by Lynne | Mar 15, 2014 | Uncategorized
Mystery Writers Have a Tough Decision
One of the more gruesome aspects to my research for “The Triangle Murders” was learning about defenestration. This nasty means of murder is the act of throwing someone out the window or from a high place. The term comes from two centuries-old incidents in Prague. The first in 1419 when seven town officials were thrown from the Town Hall, no doubt precipitating the Hussite War. The second in 1618, when two Imperial governors and their secretary were thrown from Prague Castle, sparking the Thirty Years War. The latter was referred to as the Defenestration of Prague.
Now, while there’s something appealing about throwing political officials out of the window, remember that when they hit the ground the results are quite grim.
Falling as a cause of death can be very effective. There are two ways a person can fall. A vertical “controlled” fall is when the person lands upright and feet-first. An “uncontrolled” fall is when some other part of the body hits the ground first ie: head or back. Not pretty.
The vertical fall is survivable up to about 100 feet, but an uncontrolled fall can be fatal at very short distances such as from a stepladder. With a controlled fall, the initial energy transmits through the feet and legs and spares vital organs. The uncontrolled fall, however, can cause massive internal and head injuries.
Unrecognizable bodies lay on the sidewalk along Greene Street, together with hoses, fire rescue nets, and part of a wagon. All were drenched by the tons of water used to contain and extinguish the fire. Photographer: Brown Brothers, March 25, 1911. Photo courtesy of Kheel Center, Cornell University: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
I use this “cause of death” in another book coming out soon: “Pure Lies,” about the Salem witch trials. Why? Maybe because it’s clean way to murder (no blood on your hands) and allows easy escape for the killer? There is the problem, however, of actually shoving someone who might be bigger and heavier than you out the window. But that’s a story for another blog.
by Lynne | Mar 2, 2014 | Uncategorized
Too Late to Save 146 Triangle Workers
The Triangle Factory fire on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest workplace disaster in NYC before 9-11. It was significant not because 146 workers died, but because it instigated reform. At the time workplace safety was barely regulated and rarely thought about . . . except, perhaps, by the workers themselves. Other workplace disasters had occurred in the past and would again in the future. So why was the Triangle different?
One reason was a woman named Clara Lemlich. In my novel, she appears as a feisty young woman who wanted to better the plight of the garment workers. Indeed she was. In my novel she is beaten by a gang of thugs and rescued by Cormac Mead. Indeed she was. (In truth, she was beaten but not rescued by Cormac or any other policeman.)
Clara Lemlich, a skilled draper and member of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Local 25, encouraged interested shirtwaist makers to meet secretly with the union and the Women’s Trade Union League to discuss workers’ needs and the union’s goals. Despite the risks, many went on strike in September, 1909. In an attempt to satisfy some workers, Triangle owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris formed the “Triangle Employees Benevolent Association” a company union, and installed relatives as officers. They also announced that any employee who supported ‘another union’ would be fired. Photographer: unknown, 1909 Photo courtesy the Kheel Center, Cornell University:
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/photosIllustrations/slideshow.html?image_id=842&sec_id=12#screen
Clara worked as a draper at Leiserson’s waist factory. She told stories of how workers were followed to the restroom and hustled back to work, lest they steal some fabrics. She relayed how workers were persistently shortchanged on their pay and sometimes even charged for the use of materials, such as thread. And, at the day’s end, they lined up a single unlocked door to be searched before they exited.
Clara had had enough. In 1906, along with several other women, she joined the ILGWU, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Together they formed Local 25, to serve female waist makers and dressmakers. (A shirtwaist, by the way, is a blouse – See Clara wearing one in photo.) In many ways, they had to fend for themselves, for men in the unions did not take them seriously.
Clara was instrumental in organizing the female workers from shop to shop to strike for better working conditions. 
In THE TRIANGLE MURDERS, you get a glimpse of what one of the strike was like with prostitutes and thugs hired to harass the garment workers. Not an easy time period in which to live. Especially for women.
by Lynne | Feb 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
Tragedies Make Good Copy
March 25th, 2014, will commemorate the 103rd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The 1911 fire was the deadliest workplace disaster in NYC before 9-11. It was significant not because 146 workers died, but because it instigated significant reform. At the time workplace safety was barely regulated and rarely thought about . . . except, perhaps, by the workers themselves. Other workplace disasters had occurred in the past and would again in the future. You may remember a similar fire at a factory in Bangladesh last year.
When I decided to write a mystery against the backdrop of the Triangle, I had no idea what I was in for. Research took me in several directions: the forensics of fire, the consequences of “defenestration,” that is, vertical falls from high places, the difficulty in identifying bodies falling from such heights, the safety hazards for garment workers, women’s rights, workers’ rights, changes in the American workplace.
But I also researched the time and place of the disaster. 1911, Greenwich Village, New York City. A time when Ellis Island kept its arms open to immigrants from many countries — immigrants who came for a better life, but often wound up in sweatshops, or worse. A time of Tammany Hall and corruption. A time of women’s suppression. But also a time of new beginnings, hope, and freedom in a new land.
I am a native New Yorker and was amazed at the fantastic bits of information I dug up. I learned, for instance, that Washington Square Park is built on what was once a potter’s field, where 100,000 people were buried for a century and a half. I walked the streets of Greenwich Village, saw the buildings my characters would have seen, drank in bars they patronized, and gazed up at the ninth story of the Asch Building (now part of NYU) to visualize the flames bursting through the windows and the workers leaping to their deaths.
The cover of my book is a photo I took of the building in 2010, with smoke and color added for dramatic effect. For those of you who write about history, or simply enjoy reading it, I know you’ll agree that real-life events in the past make a grand backdrop for a fictional story.
Murder, in particular.
by Lynne | Feb 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
Self-Publishing Dilemma
With a fourth mystery launching late this spring, I have a decision to make. Stay with BookBaby or switch to Amazon KDP. Here’s how Bookbaby (and I assume Smashwords, et al) operates:
I upload my manuscript to them for formatting in e-version. They design the cover for the e-version and they’re pretty good at this. They will then make it available to something like 11 e-book distributors. This includes Amazon, Barnes and Noble, SONY, Copia, Kobo, iBooks, etc.
If you want a paperback, Bookbaby offers those services too, but they’re expensive. Remember, all you have for artwork, is the front cover design, no back design or spine. Plus interior formatting is a bear but they will be happy to do it all for a fee. A large fee.
The really big hitch is that the Bookbaby printed books are not POD (print on demand.) That means you get a bunch of paperbacks printed and you have to distribute or sell them yourself or you’re stuck with them. By the way, bookstores will not usually take books from self-published authors. They must come from a big distribution houses. So I was never able to get my paperbacks on the Barnes and Noble shelves.
For my three e-books, I made the decision to go with Bookbaby. For the paperbacks, however, I went with Create Space. I used the Bookbaby cover art and hired an artist to complete back cover and spine. I struggled with the interior formatting until I finally paid Create Space a small fee to do it for me. In the end, Create Space did a good job of formatting, printing and, of course, the paperbacks are POD. Create Space does distribute to smaller bookstores but from my experience they never wind up on the shelves.
One more point here. Bookbaby is very slow to report e-book sales. They are usually three months behind. Right now, my last reported sales were in mid-November. Create Space is entirely different. You can find out paperback sales daily. Good for you, Amazon.
My next book has me re-considering this process. I’m thinking of going with Amazon KDP for everything. This means I lose any sales outside of Amazon, which, to date, I estimate to be less than one-quarter of all my sales. Amazon makes up three-quarters. If I make the leap to KDP it must be an exclusive contract for a specified amount of time. I can always switch back, I suppose, if I’m not happy.
I understand Amazon also helps authors with marketing the product but I don’t know if that really makes up for the lost sales. Or what it means at all, frankly.
Is KDP for me? I would love to hear about your experiences.
by Lynne | Feb 11, 2014 | Uncategorized
It’s a Mystery to Me
I just recently read Michael Connelly’s book, “The Black Box.” Frankly, I wasn’t riveted and when I tried to figure out why, I realized it was because Harry Bosch had become soft. His relationship with his daughter played a large role in the story and it annoyed me. He was much too solicitous of her feelings. Nah. He’s an LA cop.
Okay, you say. It’s nice to see he has feelings for his daughter and wants to make her happy. And, you may be tired of the clichéd cops: drunk, surly, never around for family, whatever. I agree with that to some extent. But Harry was almost too human here. This made me think about other books in which I originally liked the characters but began to lose interest when the plot, or mystery, became mired in relationship issues.
Inspector Lynley, Elizabeth George’s character, is a perfect example. Her first books had me hooked. Great plots, well-drawn but human characters with personal foibles lurking about. But once Lynley fell for this Helen woman, suddenly the stories (the cases he had to solve) took a back seat and the relationship was up front. No thanks. If I wanted to read about relationships for half a book, I wouldn’t buy a mystery. I’d watch a series like Downton Abbey, where the characters, very much “real” people, are the main story. Or read one of my favorite authors, Anne Rivers Siddons, whose novels are about people and their relationships with other people.
When I read a mystery, I want to cogitate, figure out whodunit and why. The more pieces that are missing, the better. Sure, I like good characters but in mysteries, I enjoy them second to the mystery. Val McDermid’s Tony Hill series is a great example of both. Tony, a police psychologist, is quirky and weird, and his relationship with the police inspector, Carol Jordan, leaves you wondering what’s going on. But it doesn’t usurp the story. The crime they’re solving together is key.
How real should characters be? Since most people are relatively banal and their lives somewhat boring, a book character must be more than “realistic.” Sue Grafton is an example of humdrum to me. I could care less that she cleans her bathroom every time she’s stressed and certainly don’t want to know the cleanser she uses.
Characters must be colorful, able to be distinguished from another character — perhaps by their speech patterns, their looks, or their mannerisms. Again, their peculiarities don’t need to take center stage all the time. Just on occasion. You want to know them but not at the expense of the mystery.
It doesn’t take much to paint a picture of an interesting character, either. A roll of the eyes, a huff of breath, an about-face and stalking off can do the job. Tony Hill carries his paperwork in a blue plastic bag rather than a leather briefcase. This tells you oodles about him but doesn’t take up pages.
I had a different reaction to “The DaVinci Code.” Here plot, action, adventure, solving the puzzle are paramount. I felt the characters were quite wooden and mechanical and there was little chemistry between the male and female leads. Now, you think, which way do you want it? Characters or plot? Darn, I want both, but I want both done well. The storyline of The DaVinci Code is grand, the characters mediocre. Can you have both? I don’t know. Ask Dan Brown. (Catch him on the way to the bank!)
So, Harry Bosch, yell at your daughter once in a while when she gets on your nerves. Be human. Be real. But do your job and focus on the mystery. I might like you better next time. If I give you another chance.
Unrecognizable bodies lay on the sidewalk along Greene Street, together with hoses, fire rescue nets, and part of a wagon. All were drenched by the tons of water used to contain and extinguish the fire. Photographer: Brown Brothers, March 25, 1911. Photo courtesy of Kheel Center, Cornell University: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
