Quote of the Week

"You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That is to help each other and not hurt each other."

--- Stevie Ray Vaughan

That Perfect Gift

Are you a last minute Christmas shopper? Me too. So, if you're wondering what to get for someone, allow me to make the same suggestion other writers have been making: Books. New or used, they make great gifts, especially if you can get them signed or find a rare book. So, here are a few of my suggestions (some are newer books, some not so much, but I think they're all great):

Anything of William Shakespeare's

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff
When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe
Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder
Beloved by Toni Morrison
My Name is Will by Jess Winfield
Nox Dormienda by Kelli Stanley
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Once Were Cops by Ken Bruen
Boneyard by Michelle Gagnon
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Complete Collected Poems of Mya Angelou
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Okay, hopefully that list will give you a few ideas. And remember (even if I did link to Amazon for the book descriptions) please be sure to support your local independent bookseller.

Quote of the Week

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."

--- Dave Barry

Story Not Included

Before I get to this, I just need to do bit of housekeeping. I just remembered that I never picked a winner for the chap book for Nox Dormienda, that I was giving away to a commenter from my post Hodie Ego sum Centum (Today I am 100). So, without further ado, the winner of the chap book is Stephen D. Rogers. Congratulations Stephen. Could you please e-mail me at rj@rjmangahas.com with your snail mail so I can get your prize off to you? Now, that that's taken care of, on with the post.
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There are certainly a lot of changes going on in the publishing industry, not just with the reorganizing, but also with the technology involved. Today there are e-readers, such as the Kindle from Amazon and print on demand services where anybody with a credit card can pay some money and call themselves published. But there is another thing that has changed in the publishing industy and that's HOW people write. In olden times, it was carvings on a cave wall. In Shakespeare's day it was a feather quill and parchement. Later, pencils and pens, then typewriters and finally word processors. But that too has evolved.

There are now a variety of programs used to assist in writing: From Final Draft for screenplays and stage plays to New Novelist for, well, novels. Many of these programs have features such as automatic formating, character databases, virtual index cards complete with corkboard and push pins and outline modes. Yes, sir. These are loaded with all sorts of neat things. Plus according to the ads, they will help the user write the next big blockbuster or Great American Novel. But you know what? Despite all the bells and whistles these programs have, there's one thing that none of them can do: and that's write the actual story. Listen, it doesn't matter how fancy these wriitng programs are. The story has to come from you. As I said, long before all this fancy technology, books and screenplays were being written. People just used real index cards and corkboards.

As for myself, I do a majority of my writing on a laptop. But when it comes to certain scenes and editing (on hard copy mind you) I rely on the Faber Castell 9000 3B Drawing pencil.

So, how about you all? What do you prefer to write with? Whether you're a writer or not, I'm interested to know.

Quote of the Week

"The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power."

--- Toni Morrison

Things Like This Should NEVER Happen

Black Friday. That yearly day after Thanksgiving that many retail employees don't look forward to. Throngs of people lining lining up (okay, mobbing up is more appropriate waiting for a store's door to open. Believe me, people are absolutely ridiculous on this day, some of them lining up HOURS before the store opens. I've worked retail and I've seen the madness. And every year you hear about injuries to employees and shoppers caused by the stampedes of people. But this situation is truly unacceptable:

"A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied
shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him,
police said." (Read full article)

And the worst part of this situation was that other workers were also trampled while attempting to help the fallen worker and shoppers actually got mad when the store closed for a few hours because of the death. It's absolutely inhuman and at the same time very sad that people felt mad and inconvenienced at a store closing making them have to wait to get their holiday deals. Thanks to some of them, a family will be grieving the loss of a loved one because these shoppers just had to save a few dollars or get that hot new gift item.

And you know what? I bet after these people read all the articles about 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour (the unfortunate Wal-Mart worker), they'll either say they weren't involved or won't give it a second thought.

So as we all go about our holiday shopping and go to gather with our loved ones, we should keep in our thoughts Jdimytai Damour as well as his family and friends who have suffered a terrible and such unnecessary loss.

Happy Thanksgiving

Quote of the Week

"At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable."

--- Raymond Chandler

Sign of the Times?

Much like other businesses during these tough economic times, the publishing industry is also suffering. But has it truly reached the point that major NY publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt actually told their editors to "temporarily" stop acquiring manuscripts? (Additional NYT article here)

Hodie EGO sum Centum (Today I am 100)

Okay, so I'm not 100, but this IS the 100th post here at Out in Writefield. (trumpets sound) And to kick things off, I'd like to announce the winner of Ken Bruen's latest book, Once Were Cops, that I offered to one lucky commenter on my post Cracking the Block. And the winner is....(opens envelope). Jake Nantz. Congratulations, Jake. Could you please e-mail me at rj@rjmangahas.com with your snail mail so I can get your book off to you? And by the way folks, check out Jake's blog, The Pen-Ferno. Cool name, huh?

So let's move this party. You're probably wondering, "What's with the Latin in the post title?" Well, it goes along with my guest here today at Out in WriteField: Kelli Stanley. She is the author of Nox Dormienda, a historical mystery set in Rome but with a noir feel. So please join me in welcoming Kelli Stanley to Out in WriteField.

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RJ: NOX DORMIENDA. Can you give us the pitch?

KS: Well, first let me thank you, RJ, for the invite! It’s great to be here to help celebrate your 100^th.

As for NOX … it’s a mystery-thriller and the first Roman Noir. A combination of ancient historical setting (first century Roman Britain) and the style of hardboiled fiction made famous by Hammett, Chandler, Woolrich and Cain. Arcturus—the governor’s doctor—has only one week to figure out who murdered a Syrian spy—and why … or civil war will erupt between the Roman Empire, and the small, wet province known as Britannia.

And of course there’s a woman involved. Isn’t there always? ;)

RJ: I've read that you're both a Classicist and a huge fan of noir. What made you decide to combine the two?

KS: An epiphany while attending Eddie Muller’s Noir City film festival in San Francisco. I’ve been a noir fan all my life. I wanted a lens for the book, something people could look through and say, “OK, I get it, Roman culture wasn’t all marble and togas, and it really does have relevance to the here and now.” For me, noir is that lens … it gives me a chance to prove that history can be just as tough, just as visceral, as a contemporary novel.

RJ: NOX DORMIENDA has been described by you and others such as author James Rollins, The Library Journal and Becky Lejeune, of Bookbitch.com, as "Roman Noir." What exactly is Roman Noir?

KS: Well, Roman Noir is a pun on “roman noir”, the French literary term for a detective novel. I thought it would be a good way to distinguish NOX from other historical mysteries on the market, and let people know that it’s something completely new. I’m very proud of the fact that the city and county of San Francisco—my homebase—awarded me a Certificate of Honor for my creation of a new subgenre.

Thanks to Jim Rollins, Becky Lejeune, and other reviewers, I’ve been able to get the word out about Roman Noir. Thanks to the support of readers, I have a good chance at expanding the series to the second, third and fourth novels. We’re trying to move to a larger publisher, so we’ll see.

RJ: I understand that you're also working on another series set in San Francisco in 1940.

KS: I just finished it, actually. Right before Bouchercon (a large annual mystery convention). Not Roman, but definitely noir … and a much darker version than Roman.

RJ: Any possibility for a little insight into the series?
KS: Without giving too much away, the protagonist is a female PI, who gets involved in a case dealing with racial tensions between the Chinese-American and Japanese-American communities in the wake of Nanking. Sweeping book, very dark and very big.

RJ: Just for fun, what are some of your favorite noir films and books?

KS: My favorite noir films include Nightmare Alley, Gilda, Out of the Past, Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil … and of course the minute I say that, I think of Night and the City, In a Lonely Place, Sudden Fear, Woman on the Run, Thieves’ Highway … it’s virtually impossible to rank them!

As for books, I consider Chandler a noir writer. He’s my favorite author. I also hold Hammett, Woolrich, Elizabeth Sanxay-Holding, Patricia Highsmith, Dorothy B. Hughes, David Goodis in high esteem. James Cain. Jim Thompson was brilliant, hard as hell to read sometimes because he was so damn disturbing. I like a combination of aesthetic lyricism with a brutal subject.

RJ: Who were some of the biggest influences on you as a writer?

KS: All of the above, plus Hemingway, Steinbeck, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, the Brontes, Poe and a whole lot of other people. Lots of poetry. Shakespeare. Virgil, Catullus, Euripides in terms of classical literature.

RJ: You say that you're also a comic book buff. Name some of your favorites.

KS: I used to own a comic book store with my family, and have collected since I was a kid. Batman and Detective are my two main titles … I have every issue of Detective from about 1959 to 1989. Batman is, for me, the ultimate noir super-hero. I’ve always been a DC fan (and am one of those unfortunate souls who can name all the members of the Legion of Super-Pets).

My collection has ground to a halt since publication, but I collect Silver and Golden Age DC, Fawcett and Quality. I’ve always loved Plastic Man (Jack Cole), Will Eisner’s The Spirit (what a wonderful man Eisner was!) … and I’m partial to a few other heroes in the DC pantheon, including Green Arrow, Dr. Fate and the Specter. I adore Catwoman. I was never much of a Wonder Woman fan, though as an academic I published an article on how she reflects American cultural trends toward women.

RJ: Did any of them influence your writing as well?

KS: Great question! I’m sure comic books have influenced me … they’re like reading storyboards, and before I turned to novels, I wrote screenplays … gave it up because unless you’re in LA and are willing to knock on doors it’s too frustrating a business. Batman certainly influenced me … made me understand (and from a young age) the pain of loss and the anger at not being able to prevent it. And the desire for revenge … psychologically he’s a very complex figure.

RJ: What do you enjoy doing when you're not writing?

KS: Movies—I’m looking forward to Quantum of Solace. Usually I’m catching up on something from 1948 on DVD. J I love visiting historic places, watching ships come in under the Golden Gate Bridge, walking in parks, playing with the dog. I also like vintage radio shows—some great writing on shows like Suspense … full entertainment in a half hour. But the thing about being a writer is that you never *not write.* Even when you’re doing other things, you’re still writing in your head. Deep down, I never stop.

RJ: So, what's next for Arcturus and company?

KS: The sequel is called MALEDICTUS (Cursed). Set a few months after NOX, in the town of Aquae Sulis (modern day Bath). It deals with the health spa/snake oil atmosphere of the town, and the murder of a curse-writer … someone whose curses seemed to come true. I’m hoping to see the series picked up by a larger publisher.

RJ: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat today.

KS: My pleasure, RJ, thanks for asking me!! And here’s to the 200^th post!

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There you have it fols, your intro to Roman Noir and a great writer. So be sure to get your copy of Nox Dormienda. And in honor of Kelli Stanley stopping by, you can check out the first three chapters of Nox Dormienda in the chap book that I'll be giving away to a randomly selected commenter.

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Kelli Stanley likes fog, which is a good thing because she lives in San Francisco. In addition to writing Roman noir, she holds a Master’s Degree in Classics. As a scholar, she writes and lectures internationally on a variety of subjects from Sallust to Superman, and her published work can be found in academic books and journals.

Her favorite film is Casablanca—she always gets choked up over the “Marseillaise” scenes.

She is currently working on her third Arcturus novel, and is researching a second series set in San Francisco in 1939.