March 25, 2008

I can see now why I don't blog. I mean, I've thought about it. I've been asked to join various blogs, but I've always declined. I promised myself that I would write a consistent update to my website instead, and look how well I did. In case you haven't read one of these updates before, I'll tell you. I failed miserably. Once again, I'm going to try to be more forthcoming with updates, but if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath. Not that you would. Holding one's breath for anything—other than as a way to get your mommy to give you that piece of candy—is futile.

On to the the update part. First, The Mortal Groove, the newest Jane Lawless mystery, has just been nominated for this year's Lambda Literary Award. I know, I know. I'm getting notes from writer friends (Katherine Forrest, Radclyffe, Kent Krueger, Lev Raphael, etc.) congratulating me for my 30th nomination. They joke. The award has only been around for twenty years. To set the record straight, I've been nominated thirteen times and won five times. That's probably some sort of record. Maybe the foundation should retire my jersey. And yet, it's no small—or sure—thing to be nominated for an award. That's why I'm thrilled and honored to be on the shortlist. I'm trying to talk my partner into flying out with me to the awards ceremony in West Hollywood in late May. My partner, Kathy, and I met at a college in Pasadena many years ago. We've always wanted to go back to the college campus—Ambassador College—and do a walk down memory lane. I think this would be the perfect time, so for any of you who are planning to attend the gala, I'll see you on May 29th. Here's a link to get tickets.

For the past eight years I've been part of a traveling group of mystery authors—The Minnesota Crime Wave. William Kent Krueger, Carl Brookins and I got together to promote our books and have some fun at the same time. We've become close friends and in the years we've been together have done three national tours, established a website, a thrice yearly newsletter, and participated in hundreds of events at bookstores, libraries, conferences and conventions all across the country. We've also developed and edited two mystery anthologies, short stories written by Minnesota authors. But now, there's a new wrinkle on the horizon. The three of us are about to embark on a new adventure—cable TV. We're not sure if we'll fall on our faces or make a success of it, but if you don't try, you never get anywhere, right? And it's always exciting to do something new.

The look of "The Minnesota Crime Wave Presents," the name of our show, will be much the same as Charlie Rose's show. We'll all be sitting around a table, black background, sort of minimalist but friendly. The show will be divided into three segments: an author interview, a free-wheeling conversation between the three of us about various topics of interest to writers and readers of mystery fiction. We may do book reviews, movie reviews. And at some point, we hope to do location shoots. Our first author interview will be with one of my best writing buddies, R.D. Zimmerman, better known these days as Robert Alexander, author of multiple mysteries, and the new Russian series—The Kitchen Boy (optioned for a major motion picture), Rasputin's Daughter, and the forthcoming, The Romanov Bride—a BookSense pick for May. For our second show, we will be interviewing Mary Logue, poet, memoirist, and author of the Claire Watkins mysteries. She is an incredibly gifted storyteller. Stay tuned for updates.

I don't know how many of you have read the work of John Morgan Wilson, but he writes a brilliant mystery series. The protagonist is a gay man, a disgraced journalist, and the books are dark, beautifully written, and always thought provoking. John sent me—and many others—an email a while back and I wanted to quote his message in full, not only because I agree with everything he says, but because it's so important. If we want to keep writing alive in this country of ours, this is one way to do it:

ARE YOU BUYING USED BOOKS ON THE INTERNET?

Massive Internet used book sales are literally killing the careers of countless writers.

We get no royalties or credit for these used books sales, and our publishers make no money from them. As soon as our hardcovers or paperbacks hit the market, the Internet booksellers start buying them up used and selling them very cheaply, and resell them over and over. Why should someone buy a new book when they can purchase a used hardcover for a fraction of the price?

Used book sales, which reportedly now account for about 12 percent of the entire market, have eaten so deeply into our paperback sales that many of us no longer have our books published in paperback, myself included. Consider this: Recently, my first mystery, Simple Justice, turned up at Number 51 on the Amazon.com bestseller list for current gay men's mysteries. That's great, except that Simple Justice has been out of print for more than seven years, meaning these are all used books.

After writing ten mysteries, I have more readers than ever but am only credited with my initial hardcover sales. Over ten years, as my readership has grown, my income from my books had declined by half, and my publishing contract is in jeopardy. And now these Internet used book sales are starting to eat into my hardcover sales, further threatening my ability to make a living as a writer.

The Internet booksellers like to say that used books are a good way for readers to discover new authors. But most of those readers will simply continue to buy used books, so the offset is negligible. The Internet booksellers are killing the golden goose but don't care. Immediate profit is all that matters to them.

The bottom line is, if you are buying used books on the Internet, you are seriously hurting the authors.

Signed,
John Morgan Wilson

Something to think about.

I've just finished the editorial revisions for my next Jane Lawless mystery, Sweet Poison. It will be released by St. Martin's in November. There are a lot of evil twists and turns in the book, and I hope you'll all enjoy it. And since I'm done with the Sophie Greenway mysteries (for now), I've begun writing a new series. Don't know if I can sell it. Don't even know if I can finish it. But I'm wild about the characters and the story, and again, if you don't try, you never get anywhere, right? I don't want to say much more about it. Mum's the word, at least for the foreseeable future.

At the end of July, I'll be attending the Golden Crown Literary Society annual convention in Phoenix. I'm not sure of the exact details, but I'll be on some panels, may even give a workshop or perhaps interview another author. Katherine V. Forrest will be giving the keynote address, which in and of itself will no doubt be worth the price of admission. I've made some great friends at this event in the past two years and hope to see many of you there this summer. For more information, here's the website.

My partner and my family are all well and happy, and for that I'm deeply grateful. I feel very blessed to be living this life and doing what I love more than anything else—writing. I know we all have so many things pulling at us, but reading is so important. It connects us with the larger world, and it connects us with minds and lives unlike our own. In that way, I believe, writing creates true empathy. We get to walk a mile—or a day—in another person's shoes. I hope you're all reading—fiction, mystery, non-fiction, poetry. Whatever you love. Don't let the pressures of life take away those hours you spend in reflection while reading.

The books I've read this year and recommend highly are: The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (a real paradigm shift in my life), Hit By a Farm, by Catherine Friend, An Innocent Man, by John Grisham, What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman, Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris, Point to Point Navigation, memoir by Gore Vidal, The Virgin of Small Plains, by Nancy Pickard, Red Leaves, by Thomas H. Cook, The Distant Echo, by Val McDermid, Thunder Bay, by William Kent Krueger, Affinity, by Sarah Waters, and Three Junes, by Julia Glass. I also reread all of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City books and enjoyed them the second time around as much as the first.

Good reading to all of you!

Ellen