BREAKING NEWS: Books (2)

Are Word Police Sometimes The Criminals?

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:20:00 +0000

Everyone has their language pet peeves, those pieces or chunks of linguistic malfeasance that assault our ears and quickly urge us to police the infraction. Stoning is out, but how do we ensure that the abuse of language, at least in our presence, is not to repeat itself?

Maybe we are the problem and should be more permissive of language missteps. Perhaps these are not even mistakes and we are the ones who need to adjust to a new day, a time and place and where what used to be a no-no is now acceptable, maybe even preferable to many.

It sounds like an upside-down world, but it’s worth noting that language is not static. Words come and go. Spellings change. Even definitions. Punctuation, too, has not remained the same forever. But when you are thrust unto the cusp of grammatical blasphemy - or mere change - it is a challenging moment.

To love the language is to want to fervently protect it, to ensure that we can understand, respect, and acknowledge others. At a minimum, we accept situational language and grammar. Texting is far different than speaking in court. A social setting has its own communication cues than those in a workplace environment.

We are different one-on-one than when in a group, and we certainly have separate vocabularies - including jargon and slang for a particular time, place, or industry, from sports lingo to Wall Street parlance, from Brooklyn gangsters to discussions by clergy in the Vatican.

But what do we do when what we have or read just looks plain wrong, stupid, or confusing? To what judge do we bring our grievance - and to what sentencing shall be fair punishment for these transgressions?

What to do with a double negative? Ain’t? Irregardless? Or expressions such as: “more perfect” or “are quite unique” or “I could care less.”

After reading an entertaining book, Says Who? A Kinder, Funnier, Usage Guide for ‘Everyone Who Cares About Words by Anne Curzan, Ph.D., I got to thinking about her argument that perhaps we need to be more permissive of language usage modifications, even when they seem like aberrations and ripe for criticism.

She understands wordsmiths because she is one. As the dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan, she’s also the Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics, and Education.

She writes: “Wordies take the time to figure out what they’re hearing or seeing on the page. They appreciate clarity and precision in language and recognize that there are many ways to attain it. They also know that occasionally, ambiguity is our friend!

Wordies, as part of caring deeply about language, appreciate diversity in language usage as part of the diversity of speakers and see creative play with language a surprising grammatical construction or a new way of using a word they haven’t seen before - as a reflection of human creativity. And like the trained bird-watcher, they study the new usage of bird, to understand what it is and how it works and where it came from, rather than immediately trying to kill it.”

The bottom line of her book is that we must respectfully listen to each other. Together, we must sort through the options and flexibility our communications provide us. The goal is to be more respectful and inclusive for more people, while still looking to obey, honor, and cherish historical standards -- at least most of the times.

So, word police must navigate new waters. She writes:

“Sometimes deep care about the language can take the form of policing other people’s language - or going grammando. The policing of other people’s language can be celebrated as a way to protect the language, an understandable impulse… The people who really care about the details of language are strict about their own and other’s usage. But as you have seen, some of the rules you learned about what is correct in language are not well-founded or inclusive of the change and variation that make a living language vibrant.”

Although she recognizes the issues many have with using ever-changing PC language, such as when some tried to use personhole for manhole or Latinx for Latino and Latine, she seems to defend the project to change lots of words in the hopes of sounding inclusive.

Anyone over 40 struggles with the use of pronouns, just as anyone over 65 struggles with technology.

Many people struggle with being PC because they will say:

“Who says that word is better than another?”

“What’s wrong with the now-banned word?”

“Does the new word have ambiguity or room for misunderstanding?”

“Why should I use another word when no offense was intended with the original one?”

“How can I keep up with so many new words and words that replace the replacement words?”

“Some of the new words seem over the top.”

“If I don’t say one’s preferred word, I can get cancelled. How fair is that?”

It’s an on-going debate of what is ‘correct’ vs ‘understandable’ vs ‘wrong and confusing,’ and the challenge to improve our language without altering its uses rages on. Our language, even when bastardized and distorted, is a beautiful thing. No matter how you use or abuse English, can we all agree that all Americans should speak English?

Right, even that has its opponents. Good luck on finding a conclusion about anything.

...

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Born and raised in Brooklyn, Brian Feinblum now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, he has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook. It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

IndieView with Ashley Baker, author of The Furious Others

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:00:31 +0000

I’m not a beach read girl, so I want to write things that are meaningful and different.

Ashley Baker – 24 December 2025

The Back Flap

In typical serial killer novels, the victims are a footnote. In this book, they’re the whole story.

Betty. Tina. Sarah. Leslie. Chrissy. Sheena. Sherry. Lena. Debbie. Ashley.

The ten victims in The Furious Others lived ordinary lives until serial killer Jason LeDown entered stage left, knife in hand, with a belly full of bad intentions. That’s where fear is found, in the space between a typical Friday and a man intent on murder. The fictional characters in The Furious Others depict real people: mothers, lovers, hip-hop aficionados, and green thumbs, united by the tragedy of lost lives.

Author and clinical psychologist Dr. Ashley Baker PSYD envisions a fictional world where the murderer is not the main character in the serial killer trope. Instead of exploring Jason Le Down’s methods of madness, Dr. Baker chooses to honor the victims rather than romanticize monsters.

About the book

What is the book about?

It is a serial killer novel where the murderer is NOT the main character. Instead, in The Furious Others the victims are the ones we follow and mourn. That makes a much scarier and sadder premise as we experience their thoughts, feelings, and last moments.

When did you start writing the book?

I had just read Notes on an Execution which is another serial killer novel and I just felt compelled to tell the victim’s side. Once I started, it flowed very easily because I was so focused on that one premise.

How long did it take you to write it?

I wrote it in 8 months, and then it was published after two formal edits from my publisher Genius Media and Publishing, a traditional small press establishment.

Where did you get the idea from?

After I started writing the book, I also experienced a loss of my own when my father was murdered, and I learned in real life how the focus is very much on wrongdoers instead of the innocent lives lost.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

That made it difficult to write. I was so committed to a victim focused narrative but writing a story about homicides with a knife when my father was also killed in a similar way…. It was very difficult. I think that shows up in the emotional parts of the story too, but it definitely cost me something to write it.

What came easily?

Keep the narrative focused on the victims. It was such a new concept and it flexed my imagination to write about the women – to keep them very different from one another but linked in this horrible way.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Made up for sure! I think that’s easier- it allowed me to experiment with all different types of characters.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I LOVE to read. I love John Irving, Stephen King, & Chris Whitaker. I will read anything! My Goodreads profile is super active because I typically read 100 books per year, it’s my first love and favorite pastime.

Do you have a target reader?

Someone who likes “fiction with teeth” aka darker thoughtful types. I’m not a beach read girl, so I want to write things that are meaningful and different.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I don’t write in any order. I have phrases and a rough outline, and then I fill it in as I go. I also keep little notes all over the place because I can be inspired easily and know if I don’t jot it down I will forget it.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

It’s a very rough and tumble outline. I have a “gist” but typically fill all those things in last.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

Both? I self-correct or make notes to myself, then go back and edit it, and for the final time I read it out loud.

Did you hire a professional editor

I had two editors for my novel through by publisher

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No- I want it quiet completely. No distractions for me.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Initially I did before I found my small press publisher. It was read by many but it was so hard to get their attention in the long run.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher?

I wanted someone to believe in me and my work and to help me- I knew there was so much I didn’t know or understand. But it also was important for it to be published because I didn’t want to pay for my craft, I wanted someone who believed in me enough to publishing my work. For me that was important because it made me feel I was “good enough” to take a chance upon- and it’s such a honor when that happens too.

Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

Gradual. I queried, I considered, then I finally found the place I fit best and I’ve been very happy at Genius Media and Publishing. They have made the process feel supportive and easy for me. I’m so thankful.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Professionally done- there’s no way I could do that myself. I had a general idea but I definitely will think it through more on book number two- we went through a lot of edits because I wasn’t specific enough on the front end. But then end result is gorgeous IMO.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I do, I target book readers, ads on social media, and book contests (fingers crossed I win! LOL).

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

It’s a lot of work but it is also very rewarding

1. You were a lawyer for 16 years. Why have you now dedicated yourself to writing?

I’ve always been a writer. It’s been a lifelong ambition to have a published work. Siblings tell me that I was only 5 or 6 when I first declared this. I remember reading books by Enid Blyton when I was a child and being in awe of the way a book could transport me into another world and allow me to experience the adventures of other children. That’s probably why I made this declaration. That desire has endured for my entire adult life, and I have in fact always written pieces, even while working as a teacher and a lawyer, so the transition to more or less full-time writing was an easy and obvious one. In fact, while I was a teacher, I saw it as preparation for being a writer, and while I was a lawyer, I also saw the discipline of legal writing as part of the general practice and art of writing.

What is your debut novel about? The novel is about a family, viewed from the inside by both a father and the children. The father tells of the changes brought about in the life of a couple as they become parents, try to preserve their individuality, and take on the responsibilities of parenthood. He also talks about the changes in his wife as she became a mother and about his own personal challenges and how he saw each of his children. Then the children respond with their versions, filling in the stories told by the father and revealing a little about themselves. The reader sees several sides to of this family.

What inspired you to write it? During the pandemic, family seemed to be at the forefront of my thoughts. I wasn’t able to see my family as I had done so frequently before, as we live in several different locations- USA, Trinidad, Venezuela, Barbados. Friends all lamented this situation as well in terms of their own families and when I decided to use the space given by the pandemic to write, it seemed an obvious theme. The book really flowed very well, and I began to realize that I had written pieces of it many years before. In a sense it was the book of my dreams, the book I was writing and preparing to write all my life up to that point.

How much of you and your life are in these pages? I like to say that it’s an alternate version of my family. There are definitely autobiographical elements, but also elements from families observed and families that I knew. I remember asking my sister about an event that is recounted in the book and she told me that it was actually something that happened to a family in the neighborhood. I was very young and seem to have integrated it into my version of the family story, but it was in fact lived by my family as observers. Some of the outcomes were also changed in telling the story and some of the personalities were definitely different from the ones that emerged in writing the book.

What was it like growing up in Trinidad, the youngest of 10 children? Trinidad was and is a very creative country. As a child, in my neighborhood, there was an air of artistic excitement- someone was recording an album, someone else was writing poems, others were dancers, painters. I grew up with this artistic vibrancy around me and drank it all in. Trinidad is the place where steel pan as an instrument was created and innovations in the instrument and the music created for it were always happening. Apart from that, as the youngest of 10 children, I lived in a world where everyone knew me and my parents, I was known as the last of the brood. I spent lots of time observing the older siblings and trying to understand life from what I observed. When I went to a new school at the age of 11, it was the first time that I wasn’t known by reference to my family, as the last of the brood and it was a life-changing experience. On a day-to day level in the family, there were lots of pranks and practical jokes, and my siblings were always trying to outdo each other in this regard. A successfully executed prank would certainly be followed, even if a few weeks later, with one that tried to outdo it.

Your story takes place on the island nation of Trinidad. How does that setting help the story unfold? I think the story could not have unfolded anywhere else. The heavy Roman Catholic influence in the country is the background for the story, and the norms of society and the influence of the church are all very much part of life in Trinidad back in the day. Trinidad was also growing-up, just as the children in the family were doing. In the course of the story the country went from British Rule to Independence to Post- Independence. The story touches on the cocoa-planter culture, which is unique to Trinidad. While cocoa is grown in a few Caribbean islands, Trinidad was really the country with the largest scale of cocoa production at a given time. The vibrancy of Trinidad culture also created the perfect setting for the story-Talent Show- in a nation where talent was abundant, and the people loved displaying their talent. They still do.

Your book asks the reader: “Do you really know your parents?” What do you mean by that? We all look at our parents as figures of authority, as providers, as role models even. But do we ever think of who they would be without children? Who they were before the children and who is that individual inside of the parent? What do the parents talk about when they’re alone? What are their private jokes? When I became a parent, I realized that my children probably would not reconcile who I was as a young adult with the person who was their mother. Being a role model and an example for my children meant that they didn’t necessarily see all of me as a person, although I never hid myself from them. A child’s world doesn’t easily accommodate a broader view of the parents. I’ve also noted that couples sometimes get divorced when the children leave. It’s as if they assume a different persona once the major parenting is behind them.

How does your book force readers to reflect differently on their families? I think that the different perspectives offered in the book help readers to think of and question how they see or saw their families- as a unit and in terms of parents and siblings. We often take our parents for granted, and focus on the support and guidance they provide or don’t provide, without knowing, understanding or even reflecting on why they do what they do. In reading the book I think readers might recognize some of the family dynamics and revisit their own families with the benefit of hindsight.

There is the death of a child in your book. How does a family come to grips with that? Even with acceptance after many years, it is an event that draws a line in the sand. Those who were around for the event think in terms of a timeline that’s before or after the death. Those who come after, know about the event as a loss for the family, even if they weren’t yet born and only hear about it as a story. Somehow, it feels as if the pain of the event is conveyed to the younger ones who were not yet born when it happened, and is remembered by the older ones who were alive when it happened, probably because of the deep loss experienced by the parents, and the sadness in the household. It is an event that defies our notions of life and death- parents aren’t meant to bury children and so on. Eventually, the family comes to grips with it as time passes, with support of family and friends and to some extent through their faith, whether they are religious or not.

There are secrets hidden by your characters. What happens when some of them get exposed? Exposure of secrets always changes things. When some of the secrets get exposed, the reader gets a more complete view of the events and understands the perspective of the parent and the child. It’s almost like the effect of connecting the dots- the picture is clearer after the dots have been filled in, after the secrets are exposed. Some of the revelations explain an event that occurs or a personality that was introduced in an earlier section of the book and the reader can understand the other side of the story when the secrets are revealed. It’s what happens in life so often. As a lawyer I was always struck by how each party in a lawsuit thought that their version of events was complete and true, without ever considering another perspective or a detail that could change everything. Then, when a hidden fact came to light, it changed everything. The Thrilling Detective Web Site, as well as the Web Monkey for The Private Eye Writers of America and a contributor to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. A lost Canadian, he’s currently hiding out in Southern California’s High Desert with his wife, mystery author D.L. Browne (aka Diana Killian and Josh Lanyon), and waiting for the end of the world.

• Huge, by Brent Butt (Seal):

It sounds like the set-up for a bad joke: three stand-up comics walk into a bar in Canada …

But it’s no joke—it’s a scene played out several times in comedian Brett Butt’s dead-serious thriller, Huge.

One of the comedians is Dale, a cash-strapped but seasoned pro who knows how to leave ’em laughing. Not a superstar, maybe, but he knows how to play the game, serving as emcee and closing headliner on a low-key, low-budget tour of nowhere Canadian prairie towns (Brass Hole! Wire Beach! Horsewater!), working its way to big-city Winnipeg, Manitoba, a prime spot (really!) on the North American comedy circuit. Joining Dale is Rynn, a feisty young Irish comedienne with a possible TV show deal in the works. She’s the opener. And the third comic, occupying the middle slot, is Hobie Huge, an over-sized Canadian desperate to make it as a comedian. He’s local, and so he’s using his customized van to drive them from gig to gig.

Only catch? Hobie’s a frickin’ psychopath—a stone-cold, homicidal nutjob with absolutely zero impulse control and a hair-trigger temper. So what starts out as a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at the world of stand-up comedy ends up being infinitely darker as Hobie slowly loses it, and Dale and Rynn realize—too late—just how far out on the crazy train their co-star really is.

The lovably schlubby Canadian author, Butt, is probably best known in the United States for Corner Gas, a long-running, still-streaming Canadian sitcom, and No Clue, a 2014 film comedy in which a mild-mannered, middle-aged Vancouver, British Columbia, novelty salesman (played by Butt) poses as a hard-boiled private investigator, hoping to impress a woman. But Huge is something else again—a disturbing, twitchy, and surprisingly effective nail-biter that draws you in … before it yanks the rug right out from under you.

Killer, eh?

• Where the Body Was, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image Comics):

By this point, a kick-ass graphic novel by Brubaker (words) and Phillips (art) is no surprise—it’s pretty much an annual event. But Where the Body Was, which marks a break from their regular (and much harder-boiled) Criminal and Reckless series, is something else again—a clever and engaging standalone that borders on cozy; a crime story featuring a group of characters who all live in the same sleepy 1980s American suburban neighborhood, told through a bunch of overlapping viewpoints.

It’s almost quaint: tree-lined streets, well-tended (mostly) lawns, tranquil cul-de-sacs, a tree house, a slew of seemingly comfy bungalows, an old boarding house and, as presented in the helpful “Cast of Characters” list (a nod to vintage Dell Mapbacks), a closed circle of suspects. Those include a couple of ne’er-do-well “wild” kids, a loner with a badge and a rich fantasy life, a horny housewife, a workaholic psychiatrist, a homeless Vietnam vet, a precocious 11-year old fangirl who has appointed herself the local superhero, and an outsider private eye hunting for a runaway girl. And of course a murder that rocks this little world.

It’s all depicted with a nuanced and empathetic hand by Phillips, and as the viewpoint slides back and forth between multiple players and timeframes, the tale feels as cozy as a cup of Earl Grey, poured by Dame Agatha herself. At first, anyway, because Brubaker and Phillips can’t help but slide in a deliciously dark if-not-quite-noir sucker punch at the end. As the various pieces slowly come together, they click into place in a fashion that, frankly, knocked me for a loop.

But of course. How else could it end?

Well played, gentlemen, well played.

• California Bear, by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland):

I generally hate serial-killer novels. Too often they’re simply workarounds for lightweights who want to skip over the tough job of creating credible villains. But Swierczynski does the heavy lifting here, because he’s after much bigger game. This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco—he ain’t foolin’ around.

Sure, there’s the obligatory hunt for a serial killer, but that's just the corkboard for this author to pin a whole lot of things to, including:

— A multiple murderer known as the “California Bear,” who vanished four decades ago but is now coming out of retirement.
— An upcoming true-crime documentary by some scruple-free filmmakers about that slayer coming out of retirement.
— Cato Hightower, a crooked former cop who smells money, and isn’t beyond a little extortion to get what he wants.
— Jack Queen, a recently released ex-convict and single parent who’s trying to do right by his 15-year-old daughter.
— Jeanie Hightower, Cato’s beleaguered wife, a genealogist unwillingly dragged into her husband’s schemes.
— A slew of California Bear online fans and true-crime podcasters, plus a handful of real-life wannabes and copycats gumming up the works.
— The Girl Detective (aka Matilda), Jack Queen’s aforementioned daughter, a brainiac problem solver, confined to a hospital bed with a bad case of leukemia. And the prognosis is not good.

Along the way, Southern California writer Swierczynski takes savage pokes at a true-crime industry that cashes in on other people’s tragedies, a health care system run for profit, a legal system’s sometimes shaky notions of justice, and the million ways we can be torn apart, while shining a defiant light on the fragile, yet enduring ties that somehow—against all odds—bind us together.

Yeah, the plot slips and slides all over the place, its short, punchy chapters leaping from viewpoint to viewpoint, the head-whipping twists held together only by this author’s always muscular storytelling chops. But what it all adds up to is arguably Swierczynski’s best novel yet—a multilevel triumph that burns red hot, with an ending guaranteed to put the boot to even the most hardened of hearts. (And for those of us fortunate enough to know Duane Swierczynski, that ending is even more devastating.)

• Galway Confidential, by Ken Bruen (Mysterious Press):

There are all kinds of tough guys (and gals), and the Shamus Game has had more than its fair share of both, starting back in the pulps when bullet wounds, knife wounds, the ever-popular KOs, and every other sort of bodily misfortune could be miraculously cured by a shot of hooch from the office bottle, a Lucky or two, a good night’s rest, and maybe a therapeutic roll in the hay.

And in some ways that hasn’t changed much. Bruen’s latest entry in the Jack Taylor series carries on the tradition in grand old fashion. The private eye’s first instinct, after awaking in a Galway, Ireland, hospital from an almost two-year-long coma (thus conveniently skipping the entire pandemic), is to reach for a drink.

And who could blame him?

Alas, that restorative slug is offered by Rafferty, a poetry-spouting stranger who, it’s soon revealed, has been Jack’s only regular visitor. Allegedly an ex-Marine (among other things), he’s the guy who saved Jack from the brutal attack that had landed him in the hospital.

But upon release, it’s a whole new, more violent Galway that greets Jack (Masks! Reduced hours in the bars! Someone setting fire to homeless people at night!). He’s approached by a woman who wants him to find the man who’s been attacking nuns with a hammer. Reluctant at first (Jack’s no fan of the Catholic Church), he eventually relents, and so, wearing his all-weather Garda coat and armed with his beloved hurley, he sets out to do what must be done.

Simple enough, maybe, but fans of these books know that Bruen, one of the most distinctive stylists in crime fiction, only makes it look simple—the Taylor series contains multitudes. Loyal, steadfast, and as Irish as a pint of the black, Jack’s also an angry, bitter alcoholic and drug abuser, broken, battered, tattered, and scarred inside and out, and prone to violence—and not even much of a detective at times. “Cases get solved around me,” he admits, “very rarely did I actually find the solution.”

But try turning away. Somehow, despite numerous betrayals and failures, Jack perseveres. And really, how can anyone turn their back on a man who is so damned that even the nuns, he tells us, were “no longer praying for” him?

• Hero, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press):

In this standalone Perry yarn, the man behind the critically acclaimed Jane Whitfield series gives us another strong, resourceful female. But Justine Poole isn’t a “guide,” shepherding people into new lives under new identities.

Nope, Justine—we eventually find out—has already done that. To herself. Not that it matters—it’s her present life, as a personal security agent on the payroll of a high-priced and well-regarded Los Angeles firm, that lands her in trouble.

She's young, ambitious, attractive, quick on her feet, and very good at her job, protecting wealthy, high-profile Hollywood celebrities, attending lavish galas, and hobnobbing with Tinseltown’s rich and famous. So when she gets a call from her hands-on boss, who suspects a couple he’s been guarding—an elderly television producer and his wife—are possibly the targets of a home invasion, she doesn’t hesitate. She rushes to the couple’s swanky Beverly Hills home, and confronts five armed robbers lying in wait, who open fire. Her training kicks in, and she kills two of them, reluctantly becoming the “hero” of the title.

But that acclaim doesn’t last. Her brief moment of local celebrity does not go down well with the fragile ego of Mr. Conger, the man behind the robbery; a self-styled criminal mastermind who takes umbrage at a lone “girl” who not only took out two of his lackeys, but more importantly, blew his scheme to smithereens. Gee, what will all the other criminal masterminds think?

So he dispatches Leo Sealy, a coldly efficient assassin with a few ego problems of his own, to take out Justine and, he hopes, restore the chronically insecure Conger's reputation. Should be a snap, Leo figures, especially with the easily manipulated local media more than eager to dish on the new “hero” and her current whereabouts. Thus begins a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, as the young bodyguard finds herself trying to stay out of the sights (literally) of a much more experienced and deadly foe.

I said cat-and-mouse, but maybe I should have said roadrunner-and-coyote. It turns out that Justine Poole is unexpectedly resourceful, clever, and … lucky. A few coincidences click into place, a few missteps occur, and the increasingly frustrated Leo winds up badly rattled, making him even more dangerous.

This is a fine romp, a blood-flecked cartoon of deadly intentions and random chaos, tinged with black humor.

Meep-meep.

• Negative Girl, by Libby Cudmore (Datura):

All rock stars die in plane crashes of one kind or another. Sex. Drugs. Actual plane crashes. Take your pick. Someone (Lennon?) said that.

For former rock musician Martin Wade, it was definitely drugs (mostly heroin) that ended not his life, but at least his gig as front man for the French Letters, a 1990s punk band that had a brief slam dance with success. Well, the drugs and the subsequent disappearance of Wade’s wife, Cecilia, for which the LAPD has long suspected (and still suspects) Martin was responsible. As he tells it, “they didn’t know if she was dead or alive, but they saw a junkie ex-rock star aching for a fix and a blackout where a woman should be.”

That was almost two decades ago, though, and somehow Martin was eventually cleared. He survived, cleaned up his act, earned his P.I. ticket, and moved to Perrine, a small town in upstate New York, where he “learned how to run searches and what to look for.” Revisiting his wife’s fate, he finally came to the conclusion that “there was no trace of the woman [he] had once planned to spend [his] life with.”

Yet it’s that years-past tragedy that adds a strong touch of compelling melancholy to this story by Shamus and Black Orchid award winner Cudmore. Martin continues to rebuild his life, attend AA meetings, and live quietly and alone, working simple cases out of his shabby office over a vape shop, playing piano by himself in his living room. Not drinking. Not doing drugs. And keeping his head down.

Of course, one of the big hooks for a geek like me is the never-quite-gone music that is still a huge part of the middle-aged Martin's life, with songs and bands being name-dropped like confetti all over the place. His former bandmates have been mentioned casually in previous Wade stories Cudmore has contributed to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and other periodicals. But in this long-awaited novel-length debut (its title nicked from a Steely Dan song), one of them is finally dragged into the spotlight.

Janie Carlock, a promising young classical musician, shows up one day at Martin’s office and asks his new assistant, the heavily tattooed, 30-something Valerie Jacks, for an appointment. Janie wants Martin to speak to her estranged, drug addict father, who has lately been stalking her, trying to push his way into her life. As it transpires, that father is Ron Carlock, Martin’s old friend and a guitarist from the French Letters, who is still struggling with pills and booze. When Martin finally hooks up with Ron, the reunion isn’t a happy one. And their association doesn’t improve after Janie’s corpse is fished out of a river only days later.

The cops quickly write this drowning off as an accident, but Martin, Valerie, and Janie's heart-broken father don’t buy it. Martin reluctantly starts to nose around, unaware that Valerie, eager to prove her investigative chops and do more than manage their office, is conducting her own parallel investigation. Martin, we learn, isn’t the only sleuth here with a dark past, and Valerie has more than enough confidences of her own to confront.

As Cudmore’s story unfolds, and the side-by-side investigations crisscross in an uneasy tango (at one point, Valerie confesses that she doesn’t mind Martin when he “wasn’t being an asshole”), façades fall away and both secrets and hard, unpleasant truths are brought to the fore. Addiction, family ties, obsession, greed, resentment, mental illness, jealousy, and denial swirl around as Martin and Valerie swap the first-person narrative chores from chapter to chapter. When the solution of this moody, noir-tinged weeper comes, it cuts deep.

But not as deep as the concealed histories of our two gumshoes.

Wrenching. But you can dance to it.

Other 2024 Favorites: Murder at La Villette, by Cara Black (Soho Crime); Cream of the Crop: Best Mystery and Suspense Stories of Bill Pronzini, by Bill Pronzini (Stark House); Kingpin, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press); The Murder of Mr. Ma, by S.J. Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee (Soho Crime); and Buster, by George Pelicanos (Akashic).

The Year in Reviews: 50 Highlights from 2024

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:00:05 +0000

This entirely subjective list of 50 highlights from 2024 include reviews of fiction, literature, poetry and non-fiction. Translations remained strong in this year’s list, including literature, poetry and non-fiction, ranging from Chinese, Korean and Japanese, through Thai, Tagalog and Vietnamese to Kazakh, Bengali, Telegu, Arabic, Russian and French. Non-fiction entries ranges from history, biography and memoir to art, photograpy and culture. (The year in question refers to the date of review, not of publication.)

Click on the title for the review. Some also have podcasts. Books by ARB contributors—something of a bumper crop this year—are listed separately.

Fiction

Behind the Painting by Siburapha, translated from Thai by David Smyth
Eclipse by Keiichiro Hirano, translated from Japanese by Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolf (trans)
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton
Cannibals by Shinya Tanaka, translated from Japanese by Kalau Almony
The Unfilial: Four Tragic Tales from Modern China by Yao Emei, translated from Chinese by Will Spence, Olivia Milburn, Honey Watson and Martin Ward
Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder
Silken Gazelles, by Jokha Alharthi, translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth
Faraway the Southern Sky by Joseph Andras, translated from French by Simon Leser
Gifted by Suzumi Suzuki, translated from Japanese by Allison Markin Powell
Water: a Chronicle by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, translated from Vietnamese by Nguyễn An Lý
Where the Wind Calls by Samar Yazbek, translated from Arabic by Leri Price
Elevator in Saigon by Thuân, translated from Vietnamese by Nguyen An Lý
Ilget: The Three Names of a Life by Alexander Grigorenko, translated from Russian by Christopher Culver
Takaoka’s Travels by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, translated from Japanese by David Boyd
Chronicles of a Village by Nguyễn Thanh Hiện, translated by Quyen Nguyen-Hoang
Souls Left Behind by Fan Wu, translated from Chinese by Honey Watson
To Hell with Poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova, translated from Kazakh by Mirgul Kali
dd’s Umbrella by Hwang Jungeun, translated from Korean by e yaewon
Patterns of the Heart and Other Stories by Choe Myong-ik, translated from Korean by Janet Poole
A House of Rain and Snow by Srijato Bandopadhyay, translated from Bengali by Maharghya Chakraborty
Swan Knight by Fumio Takano, translated from Japanese by Sharni Wilson
The Singularity by Balsam Karam, translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel
The Mud of a Century by Yūka Ishii, translated from Japanese by Haydn Trowell
The Consultant by Im Seong-sun, translated by An Seon Jae
Vladivostok Circus by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated from French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, translated from Japanese by Juliet Winter Carpenter
The Third Love, by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese Ted Goossen
Yñiga by Glenn Diaz
Shanghailanders by Juli Min (podcast)
Batshit Seven by Sheung-King

Poetry

With My Back to the World: Poems by Victoria Chang
Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author by Sophus Helle
A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist by Derek Chung, translated from Chinese by May Huang
Theft of a Tree, Nandi Timmana, translated from classical Telegu by Harshita Mruthinti Kamat

Non-Fiction

Gods, Guns, and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity by Manu S Pillai
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson by Paul French
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World by David van Reybrouck
The Dervish Bowl: The Many Lives of Arminius Vambéry by Anabel Loyd
Laws of the Land: Fengshui and the State in Qing Dynasty by Tristan G Brown
Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World by Caroline Alexander (podcast)
Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J Bass (podcast)
A Danger Shared: A Journalist’s Glimpses of a Continent at War by Bill Lascher (podcast)
The Story of Southeast Asia by Eric Thompson (podcast)
Koume’s World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration by Simon Partner (podcast)
Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food by Michelle T King (podcast)
Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto, translated from Japanese by Don Knotting
Japan on a Glass Plate: The Adventure of Photography in Yokohama and Beyond, 1853–1912, Sebastian Dobson
Silk Roads by Sue Brunning, Luk Yu-Ping and Elisabeth R O’Connell
Murakami Haruki on Film by Marc Yamada

Books by ARB Contributors

Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires by David Chaffetz (podcast, excerpt)
Bernardine’s Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China by Susan Blumberg-Kason (podcast)
When Friends Come From Afar: The Remarkable Story of Bernie Wong and Chicago’s Chinese American Service League by Susan Blumberg-Kason (excerpt)
Visions of Greater India: Transimperial Knowledge and Anti-Colonial Nationalism, c 1800-1960 by Yorim Spoelder
Southern Tour, The: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China’s Future, Jonathan Chatwin (podcast)

Are You Ready for Our Own Favorites?

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:45:00 +0000

December hasn’t exactly worked out the way I had planned. My hope was to have all of The Rap Sheet’s “favorite crime fiction of 2024” lists, from our various contributors, edited and posted by this point in the month, and be well along in completing my catalogue of early 2025 releases. None of that has happened. Through an unfortunate collision of personal and professional responsibilities (and a wee bit of laziness on my part), I am only now ready to begin delivering our critics’ collections of “favorites.”

The first of those posts—from the always-reliable Kevin Burton Smith—will appear later today, with more to follow through the end of this year, and probably into the first chill week of January.

You will note, sadly, two fewer voices in the mix this time around. Canadian correspondent and novelist Jim Napier, who had shared his annual choices with us for many years, passed away in December 2023. And this last summer, journalist, author, and West Ham United Football Club aficionado Fraser Massey died from cancer. I did not know Fraser well, but he provided The Rap Sheet with a variety of excellent articles, including three installments in our annual “favorites” series, dating back to 2021 (see here, here, and here).

Here’s a short biographical note I wrote about Fraser for The Rap Sheet’s “Contributors” page:

Fraser Massey is a freelance journalist based in London, England. A former columnist for the Radio Times, Now, and Real People, he is also a regular contributor to The Times. His short story “Have a Cigar” appears in Coming Through in Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd (2021), the latest entry in Gutter Books’ Rock Anthology series. An early draft of his yet-to-be published neo-noir thriller, Whitechapel Messiah, was shortlisted in the New Voices category at the inaugural Capital Crime Festival Awards in 2019.

At least for the time being, the opening segment from Whitechapel Messiah can be found on Fraser’s Web page.

Two thousand twenty-four has been a sad year for me in many respects. I lost an old and very good friend a few months ago, at age 80, and Fraser was only one of the people I knew from the crime-fiction community who went to their graves during these last dozen months. With the political situation in the United States likely to turn dark, mean, and perhaps violent in the near future, I find myself longing for the power to turn back time—even slightly. Putting up this blog’s latest “favorites” posts—late as they are—gives me the chance to think back on 2024, and to remember how many wonderful diversions fiction gave us from the turmoil and tragedies all around.

Monitoring the Mavens

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:38:00 +0000

I continue to track the release of “best crime fiction of 2024” lists. New to this inventory are critic Sharon Richardson’s choices, which follow those of her fellow Crime Fiction Lover contributors Erin Britton and Paul Burke; Marilyn Brooks’ “Best Mysteries of 2024” picks; Criminal Element’s lengthy collection of favorites from the last 12 months; Elle magazine’s selections of mystery and thriller novels; and three related records from CrimeReads, of “The Best YA Mystery, Crime, and Horror Fiction of 2024,” “The Best True Crime Memoirs of 2024,” and “The Best Crime Movies of 2024.”

READ MORE: “Sonja van der Westhuizen: Top Five Crime Novels of 2024” (Crime Fiction Lover).

Matthew West Invites You to Rediscover the True Meaning of Christmas in His New Book

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:00 +0000

Matthew West, celebrated for his inspiring music, now invites readers to discover the heart of Christmas in his new book Come Home for Christmas. Through heartfelt storytelling and reflections, West encourages readers to renew their relationship with Jesus and embrace the joy, peace, and hope found in Him. Drawing from his own cherished Christmas memories and family traditions, West offers a message of light and love, reminding everyone that the true meaning of Christmas is coming home to Jesus.

Happy Birthday, Athena

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:53:22 +0000

Another year, another instance of Krissy and I waking up our daughter with a cake on her birthday. It’s nice to have little traditions like this. This is also where I reiterate that my kid is the best and that I’m really glad I get to be her dad. That, too, is tradition.

I believe that most of you know that Athena is now a full-time employee of Scalzi Enterprises. We have some pretty interesting plans, and we’ll get into that more when the year clicks over. For now, we’re going to enjoy her birthday, and the holiday season.

Happy birthday, Athena. I love you.

— JS

Notes from an Island

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Listeners will be immersed in this meditative exploration of time spent in nature—the story of Moomin creator Tove Jansson and her partner Tooti Pietila’s life together on an island off the Gulf of Finland.

“The Golden Land Ablaze” by Bertil Lintner

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 00:03:34 +0000

In Myanmar today, resistance against the 2021 coup and the military regime, has spread across the entire country, and fighting has engulfed the state, displacing millions and leaving the country in a state of turmoil. To explain how we got to this point, and what is the future for both the resistance movement and the Myanmar military, veteran journalist Bertil Lintner provides in The Golden Land Ablaze a detailed background of Myanmar’s political development since Independence in 1948. Over six chapters, Bertil analyzes the coup itself, the military, ethnic politics, the role of China, Myanmar’s politicians and finishes with an overview of the situation today and predictions for future developments.

To ground his analysis in history, Lintner brings his decades-long experience of covering Myanmar to explain a story whose roots long predate 1 February 2021. Yet he also highlights how the situation today is very different from in the past: while there were many protests after the 1962 coup, widespread strikes in 1974 and nationwide protests in 1988, these all eventually faded away after weeks or months of indiscriminate military abuses, this isn’t happening now. The protests and rebellion to military rule are now deeply rooted in Myanmar society and the revolution shows no sign of slowing down.

The Golden Land Ablaze: Coups, Insurgents and the State in Myanmar, Bertil Lintner (Hurst, December 2024)

To explain why the military seized power in a coup after years of seemingly embracing democratic reform, Lintner details how and why the military dominated and controlled political life for so long. After Burmese independence, a series of conflicts broke out across the country. As a way to pay for the resources required to fight a series of insurgencies, the army started undertaking business ventures and by the mid-1950s, the army was “becoming a state within a state.” The power of the military became further entrenched after the 1962 coup, when General Ne Win directed the military to “both to defend the country and to play a dominant role in politics and economic development.” The military had by then become a “highly centralised military dictatorship” and “had established itself as the new ruling class.”

The role of the international community is also critical to understand. Back in 2011, under the Thein Sein government, Myanmar undertook a series of reforms, after which the international community were quick to welcome Myanmar back into the fold. Here Bertil argues there was a failure from many within the international community to realize the reality of Myanmar’s political developments, and the rationale that underpinned them. The military was worried it had become too reliant on China and risked losing its independence. Therefore its decision to release political prisoners, relax media censorship and seemingly to embrace democracy was just a token gesture, and was certainly not indicative of a real adoption of democratic ideals. The military always intended to stay in power, you only had to look to its 2008 constitution, which enshrined the military’s power and authority to see that. Yet the international community rushed to turn Myanmar from “an international pariah to the darling of the western world.” Just as the Myanmar military pretended to adopt democratic ideals due to realpolitik, the international community were so keen to find a new partner in their strategic ambitions to counter China’s rise in the region, that they failed to critically analyze the sincerity of such moves.

While it may have been China that led the military to their brief flirtation with democracy, China has continued to be one of the most important external powers regarding Myanmar’s future. Indeed, Lintner writes that “No country has interfered in Myanmar politics and internal conflicts as much as China.” China has been vital for Myanmar since the military launched a bloody crackdown on the 1988 protest movement, the aftermath of which saw Myanmar sanctioned and blacklisted by many western countries, leaving China as one of the few marketplaces available. Today, China plays a major role in Myanmar politics, has strong links with the military government and is a major supplier of goods and support. Yet China is also involved and in contact with many ethnic armed groups, providing them strong leverage inside Myanmar.

Although the scale of the resistance movement’s assaults and achievements in the battlefield are unprecedented, Lintner argues that victory is not imminent. “There is no unity among the various Burman and ethnic resistance groups.” He highlights strategic and resource limitations to the resistance movement which does not “appear to be operating in accordance with a well thought out strategy encompassing the entire country.” Resistance forces don’t have anti-aircraft capabilities capable of regularly defending against air strikes, helicopter gunships and fighter jets. He is aware this viewpoint will not be popular among the resistance and their supporters, however he remains convinced that this is a “war neither side can win by military means, and caught in the middle is the civilian population, which is bound to suffer the most.” No matter what happens in Myanmar, Lintner is sure of one thing: “the main victims will be the people of Myanmar, who for decades have been suffering under the brutal rule of a power obsessed clique of men in green.”

While Lintner has covered much of this topic Lintner in greater detail in other books, as a one-volume introduction to the coup and its political background, this is a strong overview.

Maximillian Morch is a researcher and author of Plains of Discontent: A Political History of Nepal’s Tarai (1743-2019) (2023)

Sunset, 12/22/24

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 22:26:00 +0000

As the year winds down, at least we’re getting some good sunsets to see us off.

— JS

Interesting Book Publishing Timeline Highlights

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 20:29:00 +0000

· Though the printing press with movable type was invented around 1450 by Gutenberg in Germany, and though Mexico established the first such printing press in the Western Hemisphere in 1539, it wasn’t until nearly two centuries after Gutenberg’s invention that the first such printing press arrived in America.

· In 1638, in Cambridge, MA, religious texts for divinity students at Harvard College, along with posters, handbills, and a few books were initially printed.

· The first American novel to sell one million copies was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It was an indictment of slavery written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. It sold over seven million copies in its first decade. After the Bible, this book was the biggest best-seller of the 19th century in the United States.

· An Ohio school teacher named William McGuffey had a book published in 1835 that taught children to read using anthologies of varying difficulty levels, incorporating poems, short stories, essays, and speeches. While teaching reading, it promoted patriotism, honesty, frugality, and other values.

· The McGuffey Readers exploded into being a phenomenon. From 1836-1850, seven million copies were sold. Another 20 million were sold from 1851-1869. Then, 60 million more were sold from 1870-1890. These readers became the largest-selling English language textbooks of all time, with sales topping 125 million copies. They remain in print today.

· In 1896, the Associated Authors Publishing Company was established. It sold shares and raised money. After publishing a few titles, it went bankrupt.

· In 1912, authors created the Authors League of America, later to be renamed the Authors Guild.

· In 1926, the Book Of-The-Month Club was founded.

· In 1927, the Literary Guild was formed.

· The New York Times published its first national best-seller list in 1942.

· 3 million new books were published last year.

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

About Brian Feinblum

IndieView with Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey, authors of The Ransom Enigma

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 14:00:36 +0000

The biggest problem was creating distractions for the savvy readers so they couldn’t guess who the actual bad guy or girl was too early in the book. Different threads, clues, and reasons must be sprinkled throughout the story to keep the reader guessing and flipping those pages anxious to learn the answer and not miss any of the story.

Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey – 22 December 2024

The Back Flap

Jo and JJ Rodreguiz finished their vacation dream home in Magnolia Bluff. To celebrate their accomplishment, they invite the town residents to their housewarming.

Emails are sent. Lily offers to provide all the side dishes to complement the barbeque. Chief Tommy Jager bartends until the last guest leaves. The teenagers act as servers. Guests dance outside until the wee hours. Toasts are made to honor JJ and Jo’s dearest friends. Max the Labrador will clean up the crumbs.

After the last guest departs, JJ finds a housewarming gift addressed to Jo. She excitedly opens it and gasps with dismay. Someone left behind not a present but a blackmail letter. Jo crumbles into tears, fearing they must sell and never return. Her outraged husband swears to kill the wretched blackmailer. Unfortunately, the Chief of Police cannot unhear the threat.

Two days later, the police find JJ unconscious next to a dead man.
Who will help her navigate this investigation?
Who knows the blackmailer?

All the world’s problems rest on her shoulders as her greatest love lies in a coma.

About the book

When did you start writing the book?

We began drafting the outline of Ransom Enigma as Burkey was dodging cars at high speeds on the highway to a book signing for Texas authors. Breakfield took notes on the thoughts and ideas they bantered back and forth to frame the new story, between Burkey’s barking tirades at poor drivers who had the nerve to cut her off. Having recently finished and published The Killer Enigma in 2023, it was the perfect time for creatively outlining the next book featuring our favorite characters in Magnolia Bluff.

How long did it take you to write it?

It took roughly six months to get The Ransom Enigma cozy mystery ready for the first round of editing. Then, we had the genre editor and beta readers provide valuable feedback. When those changes were completed, we reread it to find any missed issues or story flaws. By the eighth month, we had worked through cover design and interior branding with our graphic designer, Rebecca Finkel. Then, we worked with Josh Trant on our trailers while completing the marketing materials and finalizing the back cover. By month ten, it was ready to upload to Ingram Spark and Amazon and be out for pre-order editorial reviews before its release. It was released on time in August of 2024.

Where did you get the idea from?

We are not as experienced in cozy mystery as technothriller writing, but we wanted to complement the other Underground Authors contributing to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. We wanted something a little more edgy than the usual cozy mystery whodunit, so we brainstormed about using unusual angles, stealing, to a degree, ideas from current events to expand upon. It allowed us to produce some unexpected yet realistic twists and turns in the storyline. We’re storytellers and enjoy coming up with different ideas for stories.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

What came easily?

Using favorite characters who are developed and endearing to readers. We find this process easy to use and yet tricky as we don’t like cookie-cutter stories that sound the same from book to book. The problems they face and how they resolve them make multidimensional characters fans enjoy and talk about. In our case, our characters often tell us exactly where to go and what to do.

Are your characters entirely fictitious, or have you borrowed from real-world people you know?

To be completely transparent, these are fictitious characters with known attributes of real people we’ve met or known. You might also spot bits of Breakfield or Burkey in many of our characters. Breakfield claims his markers in the evil geniuses, like dressing up for a costume party or playing a part on stage. Burkey lends her tough-minded female with a high-moral ground attitude and her martial arts skills to bring justice to the story. As she says, ‘A girl can dream.’

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Burkey loves J.R.R. Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings work. Breakfield is a fan of Kevin J. Anderson and his work on the Dune series. These authors are some of the best storytellers and are easily the prized benchmark for other writers.

Do you have a target reader?

Our best target readers are anyone who wants to lead the fight against injustice. We tend to write for mystery fans who are young adults or older.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

We typically sketch out the new book’s first ten to twenty chapters. These are captured in a spreadsheet for tracking and organization. We use our patent pending writing technique of literary ping-pong to bat the freshly created chapters back and forth to each other electronically for story-smithing and character polishing. We quickly shift and move chapters if needed as new chapters are added. We aim to have a finalized novel that sounds like a single voice wrote it.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes, a high-level outline is where we begin. Sometimes, chapter content gets spawned too quickly, ending up out of sequence from dreams or ideas that appear from the left or right field. There are times when we write in fits and starts which leads to extensive repair efforts. Inspiration may whisper in one of our ears resulting in the four most terrifying words in our vocabulary “I have an idea…”. But that is what makes writing fun for us.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

The simple answer is yes. We work together on writing, but editing is critical throughout the process. However, we give our draft manuscript to the first-round editor when we believe we’re too close to the story to identify the flaws quickly. You know, that forest for the tree’s thing.

Did you hire a professional editor?

We use our first-line editor to catch things like missing words, wrong words, mixed tenses, etc. Burkey types fast and has the form/from an issue where spell check doesn’t alert to an error. During our process, we send to a genre editor and beta readers who haven’t read any portion in advance for a fresh set of eyes. We do the final read after all the changes before we stick a fork in it and call it done.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No, we both prefer the quiet of the early morning for creating content.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Breakfield & Burkey publish through ICABOD Press. We still shop our books and screenplay into competitions being graded by agents and producers.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

We originally published with Auerbach Press, but those were nonfiction technical manuals. When we approached them to publish our first technothriller, they declined. We boldly decided to become independent authors. It has been a rocky road, but we have learned a lot along our journey.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

We initially tried doing our covers but realized our books would die of the loneliness of obscurity on shelves if we didn’t get a professional graphic design master to do our covers. Rebecca Finkel of F + P Graphic Design, FPGD.com, does our covers and interior designs. We work with her every step of the way to design the right cover for each story and to maintain our branding. We have a marvelous collaborative partnership and have won more than one cover award.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

Each book has a marketing plan, ad campaign, video trailers, and social media blitz built for it. If we are releasing an audiobook, as with our technothrillers, this is done as a separate announcement with its own press release and social media blasts. We invite your readers to visit our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnigmaSeries, to find some awesome videos about our stories and us.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Don’t give up the day job. Being an Indie Author is difficult, but you will meet some dedicated people who can help provide you with tools and ideas in the ever-changing marketplace of books. Keep writing and get feedback. Don’t skip professional editing at some level. Don’t just have family provide feedback; they love you too much and won’t tell you the truth. Make it your best story.

About You

Where did you grow up?

Who said we’ve grown up? How, as we ask every year, did Asia fare in the “Best Books” lists of 2024? As before, this list takes a broad view of what constitutes an “Asian” book. Click on the title for our review and listen to the podcast where listed.

Economist

Raiders, Rulers and Traders by David Chaffetz (podcast, excerpt)
Revolusi by David Van Reybrouck
Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh
The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll

NYT 100 Notable Books

Chop Fry Watch Learn by Michelle T King (podcast)
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Connie by Connie Chung
The New India by Rahul Bhatia

Washington Post Fiction Non-Fiction

At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning With China by Edward Wong
Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj
The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll
Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses by MG Sheftall

Foreign Affairs

Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji
A Nasty Little War: The Western Intervention Into the Russian Civil War by Anna Reid
The Ghosts of Iraq’s Marshes: A History of Conflict, Tragedy, and Restoration by Steve Lonergan, Jassim Al-Asadi, and Keith Holmes
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall
The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy by Suisheng Zhao
Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific by Mireya Solís

History Today

The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China’s Future by Jonathan Chatwin (podcast)
Empire of Contingency: How Portugal Entered the Indo-Persian World by Jorge Flores
Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World by David Van Reybrouck
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple
Singing with the Mountains: The Language of God in the Afghan Highlands by William EB Sherman
The Art of Freedom: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Making of Modern India by Nico Slate
Ruling Devotion: The Hindu Temple in the Imperial Imagination, 1800-1946 by Deborah Sutton
A Nasty Little War: The West’s Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution by Anna Reid
The Order and Disorder of Communication: Pamphlets and Polemics in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire by Nir Shafir
Children of the Ghetto: Star of the Sea by Elias Khoury
The End of the Nineteen Nineties by Hafiz Noor Shams

China Books Review

At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning With China by Edward Wong
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson by Paul French (podcast)
Other Rivers: A Chinese Education by Peter Hessler
The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China’s Future by Jonathan Chatwin (podcast)
Chop Fry Watch Learn by Michelle T King (podcast)
Zhou Enlai, A Life by Chen Jian
The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform by Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian
The Conscience of the Party: Hu Yaobang, China’s Communist Reformer by Robert L Suettinger
The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age by Thomas S Mullaney

CrimeReads

Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
Shanghai by Joseph Kanon
Black River by Nilanjana Roy

Smithsonian

Silk: A World History by Aarathi Prasad (podcast)
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now
Sea Beach by Ismail Ferdous
My Vietnam, Your Vietnam by Christina Vo and Nghia M Vo
Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food by Fadi Kattan
Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook by Nini Nguyen with Sarah Zorn
Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon
The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir by Susan Lieu

TIME: 100 Must Read of Books of 2024

Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder
Shanghailanders by Juli Min (podcast)
Knife by Salman Rushdie
The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary
The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
Connie by Connie Chung
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Root Fractures by Diana Khoi Nguyen
Your Utopia by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
[…]: Poems by Fady Joudah

Globe & Mail

Batshit Seven by Sheung-King
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel
Here After by Amy Lin
Everything and Nothing At All y Jenny Heijun Will
Knife by Salman Rushdie
Blood Rubies by Mailan Doquan

CBC: The best Canadian fiction of 2024

Batshit Seven by Sheung-King
A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Death by a Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat
Bad Land by Corinna Chong
Peacocks of Instagram by Deepa Rajagopalan
Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson

Electric Lit’s Best Novels of 2024

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Anthropologists by Aysegül Savas
Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang
Exhibit by RO Kwon

Publisher’s Weekly

Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota
Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto by Kohei Saito, translated by Brian Bergstrom
The Invention of the Darling by Li-Young Lee
A Year of Last Things by Michael Ondaatje
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Little Shrew by Akiko Miyakoshi
We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America by Joanna Ho, illustrated. by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiy
Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back by Ruth Chan

Interview With Author Pastor Andreas Fischer

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 18:47:00 +0000

1. What is your book, The Illusion Of Choice, about? The Illusion of Choice explores the relationship and impact the overwhelming amount of information has on today’s society, brought to us through a massive information flow in the digital landscape and in media. It shows how it influences our perception of reality and our decision-making, with the goal to obtain more control over humanity. The book provides to readers biblical revelations as well as biblical principles that bring to light these facts as well as offer solutions on how to navigate through all the noise with truth and faith. The book encourages the reader to apply biblical principles that provide revelation about their own lives, living a life that is not dependent on outside influences and circumstances but on the plan and purpose of God.

2. What inspired you to write it? The inspiration and motivation to write this book began during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. During that time period, I noticed the important role screen time had in our daily lives. The influence television and social media had on a population that was hungry for news was tremendous. The part that brought me to sit down and begin to write was the fact that it was very visible to observe how information was used to influence people into making decisions. My desire as a Missionary/ Pastor has always been and is to help people. By writing my first book I wanted to bring this vital information and revelation to a greater audience, outside of my church. It has led me to write another three books since I began.

3. You raise an important question: How do we know what is true, given the overload of information that the Internet and mass media feeds us? So, how do we? I read news articles from different continents in three languages and I can say that world events are reported very differently depending on the country you live in and on what ideological spectrum the media organization operates under. As consumers of information via our screens, just like with the food that we eat, we must learn to choose what information we consume and from where. It is up to us to question and research to make sure that what is presented to us reflects the facts, all the facts. This is true no only for politics, but also for the products we buy, the food we consume and the medications we use. We no longer can be consumers of information that simply believe what is presented and live without doing our own research.

4. Based on all of the information that we consume, are we each really free to make appropriate choices and decisions? Why do we buy a certain product over another? Why do we vote for one person over another? How we arrive at these decisions or choices is very important. Information is most certainly a part of that process. We live connected to this world and no-one living within it, out of their own strength and intelligence can make choices completely free from all the influences that are all around us. True freedom to make choices comes when we disconnect from all that is worldly and turn our lives over to God. In service to God our choices are not based on by what might be gained personally or changed here in this world, they are made to fulfill the plan and purpose of God for our lives.

5. By what perspective should we choose to live by? Anybody can choose a perspective through which they see the world and then live by it. There are many religions in the world through which we can see the world we live in, who we are and how to live. Others that do not believe in religion focus on science or ideologies, and through these they see themselves and the world around them. Each "option" produces different opinions on the purpose of life and why we are here on earth. For me personally, Christianity is the only path I have seen that gives detailed information about our existence and purpose from the beginning of it all until the end. Having a biblical perspective has brought me to experience things that otherwise I would never have experienced and has brought me to a life of peace and joy, no matter what is happening in my life or all around me.

6. You believe that forgotten biblical principles can help us navigate uncertain times and help each of us to live our full potential. Why do you say this? I say this because I have applied them in my personal life with success and have taught others to do so also in their personal lives. Living guided by biblical principles, you have something that is founded on a deep timeless foundation that will help you withstand any type of situation and really bring out the best in you, often times things that you never thought you would be able to do. In the Bible we find stories of many people that led "normal" lives in whatever profession and work. But with biblical principles for example a fisher man became an Apostle and a shy man, that thought of himself as insignificant (Gideon), became a warrior that freed his nation. It is no different today. We apply these principles, and our lives will change and we will discover our true potential.

7. Is all screen time bad or does it merely need to be reduced? As it is with anything in our lives, too much of one thing is never good! Screen time can be used in many different ways, but that depends on us, the user. If we use our screen time with a specific purpose and not just to sit around all day and scroll through social media feeds, screen time can be very productive and useful. We have to make the decision on how we use our time every day and that includes screen time ( Social media, internet, television). Once screen time turns into an addiction and life without it seems impossible, then it can become very destructive and will have a negative impact on our lives.