Wednesday, May 3, 2023

What's Different? a guest blog by E.J. Copperman

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: One of fiction's great gifts is its ability to explore deep questions about human nature, history, society, and ethics - all while making the reader think they're having fun. DUNE is a thrilling adventure set in the unimaginably distant future - and it's about the horrors of colonialism. HUCKLEBERRY FINN is a picaresque, comic adventure on the Mississippi - and it's about the evils of racism. 

So you're thinking, yeah, Julia, but those are GREAT BOOKS and the moral lessons are super obvious. Well, yes. But. When those novels were first published, they didn't arrive with decades of academic papers pointing out the deeper messages (although, like the book we're discussing today, UKULELE OF DEATH, they got excellent reviews.) 

Also, not every author understands what the story is "about" until later. Yes, Ray Bradbury sat down and wrote FAHRENHEIT 450 specifically about the threat of book burnings and intellectual repression (although interestingly, decades later he said he'd written it against "political correctness!") But for many of the rest of us - especially those of us drawn to genre fiction - the underlying theme doesn't reveal itself until we're well along in the manuscript. (Or later, even! I once had a journalist point out a major undercurrent in my first book I had been utterly unaware of.)

So even fun books have a point. Don't believe me? We're making it easy for you see for yourself: our well-loved author friend, E.J. Copperman, is giving away a copy of UKULELE OF DEATH.  

All it takes is the author's desire to make a difference...

 

 

 

Do you know anyone who’s “the same?”

I’ve been giving this some thought lately. My new book, UKULELE OF DEATH, introduces Fran and Ken Stein (I’ll give you a second) who are painfully aware that they are seen as “different.” They have good reason to think so: They have to plug themselves into a wall socket every few days to keep their life energy at a sufficient level. So they’re not exactly off-the-rack kind of people.

But that led me to wonder: Do you know anyone who is not different in some way? Isn’t everybody? Isn’t that another way to say that everyone is a unique individual?

I have a son who is considered to be on the autism spectrum. Is he different? I have friends who do not belong to any organized religion. Are they? People I know have come out as gay, as transgender, as gender queer. Some speak about their struggles with mental illness. Is that different?

If so, what is normal? Who gets to decide?

This series of books is going to be about being different. It’s going to look at what it means to be different and how we each (because we’re all different) cope with it. Fran and Ken will never be able to pass for “normal,” because they’re very large and very strong. One reviewer referred to them as “junior superheroes.”

They will stand out in a crowd, especially Fran, who talks about how much easier it is for Ken to be accepted with his oversize body than it is for a woman well over six feet tall. That’s different, at least statistically.

But there’s more to it than that. Fran and Ken are siblings, but they don’t know how they were created, whether they share DNA and if so, whose. So the series is about the family you create. Most people think about “family” in a specific way; they can’t. They work for people who probably weren’t raised by their biological parents. Does that make them different?

Are you sick of the word different yet?

Everybody, I think, feels like they don’t belong sometimes. Everyone who went through high school believes they were an outsider. Writers believe there’s something a little off about them because they don’t have a “regular” job. When I had the idea for Fran and Ken (which was quite a while ago), I hadn’t considered the repercussions of feeling (brace yourself) different. But as UKULELE OF DEATH took shape, it became clear that’s what the Stein siblings were all about.

Maybe you’ll find something just a little like you in them, too.

Are you different enough?

 

JULIA: Answer that question, dear readers, and you can be the lucky one who wins a copy of UKULELE OF DEATH!

 

E.J. Copperman is very different, in that it’s a name I use to write under. You can find that name on books in the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries, Haunted Guesthouse, Agent to the Paws, Mysterious Detective and Asperger’s Mystery series. Each one of those books is… let’s say unique.

 

62 comments:

  1. Congratulations, E.J., on your new book. I am definitely looking forward to meeting Fran and Ken . . . maybe you’d tell us a bit about the story?

    As for the “different” . . . you’ve touched on a great many “different” qualities and given us much to contemplate, but, then, we’d probably all agree that everyone has something different about himself or herself . . . even those of us who are identical twins and get to be both alike and different at the same time.

    But “different enough” needs a bit of clarification . . . maybe Fran and Ken could find the answer?

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  2. Like Joan, I'd like to know a little more about the story. For one thing, why do Fran and Ken not know how they were created?

    Getting back to your point that everyone is different, and how different: This is such an interesting follow up to yesterday 's post about doppelgangers. Such a reminder that nature is always varied and constantly full of surprises. :-)

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    1. I should have added the content blurb, Elizabeth! Here it is:
      After losing their parents when they were just babies, private investigators Fran and Ken Stein now specialize in helping adoptees find their birth parents. So when a client asks them for help finding her father, with her only clue a rare ukulele, the case is a little weird, sure, but it's nothing they can't handle.

      But soon Fran and her brother are plunged into a world where nothing makes sense - and not just the fact that a very short (but very cute) NYPD detective keeps trying to take eternal singleton Fran out on dates.

      All Fran wants to do is find the ukulele and collect their fee, but it's hard to keep your focus when you're stumbling over corpses and receiving messages that suggest your (dead) parents are very much alive.

      Ukuleles aside, it's becoming clear that someone knows something they shouldn't - that Fran and Ken Stein weren't so much born, as built . . .

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    2. What an original series! Thanks for the background information. As they say here in Portugal, "parabens" (congratulations) on the new book. It certainly piques my interest. I will check it out.

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  3. What great questions, EJ, and congratulations on the new series, which sounds both fun and deep.

    I've always felt different, but not in any of the really difficult ways some of the groups you mention experience. I was a feminist by age seven and always the shortest and youngest in my class.

    What's funny is that some of the things I did that I thought were my sole decision turned out to be what half my generation was doing: rejecting the whole makeup/heels/fancy hair-and-clothes part of women's culture while I was in college. Except I kept rejecting those for the next fifty years and still do (other than a bit of the makeup biz for author events these days).

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    1. You did that cool look with the tinsel-like strands in your hair, Edith!

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    2. Julia - what? You mean, letting the silver some in when it wanted to? If that, then yes. I've always figured I earned the hair that came with my age.

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  4. Congratulations on your new book, E. J. It is really nice to see you here again! The last time you were a guest of JRW, I went right out and got INHERIT THE SHOES. I laughed and laughed. One of the funniest books ever! Great characters!!

    Since then, I have read several of your books from different series. So my question for you is, will UKULELE DEATH make me laugh out loud?

    As for the question about being different, I know that we all are very different from one another even if we are similar in some ways. It's interesting that as kids, most of us are trying very hard to fit in. Our family moved to the suburbs from a small town when I was 13. I desperately wanted the same type of preppy clothes that everyone was wearing and I didn't have anything like it. Getting dressed for school was agonizing. That is not a time in your life when you want to be different. Everything after that is a matter of perspective. Now, I guess I am just different enough.

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    1. I haven't read this one yet, Judy, but I can say I've never read one of EJ/Jeff's books and not laughed out loud.

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    2. It was the first book of Jeff's that I read and my favorite. I think you owe it to yourself to read that absolutely delightful series!

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    3. Thanks, Judy! I'm glad you're enjoying the Jersey Girl series and hope you like this one too!

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  5. Everyone is different at least in personality. I try not to stand out in the crowd but I can be a bit out there at concerts. I finally got to go see The Rolling Stones after wanting to see them for over 40 years in Miami a few years ago and I acted like a teenager. I know I drove the couple next to us crazy as they were recording it. Too bad, I was on my feet dancing and singing along. I paid a lot of money to see them and I was going to enjoy every minute. In August I'm going to see George Strait and I plan on doing the same in Tampa. I've seen him before but that was over 30 years ago.

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    1. Queen, people who would rather film than actually experience what they're doing drive me crazy! Especially since in so many cases they've paid good money for the ticket/trip.

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    2. I agree about filming during a show but I do object to those who constantly sing along. I paid a lot of money to hear someone sing, and it's not them.

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  6. My apologies for not adding story points; I didn't want the post to be too long. Suffice it to say that Fran and Ken Stein (read those names and take out the "and") open an investigation agency to help people who were adopted find their birth parents (among other things). In UKULELE OF DEATH they're asked to find a rare ukulele - hence the title - that their client says will lead to her birth father. Then the uke is sold for over a million dollars and the client is murdered in her apartment, and things go downhill steadily from there. And yes, you should find some laughs in it, Judy. I don't have a very strong sense of serious. Thanks for everyone for the great questions!

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  7. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 3, 2023 at 8:50 AM

    Welcome, you know I am such a fan! And this book sounds hilarious and touching at the same time, something you are so brilliant at accomplishing.

    You know my “different” story, I’ve told it so many times: in junior high I was voted “most individual”, and they put my picture in the school paper upside down. I was devastated, and miserable, but it was life-changing… In a good way. Eventually.
    I love your idea, and cannot wait to read this!

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  8. Hank, thank you for the kind words, and now you absolutely have to let me know what you think of Fran and Ken!

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  9. Sounds fascinating--and I love a good laugh, so I will look for your books! I agree that everyone is different. Even those of us who are identical twins are different from each other, and are shaped by our experiences as well as by our DNA. My son is on the autism spectrum and he has claimed it and learned to deal with it. When he was little, I just thought he was very bright and had things he was good at (verbal skills, incredible memory) and things that he wasn't good at (fine motor skills, cutting with scissors,handwriting). Now I know his characteristics have a name, but I still don't think of him as in any way disabled.

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    1. You surely know the saying, Gillian: If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism. My son is doing quite well now; he's 33 and a librarian, living on his own.

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    2. Excellent! Yay for librarians... both my parents were librarians! After some deep struggles, my son is doing well too. He's 34 and is working on a PhD in Germanic studies, making friends and lifting weights.

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  10. Totally off topic and very embarrassing: I fell for a scam last night on Facebook. Someone spoofed Kate Carlisle saying I'd won a book in a contest she and Jenn and a couple other authors have every week. I was thrilled, followed the prompts, then...duh...gave them my credit card number. A half hour later, Kate let everyone know there was a scam, I cancelled my card. I felt really stupid. It WAS stupid. I fell for a scam that I have recognized 100 times before but was so excited about "winning" (another duh) that I fell.
    Today I will be scrambling to fix all the things that must be fixed because that card is now defunct. As humbling as this is, you all needed to hear about it. (They are out there figuring out how to get to you. They figured me out.) I should post this as Anonymous.

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    1. Judy, it gets scarier out there all the time!

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    2. Thanks for sharing this story Judy!

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    3. Wow, Judy. Glad you found out and caught in time enough not to do much damage.

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    4. Don't be so hard on yourself! You caught it in time.

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    5. Judy, thank you for letting us know! We need to add we will NEVER ask you for any financial or personal information when giving away books.

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    6. I was mesmerized, truly! Thanks to everyone for the emotional support. Sometimes you need a friend to say, "Eh, you're not that stupid."

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  11. EJ, I feel very smug at the moment. UKELELE OF DEATH is sitting at the top of my TBR pile on my reading table. And I understand the concept of different very well. Can't wait to dive into this book and meet Fran and Ken.

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  12. Congratulations on your new release EJ/Jeff. Love the book and can't wait to read the next one. Yes, I know I'm different and I'm glad for it.

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    1. You're different in all the good ways, Dru. I can't wait to read the next one, either--I'm writing it now!

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  13. Congratulations on Ukelele of Death. Your books have been treasures. I have always felt different and now that I am old I am not at all bothered by it.

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    1. I defy you to show me someone who's "normal." I think we're all different, and thank goodness for that!

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  14. Welcome to JRW, E.J. I remember meeting you at the Left Coast Vancouver mystery conference. I read your Aspergers mystery novel. Congratulations on your New novel!

    Such an interesting topic this morning because I just finished watching a movie on Netflix over the weekend, The movie was based on the novel, GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. At that time, solar cells seemed like science fiction, Now we are starting to see more of solar cells and solar energy in the real world (houses, cars, etc..)

    Thinking about today with plant based diets, recycling, and climate change awareness, these ideas sounded bizarre generations ago!

    Being "different" is a matter of interpretation. Perhaps it depends on where you live? What is considered normal today may have seemed strange 100 years ago or hundreds of years ago.

    Look forward to reading your new novel!
    Diana

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    1. Diana, I recall reading about how people would scratch their heads and stare when they saw men and women running on the side of the road in the early 60s. If you weren't wearing a college or high school track uniform back then, you were assumed to be up to no good - sometimes onlookers would call the cops!

      That's certainly a case of the culture first accepting, then embracing the difference.

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    2. Julia, that is a great example. This reminded me of "hippie food" when I was a young child. Now plant based diet is popular even among the mainstream now.

      Like Tofu, for example. I grew up with whole wheat bread, "clean food" and lots of green salad in my home while my classmates' families fed them processed food or high sugar cereals.

      Definitely a case of the culture first accepting then embracing the differnce.

      Diana

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  15. Congratulations! Ukelele of Death sounds captivating and special. I think that different has changed greatly over the years and what was is no longer viewed as different. Unusual, and strange is acceptable.

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    1. That's true! Hopefully people will see "different" as something that everyone is in one way or another.

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  16. Congratulations on your latest release. I'm excited to read it. Yes, I'm the one following her husband and two dogs ten paces behind on our two mile morning walk. Once in a while someone cruises by and asks me why we're not walking together. Narrow streets, no sidewalks. I tell them I'm a crime writer plotting my next murder. They either laugh in delight and say, "Tell me more!" or they shudder and speed away. I suspect they have items of interest to law enforcement in the trunks of their fancy cars.

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  17. Congratulations on the new book/series, Jeff! You always make me laugh and we sure need more of that. I can't wait to meet Fran and Ken.

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  18. I was hooked when I read Fran's story on Dru's blog yesterday. As for differences, everyone has them. Some are very obvious. Others subtle. Mine have always been quiet as I am not an outgoing personality. My husband always snorts when people assume I'm so sweet because I'm quiet. I just smile and plot my next dastardly deed.

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  19. "Everyne's strange but me and thee...and I'm not too sure about thee."

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  20. I am ashamed to say it took five paragraphs for me to get "Fran and Ken Stein."

    Oh well.

    Congrats on the new book, EJ. Am I different? I'm sure I am - but isn't everybody?

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    1. Liz, some of us have an ear for puns and others don't. Since I think I developed mine from listening to Ross's terrible puns, it may be a blessing to have to wait a while before "getting it."

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    2. At first I thought it was a pun of the name Frankenstein.

      Diana

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  21. I love everything about this, E.J. It's simply brilliant! Also, being a 6 foot tall woman makes this soooo relatable. I am all in! I'm ordering my copy right now!

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    1. Hope you like it, Jenn! As a short man, I sometimes feel, for lack of a better term, different.

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    2. My husband calls it vertically challenged.

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  22. Congratulations on the book, E.J. I think if you actually own or play a ukulele (like my daughter), that's different. And so many writers straddle the insider/outsider divide in social groups because they're always trying to observe like anthropologists. Also, I wouldn't mind being plugged in to get some extra energy.

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    1. Sorry, Priscilla. I play acoustic guitar like everyone else from my generation (and I'm pretty bad). But the extra energy does sound appealing, now that you bring it up.

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  23. Congratulations on the latest release! What a fun topic. Am I different? God, I hope so. I think we all are, and even moreso when we try to conform.

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  24. As it would happen, Jeff, I have Ukelele of Death in my next five reads. I had to be obtuse, but here goes. I get the pun, which I love, of the names, but what I'm confused about is if Fran and Ken are robots. They have to be robots, right? Again, I apologize for my confusion.

    If indeed they are robots, I'm mentioning a movie I just finished watching. Finch, with Tom Hanks, is about an apocalyptic world in which Tom Hanks, Finch, creates a robot who decides his name will be Jeff. Tom Hanks is the only character and person in the movie. There is also a dog and Jeff. It was a fantastic movie, one which made me emotional.

    Being different to me is being interesting. I identify well with quirky people. There is a different way the minds work of people who are "quirky" and who think more in a straight line. It's rather difficult to make a "normal" person understand how an "abnormal" person operates. My husband is normal and I am not. He struggles to see where I'm coming from sometimes. I think it's easier for me to see where he's coming from, but it's not a place I prefer. Of course, we've been married for 46 years, so I guess we've muddled through somehow.

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    1. Sorry. They're definitely not robots. This will all be revealed in Chapter 2.

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  25. I have been different from my immediate peers in many ways: first I was the shortest in my class (confirmed almost daily when Sister Mary Karen lined us up in order of height), and then after a growth spurt I was the tallest. I went from being the worst trumpet player in the history of my elementary school orchestra to being a huge Miles Davis fan. These days I mostly just compare myself to myself: in what ways do I want to be different? How can I be kinder, more supportive, etc.? And where can I find more time to read?
    I love the title and am looking forward to reading the book!

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  26. "different, but in a good way..."
    Any book entitled Ukulele of Death and written by E.J. has got to be funny. It's given.

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  27. Really looking forward to reading this book, especially given your description of the focus of the series. Loved your other books as well.

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