The Year of the Ebook – Part 2 of 3

One reason I invested in an ebook reader is because I myself am selling ebooks. [Shameless plug alert]: Superior Justice is available from Amazon in both published, and Kindle forms; it is available from Lulu.com/revth both in bound/printed and ebook formats. However, until I bought my ebook reader I had never actually read an entire book electronically. I figured it was only right, if I was selling a product, to try that product out. In fact, it’s a little like when my wife made her first CD album. We didn’t own a CD player until we got the studio rough mixes for that project on CD.

Another reason I bought an e-reader is because I’m tired of using up valuable suitcase real-estate with bound books. Generally, whenever I go anyplace for a couple days I have my bible and a devotional book – both are generally on the larger, heavier side of hardbacks. Then I often take three or four additional books – a few novels and some non-fiction topic that I’m interested in. Since I try to keep my “luggage footprint” small (usually small enough to carry on an airplane) I end up with half of my space devoted to books. The e-reader absolutely changes all of that.

In the few weeks I’ve owned my reader, I’ve read half a dozen books or so with it. My conclusion is that the people who want a paper-book because they like the look/feel/smell etc are a bit like folks who would turn down factory-fresh M&M’s because they came in a ziploc bag instead of the retail packaging.

The point is not the packaging. The point is the contents. And the contents of an ebook are exactly the same as the contents of any other book: words.

So are bound-books going away? You tell me what you think. I don’t think so, but I think they will diminish. Again, it’s a little like the music industry. CD’s slowly replaced cassettes. One of my original objections to a CD player was that I’d have to buy my old music again if I wanted to listen to it in CD-quality audio. CD’s were more expensive than tapes. But eventually, that all faded away, and I hardly own any cassette tapes any more. Not only that, but the CD revolution itself is almost a memory, and I probably purchased my last CD several years ago.

It’s true, I already own a thousand or more bound-books (even though my wife has worked diligently for years to cull books we’ll never read again). I probably won’t buy them again just so I can have them on my reader. But going forward given similar pricing, I’ll be buying ebooks.

What about libraries, you ask? Check back next time, when I talk about specific types of e-readers.

del.icio.us Tags: ebooks,ebook reader,nook,kindle,reasons to buy an ebook reader

2011 The Year of the Ebook

I recently bought myself an ebook reader.

One of my best friends, an IT guy, said, “What’s that?”

You can imagine how encouraging this was to me, because I had figured I was buying into the technological wave of the future. But in case, like him, you don’t know, an ebook reader is an electronic device with a screen for reading digital books. The most famous ebook reader is probably the Kindle. The Ipad also reads digital books, but it isn’t designed primarily or solely for that purpose.

I’ll have another post soon reviewing the specific brand and model of reader that I purchased. In the meantime, I thought I’d share why I bought any such thing at all. After all, I am a bibliophile. I love books, libraries and bookstores (more or less in that order). I am an author myself.

I also love technology, so the combination of books and a new electronic gadget was pretty strong temptation.

I think ebooks, and readers to read them is the future of books and publishing. It simply makes too much sense not to become the dominant paradigm. It eliminates many complexities and negative impacts associated with paper books.

A digital book eliminates the environmental destruction of killing trees for paper. It eliminates the manufacturing process for the paper. It eliminates the printer ink, the printing presses, the binding processes, storage, shipping and all kinds of other energy-intensive, expensive, complicated things involved in producing books.

Digital books also carry positives. The process for producing and selling an ebook is immensely simple compared to traditional publishing. The environmental impact is minimal. The cost of production is minimal. And for the consumer it makes so much sense. It is ridiculously portable compared to regular books. It takes almost no storage space.

The only reason ebooks aren’t dominant yet is because the powers-that-be in the publishing industry haven’t yet figured out how to make money with them. The truth is, ebooks are a threat to publishers, because they [the publishers] are not necessary in the current paradigm of e-publishing. They’ll figure out a way to own a big piece of the pie, however.

Some people claim they just love the look, feel and smell of books, and so, could never get used to an ebook reader. In one way, I get this. I like flipping through books at stores and libraries. But in another way, it reminds of some people back in the 80′s when answering machines were first used. They used to say “I can’t stand the thought of talking to a machine.” They seemed to think this made them sound cultured and noble. I always thought it made them sound like they needed some kind of therapy.

IS IT TIME FOR CHRISTIAN FICTION TO DIE?

*Note. This is a guest blog reposted with permission from best selling novelist, and my dear friend, Eric Wilson.

A Challenge to Readers, Writers, and Publishers

By Eric Wilson

As a child, I was taught not to complain about a problem unless I was willing to be part of the solution. I was also introduced to the literature of J. R. R. Tolkien, John Bunyan, C. S. Lewis, Daniel Defoe, Flannery O’Connor, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Not one of these world-class Christian writers worked within the parameters of a “religious fiction” market.

By the time I was 19, my own faith had faced more obstacles than I found in most “inspirational” novels. I hunted for stories that dealt with real issues from a Biblical perspective, but found offerings that were mostly trite and poorly written–with Bodie Thoene’s books being an exception. Did it have to be this way? Even those who love Jesus struggle with doubts, depression, sexual and financial issues, addiction, and disease.

If the Bible truly offered the Answer, I wondered, then why did these stories seem so afraid to ask the questions?

Hoping to be part of the solution, I read, read, read, and wrote, wrote, wrote. I studied the craft of fiction. I earned a Bachelor’s degree with honors from an accredited Bible college, got married (faithful for 20 years now), and published my first novel in my mid-thirties. I have since written nine more novels, with over a million words in print. One of those books spent four months on theNew York Times bestseller list.

Trying to be part of the solution, I have also reviewed and endorsed hundreds of novels—the majority of them by Christian brothers and sisters. I’ve done my best to open doors for up-and-coming authors. I’ve invested the past decade in broadening the reach and readership of this market, and in reclaiming genres that had been hijacked by immoral and/or humanistic worldviews. Despite my efforts, and many incredible yet relatively unknown writers who have bettered them (W. Dale Cramer, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer, Tosca Lee, Robin Parrish, Claudia Mair Burney, Mike Dellosso, Steven James, and Sibella Giorella, to name a few), this market’s recent influence and parameters seem to have narrowed.

The late 1960s and early ’70s saw the rise of young Christian musicians who helped spearhead the Jesus Movement. As the number of listeners grew, a few entrepreneurial sorts saw an opportunity to spread the Word even further; yet with success came the need—initially uncorrupted—to keep “churning out the hits” to keep this baby rollin’. The moneychangers stepped in, the Spirit moved out, and for a long time Christian music became a cloistered, “safe” alternative instead of a vibrant, world-changing entity. I believe the same has happened in today’s Christian fiction.

Why, as Christian novelists, have we removed ourselves from a place of influence in the “marketplace” of the everyday reader? Do atheistic authors put their books in the “Atheist Fiction” section? Does Stephanie Meyer label her books “Mormon Fiction”? Aren’t we actually “selling out” if we write what will sell to a certain church demographic instead of writing what God puts in our hearts?

In years past, the works of Tolkien, Lewis, and O’Connor glistened in the unrestricted air of “real life.” That is not to say Middle-earth is real or Puddleglum still survives in some swamp—though I would be the first to pay him a visit if he did. I am saying the weight of Frodo’s ring (a powerful symbol of sin) and the cynicism of a pessimistic swamp-dweller were presented poignantly, without polish or affectation. They felt real. They captured emotions and experiences with which we can all relate.

In the same way, an ultra-gritty (and beautifully poetic) book such as James Lee Burke’s Jolie Blon’s Bounce still lingers in my thoughts, due to its spiritual and redemptive arc. John Dalton’s Heaven Lake and David Maine’s The Preservationist won awards in the mainstream market, while tackling Biblical themes with remarkable skill.

If our own writings fail to also wrestle honestly with life’s difficulties, it seems to me that we gloss over the bloody, earth-shaking war that Jesus fought on the cross—and we undermine the triumph of His resurrection.

True, the publishing number-crunchers feel the need to meet profit margins. Yes, we writers of the faith are called to honor God in our storytelling. Does this mean, though, that we should censor all the raw elements? Isn’t the Bible itself filled with depictions of violence, sexual misconduct, deceit, and bigotry? Some of its stories have happy endings. Some are dark cautionary tales. Few, if presented as modern fiction, would make it past the industry’s “gatekeepers.”

It seems to me that most “religious” storytelling has taken the place of relational, incarnational works of literature. I know there are authors who desire to write more than scrubbed-clean, rose-scented fiction. Must all Christian novels be “inspirational,” or can’t some be challenging, daring, even ironic and unresolved?

In my own novels, I don’t want to regurgitate platitudes. I want to allow Christ to enter the muddy, messy settings of my own life and those depicted in my stories. He is a redeemer. He has a way of calling the dead from their graves, the sinners from their prisons, and the pharisaical busybodies into glorious freedom.

Yes, God is the Creator. We are created in His image. When we write fiction, when we create, we have the opportunity to reflect a sinful world in such a way that the glory of the risen Lord is that much more astounding. No, not all writers are called to this, and maybe this market will never make way for those who are. Nevertheless, Jesus gave us an example to follow, stepping into the muck of humanity instead of calling to the street dwellers from lofty mountaintops.

I believe fiction has the ability to change minds, shock us from complacency, and soften hearts. (Paradoxically, those Christians who question the validity of Christian fiction are often those who rant about the evil power of fictitious Harry Potter.) I believe at least some faith-based novels should serve as more than “moral” alternatives. But are there publishers still willing to offer that chance?

Consider these words from one of Russia’s greatest novelists. Over four decades later, they still rattle the bars on artistic cages.

Outstanding manuscripts by young authors, as yet entirely unknown, are nowadays rejected by editors solely on the ground that they “will not pass.”

Literature cannot develop between the categories “permitted”—“not permitted”—“this you can and this you can’t.” Literature that is not the air of its contemporary society, that dares not pass on to society its pains and fears, that does not warn in time against threatening moral and social dangers, such literature does not deserve the name literature; it is only a façade . . .

Our literature has lost the leading role it played . . . [and] now appears as something infinitely poorer, flatter and lower than it actually is . . . If the world had access to all the uninhibited fruits of our literature, if it were enriched by our own spiritual experience, the whole artistic evolution of the world would move along in a different way, acquiring a new stability and attaining a new artistic threshold . . .

–Alexander Solzhenitsyn,

Letter to the 4th National Congress of Soviet Writers, May 16, 1967

The Christian-fiction market, if it remains myopic, could very well die. I hope it does not. It has done many good things and produced some quality novelists, both commercial and literary in nature. Before we settle into mediocrity, I pray we’ll see godly writers of all genres, all ages, all races, ready to raise the bar even higher and impact the world around them. Some are already published but struggling. Others are waiting for their opportunity. The question isn’t whether the market will die, so much as whether it will push aside fear and allow its authors to live.

If not, Christians who are writers should be publishing well-crafted, honest, and thought-provoking novels in the general fiction market. When Jerusalem’s Christians lingered too long in first-century AD, the Diaspora and hardship pushed them from their comfort zones. They spread far and wide, sharing the Good News.

Maybe today is the beginning of an artists’ Diaspora. Maybe literary life will yet rise from these ashes.

del.icio.us Tags: eric wilson,writing,publishing,christian writers,christian publishing,publishing industry,author,tom hilpert

Characters: A life of their own

So, we’ve established, that if I have to, I choose character over plot. This makes my writing process interesting for two reasons. First, I am continually worried that what I write doesn’t move fast enough, and is not exciting to the this generation, which was raised on thirty-second TV and movie scenes. You’ll have to read my writing yourself to judge if it is fast enough or not (see how I worked that shameless plug in there?), but it is something that I am never quite settled about.

The other thing that is interesting, is that because I give them some room to grow, my characters do and say things that surprise me. In fact, they change the story a little bit as it goes along. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t change the entire plot, and never the final ending, but they do put twists and turns and things into it that I didn’t expect. It’s kind of fun. In fact, sometimes the thing that keeps me writing is the desire to see what my characters will do.

Now, if you aren’t a writer, you might be inclined to find out where I live, and call a psychiatrist here and have me evaluated. But I’ve talked to other book-length authors, and they report similar experiences. Either we all take the same mind-altering drugs, or maybe there is something to this idea that fictional characters can take on a sort of life of their own, even to the surprise of the author. Since I don’t take any drugs at all besides aspirin, it must be the second thing.

So have you experienced this in your writing? Or do you think I’m nuts?

WHAT? A CHARACTER?

I love characters. Interesting and three dimensional (that is, “real seeming”) characters are what keep me coming back to my favorite writers, my favorite stories and even my favorite movies and TV shows.

I also love a well-plotted, exciting story with twists and turns that surprise me.

When the two things come together, I am in entertainment heaven. In my own reading, watching and writing, this is what I long for. But if I can only have one, I prefer to have character-driven fiction, rather than plot-driven writing.

One of the most extreme examples of plot-driven fiction I can think of in recent years, is the Left Behind series. After the first book, the characters exist basically only to serve the plot. What was important to the writers and publishers was not the fictional people in the story, but rather the content of “what happened” in the story. You almost got the sense than any old people would have done as characters in that series – the same things would have happened no matter what, and the focus was not how it affected the characters.

On the extreme end of character-driven fiction, you have Lillian Jackson Braun’s “The Cat Who ___” series. These are about people and place far more than they are about the structure of a mystery. Another extremely entertaining, very character-driven writer, is Alexander McCall Smith. I’m a particular fan of his “No 1. Ladies Detective Agency” series.

Some of the best plot-driven fiction I have read was written by Alistair Maclean, a British thriller/espionage writer from the 1960s to the early 1980s. His stories are brilliant, replete with twists and turns. His characters mostly exist to serve the plots, but even so, they are consistent within those plots, and just real enough to get the job done.

Raymond Chandler was one of the best character-driven mystery writers of the twentieth century. Philip Marlowe is an enduring figure, the father or grandfather of practically all hard-boiled detectives since then. Three more recent character driven mystery wordsmiths all hail from the Boston area: the late Robert B Parker, the late Phillip Craig and William Tapply. These all capture the imagination with people. Tapply is perhaps the best plotter of them all with Craig being the weakest.

Dean Koontz is a man who seems to be able to write either plot-driven or character-driven fiction, and do both of them extremely well. I’m still looking for a book of his where he puts both together. The first in the Odd-Thomas series comes pretty close.

My own hope is to emulate Chandler (and Koontz, though less spooky) and leave my readers with memorable characters who also experience memorable things.

What your preference? Why?

del.icio.us Tags: creative writing,author,dean koontz,raymond chandler,william tapply,robert b parker,mystery,character driven,tom hilpert

Christian Fiction…Or Fiction, written by a Christian?

People sometimes ask me if I write Christian fiction. I always want to say “no,” but the whole truth is not quite so simple.

The truth is books or movies or poems or songs, cannot be Christian. Only people can be Christians. We have gotten confused by the creation of what we call “the Christian market.”

The Christian market is basically a set of definitions used by advertisers to try and sell products to a specific group of people (Christians). In my opinion, there are two great problems with the Christian market.

The first is that it creates the idea that products themselves are somehow either “Christian” or not. This results in the fact that many books, movies songs etc are produced not by people expressing their faith through their art, but rather by people who are writing to satisfy a certain set of “Christian parameters.” I know for a fact that many so-called “Christian songs” are written by professional songwriters who rarely go to church and certainly do not share the faith of the people they are writing for. I know this because I know some of the actual songwriters personally.

The second problem created by the Christian market is that it defines very narrowly and legalistically what is acceptable for “Christian art.” Can you use the word “crap”? Can your characters kiss? Is it OK if your protagonist suffers from an anger problem? These are the stupid questions that are frequently answered by the companies that dominate the market.

My approach is different. And better (what the heck, it’s my blog!). (Can I say “heck?”) At least it’s more fun. And so my take on it all is this: I am who I am, and in my case being a person of faith in Jesus Christ is core to my being. So I write what I want to write, and I assume that, because my faith is real, it impacts my writing. In other words, it isn’t “Christian fiction” – it is fiction written by a Christian. I believe there’s a difference.

I have found that people of faith enjoy my writing. I have also found that quite a few people who would not call themselves Christians, still enjoy my writing.

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY…

I laugh when I see the caption on a movie or book: “Inspired by a true story.” Here is a fiction writer’s truth: virtually every work of fiction is inspired, at least in part, by true events. Certainly, the majority are not based on a true story, but real life is what feeds the mill and gets ground into fiction.

Part of the plot for my novel, Superior Justice, was inspired by a shocking event that occurred in the little town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. Moose Lake was an idyllic, peaceful community, a great place to raise kids. But in 1999 a teenage girl, Katie Poirier, was abducted from the town. She was never found, and believed murdered. Police investigations focused on a previously convicted sex-offender going by the name of Donald Blom. Blom confessed to the crime, but then later recanted his confession.

When I heard about Blom going back on his confession, I thought it was quite strange. Why in the world would someone claim that what he confessed wasn’t true? Later on, the TV news showed him on his way to court, and he was in a flak-jacket (sometimes called a “bulletproof vest”). It got me to thinking – those things don’t stop rifle bullets, so if someone really wanted to shoot him, they still could have. I also assumed that Blom had insisted on wearing it, and so I got the idea that Blom might be a bit paranoid or something.

This all percolated in my brain. Now, what I do, in coming up with plots, is essentially to develop wild conspiracy theories. So I began to imagine – what if someone else, someone in law enforcement, was the real killer, and being in that position, faked a confession from the accused murderer, to close the case, and keep suspicion from ever falling on himself? What if the accused killer was going to court to tell the judge that the confession wasn’t genuine, and then got shot before he could reveal it? Voila, Superior Justice had a foundation.

Based on a true story? Absolutely not. The fact is Blom not only signed a confession to the police (which could, conceivably have been faked) but he also called a Minneapolis TV station and confessed in his own voice. In addition, he never claimed his confession was a fake – he just said he was under duress at the time. Also, I found out later that it is standard practice to put high-profile criminals in flak-jackets when moving them through public places, so he wasn’t being paranoid. And of course, no one killed Donald Blom. The police got their man, justice was served, case closed. But could you say Superior Justice was inspired by these true events? Ya, sure, you betcha.

And it isn’t just plots. I think most of us who write fiction tend to observe human nature, and then turn those observations into characters, or at least personality traits for characters. I’ve visited a few jails in my time. And so the several convicts who come into Superior Justice are not real people, but they share some common traits with real prisoners I have known.

Settings, if they aren’t flat-out-real (as they often are in mystery fiction) can also be “inspired by true places.” Jonah Borden’s favorite trout stream isn’t exactly real, but any northern Wisconsin trout fisherman knows precisely which river inspired it (and in keeping with the fisherman’s code, that’s all I have to say about that). Grand Lake isn’t a real town at all, but my readers who have been to the Minnesota North Shore know that it is something like some of the real towns up there.

This sort of real life inspiration is one of the things I really love about writing fiction. I see some little unexplained inconsistency in the reported facts of a situation, and then exploit it until it becomes a plot. Or I deal with an incredibly frustrating DMV worker, who has undoubtedly had her sense of humor surgically removed, and presto! I have the basis for a minor character.

I have a flair button on facebook. It says “careful, you may end up in my novel.” This is more true than you realize.

For legal purposes, however, I need to emphasize that all characters and events in my novels are completely fictional and any resemblance to real people, places or events is absolutely coincidental.