Moving On

In the past few months I have done an extraordinary amount of research, more than ever before in fact, and all for a novel based around the Dubai World Cup Race.

To be honest finding a major event in Dubai as a background for a thriller is not difficult. I could have chosen from the International Tennis Campionships, the Jazz Festival, the Grand Prix, the Race for Dubai Golf, the World Sky Diving championships and many more events. Only yesterday half of Dubai was closed off for a cycling event called the Tour of Dubai, today the other half of Dubai is closed off for the same reason. It is an exciting place and there are a great many distractions, too many for an author who shiould be writing.

Last week I went to lunch at TGI Fridays with my editor to inform her that I was in the midst of writing last chapter of Lure of the Falcon, when the Crown Prince came in and sat down beside us with a single bodyguard in attendance and ordered cheesy nachos and a steak. A little while ago I was at an event and the Ruler, Sheik Mohammed also turned up, unexpectedly I understand. I was speaking recently at a conference organised and sponsored by another Crown Prince. This is a small Emirate that has international recognition, it is only 4,114 square kilometres, about the size of greater Manchester.

I must admit that I do like the idea of waking up in the morning and knowing that it is going to be sunny, we have les than 10 rainy 'days' a year and many of those have less than a hour of rain. I miss England and the greenery but, all in all, Dubai is fun and not any more expensive than London.

My new book is the second Emirate of Dubai thriller and I intend to move on with my next offering which will probably be written entirely in the USA.

 

This is where my readers come in. I have three Amazon Singles outlines sizzling nicely on the back burner, they are:

 

a) A City of London Thriller involving Max Richmond ghost writing a memoir and stumbling across the mysterious disappearance of an old lover of an Ex Prime Minister.

b) A City of London Thriller explaining how Dee Conrad came to be involved in private detection, whilst solving an enigmatic puzzle of how a dead man regrew a missing testicle before he died.

c) A City of Houston Thriller that follows two of the main characters from Lure of the Falcon as they go back to the US and are obliged to solve a number of murders before they fall prey to the killer.

 

If any reader has a preference for which one they would like to see me write first please let me know and I will set to work on the most popular suggestion. All three will be around 50,000 words and I hope all will be free, but that is sometimes a problem with Amazon.

 

I am sitting waiting at my keyboard.

 

The art of criticism

First of all I would like to thank the tens of thousands of readers who have downloaded my books, you are a wonderful audience and I appreciate you all.

Like all authors I am distressed when typos sneak into books in the production process, so I am producing second editions of all books to eliminate typos and errors, albeit the main complaints were about the Kindle edition of 48 Hours whereas the 'Smashwords' version on other e-readers seems to be OK.

When a reader said it was littered with errors I was horrified but I could only fine 72 errors in over 100,000 words, nonetheless, I am still grateful for constructive criticism.

To the Amazon readers who made other comments I will attempt to deal with them in my future books:

"There isn't enough romance!" 

OK, I'll see what I can do without turning it into a Mills & Boon.

"I would have liked to see at least one Vampire!" 

This may not be an entirely serious comment but who knows where I go next.

"There is too much detail/not enough research!" 

Contradictions are tricky, I do around six months of research for each book, speak to experts, rely on academic texts, visit settings and try techniques that I mention. As far as I can see everything works as it should.

"The police procedures are inaccurate!"

Actually each book has a police adviser and I myself have a degree which includes criminal law. The truth is that complex cases take months to unravel, sometimes years and no reader would have the patience for that and so I write with 'some steps removed for clarity' as Apple is wont to say.

"Anyone wearing a cheap suit would stand out like a sore thumb in the City"

True Story from 2012: I had been wearing my expensive suits in a long running case and I never heard a word of praise. I spilled my hotel breakfast over my expensive suit and had less than an hour before the hearing. I had to wear a 'reserve' suit I bought from Tesco for 45 pounds. I was complimented on the suit twice in one morning.

"If I had paid for the book I would have asked for my money back!"

That one stung a bit, I have to admit, but these books are pretty accurately described in the 'blurb' and downloading books just because they are on offer is not always a good idea. Download on content and if the book doesn't work for you, move on. Life is too short to spend reading novels you do not like.

Fiction is, in the end, not factual, but it does have to be convincing and so I will try to ensure that believability continues to be at the heart of my writing.

I remain grateful to every reader who sends wonderful emails of praise and to every critic who helps me perfect my art. I will do all that I can to make my books accessible and low in price.

JJB

The Art of the Short Story

My publisher approached me recently with a request to write a compendium of short stories, even suggesting that their website, Fidus Books, might host a monthly short story magazine. I think it is a great idea. Many modern authors are writing short stories to keep fans occupied between annual bestsellers, Lee child is an example.

When I started writing in 1985, I wrote only short stories some of which were for publications that had punitive word limits. I would struggle to edit the stories to 600 words (for two weekly magazines) whilst still telling the story, for example from 1985:

"Off Beat"

John strode purposefully along the darkened High Street, turning the corner into Mill Lane and into the glare of the sodium street lamp. "If only I had my Oyster card, I wouldn't have needed to walk through this neighbourhood." he thought to himself.

His worn tan overcoat was unbuttoned and revealed the uniform of a police constable beneath. As if to confirm this fact a silver badged helmet was stuck tightly in the crook of his arm. "Excuse me Young man." John stopped dead in his tracks. This was not the sort of area to hang around on a dark night, especially in police uniform.

"Hello there, Cooieee." An aged female voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, she looks harmless enough." he thought as he watched the old lady cross the deserted road. "Can I help you, Madam?" His tone was polite but superior. You had to be like that in his job.
"I can see that you are off duty young man," she said "but we have just found this wallet near the bus stop - haven't we, Alice?"

Alice, who had remained on the other side of the road in case the bus came, smiled and nodded in agreement even though she could not possibly have heard the question.

"There's over three hundred pounds in it luv," the old lady continued, "not that we were being nosy, you understand doesn't do in these parts, being nosy." John felt he had to stop the barrage of chatter being directed at him.

"Yes, Madam, how exactly can I help you?" he asked quickly. She thrust the Wallet into John's reluctant hands and he examined it carefully. There was a driver’s licence, two credit cards, a few sundry bits of paper and a sheaf of twenty pound notes, pushing into insignificance the single ten pound note that preceded them.

The old lady interrupted his concentration again.

"It belongs to a Mr. Amos of Raintree Drive. It says so, there on the driving licence" She said pointing. But our bus is due soon, you see, and we don't know our way around here, so we thought perhaps you could deliver it for us."

The old lady looked trustingly up into his face and John smiled. "Of course I will. Just you make sure you catch your bus. Good night." The old lady hurried across the road to meet the oncoming number nine bus. John watched as it pulled away and waved to the old lady who returned the gesture. Her friend Alice just smiled and nodded.

John looked at his watch and decided that he had time to deliver the wallet on his way without being too late and so he set off in the direction of Raintree Drive. The address inside the wallet suggested a large, imposing Georgian style house with a long tarmac driveway on which, he supposed, a Porsche or a BMW might stand. He wasn't disappointed. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. There was no reply. As the house was in total darkness he decided to drop the wallet through the letter box. Before doing so, he opened the wallet and checked the address and the contents once more.

The deed done, he went on his way and after ten minutes brisk walking he found himself standing outside a brightly illuminated house, waiting for a reply to his knock. A shadow darkened the half glazed door, and it clicked open to reveal a man wearing an eye patch and a bandanna. The jovial fellow beckoned John inside taking his overcoat. John spoke quietly, almost conspiratorially. The smiling creditor looked on in disbelief as John took a solitary ten pound note from front of the large roll of Twenty pound notes in his hand and repaid his debt.

"Good heavens, John. There must be over three hundred quid there."

John pushed the wad of twenty pound notes back into his pocket and his face cracked into a broad grin as he said. "Yes I must admit I had a stroke of luck today."

"Come and meet the others" said Terry, and led John into a noisy lounge crowded with nuns, French tarts, and others dressed in equally bizarre attire. "Look, everyone," Terry shouted. "John's come dressed as a Policeman."

The biggest short story challenge I faced was to write a thriller in fifty words for a radio programme. My effort was:

'Instant Justice

Ignoring the dying Chinese shopkeeper, Myron raced through the exit at speed dropping the mask and gun into the moneybag. Commuters ignored him, too concerned about keeping warm. The tall robber hit the icy pavement and slid uncontrollably into the road. The fast moving van braked too late.'

In literary circles I believe that the short story is much underrated, I could name long movies and entire series of TV programmes that were based on a single short story. There are also many beloved literary characters who only ever appeared either in a single short story or in numerous short stories.

I hope that it would be fair to say that short stories demand a lot from the author but not toomuch from the reader, which is probably the way it should be. I'm thinking of calling my short story compilation "Six Pairs of Shorts", let me know what you think at jjacksonbentley@london.com.

Ramadan gives you time to write!

During Ramadan the local populace and Muslims around the world celebrate the Holy Month by fasting during daylight hours. No food no liquids, quite a challenge in 50 degree heat. So, I don't spend any time eating out and no new movies are released for the whole month, I just write.
The malls here are empty during the day, the roads are quiet and forlorn Westerners search for anywhere that will sell them food. Goodness knows how the Muslim athletes in the Olympics cope.
I have written several chapters of my new novel 'Shadow of the Burj', which in all honesty should have been with the publisher by now, but it is well on its way. Inspiration is coming thick and fast and this is likely to be the most international and dramatic novel to date. Writers are sometimes a remote lot but Ramadan doesn't help socialisation, nevertheless I am going to an Iftar buffet organised by the US Consulate and so that should be fun.

Djibouti Man

Researching locations for a new book is often nothing more than an excuse for a nice holiday, not so Djibouti, where I need seven shots before I got on a plane. Now before you all start feeling sorry for this poor author, let me explain I was staying at the Kempinski Hotel where a thousand US Dollars gets you two nights of bed, breakfast and dinner. Notwithstanding my luxurious accommodations I spent most of my time travelling across Djibouti and meeting local officials and US and other Western Navy Personnel. I was also able to speak to a few ex foreign legionnaires.

Once you are out of the city, which hold about 600,000 of the 800,000 population, the accommodation is shanty's built of discarded advertising signs and corrugated iron. Despite this total lack of facilities the kids head off to school smartly dressed in clean clothes and everyone has a smile for a strange author. I was humbled and pleased I made the journey.
Djibouti will appear in Shadow of the Burj as I had planned but it will also be a long time in my memory.

Heat of the Emirates

Here in the Emirates, Dubai more specifically, the heat is beginning to build. A dust cloud has kept temperatures low, and visibility lower, for a week now. I am starting my one year sojourn in Dubai and hope to be living in the Shadow of the Burj Khalifa very soon. Helpfu,l as my new novel is based here and is provisionally entitled Shadow of the Burj. For an author whose works rests heavily on research it has been easy for me in the past two years as my books were based on people and places I know in London.
In 48 Hours a loss adjuster receives a text threatening his life and it involves scores of London landmarks and relies on real people, their talents and skills. In the follow up Chameleon, also set in London, I had to recreate the abandoned tube station at the Strand, an eerie place with posters on the walls from eons ago. But still a fun place to see. Less dramatic is Thames House, home of MI5. Oddly enough I have had more trouble getting into popular nightclubs than getting into MI5's offices. The people at Britain's foremost intelligence service are keen to be open, keener still to dispel cold war depictions of their staff and agents. Then more latterly with Fogarty, coming soon to a Kindle near you, I had to look at the damage inflicted by the riots and talk to 'legitimate businessmen' who eschewed rumours of their criminality. Contacts on the periphery of criminal organisations in the UK and in near Europe always give a good insight into their 'strictly a business' approach to appalling crimes such as; drug running, prostitution and money laundering. Likewise the Police are always eager to be portrayed positively and so they too will tell you the 'way it really is'.
Here in Dubai it is a lot harder but I guess that I will soon build up the contacts I need to flesh out another novel heavy on research. I hope that Shadow of the Burj will be sent to my publisher later this year and be out for Christmas, as long as I can keep away from the poolside and rattle away at my keyboard.

Publishing Dilemma

I have just read two recently published books by Harlan Coban. These two books were written when he was in his early twenties and in the introduction to both books he offers the following caveat: if this is the first of my books you have picked up please put it down and buy another one. It seems that established writers are constantly being pressed to provide books to suit publishing deadlines whether or not they have creditable books ready for publication. When publishers can't persuade the author to produce a new book on demand they seem to resort to lifting old unpublished works from their library and turning them out with  covers that replicate the current series of books on offer from the author, thus deceiving the buying public. Clearly Harlan Coban was not happy with this approach, hence the caveat in his books. Neither book could be described as Harlan Coban's best, although both were readable.
It appears to me that there are three possibilities for publishers to make money: first publish a new author whose work is worthy of a place on a reader's bookshelves, second turn out substandard work from an established author and hope that his name alone will sell the work, or, do as Clive Cussler and James Patterson do and produce books (almost monthly) in cooperation with other authors, who presumably do most of the writing and plotting.
Currently publishers appear to be risk averse and so the first option of publishing good quality books from new authors is rejected in favour of what they see as safer options. However, if publishers insist on publishing substandard work their reputation will be tarnished and not only will the author of the substandard work suffer but the publishing brand will suffer as well.
Likewise, if authors continue to partner with lesser writers whose work is inferior to their own, their reputation will be tarnished. If you care to look at the reader reviews of books created in partnership with lesser authors, you will find comments that express disappointment and  dismay. The reason that people choose to purchase books by established authors is because their style,their narrative prose, their plots and their ingenuity appeal to the individual reader. In my view authors partner with other authors do so at their peril. Without mentioning the author or the series by name, I was hugely disappointed with a book written by my favourite author in partnership with a lesser author and I was not alone, the comments on Amazon were singularly critical. The main criticism was that the work was formulaic, lacked innovation and freshness, and, that the dialogue was stilted and unreal, a criticism that had never been expressed in readers comments on the author's earlier books. I note however, that these criticisms had been made previously in respect of the books previously published by the lesser author under their own name.
I believe that most authors respect their readers and the buying public and that they understand that the buying public want to buy original work from their hands, promulgated by their experience and ingenuity. So, if I'm in any position to give advice to those authors who success is manifestly superior to my own, it would be this; please ensure that all of your books-  whether written on your own or in partnership - are of the quality you  achieved at your peak.
Further, I would say to publishers please do not fill your lists with inferior work from established authors but take the chance on finding the next JK Rowling.


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