Tim Slee's Blog: How's the Serenity? - Posts Tagged "noir"
How's the Serenity?
Hi all. Karma is a funny thing right? Good intentions and good deeds give good karma and happiness. Bad intentions and bad deeds lead to unhappiness. So just keep the karma battery charged and all is well!
2017 was a funny year as far as the writing karma goes. I must have been doing something right because I won an Indie writing prize, and then signed with an agent to see if I could get a publishing contract with a traditional publisher for the Charlie Jones series.
My agent advised I should disappear from the internet if possible as the publishing industry is not excited about signing Indie authors. So I did (which is why you haven't seen a post here for a year!). After a year of that, we got nary a bite from a publisher so I am back as an Indie writer again! Is that good or bad karma? Only time will tell.
Probably it was good, because it wasn't a wasted year. While my agent was pitching the Charlie Jones series, I had plenty of time with nothing to do but WRITE! And so in 2017 I completed the first drafts of a sequel to The Vanirim (now in final proof stage), PLUS two new mystery novels, half a new Charlie Jones novel and over Dec-Jan 2017-18 a new techno thriller. YAY!
So 2018 is going to be a busy year as I get back into publishing again. I put my titles up again in mid Feb, have sold 165 books since then ('Bless Me Father', formerly published as 'Cloister' was at number 5,249 out of 1.5 million books on Amazon last night) - so we are off to a good re-start! YAY!
Last year I donated the sales of my books to Medicins Sans Frontiers. This year I will be donating to Plan International - more on that later. I'm hoping my good friends who have supported me before will do so again in 2018.
So now you will find the books here:
https://www.amazon.com/Tim-Slee/e/B07...
In coming weeks I will be posting extracts from the sequel to The Vanirim, cover art options, launch updates and getting ready to host the launch eBook giveaway so stay tuned!
2017 was a funny year as far as the writing karma goes. I must have been doing something right because I won an Indie writing prize, and then signed with an agent to see if I could get a publishing contract with a traditional publisher for the Charlie Jones series.
My agent advised I should disappear from the internet if possible as the publishing industry is not excited about signing Indie authors. So I did (which is why you haven't seen a post here for a year!). After a year of that, we got nary a bite from a publisher so I am back as an Indie writer again! Is that good or bad karma? Only time will tell.
Probably it was good, because it wasn't a wasted year. While my agent was pitching the Charlie Jones series, I had plenty of time with nothing to do but WRITE! And so in 2017 I completed the first drafts of a sequel to The Vanirim (now in final proof stage), PLUS two new mystery novels, half a new Charlie Jones novel and over Dec-Jan 2017-18 a new techno thriller. YAY!
So 2018 is going to be a busy year as I get back into publishing again. I put my titles up again in mid Feb, have sold 165 books since then ('Bless Me Father', formerly published as 'Cloister' was at number 5,249 out of 1.5 million books on Amazon last night) - so we are off to a good re-start! YAY!
Last year I donated the sales of my books to Medicins Sans Frontiers. This year I will be donating to Plan International - more on that later. I'm hoping my good friends who have supported me before will do so again in 2018.
So now you will find the books here:
https://www.amazon.com/Tim-Slee/e/B07...
In coming weeks I will be posting extracts from the sequel to The Vanirim, cover art options, launch updates and getting ready to host the launch eBook giveaway so stay tuned!
Old noir new noir same noir?
You ever tried alternating books in the same genre that were written about ninety years apart?
Yeah why, right? I just happened to start Dash Hammett's Red Harvest and then Altered Carbon appeared on Netflix and I watched an episode of that and realised I was sooooo late to the party and had to read the books before seeing the series and so right now I am trying to finish Red Harvest and start Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.
What a headspin. What's interesting is the style similarities that define noir hold true nearly ninety years apart (Red Harvest was written in 1929!) Both have:
Messed up protagonist with sketchy history- check!
Almost impossible to follow plots with sub-plots that wind through wormholes to nowhere before deciding where they are going and leave you asking, 'wait, what happened there?'- check
View of women characters (sigh) either as victims or as sex objects - check
This last one is pretty disappointing considering that Red Harvest was written 90 years ago and the sexism is almost to be expected given the period in which it was written whereas a novel like Altered Carbon, written in 2002 should show that the equality needle has moved a notch or two in the intervening years but ... nah. Altered carbon does have a female protagonist who is a cop, which wasn't the case in 1929, but she basically just bumbles along behind the hard boiled hero, one step behind the whole way except of course when she inevitably falls for/under him.
Why read noir (especially two at once!) if it hurts so bad?
Because I love the snappy pulp dialogue and writing so much:
“Be still while I get up or I'll make an opening in your head for brains to leak in.” - Red Harvest
“I lay still for a while, picking up the scattered garments of my mind and trying to assemble some kind of reasonable outfit from them.” - Altered Carbon
Both books are full of such gems, coming close to, but not quite reaching the heights of the master, Raymond Chandler:
“I lit a cigarette and dragged a smoking stand beside the chair. The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers to their lips.”
“I went back along the silent hallway. The self-operating lift was carpeted in red plush. It had an elderly perfume in it, like three widows drinking tea.”
“I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.”
No list of noir quotes is complete without a little Elmore Leonard too:
“I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.”
"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "When you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes."
“You thinkin bout the time I shot you and you rose from the dead? It only happens once in your life."
“You know what people who go to nude beaches look like?"
"Tell me."
"People who shouldn't go to nude beaches."
And of course, my favorite piece of author advice, from Chandler...
“In writing a novel, when in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns.”
For melodic writing like this, I can cringe and bear the off-notes!
Yeah why, right? I just happened to start Dash Hammett's Red Harvest and then Altered Carbon appeared on Netflix and I watched an episode of that and realised I was sooooo late to the party and had to read the books before seeing the series and so right now I am trying to finish Red Harvest and start Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.
What a headspin. What's interesting is the style similarities that define noir hold true nearly ninety years apart (Red Harvest was written in 1929!) Both have:
Messed up protagonist with sketchy history- check!
Almost impossible to follow plots with sub-plots that wind through wormholes to nowhere before deciding where they are going and leave you asking, 'wait, what happened there?'- check
View of women characters (sigh) either as victims or as sex objects - check
This last one is pretty disappointing considering that Red Harvest was written 90 years ago and the sexism is almost to be expected given the period in which it was written whereas a novel like Altered Carbon, written in 2002 should show that the equality needle has moved a notch or two in the intervening years but ... nah. Altered carbon does have a female protagonist who is a cop, which wasn't the case in 1929, but she basically just bumbles along behind the hard boiled hero, one step behind the whole way except of course when she inevitably falls for/under him.
Why read noir (especially two at once!) if it hurts so bad?
Because I love the snappy pulp dialogue and writing so much:
“Be still while I get up or I'll make an opening in your head for brains to leak in.” - Red Harvest
“I lay still for a while, picking up the scattered garments of my mind and trying to assemble some kind of reasonable outfit from them.” - Altered Carbon
Both books are full of such gems, coming close to, but not quite reaching the heights of the master, Raymond Chandler:
“I lit a cigarette and dragged a smoking stand beside the chair. The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers to their lips.”
“I went back along the silent hallway. The self-operating lift was carpeted in red plush. It had an elderly perfume in it, like three widows drinking tea.”
“I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.”
No list of noir quotes is complete without a little Elmore Leonard too:
“I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.”
"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "When you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes."
“You thinkin bout the time I shot you and you rose from the dead? It only happens once in your life."
“You know what people who go to nude beaches look like?"
"Tell me."
"People who shouldn't go to nude beaches."
And of course, my favorite piece of author advice, from Chandler...
“In writing a novel, when in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns.”
For melodic writing like this, I can cringe and bear the off-notes!
Wassup with republishing and reissuing in a new name SLEE?
Just got this question on another forum (in a slightly more polite form...)
Yes, I previously published five titles under the name TJ Slee on Amazon and then they were taken offline and now they are re-published under the name Tim.
WTF?
Well, after winning the Publishers Weekly BookLife fiction prize I got an offer of representation I couldn't refuse. I signed over representation rights to my prize winning novels and agreed to take the novels off Amazon and effectively 'disappear' from indie publishing.
We gave it our best shot finding a trad publisher but got no bites. Such is life!
But in the meantime the novels had been re-edited, much improved, and it seemed like a nice idea to relaunch them 'under new management'!
That's why they have suddenly reappeared, fresh and new and ready for new reader reviews. The first has just rolled in and was a full 5 stars, so that's a nice a start!
Thankyou 'ATX' wherever you may be!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079VL4DHD#...
Yes, I previously published five titles under the name TJ Slee on Amazon and then they were taken offline and now they are re-published under the name Tim.
WTF?
Well, after winning the Publishers Weekly BookLife fiction prize I got an offer of representation I couldn't refuse. I signed over representation rights to my prize winning novels and agreed to take the novels off Amazon and effectively 'disappear' from indie publishing.
We gave it our best shot finding a trad publisher but got no bites. Such is life!
But in the meantime the novels had been re-edited, much improved, and it seemed like a nice idea to relaunch them 'under new management'!
That's why they have suddenly reappeared, fresh and new and ready for new reader reviews. The first has just rolled in and was a full 5 stars, so that's a nice a start!
Thankyou 'ATX' wherever you may be!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079VL4DHD#...
That ideal writing spot...
We all have one, whether we're writing a letter, email or just posting on Insta! I have two ...
The first is at home. We have a glasshouse ringed by rhododendrons and perched on a spot looking over the rest of the garden. Warm even in the chilly northern autumn and spring, out of the wind, quiet but with the door open there is a constant twitter of birdsong.
(If you look closely at the picture you will see I have worn the lettering off several of the keys of that keyboard after seven novels!)
My other favorite writing environment is a complete contrast. Business class on long haul flights (unfortunately I do too many of these. Just got a note from one airline that I've been around the world 20 times with them!)
Some people sleep or watch movies on long flights but for me there is nothing better for total undistracted focus than to be strapped in a comfortable chair for 6-20 hours, often in the dark, headphones on and tapping away at a keyboard while friendly people bring you food and wine! I grumble about the time away from home, but the time it gives for writing is golden...
The first is at home. We have a glasshouse ringed by rhododendrons and perched on a spot looking over the rest of the garden. Warm even in the chilly northern autumn and spring, out of the wind, quiet but with the door open there is a constant twitter of birdsong.
(If you look closely at the picture you will see I have worn the lettering off several of the keys of that keyboard after seven novels!)
My other favorite writing environment is a complete contrast. Business class on long haul flights (unfortunately I do too many of these. Just got a note from one airline that I've been around the world 20 times with them!)
Some people sleep or watch movies on long flights but for me there is nothing better for total undistracted focus than to be strapped in a comfortable chair for 6-20 hours, often in the dark, headphones on and tapping away at a keyboard while friendly people bring you food and wine! I grumble about the time away from home, but the time it gives for writing is golden...
That one book to read before you go...
The English Patient by Michael OndaatjeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If a dying friend asked me 'what should I read before I go?' this would be my recommendation.
What I fell in love with, what I still love the most about the book, is the protagonist Almasy's hand written journal, scribbled among the pages of Herodotus's 'The Histories'. What a device, summing up in one small object his intensely private self, and at the same time as he passes it to his lover, the giving up of himself, his surrender to her.
And then of course, there is Oondatje's intensely cinematic writing, which to me he never really succeeded in beating in subsequent or prior works. I can't pick a single quote, but just browse here:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes...
So cinematic is his language that the film by the Brit Anthony Minghella was the most faithful reproduction of a loved novel that I've come across and unusually I've seen the film almost as many times as I've read the book, because now when I read the book, I see Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Scott Thomas. They've supplanted the images I may have had in my mind, so perfectly did they capture the spirit of the book.
I read it at least once a year, to remind myself that love really is all that matters and it's big, small, good, bad, sweet and brutal all at the same time.
What's YOUR 'one to read before you go'?
View all my reviews
Free Advance Review Copy: The Æsirim!
Dear friends!! Get a free Advance Review Copy ebook of the Midgaard Cycle, both vols 1 & 2, featuring the new episode: The Æsir, which will be going live on Amazon later this month! For Kindle, Nook, iphone/pad etc.
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/aq76hd755a
(Episode 1: The Vanirim, was grand prize winner of the inaugural Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize in Fiction!)
***
In India, a space launch is sabotaged with devastating effect. In New York, hackers shut down the subway system. In England, pirates take over the airwaves to broadcast insurrectionist propaganda. The human uprising against the Vanir is afire...
REVIEWS OF THE VANIRIM: MIDGAARD CYCLE VOLUME 1
"This superb novel has it all — a gripping and twisty plot, well-developed characters, and excellent writing. The story centers on Tully McIntyre, a "sanctioned" 19-year-old who is accused of killing a Vanir, one of the superior beings who rule Earth. The author skillfully keeps the reader guessing as to Tully's guilt or innocence, all the while creating a complex new world with its own set of laws and systems of justice. Characterization is strong, the story progression logical and original, and while the ending clearly indicates a new installment is to follow, the book stands alone and is complete. Extremely well done. 10/10."
- Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize
"I devoured The Vanirim in a single sitting, pulled in initially by the vision of life on Earth after an interdimensional alien invasion and driven forward by the twisty and mind-bending plot, centered on an enigmatic and compelling main character. This is a book of mysteries and wonders."
- Tim Pratt, best selling author
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/aq76hd755a
(Episode 1: The Vanirim, was grand prize winner of the inaugural Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize in Fiction!)
***
In India, a space launch is sabotaged with devastating effect. In New York, hackers shut down the subway system. In England, pirates take over the airwaves to broadcast insurrectionist propaganda. The human uprising against the Vanir is afire...
REVIEWS OF THE VANIRIM: MIDGAARD CYCLE VOLUME 1
"This superb novel has it all — a gripping and twisty plot, well-developed characters, and excellent writing. The story centers on Tully McIntyre, a "sanctioned" 19-year-old who is accused of killing a Vanir, one of the superior beings who rule Earth. The author skillfully keeps the reader guessing as to Tully's guilt or innocence, all the while creating a complex new world with its own set of laws and systems of justice. Characterization is strong, the story progression logical and original, and while the ending clearly indicates a new installment is to follow, the book stands alone and is complete. Extremely well done. 10/10."
- Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize
"I devoured The Vanirim in a single sitting, pulled in initially by the vision of life on Earth after an interdimensional alien invasion and driven forward by the twisty and mind-bending plot, centered on an enigmatic and compelling main character. This is a book of mysteries and wonders."
- Tim Pratt, best selling author
Author notes: The Æsir
I'll try to give a few insights into the creative process behind this new episode of the Midgaard Cycle.
I always conceived the Midgaard Cycle as a trilogy, and that idea was only strengthened when volume 1, The Vanirim, won the grand prize in the Publishers Weekly BookLife awards, the most important result being that the prizemoney enabled me to blow my charity fundraising target for that year out of the water. (All sales of my books go to charity, this year it is Plan International, the #girlsrights organisation).
The three volumes will be The Vanirim, the Æsir and finally, the Jötunn, each featuring a new faction in the universe of Norse deities. The first volume was written in the first person voice of the main protagonist, Tully McIntyre, a man who has had his ability to feel emotion cauterised, and whose psyche is fighting back. It was a unique viewpoint to examine what is essentially a crime story through.
But as I got about a third of the way into volume 2, the Æsir, I realised the storyline would not work if I wrote it in same first person voice. So I changed it to third person and the story is mostly seen through the eyes of another protagonist, Regin Investigator Stella Valiente.
There are many precedents for creatively playing with the POV through a series, not least of which is Lee Childs Jack Reacher series which is sometimes written in first person, other times in third. What drives this decision is often the fact that the protagonist is hiding a secret and it wouldn't be credible for him to keep it from the reader. This wasn't a problem in The Vanirim because although McIntyre had secrets, they weren't even known to himself.
In the Æsir though, McIntyre has a very important hidden agenda and I didn't feel he could narrate the story and keep his secret hidden at the same time.
If that change of PoV disconcerts you as a reader, fear not! McIntyre will be back as first person narrator in Volume 3, The Jötunn!
I always conceived the Midgaard Cycle as a trilogy, and that idea was only strengthened when volume 1, The Vanirim, won the grand prize in the Publishers Weekly BookLife awards, the most important result being that the prizemoney enabled me to blow my charity fundraising target for that year out of the water. (All sales of my books go to charity, this year it is Plan International, the #girlsrights organisation).
The three volumes will be The Vanirim, the Æsir and finally, the Jötunn, each featuring a new faction in the universe of Norse deities. The first volume was written in the first person voice of the main protagonist, Tully McIntyre, a man who has had his ability to feel emotion cauterised, and whose psyche is fighting back. It was a unique viewpoint to examine what is essentially a crime story through.
But as I got about a third of the way into volume 2, the Æsir, I realised the storyline would not work if I wrote it in same first person voice. So I changed it to third person and the story is mostly seen through the eyes of another protagonist, Regin Investigator Stella Valiente.
There are many precedents for creatively playing with the POV through a series, not least of which is Lee Childs Jack Reacher series which is sometimes written in first person, other times in third. What drives this decision is often the fact that the protagonist is hiding a secret and it wouldn't be credible for him to keep it from the reader. This wasn't a problem in The Vanirim because although McIntyre had secrets, they weren't even known to himself.
In the Æsir though, McIntyre has a very important hidden agenda and I didn't feel he could narrate the story and keep his secret hidden at the same time.
If that change of PoV disconcerts you as a reader, fear not! McIntyre will be back as first person narrator in Volume 3, The Jötunn!
Test readers wanted!
Hi all, I just got my new thriller project back from a professional PW reviewer. The conclusion was "Fast-paced, packed with action and suspense ...keeps the reader guessing...realistic and original...a lot to like here!"
That was gratifying as I've been working with a group of enthusiastic police and military advisers to ensure the story is authentic - and they've been really helpful with plot and pacing too!
THE PLOT
US Navy UCAV (drone) Air Boss Alicia Rodriguez and aviator Lieutenant Karen 'Bunny' O'Hare are alone on a decommissioned US UCAV facility on Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait when Russia launches a lightning operation to shut down the critical waterway between Alaska and Russia to traffic and deny the US navy access.
They are alone, dug in deep and trapped behind enemy lines. Surrender? Hell no.
The PW reviewer suggested working on adding some depth to the characters (more show, less tell...) and so I've been doing that and now I'd love some true reader opinions before I go into final draft!
You can download the latest draft here (ereader and pdf formats): https://dl.bookfunnel.com/g4fdazides
and I'd love it if you send me your thoughts, suggestions, encouragement or critique either at FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/teejayslee/
Or GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Thanks!
That was gratifying as I've been working with a group of enthusiastic police and military advisers to ensure the story is authentic - and they've been really helpful with plot and pacing too!
THE PLOT
US Navy UCAV (drone) Air Boss Alicia Rodriguez and aviator Lieutenant Karen 'Bunny' O'Hare are alone on a decommissioned US UCAV facility on Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait when Russia launches a lightning operation to shut down the critical waterway between Alaska and Russia to traffic and deny the US navy access.
They are alone, dug in deep and trapped behind enemy lines. Surrender? Hell no.
The PW reviewer suggested working on adding some depth to the characters (more show, less tell...) and so I've been doing that and now I'd love some true reader opinions before I go into final draft!
You can download the latest draft here (ereader and pdf formats): https://dl.bookfunnel.com/g4fdazides
and I'd love it if you send me your thoughts, suggestions, encouragement or critique either at FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/teejayslee/
Or GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Thanks!
Last days for Charlie Jones (thriller) Goodreads giveaway...
“Slee has a cheeky wit… There is also a sucker punch of a twist that ranks with the last line of Charles Willeford’s Pick-Up. An auspicious introduction to an unconventional new character in the spy game.”
- Kirkus Reviews
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
- Kirkus Reviews
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
How's the Serenity?
A blog about the fun of balancing life, work, family, friends, writing and karma... mostly writing and karma.
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