Month: May 2012

CrimeFest 2012 Part II – Pitch-An-Agent

On By TontowilliamsIn books, writing1 Comment

This is the second post of my experience at CrimeFest; Part I is here.

So Pitch-An-Agent was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to CrimeFest this year. The writer part of me, as opposed to the crime fiction reader getting the chance for ten minutes each with three literary agents to ‘pitch’ my book. Ahead of the meetings I was asked to submit a one thousand five hundred word synopsis, and the first three thousand words of the book I was pitching. In my case ‘Killer Bytes’.

The best way I can describe how I felt prior to going into the room was akin to waiting for a job interview. It’s been seven years since I last had a formal job interview, but you never forget those nerves. Once in the room though it was nothing like a job interview, in fact it was a very positive experience, with constructive feedback from all three agents. Questions about me, my book and my plans. I’d deliberately not gone into that room with any preconceptions, at least other than a healthy set of nerves! I wasn’t expecting to come out with promises of representation, I was hoping to come away inspired to write more. I got exactly that.

From the three interviews, I received honest and constructive feedback. Perhaps the harshest was that novellas are not commercially viable (unless you’re already a big name author or prepared to solely self-publish). Now Killer Bytes has been selling okay, but if I’m looking for a commercial publishing contract, Killer Bytes won’t be the book that does it, at least not in its current format. I received lots of other comments, tips and ideas, all of which I’m intending to take on board and act upon.

One of the agents would like to read the whole manuscript; another would like to read the whole thing, if I can bring it up to a full length novel; the final agent gave me some incredible feedback, but ‘Bytes’ just wasn’t her thing.

Now there was a lot of detail in what I was told, which I am not going to go into as it would take a lot of time, and would probably be pretty boring to anyone other than me. I have however reached a decision as to what I am going to do with Killer Bytes.

Simply put, I am going to stop my work on the sequel to Killer Bytes, and go back to my original manuscript. I’m going to see if I can bring it up to a full length novel, which will be about another fifty-thousand words. There are some ideas that I dropped from the original, plus some of the tips that I received at CrimeFest; it’s probably also going to need a sub-plot. I’m not sure where this will get to, I’ll see.

I’m also going to be withdrawing Killer Bytes from sale. At least until I see where I’ve gotten to with revisions and further development. If I can bring it up to full-length, I will give anyone who has already bought the novella a free copy of the full length version. It will also probably change titles; that was another piece of feedback.

I haven’t felt more inspired with Killer Bytes, than perhaps the day I originally clicked the publish button on-line in January, so I think this is the right thing to do. I’m sure not everyone will agree with me, but I have to give it a go. Wil Jackson and Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Price deserve it.

Related articles

CrimeFest 2012 Part I

On By TontowilliamsIn books, writing3 Comments

Yesterday I was in Bristol for CrimeFest 2012. I’ve wanted to attend CrimeFest for a few years but have never quite gotten around to it before. This year, I had the added incentive of pitching Killer Bytes to literary agents, as well as encouragement from several internet acquaintances, so I’d booked my tickets back in January, and the day had finally arrived.

I’ve decided to split this post into two, as what happened at Pitch-an-agent, has had quite a profound influence on what I’ve decided to do next with Killer Bytes, so I’ll cover that in a separate post, later. This post I’m going to try to cover the panels, social side of what happened and anything else I can think of.

My day started early, I’d only chosen to have a one-day pass; I couldn’t really stretch to the whole weekend, and the hotel accommodation. Next time, I might stay longer, but Bristol is a bit too far to multi-commute several times in a weekend, so staying over somewhere is going to be a must. Also given the number of books I bought in one-day, some serious luggage will be required if I attend the whole weekend! I decided to drive, to give myself more flexibility over travel arrangements, and I’m glad I did, but the difference in cost and time between driving and the train was marginal.

With the panels starting at nine, and a two hour drive to get there, I made it just in time, sneaking in the back of the first panel of the day – idiosyncratic protagonists. A very entertaining panel with the likes of authors Declan Burke, Alex Walters, Anne Zouroudi, Martin Walker and Michael Stanley. As a result of listening to these authors speak this led to my first purchases of the day!

Next up was a feature interview with Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series. By now I needed a caffeine fix too, having missed out on my usual dose with the early start. Fortunately there was a small coffee bar outside the next location, so I joined the queue. Much to my surprise so did the special guest for the next event, who was gracious in letting me buy him a coffee too (he later signed one of my books accordingly – see below). Anyway we both went into the auditorium, he took his place on the dais and me in the audience, of course.

Now for those who don’t know anything about Lee Child and Jack Reacher, I need to explain a little before I say what happened next. As a character, Jack Reacher is a larger than life hero, he has a tremendous following, and he is described in the books as a very large man, both in height and build; physically strong, fast, sharp of mind, and with a strong moral compass. The first movie of the series has been made and should be released in the near future. In the lead role is Tom Cruise, who shall we say is not known for his height. This has caused quite a furore amongst the Reacher fans, there’s even a Facebook page, “Tom Cruise is not Jack Reacher“.

Not surprisingly then the first question Lee Child was asked; “Tom Cruise?”

Personally I’m prepared to give Cruise the benefit of the doubt, the height thing is not there, but I think he can carry it off in all the other aspects. Lee Child’s own comment was that:

“For the First five minutes of the movie you’re gonna think ‘What the f***’, and then you’ll forget about it.”

So we’ll see.

Lee Child has a cameo in the film, he said where, but I think I’m going to keep that to myself, so if you’re already a fan, you’ll have to watch the film.

I queued to get a book signed by Lee Child, so I missed most of the next panel. He’s a popular guy, but takes time with everyone, which is fantastic.

Next was P D James. She’s in her nineties, still writing, still doing panels. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it, and the queue to get her to sign books was phenomenal, and she signed every one. I’m not a huge P D James fan myself, but she is inspiring in what she has done with her career.

Pitch-an-agent was next for me, but as I’ve said, I will post separately about that. After my slot, I had enough time to catch Sue Grafton being interviewed. Again another inspiration. Currently at the letter V in her alphabet series.

The penultimate panel was with authors Paul Doherty and Philip Kerr, and amazing insight into what you can draw from historical archives and facts and turn into a fictional narrative. Fascinating stuff, and I only wish I’d taken more notes, but I was listening so closely I managed to take hardly any.

The last panel of the day, and the keynote for Saturday was the launch of the novel of The Killing. The extremely popular television series, has been turned into a novel by author David Hewson, and the official launch was a CrimeFest. Now I ‘know’ David from twitter, and his blog, so I was really looking forward to this. Surprise guest was Soren Sveistrup who wrote the original tv series, and was there to be interviewed and take questions from the audience. I have to say that while I was waiting outside and talking to fellow delegates, there seemed to be an apprehension about the novel, everyone loved the tv series, but they weren’t quite sure about the book. From what I’ve read of it so far, I don’t think they’ll be disappointed, but as a fan of David Hewson’s other books I have to say, that this is completely different in approach and style.

This was the last panel of the day, but my day in Bristol ended with a drink on the hotel terrace with David Hewson, who was very generous with his time (thank you David), and our topics ranged from writing (quite rightly) to gardening. I also had the pleasure to meet other authors in person, including Steve Mosby, and the actor, and narrator of audio books Saul Reichlin.

I had an amazing, and very full day. I will definitely be going back to CrimeFest another year, and who knows what will happen. My post for pitch-an-agent will follow soon.

Quite A Few Interesting Books Are Due To Be Released This Week.

On By TontowilliamsIn books

Many people will be familiar with the woolly jumpers of The Killing’s Sarah Lund, and this week sees the release of the book version of the first season of the TV programme.

My copy is on the way from an amazon depot somewhere in theUK, and therefore I have yet to read how bestselling author David Hewson, has transferred many hours of TV into the book. One thing I do know however is that it is by no means a straightforward transfer, and the reader can expect a few interesting differences to the TV series.

 

Second up is another “adaptation” from David Hewson. This time it’s an adaptation of an audiobook.

The audiobook of Macbeth written by David Hewson and A J Hartley and narrated by Alan Cumming was released in June last year, and is a complete recreation of the original Shakespeare tale. Here’s what I said about the audiobook:

This retelling of the tale by David Hewson and A J Hartley is just simply amazing. Bringing a new depth to the story, this is no repeating the original Shakespeare but an inspired reworking, incredibly bought to life by the vocal talents of Alan Cumming.

Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, King Duncan and The Witches are all brought vividly to life.

The writing is amazing and the narration is one of the best that I have heard on audible.

If you think Shakespeare is too stuffy or full of flowery words then this interpretation will give you a new appreciation of classic literature bought up to date by modern audiobooks.

Now this audiobook comes to you as a novel. Confused? Well ultimately this is the book of the audio, which is not Shakespeare.

Finally there is Kim Stanley Robinson’s, 2312.

Now I have to admit here, that I know virtually nothing about this at all, other than it has been written by one of my all time favourite authors, and I preordered it months ago. Here’s some of the publicity:

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity’s only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.

All will arrive this week, my biggest problem; which one to read first!

 

Splitting Time Between Allotment and Writing

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment, writing

If you follow me on twitter or know me in real life, you’ll know that next weekend I’m heading off to Bristol for CrimeFest. Consequently this means that I’ve been trying to get all the work on the allotment and in the garden that I would normally do in two weekends, squeezed into one.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, as to be honest leaving things for a week doesn’t normally cause too many problems. Having said that, when I went down to the allotment yesterday I noticed that my gooseberry plants have quite a bit of fruit on them already, and there’s a chance that if I didn’t cover them up I could loose the crop to the birds.

Gooseberry

Birds have an uncanny sense of knowing exactly when the fruit is at it’s perfect moment of ripeness, and then manage to strip a plant clean without so much as a second look.

So I decided that I would net the fruit bushes before next weekend, otherwise I might be too late, and miss out on this years crop. I suspect I won’t, but am not taking any chances!

Author Interview: Peter Leonard, author of All He Saw Was The Girl

On By TontowilliamsIn Book Review, Uncategorized1 Comment

Today I welcome a very special guest to the blog, author Peter Leonard. I’ve recently reviewed his new book, All He Saw Was The Girl, and Peter very kindly agreed to answer a few questions. So without further ado:

Peter, thank you for agreeing to come onto my electronic scrapbook and answer a few questions about your latest book All He Saw Was the Girl. I’ll cut straight to the chase:

 

 

I’ve reviewed two of your books now for Partners In Crime Tours; Voices of the Dead, and All He Saw Was the Girl. They are both quite different. Were they easy to write so differently, and do you have a favourite between them?

My favourite between the two books is probably Voices, it’s a better story. Neither book was easy to write, both required a lot of research, Voices requiring the most for obvious reasons.

You’ve set your books in many different locations. Did you research the locations first hand purposely for the books, or did you use some other method?

All He Saw was inspired by living in Rome as a student at Loyola University. The opening chapter is based on a true story. With nine days to go till the end of my year abroad, I went out with a group of friends, got quite inebriated, and stole a taxi. I was arrested and spent a week in Rebibbia prison before going to trial and being released. Attached is a piece I wrote about the experience for the Guardian.

Voices was inspired by three things: I had a serious relationship with a Jewish girl for several years, I visited Dachau concentration camp, and I read an article in the New York Times about a foreign diplomat who killed a college student while driving drunk. The diplomat got off on immunity.

In All He Saw Was the Girl, there are two storylines running; both contain a very specific male and female character that could be the ‘He’ and the ‘Girl’, did you have either in mind when you came up with the title or was it quite deliberate to have those two “characters” common to both stories?

The original title was: As The Romans Do, which I submitted, and my editor said, can you give us something with a little more attitude. So I thought of titles for a few days, and thought about the scene where McCabe is sitting at an outside café in Piazza del Popolo, and he sees the girl walking toward him like a scene in a movie: All He S aw Was The Girl.
Fortunately, my editor loved it.

When I read All He Saw Was the Girl, I kept thinking that there was a movie to be made from the book. Any plans in that direction, and if so who would you choose to play McCabe, Angela, Ray, Sharon and Joey?

A British company has made an offer for the film rights. I’ve accepted, and I’m waiting for the contract from my agent, Charles Buchan at the Wylie Agency.
I wonder if Ryan Gosling could play McCabe? For the beautiful Italian girl, a younger-looking India de Beaufort. I see Naomi Watts as Sharon, but dressed down. As for Joey, I see a new emerging Italian heavy-good opportunity for someone who wants to steal the show.

What are you working on at the moment, and when can we expect to see it on our bookshelves?

I’m working on a novel based on my time hanging out with Detroit Police Homicide a year ago. I’ve reprised O’Clair from my second novel, Trust Me, in the lead role.

Book Review: All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard

On By TontowilliamsIn Book Review, Uncategorized2 Comments

Synopsis:

Rome:

McCabe and Chip, two American exchange students, are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl, and a flawed kidnapping plan.

Detroit:
Sharon Vanelli’s affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.

Brilliantly plotted and shot through with wry humor, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL sees these two narratives collide in the backstreets of Italy’s oldest city.

About The Author:

Peter Leonard’s debut novel, QUIVER was published to international acclaim in 2008, and was followed by TRUST ME in 2009, and VOICES OF THE DEAD in 2012.

Author Website

Purchase from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

Sharon was thinking, who was this guy lived in a five-thousand-square-foot house – not that his taste was any good – on Lake St. Clair, had nothing but leisure time or so it seemed?

He called her four, five times a day, said, “How you doing?”

And Sharon would say, “Same as I was when you called fifteen minutes ago.”

“Baby, I miss you. Tell them you’re sick, we’ll go to the casino.” Or he’d be at the track or a Tigers day game, he’d say, “I gotta see you. Take the afternoon off, I’ll send a car.”

She’d been going out with him for three weeks and it was getting serious. They’d meet at noon, check into a hotel a couple times a week and spend two hours in bed, screwing and drinking champagne. It was something, best sex she’d ever had in her life. He did things to her nobody had ever done before. She’d say, where’d you learn that? And he’d say, you inspire me, beautiful. The only bad thing, he called her Sharona, or my Sharona. Everything else was great so she let it go.

They’d take his boat out on Lake St. Clair and she’d sunbathe topless. Something she’d never done in her life and never imagined herself doing. She felt invigorated, liberated. He always told her she looked good, complimented her outfit. Showered her with gifts, bought her clothes and jewelry. She felt like a teenager again. They’d meet and talk and touch each other and kiss. She was happy for the first time in years. She had to be careful. Ray, the next time he came home, might notice something and get suspicious.Why’re you so happy? she could hear him saying – like there was something wrong with it.

But this relationship with Joey also made her nervous. Things were happening too fast. She was falling for him and she barely knew him, and she was married.

My Review

A few months ago I had the pleasure to read “Voices of the Dead” by Peter Leonard. I said at the time I would be tracking down some of the authors other books, but I didn’t realise that I would be reviewing another one from Partners In Crime Tours quite so soon. I simply couldn’t resist the request for the review, but then I did wonder if it could be quite as good as Voices of the Dead. Simply put … I was not disappointed.
I couldn’t put “All He Saw Was the Girl”, down and read it in a day. Peter Leonard is a master storyteller, in “All He Saw Was the Girl”; he has developed two complicated and intricate plots, and woven a story of Mafioso, US Secret Service, kidnap and love into one extraordinary book.

The setting of Italy works incredibly well and is an excellent backdrop to the story. In reality the story doesn’t need that backdrop, it could have been set anywhere; but Italy just works, and brings the scenes to life.

All of the characters, and there are quite a few, are believable and it was great to see how the two storylines drew together towards the end of the book, without ever quite connecting completely. This was very well written, and not the obvious way to bring things together which was nice; I like a bit of unpredictability and to be proved wrong once in a while, when I think I know how things are going to end.

As I read I couldn’t help but feel that there is a movie of this book now waiting to be made. Whether that is intentional or not, it would certainly make a good film, all the elements are there.

Whilst I love a series read, I also like to find authors who are capable of producing a different book each time. I think in the case of Peter Leonard the latter is true. Although they fit within the crime/thriller genre, the two I have read to date are completely different. They have the authors quite distinctive voice, but the story premise couldn’t be more different.

Another recommended read from Peter Leonard, and now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find something else by Mr Leonard to read.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars – I Loved It.

Book Spotlight – Executive Action & Executive Treason by Gary Grossman

On By TontowilliamsIn Book Review, Uncategorized

About Gary:

Gary Grossman is an Emmy Award-winning network television producer, a print and television journalist, and novelist. He has produced more than 9,000 television shows for 40 broadcast and cable networks including primetime specials, reality and competition series and live event telecasts.

Grossman’s producing credits include “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC), “American Detective” (ABC), the immensely successful global syndicated series “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Television Academy Hall of Fame” (FOX), “Day’s End” (ABC), “Heroes for the Planet” (National Geographic Channel), “The Turnaround” (CNN), and “Wanna Bet?” (CBS) based on the long-running German ZDF series “Wettan Dass?”

He received the prestigious National Governor’s Emmy for his documentary special “Healing the Hate” (USA Network) and an Emmy for “Wolfgang Puck” (Food Network). His special “Beyond the Da Vinci Code” (History Channel) earned two national Emmy nominations, making a total of 14 Emmy nominations to date. Other producing credits include the documentary reality series “I-Witness Video” (NBC News), the entertainment special “Happy Birthday Bugs” (CBS), “American Chronicles” (FOX) with filmmaker David Lynch, and live prime time events for Fox, CBS, Fox News, CNBC, and PBS, among other networks.

Gary Grossman has been a principal in Weller/Grossman Productions, a leading independent television production company based in Los Angeles. He helped formulate, program and launch television cable networks including HGTV, Fit TV, National Geographic Channel, and The Africa Channel. His most recent collaboration is with development of ATLXTV, a sports-tier network set to premiere in 2012. In addition, he is a partner in World Media Strategies, a new International branded entertainment marketing content company that produces television specials and series for travel destinations, corporate clients and government entities including Ford, Time Magazine and Puerto Rico.

Grossman is also author of two celebrated “political reality thrillers” now available as eBooks, EXECUTIVE ACTIONS and EXECUTIVE TREASON (Diversion Books, NYC) and two acclaimed non-fiction books covering pop culture and television history – SUPERMAN: SERIAL TO CEREAL and SATURDAY MORNING TV.

Grossman taught journalism, film and television at Emerson College, Boston University, and USC and has guest lectured at colleges and universities around the United States. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Emerson College in Boston and he serves on the Boston University Metropolitan College Advisory Board. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers Association.

Gary Grossman lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Helene. They have three children.

Website: www.garygrossman.com

Executive Actions:

Synopsis: An assassin takes aim at a Presidential candidate during a primary stump speech. The instant he pulls the trigger, the outcome of the election is irrevocably changed. But Democrat Teddy Lodge, an upcoming media sweetheart, isn’t killed. His wife is. As a result, Lodge emerges as the man to beat and the greatest threat to the incumbent President, Morgan Taylor. Under a specific directive from the President, Special Service Agent Scott Roarke delves into the case and begins to unravel a deadly plot that incubated for more than 30 y

ears; designed to alter America’s allegiances in the Middle East. From the very first page, Presidential Objective culls events from today’s headlines intersecting with a scenario that’s shockingly real: An insidious plot hatched in the old days of the Soviet Union continues to grow to fruition in the hands of a power hungry Middle East heir to the throne. At its core, a sleeper is awakened to take a prominent role in American Life. Presidential Option is a tense political thriller; an election year page-turner, where both the Presidency and the Constitution are at stake.

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Executive Treason:

Synopsis: The secret terrorist organization that came within a heartbeat of installing its agent as President of the United States in Executive Actions is back with a new—and deadlier—plot to destabilize the U.S. government. It all begins with what appears to be a simple mugging and murder of a female White House staffer. Secret Service agent Scott Roarke discovers the truth: that the murder was committed by his secret nemesis, the mysterious assassin who had managed to always stay one step ahead of him during the presidential campaign. This time Roarke has found clues about the assassin’s past that give him the tools he needs to hunt the hunter, but the clues can only go so far. Roarke needs all his skill, and a huge amount of luck as well, if he’s going to catch his quarry.

Available from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Gardening With Anticipation

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment

It finally feels like that time of year when the garden and allotment are starting to take off. Back in March I completely replaced the decking on our work bench in the potting shed. (That sounds a little posh, basically some wooden planks supported by a couple of trestles.)

Anyway that was then:

And now:

With everything from asters, wallflowers, cornflowers, courgettes, runner-beans, pumpkins and gourds. All patiently waiting for the weather to be just about right (we had a slight frost last night, which probably would have nobbled some of these had they been outside).