WHO'S GOT GEAR?

Met up with my agent just before Christmas. The agency had a good year but he was clearly exhausted and wondered where he was going to find an extra gear for 2010. It struck me that everyone is finding the need for that extra gear – whatever it is they do for a living. Is it because there aren’t enough hours in the day to service the 21st Century expectations demanded of us? That’s a whole different discussion.

Of the writers I know it’s certainly true that 24 hours just doesn’t cut the mustard. Writing is only one part of the process. It’s a competitive market out there and hoping that readers find our work isn’t an option for anyone who wants to earn a living writing commercial fiction. There’s certainly more onus on writers to promote themselves now. Is this a good thing? Maybe not for our physical and mental health but being part of and having some control over how well our own work performs – via promotional websites, blogging, interviews etc - is a fascinating process that has kept me engaged with my work long after publication. It’s also a great way to gauge reader reaction and get the sort of instant feedback writers wouldn’t have had in the last century.

But I’ve just hit a tricky milestone with STOP ME. The trade paperback has been out for four months and appears to have done well in terms of sales and this Monday sees the release of the mass market paperback. It’s very exciting and the actual book feels like it’s a different entity because of its electric blue cover. Plus Allison & Busby have secured a coup with a WHSmith Travel promotion which will certainly help sales.

However, I’m going to have to find an extra gear myself in terms of promoting it. Everyone I know has now bought their copy so it’s a case of now having to brainstorm some new ideas to help promote the paperback. All suggestions for finding new converts to the Vacation Killer are most welcome!

Book 2 is completed and with agent and I’ve started jotting down ideas for 3 so it’s also a question of juggling writing duties with promo for STOP ME. You won’t find me complaining though – even if the gearbox is making a worrying clunking sound.

Wishing you a blissful 2010.

Richard Jay Parker

Is Crime Fiction Too Sadistic?

by Matt Lynn

There's an interesting debate going on over at The Bookseller. The reviewer Jessica Mann was reported as saying she was giving up reviewing the genre because she was fed up with "outpourings of sadistic misogyny" that now characterises so many crime thrillers - although, in fairness, Jessica points out out later on that she is only giving up on those kinds of books, not the entire category.

Still, it's a debate worth having, and one that authors should take seriously. At some point in the last decade, the crime genre seems to have transformed itself into a 'serial killer' genre. A lot of the poster campaigns you see for books these days appear to be designed to be as gruesome as possible, and may well be putting off as many people from the genre as they attract.

I don't have anything against violence in books myself - and I don't suppose that someone who has written a book called 'Death Force' is in any position to complain about it. It has always been a big part of the crime and thriller genre, and there are good reasons for that. We are all fascinated by death. And, of course, it is only life and death situations that really create the necessary drama and tension that writers are seeking to create.

There are two problems, however.

Much of the crime genre appears to have slipped into a kind of torture porn. The crimes get more and more horrific, much of it dircted against women and children. I'm not convinced that is either healthy or wise.

Next, it isn't really very realistic either. Unless I've missed something, this country has hardly any serial killlers. The US has a few more, but not that many. At yet the bookshelves are groaning with serial killer stories. They aren't reflecting the world around them.

I wouldn't want to dictate what people should write about. But I can't help feeling that Mann is onto something when she complains that the genre is disappearing into a ghetto which, while it may do something for a minority of readres, alienates the mainstream audience.