On Neglect

I've been neglecting this blog lately in case you haven't noticed (and if you haven't noticed, then I have bigger problems). The reason? Well, lately I just haven't found much to blog about, which is odd, because there is always something to blog about. Like just the other week, I did a guest post for Joe Konrath about The Serial Killer's Wife hitting the USA TODAY bestseller list, and I didn't even bother posting a link here. Why? Well, because I posted links on Twitter and Facebook and called it a day, that's why. There was a time when I would try to update this blog on a near-daily basis, if not at least a few times a week, to keep the content fresh. Now, for some reason, I'm beginning to question whether or not any of it's a priority. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I never want to blog again, but what I am saying is that when I blog it should be with something worthwhile and not just fluff (I don't even remember the last time I did a rant). Looking back through the blog, I of course post about new books or published short stories or other stuff like that, and of course there have been the podcasts, which I'm not even sure if people listen to, and there have been times when I was more vocal about changes in the publishing industry or other shenanigans, but besides that? Fluff. Now, I don't mind fluff if you don't mind fluff, but I don't really know what it is you want. I guess, ultmiately, this is my blog, so I can do whatever I want, and if ignoring it is what I want, that should be fine too.

But, in the end, this is the central hub for everything that is me. I spend most of my time goofing around on Twitter, so if you ever want to see if I'm alive, that's the place to check. Facebook, not so much. Google + ... man, I keep forgetting Google + exists.

I'm not one to believe the less I blog or tweet or Facebook, the less sales I make. That's always been a silly assumption by a lot of writers. Maybe if I had over 100,000 followers on Twitter, that would be different, who knows. Ultimately, when it comes to self-promotion, I figure the more content available, the better. So that's what I've been doing. A week or two back I finished a new novel. This is a standalone thriller set in the universe of Man of Wax, but it's not part of the trilogy. If anything, it's a "prequel of sorts" to the trilogy, and if all goes well, that should be out later this summer. The day after I finished that novel, I started on a new novel, this one that takes place in the universe of No Shelter. Yes, that's right, it's a Holly Lin book but not a Holly Lin book ... sorry to be vague, but I want to make it a surprise. Also, I just approved The Calling and Spooky Nook for audiobook and those should go live in the next couple of weeks.

So that's what's been happening with me. There's good reason I've been neglecting this blog. I've been staying busy. But that doesn't mean I won't start updating it more regularly if you people want content. So tell me -- what do you like about this blog, dislike, hate, love, whatever? Let me know in the comments. Thanks.

I'm Officially A Bestselling Author

Remember that promo I did for The Serial Killer's Wife last week? Well, it went pretty well. Actually, it went great. The book spent several days in the Kindle and Nook Top 100. I joked with more than one writer friend how I hoped it might even make a bestseller list. Because while I could call myself a bestselling author, everybody and their cousin calls themselves a bestselling author as their books get ranked in genre lists and sub genre lists and sub sub genre lists, that none of it is official anymore. Well, for some strange reason, I visited the USA Today website tonight to check their list and was beyond thrilled to see that The Serial Killer's Wife had made the list at #139. Granted, their description wasn't spot on (the story starts in the Midwest, not Maine), but I can live with that. No doubt the book is going to slip off the chart next week, but I'm okay with that too. So ... yeah. Extremely thrilled. Thanks to everyone who purchased a copy last week, or has purchased a copy in the past. Now go tell your friends to purchase copies too!

Digital Boxed Sets

There's been this ongoing trend with ebooks that I had been hoping would die away, but, alas, it looks like it's going as strong as ever. I'm talking about ebook boxed sets.

You've seen these, no doubt. They try to create a three-dimensional boxed set look. Do they succeed, or do they just look ridiculous?

Well, personally, I think they look stupid.

Here are a few, just to give you an idea. Please note that I'm not disparaging these authors and their books, but simply using their boxed sets as an example of, well, how stupid this trend looks.

And they get even sillier the more books you add:

This trend has become so popular that even major publishers have gotten in on the action:

Not all, thank God. Here's a major publisher that, despite selling its soul for all the money in the world, at least has the sense to make a reasonable ebook cover.

See, that makes sense to me. It doesn't look at all ridiculous. I actually like the idea of bundling several ebooks together. I mean, why not? I did it with my ebook Two Shot, which combines The Serial Killer's Wife and No Shelter. If you can put three novels together and mark a few bucks off the retail price of all three combined, it's a win for everyone involved. But that disgusting boxed set look? No thanks.

Here are several other ebook covers -- more straight up covers -- that bundle several ebooks together that make a lot more sense to me.

So, which kind -- the boxed set or straight up -- do you prefer?

Writer's First Story

So this is fun. I had dinner with my parents the other night, who have been cleaning out their house and stumbled across what is apparently my very first story -- or, at the very least, my first recorded story. Not only that, I created a chapbook, so in many ways, this was my very first experience with self-publishing! The story, "The Desk," was written while I was in the second grade, for what assignment I, of course, can't remember. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share the story, so see below. But please, please, please do excuse the spelling and grammar, as they are quite horrendous. Enjoy.

For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Written By Hemingway

So the big news yesterday was this story how, believe it or not, the famous six-word story was not, in fact, written by Ernest Hemingway. This comes a day after George Saunders, on The Colbert Report, talked about this famous bit of tiny literature. Am I surprised that Hemingway has been outed as not being the true author? Not at all. I mean, I basically said the same thing in my introduction to the Hint Fiction anthology two years ago:

Although Ernest Hemingway is credited for creating the first "six-word story," some believe the story of its creation is a myth. The truth is there is no written account of those six words anywhere. They are, as one Hemingway scholar puts it, apocryphal.

What surprises me, really, is that it took this long for someone to do the research to put this mystery to rest. From what my editor at Norton had told me, who heard it from a Hemingway scholar, the question of whether or not Hemingway truly wrote the story is one of the most frequently asked questions about the author. So it's a bit odd that, after all this time, someone just finally figured it out. Also, based on the article -- really, it's a good read, check it out -- it seems that a similar phrase regarding a baby carriage had been circulating for quite some time. From 1906, an advertisement in the newspaper:

For sale, baby carriage; never been used. Apply at this office.

So there's the chance that Hemingway happened to see this ad, then decided to turn it into a story. If that's the case, he basically plagiarized. Then again, there's a chance he never actually "told" the six-word story upon which he's been credited all this time. It is still, and probably will forever be, a myth.

I will say, though, as I've said before, I believe what has made this six-word story endure as long as it has is not only its simplistic greatness, but its association with Hemingway. If it had been written by Joe Schmo, maybe it would have faded away and made people care less about it. But Hemingway, being the master storyteller that he was, gave the six-word story much more credibility. Could I be wrong? Perhaps. But in some literary circles, what matters more is the name of the author, rather than the actual story.

Anyway, regardless who actually authored the story, those six words have inspired writers for many, many years, and in the end, I think that's what matters most.