Opinion — E-Book Publishing, Small is Beautifull

There always seems to be a dark side to technical advances. Nuclear fission, pretty fantastic. Atom bomb, not so good. With the skyrocketing success of e-books we’re witnessing the downfall of big brick and mortar bookstores. Initially the technology also appears to be a threat to smaller independent and specialized bookshops and is causing a confused scrambling among those throughout the publishing business. Traditional publishing is still trying to find a little topsy in the midst of tumultuous turvy.

The absolute truth is that none of us really knows exactly how all of this will turn out and what it will mean to any of us — writers, readers, distributors or publishers. But many of us are encouraged in one area — ebooks not only allow writers to publish their own out-print books, but package their work in different ways and, in fact, manifest work that quite likely wouldn’t be welcomed by publishers forced to tailor products for mainstream markets. Bookstores too. It’s difficult to imagine any bookstore owner looking forward to selling short stories, one at a time— except maybe City Lights in San Francisco.

Recently, I published a novella-length prequel to my San Francisco series, Mascara, Death in the Tenderloin. This is a book most publishers would not even consider because of its length. The agent I had at the time I submitted the manuscript simply responded: “What am I supposed to do with this?” He had already found it worthwhile in screenplay form. But as a book? It was clear that 40,000 words fell short of the bar and therefore it wouldn’t make the rounds of Manhattan’s coterie of acquisition editors. However, because ebook technology exists and is (relatively*) easily accessible, writers are able to publish their writing in the manner and form they prefer. Short-story writers can publish their work, one story at a time, if they want. And they do. And novella writers can gamble that the public might find this length appealing, especially if it is priced accordingly. Putting it out in paper might be cost prohibitive for the writer as well. But ebooks? We’re seeing a bunch of 99-cent “books,” these days.

In August Michael Z. Lewin wrote a small piece for this blog’s Old Gold section about how he planned to use the new medium “I intend,” he said, “to put more than just the Samsons out there electronically. Other older books too, but also new work. The book I’m working on now will go straight to electronic formats without even being offered to conventional publishers.”

The “Samsons” referred to Lewin’s private detective series featuring Albert Samson. One book in the series, Eye Opener, set in Indianapolis, has been made available electronically and he has now made good on his promise to release a new book on his own, directly and electronically. Family Trio is a small book, three stories really, about the Lunghi family, who operate a private detective agency in Bath, England. And, as a side note, just as Lewin was a pioneer in the creation of regional American private detectives, he might be able to claim another first. Carol Harper, of Deadly Pleasures, said of the Lunghi stories, “I can think of no other series, anywhere, which features a family which owns and works from a private detection firm…. Highly recommended”

The beauty of Family Trio for this posting, though, is that Lewin uses the ebook format as a chance to offer readers a collection of short stories not just as part of his highly regarded series, but also as standalone tales. These are complete reads, just the right length when you’re not in the mood to commit to a 500-page blockbuster, perfect for a short flight, an afternoon at the beach or at bedtime when you don’t want to stay up all night to get closure. The fact that this brevity can be and often is proportionally priced as well — a mere $1.25 in this case — is another benefit that ebooks can offer the reader.

It’s important to note that many of us who are expanding our offerings in various ways aren’t abandoning conventional publishing. Family Way, Lewin’s third Lunghi novel in a series Booklist called “…mordantly funny, beguiling in the extreme” will be published by Five Star and released in December. It’s good to know that there will be more than one way to read a Lunghi mystery. Of course, there are many readers waiting for the next Albert Samson novel as well.

There are several other writers doing this, offering great writing in various lengths and various formats. If nothing else, the ebook revolution has been a boon to the reader and writer, both of whom want choices.

For other ebook choices, you might want to visit Top Suspense Group, a collective of 12 highly respected crime writers offering dozens of e-book titles.

*The word “relatively” is important. Ebook publishing is not as simple as some have suggested.

Film Pairing — Murder & Politics, Not So Strange Bedfellows

Mixing politics and murder often makes for a great story. There are real life dramas surrounding the assassination of the Kennedys. Certainly the New Orleans-connected killing of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby could be the basis for a fascinating film if we every figured out what went on. And fiction pales against the stories of the killing of Martin Luther King, the disappearances of James Hoffa and Judge Crater as well as the attempt on George Wallace’s and Ronald Reagan’s lives.

But there are a number of films that deal with the mix of murder and politics. And given that we are subjected to politics, politics, politics all day long, here are two movies — studies in corruption — that can accompany today’s news.

The first is City Hall (1996). It is based on an original screenplay, and is set in contemporary New York. John Cusack, Danny Aiello and Bridget Fonda join Al Pacino. (Also, there is a brilliant appearance by Martin Landau.)

Some of the mystery blogs are listing the all-time great over-actors. Pacino is listed in the top ten. Admittedly, he chews a bit of the scenery in this one as well; but I don’t know who else could have played the savvy and charismatic mayor of New York as convincingly — and the ability to be both a saint and Satan is essential to the plot. Whether you figure it all out or not before the film let’s you in on it — and you might — it’s worth seeing if for no other reason than to be reminded how idealism is smashed in a sacrifice to the reality, perhaps necessity, of compromise. Someone once said that to fall in love with a politician is to have your heart broken.

LA Confidential (1997) has it all. It is based on James Ellroy’s book and has one of the best casts money can buy. Instead of 1990s New York, we visit 1950s L.A. The cast includes Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito, James Cromwell and David Stratham — all dealing with scandal, sleaze, crime and corruption. Much of the film’s action hovers around the needs of a magazine called Hush, Hush. I remember when I was twelve or thirteen. With some degree of embarrassment, I would go to the magazine section of the drug store and open up the pages of a sleazy scandal sheet called Confidential to see what lurid activities Hollywood stars were engaged in. Afterward, I’d feel I’d looked into a world I wasn’t supposed to see. I remember feeling a mix of excitement and disgust. That is pretty much what L.A. Confidential, nominated for nine Academy Awards, is about. It is also very much about L.A. In that sense, there might be a case for pairing Confidential with Chinatown. Not a bad idea, either, but it might be too much L.A. for one evening.

It’s whiskey on the rocks for the entire evening. No soda.

Opinion —Ten Little Republicans

Sarah Palin Off the List — and then there were nine. The remake of Agatha Christie's classic with a contemporary cast.

San Francisco Bookstores — Two Shops Straight Out of Central Casting

This is the last in a series of short articles on independently owned San Francisco general interest bookstores. Soon, this space will host a series on the many special interest bookstores in the city.

When one goes into most used bookstores, there is a set of expectations. One is that staff tends to leave customers to their own devices. Two is that whether or not the store is very well organized or has a more casual approach to the idea of book categories, the place is not lit like a science lab. Signage, if it exists, is pretty much scrawled by hand. And no one really cares how long you stay. It’s the way it ought to be. It’s a place to escape from the world at large and enter into your own private fantasy — food, mysteries, romances, history, etc. If you were going to shoot a scene from a movie that took place in a used bookstore, you could easily use the Russian Hill Bookstore or Aardvark Books.

There are three commercial patches along the commercial stretch of Polk Street. The first, just up from the Civic Center, has been trying to change its image to Polk Village. But many of us remember it as Polk Gulch or Polk Strasse. This used to be a tough, wild area of the city. In the 70s and 80s, gay culture dominated and the brand practiced here was often outlandish, unlike the staid Marlboro country of Castro of this era. This, the south end of Polk, is no longer all that wild, but is has resisted attempts at total gentrification. The north end of Polk, on the other hand, is very gentrified. Restaurants and wine shops cater to more expensive tastes. Between these two Polk Streets is a stretch that is, in fact, very much in between. This neighborhood has good, but less expensive restaurants, interesting, but more practical shops and a well established used bookstore that has not only weathered changing retail habits, but has done so without changing itself. The Russian Hill Bookstore not only has a large and ordered selection of used books, but also offers a huge section devoted to greeting cards.

2234 Polk Street, (415) 929-0997, www.russianhillbookstore.com

I am among those who think that used bookstores should have a resident dog or cat. Most stores selling old books have that slightly frumpy feel. In this case comfort trumps style. And this is a good thing. Looking for a good book should be a warm and comfortable experience. Aardvark Books is just that with Owen the Cat, hanging around to make you feel at home. The medium-sized store is just off Market Street on Church — officially in the Castro, but equally close to both the Mission and Lower Haight. It is also incredibly accessible to all forms of above- and below-ground public transportation. The corner of Church and Market also hosts a variety of interesting restaurants and coffee shops, not to mention the gargantuan Safeway.

227 Church Street, (415) 552-6733

Opinion — Feeding the Franchise: Co-Authors, Pen Names and Ghost Writers

We have a famous thriller writer who is putting out what — five or six novels a year with the help of a team of co-authors. We have famous characters — James Bond and Mike Hammer — who, like immortal energizer bunnies, just keep popping up though their original creators are dead. And Spencer is about to join the club. We’ve got writers who have a literary reputation to uphold so they change their names in order to write genre fiction. Gore Vidal did it as Edgar Box. The lauded John Banville is doing it as Benjamin Black. We have some writers who write so much and so often they have to have a couple of names so we don’t tire of them or because one series is so vastly different from the others that to use the same name — the real name — would confuse the public — or perhaps the publishers. Then we have someone who is famous as hell, but can’t write. But they figure if they can attach their names to perfumes and clothing lines that they had nothing to do with, why not put their high Q-rated names on the covers of books they didn’t write?

Then there’s Castle. Heat Wave, the book on the store shelves, is written by a fictional character on TV. Not a ghostwriter, but a fictional character. Even on Amazon, the writer is described as Richard Castle and there is a picture of the actor who plays Richard Castle posing as Richard Castle, when he obviously isn’t Richard Castle even if there were a Richard Castle. The book is published by Hyperion (a publishing house owned by Disney). The TV show appears on ABC (owned by Disney). Both the book and the TV show take place in New York City (possibly owned by Disney). The saving grace here is that there is a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor in the show as well as in the pretend-deceitful promotion of the book. Everyone is laughing and some are laughing all the way to the bank. Ah, the conceit of it all! But talk about branding, franchises and cross promotion! This has to be some new high or low.

Franchises, celebrity, and brand names — that’s the name of the game. If Sarah Palin wanted to write a mystery — say How’s that Bullet Working for Ya? — someone would write it for her and it would be published. And it’s doubtful a ghost writer would get any credit. The stamp of fame on unrelated products isn’t entirely new, I confess. Some have said that Elliot Roosevelt, son of Franklin Delano was the most prolific dead author who ever lived or died or something. Books kept coming out, long after his demise. Another presidential offspring, Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry, did the same, another Truman following another Roosevelt. The question is, did any of his or her semi-famous fingers ever touch a typewriter key? Not only are there questions whether Roosevelt and Truman actually wrote their books — they might have — but they continued writing them long after they shuffled off their mortal coils.

Popular TV celebrity Steve Allen was a gifted writer, but his ghostwritten mystery series (Die Laughing and Talk Show Murders among them), featured himself and his wife Jayne Meadows as protagonists in a series of books gladly autographed at bookstores. Did he accept congratulations without disclosing the actual author? I don’t know. Did Gypsy Rose Lee write the G-String Murders? Doesn’t seem so. But no one exposed her. Pun intended.

What about Spenser, Bond and Hammer and their hyperactive afterlives? Are there any ethical guidelines being trammeled? What do readers have a right to know or expect, if anything? Personally, I would shy away from a James Bond written by anyone but Fleming; but there is no wrong doing here. If the real author’s name is on the book cover or there is some other form of genuine, upfront disclosure, then what’s the problem? James Patterson has been open about the factory nature of his book writing and provides at least “co-author” credit on the cover of his co-created books, which is more than Andy Warhol and Michelangelo* did. To me it’s a bit like vegetarian hamburger. Nothing wrong with tofu. Yet, there has been no deception. And there are indications that the new Bonds and Hammers are really good and will make millions of readers happy by keeping the spirit and beloved characters alive. It is also clear, in the case of Spillane, that the writer who extended Mike Hammer beyond his creator’s grave had a collaborative relationship with Spillane and may well be doing it with the tough guy’s blessing.

Further, if famous “literary” novelists use a nom de plume for their mystery books, good for them. If a professional writer uses more than one name, why not? They, like the literary novelists operating on the down low, are showing a willingness to re-enter the marketplace as an unknown and compete with the others on a level playing field. If a writer can hit the bestseller lists using two different names, that’s quite an accomplishment — though often a subtle, well-timed leak can help with the promotion.

The only deception or misdirection that I really can’t abide are the celebrities who put their names on something they had nothing to do with and that has nothing to do with the fame they’ve achieved. In a way, it’s a form of bullying, or thievery — at least fraud. But then, there are some interesting possibilities. How about a dark and bloody murder novel by Justin Bieber, secretly written by Ken Bruen or George Pelecanos? That would cross some line, wouldn’t it?

*How’s that for name-dropping — Michelangelo in bold face?

Film Pairing — Off the Wall Films, David Hyde Pierce and Woody Harrelson

There are plenty of vetted, mighty fine crime films out there. And eventually, I hope to get around to most of them, putting them together for interesting double features. In fact while we may not agree on which films are classics and which are simply good, there is probably a lot of agreement about which films are worthwhile. But if you want to have an out-of-safe experience, you might try these two films starring actors who got their start in successful sitcoms and have perhaps stepped outside their — or our— comfort zones.

If you want a bizarre, very off-the wall film that seems to have quietly slipped into streaming video, check out David Hyde Pierce in The Perfect Host. According to Wikipedia, the film took only 17 days to shoot. Basically, it is the dinner party from hell. I don’t know what to say. I laughed at it, with it and couldn’t take my eyes off it. This may be unfair and a personal problem, but I had the sense that Pierce is playing Niles Crane’s extremely evil twin —not that there's anything wrong with that.

Woody Harrelson has come a long way since “Cheers.” He has shown himself to be, at minimum, a credible actor, and often more than capable of handling a wide range of parts. Did he take one step too far in this one? I think Harrelson’s characterization of a wittily engaging gay man who maintains a comfortable life by establishing “friendships” with wealthy Washington DC woman of a certain age seems a little forced. Nonetheless, The Walker, directed by Paul Shrader is a well-done and certainly a more traditional mystery

It also stars Lauren Bacall, William Dafoe, Ned Beatty and Lily Tomlin.

A slight warning, the evening promises to be emotionally disruptive. The two stories exist in completely different realities. I’d save The Walker for last and I’d move from some exotic, frivolous cocktail with The Perfect Host to a more subtle mixed drink for The Walker.

San Francisco Bookstores — Bibliohead, Great Overland Book Company, Both in the Hearts of Vibrant Neighborhoods

The Bibliohead Bookstore is located in one of my favorite neighborhoods. I lived there for five years, back when Hayes Valley might have been called “Needle Park.” I saw more guns at the local laundromat than I did during my time in the Army. It is no longer that way. The easily walkable area is not too precious, but it is trendy. A few blocks from theOpera, Symphony and Ballet, the neighborhood where Bibliohead resides hosts all sorts of interesting shops and restaurants. The sun and business came to Hayes Valley when the overpasses were ripped out and the neighborhood is witnessing a grand renaissance. The bookstore, small and smart, is after six years, still a baby if we were doing San Francisco bookstore history. But it doesn’t act like it. The shop is fully packed with used books and interesting remainders of all types. If there were a special emphasis, you could say it tilts toward the nearby classical arts culture. Expect to find a great collection of books for opera, ballet and symphony lovers. On the other hand, if you want just great detective fiction or edgy literature, you’ll find yourself right at home.

334 Gough Street, (415) 621-6772, www.bibliohead.com

The Great Overland Book Company is located down the hill from the giant UCSF campus in the bustling Inner Sunset. The crossroads are located at Irving and 9th Avenue. Restaurants and bars of all types mingle with well-established storefronts for hardware items, shoes and shoe repair, tattoos, and baked goods as well as beauty and fitness. There is also a magic shop, a frame shop and of course, a great store for used books. While Bibliohead is in a neighborhood favored by both tourists and locals, this area of the Inner Sunset is not likely a tourist mecca and this bookstore has that sort of non-slick nonchalance that is essentially native San Franciscan. Though the shelves are well-organized, you do have to watch where you step. There are stacks of books everywhere. One of the stacks had a note on the top — “Bugs.” There are two stories of books that seem to favor literature with a capital “L.” This isn’t necessarily the best place to go for that worn copy of a Sue Grafton novel — though they have those as well. You might want, for example, to check out the whole section devoted to “award winning” authors. But don’t let this put you off either. This is a comfortable place where the staff, like those in most good bookstores, welcomes you and lets you know they won’t be following you around, but that they are there when you need them.

345 Judah Street, (415) 664-0126

OLD GOLD — Lev Raphael's Nick Hoffman, Academic, Not Elementary

Early works by some of our best, current crime writers have been out of print for years. But times are changing. Many of these highly praised novels are available again as e-books and or trade paperbacks. “Old Gold,” is a periodic blog feature that focuses on these reissued treasures. Here's Lev Raphael’s story in his own words.

The Edith Wharton Murders was my first “crossover” book. It was my first to be reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, with a rave. And in many bookstores, it got shelved in Mystery sections and Literature, sometimes side-by-side with books by Edith Wharton. All of that delighted me, since it featured a sleuth who loved two things: teaching and books.
I was freaked out to have a lifelong dream come true, and when the fax came from my agent the Monday before the review was going to run, I literally jumped up and down before calling friends. If there'd been a football field nearby, I would have been celebrating in the end zone. Then a doubt hit me: what if they changed their minds? Was that possible? My patient spouse assured me the Times did not retract reviews. Whew!

The novel's sleuth is an Edith Wharton scholar corralled into organizing a Wharton conference at his Midwestern University. His colleagues don't want the work or responsibility, and he doesn't have tenure, so the promise is that he'll get it if things go well. Of course they don't. As I heard at a mystery conference in Oxford from a sociologist: “Academics don’t have good means of crisis resolution.” The conference brings together two rival Wharton societies whose members loathe each other. Murder is the only possible result.

If you think academia is lightweight, you haven't experienced it. The academic world is piratical and dehumanizing. It has the vanity of professional sports; the hypocrisy of politics; the cruelty of big business; and the inhumanity of organized crime. All of that makes it a perfect setting for murder and satire. www.levraphael.com/

Film Pairing — Two Different Worlds, We Live in Two Different Worlds

These two films are on my personal “top ten” crime movie list. But they couldn’t be more different. The only thing they have in common is that they incredibly well made — fantastically well written, finely acted and brilliantly directed. Too many fabulous adverbs here. I apologize. Let’s just say that the ultimate noir meets the ultimate cozy. Why not make them a double feature some Friday or Saturday night?

No Country for Old Men (2007), directed by the Coen Brothers, is a desolate, violent, base story of nihilism on celluloid. Good and evil isn’t a result of who you are or what you do, but on the toss of a coin — heads or tails? Based on the novel

by Cormac McCarthy and starring, among others, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Barden, Josh Brolin and Woody

Harrelson, we find ourselves in West Texas, where a drug deal has gone gruesomely bad and an unclaimed, bloody bag of money makes keeps the grotesque game going.

In Gosford Park (2001), we find ourselves attending a dinner party, where we are privy to the antics of the privileged class and the people who serve them. There is a murder. Directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes (he authored Downtown Abbey), this is a story that suggests Agatha Christie, but is better than any films adapted from her books. Gosford Park is rich, stylish, subtle and sophisticated. It is a murder mystery that will be solved. The list of fine actors is too long for a short article. But among the many talents are Alan Bates, Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith and Kristen Scott Thomas.

Leaving the theater after watching No Country for Old Men I was disoriented (not a totally foreign feeling, some might say). I didn’t feel as if I saw the movie as much as I felt the movie and was still in shock at the meaningless of it all when it was over. Actually, it wasn’t over when it was over, and that was the problem. I could not walk steadily for a few blocks, and I will never forget it. I’ve seen Gosford Park half a dozen times, not to glean new meaning or to gain greater insight into class differences , but to have that sense of satisfaction of having visited a curious time and place, and understanding how that world worked — and finally, pleasantly, having the story all wrapped up in the end. There is peace of mind in having things make sense even if, one concludes, it’s not entirely fair and that it’s probably not the way things are.

I’d watch No Country first while sipping straight tequila. Then, for Gosford Park, I’d switch to brandy, preferably having someone bring it to me as I recovered from the desolation that was and still seems to be West Texas. Having the pieces all put together in the second film might make it easier to sleep.

OLD GOLD — Janet Dawson's Jeri Howard is Back in a Big Way

Early works by some of our best, current crime writers have been out of print for years. But times are changing. Many of these highly praised novels are available again as e-books and or trade paperbacks. “Old Gold,” is a periodic blog feature that focuses on these reissued treasures. Here's Janet Dawson’s story in her own words.

As I proofread e-book files of my backlist Jeri Howard novels, I was struck by how many of my fictional outings had their genesis in real events. We mystery writers like to have loose ends wrapped up, even if real life doesn’t work out that way.

Kindred Crimes had its roots in real-life murders in Colorado – a husband and wife killed by their son. After years of asking myself why the crime occurred, I wrote my own version of the truth.

Another Colorado crime led to Till The Old Men Die. A professor and his wife vanished. A mystery woman claimed to know what had happened to them. She never told anyone the truth, then she was confined to the state mental hospital, where she died. In my book the professor has been murdered. My mystery woman has her own agenda. The crime is solved; the real-life case was not.

I once read a newspaper article about a man in Missouri who had been killed on a public street with lots of witnesses. The dead man was so thoroughly disliked that no one would give the police any information on the shooter. This was the impetus for Take A Number, in which the murder victim was so nasty that anyone who wanted to kill him would have to take a number and get in line.

I once worked at a corporation that went through a leveraged buyout – an experience that would provide fertile grounds for murder. So I wrote Where The Bodies Are Buried – after I’d left that particular job.

For more information on award-winning author Janet Dawson, her new novel, Bit Player, and the e-book versions of her earlier classics, go here.