Go big
With the completion of the 1940s in my biography of Erle Stanley Gardner, I’m taking a step back and editing the book so far. The thing that I keep reflecting on is how big it is. I’ve been working on this in separate files, so it hasn’t seemed like more than a few pages at a time, but in tying everything together, this book will be, by far, the largest number of pages.
In reflecting on why the page count is so important to me this time around, I’ve been counting the reasons why. I think that the main reason is that the amount of time and effort with this book is exponentially larger than my previous biographies. As a result, I’ve put more of myself into the book, and of course like with any endeavor, putting yourself into it means that the fear of rejection grows as well. It’s painful to think (and I think this about this point in every book) that what if I don’t get this published? I could have spent years on a project that came to naught.
And time is another thing that weighs heavy on my mind. I’ll be 50 in a few weeks, and this birthday is taking a toll on me. I didn’t think that I was the type of person who would be bothered by age, but 50 to me is a killer. So like Gardner did when he wrote in the 1940s, he wanted to leave a legacy, and I see this book as a part of my legacy. I want many more books, which means I have to get back to work! The 1950s and some great interviews with television stars, directors, and producers are ahead for me before the end of the year.
Who’s Got the Button?
That drip, drip, drip sound you’re hearing is my sinuses. I’ve got a summer cold, and this one is a humdinger. In between the sniffing and wiping and the coughing, I’m trying to finish a book. Keep your fingers crossed, looks like today might be the day for that!
As I’m racing toward “The End,” it occurred to me that I haven’t even mentioned this mystery series here on the blog. It’s a brand new mystery series and the first book will be out in September 2011. My hook?
Vintage buttons.
Oh yeah, I said buttons. You see, I love old buttons. As Josie Giancola, the heroine of the new series, explains at one point, buttons are tiny pieces of art, and chunks of history. Through the years, buttons have been used to denote status (the more buttons on your clothes, the more well off you were), to show who had your heart (women once had photos of their sweeties put on their buttons) or just to make a fashion statement.
They can be utilitarian or flashy. Practical or flamboyant. They can be put out by the thousands by factories or handmade, one by one, by artists.
The book I’m finishing now (tentatively titled “Button Holed”) is the first of a three-book contract. I’m having fun with it. My only challenge now: to get the rest of the book buttoned up.
Wish me luck!
School Daze
Wow, I’m already back in school this year. It’s a new year for me in many ways. I’m teaching language arts for the first time this year. It’s been a very strange thing to share my process of writing and reading with the class. For the most part, they are excited to have a teacher who reads and writes (though they tend to make fun of my book jacket photo, sigh)
I think it’s fun though to talk about my writing with the kids. I’m sharing bits and pieces of what I know about other authors and their processes as well. I haven’t mentioned how some drink and then write. They can learn about those writers when they grow up. My room is full up with quotes from a variety of writers on their process and the thrill (and difficulty) of writing. So we’ll see how this goes. We started with fiction and will be moving to memoir and life writing next. I think I can cover that one.
And speaking of which, I’m still hard at work on the biography of Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s been fun this summer to read and write as much as I did. I’m still reading 3-4 books a week and doing all the research necessary to complete the book. I found a link between Craig Rice and Gardner. She edited an anthology that he was in. They are such different people as individuals and writers that it’s hard to think of them in the same universe sometimes.
I’m entering the 1950s this week, and beginning to write about the TV series. It’s been fun to do interviews with a number of people associated with the show, both on-air and behind-the-scenes folks. I am feeling confident about the book now, and I can see a little glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
Jeff Deaver
Got back from Killer Nashville last Sunday and introduced my new JS-200 Gibson guitar to its new home. Beautiful instrument.
Jeff Deaver was the guest of honor and it was good to catch up with him. He’s busy writing the new James Bond book. It seems he met the Flemming family (Ian Flemming wrote the original Bond books) when they presented him with an award for one of his earlier books, and they liked his work and offered him the opportunity to write the next British spy thriller. Pretty heady stuff. The writing has been somewhat difficult since he broke his little finger this past winter ( fighting villains or falling on the ice…he was a little fuzzy on that issue), and he is still having trouble using it.
A short story by Mr. Deaver appeared in an anthology that I edited called A Merry Band Of Murderers. I’m certain it was referenced here in this blog several years ago. The authors had to write a short murder mystery and then write a song. A CD of the songs comes with the book. It was a fun project and Jeff Deaver wrote a story and song about a stalker.
Every year at the Killer Nashville Banquet the guest of honor is given a guitar with a small plaque on it, commemorating the event. Three years ago Mike Connelly received the guitar and asked me to play a song for the attendees. (There’s a video on Youtube), but this year I assumed Jeff would play. Maybe the song he wrote for the anthology. Instead, he begged off, blaming the injured finger. So, I played Jeff Deaver’s guitar at the banquet. The first song ever on the virgin instrument. I had to tune it mid-song, but other than that everything went well.
I love conferences. You meet great people and you get to play their guitars. And in this case it was (In my best Sean Connery accent) Deaver. Jeff Deaver.
It’s Wednesday!
I was actually sitting here this afternoon, hard at work at finishing up a book when the thought struck–it’s Wednesday!
Yikes!
When did the weeks start going so fast? And how did I forget? Rather than blather on with some spur-of-the-moment something, I’ll just share some photos from the fabulous signing at Something Different Gallery a couple weeks ago. We had a great time! Thanks to all the wonderful readers who turned out, and a special thank you to George and Koula, the gallery owners, who are truly the nicest people in Cleveland.
Carrie and Rachel drove all the way from Chicago to attend the signing. Thank you, ladies! It was great to meet you.
Frank and Dennis bought books for all their friends at the beach in Delaware where they’re vacationing. My books get to go to the beach. I do not.
Yes, we really are having that much fun!
Barbados Heat Is On Kindle
Congratulate me. Finally, I got Barbados Heat, my second book, up on Kindle. For $2.99! Publishers control the other 7 books and their price, but I’ve got Barbados Heat so $2.99 seemed like a good price point.
Sue Grafton said “Don Bruns has carved out his turf…sex, drugs, rock and roll and murder. What more could you want?”
Lee Child said “Get in on the ground floor with this important new writer!”
Oh, well, what do they know? Anyway, if you want a good island read, check it out.
And thanks!
Don
The Thyssen Affair…where has this lady been all of my life?
Someone asked me to review a book by Mozelle Richardson. Of course her New York Times best seller status…wait, she isn’t a NYT best seller. In fact, no one I know has ever heard of her.
But, I said I’d review the book, even though I have not written a book review since 11th grade. I apparently was just in a good mood that day.
So they sent this book…and I checked out the back page where this woman’s author photo shows her in a ski parka in some desolate area of God knows where.
I’ll be honest, I was not looking forward to the read. I read the first five pages, forgot that I didn’t want to read the book, was plunged into a character and a gripping plot that I couldn’t put down.
I was on a plane to a book conference in Sarasota, Florida and I could not forget this wonderful story.
1980, a WW2 soldier gets called by the CIA to find out why a prisoner of war skull has been stolen from a graveyard in the United States.
Since I am not a book reviewer, and I would tend to give away plot, I’m not going to do that. I will tell you that the first night in Sarasota I met a dentist and his wife, and when he found out I wrote books he sadly stated that his profession wasn’t that exciting. I told him he couldn’t be more wrong. The Thyssen Affair is a dental mystery, an international mystery, a study in three D character development and a race to the end, complete with devistating fires, earthquakes and more.
Dead bodies litter the landscape, and romance flouishes in the most unlikely places.
I still don’t know who Mozelle Richardson is, but I will tell you the woman writes one hell of an exciting thriller! It never stops, it never slows down, and I was breathless when it ended. Get it on Amazon. It’s a marvelous story. I only wish I wrote book reviews so I could do it justice!
Don Bruns
It’s a Cemetery Scavenger Hunt!
If you live in northeast Ohio (or even if you don’t, and you’re looking for a road trip) and you’re searching for something interesting and unusual to do this weekend, check out the Cemetery Scavenger Hunt!
The tour begins at 1 pm on Sunday, August 22, at Erie Street Cemetery, 2254 East 9th Street. That’s right across the street from Progressive Field, where the Indians play. I’m proud to say I’m hosting at Erie Street this year, and I can promise you some interesting experiences. For one thing, Erie St. is the oldest cemetery in Cleveland, and includes graves of many of the area’s earliest pioneers. Your “challenge” at Erie Street will be to visit the graves of 12 special residents and fill out a crossword puzzle with clues provided by the headstones. In the process, you’ll meet a musician from the Civil War, a man who devoted his life to making Cleveland a better place, and one special fellow with the intriguing nickname of “Machine Gun Jefferson.”
When you finish at Erie Street, you can head over to Woodland Cemetery (6901 Woodland Avenue) where you’ll receive another challenge and have to find eight clues on eight different graves.
The festivities go on, rain or shine, and there are prizes and raffles, too. This fundraiser is sponsored by the Woodland Cemetery Foundation and the Monroe Street Cemetery Foundation and your $15 entry fee is fully tax-deductible.
For more information, contact Michelle Day at 216-319-2081 or visit
www.wcfcle.org
This is a wonderful chance to explore two of the city’s most interesting and historic cemeteries, and to learn more about the lives of the people who settled here on the north coast. See you there!
Woodland Cemetery was established in the 19th Century and is a perfect example of the rural, romantic movement in cemetery design.
You’ll find lots of history–and lots of atmosphere–in old cemeteries.
Back to school
I’m back to school this week, and for the first time in my professional career, I’m teaching English. This should be an interesting experiment as I’m waist deep in editing and writing the biography and I’ll be teaching what I’m doing in the evenings. So it should lead to many interesting discussions.
The book is coming along so well. I’m discussing an interesting confluence of characters at the moment. I’ve begun to write about the 1950s which started the Perry Mason TV show. There was a powerful combination of character and actor in the role of Perry Mason. Raymond Burr has long been associated with the role to a degree that I think many people confuse role and actor. Tied to that is the realization that before the TV show, Erle Stanley Gardner had been confused with Mason to some degree. At this point, author, character and actor all seem to come together. Gardner and Raymond Burr were both asked to talk at American Bar Association meetings, discuss legal points, etc. There seemed to be no boundaries between in them in the public’s mind, to such a degree that they appeared together on mulitple magazine covers.
I’m trying to think of other instances where author, character and actor are so closely associated, but I’m not coming up with any. Gardner left enough details about Mason fuzzy that it was easy for a commanding actor like Burr to make the role his own. (Ironically it looked like Fred MacMurray would get the role for a while.)
I’m off to write some more, and I’ll be talking about my writing during the days now. It should be an interesting time.
Looking for Something Different?
If you live in northeast Ohio (or even if you don’t, and you’re looking for a road trip), don’t forget tomorrow’s (8/12) book launch party for “Tomb with a View.”
It will take place from 5-8 at:
Something Different Gallery
1899 West 25th Street
Cleveland
For those of you who know the area, it’s a tad north of the West Side Market, on the same side of the street.
There’s free street parking after 6. You’ll need your quarters before. And there’s always free parking in the lot behind the building.
Something Different is a wonderful gallery with an eclectic mix of art and artists. The owners, Koula and George, are hands down the nicest people in Cleveland. They firmly believe that writers are artists and they’ve been generous in their support of me and my books. The gallery is filled with interesting jewelry, glasswork, paintings, and has a nice mix of some vintage items, too. There’s bound to be something that catches your eye.
If you can’t join us for books and a glass of wine and you’d still like signed copies of “Tomb with a View” or any of my other books, give the gallery a call at:
216-696-5226
They can ship books directly to you and even gift wrap.
Come on down! It’s going to be a great evening.
