Why Authors Need Book Reviews

Reviews are vitally important for writers because reviews give some desperately needed attention to a book and to an author that otherwise is hard to come by. Reviews are especially important for indie writers who are in danger of getting lost in the ocean of books published every year. What it gets down to is this: who is going to read a writer’s book if they’ve never heard of it?
 
Researchers have learned that readers typically choose a book by these three factors: 1) the reader previously read a book by the same author and liked it; 2) a friend recommended a book to the reader; and 3) the reader liked the cover of the book. Reviews don’t really sell books. They are primarily useful to let readers know that the book exists and is available to be read.
 
Nicholas Erik, a writer of science fiction and a book marketing specialist tells us that the value of book reviews are primarily to provide what he calls “social proof.” That is, if the reader looks at a book on Amazon or Goodreads or one of the other sites, the reader is probably going to be less impressed by a book that has no reviews or only two or three. If the book has twenty reviews with four or five stars, the reader is more likely to take a chance on it. Second, those books with reviews qualify for “promo sites” which promote a book. A listing on a promo site, chief among them Bookbub, is much more likely to lead to sales. But many promo sites require that social proof first.
 
The third way that a review is helpful to an author is by providing feedback that the author can use to improve his/her writing. This is the greatest help of all. But this assumes the reviewer knows what s/he is doing, even when the review is very brief.  Let’s look at this more closely.
 
What Makes a Good Review?
 
I took a two-semester course in arts criticism when I was an undergrad student. The professor was a filmmaker so we talked a lot about films, but books and art were subjects, too. My professor gave us three guidelines on how to write arts criticism.
 
1. What is the author or artist’s message or theme? 2) How well does the artist convey the message? 3) Is the message worth conveying?
 
Taking each one in turn, first, what is the author’s message or theme? A fiction book is usually categorized in a particular genre such as mystery, action-thriller, romance, sci-fi, paranormal or the more ambiguous term of “literary.” It’s up to the reader to determine what the message or theme of the book is. Perhaps we’re looking at a cozy mystery in which the author describes a clever and resourceful amateur woman sleuth who solves crimes in her small town (think Miss Marple) or a young man who discovers that he is a brave and determined warrior destined to save a revolutionary movement against an evil galactic empire. (Luke Skywalker).
 
Readers figure out what’s going on and then judge the book by how well this message or theme is carried out by the writer. The mistake many reviewers make is approaching the work with a preconceived notion of what should or should not be in the book, and then judging it harshly by these preconceived notions rather than judging it for what it is and on its own merit.
 
For example, if the reader loves cozy mysteries with a cat in them, a mystery book with a dog in it could be subjected to a negative review, not on the merits of the book, but on the fact that there’s no cat in the book! My advice is to find a book that includes a cat rather than trashing an otherwise good book because it has a dog in it.
 
I would never criticize a sci-fi thriller because there is no romance in it. I wouldn't criticize a romance for failing to have space opera battles. I don't criticize a mystery because I have the preconceived notion that all mysteries MUST be Raymond Chandler-style noir detective stories, If they are not noir, then they are no good. I look at mystery fiction in all its subgenres and start where the book starts. In other words, I look at the writer's message or theme, not my preconceived notion of what it's supposed to be. I wrote a blog, “Mystery Genres and the Elements of Fiction,” that addresses this issue. (https://www.cjshane.com/blog/mystery-genres-and-the-elements-of-fiction)
 
Here’s another example of this kind of faulty review. One of my reviewers said at the outset that the reviewer doesn’t like books written in the third person. My book is in the third person. This reviewer also complained about one place in the book where there was point-of-view switch (intentional on my part). The reviewer did not mention plot, characterization, setting, themes, etc. Only voice and point of view were mentioned. I did not find this review helpful because the reviewer’s criticisms were entirely subjective.
 
Second, how well does the author convey the message?  This is actually the easiest one, in my opinion. If you are reading a suspense-thriller and find yourself falling asleep, then the writer probably didn’t do a very good job of creating suspense. If you are reading a romance and you find yourself disliking the characters and hoping they can escape each other, then that’s not very romantic, is it? What it gets down to is this. Are you enjoying reading this book? Why? or why not?
 
Third, is the message worth conveying?  This is the trickiest guideline because the reader gets to decide what is worth conveying and that can be very subjective. It’s really easy to project your own notion of “unworthy” onto a work that could very well be considered “worthy” by other readers.
 
Recently I encountered a reader who disliked some passages of a steamy romance, then declared, “We shouldn’t have to be subjected that kind of stuff.” My answer to this is: YOU don’t have to subject yourself that kind of stuff. If you don’t like steamy, don’t read it! Keep in mind, though, that other readers love steamy.
 
The only time I refused to review a book, a crime thriller, on the basis of an unworthy message was because it had lengthy (20 pages or more) descriptions of the violent torture of women. The detailed descriptions went into how a serial killer abducted women, caged them in a barn, took them out individually, raped and dismembered each one while still alive and while the others were forced to watch. I sent a WTF? message to the writer. His answer was, “There are people doing that kind of thing.” Yes, I know! But do we want a “how-to” manual on it in a work of fiction? No. That kind of detailed description of a crime is often called “torture porn.” I don’t consider it a worthy way of treating that type of crime in fiction.
 
My first Letty Valdez Mystery, Desert Jade, took up the issue of sex trafficking and smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. There were no explicit descriptions of these crimes which do exist in the real world, but which need no detailed, how-to instructions on the suffering involved.
 
A good review can be very helpful. I am grateful to those reviewers who complained about my failure to follow up and keep the reader informed about what happened to Esperanza in Desert Jade. She was introduced early in the book, people fell in love with her, and they were concerned about her welfare. They rightfully criticized me because I didn’t tell readers what happened to her until near the end of the book. Now, that’s good criticism. I won’t make that mistake again!
 
My message to, dear Reader, is this: Please give your author and his/her book the favor of your review. Just a couple of sentences will do. Post it on your favorite vendor’s site (Amazon, B&N, iBooks, etc.) or on your favorite reader-oriented website like Goodreads and Bookbub. You can help another reader discover what you discovered and enjoy a new book. You can help a writer to keep his/her fictional world alive and afloat in the ocean of books.

Advice for artists, and especially for writers, makes it clear that “platform building” is an important factor in success. Success here is defined as getting some notice of your work, with the hope that this will lead to sales of your books or art.  Building a platform includes a constant presence and making frequent posts on social media.
 
I have my favorite social media sites. Pinterest is probably my favorite for art and Goodreads or maybe Bookbub for books. For years, I was on Google +. I was one of the beta users of G+, and like most G+ users, we were very unhappy when Google decided to close this social media. We refer to ourselves as G+ refugees. I liked G+ because it was possible to avoid a lot of the political and social warfare we see on social media these days. Facebook is especially bad for that although there have been some efforts recently to reduce the combative environment.  I was friends with a lot of interesting people on G+, primarily writers and artists from all over the world. I miss Google+.
 
So a few months ago, I started an account at Twitter. It turns out that it’s very possible to engage in cultural warfare on Twitter, too, if so inclined. I’ve managed to avoid that so far. I noticed right away that Twitter, like most social media, is like a digital bubble. You get inside the bubble and trade posts with people who think the same way you do.
 
Much to my delight, I found that Twitter is also a way to connect with people I would not otherwise be aware of. Prime among these are scientists, in particular, environmental scientists. Consequently, I “follow” many of these scientists and also science-oriented organizations such as the Center for Biological Diversity based in Tucson.
 
Who are the other Twitter posters I decided to follow?  Well, the artists and writers, of course. I also follow certain individuals and groups devoted to human rights and social justice. In recent months, that has been people and organizations attempting to alleviate the suffering on the U.S.-Mexico border.
 
So if you are a person who has a deep interest in these subjects: environmental science, art, books, and human rights/social justice, then follow me on Twitter here: @CJShaneArtBooks
​

Jerry Cagle is a former cytologist, a profession that refers to the “microscopic interpretation of cells to detect cancer and other abnormalities.” (Wikipedia) He tells us that he decided rather abruptly late in his career to change professions and become a fine art photographer. He now refers to himself as a visual storyteller, and he explains the connection between his art and science.  See more of his work at:
https://limbicsystemphotoworks.zenfolio.com/

Jerry, what motivated you to move from a hard science profession, cytotechnology? And to do so “abruptly,” as you have said?  [click on images to enlarge]

​ 
I was at a dead-end in my profession; I was burnt out and had been passed over for promotion to a supervisory position the year before. A new manager from the lab in Phoenix had been brought in; there was a marked shift in the culture of the workplace, and I was having difficulty adapting to the new, more corporate environment. I hadn’t actually been planning to retire, but, after discussing the situation with my wife, I gave my two- weeks notice.
 
We had recently returned from a backpacking trip to the Escalante in Southern Utah, and I saw something in a number of the photos I had made with my little point and shoot camera that stirred my interest. I purchased the cheapest DSLR Nikon made and began taking pictures of anything and everything. I thought that I might, through the sale of my work, supplement my retirement income. That was a little over six years ago. I have experienced a fair amount of success with my work. I regularly exhibit locally, and last year I had work included in one national and one international competition. It turns out that my assumptions regarding the fiscal potential were, shall we say, naïve, and my long-suffering wife has become an unwitting patron of the arts.
 
Cytology is a highly visual profession, and much of the diagnostic process takes place on a subconscious level. When I was investigating the field, prior to enrolling in the university, I spoke with a practicing cytologist, and she asked me if I was an artist. I thought this a peculiar question. She remarked that artists tended to do very well in cytology. One of the nine sister muses, Urania, created astronomy, another visual science, so, perhaps, it isn’t such a leap as it might first appear.
 
Your Limbic System Photoworks refers to the limbic system in animals which you define as “a collection of structures in the brain that are the primary locus of emotional life and the formation of memories.”  Why do you see emotions and memory as the foundation of your artwork? Do you refer to emotions and memory in the viewers of your artwork or to your own emotions and memories, or both?
 
My wife came up with the idea of calling the business Limbic System Photoworks, both as a nod to my background in the sciences and as a way of bridging that and this new adventure I was embarking on. I thought it was brilliant! It was such an eloquent way of expressing the connection between science and art.
 
My goal in my nature work is, first and foremost, to elicit a strong emotional response from the viewer For what it’s worth, I consider myself as not just the creator, but, also, one of the viewers. But more to your question – I am referring to both my own and others’ responses. In my landscape and nature images the response I am usually seeking is a “positive” one – awe, contentment, peace, a sense that the world is a beautiful, friendly, and welcoming place, but other times I like to do something a little ominous, unsettling – impending storms and other extreme environments, processes of decay and mortality. In my more conceptual bodies of work, my intent is to pose questions or create situations that may make some viewers a bit uncomfortable, to create a degree of “psychological tension”. In that work I explore questions dealing, sometimes directly, other times obliquely, with religious beliefs, spirituality, mortality, fear, et. al.
 
The memory aspect relates loosely to the Jungian concept of the “collective unconscious” and “ancestral memory”. I admit to exercising artistic license in this concept. Photography is particularly well suited to bridging an individual’s personal experience with the experience of others, both in the present and across the arc of human history. The collective unconscious deals in archetypes and symbolism. Jung described it as encompassing “the soul of humanity at large”. Someone with no direct experience of wild natural environments, someone who has never ventured outside the confines of the city, can, nevertheless, be stirred by images that depict places, where the hand of man is not readily apparent. These places call out to us and draw us in on a deep level. 

​You work in color, black-and-white, and monochromatic sepia tones. How do you decide which palette to use? And does this choice have a role in eliciting emotion and memory?
 
At the risk of being branded as a little soft around the edges, I will say that I don’t make the decision as to what palette I use – the work tells me. Sometimes I create multiple iterations - color and straight black & white or toned monochromes, or all three. There is an old maxim in photography that holds the concept of “previsualization”, i.e.  knowing exactly what the finished image will look like prior to releasing the shutter, as the consummate expression of skill and artistry. It is held up as a sign of personal integrity (or lack thereof). Some would consider letting the work speak for itself in that way as akin to heresy, but I see it as an organic, evolutionary process. I don’t always know exactly what my motivation is when I release the shutter; there is something at work on a subconscious level that sometimes only reveals itself during subsequent review.
 
Regarding choice of color vs monochrome, each impacts how an image works on us in a variety of ways. Monochrome work abstracts an image and sepia tones evoke the past, an amorphous dream-like state. Color can abstract to a degree as well.  The limitations are essentially endless with digital work. Photography affords the luxury of being able to create, with relative ease, variations on a theme, whether in choice of palette or other aspects, e.g. dodging and burning (selectively lightening and darkening specific areas of the image), contrast, saturation/desaturation, etc. It’s a very powerful tool. Someone who thinks that photography is just a matter of pushing a button obviously hasn’t experienced the “plague of choices” you face in post-production work.
 
I am considering changing, somewhat in jest, the tagline on my website from “I don’t photograph what is in front of me. I photograph what is inside of me.” to “I hate landscape photography, but I can’t stop doing it.”
 
Your work is deeply informed by the American Southwest and the Sonoran Desert in particular. Is there any other place in the world that you would really like to photograph? And if so, why?
 
 
Yes. Definitely. The American South. I am enamored of The South. I spent my formative years there, and, even though I haven’t lived there in more than 25 years, I still identify as a Southerner. Despite the misconceptions, and, yes, uncomfortable truths that accompany that label, the fact is that the South, even with its issues of race, chauvinism, provincialism, and history of violent oppression, is a romantically and visually (have you ever seen the serviceberry blooming in the otherwise bare springtime woods?) rich and diverse region; culturally, socially, intellectually, and demographically. We of the South have a strong literary tradition - Donald Harington, Faulkner, Harper Lee, Eudora Welty, Foote, and W.B. DuBois.  “Southern Art” is an admittedly ill-defined genre, if, indeed, such a thing actually exists. There are Southern photographers whose work deals with the South directly and metaphorically – Greg Banks, Sally Mann, Keith Carter, Clarence John Laughlin, Gordon Parks. Painters from the South whose work holds together stylistically or thematically as “Southern” are harder to find. Southern music is legion and readily identifiable, in all its aspects, as a regional entity.
I would love to photograph in Savannah, Georgia, and I have been salivating over the possibility of being selected to participate in the artist-in-residence program in Hot Springs National Park (in Arkansas), but due to funding shortages it has been placed on moratorium for the past couple of years.
 
What do you think are the major challenges you and other artists in southern Arizona face today?
 
The availability of studio space is going to be reduced as the gentrification of downtown accelerates. Thirty artists on Toole Avenue were recently displaced when their studios were removed to accommodate a new restaurant. That will make it even harder for full-time artists to support themselves from their work.

Melody Sears is a Tucson-based pastel artist. She says in her artist’s statement:  “Most of my work depicts the desert landscapes around me because I am constantly moved by the effects of the light, the shapes and the colors I see here in Arizona and New Mexico. I do not take what I see for granted. I know things will change; I’ve experienced those changes firsthand. Wildfires, floods, monsoon rains, years of drought, years of plenty—I’ve lived through all of these. And each new season, each weather event, seems to remake the world again…and inspire new paintings!” See more of Melody’s artwork at https://melodysearsart.com/
[click on images to enlarge]
​

Melody, why did you choose soft pastel to express the landscape?  In your view, what are the advantages of soft pastel over other mediums?
 
Pastel painting for me is a very personal, tactile experience. Unlike mediums that are applied with a brush, I hold pastel sticks with my thumb and one or two fingers so it almost feels like the color emanates directly from my hand—there is no distance between me and the painting.
 
Pastels are pure ground pigments held together with just a tiny bit of binder so in my eye they are color in its purest sense, undiluted by oils or water. The tiny ground-up particles reflect light and when applied to a sanded paper can create a subtle sparkle—a liveliness—that other mediums don’t share. Pastel manufacturers today have created hundreds of colors (thousands, more like) in various hardnesses suitable for techniques ranging from pure line drawings to rich painterly effects. Thus they are versatile. And since they require no drying time they are very practical, for I can start and stop on a painting as I choose.
 
The softest pastels have a creaminess that is simply delicious (metaphorically) to paint with. I can lay in the shape of a mountain with its deeper shadow colors then grab a lighter soft pastel representing the color from a lowering sun as its light hits some peaks and with a few strokes I’ve shaped and highlighted those peaks. The range of colors available, the differing hardnesses of various pastel brands, and the variety of marks I can make using pastels as if they were pencils or brushes make it a pleasure for me to express light, shadows and contours of the landscape with this medium.
  
Tell us about your experiences of plein air painting. Is it as pleasurable as working in the studio? more pleasurable? How do you deal with the challenges of plein air painting?
 
Plein air painting is simply a blast. To be outdoors trying to capture a beautiful view in a short amount of time is a daunting challenge—I have two hours or less to paint because the movement of the sun drastically changes the shadow shapes, colors and mood of any scene. When it works and I’ve accomplished what I hoped to, there is nothing quite like the exhilaration I feel. When it doesn’t work I’ve still had a great time being out in nature doing something I love.
 
Dealing with the challenges of plein air painting requires just a bit of advance planning. I have a hat, sunscreen, bug spray, plenty of water, a snack, a neckerchief to keep gnats out of my ears when necessary or to wet and wrap around my neck in hot weather, extra pastel paper, paper towels, a camera, my box of pastels, my easel attachment and tripod. I worked outside alone for 15 years without a cell phone or buddy. I now have a phone which doubles as a camera but I much prefer to paint alone and have never had a problem being on my own.
 
The one thing I do fret about is wind, having dealt with two experiences when my easel was knocked over by wind gusts. Imagine trying to find 150+ pieces of pastel, many of them shattered by the fall, in a patch of thick grass or rolling down a hill. Not fun!
 
Working in my studio is a more measured yet equally joyful and satisfying experience. Studio work for me is accompanied by a lot of time stepping back and letting my eyes and heart drift around the painting, feeling it out. I rarely work directly from smaller sketches or photographs to create larger versions of the same subject. Instead I try to discover more in a painting than I first imagined it to be, often adding elements from memory or by consulting my library of reference photos.

our website has two major collections of work. First, desert landscape and sky, and second, desert waters. Do you have a favorite location or locations that you find yourself returning to again and again to paint?
 
The deserts of Arizona and New Mexico have been my home for many decades. I feel like I understand these deserts at some personal, elemental level, and I paint them in order to remember them. If I could paint only one subject it would have to be desert waters, for water in the desert is such a precious gift. But then I would be grief-stricken if I couldn’t also paint rocks! Happily I can devote equal time to both and some of the paintings I enjoy most are a combination of landscapes and water.
 
As for favorite locations to paint, for eleven years in New Mexico I painted two different creeks during all seasons and in all conditions, including dry. I will continue to do so with regular trips back to that area. In Arizona my favorite spot is Catalina State Park, where the mountains continually inspire me and I can often find water to paint. I’ve recently moved back to Tucson from New Mexico and am reacquainting myself with favorite painting locales from years ago.
 
 
What do you think are the major challenges you and other artists in southern Arizona face today?
 
Major challenges for me, as for most artists, include finding collectors to buy my paintings. There are fewer and fewer traditional brick and mortar art galleries in operation, so artists are forced to spend a lot of their productive time finding other ways to promote and sell their artwork. I submit my work to several online showcases and apply to many local and national juried exhibitions, showing with several each year.
 
The internet can be a curse and a blessing both. Artists like myself now use websites and newsletters to connect with a wider audience, and some promote themselves via Facebook, Instagram, and other internet venues. Nevertheless, it seems that younger generations, hopefully our future art collectors, are less interested in original fine art than in acquiring posters and prints from online sources. I know this is reasonable given many are just starting out in life. But I fear that a lack of art education, in both the history of art and the doing of art, will result in a population that has no understanding or appreciation of the intrinsic value of original art, which saddens me.

Writers of fiction, especially genre fiction, will refer to themselves as either “pantsers” or “plotters.”  A pantser writes by the seat-of-his/her-pants. These writers just go for it based on an idea that they have. Plotters, on the other hand, are careful planners and will make outlines and detailed notes before writing a single word. Most writers say that they are a combination of both types.
 
When I started my Letty Valdez Mysteries series with Desert Jade, I was more of a pantser. I had a general idea of what was going to happen and when. I started with the crime. That is also true of Dragon’s Revenge. I started with the idea that my dragon was going to be the victim of a crime, primarily because of racism in late 19th century Arizona Territory. And I knew that my dragon would get his revenge in the end.
​
My latest Letty mystery, Daemon Waters, is different. I started as usual with a crime in mind. Then specific scenes started to appear, but not in any kind of order. The pantser approach just wasn’t going to work. I ended up putting the scenes on little slips of paper, then ordering the slips in the order that chapters would appear. The slips of paper method made it possible to reorder the chapters more easily. Then I wrote an expanded outline of the book with extensive comments about what would go in each chapter. Much to my surprise, the crime I thought I was writing about transformed itself into something new and more complicated.
 
The other issue with this book has nothing to do with pantsers and plotters. I am dealing with a character who is trying to take over and make the book about….well, I better not say.  The character is that fellow who appeared at the end of Dragon’s Revenge – the one that Teddy the black lab found in a tree.
 
So it’s late February. I don’t expect Daemon Waters to be finished and ready to publish until the summer. Writing takes a while.
 
How about you? Are you a writer? (of anything, not just genre fiction). What’s your style of writing? Are you a visual artist? Do you plan your artwork in advance (plotter) or just go for it and start throwing paint on canvas? (pantser).  Feel free to comment. 

​I was very pleased to see a four page spread in the January issue of Zócalo magazine about the Art Trails Spring Open Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday, February 2-3. The Zócalo ad has an excellent map of studio locations on the tour which covers the northwest and west sides of Tucson stretching from Oro Valley to Tucson Estates. We also see listings of the artists and photos of their work. You can get the same information on Art Trail’s website. https://www.arttrails.org/
 
Also good to know is that Art Trails has survived the assault on local arts groups. By “local artists’ groups,” I refer to Art Trails and Heart of Tucson Art (HotArt). The assault has come from arts administrators in SAACA (Southern Arizona Arts and Culture Alliance) and Arts Foundation of Tucson and Southern Arizona. Despite a clear promise to support these groups, SAACA instead demanded obsequious compliance and when SAACA didn’t get this compliance in the fall of 2016, SAACA set up its own fall studio tour. Rather that support, SAACA completely undermined Art Trails and HotArt.

To repeat ad nauseam (I’ve written about this on the Editor’s Page of Sonoran Arts Network), here’s what is wrong with SAACA’s fall tour.
 
1. SAACA created a two weekend tour but stupidly divided the city into two parts: a northern, less populated part, and a southern highly-populated area in which both downtown and mid-town artists are lumped into one tour. To add insult to injury, SAACA extended the tour to all of southern Arizona (Bisbee and Tubac included!). Obviously there are too many studios to visit in this second weekend tour. In response, tour visitors go to clusters of studios where they can see as many studios as possible in a smaller area. This mainly means downtown. So mid-town artists got screwed despite paying the same fees as all other artists. That’s why a division north to south, not east to west, is needed. Art Trails takes the west and HotArt is in the east and mid-town.
 
2. Tour materials produced by SAACA are decidedly inferior. Last fall (2018), SAACA produced a map and guide to studios with no images of artwork and in print so tiny that a magnifying glass was needed to read it. Both Art Trails and HoT Art produced far better, colorful guides and maps. Unfortunately, we won’t see any decent fall tour guides and maps anymore because SAACA has completely taken control over the fall studio tour now. Art Trails and HotArt have been pushed out.
 
3. Ominously, Arts Foundation sent out a survey to artists asking them how much they’d be willing to pay to participate in the fall studio tour. The survey listed several levels of payment at more and more expensive levels. What the artists would get for all this money was not made clear at all. I won’t be a bit surprised to see artists being forced to pay higher and higher participation fees for various services of dubious quality.
 
5. The arts administrators don’t get what the purpose of a studio tour is. The purpose is to make it possible for artists to get as many visitors to their studios as possible. The purpose is not to brag to your fellow arts administrators that you signed up more artists than ever. It’s not about quantity. It’s about quality.
 
I wish the best of luck to Art Trails artists and also to Hot Art artists for its spring tour. You will need it. 

Introduction:
P.S. Meraux is a writer based in Georgia. Her Luminary series is the recipient of a Silver Readers’ Favorite Book Award.  Her most recent novel, Without Merit, received a Gold Readers’ Favorite Book Award. In this interview, P.S. uses the terms YA which refers to Young Adult, typically teenagers, and NA which refers to New Adult – readers who are older teens up to about age 30. As many of you know, I spent several years working as a college reference librarian. I’ve always been a fan of YA literature. Some of these books are the best written and well-worth a read, no matter how old you are!  
 
 
You describe yourself as a writer of YA (young adult) paranormal romance novels. What drew you to write for this age group? What’s the attraction of the paranormal to you and your readers?
 
            I stumbled into it actually. One day I read an interview that Stephanie Meyer's muse was an image from her sleep. Well, the green-eyed monster was upon me. My dreams are so predictably boring with topics like; Did I pay the phone bill? Was the chicken in the marinade? Or sometimes I go to the gym in my sleep -- nothing remotely inspiring as a vampire-werewolf-human love triangle.
            Several weeks went by with me being grouchy at my dreams for their lack of creative input. You may scoff at this but I really was. Then I awoke in the middle of the night with a full bladder, not only were the dreams not stepping up but drinking wine before bed didn't help either. Or did it?
            I had this image dancing behind my eyelids of an immortal, a witch and an animated candelabra rushing down this amorphous corridor that was being created as they went forward by the candelabra's lively attachment. I didn't understand where it came from. I couldn't recall seeing anything online, on my phone, on the big screen or small -- that could have been the root of it. I wondered where they were going? Why the rush? Why were these different character types in this cluster?
            I jotted a note to myself and went back to bed, wondering if more would be revealed in my sleep. It wasn't. Oddly enough, I didn't need the note. When I awoke I remembered the images in vivid detail. Over a morning cup of coffee. or perhaps half a dozen, I sat at my desk and found myself outlining the story of these characters. That initial image, while similar to one in Luminary, actually led me to reverse engineer this epic story. That 'dreamed image' is actually something in the last book in the series.
            I suspect that I write for YA and NA readers because that's where my mindset is. I might try my hand at a more mature story someday. I have an idea for a series, but I don't have the character firmly set up in my mind; how she speaks, what her motivation is, what ticks her off -- and I need to get that set so she'll be authentic.
            I think people like to believe in magic and the paranormal. Maybe it's not the bib-bidi-bob-bidi-boo kind, but unexplained things happen all the time. Running into that cute guy a second time on the subway, meeting a new friend who will talk straight to you-- just when you need it, or getting insight into how to write a better novel -- from strangers you meet online.  Sometimes the stars align and presto -- you get just what you need.
 
Do you have a favorite author in this genre? or a favorite author in another genre?
 
            Asking me that is like asking if I have a favorite pair of shoes. And if you'd ever seen my closet, your eyes would pop in absolute shock -- and you'd know that I have more than one pair. Much more.  I have eclectic tastes and like: Cassandra Clare, Richelle Mead, Lauren Kate, in addition to the above mentioned Stephanie Meyer -- all are great paranormal romance authors. I also read: J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, J.R. Ward, Diana Gabaldon, Sara Donati, Agatha Christie, Laurie King, Robert Ludlum and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 
 
Your most recent novel, Without Merit, is described as a “supernatural, mystery thriller.”  The teenage girl in the story wakes up in a hospital with near-total amnesia. What gave you the idea for this story?
 
            I was sitting in Gatwick International Airport (London) waiting to board a plane for home. I'd been in Scotland visiting my relatives and castle hopping. A guy sitting next to me was playing a Liam Neeson movie, "Unknown," on his iPad.  It's basically a derivative of the Jason Bourne series.  There are so many books about "amnesia victims searching for their identity" it's almost a trope by now.  
            I remember thinking, "What if the amnesia victim wasn't human?"  Suddenly a whole bunch of possibilities opened up for a story.  I pulled out a notebook (yes, I travel with one) and outlined the first book before I boarded the plane. 
            The protagonist in Without Merit starts out thinking that she's this ordinary teen without a memory or parents. And as she learns the disturbing details of Merit's life, she has to wrestle with acceptance because Merit is not a nice person.
 
Without Merit seems to be essentially about her search for self-identity. She’s looking for a lot more than just learning her name and where she came from. Do you think this is a central issue for most teens – trying to figure out who they really are?
 
            No matter your age, we all get bombarded with all kinds of messages every day from television, social media, magazines, coworkers, friends and family. This is especially true for kids and teens. It takes a while for each of us to figure out who we are, what we stand for, and how we want to live our lives. Until a person has all of that sorted out, it can be easy to be influenced by outside voices.  Some of those voices are benign; some have ulterior motives.
            I intentionally let the protagonist in Without Merit make some mistakes, believe in people who shouldn't be trusted, and have her ideas about people blow up in her face. It was my way of testing her mettle and making her real.  I wanted her to fail, fall and get back up, which she does. She learns that she's stronger than she knows.
 
Your ability to write suspenseful action scenes and to create a sense of mystery is very impressive.  What do you think is the key to creating suspense and making your readers want to keep turning pages?
 
            Wow, thanks for the compliment, I really appreciate that.  I read a lot of books! I think about what intrigues me in a story. 
            I'm not afraid of having a character go off in one direction -- the wrong one -- if I can use the action to drive the story forward later on. I've been told that I write with a great deal of detail -- this from readers who like my work. (Smile). 
            I find that if I make a sequence of events believable, the reader will be carried along with the main character and when something happens or is 'about to happen' that heightens the reader's response.  
            I invest in my characters' emotions; fear, hope, ambition. I've written chapters where I began weeping while I was typing out the story.  There are some particularly heart-tugging scenes in my book, Flare, the final book in the Luminary series.   
 
What are you working on now?
 
            To be honest, I am quite shocked that I've written eight books so far. I didn't know that I had that many words in me. Right now, I'm outlining the second book in the Vessel series. Without Merit was book one of what will be a two-book series.  And I'm writing my first vampire novel at the same time. It's weird to be doing both but the vampire's story is entrenched in my head and he won't some bugging me until I get it finished. Hopefully that will be done by the first of the year.
 
 
Extra:  What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
 
            There's something uniquely self-satisfying about writing a story. Whether you're looking at a blank sheet of paper or a blank document on a computer screen, the act of creating a new universe, a country setting or a single character on that flat surface and making that place, person or thing become real and three dimensional, is just so frigging cool! 
            Corralling all those words is like rounding up wild colts, who insist on bucking and jumping about. Then I strap on a saddle and allow the characters to take me for a ride as I figure out where the story goes. Maybe it's a commentary on the way my mind works (or perhaps doesn't) but I find it absorbing, fulfilling and invigorating at the same time. 
            If what I write makes someone laugh or cry or think, then all the better. I've done my job. Giddy Up.
 
Learn more about P.S. Meraux at https://psmeraux.blogspot.com/

 ​Reviews by readers are always fun for me as a writer to read, and sometimes they are very informative as well. Some reviews are unhelpful. Saying “Oh, I love this book” is nice but doesn’t tell me much. Why did you love it?  That’s what I want to know. One Australian reviewer gave my Letty Valdez Mystery, Desert Jade, only two stars. The unhelpful comment was, “I just couldn’t get into the characters.”  Okay. Why not? What does that mean?
 
Then occasionally a review comes along that requires me to do some serious thinking about what I am trying to do when I write fiction. What is the goal? I come from a background in nonfiction writing so perhaps that question arises naturally.
 
I’m under no illusion that I’m writing great literature. Mysteries are genre fiction. I had been thinking that I just want to tell a good story and provide some fun and some relief from the madness we see around us now. Recently I received a review from a fellow named Thomas Hiller (a pseudonym). Hiller gave me some great things to think about so I’m very appreciative of his review. I’ve had to rethink the question of what I’m trying to do when I write fiction.
 
Elements of Fiction
First, the elements of fiction are: character, plot, setting, point-of-view, theme, and style. Most of these are self-evident except maybe for point-of-view (is the story from the point of view of “I”, “you” or “he/she?).
 
Theme is worthy of consideration. Here are some quotes about what a theme is: “The theme is the main idea the writer of the poem or story wants the reader to understand and remember.” “Theme in fiction is rarely presented at all; it is abstracted from the details of character and action that compose the story. It provides a unifying point….” “The theme in a story is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' In other words, what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey …This belief, or idea, transcends cultural barriers. It is usually universal in nature.” An example is the children’s book Charlotte’s Web with its theme of friendship.
 
Mystery Subgenres:
The mystery-suspense genre I write in has several subgenres:
private investigator; cozy mysteries (the most popular); amateur sleuths; police procedurals; forensic, legal, medical and historical mysteries, culinary, animal mysteries (includes dogs, cats, zoo animals, etc.), culinary, thrillers including international spy thrillers, and romantic suspense. And there’s the “noir” mystery often associated with the hard-boiled dick/private investigator story.
 
Hiller made it clear from the beginning that he’s a noir fan, especially he looks to Raymond Chandler’s character Philip Marlow as a model of what a good mystery really is. Chandler wrote hard-boiled fiction which is defined as: “… a tough, unsentimental style of American crime writing that brought a new tone of earthy realism or naturalism to the field of detective fiction. Hard-boiled fiction used graphic sex and violence, vivid but often sordid urban backgrounds, and fast-paced, slangy dialogue.” The photo (above) shows Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the classic noir book, then film The Big Sleep.
 
Hiller was clear in his review that Desert Jade failed as a noir detective story. His comments emphasized plot as most important, and he was not impressed at a plot that he viewed as too slow and with too much exposition to satisfy him. Yet, he was rather taken by other elements in the story – particular the landscape and the characters. He described the interactions between two characters, Esperanza and Eduardo, as “touching and poetic.” For these aspects, he gave the book five stars which he averaged out with the three stars given for the detective story to come up with a four-star rating.  
 
I’m going to set aside the problematic business of approaching an artwork with a pre-set view of what a work is  supposed to be, rather than what it is. This is sort of like going to the art museum, looking at a Mark Rothko painting, and then complaining that it doesn’t look like a Renoir or Frido Kahlo.
 
The real value of Hiller’s review is to look at what he thought worked and why, not at what didn’t work.  After reading his review, I realized that I never intended to write an action-packed, plot-oriented story, much less one defined as noir starring a hard-boiled dick.
 
So what I am doing? Clearly Letty Valdez makes a living as a private investigator. She’s not hard-boiled and she’s not “iron woman.” Yes, she can take you down with her Chinese martial arts and she can use a gun if she has to. But she’s a vulnerable and even fragile at times – like most of us human beings.
 
Setting is a key factor in the Letty Valdez Mysteries. I’m an environmentalist. I believe we are deeply impacted by our physical environment. Desert dwellers think about water and heat, a big sky, a starry night, and critters like coyotes and rattlesnakes. Letty is a child of the desert. She’s at home in the Sonoran Desert and she will never live anywhere else.
 
Theme:
This turned out to be the biggest factor for me. So what are the themes that come across in Letty Valdez Mysteries? (I hope they come across because that’s what I seek as a writer.)

• The value of ethnic diversity: Letty is Chicana-Native American (Tohono O’odham). Our multiplicity of ethnic groups contribute greatly to American life and culture. Let’s don’t forget that.
• The value of family and friends: What would Letty do without her pals and her brothers and sister and her uncles? She’s got her posse and they’ll go to the wall for her, as she will for them.
• The struggles of the underclass and the challenges they work to overcome: I’m convinced that money-oriented class is the root of most American problems. Until the more affluent can see and respect the struggles and achievements of the poor, we’ll continue to have problems.
• War and the effects of war: Letty came home with Iraq with PTSD. She experienced more than any human being should have to experience. Our vets need our understanding and support. And we need to end the endless wars.

 
Hiller wrote: “It may be a somehow comforting surprise when you expect to read a frightening mystery, and it turns out a kind of poetic narration of good feelings.” I find this comment to be rather delightful. True, you won’t be in a constant state of fear in a Letty Valdez Mystery but I’m happy to report that a “poetic narration of good feelings” could very well happen instead!
 
An example: Several people have commented about being captivated by the Esperanza-Eduardo subplot. That’s partly because we’re seeing the initial stages of a romance. But more important, we come to understand that being a poverty-stricken 17 year-old migrant seeking a job so her little brothers and sisters can have shoes and enough to eat is a potential contributor to American life, not a threat. Esperanza is not a drug smuggler or a member of MS-13. She’s young, scared, lost in the desert, out of water, and here comes an angel on horseback named Eduardo who finds her and rescues her.
 
As a writer, I’d rather be remembered as “poetic and touching” than as “frightening,” hard-boiled, or action, action, action-oriented.
 
One more comment. Hiller wrote about Letty demonstrating “the unbreakable rule of detective’s incurable loneliness and personal grief.” Oops! Rules are made to be broken. Before these stories are completed, Letty will find some relief from her loneliness and personal grief. Of that, I am sure.
 
Thank you to Mr. Hiller for stimulating a productive line of contemplation.

Artist Christon Anderson, a native of the Florida Panhandle, took this photo of his daughter walking in The Cove neighborhood of Panama City after Hurricane Michael stormed through. I think Anderson’s photo will become iconic, similar to the little girl running away from her napalmed village during the Vietnam War. Sometimes it takes an artist to find an image that says it all.
 
Michael was a Category 4 at 155 mph. A Cat 5 is 157 so Michael was at the upper range of Cat 4. So far 29 bodies have been found in the storm-ravaged region of Florida and Georgia. A K-9 sniffer dog named Tucker found one body under the wreckage of a house. A drone unit found another. As waters recede, searchers expect to find more.
 
As of Wednesday, October 17, 1,135 people are listed as still missing. Many on the list are disabled or elderly residents. There’s still hope that many of these missing persons simply haven’t been able to make contact with relatives or they may have evacuated and have not yet reported in. Or maybe they are waiting under the rubble for Tucker to find them.

What does climate change/global warming have to do with these massive storms? Read more here:  Hurricanes and Climate Change
​See more of Christon Anderson's photography on Instagram and Facebook.

With Richard Powers’ meaningful quote in mind, “The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story,” meet writer and storyteller Larry Darter.
 
Darter is the author of two successful mystery-suspense-thriller series. First is the Los Angeles private investigator Ben Malone series with five books so far, and second, the T.J. O’Sullivan series in which T.J., a New Zealand expat, works as a private investigator in Hawaii. Darter is a retired police officer and veteran of U.S. Navy and Army Reserves. His background gives deep credibility to his fictional works.
 
Let’s take a look at his upcoming Live Long Day in the Ben Malone series which is an exploration of child sex trafficking. Larry says in his blog post about Live the Long Day, “During my career as a street cop, child prostitution was something I rarely encountered. While I did encounter prostitutes regularly, they were typically adult women, most of whom it seemed had turned to prostitution to support a drug habit.”
 
Sadly in recent years, child prostitution problem has grown dramatically. Darter says in his blog, “I learned that the child prostitution in cities like Los Angeles, the setting of the Malone Novels, is a real and growing problem. Los Angeles County law enforcement officials and the social services agencies who deal with the problem on a daily basis describe the child prostitution problem in Los Angeles as part of a growing nationwide epidemic. Young girls, some as young as 11-years-old are coerced into a life that will forever leave them emotionally scarred.” Read more at Darter’s blog about Live Long Day. 

Although Darter is writing about Los Angeles, child prostitution and sex trafficking is a problem in southern Arizona as well.  Here are two sources from Tucson.com and KGUN 9 TV to inform you of our local problem.  Tucson.com    KGUN9 TV

​In his blog, Darter introduces us to the work of Dr. Lois Lee, a leading expert in rescuing child sex trafficking victims. She is founder and president of Children of the Night, a nonprofit dedicated to “rescuing children and young people from prostitution worldwide.”

Darter wrote Live Long Day with the express intention of raising awareness of this serious criminal problem affecting our children. He is dedicating a portion of royalties earned on Live Long Day as a donation to Children of the Night.  Darter says, “My intent is not to foster a sense of hopelessness–I want us to get angry about a problem that strips hope from our most vulnerable citizens. Children are the future of our nation.”
 
That’s a sentiment we can all support. And we get to read a terrific mystery book in the process! 

Larry Darter's blog: http://www.larrydarter.com/child-prostitution-and-the-live-long-day-novel/

To pre-order Live Long Day, go to: 
LiveLongDay@Amazon

Originally posted 2018-07-22

​I'm working on my second Letty Valdez mystery.  ​The title of the new book is Dragon's Revenge. It will be published November 20, 2018.

I've been thinking about language and how fraught it is with controversy these days.

Some people seem to think that telling a falsehood is perfectly okay. If called on the lie, they double down and tell a bigger lie. As a former news reporter, I am convinced that facts matter and that telling lies can undermine everything, from personal relationships to a democracy. 

On the other hand, there are those who think one should never use certain terms because those terms are not socially accepted anymore or they are not politically correct or maybe they just plain rude. These folks are willing to censor others to see their view of correct language prevail.

So what about writers who want to express a thought or words said by a character that doesn't speak in a politically-correct way. 

Here's an example. In the 1960s, women were often called "girls" or if you were a hipster, you called them "chicks."  So if I write a book about women in the 60s and 70s, it seems right to me to use the language of those times - girls and chicks. 

Back to Dragon's Revenge: A substantial portion of this book is a memoir written in the 1970s by an old man who was a boy in the 1890s in Tucson. His stepfather was a Chinese immigrant. At that time, they called this man a "Chinaman" although that term is no longer used and is considered derogatory and offensive. In my book, he will be called a Chinaman in the memoir because that's what he was called in 1890. 

Accuracy and facts are more important to me than changing definitions of what is currently "correct" or "polite."

Originally posted 2018-02-15
Recently one of America’s greatest writers died, Ursula K. Le Guin. Note that I said “greatest writers,” not “greatest science fiction writers” or “greatest fantasy writers.”  Le Guin won numerous awards during her career, and sold millions of copies. Many of us believe that her books have become part of the canon of American literature. She was both wildly inventive and deeply thoughtful in how she approached her work. You leave her books both entertained and provoked to do some serious thinking of your own.
 
I’ve always thought the fact Le Guin’s parents were both cultural anthropologists was a significant factor in the imaginative worlds she created in her books. Rather than the showy heroic stories of conflict and triumph we so often see, Le Guin created characters and societies with complexity and ambiguity. (photo left: NerdPatrol, Flickr)
 
Take for example, her classic The Left Hand of Darkness. This compelling story follows a Terran (earthling) to the planet of Gethen where all the inhabitants are ambisexual most of the time. But once a month they come into “kemming” for a few days and become either male or female for purposes of reproduction. Which sex the Gethenians transform into depends on conditions they find when the state of kemmering begins. Although Le Guin refers to them as “he,” sometimes they are “she.”  The Terran, Genly Ai, finds this more than disconcerting because he comes from a place where everyone is either a he or a she, and he treats them according to this permanent state. Ai is himself always a male. Needless to say, this book, first published in 1969, had a deep influence on the Second Wave feminists of the day, and that includes me.
 
Another highly influential book was The Dispossessed. Here she creates two twin worlds. One world is rather like ours is these days. Cut throat capitalism rules, and anyone unlucky enough to not be part of the elite are doomed to suffer – homelessness and hunger abound in the shadow of extreme wealth. The other world is socialistic and authoritarian, but no one goes hungry. Le Guin called this world “an ambiguous utopia.”
 
Le Guin considered herself a feminist. She was also an advocate of non-violence and expressed a deep interest in ecology and a concern for our environment. She was influenced by Daoist philosophy, and that shows up in her writing, too.
 
Not only was she a terrific writer, Le Guin also had a wicked sense of humor. Regarding her advice for women writers, she said:  If you want your writing to be taken seriously, don’t marry and have kids, and above all, don’t die. But if you have to die, commit suicide. They approve of that.” For the record, Le Guin married, had three children, and did not commit suicide.
 
Perhaps her most famous quote is from The Left Hand of Darkness, a quote that is unfortunately often attributed to Hemingway, “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
 
In December 2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published her book, No Time to Spare:  Thinking About What Matters in which she ruminates on old age.  Le Guin died in January, 2018.