/ en-US Sun, 30 Dec 2018 19:55:26 -0800 60 / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/14934501-genre-fluid Mon, 03 Apr 2017 06:13:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/14934501-genre-fluid
Paperbacks came to be produced in industry-standard sizes largely based on book store shelving requirements. As a result, word count became a thing. This also had an effect on form. Shorts didn’t sell. Freed up from all of this authors are now free to write whatever they want. We consume stories differently now and so shorts are back. As writers, we are free to play around with form, to innovate, and to mix and match genres blurring the lines like never before.

I have two series in production at the moment. The first, Vigilante Investigator Justice, is a hardboiled crime series. Book #1 TheBreaks was published in 2015 and #2 GET9 will be out towards the end of this year. I’m excited to be having a new series of covers designed which will tie the look of the titles to follow and the series as a whole together. More on the new covers as I get them.

The second, Numinous, is a series that I’m not sure how to describe. I quite like 'speculative crime' � I may have just created a new genre � but some might classify it as paranormal crime. It’s crime anyway. I’m still a crime writer. Originally devised as a television series, I’m going to be experimenting with releasing these stories episodically. The covers will work slightly differently to suit the form. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes and I'll be documenting it here.

posted by Eden Sharp on December, 30 ]]> /author_blog_posts/9446623-reacher-said-nothing Sat, 21 Nov 2015 06:32:00 -0800 /author_blog_posts/9446623-reacher-said-nothing Make Me, his twentieth novel featuring Jack Reacher.



Andy's a cool dude. He's written books on Sartre and Camus, is an expert on existentialism and a dedicated surfer. He's also the first academic to shadow a bestselling author and witness a master of the genre creating a thriller in real time. Hopefully upsetting a few elitists and destroying the literary/genre fiction binary, he provides a critical analysis citing hallowed literary theorists.




There's a wonderful interview with Andy and Lee in the New York Times which should whet your appetite and encourage you to delve into this brilliant meta-book, a book written about the writing of a book, and the world of Lee Child.

I'm going back to my copy of Reacher Said Nothing now to immerse myself once again in a tome that simultaneously stokes my inner Reacher nerd as well as my English lit lecturer alto-ego with its talk of Derrida and Barthes. Christmas has come all at once. Turns out Andy is an fan too.

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 15 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8437911-the-breaks-excerpt Thu, 28 May 2015 11:10:38 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8437911-the-breaks-excerpt He walked out of the station into a largely deserted street. It was a clear night but the moon was new and the combination of darkness, lack of social amenities and the reputation of the neighborhood meant no dog walkers, or joggers, or couples out taking a stroll.
After taking in some of the surrounding area he noticed a white Chevrolet cargo van parked at the curb up ahead. It was possible it belonged to someone who worked in carpentry, or an electrical or maintenance trade. He was pretty sure women were advised not to park next to such vehicles in lots and that children were told they should cross the street, wary of men waiting to snatch them.
As he approached he could see it had a large sliding door in place of side panels, a practicality for taking out ladders and paint and putting back other such tools and equipment.
He got level with the drivers' door and paused to check his reflection in the wing mirror, satisfying himself that the dark hooded clothing made him unidentifiable. Whoever had planned on saving seven bucks by using the free street parking on Magnolia was about to discover it had cost them a whole lot more.
He beat the lock, defeated the immobilizer, and started up the engine. After a five minute drive on West Grande Avenue he entered the eighteen lane toll plaza of the Bay Bridge and headed westbound for home back into the City, taking in the interesting new construction of the eastern span.

At the storage lock-up, he unscrewed the license tag and replaced it with one from out of state. A large roll of plastic sheeting lay propped in a corner. He dragged it to the shutter to be nearer the light and began to unwrap it. He settled on a three foot length as manageable and used a craft knife to slice it from the main roll.
Inside the van he stapled it to part of the first of several plywood sheets lining the interior. After repeating the process until all the wood was covered, he bolted two D-rings to the floor ready for attaching chains and handcuffs.
After two hours of steady work he sat down satisfied with his efforts and thought about the new day ahead. Driving out to the mall, the stalking and the take down. The slight nausea of adrenalin started to grip his gut. He was going to enjoy himself.

Twelve hours later he trailed around Westfield like a bored boyfriend, hanging back, being discreet. Every time he caught a glimpse of himself in store windows he worried if he had dressed right. Looked like a lot of people were about to go out for the night rather than spend an afternoon in a mall. At least he didn't look like the tourists with the waist wallets and cameras. Craning their necks at everything. Making themselves easy targets when they didn't realize that this was an odd city, the good, bad and ugly neighborhoods all mixed up, different by day and night. The worst parts were only blocks away from the tourist traps and not marked on the map. It was easy to stray off track.

Outside on the street the girl was harder to follow. At one point she looked over in his direction but he knew he hadn't been made. It was just a quick look around like she was checking street signs. He got the idea she was lost. She was heading down exactly the right streets as far as he was concerned.
He was excited. Cash money, the best kind, and the bonus of time to play. Pulido parked the van in a space twenty yards further up the street and checked the mirror. Ten yards out he readied to make his move. He slid out of the driver's side and unlocked the panel door. He pulled it back a few inches. The interior was dark, not too revealing of the modifications.
To begin with, he thought the bitch was raising some kind of alarm with her cell phone. Her fingers moved fast like those of kids texting always did. Why were they so attached to their phones? Even when they were in danger? Even when they should be running?
Ten seconds later he caught up with her and landed one to her temple which connected so squarely he was surprised it hadn't completely knocked her out. She staggered back dazed but still gripping the phone. He snatched it from her hand, delivered another blow and bundled her limp and confused into the back of the van and made everything secure. He scanned the surroundings and slid the side door shut happy there were no witnesses.
He checked the cell phone for any connections. He didn't want 911 dispatch listening in. No calls had been made. No text messages appeared to have been sent. He thought about it for a moment and then opened up the photo file. She had been smart. She had managed to take his picture but then, luckily for him, she had run out of time. He on the other hand, now had all the time in the world. After deleting the photo he focused his attention back to the girl. Back to all the fun he was going to have.

posted by Eden Sharp on January, 06 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8372533-lee-child-interviews-maj-sj-wall Sun, 17 May 2015 14:26:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8372533-lee-child-interviews-maj-sj-wall























Lee Child on Maj Sjöwall � “We’re here today for Martin Beck, written 50 years ago. That’s an impact.�

Yesterday I was lucky enough to witness Lee Child interviewing the legendary Maj Sjöwall. The godmother of Scandi-noir was a featured guest author of this year’s CrimeFest in Bristol and it was a memorable and moving occasion to be present at this particular event.

Euro noir, sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy, was a panel topic this year so it was definitely apt that one half of the forerunners of much of the current popular obsession with Scandinavian and Nordic crime should be a guest of honour. (Nordic noir � includes Iceland and Finland).

Two hundred of us stood reverently as Maj entered the room and took her rightful place centre-stage both literally and figuratively as such a worthy featured guest. Lee Child, awestruck himself, reminded us that we were all there because of a series, featuring protagonist Martin Beck, that had been written fifty years previously. Such had been the impact that we were so keen to recognise her importance at a crime fiction festival in 2015.

Swedes Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, both life and writing partners, met in the 1960s when a socially democratic country was turning increasingly right-wing and like many other young people of the time they were reacting against what they saw as the creeping militancy of the police.

Maj was working at a book publishers and needed the Father Brown stories translating and sought help with this from Per who was working as a journalist and had written a couple of political novels which hadn’t received much recognition. Both were keen to comment on the times and together found a way to say what they wanted by including their views on society in the crime fiction they devised.

‘We wanted to write entertainment but feed into that what we wanted to say. There were no police novels at the time and the police were a very closed system.�



The first book, of what they had always intended to be a ten-part Martin Beck series with an overall story arc, was Roseanna. At the time no one had written about a policeman’s private and family life and they wanted to do something new and radically different.

Maj revealed that as there was no police PR department like there is today, and no way into what amounted to a very closed system, they had to guess a lot.

Charmingly, Maj shared how the book’s plot idea, about the body of a young woman found in the Göta Canal, came about:

‘It started when Per and I were on a boat trip and there was this beautiful girl. He was watching her and my thought was, let’s kill her.�

The pair, so aware of consciously communicating a message, were encouraged by good reviews. After the second and third books were published, young people started to get on board and read them.

‘Crime fiction was seen as very low-brow at the time. At university if people wanted to read Ed McBain they had to wrap their copy in a more literary cover.�

One reviewer posited that they had been inspired by McBain but Maj stated they had already begun writing their series though they did start to look at his work afterward.

Maj continued ‘it was a gamble to have a character who was so boring. Martin Beck was a policeman who didn’t want to go to war. Also a typical civil servant. Dutiful but with empathy.�

It is hard to imagine crime stories now that don’t include the detective’s private life in them but Maj and Per really were the first to do this. Lee asked if it p***ed Maj off that today everybody writes about policeman’s private lives something which no one did before them. She replied it didn’t but perhaps authors could find some other way to write about society.

I don’t think books can change the world but they can change the way people think � Maj Sjöwall

Permeating the occasion’s sense of joy was a real underlying sense of sadness. For this fifty year journey from obscurity to dominance had become a solitary one. Per Wahlöö died in 1975 and Maj spoke very movingly about no longer writing fiction and not wanting to carry on afterward, for it being ‘too lonesome� after losing him. It was easy to understand how emotionally difficult it must have been to continue on alone after they had spent so much time together as a partnership, creatively and intimately, writing across the kitchen table from one another as they raised their family.



Maj now writes letters to friends for fun ‘and to my waste paper basket� but is no longer interested in being published. Speaking as a true writer she concluded ‘I don’t want to be looked at. Now, I want to look at.�

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 21 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8243384-free-guide-on-how-to-write-a-thriller-the-thriller-formula Tue, 21 Apr 2015 12:00:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8243384-free-guide-on-how-to-write-a-thriller-the-thriller-formula


In this way, you will be following the structure of many of Hollywood’s blockbusting movies and the way this is translated into the thrillers written by your favourite authors you are reading and enjoying. You’ll learn exactly the format these successful thrillers follow that heightens readers� emotions, takes them on a rollercoasting, page-turning thrill-ride, builds to an exciting climax, and leaves the reader absorbed to the end fully satisfied by the experience. This is the formula that has been so finely honed by Hollywood, and the greatest thrillers have it. Quite simply, it works.

Grab a free copy here:

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 25 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8215264-thrillers-vs-mystery-novels Thu, 16 Apr 2015 14:02:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8215264-thrillers-vs-mystery-novels


The thriller uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers provide the reader with a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and surprise. This genre of book tends to be gritty and fast-paced.

Excitement drives the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the reader on the ‘edge of their seats� as the plot builds towards a climax. Thrillers employ literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers and usually have a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

Crime thrillers are thrillers in which the central characters are involved in crime, either in its investigation, as the perpetrator or, less commonly, a victim (generally, this is just a thriller).

In a mystery, the crime has already been committed, but the hero and the reader must figure out by whom.

In a thriller, the main event crime hasn’t been committed yet, but the reader (and possibly the hero) knows who the bad guy is; the question is whether he can be stopped.

In a mystery, the hero has a mission to find a killer. In a thriller, the hero has a mission to foil evil.

Bad (ill-informed) things are often said about genre fiction and thrillers in particular: that they are plot-driven, they feature one-dimensional characters and don’t leave the reader with any lasting impressions or things to ponder.

I don’t personally enjoy reading character-based novels that don’t really go anywhere (with no story) but it isn’t true that all literary fiction falls into this catergory and neither is it true that all genre fiction is solely plot-based. There are many great characters in crime fiction and all good writing in the genre includes fully-rounded main characters. (Sometimes minor characters are loosely sketched because they are really ‘spheres of action� as opposed to true roles � hey it’s a craft thing)!

I vote for character plus plot anytime and crime fiction in particular is known for being a vehicle for social commentary with its all-walks-of-life, access-all-areas delving.

Commercial fiction sells well because it’s popular and most people consider there is nothing wrong with that aside from a few who are inclined towards preserving a narrowly-defined cultural standard or to dictate what should be included in the canon. Let’s not forget Charles Dickens was the pulp of his day.

Criticism is often especially levelled at the thriller because it is dubbed ‘formulaic�. Well get this: there is a formula and it’s based on at least two thousand years worth of story-telling.

If you’re interested in discussing thriller structure I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment. Let’s talk!

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 19 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8162727-the-breaks-is-on-free-promo Mon, 06 Apr 2015 09:29:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8162727-the-breaks-is-on-free-promo The Breaks, has now gone free on Amazon for a limited time period of two days, ending Wed 8 April 12.00am PDT (UK: 8.00am BST).




US:
UK:

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 08 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8092552-the-novels-everyone-should-read-based-on-top-book-lists-and-prizes Tue, 24 Mar 2015 14:01:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8092552-the-novels-everyone-should-read-based-on-top-book-lists-and-prizes


Courtesy of:

Do you agree? Have any to add?

posted by Eden Sharp on December, 28 ]]> /author_blog_posts/8067181-brave-new-media Fri, 20 Mar 2015 02:59:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/8067181-brave-new-media 1984, there was another. It was slightly older, slightly less well-known, but equally as chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to popular belief, they did not prophesize the same thing. Orwell warned that we would be overcome by an externally imposed oppression, but as Huxley saw it, people would come to love their oppression and to adore the technologies that undid their capacities to think. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.

Karl Marx once observed, 'the ruling ideas of every age are always the ideas of the ruling class.' However, because of the twenty-first century powershift of the means of production in relation to new media and communications, mass global audiences have greater opportunities than at any other time in history to produce ideas to challenge normative assumptions and expectations. With new media connectivity, the world's citizens are now transcending the passivity of watching television and being fed the political line of corporations and governments. Global audiences are actively exchanging information between themselves at light speed, commenting upon and even rewriting the way that events are reported and distributed. We are all authors and producers now.

The new media, in terms of the opportunities afforded by the internet as a means of transmission, has the chance to produce output which is truly autonomous and free of dominant economic ideology. Social commentators can post, largely without fear of censorship, across the globe in real time. Walter Benjamin described the democratization of photography as revolutionary. That new and instantaneous media can highlight oppressive regimes bears out this definition.

Futurist, Alvin Toffler, once said that knowledge is unlike land or machines which can be used by only one person or firm at a time; it can be applied by many different users at the same time. It is inherently inexhaustible and non-exclusive. New media offer opportunities for freedom of expression like never before. The upside of an information age is that knowledge is the one resource that can be increased by sharing it. Power and influence will pass to those who possess this 'social' resource. People who have access to information tend not to be easily manipulated and the ability to communicate issues globally will help to focus public and professional opinion about the plight of groups previously exploited simply because they were isolated.

For all its promise, the danger is that this brave new media will either be constrained in some way by those who would wish to maintain their hegemonic position or that we will become distracted and 'the truth' will be drowned in a Huxleyan sea of irrelevance so that social action will dissolve in an endless flicker of images. How we are obliged to conduct human conversations will have the strongest possible influence on what ideas we can conveniently express. And what ideas are convenient to express inevitably become the important content of a culture.

posted by Eden Sharp on February, 05 ]]> /author_blog_posts/7973227-how-to-become-a-bestselling-novelist Tue, 03 Mar 2015 07:50:00 -0800 /author_blog_posts/7973227-how-to-become-a-bestselling-novelist
How to Become a Bestselling Novelist

Get started today � this is a limited time offer!

HOW DO I WRITE THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL?

HOW CAN I SELL THOUSANDS OF COPIES?

HOW CAN I BUILD MY REPUTATION AS AN AUTHOR?

I’ll be revealing how you can become a successful writer from scratch!

Don’t listen to those author marketing strategists that promise to provide you with the insider knowledge to become a multi-selling ebook author producing 6 novels a year (while making themselves richer in the process). Instead learn this 3-step system to achieving success:

Learn how to attract more readers and sell more books!

Understand exactly how to build your reputation as an author!

And crucially, learn how to build trust with your audience, so you can sell more books without coming across as a used-car salesman!

If you want to be an author, of fiction, of non-fiction, writing in the genre of your choice, you’ll see how easy it is to learn how to do this, even if you’re a complete beginner who never thought they had any writing ability whatsoever, especially if you’re someone who hates the idea of pushy selling.

I’ll show you how to bring your aspirations of becoming a successful author that much closer to reality with proven results � so you can focus on writing great books rather than spending all your time on trying to discover what works, researching new marketing tactics or producing poor quality work for short term gain. What’s important to you (writing quality books…producing something of value?)

But don’t just take my word for it�

____________________________

Author Stephen King GOT RESULTS with

How to Become a Bestselling Novelist.

____________________________

How to Become a Bestselling Novelist hasn’t been available to everyone. And for good reason.

To make sure it works, instead of rushing into the market, it’s a craft that takes time to refine and test.

When author, Stephen King, tried this strategy for himself, here’s what happened:

He sold more than 350 million copies, saying: “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy".

Stephen King, American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy.

Nobody can guarantee you’ll get the same results but I guarantee you’ll become a much better craftsman, a much better writer, and a step closer to making your aspirations become a reality. The strategies taught in How to Become a Bestselling Novelist will help turn some authors into committed artists, and gain them loyal fans. And now you can learn these strategies too.

It’s really very easy�

How to Become a Bestselling Novelist is an effective system to attract more readers, sell more books, and enhance your credibility and reputation as an author in a meaningful way.

It’s designed to help your readers develop trust � so you can sell more quality books and build your author career based on craftsmanship without having to rely on scammy tactics or churning out sub-standard work that has no real cultural value.

I’ll provide you with all the details shortly � but first, let me explain something�

_________________________________________

I hate Scam Marketing and Get Rich Quick Schemes at the expense of craft!

_________________________________________

Hi. I’m an author who has spent years learning the craft of writing � and I also help aspiring writers to develop their own abilities and best meet their artistic intent.

I’m a university lecturer teaching fiction-writing and publishing to aspiring novelists who are interested in developing their skills and selling and marketing books.

That’s why I hate that some people believe that anyone can write a novel without learning and honing a craft, who are all about marketing and self-promotion as opposed to technique, a belief which has come about as a result of the digital book revolution. You see, when I first started writing, I saw how highly-regarded authors were writing and I did my best to learn from them. After I knew I had to write, that it was a vocation and not a money-making scheme, I felt I needed to take lessons. Just winging it, or turning out books that did nothing to convey emotion or say something of the human condition, wouldn’t have felt right.

Since the ebook revolution, which has thankfully revealed new voices and undiscovered talent and created a level playing field that didn’t exist before, writing and publishing books seems to have attracted certain individuals who see it as a get rich quick scheme. I knew I had to write this when I had seen one too many sales pitches for the supposed secret to success that read as one clichéd continual scroll repeating the same advertising messages before finally getting to the high-priced information at the end. I saw other authors giving the craft of writing a bad name.

So I decided to copy what others were doing to market themselves. I needed to get my own message out there. So here it is. All you need to be a successful writer with the potential to sell books is a way to attract potential readers without resorting to scammy tactics.

Once you learn to focus on how to tell the best story you can and ignore trying to write six mediocre novels a year everything will change. You will determine if writing truly is a vocation for you. If it is, you will get better at it, gain fulfilment, a sense of achievement and be that much closer to becoming a bestselling novelist.

You may not achieve great riches or success but thanks to some hard work, you will be able to say you achieved something of artistic merit which is of itself a great reward.

The best bit? You don’t need to put 6 novels out every year because it takes much longer to write something good.

Essentially, here is a way forward to more effectively sell books and create an avid readership. You will truly capitalize on your hard work when you launch a well-crafted book.

You won’t need to spend loads of time on social media imploring people you’ve never met to buy your book. You won’t need to pay for advertising to help build a readership. You won’t need to worry about how you can get more reviews. Craft a great story and it will all happen organically. And, most importantly, you will create meaningful relationships with readers who buy your books.

So here’s a system you can use that works regardless of the types of books you write.

_________________________________________

Here it is! The Big Secret � in a list!

_________________________________________

1: Learn how to tell a really great story. Study structure, characterisation, techniques of dialogue, pacing and creating suspense. Learn literary tips and tricks and the difference between exposition, summary, and narrative.

2: Study the great writers, read the classics, learn how to analyse what works and what doesn’t. Experiment and emulate. Become a technical wizard. Put the time in.

3: You don’t need to be a marketing expert to sell books. Everything you need to know about selling books online, step by step, can be found on the Internet for free, ad infinitum. Or in libraries! So you don’t have to worry about spending lots of money or whether or not it will work for you. Get started today. This is a time limited offer!

If you opt for the one-time commitment of learning the profession, you’ll discover whether or not you truly have a writers� soul and if so you’ll never look back!

If you can’t afford college or university and go for the TOTALLY FREE option of taking out a book from your local library or practicing the writing exercises available online you’ll be saving yourself the embarrassment of writing something no one will be actually satisfied to read.

If you go for the easy option, the first commitment will be made today, followed by a lack of real enthusiasm and interest. You will have then made the literary world slightly less full of people who believe anyone can be a bestselling author.

Don’t delay! Libraries and the Internet may not be free forever.

posted by Eden Sharp on March, 13 ]]>