Who Do You Write Like?

RHYS BOWEN: One of my favorite stories was Robert Crais telling about his experience signing books in a Costco store. (Can you imagine it?) A man came up to him and demanded "Who do you write like?"  Bob replied, without batting an eyelid "Michael Connelly."  Then the man said, "Who is he?" which is reassuring to all of us who have experienced someone saying "Should I have heard of you?"

So I've thought about this. Who do I write like? I'm not sure. In my early days of mystery writing I was always compared to M.C Beaton. But I'm not sure who else does a historical humorous mystery series. My stand-clones are, I suppose, is the same vein as Kate Morton--at least I like to think they are!
And more than that. As I approach a lifetime of having written: which of my books might possibly endure. Wouldn't it be nice to have that one definitive book, that one "To Kill a Mockingbird" for which one would be forever known. Oh, Rhys Bowen, didn't she write The Tuscan Child?  I can't think that any of mine are more than entertainment. None of them delve into the depths of the human condition, and let's face it, none of them are depressing enough to be called great literature!

 Which leads me to thinking about the book I wish I had written. Pride and Prejudice?  The Lord of the Rings? The Handmaid's Tale? These are my absolute favorites. Would I like to have written the first Poirot? The first Miss Marple? All of the above.  And how about Winnie the Pooh? That's certainly one book I wish I had written, but then my son was not Christopher Robin, and having seen the movie, I would not have treated my son the way he was treated.

So I'm throwing out the questions to the Reds. Who do you write like? And which book do you wish you had written?

HALLIE EPHRON: At my best, I like to think that I channel Ruth Rendell. If only! And the book I wish I'd written? Definitely GONE GIRL. Word for word, sentence for sentence, Gillian Flynn is a terrific writer. And that story was so original. Though truly nasty -- that part I could never do, but I wish I could make that kind of money off a single piece of work. Imagine!

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh I love the idea of Winnie the Pooh or The Wind in the Willows! Those creatures were so wise and I still remember and treasure entire scenes from those books. I would have liked to have written Barbara O'Neal's THE ART OF INHERITING SECRETS, or Juliet Blackwell's THE PARIS KEY, or Ann Mah's THE LOST VINTAGE, or Ann Cleeves' RAVEN BLACK. And it goes without saying that I would happily be compared to any of the Reds' writing! I certainly haven't and never will write high-brow literary fiction. If I can develop a character whom readers love and feel touches their lives in some way, then I will be happy.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Who do I write like? Ah--huh. One wonderful reviewer said:  "If John Grisham and Lisa Scottoline had a book baby, The Murder List would be it." SO, yeah, those two.  Scott Turow.  Edith Wharton. Yes, I know, it's crazy, but if you read The Age of Innocence, now, its astonishing. Powerful, and sinister, and shocking. That's what I'm going for, at least. I wish I had written PRESUMED INNOCENT. Can you imagine writing the first Poirot? Or Sherlock Holmes? Brings tears to my eyes.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My books are often compared to both PD James and Ruth Rendell, but although I'm flattered, I honestly don't think I write like either. I would like to think my writing was half as sharp and witty as Dorothy Sayers, or that my prose was as brilliant as A.S. Byatt's or Reginald Hill. As for books I wish I had written, Lord of the Rings would probably top the list. I'd add in Sayer's Gaudy Night, and Reginald Hill's On Beaulah Height. And Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches!

RHYS: Thank you for reminding me of two of my favorites, Debs. On Beulah Height--one of the best mysteries ever written. I'd put it right up there with Dreaming of the Bones by a certain Red!
And A.S Byatt. Brilliant! I wish I'd written Possession.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Who do I write like? Debs! Seriously, you'll find her books and mine on many "read-alike" lists. Which is the only way I can answer the question - I have no idea what my writing, per se, is like, so i can only suggest "If you like my books, you'll like..." Kent Krueger, Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series, and Jenny Milchman's stand-alone thrillers, in the "Places where the weather can kill you" genre. If you like the strong romantic storylines in my novels, try Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily series, Dana Stabenow's Liam Campbell books (which also fall under the Terrible weather umbrella) and of course, the grandmother of us all, Dorothy Sayer's Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane novels. I'm so glad I never read them until after I had launched by own series; I would have been too intimidated to even start my first book.

And what would I have liked to have written? Richard Russo's EMPIRE FALLS. Decaying mill town, complicated romantic relationships, a mystery...it's just like my books, except, you know, it won the Pulitzer.

HANK: Julia! That is so brilliant. I just went to amazon, and it says: Customers who bought The Murder List also bought: Shari Lapena, Ruth Ware, Lisa Scottoline. YAY. Love that.

So dear fellow writers and readers: What book do you wish you had written?

THRILLER FEST

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Our THRILLER FORTNIGHT here at Jungle Red is leading up to ThrillerFest, a four-day celebration of thriller books, the authors who write them, and the fans who read them. ThrillerFest takes place July 11, 12, 13 and 14, 2012, in New York City, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel located in Midtown Manhattan. 

So what goes on at ThrillerFest?  If you're an aspiring writer, there are master classes with best-selling authors, and opportunities to meet with dozens of literary agents. If you're a fan, there are panels and activities aplenty where you can hear and meet some of your favorite authors. (And buy their books!)


Among this years special guests are R.L. Stine, Ken Follet, Robert Crais, Diana Gabaldon, and John Lescroart. Just a small sampling of other attendees includes our recent JR guest Jon Land, Lee Child, Steve Berry, Jan Burke, Joseph Finder, Sophie Littlefield, DP Lyle, Andrew Gross, Wendy Corsi Staub, David Hewson, Hilary Davidson, and Yrsa Sigurdardottir--and that really is a small sampling!  Check out the ThrillerFest website for a full listing of authors and panels.


Okay, I'm hooked.  I wish I were going, but sadly, not this year.  ThrillerFest is definitely on my list for next summer.  What could be more fun than hanging out in NYC with a bunch of really cool writers and fans?


So, REDS and readers, who's going?  Who's been?  If you've attended, tell us about it. 


And do check out the website. I especially like Lee Child's anecdote about meeting Libby Hellman when wearing only a small towel....


(And now, the lucky winners of Jon Land's STRONG VENGEANCE: Joan Emerson, Diane Hale, and Allison Brennan! If you three will email me at "deb at deborahcrombie dot com" with your mailing addresses, I will pass them along to Jon.)

PI Mistakes Crime Fiction Writers Make by Steve Brown

Today, in honor of True Crime Tuesday, Steven Kerry Brown, a real life private investigator, is here to tell us about mistakes fiction writers make with their fictional PIs. Thanks so much for coming and take it away Steve!

SKB: I’ve been an investigator for almost 40 years. Eleven years as a special agent with the FBI and almost 30 years as a private investigator. I devour commercial crime fiction. I also write both fiction and non-fiction which revolves mostly around private investigative type themes. There are some authors that “get it right” and many that do not. Who “get’s it right?” Nobody does all of the time but the following do a pretty damn good job of acutely portraying their PI protagonists. Robert Crais and Michael Koryta. There are others that get it right most of the time. Who screws it up? I’m not going to tell you.

But how can you tell? Here are 4 scenarios you’ll find in the typical PI novel.

The PI is computer illiterate and uses a geeky friend who lives in the basement of his mother’s house to get all of the online data he needs by hacking into private and government databases. No, no, no, no. Get the idea? I know this is fiction and we’re going to “suspend disbelief” but your fiction needs to have the appearance of reality. Show me a private investigator who is not computer literate, who doesn’t subscribe to at least 3 different proprietary databases and doesn’t have direct access to the department of motor vehicle records in his own state for vehicle tags and drivers license information and I’ll show you a PI who is starving to death.

Hmm, starving to death PI. Now that’s another cliché isn’t it? Let’s look at real life numbers. But first a little theory. There are always people who will work for less. If your PI protagonist is going to compete with the competition on price then he’s going to be serving subpoenas for $15 each. That won’t even come close to covering the price of gasoline in his/her car. I charge $85/hour plus expenses like $0.62/mile. This is augmented by charges for rental of GPS tracking devices ($350/wk), database, tags, and driving histories pulled etc. etc. etc. I pay my employee investigators and subcontractor investigators $40/hr and $0.50/mile. So if my employee bills 30 hours a week (and they can bill twice that) then they’re grossing $62,400/year. Not getting rich but not starving either. That’s more than most of us make writing about private investigators.

The third clichéd scene is where the private investigator irritates his nemesis in the police department. Detective Hardcase says, “You low life skulking PI. You better stay away from my investigation or I’ll pull your license.” First make sure your PI is working in a state that requires licensing. In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating, 2^nd Edition, page 20-21 I’ve laid out which states do not require any licensing of private investigators. It’ll be difficult for detective Hardcase to pull my license if I don’t need one anyway. There have been some changes in the state list over the last year or so. If you have any doubts, email me.

Back to pulling that license. Can Detective Hardcase really do that? Not really. Licensing bureaus in most states are state agencies and licenses are not issued or denied by the local police or sheriff’s office. The worst Detective Hardcase could do is file a complaint with the state licensing bureau and then they would investigate, hold their hearings etc. So threatening to pull a private investigator’s license is mainly an empty threat and very, very clichéd. Don’t use it.

The fourth follows from the above scene. The private investigator is hired by “the family” to investigate a murdered/kidnapped/disappeared/ family member. Your protagonist is in competition with the police. Frankly, most private investigators make their living by conducting insurance “sub-rosa” surveillance in cases like workmen’s compensation, slip and falls, or other insurance related investigations where a claimant is screaming about serious injury but the insurance company thinks he is roofing his house on the weekends. That is the day-to-day pay-the-bills case most PIs work. But there are those who have practices like mine, that do involve murders/suicides/missing family members and whose paths do cross with the police department on nearly every case. I have yet to have a single argument or shared a harsh word with any police/FBI/state law officer in 30 years. Have I pissed some off? You betcha. They may bitch about me in their offices (usually because I’ve found good leads that they’ve missed and they look incompetent to their superiors) but our face-to-face relationships have always been cordial and professional, even under the most stressful of circumstances.

Steve Brown is the author of THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO PRIVATE INVESTIGATING. He blogs with James N. Frey and Jeffrey Phillips at Handcuffed to the Ocean. You can also find him at his website.