Author Spotlight: Matt Richtel

When he's not winning a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting for The New York Times, or writing (under the nom de plume Theron Heir) the popular syndicated daily comic strip "Rudy Park," author Matt Richtel creates deeply absorbing and very timely fiction crafted to make his diehard fans as thoughtful as they are thrilled. In addition to collecting glowing reviews from USA Today, New York Newsday, and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the bestselling Richtel's two novels Hooked, and Devil's Plaything, have won public acclaim from blockbuster thriller authors David Liss, Steve Berry, and James Rollins (the latter two gentlemen being esteemed alumni of the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight that's now focused squarely on Mr. Richtel).

Richtel earned his bachelor's degree in rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley, followed by an MS in journalism from Columbia University. Since joining The New York Times in 2000, he has reported extensively on a diverse array of cutting-edge subjects including distracted driving, Internet gambling, corporate espionage, the pornography business, video games, and mobile communications. All of these matters inform his fiction work, keeping it as fresh and relevant as today's news.

Floodgate is the title of Richtel's newest release. It's an epub original story that came out just a few days ago. Floodgate tells the story of a disillusioned ex-journalist with anger management issues confronting a computer-based conspiracy that threatens to obliterate the integrity of a hotly contested American presidential election. It's no big stretch to say Floodgate's plot sounds like something ripped from tomorrow's scathing headlines.

When he's not otherwise occupied, Richtel likes to write "not very good" (his words, not mine) songs. Without further ado, let's crank the klieg lights to the max and give the man something to sing about, shall we?

Gazala:    In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.

Richtel:    Non-fiction: The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. Or is this fiction? That is what makes this series of connected essays about the war in Vietnam so extraordinary. It asks the question: what is real? It asks it so lyrically, so poetically, with such force, conviction, truth, that it will change the way you see writing, reading, life. If you don’t count this as non-fiction, make it The Executioner’s Song, by Norman Mailer. Was that crime fiction or the craziest love story you ever read?

Fiction: So many to choose from that it’s not fair. To make a point, I’ll pick The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. My point: great fiction, to me, is about seamless character evolution. I’ve never read anything, not even close, in which the character evolves, goes through a transformation, and you can’t point to a single moment, not one, in which the author tells and doesn’t show. You can never actually say, "Aha! That’s the moment Holden Caulfield goes insane!” And then, seamlessly, he’s utterly transformed.

Gazala:    Your latest book is an excellent and gripping short epub thriller titled Floodgate. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something about Floodgate, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.

Richtel:    I’ll give you three reasons: 1.What’s happening in the book is happening to you. Possibly right at this exact moment. 2. At the end of Floodgate, there’s an excerpt from The Cloud, my next book, which comes out in February, 2013. In that excerpt, dear reader, I am setting you up for the most emotional twist I’ve ever written in a book. It was a creative risk, one I couldn’t escape taking, and one that my early readers told me blew them away. It’s all packaged in a swift-moving thriller but, at its core, this is a deeply personal, emotional journey. 3. It's 99 cents!

Gazala:    What are books for?

Richtel:    To make us feel like children. My children, both toddlers, like all children, love to explore the world. What’s on the top of the book shelf? What’s in the glove compartment? If only I could see what is in the freezer, life would be grand! When we read, we get a chance to experience that childlike sensation: if only I could see what is behind the next page – behind the door, inside the closet, on top of the next shelf – everything will make sense! We go on a childlike discovery, temporarily believing that when we get to the point of discovery, everything in the world will be okay.

Gazala:    W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

Richtel:    There is one rule for writing a novel and Somerset, in spite of himself, has illustrated it. Be interesting. If he thought for a second, I’m sure he could’ve come up with three rules. But he was interesting enough, provocative enough with the set up, to get you thinking. At least, he got me thinking.

Gazala:    I have to go get my game face on. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.

Richtel:    Q: Can anyone write a book? A: Yes. Without a doubt, you (the reader) are a story teller. You tell yourself stories all the time. You imagine you won the lottery, or that the beautiful woman/man across the aisle in the bookstore flirted with you, or that you saved the airplane from terrorists on 9/11. Give yourself permission to ask: What if? Now, get a pen. Or a laptop. Write down your fantasy. What makes my fantasies and internal dialogue/storytelling any more interesting than yours? Nothing. I just gave myself permission to write to indulge my mind wandering, play it out, write it down, and try to serve it up to you. Be audacious. Ask: What if?

There's no guarantee a "not very good" song Richtel writes about his Author Spotlight will enthrall you. On the other hand, with the November presidential election looming large in front of us all right now, Floodgate is sure to captivate you. You can capture your own copy of it from Amazon by clicking right here.

Author Spotlight: Dan Fesperman

This edition of the Author Spotlight features a well-traveled globetrotter whose latest international spy thriller was released just yesterday. Titled The Double Game, it’s author Dan Fesperman’s eighth novel. His previous seven tales of gripping global intrigue have racked up legions of ardent fans in eleven languages around the world, not to mention scoring a Dashiell Hammet Award in the USA and two Dagger Awards in the United Kingdom. So it’s no surprise Amazon.com trumpets The Double Game as one of the Best Books of the Month for August, 2012. Those of you hungering for an intelligent and tightly plotted spy story ought to know Bookseller calls Fesperman "the closest thing America has to John le Carre." Surely there’s no higher praise in the genre.

In writing his novels, Fesperman draws from the deep well of experience collected in his journalism work for six different newspapers since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His reporting duties took him to 30 countries and three active war zones. Covering the Gulf War, the Yugoslav civil wars in Bosnia and Croatia, and the fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan were among the adventures serving as his tuition in the school of crafting authentic contemporary spy capers.

The Double Game is the tale of disgraced former reporter and current public relations huckster Bill Cage uncovering whether Edwin Lemaster, a retired intelligence operative who shed his CIA skin to transform himself into a famous author, was in fact a double-agent at the Cold War’s height. Cage’s decision in 1984 to publish Lemaster’s off-hand (and off-the-record) equivocal remark about snooping for the Soviets ended Cage’s journalism career and made his life miserable. Events at a funeral decades later propel Cage to take a leave from his PR job and travel Europe hunting the truth about Lemaster. His quest is squired from a distance by unsolicited guidance from a mysterious adviser who aims Cage’s trek via cryptic hints found between the covers of classic spy novels written by some of the genre’s giants.

Leading Fesperman to the Spotlight’s bleak wooden chair engulfed by banks of blinding klieg lights, we can’t help thinking of those old spy movies where the bad guys hiss at fearless heroes, "Ve haff vays uff making you talk." Fortunately, Fesperman is glad to talk to us, so our resort to such vays are unnecessary. Especially, as you’ll soon see, because Fesperman comes armed with a dictionary, and he’s not afraid to use it. Without further ado, let’s get this Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight underway.

Gazala:    In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.

Fesperman:    All the Kings Men, By Robert Penn Warren, for the sheer power and beauty of its prose, and because I haven’t re-read it in at least twenty years, so it would feel nice and fresh, practically new. It’s also long, which doesn’t hurt. And The Oxford English Dictionary, because if you’re going to slowly starve to death then you might as well feed your vocabulary along the way. And just think of how many memories all those different words would trigger. Enough to keep you entertained for days on end, years even. Plus, once you’d memorized the words there would be a thousand and one uses for all those pages – starting fires, wiping sand off your feet, you name it. Although your rescuers might be a little freaked out when you greet them with something like, “Apologies for looking like such a tatterdemalion in my current state of labefactation, but you scrofulous laggards were certainly a bit dilatory in arriving.”

Gazala:    Your latest novel is an excellent and gripping thriller titled The Double Game. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something about The Double Game, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.

Fesperman:    Because I’ve never enjoyed writing a book as much as I enjoyed writing this one, and I think that the passion and enthusiasm I experienced along the way have to be at least a little bit contagious. As the Brits would say, it’s a cracking good read. It’s also a deeply affectionate homage to the classics of the spy genre.

Gazala:    What are books for?

Fesperman:    They’re for visiting worlds upon worlds, populated by some of the most interesting, enjoyable, vile, lovable, loathsome, endearing and terrifying people we’ll ever meet. And we also get to travel in time. One helluva good deal.

Gazala:    W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

Fesperman:    There’s only one rule, really, a very unhelpful one, and it’s this: Once you start writing a novel, you’re never really finished. Even when you think you’re finished, even when your editors and proofreaders are finished, you’ll still find yourself tinkering with words, syntax, characters, settings. I’ve even made small editing changes on the fly while delivering bookstore readings, while of course hoping that no one in the audience was following along in his own copy, line by line. When I die, my last words will probably be a minor correction of whatever book I’ve most recently completed. And, yes, I do know the old saw that says, “The best writing is rewriting,” but, truthfully, at some point you just have to put the damn thing down. Yet, all I have to do is open a copy to any page at random, and I’ll inevitably see things that, if given the choice, I might still change. And, no, I am most certainly not a perfectionist. But I am an inveterate rewriter. And, by the way, that soggy island copy of The Oxford English Dictionary will tell you that the adjective “inveterate” means “firmly established by long continuance.”

Gazala:    Time for the meds again. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.

Fesperman:    Okay, here you go: Q: The Oxford English Dictionary? Your one choice for a nonfiction book? Really? A: Oh, go get your own damn island and call the Coast Guard, or I shall give you a wherret!

The Double Game isn’t only a cool read. It’s tasty brain candy, too, especially for fans of classic spy novels. If you’d like your own piece of that candy, just click here to find it at Amazon.

Author Spotlight: Stephen White

How well do you remember 1991? It was the year of the first Iraq war. The Soviet Union disintegrated. An obscure Arkansas governor named Clinton announced his candidacy for U.S. president. Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson retired. Death claimed "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, and Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury. An Englishman named Tim Berners-Lee trumpeted his invention of something called the World Wide Web. A movie called "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," raked in more than half a billion dollars around the world.

1991 was also a big year for fans of deeply intelligent and complex thrillers, because it marked the debut of internationally bestselling author Stephen White’s first novel. The book was titled Privileged Information, and it introduced us to one of contemporary literature’s most intriguing and beloved characters, clinical psychologist Alan Gregory.

Over the course of an ensuing eighteen novels since Privileged Information, including the latest one titled Line of Fire released just yesterday, Gregory’s authenticity never fails to leap from the page. Not only is this due to Gregory’s living and working in Boulder, Colorado, like White. Credit it also to a professional background Gregory shares with his creator. White grew up in New York, New Jersey, and Southern California before attending the University of California campuses at Irvine (where his creative writing major lasted just three weeks prior to aiming his educational aspirations elsewhere), Los Angeles, and ultimately graduating from Berkeley in 1972.  Interspersed with his studies White learned to pilot small planes, gigged as a tour guide at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, and buttered his bread as a cook, a waiter, and a bartender until he earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado in 1979. White’s 15 years of professional clinical psychology practice infuse every book in the Alan Gregory series.

White says Line of Fire is the penultimate entry in the popular series. Blame that at least partly on the rapid technological changes rocking the book publishing industry every day. Recently he said, "Fewer than a third of the readers of my most recent book read it in a digital display format." Out of deference to longtime fans with scant interest in reading digital books on electronic machines, he wishes his readers to "be able to enjoy the (series’) conclusion in their preferred format."

No matter the format in which they choose to enjoy Line of Fire, White’s readers will find the intricately plotted thrills and absorbing characters that are the series' trademark features. This book serves as the first of a two-part conclusion to the Gregory series. In it Gregory finds his beguiling new patient is not necessarily what she seems, and that she may force the exposure of a terrible secret that threatens to destroy everything important in Gregory’s life. With his family, friendships, career and future teetering on disaster’s edge while authorities with dangerous questions about an old murder case circle ever closer, Line of Fire sets up the explosive finale of the Alan Gregory series.

In a nod to White’s clinical background, for this session we’ve replaced the hard wooden chair traditionally in the middle of our array of blazing klieg lights with a couch. Now that our guest is comfortably reclined in the white hot glare, let’s get this Author Spotlight underway.

Gazala:    In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.

White:    First, I will assume your omnipotence and your beneficence arrives accompanied by significant munificence. In your generosity, please make my religious text an original Gutenberg Bible. If your generosity is not that great, let’s assume that the criminal offense for which I am being ostracized involved the theft of said Gutenberg Bible, and I arrived on the island with it stuck in my shorts.

The bottom line? I do want strangers to have as much motivation as possible to come looking for me. The Gutenberg is bait.

I am a crime novelist, which doesn’t make me a natural optimist. I don’t expect that leisure reading will be high on my list of desert island pastimes. That goes double for repeated readings of whatever solitary novel I might have with me. So for my novel, please pick any large book with a durable hard cover. I plan to take it apart to make myself a big sun hat. If the book is constructed with material that I could use to craft a sweatband, so much the better.

For my nonfiction tome, I would be most grateful for an unabridged copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. I will make use of it in many ways: To learn new words to describe my confounding circumstance, to discover new ways to curse my miserable circumstance, and to have ample crushed paper for kindling.

I am hoping my little island has a small deposit of flint.

Gazala:    Your latest novel is an excellent and gripping thriller titled Line of Fire. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something about Line of Fire, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.

White:    Too few long series of crime fiction come to a planned ending. More often they just, well, end. Line of Fire will provide readers an opportunity to read the actual intended conclusion of a twenty-book long series of crime novels. When paired with the final book that is due out in 2013, it offers readers a rare chance to witness the end of a two-decade body of “thoughtful and fascinating” work. (The quotation marks are arbitrary. I wrote those three words myself.)

Obviously, if someone doesn’t get around to reading the ending of this fine series, you won’t be able to tell me all the ways I screwed it up. Why would anyone pass up that chance?

Gazala:    What are books for?

White:    Context. Inspiration. The familiar. The unexpected. Fantasy. Ignorance remediation. Entertainment. Socially acceptable withdrawal.

Collecting.

Hats.

Kindling.

Et cetera.

Gazala:    W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

White:    Of course, I do.

The books that are written by authors who follow the rules, whatever they might be, are the ones that people tire of reading. The authors who ignore the rules, whatever they might be, inadvertently create new rules for future authors to ignore.

It’s a wonderful system. We’ve all benefited from it.

Gazala:    My basement is flooding again, and apparently I'm the only person home who knows how to use the wet vac. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.

White:    Q. I don’t ask many authors this question, but it seems appropriate with you. Are you the best writer in your family? A. Hardly. There is a lot of competition. Extended family? I am top five. Immediate family? Top three. That’s pretty good. In Olympic parlance, I medal. (Editor’s note: White's oldest brother, Richard, is also an accomplished writer—he won a MacArthur grant, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.)

You have to admit, White gives good interview. No doubt the man’s Spotlight performance whets the appetite for more of his savvy erudition. There’s no better way to feed that hankering than by serving yourself a copy of Line of Fire, which you can do at Amazon by clicking right here.

Author Spotlight: Matthew Reilly

Thriller fans around the world rave about Australian author Matthew Reilly’s novels because the books never fail to deliver nonstop action and breathtaking cliffhangers from first page to last. And we do mean, never fail. You don’t have to take our word for it—no less an authority than author Brad Thor says, "Matthew Reilly is the king of hard-core action."

In 1996, Reilly exploded on Australia’s bestseller lists after his self-published first book, Contest, caught enough fire to land him a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan. As Contest climbed the Australian charts, Reilly wrote his second thriller, Ice Station, while studying law at the University of New South Wales. Ice Station won attention from publishers in the United States and Europe. Since then, all Reilly’s novels have been mainstays on the bookshelves of thriller readers around the world. His books have sold more than four million copies worldwide, in at least 20 languages. In 2005, 2009, and 2011, Reilly books were the biggest selling fiction titles in Australia for their respective release years. Clearly, Reilly has hit a certain nerve with thriller devotees, and with each new publication he hits that nerve harder.

When he’s not writing, Reilly is an avid fan of blockbuster Hollywood action movies. And when he’s not watching them, he enjoys collecting memorabilia from some of them. His collection includes a DeLorean from "Back to the Future," a golden idol from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and a full-size statue of Han Solo encased in carbonite from "The Empire Strikes Back."

Reilly’s latest book is Scarecrow Returns (titled Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves in some markets). It marks the highly anticipated return to action of Captain Shane Schofield (call sign "Scarecrow"), a character who would laugh in death’s grisly face were he not more delighted giving it the finger. We’re thinking if Reilly is anything even remotely like his Schofield character, the blistering blaze of white hot light from the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight’s battalion of klieg lights will have no visible effect on the man. That said, the lights are on, and Reilly’s looking primed, so without further ado we’ll get this Spotlight underway.

Gazala:    In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.

Reilly:    For fiction, Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, because it is the only book I can pick up and re-read over and over again, as if it is the first time, and on a desert island, I’d need a book I could read over and over.

As for non-fiction, Moneyball, by Michael Lewis, is a favourite.

Gazala:    Your latest book, titled Scarecrow Returns, is a gripping thriller involving ruthless terrorists who seize control of a forgotten Soviet military base hiding a Cold War doomsday device powerful enough to destroy the world. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something about Scarecrow Returns, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.

Reilly:    Because it is relentless in its relentlessness. I think a new reader would be blown away by the level of action and pace.

Gazala:    What are books for?

Reilly:    That’s a loaded question. Different books have different purposes...and different intended audiences. Some books, like mine, are designed to entertain. Others to educate and inform us about the human condition. If there is an overall reason, it is to nourish the mind.

Gazala:    W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

Reilly:    So far as I know, the only rule is this: write what you love to read yourself. Then you know if you are really breaking new ground and doing something truly original. You’ll also know if what you are writing is any good, since you are an expert in that genre.

Gazala:    There's a politician at my door, inexplicably eager for my endorsement. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.

Reilly:    Huh? How about this? Q: What separates the best writers from the rest? A: Authenticity. Readers can see it a mile away.

There’s no way to argue with that. For your own taste of Reilly’s trademark style of relentless authenticity, courtesy of Scarecrow Returns, all you need do is click here.

Enter The Penguin

I've had the weekend to contemplate last week's news that London-based Pearson PLC, the parent company of "traditional" book publisher Penguin, will purchase self-publishing house Author Solutions, Inc. for $116 million. On the recommendations of various colleagues and advisers, in 2009 I chose to publish my first book, a thriller titled Blood of the Moon, via Author Solutions subsidiary iUniverse. It was my initial foray into so-called "independent publishing," back at a time (not very long ago) when independent publishing options weren't quite so abundant as they are now. Blood of the Moon remains in the iUniverse catalog to this day, so I have a little bit of skin in this new Penguin game, in addition to a perspective different from authors inexperienced with Author Solutions.

I've enjoyed immensely my authorial journey since Blood of the Moon came out. The book has won a few awards, and earned some great reviews. I've traveled around the country to meet enthusiastic and supportive readers at various events. I've forged warm relationships with many gifted authors across all genres, from folks you might not have heard of to perennial residents of the New York Times' bestseller lists.

The question is, have I enjoyed myself these ways because of my relationship with iUniverse, or in spite of it?

The short answer is, in spite of it.

Put is this way: I independently released last year my second book, an anthology of a handful of scary short stories titled Trust and Other Nightmares. Publishing it with iUniverse never crossed my mind. I published the book through Smashwords. Unlike with iUniverse, with Smashwords my independent publishing experience has been nothing but professional, efficient, and pleasurable.

When possible, I like to shake hands with the people with whom I do business. So in May, 2009, I began my relationship with iUniverse by flying from Virginia to visit the company's head offices in Bloomington, Indiana. I toured parts of the facility, and met some earnest people. Shortly thereafter, I contracted with iUniverse to publish Blood of the Moon. Some publication products I purchased from iUniverse, other services I retained from professionals to whom I was referred by contacts at the William Morris Agency's Manhattan offices. Though the journey wasn't always smooth, I was very happy when Blood of the Moon was released in October, 2009.

In the approximately three years since, I've watched Borders fail, and heard Barnes & Noble talk about spinning off the Nook division from the rest of its operations. Somewhat curiously, Amazon has launched imprints in the "traditional" book publishing model to work alongside its CreateSpace (and to some extent Kindle) independent publishing services. Many good independent bookshops I knew and admired have shuttered their windows for the last time, while a few tinker with their business models and continue to satisfy slews of devoted customers.

It has been a tumultuous three years in the book publishing world, with raucous change the only constant.

Except at iUniverse.

For the past six months, I've been trading e-mails and voice-mails with iUniverse about Blood of the Moon royalties due me for the third quarter of 2011. It's not a lot of money, but that's not the point. iUniverse doesn't even dispute that those royalties are due. They simply haven't gotten around to paying them. In legal circles, that's called breach of contract. On the shiny side, I'm informed that this year iUniverse has finally updated its accounting software to accurately track and pay e-book royalties, though I've yet to see any actual evidence of this. Meanwhile, iUniverse has screwed up my federal tax withholding status for 2012, despite acknowledging timely receipt from me of the appropriate tax forms and that my status hasn't changed since 2009. At least iUniverse hasn't wavered in one way they plainly consider seminal to their singular driving definition of first-rate customer service -- they continue to contact me regularly in pathetic attempts to sell me stuff I neither want or need.

And now, enter the Penguin.

I've read a lot of commentary, most of it harsh, about Pearson's buying out Author Solutions. In the press releases trumpeting the acquisition, Penguin C.E.O. John Makinson said purchasing Author Solutions provides Penguin "a leading position in this fast-growing segment of the publishing industry," and that self-publishing "has moved into the mainstream of our industry." In the current book publishing climate the "mainstream" comment makes some sense. But if Makinson and his bosses truly think Author Solutions d/b/a iUniverse represents a "leading position" in independent publishing, they're either victims of deeply flawed due diligence, or they're indulging in a shocking degree of self-delusion.

I can see what some people at Author Solutions get out of this deal. Its C.E.O. Kevin Weiss and his buddies snatch a cash-laden exit strategy from an enterprise they've managed poorly, if not outright carelessly.

It's not so apparent what Penguin's risk-reward analysis is. If Penguin lets matters at iUniverse (one of several Author Solutions self-publishing subsidiaries) and its sister companies proceed as they currently do, federal and state regulatory complaints and class-action lawsuits from wronged authors aren't outlandish considerations. If Penguin spends appropriate time and money to clean up Weiss' messes, it might be able to develop a new way of discovering talented authors among the thousands who eschew the death throes of the "traditional" publishing model for what Smashwords and CreateSpace, among a handful of other companies (but certainly not Author Solutions), do very well. Unfortunately, many sage observers predict Penguin's first significant moves after swallowing up Author Solutions will consist largely of fairly Draconian cost-cutting measures in a desperate quest for "synergies" as it merges the two businesses.

Let's assume for a moment that Penguin's motives are commendable. If so, my modest suggestion is for Makinson and his people to quickly assemble an advisory group of Author Solutions authors, and to request frequently and respect greatly their input. iUniverse don't have to suck like a black hole. It chooses to. That malady doesn't have to be Penguin's choice too.

Unless that's the way the Penguin wants it.

"The main impetus to continue appearing on Batman -- besides

 the desire to get some TV work -- was that it was fashionable."

~~Burgess Meredith~~

Author Spotlight: Catherine Coulter

Creativity pulses through Catherine Coulter's veins. The internationally bestselling author of 68 novels (of which 60 have been New York Times bestsellers) is the granddaughter of a writer, and the daughter of parents who between them tally painting, singing, and playing concert piano among their impressive artistic gifts. Coulter's authorial palette is wide -- in addition to publishing several successful historical and modern romance series, as well as contemporary romantic thrillers, she's the author of a series of FBI thrillers that enjoys global popularity. The latest entry in Coulter's FBI series is titled Backfire. Featuring FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich investigating the attempted assassination of a judge presiding over a blockbuster San Francisco murder trial, Backfire was released just a few days ago. Initial reviews are universally exuberant. It's no surprise Coulter has another well-deserved hit on her hands.

Understandably, Coulter's schedule is clamorous with events and appearances promoting Backfire. We're pleased Coulter found some time to share with us and answer a handful of questions for Gazalapalooza's readers. After all the adventures she has had with her FBI series, Coulter didn't even bat an eye at seating herself in the middle of the ring of electric fire that is the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight. Her posture is straight in the stern wooden chair, her eyes are bright and wide, and she's the vision of calm, cool and collected despite the klieg lights' blazing glare. She's so ready. Let's get this Spotlight underway.

Gazala:    In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.

Coulter:    For fiction, the seven “Harry Potter” books. (Since you're spotting me Shakespeare, surely you'll allow some leeway for a series.) I'm an admitted muggle, and the thought of being an animagus thrills me to my core, but the fact is I simply don't tire of fighting dragons and searching for the elder wand.

As for non-fiction, this has to be a book whose pages I could use to light a signal fire to get rescued off your Dr. Moreau's island. Something really thick, lots of incomprehensible words, and utterly useless to me in my current circumstances. Something like the Physician's Desk Reference. (I'm assuming you're not selling drugs on the island.)

Gazala:    Your latest novel is an excellent and gripping thriller titled Backfire: An FBI Thriller. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something about Backfire, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.

Coulter:    Bottom line, it's all about fishing -- you know, hooks and bait dangling in all the right places. Truth is, if the reader has read the first 15 thrillers in my FBI series, and liked them, it ain't such a big leap. Anyone new I look at as a tuna and bring out my best lures. My very best lure: two disparate-seeming mysteries come together at the denouement -- all I can say is it's a miracle.

Gazala:    What are books for?

Coulter:    If there's no need for a signal fire, then you can start by stroking them, admiring their beautiful covers, marveling at all those words. Then you can simply hang it up and give yourself over to something magic, something that makes you forget the tea sitting at your elbow.

Gazala:    W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

Coulter:    I disagree. I mean, who can believe a person with that crazy name? Wait, there are three rules, I just felt them wash over me. Unfortunately, I can't identify them either. Don't you love a good mystery?

 Gazala:     Two unsmiling men in black suits are loitering by my front door, and I best go see what they want. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.

Coulter:    Q: Do you think there's such a thing as writer's block? A: I remember once I was having fits with a book, struggling to even get a couple of pages. Pulling teeth, mine and the characters’, and on page 80-something, the characters simply stopped dead in their tracks and wouldn't talk, wouldn't do anything. I thought about it, slept on it, then tossed the pages. I came up with an entirely different plot and the characters all gave me thumbs up. So, yeah, it's a block, but it's not caused by angst or stress or any sort of psychological malaise -- I think it's all because of a bad plot.

Even the three rules of how Coulter writes mysteries is a mystery? Intriguing. That's nothing but another good reason to snare your very own copy of Backfire. You can do that at Amazon simply by clicking right here.

The 88 Books That Shaped America

There are endless lists of must-read literature propagated in newspapers, magazines and Internet sites all over the world. Nonetheless, you'd be hard-pressed to find one that contains both Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (1957) and Alfred C. Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948). That is, until the United States Library of Congress recently released its tally of the "Books That Shaped America."

In conjunction with the Library's 2012 National Book Festival, to take place this coming September 22nd and 23rd on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Library tasked its librarians and curators with assembling a list of the books written by American authors over the past 26 decades that have most significantly influenced the way Americans perceive themselves and the world, and in turn, the way the world views America and its people. After due deliberation and debate, the Library's team presented its conclusions. Beginning with the 1751 publication of Benjamin Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity, and finishing with The Works of Cesar Chavez, published in 2002, the list sets forth 88 books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry that reflect the evolution of American thought on an array of subjects including politics, culture, race, sexual relations, child-rearing, and even cooking.

(Note, the list is restricted to American authors. Were it not, it would be difficult to explain the absence from it of scads of books such as the Bible, J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, and maybe even -- based on recent sales data -- 50 Shades of Grey.)

So, who made the list? You can check that out for yourself by clicking here. But until you make that click, some highlights are in order. The "author" who appears most frequently on the list is Anonymous, for his (or her) four works Alcoholics Anonymous (1939), A Curious Hieroglyphik Bible (1788), The Federalist (1787), and New England Primer (1803). Only one other author makes the list more than once, and that is the afore-mentioned Mr. Franklin. In addition to his book on electricity Ben charts twice again, with Poor Richard Improved and The Way to Wealth (1758), and The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D. (1793). The remaining 79 entries run the gamut of tastes, styles and mores over the past two and half centuries of American composition. Some of those other books, you might well expect to find on the list. Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) is there, as is Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952), and Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940).

On the other hand, some of the books that made the cut might leave you curious, bemused, or even aggrieved. Two cookbooks are on the list (Amelia Simmons' 1796 culinary guide American Cookery, and Irma Rombauer's 1931 tome Joy of Cooking). The Common Sense Book of Baby Care, released in 1946 by Benjamin Spock, joins the ranks along with Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), Our Bodies, Ourselves, published in 1971 by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon (1947), and Allen Ginsburg's 1956 beat poetry anthology, Howl.

As interesting to contemplate as the authors and books that are included on the list, are those that aren't. The hugely prolific and popular Stephen King is arguably the modern American counterpart to the Brothers Grimm, but the list features not one of his novels. None of The Godfather (Mario Puzo, 1969), The Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper, 1826), Bernstein & Woodward's All the President's Men (1974), or Jaws (the novel Peter Benchley published in 1974 that forever changed our relationship with saltwater beaches and effectively launched Steven Spielberg's career) are on the list. Nor is any collection published by Edgar Allan Poe, who is routinely credited with the invention of the detective story that has been the bread-and-butter of a massive swath of literary, and later television and movie entertainment, since "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" first came to light in 1841.

Incidentally, if cookbooks are eligible to make the list, I'm comfortable venturing just a bit further afield. Action Comics #1 (1938) wove inextricably into the American fabric Jerry Siegel's and Joe Shuster's seminal creation, the virtually indomitable hero Superman. It should be on the list. So too should Richard Sears' Sears Catalog. First published in 1888, the hefty catalog (and its later Sears & Roebuck Company editions) helped fuel westward continental expansion, and paved the way for the American mail order business so vital to Internet behemoth Amazon.com and its ilk to this day.

You'll agree with some of the selections on the Library's list, disagree with others, and lament like me over exclusions that seem arbitrary, myopic, or unjust. Besides, 88 is a strange number for a "best of" type list, don't you think? Round it up to an even century, if for nothing but appearance's sake, and at least some controversy could be stilled. That said, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington cautions that this list is merely "a starting point." Billington says the list is intended to "spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not."

Nothing by Hunter S. Thompson? I'm feeling grievously sparked already.

"Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else."

~~ Fred McFeely Rogers~~