The Thrill Begins

Kelli Stanley’s debut novel NOX DORMIENDA – a historical mystery set in Roman Britain, but written in the classic noir style of Raymond Chandler – is highlighted in the cover story for the April 15th issue of Library Journal.

Wilda Williams, fiction editor for LJ, concludes “Genre Spotlight 2008 “Mystery”: The Sound of Crime Fiction” with a paragraph focusing on Kelli’s new Roman Noir genre as uniting two hot trends within mystery and crime fiction: the historical novel and the reemergence of classic hardboiled/noir/PI stories. Williams leads the article by discussing the growth of large-print editions and audio books, mentioning the Audiobook Publishers Association’s nomination of ITW’s The Chopin Manuscript.

In a section entitled “Roman Noir, Anyone?” Williams queries Barbara Peters of Poisoned Pen Press about what she sees as upcoming trends. Peters predicts that paranormal mysteries will subside in popularity, and sees “historical mysteries, along with the “hot, hot, hot” historical novels, grabbing market share. At the same time, Peters predicts a resurgence of the traditional PI and classic crime fiction.”

Williams concludes as follows:

“Reflecting these dual trends is a July debut Roman historical from Gale’s Five Star imprint, Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping). Its author, Kelli Stanley, is a published classics scholar who has taught Latin and Greek. “Nox combines Kelli’s love of ancient history [and]… classic noir writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett in a new hybrid genre she’s calling Roman Noir,” says Five Star acquisitions editor Tiffany Schofield. With advance blurbs from Gayle Lynds, James Rollins, and Ken Bruen, perhaps this unusual debut will make a splash in other formats as well. Are the audio and large print publishers listening?”

The article can be read in its entirety at http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6547090.html. And large print publishers are, indeed, listening. NOX DORMIENDA has already been slotted for an October large-print release date through Thorndike Press.

Leighton Gage came to Brazil in 1973, left a few years later for Australia and the Middle East, but could not stay away.

When he came back two years later, he “ran smack dab into all of the bad things that I’d pushed into the back of my mind: the crime; the obscene wealth; the staggering poverty. I couldn’t take it. I went to live in Miami for a time. And found myself missing Brazil all over again. Now, a quarter of a century on, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have to live here all the time, but I do have to live here some of the time. I get homesick when I’m away for too long.”

Gage’s first novel, Blood of the Wicked, published by Soho Crime, was one result of his exposure to the uglier side of the country. In Part I of a two-part interview, he talks to Detectives Beyond Borders about that book, its follow-up, and the vast, beautiful and violent land that inspired them. Part One. Part Two.

As my debut novel prepares to launch with a bang on Nov. 3, 2008, I thought I would look back to where this overnight success began.

I wrote my first novel at 14 when a junior high classmate ran away from home. After school, my best friend and I hopped on our bikes and scoured the suburban neighborhood, calling the girl’s name and looking in her usual haunts.  Although we came up empty in our search, the girl eventually showed up safe and sound. But it was that event that ignited in me an idea for a “What if?” story that eventually grew to be my first novel-length work.

I wrote that first draft in longhand — despite having some of the worst handwriting to ever spring from the Scottish education system — and became so enamored of the possibilities that I begged my parents for a portable manual typewriter for Christmas. With the typewriter in my eager little hands, I began the second draft of the novel that I titled, He Climbed A Crooked Ladder. The story was set in Baltimore — a city I had never been to, so all the descriptions were of my local non-Baltimore neighborhood; the protagonist drove a car, even though I didn’t have a driver’s license; and it featured a rather interesting sex scene even though I was a virgin.

I finished the novel to my satisfaction sometime in high school (a third draft was written on a fancy new electric typewriter) and it has rested in a dusty box ever since. No one has ever read the finished script, but it taught me one of the most important lessons of bring a writer: I could turn an idea into a whole, novel-length story. Sure, the writing may not have been any good and the plot was probably a meandering mess, but I proved to myself that I could stick at a story and work through it until it was complete.

After that, I turned my attention to poetry (as being around pretty girls at school all day has a tendency to do) and published dozens of horrible ones in the school newspaper. This was also a very valuable lesson. Being published, even in such a small arena, meant people could read my work and offer their opinion. As you can imagine, some people (the closeted poets and lovers of secret diaries) thought I was incredibly brave, while others mocked and laughed at me to no end. Being able to accept this criticism for what it was is something every writer needs. It builds our armor for the future and strengthens our resolve to succeed.

Resolve, determination and pure pigheaded stubbornness was something I would soon discover I needed by the semitruckful.

— Grant McKenzie 

Today is dedicated to Patry Francis and the release of the paperback edition of her debut novel, Liar’s Diary. Go here to see what it’s all about and here to read Patry’s blog and here to buy the book.

One of the things remarkable about Patry and her battles (to be published, to fight cancer, to continue sharing her work and world view) is that she has learned to live a life without “buts.”

No, not that butt, the one brought on by holiday over-indulging. I’m talking about the more insidiious, poisonous one that infests our society and prevents so many from daring to dream, much less live their dreams.

You know what I’m talking about. The “but” that starts so many conversations…and brings them to a screeching pre-mature halt. Read the rest of this entry »