Preparing for the summer book tour(s)

This is a big year for me on a number of writing fronts.  Coming out soon is Secret Witness, my first true crime book on the murder of Nola Puyear in Marshall Michigan in 1967.  Coming out at nearly the same time will be Business Rules:  The Cynic’s Guidebook to the Corporate Overlords.  Then in July, a real exciting book, Virginia Creeper.  Then, this autumn I jump back into military history with, The Bad Boy: Bert Hall: Aviator and Mercenary of the Skies.  I’m also hoping to get at least one more book done before December.  Truth be told, I can’t think out that far. 

One of the things most authors don’t talk about is the publicity that we need to do to help sell books.  In the last few weeks I have been arranging for the book tour events just for Secret Witness.  For me, this is planning a week in Michigan doing lectures and book signing events.  I’m also hoping to do a few book clubs – if everything works out.

You would think it would be easy, but you have to try in a short period of time (a week) to arrange multiple events with multiple venues, with multiple calendars. It means finding bloggers willing to do interviews with me about the book – and finding the right places to go and speak. 

I have about five events where we are still playing with the dates etc., but as it stands the first week of June I will be in Michigan (Battle Creek, Marshall, Kalamazoo, Detroit areas) doing the following events for Secret Witness:

June 4             Be Scene TV interview in Battle Creek

                        7:00pm Marshall Public Library
June 6             Albion Public Library, 12:15pm
June 8             Kazoo Books in Kalamazoo at 6:30pm

I have a few more events scheduled, more about those as I lock down the dates. 

If you are in the area, drop in.  Heck, bring your BattleTech novels to get them signed if you want.  Also, if you have a venue in Michigan that week, or a book club you think would enjoy speaking with an author about their book – reach out to me.   If you write a blog, I do blog interviews too. 

As far as the other venues for the other books…I’m working on it!  Suffice it to say, I will be doing a lot of public speaking stuff in the coming year just to keep up with this publishing schedule.  I look forward to seeing or hearing from you. 

Is True Crime History?

This spring I’m adding true crime to the genres I write in.  My book Secret Witness which comes out in April, is my first foray into this class of books.  I have written business, science fiction and military history thus far in my writing career.  I have always enjoyed reading true crime books so this was not a stretch for me. 

It was also easy because for the last few years of writing military history, there was almost no difference in writing true crime.  Almost…

From a purely researching and writing perspective – true crime books are no different than writing history books.  You need to get to primary sources, you organize your findings accordingly, and the writing is not different at all.  I have encountered a few people, mostly mainstream historians, who see true crime as something less than historical books.  I don’t agree with them.  In my head, these are history books – they are simply the history of specific events which lead to death or some other crime.

The structure of true crime books is different than most historical or biography works.  True crimes usually start with the horrific event – with just enough graphic tantalizing detail to draw the reader in.  There is the pursuit of the murderer, the capture, and the resolution (trial).  History books tend to do a lot more of a build up to a traditional climax.  True crimes tend to start with the climax in many regards.  Capote’s In Cold Blood, one of the first of the modern true crime books, didn’t do this – but that tends to be the exception to the rule.   

Just like with a history book, as a writer, I have to lay the context of the event out for the reader.  Secret Witness is set in Marshall Michigan in 1967.  I had to take the reader back to that time.  There were race riots in Detroit that summer – and a real fear that racial tensions would reach small towns like Marshall.  I had to delve into small-town culture as well.  If you have ever lived in a small town in America you realize they are very different places to live. 

The research is exactly the same process for both genres in terms of gathering information and organizing it.  I have to admit, I enjoy reading the typed police reports a great deal.  You really get a feel not just for the investigators themselves, but their thinking processes during the investigation.  Since I tend to write a lot of WWI books, I don’t get to interview people who were actual witnesses to events when I write military history.  When I do true crime, there are people still around who can offer me their perspectives and views. 

A significant difference in writing true crime vs. history books is the willingness of participants to have the story told.  When I was working on a book about Medal of Honor winner Frank Luke Jr. (Terror of the Autumn Skies) everyone was willing to talk to me and looked forward to the story to be told.  Not true with Secret Witness.  Out of professional courtesy I contacted members of both the victim’s and murderer’s families to: 1.  Let them know the book was being written so they wouldn’t be surprised; and 2.  Allow them a chance to offer their perspectives.  With true crime books, people prefer to let the event remain buried – they don’t necessarily want the story to be retold.  There was “resistance” – some of which I included in the book (sorry, you’ll have to read about it.)  It is perfectly understandable.  As a writer, however, I cannot let govern whether I write the book or not. 

I’m working on a new true crime book set in Battle Creek Michigan in 1963, tentatively titled A Special Kind of Evil.  This involves the unsolved brutal stabbing murder of Daisy Zick in Wattles Park.  Now this book will have to break more an a few true crime rules.  First off, there was no capture and trial of the guilty party.  Having crawled through the police files on the case and doing several interviews with people connected to the crime, I know the police had narrowed their suspects down to one or two people.  Getting the evidence to prove that is something they are still pursuing – even now, almost 50 years after the crime.  As a writer this is going to make me break with the traditional true crime genre format – which is proving both challenging and fun.

So, what do you think?  Is true crime really just a variation of history book?   

Cover For Secret Witness is Done!

When you write a book there are couple of truly joyous moments tied to the process.  One is when you finish the book.  It’s the kind of moment you tend to enjoy all alone – but it is great.  There’s when you see the final edit (blue line) copy of the book for your last pass through it.  At that point months have passed and it’s like reading a new book all over again.  When you see your book for the first time in a bookstore is another fantastic moment.   Then there’s those moments that people contact you and say, “your book really touched me.”  These are some of the fun and private parts of being an author – that sense of accomplishment. 

Another one of the cool moments you get to experience as an author is when the art/production department shoots you over the cover for your book.   This week, the University of Michigan Press sent me the early cut of the cover for my upcoming book Secret Witness.  Here it is!

Personally, I love it.  I like the “true crime” font used – very 1960s’ which was pleasing since the book is about a crime in the 1960s’.  The address you see at the top and blending into the title is from the poison pills sent to the victim, Nola Puyear, which proved instrumental in catching her murderer, Enoch Chism.  I like how the words “Marshall Mich” blend into the text.  Seeing the scrawled address brings back memories of the evidence in the case, of a devious plot to kill an innocent women that took months to accomplish.  Nola’s death, on Michigan Avenue, by a bomb blast, tore at the heart of hometown Marshall’s innocence.   All of that came back to me.   

Seeing the cover it suddenly hit me; the book is going to be out in a few months.  The release date is now at the end of April, 2012.   Seeing the cover tells me that the edit copy of the book is going to be coming soon for my final read and approval too. 

Wow, what a journey. 

I am from the Battle Creek/Marshall area – my family is Marshall-based.  I was raised on Louie’s donuts and still have fond memories of the few times a year we ate at Win Schuler's.  I go back a few times a year, eat at Roma’s and the Hi-Lite, watch the Brooks fountain at night, and think back to the Marshall of my youth. 

Writing a book about one of Calhoun County’s most infamous crimes has been a real treat for me.  It is a chance to connect back to the Marshall of my childhood, back to 1967.  Oddly enough, not a lot has changed.  That is one of Marshall’s charms, it is a city that is almost suspended in time.  Like I say in the book, the clock stopped in the 1950’s in Marshall and never moved forward. 

Seeing the cover also tells me that I have to begin the task of setting up some book tour events.  With my daughter getting married in May, that means planning for things sometime in June.  I have a long list of contacts and places that I need to see if I can coordinate and arrange.  I enjoy the public appearances—it is a chance to go beyond the book and tell more of the story.  I also get to meet some interesting people along the way. 

Despite the sensitivities to the families involved with the events in 1967, I will be doing some events in Michigan and Virginia to promote the book.  Promotion of a books is a necessary and fundamental part of being a writer these days.  For those of you that live there, follow my blog and hopefully we can connect. If you are in a book club, I love doing virtual sessions where you can ask the author questions…so keep that in mind.

The inevitable question I get right about now is, “can I order the book now?”  Not quite yet – orders will start a few weeks before April.  I don’t sell personally sell copies of my books.  You need to get them from your local bookstore or online from the University of Michigan Press or whatever your preferred online source (i.e. Amazon.com).  Watch my blog – you’ll see updates as the book release gets closer and I firm up some book signing and speaking events.

The Writing Process – Incorporating Reader Comments and Changing the Title

I just finished a very minor rewrite of Secret Witness – my first true crime book.  The acquisitions editor sent it out to another author to gather comments about the book to improve it.  The reader (I don’t know who it was but they have my thanks) had one comment/suggestion.  The editor and I discussed it and I have gone through and made the change. 

I also had to go through and tell the editors where I wanted the photographs placed in the book.  The publisher of this book (The University of Michigan Press) does a great job of production and puts the photos throughout the book rather than in a section in the middle of the book.  Personally I’m a big fan of putting the photos where they relate to the text rather than being lumped together in the middle. 

This is all part of the writing process.  If you have an ego, this isn’t the business for you to consider.  Sometimes you have to be objective and in this case, I think the author that provided the comments may have been right.  The net result is a better book. 

The next step is that a copy-edit will be done on the book.  This is to clean up grammar and spelling.  The book then moves into production.  Somewhere along the line I will get a “blueline” copy of the book to review.  Back in the old days a blueline copy was a printout of how the book was laid out and is my final chance to make changes.  Nowdays this is a PDF file of the book as it appears in final form.  Generally you get a ridiculously short amount of time to review this copy – some publishers have hit me with 48 hours turnaround time.   

Then the book is gone.  Months will pass. As an author you move onto other projects.  Then suddenly the book is available.  I have sometimes seen my books in a bookstore before I get my author’s copies or before anyone informs me it’s out.  No problem – as long as the book is out and people are reading it. 

This book, re-re-renamed Secret Witness, went through several title changes.   When it pitched the idea to the acquisitions editor I used this title.  When we finished the book the suggestion came up to change the book title.  I’m game.  The running joke I use is, “you can call this book Free Beer if it will sell copies.” 

We bounced around two other titles – In the Shadow of Fear and Grip of Terror.  I used Facebook to float the titles out there and everyone favored In the Shadow of Fear.  I liked Grip of Terror because I think books that have short titles are better for readers to wrap their hands around.  Based on my informal market survey (Facebook comments) I went with In the Shadow of Fear, but I found out two days ago that the marketing people wanted to go back to Secret Witness.  It worked for me – that was the original title to begin with. 

The marketing folks also told me some general ideas they are bouncing around for the cover.  I can barely draw stick people so I’m excited to see what they eventually come up with. 

The reason I go over this is to explain a little bit about some of the background work as a writer that I go through.  Some of this has nothing to do with writing or research, but it has everything to do with the business of writing. 

So there you have it – another weekend as a writer.  Secret Witness, the story of the Nola Puyear bombing murder in Marshall Michigan in 1967, will be out next spring.  Until then, I’ve got two other proposals I’m working on, and another book I am writing. 

Life is good…

Done writing another book...whew!

This week I finished the primary writing on my new book.  The working titles now are limited to:  Grip of Terror or In the Shadow of Fear.   It is my first true crime effort and I’m quite pleased with how the book feels and reads.   I saved the footnotes for the last – always a pain.  I swore in college I would never write footnotes again.  Now here I am, doing it as part of my second career. 



The bomb damage at the Tasty Cafe (author's collection)



This book is a game-changer for me because it introduces me to a new writing genre.  True Crime books have always fascinated me and the chance to write one has been wonderful. It’s one of the genre’s I read quite a bit of.  I am already working on two others if you can believe that, another set in my home town too.  I’m expecting a bundle of research material in the next two weeks from the Michigan State Police archives which will keep me busy for months.   I still plan on writing military history and sci-fi, this simply offers me  another area to write in; one I’m passionate about.

This book has me jazzed on a lot of levels.  One of the more interesting things I tried with this book is to introduce the town as a character.  Marshall Michigan has a distinct personality and culture.  I wanted people to feel that the community itself was part of the story.   Don’t read too much into this.  It’s not a speaking character – but it is one of the key players in the drama that unfolded in 1967.  If you’ve ever visited Marshall, chances are you understand what I am talking about.  It is a place that is special in my heart and in many ways reflects every small town in America.  When people read this book they will find themselves reflecting on how this small town is like ones they are familiar with. 

I incorporated a lot of period pieces to transport the reader back to Marshall in 1967.  I talked about the headlines, whether it was the Redskins playing the Beavers for football or which movie was playing at the Bogar theater…I used these devices to set the feeling, tone, and time.   I did some neat things as well about the passage of time and how it is measured in this little town.  It is interesting to read the headlines from 1967 to 1970 and see how things changed, from the font of the newspaper to the stories about a little place called Vietnam which went from being a sidebar to a headline article.  

I enjoyed the key characters well.  Enoch Chism, the murderer in this case, really was a new kind of evil.  The investigators of this crime, men like Fred Ritchie and Detective Kenney really relied on old-fashioned police work to solve the crime.  Part gut-instinct, part experience, part skill.  I hope that I was able to do “justice” (pun intended) to all parties involved.

You might think there is a moment of celebration when the book is done but that isn’t the case.  First, it needs to go for a review read and there may be changes that come out of that.  Second, there will be edits from the copy-edit process that I will need to do (hopefully minor).  Then there’s a “final pass” edit, what we used to call a blue-line edit, which is a review of the book in its final form.  I do get excited a little bit when I see the artist mock up of the cover, mostly because it’s interesting to see how a graphics person interprets what the book is about.  Truthfully I don’t get to celebrate until the actual book arrives and is in my little hands.  Up until that point, a lot can happen.  When I hold the physical book, then I know it’s real.    

So…any questions?  Which title do you like?