing, I complained, "Life is getting in my way."
A fellow writer raised an eyebrow. "You know," he said, "life itself is research."
To prove his theory, I seized my professor husband's animal behavior conference as a personal research project. From unkempt locks to Birkenstocks, psychologists who forage the hinterlands observing animal societies, to learn more about our own, proved fertile ground.
Depicting insatiable curiosity became easier once I scrutinized the effect of a keynote speaker who didn't show up. He kept his colleagues enthralled from half-a-continent away with the birth watch for "his baby," the first Giant Panda born in the United States.
To create passion in a character, I need only recall the intensity in the dark eyes of a young woman who studied scrotal color and its role in mate selection. Witnessing the fervor with which she held scholarly audiences spellbound, I couldn't help imagining the effect she'd have on a cocktail party.
Beauty personified, one young scientist was willowy with a mane of natural platinum hair, but a model of shyness. When I cornered her having a solitary lunch, she confessed to being more at ease in the Congo than a hotel. She found people painful, but not like the exotic bug she hosted in her ear for nine weeks. "I drowned the poor thing trying to wash it out," she said. "I'll hold a flashlight to my ear the next time so it can crawl back up the canal."
Survival instinct emanated from an older conferee. While dining, he ducked under the table while a shotgun-wielding robber held up the place. To every one's amazement, he'd gone on to finish his meal,, explaining, "You don't live on boiled cabbage and rice for six months in Tanzania, and leave steak on the table."
When characters face adversity, I think of a handsome young professor. He followed the same rigorous schedule as everyone at the conference, rushing in, slinging his backpack off his shoulder, and scrambling to take notes. Born without arms and with only one leg, he accomplished more with his teeth and five toes than most with all four appendages. "It's not like I've lost anything. I've never had them," he said, scurrying off with a pretty brunette.
One self-professed nut, who tested cortisol levels in scat, was an exemplar of natural good humor and mischief. Legendary for getting his samples through customs, he grinned all the way to his toes. "Those guys never believe me. Like I'd be stupid enough to say they were bags of crap if I was smuggling dope."
I have more data, but in proving the theory, that life itself is research, I have replenished my creative well. Next time my time constraints threaten a drought, I will slow down and pay attention.
Genie S. Bernstein
Genie is a member of a writer's group in Athens, GA and has a work in progress. You can contact Genie at ggathens@yahoo.com

Book Review Form

2009-01-11T21:10:00.004-06:00

For a major part of my adult life I've read and written reviews for books. Actually in library terminology they are called annotations. Short pieces that describe the work and leave enough out to entice the reader to acquire or read the book. I am not a fan of reviews that are what I call blabber-mouth or synopsis style.

Several weeks ago I was doing a review for an older title, which had one other "review." It was not a review or an opinion as to the author's enjoyment of the book. What it was was a copy of the jacket synopsis with the review writer's name attached. This was a direct act of plagiarism, which served no purpose for the title and was offensive to me as a reader. An author's work lives and dies by the reviews it obtains.

For a long time I've written reviews on Amazon for titles we've read and enjoyed; over 90% of them are for mysteries, which is our favorite genre. Sometimes I read a book that deserves a little more than an annotation. Hence, I've started a new blog Bird's Eye View devoted to books that have something extra, it maybe content, style or characterization that spikes my interest, but they will be books I have read.

So join me at http://nash-black.blogspot.com/ for the first review of Jeffrey Marks' Intent to Sell.
Bird's Eye View is a work in progress so all comments, suggestions will be deeply appreciated.
Nash Black

Ranting and Raving: A Single Mom's Story: Christmas Past and Christmas Present

2008-12-18T07:41:00.000-06:00

Ranting and Raving: A Single Mom's Story: Christmas Past and Christmas Present

A Question of Choice

2008-11-29T09:42:00.001-06:00

Self-publishing is a matter of choice. The reasons behind that choice are as varied as the individual authors and genres they pursue.

A private list-serve has had several long threads about the subject, which never grant to those who "listen to a different drummer" an audience. Every author knows the terror of using a cliche, yet time after time the very authors who pound the drum against the idea of self publishing use cliches, myths, gossip, adages, or supercilious redundant speech to criticize a new venue of publishing that has allowed hundreds of authors access to the world of print.

The same criticisms abound across the media like a never ending motif, repeated and repeated over and over as if by saying it enough times it becomes true.

Editing has long been a bone of contention, yet the first line of the first critical review we ever received was, "A finely edited book." Whoops, a POD book made it to print with no typos, a tight story line, and a stout axe applied to superfluous prose.

Have the critics stopped to realize that what may have been marginally true in the early days of private publishing has changed? These are six reasons for the change:

1) more and more self-help titles are on bookstore shelves on editing,

2) POD and private presses offer the services of their in-house editors for a fee,

3) free-lance editors market their services,

4) editors moonlight outside the company to finance added personal responsibilities,

5) editors have retired or been laid off, at a time, when private pension plans are being abolished and savings destroyed, and

6) the same is true for thousands of university, college, and high school English teachers.

The market place abounds with personages (legitimate or fraudulent) who are willing to provide a writer with their skills. Human beings aren't perfect and editors do make mistakes, for the self-published author they have a choice of accepting or rejecting advice, but they must live with their decisions. They must trust the validity of their own minds.

Nash Black, Haints and Writing as a Small Business.

Medieval Noir

2008-11-09T14:55:00.003-06:00

Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson will keep the reader awake late into the night because you will not be able to put it down.

The character of Crispin Guest is weft (woof in Crispin's era) of the thread of a shuttle who moves seamlessly through the warf of medieval London. A tapestry of finely woven cloth so appropriate to a murder victim who plied the wool trade.

Jeri named her venture of a discredited knight who locates lost items for an existence far his beginnings medieval noir. It is a dark world Crispin follows as he seeks the killer of his employer who was slain behind a locked door after he hid a valuable religious artifact, which is sought by several factions including King Richard II. The motif of cloth spins the web of the story a second time as a missing facecloth imprinted by Jesus like the Shroud of Turin, a "veronica" mentioned in the Apocryphal Gospels.

The jaded detective discovers the victim was an impost er who usurped the life and identity of another man. Cripin and his friends are most intrequing characters introduced to the genre of detective fiction. Welcome Crispin Guest to your must read table and visit with him at http://www.crispinguest.com/

Jeri's next addition to the world of medieval noir is Serpent in the Thorns to be published in 2009. For this reader it will be a long wait.

Nash Black, Haints and Writing as a Small Business

Rob Levandoski

2008-09-27T10:46:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago Rob Levandoski passed away. He wrote cozy mysteries using the pen name C.R. Corwin. Last summer we attended a workshop taught by Prof. Levandoski, which was our introduction to "The Morgue Mama Mysteries" and to him.
I was familiar with his literary novel, Serendipity Green. After the session I mentioned it to him. He was playing it cool, but he told us the story had recently been optioned for the film rights eight years after it was written. This achievement was obviously important to him, but our memory, which will last for our writing career was from the workshop.
I don't care how many symposiums, workshops, panel discussions etc. you attend, somewhere during the hour or so a gem will float by begging for attention. Many times it is a short observation from a professional that is neither planned or calculated.
This was Rob's contribution to our understanding of the writing process: "The writer writes half the story. The reader writes the other half." Each reader brings to your story their unique perspective and past experience. Their viewpoint enriches the story and makes it their own.
Thank you, Rob Levandoski. Your observation is posted at the opening of our writing journal, so that each day your words are the first thing we see. And thank you for both your literary fiction and your mystery series. You will be missed, but your students have learned from your efforts.
Nash Black

Cultivating A Garden

2008-09-13T09:10:00.004-05:00

A garden is a very special place where we can observe the results of both our efforts and our neglect, first hand, in a relatively short period of time. Care must be exercised as to the plants introduced into our plot of soil, some will wither and die while others become invasive and consume the more delicate species.

A porch is the perfect place to view our handiwork and to contemplate what we've include in the garden of our own mind. Our brain is the garden of our soul or psychic. Feelings are akin to a barometer in that they register our emotional reaction to stimuli both external and internal. Feelings tell us a situation is either good or bad with all the little nuisances in between. What they are not, are tools of cognition--in other words thinking.

Negative emotions are weeds that enter our gardens and their roots go deep into the soil of our cognitive powers. It makes no difference how many times a fallacy is repeated its nature is not changed; it is still a fallacy. The idea below for discovering fallacies was taken from a book by Walter B. Pitkin, The Art of Learning, which was first published in 1931. Over the years I've refined it, simplified it, and changed it to suit my own style.

When you've heard, read, or conceive an idea/theory write it out across the top of a sheet of paper. Down the left side list all the data which supports, illustrates, or defines the topic. Down the right side list every fact or notion, negative data, or evidence which is contrary to the theory. Rip the page in half and pitch the left side in the trash because it is of little or no value. Take the right side and set out on a mission to discover why not everything agrees with your premise.

Review your mental garden with the intention of doing some wholesale weeding, one single weed at a time. But provide time for frequent breaks with a glass or cup of tea on the porch to view your efforts.

Who knows you may be the person who discovers why bees can fly when current laws of aerodynamics proves it is impossible for them to get off the ground.

Yes, the picture is the lower level of our front porch. It contains all the elements of a proper wedding, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The embroider pillow covers were inherited from my mother-in-law.

Nash Black will be back with another "R" of publishing--Reviews. We will write from three perspectives, the reader, the writer of, and the receiver after a couple of side trips. Stay tune for the next episode, which will be a tribute to the late author/teacher Robert Levandoski (C. R. Corwin for mystery fans).

Rejection. The first R of Writing.

2008-08-30T15:41:00.003-05:00

When we first entered school we learned our three Rs. Readin', 'riting, and 'r'matic were the foundation of our future academic careers. Rs are just as important in the field of writing and publishing.

The first vital R we must learn to handle is rejection. The rejection of your query letter, your proposal, your synopsis, your manuscript or a dropped contract after you have worked with a publisher for years is a deep personal trauma. Professional journals, websites, blogs, or posts to list-serves provide prescriptions for handling the emotional aspects of rejection.

Author1 used rejection letters as wallpaper in the basement. Author2 kept the rejection letters pinned above his workspace until an acceptance letter arrived. Author3 held an inner dialogue with the sender reminding them how short-sided their evaluation was as the letter was feed to the shredder. Author4 sponsored a rejection party where fellow writers competed for a prize for the most rejection letters as they stoked a bonfire in the backyard. These stories are the essence of creativity.

Somewhere in all those worthy ideas a small note said rejection letters are proof to the IRS you are attempting to sell your work. We paid attention to the quiet one and did some vital research. The voice was correct. Rejection letters whether on embossed paper or e-mails are documentation for the Internal Revenue Service that you are making an effort to market your book.

The small voice was a wise voice of experience. Today it is vital to know the financial aspects of writing as a small business when authors are expected to assume more and more of the marketing and promotional functions of the publishing industry.

We wrote Writing as a Small Business to help beginning writers we'd observed wandering dejectedly at conferences when their efforts were rejected. Conferences, symposiums, festivals, retreats, and workshops are held in growing numbers across the country with the stated goal of helping writers. Attendance and observation has told us they are more for the speakers to market their wares than to aid the attendees. Many participants were digging deep into the grocery money to fund their expenses and their needs were not being met for facing a very harsh real world.

Writing as a Small Business examines the costs incurred by novice and published authors as a cost of writing from a business aspect and explains why those previous rejection letters are so important when establishing yourself as an author to the Internal Revenue Service. The Midwest Book Review labeled it a "critically important" work.

A fun sale was when a new acquaintance grabbed my arm as I was getting in the car and said, "I need to buy a copy of your book. I checked it out of the library, but I didn't know you had all that in there. My accountant wants it."

Keep your rejection letters and begin to train your mind to consider all of your actions in light of a business person. The only answer on a list-serve to a question about the amount of advance a writer can expect was from a writer who's publisher pays a standard amount of $1,000. All other members did not reveal the figures of their advances.

Since 1965 we have deposited refund checks for double to quadruple that amount when using business expenses from a small business and a farming operation against other earned income. Of course, when we sold our farms and retired we wrote a check to the IRS for over 11 times the amount despite our other business expenses. So when you have the "big sale" you can still save some of your profit with careful record keeping.

Nash Black, Writing as a Small Business is available online from B&N, Amazon, Once Written, Outskirts Press and others.

Location. Location, Location!

2008-08-09T11:08:00.002-05:00

Location, or setting, can be a key factor in a reader selecting your book. Books set in major American cities - New York, Chicage, Los Angeles - are published frequently. But readers are looking for something a little different - perhaps a chance to visit a new area, a less well traveled area, or an old familiar setting.

Location can help set the feel of a book. Think of the Moggody, Arkansas series by talented mystery writer Joan Hess. Malice in Maggody, Malpractice in Maggody, The Maggody Militia...my mind automatically runs to Jed Clampett, moonshine stills, and hillbillies. And the books fulfill the promise. Police Chief Arly Hanks has her hands full with the in-bred Buchanon clan, including the mayor Jim-Bob Buchanon and his wife Mrs. Mayor Barbara Ann Buchanon Buchanon, and the activities of the town.

Nevada Barr uses location beautifully with her Anna Pigeon, National Park Ranger series. Each book is set in a different national park as Anna progresses in her career. And readers, most of whom have at least heard about Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, the Statue of Liberty are hooked. This is familiar territory, yet a new and exciting vision.

On the east coast, Interstate 95 leads thousands of tourists down past coastal Georgia, the Okeefenoke Swamp, Daytona Beach, and the Everglades. Those same tourists read the off-ramp signs, and can connect to mysteries such as Under the Liberty Oak, or the Bloodhound series set at the edge of the swamp written by the wonderful, late Virginia Lanier. On the west coast, Interstate 5 passes through the historic mission towns of Claifornia including the fictional home of Sue Grafton's PI Kinsey Milhone.

The key to using a known location is making sure you have the details correct. Readers love "insider knowledge" about tourist sites, historic landmarks, and restaurants, but be sure you have them on the correct street or in the proper district. If a discrepancy takes the readers out of the story, you could lose that reader permanently.

Location, location, location. Not just a real estate expression anymore!

Page M. Cummings is the author of Under the Liberty Oak, nominated for the first novel Georgia Book of the Year. Visit Paige at http://www.paigecummings.typepad.com/paiges_southern-blog/ for her take on little details of the southern landscape and culture. Her blog on daffodils gave me the idea for a ghost story.

Penny Dreadfuls

2008-08-02T11:33:00.004-05:00

The forbidden paperbacks of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. What we discovered under the covers, on the porch glider, or in the loft of the barn when these slim volumes fell into our eager hands were the classics of mystery fiction written by many of the finest authors of the period.

Today they are valued collector items in of themselves, if they have survived the many hands through which they passed.

What do you do when you first open your computer, while the coffee is still hot, before you get lost in your own work? Do you check your e-mail, write in your journal, or play a game? Everyone has a habit and writers tend to read at the close of the day. Change your pattern, it will give you new insight. Treat yourself to a story and discover the pleasure of a quick fix, which opens your eyes to the myrid possibilities of writing.

PENNY DREADFUL is a new blog of fascinating stories, They are short and written by many authors both skilled and emerging. These contributors from many genres remain anonymous as they excerise their imaginations to provide entertainment. The stories are varied and brief, but provide a wonderful way to begin the day.

Add http://pdreadful.blogspot.com/ to your favorties or desktop to visit with friends and jump-start your own creative jucies.

Have a story of 500-700 words parked in a file? Dig it out, edit it down the the bare bones (a good exercise), polish it up, then send it to hotbuttonpress@gmail.com . You may have the thrill of seeing your work on the web for others to read while rubbing shoulders with some of the best. Any ego needs a pump now and then as ours did at a recent book signing when our name appear at top of the program across from a famous New York Times best selling author.

What is writing about if not creating an illusion of reality?

Niche Market

2008-08-01T20:01:00.007-05:00

Nash Black (Irene & Ford) are collectors and dealers of willow patterned china. The famous design has been in continuous production for over 350 years. People refer to it as blue willow, but it has been manufactured in many colors, in many countries, and on many items besides dinner ware. Shown in the picture is a batter and syrup pitcher made by the Atlas Company.

For decades it has been used in movies and on TV as a symbol of hearth and home. It is fun to watch old movies and spot the familiar pattern used for a meal, in a hutch, or on a mantle in the background. Some current collectors fell in love with the pattern their grandmothers owned, so memories of family are strong.

The technique of transfer printing on china from engraved copper plates evolved from the evolution of printing books. Many of the elements found in the pattern occurred in earlier gardening books and were incorporated into the design.

Willow is Nash Black's special niche market. Willow is mentioned in their stories as it is a part of their lives and interests outside of writing books. During the 2007 Christmas season their books and items from their collection was a featured window display at Jerry Sampson's Antiques and Books located in Harrodsburg, KY.

They have been attending the International Willow Collectors Convention for seventeen years and have many friends who have purchased books and wares at these meetings.

The photograph of Nash Black (Ford Nashett and Irene Black) signing books was taken at the 2008 meeting in Tunica, Mississippi. Collectors traveled from as far away as New Zealand to attend this yearly event. The 2009 meeting will be held in Des Moines, Iowa from July 9th through the 12th.

To learn more about this beloved pattern visit: http://willowcollectors.org/

Nash Black is the author of Writing as a Small Business, Sins of the Fathers, Qualifying Laps, Travelers and the soon to be released collection of ghost stories, Haints.

Pen N. Hand

Writing the Final Note

2008-07-25T15:26:00.012-05:00

The day lily exists for a single day. The triple orange pictured may be a mutation or a sport of the common American wildflower, but its loveliness has graced our family gardens for over seventy years. It has been given to friends as a way of perpetuating a memory. It has traveled many miles from its Mississippi origins and flourished as it established itself in each new habitat.

For a southerner about the time you are taught to tie your shoes the habit of sending a bread & butter letter on occasions is engraved in your physic. Then comes the time when the note or card is not sufficient to meet the circumstances.

I stare at a blank card and grip my pen as I puzzle over my choice of words. I am writing to two friends who are in the care of Hospice. Cancer has brought their lives to the final days. What can I say that will convay the right note? How do I let them know how much their existence has influenced my life without dwelling on the inevitable or exposing my pain?

Many words have flown from my typewriter, my computer, but when I take my pen in hand I struggle with life's most difficult writing assignment. The one where there will never be a chance to edit my mistakes. Like the daylily my words will only live for a moment and then be gone forever, but sending flowers is impersonal I must send a part of myself.

Title It!

2008-07-09T16:19:00.010-05:00

"What a great title!" A customer exclaimed as she picked up a copy of Sins of the Fathers from our display at a recent book fair.

Yes, it is a fantastic title, so good it was used by three authors during 2007, James Scott Bell, Nash Black, and Patricia Sprinkle. The writers had no knowledge of each other at the time their mysteries were written and published. But the coincidence confused the public and hurt sales for all concerned.

A strong title gets attention, it gives a hint as to the content of the book and it entices reader interest. Some authors may begin a work with a title in mind or they may use a word or phrase that occurs within the story, while others may not title their work until it is completed. But an enticing title is essential.

The title is the first clue for the browser and should clearly indicate the contents of the book. A good start is a key word, which enables the reader to find it on the shelves of a bookstore or do an online search. The purpose of a title is to attract the consumer.

A good title should be short, specific, and memorable. Who can forget War and Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Da Vinci Code. A title may tell you the location and the time of the story as Dac Crossley's Guns Across the Rio or give a hint of freedom in Paige M. Cumming's Under the Liberty Oak. Their titles generate immediate questions in the reader's mind, which creates interest in the novels. Make your title work for you, you want it to do more than label a work, you want it to encourage sales.

Need help coming up with your title? Try these two sites, http://www.namingnewsletter.com/ and http://titlemagic.blogspot.com/. Check your title against other authors; visit Bowker's Books in Print, http://www.booksinprint.com/. Amazon is also a good place for a search to see if someone else has your title or a similar title on the market. http://www.amazon.com/. To paraphrase of famous line, if we knew then what we know now, but strangely enough for us the above authors were unannounced when our title went to print though there were older titles on the market. Remember you can not copyright a title.

Karen Robards, a Kentucky best selling author, admitted that although she has had 27 published novels none of them were published under her original title. The publishing house had other marketing ideas for her manuscript. An author has no control over either the final title or cover once the book is sold. So the choice of a title may not be up to you, but still do your homework and find the best title to label your story, identify its content, and sell your manuscript.

Sins of the Fathers was an orphan child languishing in limbo, then online sales picked up, our local book club chose it for their July selection, and it was reviewed online at http://readandlead.blogspot.com/.

Guardians of the Portals

2008-07-04T15:06:00.006-05:00

Griffins were for the Greeks their guardians of the portals to the opening of the universe. For a forthcoming collection of ghost tales Haints, Nash Black takes these fabulous beasts and twists the legend for the short story "Birds." Writing from his unique view of the macabre they become birds of prey and harbingers of evil.

Do we pay attention to what we see everyday? People, even writers are unaware of their surroundings unless they make an effort to remember. Nash wrote the story and described the fabled birds assuming he'd created new creatures of fiction until his editor pointed out that for fifteen years he'd walked past an antique pair of bronze and iron griffins that guard the entrance to his home.

Mining the subconscious for memories that may only assert themselves through tactical stimulation can unfold the creativity of the mind.

International Mystery Writers Festival

2008-07-03T20:04:00.001-05:00

Owensboro, Kentucky, June 12-22 was the place to be for all lovers of fine mystery theater. As the poster from the lobby of the River Park Center announces two of the giants in mystery theater were opening the festival. The festival debuted fourteen never produced plays. Four were fully staged productions and ten written as either screen or television scripts were staged as radio plays. The audience for each show evaluated the performances and the winners were announced on closing night. And the winner was:
Agatha Christie's long lost play "Chimneys," which delighted the full house audience for opening night. Canadian actors added just the right English sound to the dialogue. Just when you thought you had the story line figured out the skillful twist of Christie changed the game.
Stuart Kaminsky followed the next night with "Sherlock Holmes Final Toast." A new vision of master sleuth Holmes as he tackles yet another murder. Kaminsky's view of Holmes and Dr. Watson had the audience laughing all evening. Director Mark Bellamy's energy flowed across the stage with a smooth production, which introduced a new character to the Holmes stories; a young Charlie Chaplin who induced Holmes to do a soft shoe.
"The Last Appointment" was performed by the Theater Workshop of Owensboro. The drama was intense, but the mystery slight as there were only three characters and a prologue showed the police officer still around after the fact.
"The Cell" was my favorite of the plays, but it was not the winner. The drama, conflict, and power of the performance was outstanding. The struggle between brothers as one fought to keep the other alive while the wheelchair bound brother sought to die on his own terms made for great theater.
See all winners at http://www.newmysteries.org/

2008-06-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

Westerns, a reader/writer love affair.

Are westerns dead?

If you page through the listings in GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS, time and time again you will see "No westerns accepted."

I am using some figures from my favorite branch library. I have the status of an adoptive mother as I inherited it at the tender age of seven months and had the pleasure of watching it grow and develop for ten years.

I was surprised when I walk in, several years after I retired, and discovered a favorite mystery paperback section had been removed. Those shelves were filled with westerns. The patrons had spoken and for a small public library their word is law; it is futile to stock books that remain on the shelves to collect dust. Westerns are now an important area of the branch's circulation, which must be constantly restocked with fresh titles because when a patron tells you, "I've read everything you have." The speaker is serious.

The small branch attracts 290 patrons per week, those users carry home about 30 westerns from their visits. They place their names on waiting lists for all the new selections, donate titles from their personal collections, and make suggestions for new acquisitions.

Dac Crossley entered the field of western fictional writing after a career at the Univesity of Georgia. His stories take place in an area of Texas near his boyhood home, where as a young man his father was a real cowboy. He knows his West, both from experience and as a scientist.

His initial entry to western fiction is the award nominated GUNS ACROSS THE RIO. A fascinating account of membership in the Texas Rangers. Today as many Americans of Mexican heritage are taking the rap for dubious governmental policies it is refreshing to see another aspect of their contributions to our country.

Westerns cannot have one-foot in the grave when the award winning mystery writer, Robert B. Parker has a new one soon to be published. Mysteries and westerns have common links. The least of which is justice, while providing a few hours of entertainment to an ever growing more knowledgeable audience. People may not read westerns in New York or on the West Coast, but there is an entire continent between them.

As Dac says, "They told me I'd be dead if I self-published. I'm still alive. They told me nobody reads westerns. There are over 500 'nobodies' out there." Join the 'nobodies' and enjoy a great western read. Then visit Dac's world at http://www.daccrossley.com or http://daccrossley.typepad.com where his information is always informative and scholarly for things "western."

2008-06-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

Mysteries, Thrillers, Police Procedurals and Occult.
Production vs. Demand
Who purchases mysteries? Who reads mysteries? Sources indicate senior citizens and women make the major book purchases. Over half of the top ten NYT best sellers are books by mystery writers.
Writers search for the illusive agent, publisher, or niche market. Bookstores, chains, independents, online, used, collectible, used book dealers and libraries fill their shelves with goodies from every sector hoping to find customers.
These are early morning musings as the pen rushes against growing thunder, but the question remains. Who is buying books, what kind of mystery, and where?

2006-10-10T07:24:00.000-05:00

I am sitting at my desk watching to fog rise from the creek between the hills that flows into the TVA lake. My mind is like the fog, whispy with strains of musings wandering along unchartered paths as I attempt this new adventure in communication. Like Jim Young in Nash Black's, Qualifying Laps, I have no idea what I am doing but am impelled to do it anyway. Laps is a mystery/suspense novel as is blogging to me. I would appreciate help from experienced bloggers and would be very grateful for any information as to how to handle a blog. Thank you.