Straight from the Mouth of Political Thriller Author Michael Bowen

THE SELF-IMPORTANT AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

By Michael Bowen

        

         I thought that Percival’s Question was a brilliant title for a political crime story set in Washington just after the victory of the West in the Cold War.  Percival was the knight who found the Holy Grail – the successful completion of the ultimate quest for King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.  Percival had dedicated his life to this quest and now it was complete.  What does he do the next morning?  He’s just written the first line of his obituary, for crying out loud.  Wouldn’t killing a pesky dragon or evicting trolls from underneath a bridge seem a little meh for him now?  In the same way, the Cold War had basically defined my life from the day of my birth in a hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where my dad was stationed after being called up for the Korean War, to those air raid drills in grade school, to the Berlin Wall going up, to the space race, to the last of our soldiers being choppered out of Saigon, to Carter’s failures and Reagan’s successes, all the way through to the Berlin Wall coming down.  So, like Percival, what would we do now that we’d won? 

         As my story careened toward printing and distribution, however, my editor at St. Martin’s Press, Anne Savarese, called with unpleasant news.  She said that SMP’s salespeople hoped that I could come up with a different title.  It would take too long to explain to bookstore owners, she said, so we needed something, you know, simpler and less cerebral.

         I pushed back a tiny bit.  I was really proud of the title and the deep thinking it reflected.  Couldn’t we discuss this a bit.

         “We can discuss it all you’d like, Mike,” she said.  “But you’re talent and they’re sales.  Sales versus talent, sales wins.”

         Right.  Good to know.

         Anne also pulled the short straw on my next story with SMP, Corruptly Procured.  She sent me the cover art on a 2 x 2 Kodachrome slide “for approval.”  (This was the early ’nineties.  No email.  Sort of a time-capsule experience.)  I called her with my assessment.

         “I really like the concept,” I said.  “It captures key elements of the plot very well.  But the premise of this story is that a man would commit treason to have a relationship with the femme fatale, and I don’t want to come off as too sexist, but I wouldn’t run a red light to have a relationship with the woman on the cover.”

         “Yes,” she said understandingly.  “It looks like the artist had some trouble with the female figure.”

         “Okay,” I said.  “Do you think we could ask the artist to try again?”

         “I don’t think so,” Anne replied, “because we’ve already paid him.”

         I paused, but just for a moment.

         “Okay, Anne, I understand.  I’m not Robert Parker and I can’t throw a temper tantrum over this.  But, under the circumstances, why did you send me the cover art ‘for approval’?”

         “Oh, Mike,” she said in a tone you might use to soothe a six-year old after telling him that he can’t have a pony, “we were just being polite.”

         I did appreciate the politesse. 

         I carried those valuable lessons forward, and I think they saved me a lot of frustration.  The publishing world that was already emerging and that fully blossomed after 2000 – the world where an author whose books aren’t bestsellers is, strictly speaking, not terribly important if, by “not terribly important” you mean has no importance whatsoever – came as a rude shock to many authors.  Not to me.  I had been thoroughly and gently prepared for it.  I had my expectations properly under control.

Michael Bowen is the author of twenty-one published novels including nineteen mysteries.  False Flag in Autumn, published in October, 2019 and exploring “October surprises” intended to influence the 2018 and 2020 elections, is his most recent.         

 

Title: False Flag

Genre: Political Thriller

Author: Michael Bowen

Website: www.michaelbowenmysteries.com              

Publisher: Farragut Square Publications

Find out more on Amazon

About the Book:  

Josie Kendall is an ambitious political apparatchik whose memoirs will not be titled Nancy Drew Goes to Washington.  Josie has no objection to the truth—but she doesn’t let it push her around.  When a rogue White House aide tries to use her as an unwitting pawn in a plot for a spectacular October surprise before the 2018 mid-term elections, Josie calls on her D.C.-insider husband, her edgy uncle, and colorful denizens of the Louisiana demi-monde to help her out-hustle the hustlers.  But then Josie finds herself facing an even more daunting question:  is there a false-flag attack planned in order to influence the 2020 presidential election?  Josie will be forced to decide whether to venture out of the Beltway cocoon—where the weapons are leaks, winks, nudges, and spin—into a darker world where the weapons are actual weapons.  Josie will end up on the side of the angels even if, Josie begin Josie, the angels play a little dirty. 

Straight from the Mouth of Darden North, Author of 'The Five Manners of Death'

Darden North’s mystery and thriller novels have been awarded nationally, most notably an IPPY in Southern Fiction for Points of Origin.  His newest thriller, The Five Manners of Death, also follows Wiggle Room, Fresh Frozen, and House Call. Darden North has served on author panels at writing conferences including Killer Nashville, Murder on the Menu, SIBA Thriller Author Panel, and Murder in the Magic City. To book Darden for a book club, book signing, or presentation contact: Darden@DardenNorth.com. A board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist practicing at Jackson Healthcare for Women in Flowood, Mississippi, Darden North is Chairman of the Board of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Mississippi Medical Association. He lives in Jackson with his wife Sally and enjoys family, travel, and, outdoor activities. The Norths have two adult children, who also work in the medical field. Author website: www.dardennorth.com 

Purchase links for The Five Manners of Death:

• Amazon: https://goo.gl/PPRqHx

• Barnes & Noble: https://goo.gl/1Lg5HM

• Smashwords: https://goo.gl/jRjXoQ

• Square Books: https://goo.gl/wUk4hi

• Lemuria Books: https://goo.gl/McpYiU

Questionnaire:

Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

    

     I wanted to be more famous than I already am.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

    

     The main perk of being a published author is getting to meet a whole bunch of interesting folks. Writing novels and promoting them propels you out of your comfort zone, exposing you to new ideas and people—and maybe some different places—that would have been off the radar in your “other” profession. The demands of writing successfully lie in crafting unique stories about characters mixed-up in troubling situations and in the challenge of getting those novels published.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

    

    

My first three novels were self-published; the next two (including my newest) were not. Having someone else in charge of book design, layout, and the process required to make the book available to stores and electronic devices is a relief. However, authors these days have to do a lot of their own promotion regardless of the publishing route.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

    

    Sometimes they think I’m crazy. (My other job as a full-time ob/gyn physician keeps me busy enough!)

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

     My wife and I have two small dogs, each about 10 years old, a Chihuahua (Valerie) and a Pomeranian-rat terrier mix (Foxy). Yes, Foxy really does resemble a fox. Valerie and Foxy love me best because I feed them on a regular basis and pay them the most attention. They are devoted to me, particularly Foxy. After endless time glued to my laptop during a writing session, Foxy will give up and sit at my feet, while Valerie will stand a few yards away and let out a piercing, ear drum-splitting bark to announce that I’ve been at it long enough. Valerie also tries to find her way onto my desk somehow to check for any candy or gum I might be hiding there.

Are your plants actually still alive?

     I love plants too. Fortunately, my lawn sprinkling system remains operational, and I can still afford the water bill—and the potted plants are just outside the exits to our house, so it’s difficult to ignore them. My wife is not a plant lover.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

    It’s OK for the phone to ring because it might be Hollywood calling. As for my boss, I do try to balance my time with wife and family. (Personally, I think I do a good job with that. Maybe you should ask them.) I do not cook, and when my family needs dinner, I just hand them the credit card for take-out.

What was the craziest or most insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

     One weekend after a book festival in Memphis, my wife backed over my laptop with our car. She still swears it was an accident.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

    

     Opinions certainly vary here, but I have found Facebook useful in spreading the word about a new book release or related event. My author page on Facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/DardenNorthAuthor and it’s kept up-to-date. With sharing and boosting post options, I have noticed that book sales do respond to online messages and posts. I’m also on Instagram: @dardennorth.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

      For my newly released novel, The Five Manners of Death, my publisher WordCrafts Press made pre-release orders available online to get a jumpstart on sales. In addition, my publicist arranged the blog tour for me upon release of the novel, and I have scheduled book signings in bricks-and-mortar book stores.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

    

     What author doesn’t want to hit The New York Times Bestseller List? A movie or TV series deal based on one or more of my novels would be even better.

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

     What I love about being a published author is the privilege of sharing my stories with others via the printed page, whether on paper or per electronic device. Of course, it’s great to have a couple of my novels, Points of Origin and Fresh Frozen, published on digital audio as well. Being able to piece sentences into paragraphs and then into pages to complete a novel may indeed be an art—or maybe it is a gift. However, I do strive to capture the minds of readers and make my fiction seem real.

—Darden North