Parker

I've been away for a bit, focusing on other areas in terms of blogging. However, my mystery fiction continues and I hope to announce some exciting news soon.

However, Sunday was somewhat a sad day for me. It was the sixth "Jessie Stone" movie, based on the character created by the late Robert B. Parker.

"No Remorse" was not based on a specific Parker book and he was not involved in the production, but it was a great movie and kept in the spirit of the Jessie Stone novels.

According to Newsday, Parker did view the movie before his fatal heart attack in January, and according to the report, he gave it his blessing.

I've long been a fan of Parker's. I wasn't much on his female character Sunny Randall, but I liked quite a few of Specer's adventures. But Jessie Stone was really something ... a flawed character that I liked very much.

And I was proud to see CBS and Tom Selleck put together a quality movie based on some great books.

I hope the movies continue in the same tradition, serving as a fitting tribute to a great mystery writer.

Mysteries

I recently attended Murder in the Magic City and was interested to see that it was a majority of women in the audience. Not interested in the sense that my girlfriend might beat me up, but interested from a writing point of view.

I have often heard that women read more mysteries than men. Certainly, that conference seemed to provide some measurable proof.

I wonder though, why that is. Certainly, certain types of mysteries may appeal more to women than men, and vice versa. But there are plenty of male characters and plenty of action-oriented mysteries., both of which would seem to appeal more to guys, if we are thinking in terms of traditional gender roles.

Author CJ Box at the conference commented that he gets a lot of fan mail from men. His main character? A game warden.

Not sure what it all means. Certainly, gender roles are merging, changing and evolving. I'm certain the same can be said of traditional gender reading interests.

Dick Francis

Sadly, mystery great Dick Francis has died. You can read more here:

Dick Francis

Murder in the Magic City

I attended this great event in Birmingham Alabama Saturday and must say it was extremely enjoyable.

I will write more about it this weekend, however, I offer a few initial notes.

First, the panelists were excellent. I also liked the guests of honors. Across the board a good event.

I got two books signed, one by CJ Box and one by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Both were a pleasure to meet, very giving of their time (thanks to us all having journalism backgrounds, there was plenty to talk about) and I'm looking forward to reading their books.

I will be discussing specific topics this week.

Robert B. Parker

It is hard to imagine Robert B. Parker gone. But alas, Monday, he died at the age of 77 - allegedly sitting at his desk writing.

I really enjoed Spenser. I LOVED the Jessie Stone novels and I liked the Sunn Randall books. Parker has been a huge influence on me and my writing and it is difficult to conceive that he is gone.

He was a tough guy with a soft heart - every single novel he wrote was dedicated to his wife.

It is a sad day.

Self Publishing

I've been thinking and reading about self-publishing a lot lately. Not for a novel, however, for two options.

One, I have a couple of novellas I've written. I think they are pretty good. The problem is length. Too long for short story markets, too short to be novels. Sure I could pad and puff them into novels, but that would force me to double each with stuff that is...well....stuffing.

So I've been thinking about publishing them electronically for the Kindle and other readers.

I may even add a short story or two to the mix.

Not entirely sure exactly how it will all come together, but it is on my mind.

Reading Goals for 201

I'm still working up my list, however, here's a few things I want to read this year.

1. The Bible - I have received a one-year Bible as a Christmas present and started reading it. I've read bits and pieces over the years but never sat down to read the whole thing.

2. At least two or three more of Patrick O'Brian's books. So far, I've read through The Nutmeg of Consolation, so I still have a few more to go in his acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series.

Not sure when it will come out, but I'd like to read the book on Teddy Roosevelt Doris Kearns Goodwin is working on. Maybe it'll publish in 2010, but I've not heard (or looked that hard).

Still early in the year, so my thoughts are fuzzy, but every year, I try to read 2-3 mysteries by foreign (and that means no Canadian or British also) authors and a couple of small press books.

I'll be adding more to the list soon.