Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "e-readers"

I got my basic, no-frills Kindle e-reader for a gift the Christmas before last. I think the Kindle retailed for around $75 plus tax. When you're selling your latest ebook collection of short stories (in case you're interested, it's Smoking on Mount Rushmore: 16 Selected & New Short Stories) for $2.99 each, $75 amounts to a lot of moola. Of course it was a gift, but my wife bought it, so the same difference. Anyway, knock on the nearest wood, my Kindle is still functioning as well as advertised, and I've had no major complaints to make about it. Even so, while I was in the shower (where I do some of my sharpest thinking), I wondered just how much longer my Kindle would keep displaying the ebooks for my reading pleasure. I plan to hold on to it because I'm not one of those buyers who feels compelled to rush out and grab up the latest and greatest of a product. Ideally, I'd like my Kindle to last for the rest of my life with my only having to replace the original battery. That expectation seemes reasonable, given my Kindle's high cost. That's probably not a reasonable expectation, but why not hope for the best, right?

In my early novels like The Dirt-Brown Derby and The Blue Cheer, I was more aware of my dedication page than I have been in my last few novels. Probably it was because writing the novels was a new and different experience to me. I've dedicated every one of my 13 published books to my lovely wife Heather. The exception is my first Isabel and Alma Trumbo cozy mystery Quiet Anchorage that I dedicated to my mother. For one thing, she's the closest generation now to the real-life Isabel and Alma (long since deceased) who I based my two snoop sister characters upon.

Book dedications are fun if not sometimes cryptic and mysterious. The generally conceded Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby, bears the touching dedication, "To Zelda Once Again." F. Scott Fitzgerald names his wife Zelda. Moving on to the crime fiction genre, the one I mostly write in, let's consider Dashiell Hammett's dedication in The Maltese Falcon, "To Jose." It's the nickname by he which he called his wife Josephine Dolan Hammett. By the time his classic novel got published, the Hammetts had separated.

James Crumley in his masterful hardboiled detective novel, The Last Good Kiss, wrote, "To Dick Hugo, grand old detective of the heart." Crumley titled his book after his friend Richard Hugo's poem "Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg." The pertinent lines are:

You might come here Sunday on a whim.
Say your life broke down. The last good kiss
you had was years ago.

That dedication makes for a nice association. I have no idea if Crumley asked Hugo if it was okay, but I can't imagine any poet not wanting his lines immoratalized in a great novel. I sure wouldn't. So, the next time you read a good book, be sure to check out the dedication made in the front. Maybe do a little Google snooping. Knowing who the author thought enough of to dedicate his or her book to in some small way enhances your appreciation of the book.

Books mentioned in this blog post:

My leisure reading time has gone down in 2013 for several reasons. I'll probably have to readjust my books read goal. Anyway, I just started a new book, The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block, which I've heard good things about. So, I'm looking forward to it. I mentioned my reading it on my Facebook wall, and it sparked an exchange. One FB reader quipped, "That Lawrence Block writes some good books. You mark my words, he's gonna be big someday." Mr. Block came back with, "Nah, never happen..." I got a chuckle out of it. Of course it has happened. I checked my Goodreads list of books I've read and count up 16 titles written by Mr. Block. That's a fair few read. The Matt Scudder series is a "comfort read" or old stand by I blogged about a few days ago. I saw him at a crime fiction festival a few years back talking during a panel discussion. It was a lot of fun, and everybody had a good time. Tonight I'll be getting back to The Girl with the Long Green Heart. I hope your current reads are also every bit as good.

Book mentioned in this blog post:

Have you ever been in a new situation or place and began to speak like the majority does? While I was in Turkey for a tech transfer project, I heard the Turks speak in a clipped, precise English they'd learned at their university. I must be something of a mime, because I soon caught myself using the same inflections, syntax, and rhythms that they employed while conversing.

Or, if you're from a different region, and you return there for a visit, it won't be long before you revert to the natives' drawl or lilt. We all want to fit in and not to sound funny when we speak is one of the ways we can do it. The same deal applies when authors write their characters' dialogue.

It might come off sounding stilted to some readers while others think it's spot on and believable. Of course, it's easy for authors to exaggerate the lingo and make it inaccessible or too dense to be understood by the readers. Noir and hardboiled genres have their own language that experienced readers and fans might have little or no trouble following while a new reader might give a thumbs down on after slogging through only a few pages.

Last night I looked at the front cover proofs to the paperback version of my latest crime novel Blood Diamonds. So, the paperback is on the way for you who asked me about it. I'll keep you posted from my blog right here.

Thanks for your patience and interest!

Are you a lurker? My hand goes up. We're not alone if yours did, too. A 2011 study shows 90% of individuals on the different social media platforms don't participate directly in the discouse held there, but are content to "lurk" and read the content created. 9% of that 10% only occasionally contribute (that is they "delurk") while the hardcore 1% carry most of the load (see the study at: http://blog.case.org/2011/03/social-m...). That's a surprisingly large percentage (99%) to me. I still subscribe to several online mystery fiction groups, including DorothyL. I know I don't contribute nearly as much as I once did. My blog (like my writing here now), twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Goodreads have all stolen away my time spent on the mystery fiction messageboards. On the other hand, I tweet quite often, and my blog posts usually appear daily. It boils down to the amount of time I budget for my online presence versus my freelance and fiction writing time. I've met and got to know many nice people through social media and gained some loyal readers of my novels, so it's been worth it if considered in that respect.