Truth in Fiction?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  We’ve been talking about how to weave reality into fiction—what we want to read about, and think about. How much we want to escape, versus how much we’re interested in real-life-based decisions fictional characters make. Maybe a veteran experienced journalist like Dick Belsky is the perfect person to tackle such a tightrope topic. His new book THE LAST SCOOP  is, okay, ripped from the headlines. But as all of Dick’s fast-paced investigative thrillers, it goes way deeper than that.

See what you think.

 

#MeToo & The Modern Mystery

By R.G. Belsky

         My character TV news director Clare Carlson falls in love in my latest thriller THE LAST SCOOP.

         And the new man in her life is crazy about Clare too.

         So this is one romance that should be smooth sailing, right?

         Not so fast.

         I’ve written about a lot of romance and love affairs in my crime novels before, but this is the first time I’ve dealt with all the changes in our society in recent times when it comes to these relationships. You see, the man in Clare’s life is a media consultant who has been hired by her TV station to improve the ratings. So, as news director, she is technically his boss. Which raises a myriad of issues in this #metoo era.

         Clare has an attorney friend named Janet who explains this all to her at one point in the book:

         “That’s a situation filled with potential downside for you, Clare. You’re his boss. If the relationship breaks up and the station decides to fire him - or even just doesn’t renew his contract - he could say that’s retaliation from you because of a personal relationship. It’s not as common for a woman supervisor to be accused of sexual harassment as a man, but it can happen. You could find yourself in a legal mess. That’s one scenario.”

         “What’s another one?”

         “He comes up with a plan for the station that doesn’t include you. Based on his consultant advice, the station fires you and gets a new news director. You claim it’s because you refused his sexual advances and wouldn’t sleep with him. Under that scenario, you would have a legitimate sexual harassment lawsuit again him.”

         “Uh, Janet, is there any possible scenario here that doesn’t wind up in a lawsuit?”

         “Well, you could live happily ever after but....” 

That isn’t the only office romance I deal with in THE LAST SCOOP. There’s also an affair going on between the station’s two glamorous co-anchors Brett Wolff and Dani Blaine. Which is complicated by the fact that Brett is married to someone else.

          For Clare, this presents another tricky situation. It’s not an unprecedented happening in TV newsrooms, of course:  MSNBC Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had a love affair and wound up getting married in a real life on-screen romantic story not long ago.

         And, no question about it, that kind of sex between two star co-anchors sure provides a lot of sensational publicity which can translate into big ratings.

         But - like with her own office romance - Clare is left struggling to figure out what her role as a supervisor should be in all this.

         “Isn’t that a problem - a situation like that in the office - with all the controversy these days on sexual relationships or affairs in the workplace?” she is asked by someone at the TV station.

         “They say they’re in love.”

         “What exactly are the rules about that for two people working in the same office?”

         “I’m not sure what the rules are anymore.”

         She’s not the only one.

         I have another incident in the book where a longtime cameraman makes a joke about a woman newscaster’s breasts in front of other people in the office. Clare suspends him for two weeks and orders him to attend sensitivity training classes. He doesn’t understand why, complaining that no one had ever gotten upset before when he made those kinds of jokes to women. “Times have changed,” Clare tells him. “You need to change, too.”

         Now I’m not one of those authors who normally deals with real life political or controversial issues like this in a mystery novel. I don’t have people wearing MAGA hats or dealing with impeachment or universal health care in my books. And I certainly don’t plan to ever write about something as serious as the coronavirus pandemic.

         But - in an era where major media figures like Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and Bill O’Reilly have lost their jobs because of sex scandals in their newsrooms- I find it difficult to write about a woman character like TV news director Clare Carlson without dealing with this important (albeit at times confusing) issue.

         What do you think?

         Would you prefer to keep all this out of a mystery novel and just focus on an old-fashioned romance for a woman character?

         Or do you like the idea of a woman like Clare Carlson dealing with real life issues such as sex in the workplace at the same time as she’s solving the crime?

         Tell me your opinion...

HANK:  Did any of you watch THE MORNING SHOW on  Apple TV? I thought it was terrific--a semi-fictionalization (with embellishments and accessories) of the Matt Lauer story--from the point of view of the Lauer character's coworkers.  Truly thought-provoking. But as Dick asks--what's your opinion?

THE LAST SCOOP

The scariest kind of serial killer—one you don't know exists

Martin Barlow was Clare Carlson's first newspaper editor, a beloved mentor who inspired her career as a journalist. But, since retiring from his newspaper job, he had become a kind of pathetic figure—railing on about conspiracies, cover-ups, and other imaginary stories he was still working on. Clare had been too busy with her own career to pay much attention to him.

When Martin Barlow is killed on the street one night during an apparent mugging attempt gone bad, it seems like he was just an old man whose time had come.

But Clare—initially out of a sense of guilt for ignoring her old friend and then because of her own journalistic instincts—begins looking into his last story idea. As she digs deeper and deeper into his secret files, she uncovers shocking evidence of a serial killer worse than Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, or any of the other infamous names in history.

This  is the biggest story of Martin Barlow's career—and Clare's, too—as she uncovers the path leading to the decades-long killer of at least twenty young women. All is not as it seems during Clare's relentless search for this serial killer. Is she setting herself up to be his next victim? Clare Carlson is perfect for fans of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski.

R. G. Belsky is an author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City.

His newest mystery, THE LAST SCOOP, will be published in May 2020 by Oceanview. It is the third in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first Clare Carlson book, YESTERDAY'S NEWS, came out in 2018. It won the David Award at Deadly Ink for Best Mystery of 2018.  The second Clare Carlson book, BELOW THE FOLD, was in 2019.

He also is the author of two thrillers written under the pen name of Dana Perry - THE SILENT VICTIM 2019) and THE GOLDEN GIRL (June, 2020).

Belsky previously wrote the Gil Malloy series - THE KENNEDY CONNECTION, SHOOTING FOR THE STARS AND BLONDE ICE - about a newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News. Belsky himself is a former managing editor at the Daily News and writes about the media from an extensive background in newspapers, magazines and TV/digital news. He has also been a top editor at the New York Post, Star magazine and NBC News.

Belsky won the Claymore Award at Killer Nashville in 2016. He has finished several times as a Finalist for both the Silver Falchion and David Awards. YESTERDAY’S NEWS, was also named Outstanding Crime/News Based Novel by Just Reviews in 2018 and was a Finalist for Best Mystery of 2018 in the Foreword INDIES Awards.

His previous suspense/thriller novels include LOVERBOY and PLAYING DEAD. Belsky lives in New York City.                 

Fair Game?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: A million years ago, I did a TV story about the supermarket tabloids. The following is, as best as I recollect, a conversation I had with the executive editor of the publication called The World.

Hank (holding up an issue of the paper): The headline of this issue says: “Woman Gives Birth To A Baby Who Looks like a Chimp.” But, um, this is a chimpanzee in a diaper.

Editor: And so?

Hank: It’s not a baby. It’s a chimp.

Editor: Well, the woman said she gave birth to it, and she says this is a picture of it, and that it looks like this.

Hank: Maybe so. But clearly, it’s actually a baby human. It’s a chimp in a diaper.

Editor: Who are we to say?

SO reds and readers, it continued, but you can see where this was going. Nowhere. In the end, we just ran the whole thing.

But as the wonderful Barbara Monajem, (a dear pal from Sisters in Crime Guppies, yay) says—this is not a new phenomenon.

(And I might ask: Is “political cartoon” redundant? But that might be pushing it.)


 
It’s How You Look At It
   By Barbara Monajem


Do you read the tabloids at the supermarket? (Assuming you even go to the supermarket now. But if you do. Or used to.) I don’t, or at least not usually. I’m more likely to roll my eyes at the absurdity of the headlines, or get outraged at what seems like obnoxious, even disgusting, intrusion into the private lives of famous people.

In contrast, I enjoy the English caricaturists of two or three hundred years ago. 

Imagine a combination of political cartoonist and tabloid photographer, add some moral commentary and/or sexual titillation, mix well, et voilà! Caricatures were printed from etchings or engravings and distributed all over England. 


Wealthy patrons might have subscriptions, while others purchased copies at stationers or printshops, and even illiterates benefitted from the artists’ spin on current affairs (double meaning intended), as the prints were displayed in shop windows, and a literate onlooker might helpfully read the captions aloud.

I couldn’t resist putting a caricaturist in a story. Years ago, I was writing short, sexy Regency novellas for Harlequin. In To Rescue or Ravish, a wealthy, well-bred lady being forced to marry against her will is rescued in a timely and dashing fashion by her first and only love, who whisks her to safety in a nearby tavern. 

Amongst the convivial crowd is a caricaturist named Bird. The heroine drinks too much mulled wine and is tipsily indiscreet about her escape. Bird seizes on this—such a coup will make his fortune—but the hero is his friend. Together, they spin the story so the resulting caricature will show her in the best possible light, and her persecutors in the worst. Tabloid journalism at its purest!

I delighted in the character of Bird, so when my new Regency mystery series needed a caricaturist, I wondered about resurrecting him. But he wasn’t right for the story, so I cooked up someone new and dubbed him Corvus, which is Latin for crow, so he’s my darling Bird but not really. His caricatures mock the British ruling classes—their capriciousness, their immorality, their mistreatment of the lower classes, etc.

Corvus is not his real name, of course. He must remain anonymous, because if his cover is blown, most of his opportunities to dig up unique dirt on the rich will vanish. If he’s a gentleman, he’ll be shunned, and if he’s a servant, he’ll be sacked (or flogged and then sacked. Or worse… Hmm… Please forgive this author’s imagination, which has a tendency to wander).

I admit it, I’m totally in love with Corvus, and to me, he’s mostly a good guy. What surprises me is that I find modern tabloid journalism anything from despicable to just plain dumb, but go back two hundred years, and the same sort of thing seems admirable. Maybe it’s because much of Corvus’ mockery is valid, or because his victims are imaginary. Maybe it’s because he needs the money (as Bird did). Or maybe I should have him satirize me or someone I care about, and see whether I still adore him. ;)

So…what do you think of tabloid journalists and paparazzi? Are celebrities fair game, simply by virtue of being public figures, or should their private lives be allowed to remain private? Do some celebs consider the tabloids useful publicity? Does utter nonsense qualify as free speech? Are there any novels that portray modern-day tabloid journalists or paparazzi in a positive light? (Since I read mostly historicals, I truly don’t know.)


HANK: Ah. I’ll just say one thing, and then sit back and let you talk. Hasn’t covid made it clear how silly the fascination with “celebrity” is?

What do you think, Reds and readers?

LADY ROSAMUND AND THE POISONED PEN

Lady Rosamund Phipps, daughter of an earl, has a secret. Well, more than one. Such as the fact that she’s so uninterested in sex that she married a man who promised to leave her alone and stick to his mistress. And a secret only her family knows—the mortifying compulsion to check things over and over. Society condemns people like her to asylums. But when she discovers the dead body of a footman on the stairs, everything she’s tried to hide for years may be spilled out in broad daylight.

First the anonymous caricaturist, Corvus, implicates Lady Rosamund in a series of scandalous prints. Worse, though, are the poison pen letters that indicate someone knows the shameful secret of her compulsions. She cannot do detective work on her own without seeming odder than she already is, but she has no choice if she is to unmask both Corvus and the poison pen.

Will Corvus prove to be an ally or an enemy? With the anonymous poison pen still out there, her sanity—and her life—are at stake.

BARBARA MONAJEM

Rumor has it that Barbara Monajem is descended from English aristocrats. If one keeps to verifiable claims, however, her ancestors include London shopkeepers and hardy Canadian pioneers. As far as personal attributes go, she suffers from an annoying tendency to check and recheck anything and everything, usually for no good reason. Hopefully all this helps to explain her decision to write from the point of view of a compulsive English lady with a lot to learn about how the other ninety-nine percent lived in 1811 or so.

As for qualifications, Barbara is the author of over twenty historical romances and a few mysteries, for which she has won several awards. On the other hand, she has no artistic talent and therefore is really stretching it to write about an artist who draws wickedly good caricatures. But she’s doing it anyway, because he’s irresistible. To her, anyway. Not so much to the aristocratic lady. Or at least not yet.


Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen-barbara-monajem/1136829963

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen/id1507264864



Social media links:

Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3270624.Barbara_Monajem

We Should Talk About This!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  SO I just read the BEST book! It’s sinister, and simmering, and so incredibly unexpected, and I’d so love to talk to you about it…

And that’s true, specifically—and more on that in a moment. But how many times have you thought that? It’s fun to TELL someone about a good book, but so much more  fun to talk WITH someone about it, comparing notes, and expectations, and opinions.

And usually in book clubs you go to someone’s house (True! I know it sound crazy, but it used to happen all the time) and share food (Again, true, I’ve even split things with other people!) and wine (from the same bottles!)

But now many of us are home, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting to talk about books.

Now. The book I was talking about above is SISTER DEAR, by the amazing Hannah Mary McKinnon. (She’s my partner in crime on First Chapter Fun—see below at * for the wonderful details! And you can check it out today!)  But here on Jungle Red—for those who might be tempted to have a book club no matter what—she has some ideas for how to make that work!

And see **for a wonderful GIVEAWAY!

SO, YOU WANT TO START A VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB?

by Hannah Mary McKinnon

As an author, I’ve had the pleasure of being invited as a guest to a number of book clubs, in person and online. Each time has been an absolute pleasure, and what struck me the most was the camaraderie amongst the members, so much so that I decided to start my own book club earlier this year.

Enter the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, which means in-person book club meetings must be postponed, and it might seem crazy to even think of starting a new club. Except we need human connections and something to look forward to more than ever right now, and a virtual book club could add to the comfort we so desperately need. The solution? A virtual book club. Here are some tips to get you started:

1)    Find members

You can’t have a book club without members but where to find them? I posted in a local Facebook mom’s group and was immediately inundated with replies. Expecting a handful of participants, I couldn’t believe it when over 60 women indicated their interest. That number settled at 17 members after people couldn’t make it because of family and/or scheduling conflicts. 17 is quite a large number for a virtual book club, and I’d suggest having around 10 members so it’s easier to chat with one another online.

2)    Have an introductory meeting online

Make it a “meet-and-greet” where you introduce yourselves, chat about the genre of books you enjoy (or don’t care for), and talk about the structure of the group. To do this, use a videoconferencing tool such as Zoom (www.zoom.us). A “pro” subscription for up to 100 participants per meeting costs $20/month, but maybe one of your members has already signed up, and they can set the meetings up and share the link with the members. Participants can mute their mic when not talking to minimize background noise.

3)    Figure out how to pick books

In my book club, we decided to have five rotating genres: Book Club Picks, Suspense/Thriller, Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction and “Wild Card” where anything goes. We plan the books two months ahead, members make suggestions on which we vote afterward, so people have the chance to look up the books first. Having themes means we read a variety of genres, and don’t have the same one multiple months in a row. Alternatively you could have the host pick the book for the next (online) gathering, or go in alphabetical order instead. Maybe you pluck books out of a (virtual) hat. There are many different ways that allow each member to give input.

4)    Create a Facebook Group

While I initially managed all communication via email, it was much easier to shift everything to a Facebook group. The group is hidden, meaning only members have access, and I scheduled all our events for the rest of the year. The group is also an easy place to share information about upcoming reads, where to find books, and to create the monthly book pick polls on which members can vote.

5)    Invite authors

Admittedly, this is easier to do when you’re an author yourself and you’ve made connections with other writers, but you might be surprised by how many authors love to be a guest at a book club. The wonders of technology mean you can beam them straight into your chosen location, again by using Zoom. Whether they charge for their time depends on the author, but regardless, sharing photos and reviews of their novels on social media will no doubt be greatly appreciated. Still unsure about inviting an author? A brand new initiative called www.theauthorsbookclub.ca connects book clubs with Canadian writers who are happy to join your meeting—all you need to do is ask.

Creating a book club has been a wonderful experience and an excellent way to find like-minded friends with whom I can share my love of books. We’re living through an unprecedented crisis, and many of us in isolation, feeling disconnected from the world. A virtual book club might be another way for you to make new online connections, and have a ready-made new set of friends you can meet IRL once the pandemic is over. Are you in a book club? What other tips and tricks can you suggest?

HANK: I’m in a few! And I do enjoy them…including one on Facebook called Book Club with Style where Hannah is the featured guest next month and we’re all reading SISTER DEAR! (Although that's not publicly announced yet...) Small world!

Even if I don’t finish the whole book (wince) it’s still so much fun to hear the authors and listen to the chat. I always hear something that I hadn’t thought of before.

How about you, reds and readers? Book clubs—do you think virtual ones work? Are you part of any of them? What’s your experience? Any additional hints and tips?

**And a copy of SISTER DEAR to one lucky commenter!

*FIRST CHAPTER FUN—Every Tuesday and Thursday (days that begin with T) at 11:30 AM est, LIVE on Instagram and Facebook, Hannah and I read the first chapter of a wonderful new book out loud!   It is SO much fun, takes about fifteen minutes total ,but it’s like being able to get a fun preview of  a book you might love! We’ve read Hallie’s CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, and Rhys and Jenn and Lucy  and Debs are coming up over the next few weeks,  and Julia too, if she hurries up and gets me her paperwork. (hint hint) PLUS coming soon Kate White and Christina Alger and Laurie King and SO many more—you’ll adore it. And all the videos are archived, so if you miss them live, you can catch up any time you want. 

Here’s the link for Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/groups/firstchapterfun/

And Insta @FirstChapterFun

Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the U.K., grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favor of writing.  SISTER DEAR is Hannah Mary’s fourth novel. She lives in Oakville, ON, Canada, with her husband and three sons. For more visit www.hannahmarymckinnon.com

Sister Dear 

Beauty. Wealth. Success.

She’s got it all.

And it all should’ve been mine.

When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there, living blissfully with the family he chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks him out, leading her to uncover another branch on her family tree—an infuriatingly enviable half sister.

Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. All of it stolen from Eleanor, who plans to take it back. After all, good sisters are supposed to share. And quiet little Eleanor has been waiting far too long for her turn to play.