Late Bloomers

A week ago, I blogged about writing what you know and observed that I couldn't think of anything for which I might claim expertise. While skimming about the many groups I subscribe to, I came across a thread at the Sisters in Crime list titled "Late Bloomers."

I discovered my niche. If there's something about which I can speak with authority, it's late-blooming writers.

If you've never visited the FAQ's page on my website, you're probably unaware that I pounded out my first mystery novel on a small portable typewriter while a college junior in 1948. Or that it was October of 2002 before my first mystery novel arrived on the shelf in a bookstore. I was 76.

For achieving the status of a published author, that's blooming late (yes, you can take that as a pun or a statement of fact).

I don't recommend an apprenticeship of 54 years, though it has its advantages. For one, you've observed enough of humanity to be conversant with most any type of character around. For another, you've been involved in business, social, and personal relationships that give you insights into most of the situations you're likely to encounter in writing a novel.

True, you may not have stumbled upon a murder like most of our characters eventually do, but you've heard and read and seen enough of it to feel comfortable with describing the experience.

If you've ever seen someone die traumatically, it'll stick with you. It happened to me back in my early newspaper reporting days. I was riding with a photographer on the way back from covering a story in another county when we topped a hill and saw a motorcycle lying in the middle of the highway. Two men were on it. We jumped out of the car and ran up to where they lay amidst a growing sea of red. Just as I got there, one of them gave a final tremble.

I can still see that scene vividly in my mind though it was 60 years ago.

Writing fiction is a taxing task, no matter how long you've been at it. You're always reaching for the precise word you feel will best convey your thoughts. But inventing characters and situations becomes easier the more you take part in life's everyday experiences.

Being a late bloomer doesn't seem all that bad, except for one thing. It makes you impatient with agents or editors or publishers who dawdle around with your work like you had all the time in the world to wait on them. That's why I deal with a small press that can make decisions quickly and get things done in a hurry.

What are you waiting for? Get busy!

And check out my latest book here.

My fascination with murder

My fascination with the subject of murder began back in 1948, during my early days as a newspaper reporter. I had gone to work for The Knoxville Journal the previous fall, at the start of my junior year in journalism at the University of Tennessee. It would make a lot more interesting story to say I was involved in writing about murder cases back then, but no such luck. My assignments were on the order of reporting on dog shows. However, I read a couple of books by Horace McCoy—They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and No Pockets in a Shroud—during that time, firing up my imagination. The latter featured a reporter covering a murder case.

I sat down at my little portable typewriter in the dank depths of my fraternity house and banged out a murder mystery. It featured (what else?) a reporter helping solve a homicide. The editor at a Philadelphia publishing house declined, saying he had too many manuscripts already. Yeah. And though it was twenty years before I tried my hand at another novel, I was hooked on murder and mysteries.

I’ve often thought about what gets us all, writers and readers alike, so jazzed up on murder. To most of us (with the exception of those mentioned below), taking a human life is the ultimate crime. The damage done by thieves and robbers can be overcome, but death is as final as it gets. We love to delve into the motivations of a killer, peel away the layers of cunning behavior and rash activity that lead to the inevitable outcome. And we stare through voyeur eyes at how the crime affects those around the victim.

Serial killers have been a staple of crime fiction for several years now, but I’ve found few who could match the real thing we encounter occasionally on TV. There’s one type of killer who hasn’t appeared much in fiction yet, or maybe I just haven’t read enough books. That’s the unconscionable youth who kills without remorse. The news in Nashville, my hometown, deals too often with a teenager who robs a clerk and then shoots him or her for no apparent reason. We may see more of that in fiction soon.

Writers flock to murderous subjects since that’s where the action is. The mystery genre, taken in its broadest context, ranks second to romance in terms of book sales. I suspect man’s inhumanity to man will keep mystery writers busy at their keyboards for years to come, and as long as I’m around, I’ll be right there among ‘em.

If you’d like to read the long version of how I got started and where I’ve been, check out “Reflections on the Writing Life—my 60-year odyssey with the written word” at http://www.chesterdcampbell.com/Reflections.htm.

And you thought the election was over

Well, this isn't exactly about an election. Maybe it's more like a roll of the dice, but it is about voting. There's a website called Preditors and Editors, which you may have heard of in relation to checking on a scamming agent or a less than savory publisher. It seems that P and E also has something called the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll, which it conducts each year between Jan. 1 and Jan. 14. Mystery Novels is one category, and the winner receives a GIF (that's .gif for the computer savvy) announcing it as the best in 2008.

Okay, it's just another thingy to put on the website beside your book, attesting that it got noticed by several somebodies. You'll note it's called a Readers Poll, which would give the impression that people who vote for a book have read it. Would that it were so. Realistically, it's a popularity contest.

I would love for you to read The Marathon Murders before you vote for it. The next best thing would be to read the first two chapters through this link to my website. But if you can't do that, I'll still take your vote.

They even give prizes to random voters in the poll, so you might be a winner, too.

Time to get down to the nitty gritty. Here's the link to the voting site: P and E Readers Poll-Mystery Books. Scroll down and click on the circle beside The Marathon Murders, continue down to give your name and email address, then click on Submit data. I'm assured that there are no exit polls, so you won't be bothered on leaving the premises.

Sorry I don't have any "I Voted" stickers to pass out, but you can sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee, and feel good that you've done your civic duty.

Gad, I hope there are no hanging chads in this deal.