UNVEILING THE COVER OF MY LATEST NOVEL

Is a book without a cover naked? Well, no, that’s just silly. Although any book that’s any good should tell you the naked truth about something. At least as understood by the author, who is quite aware the reader might disagree. But, be all that as it may, the text of a book, the thing itself, one might say, is certainly the body of the endeavor. And the cover is just, what? Skin dressed in clothes that both protect from the elements and if the author and publisher have any sense of style at all, makes a statement.

With the proliferation of ebooks—a phenomenon I, unlike some others, do not bemoan—there is no need for a digital book to have its own skin. Its body is, after all, just a gathering of zeros and ones arranged in a unique order and floating somewhere in the cloud or on a chip, free from degradable pulp and fading ink. Ethereal, even if with pretensions of the eternal.

But this does not end a book’s need for clothing, for something eye-catching to adorn it that makes a statement, speaks for it, reflects it, or teases potential readers about the wonders within. For although one may shop in a digital bookstore, such as Amazon, one still likes to browse, and the vanguard of browsing are, of course, the eyes. And eyes are not caught (a slightly gruesome idea, when you think about it) by the text of a book, but by whatever that text is clothed in, whether physically, as in a paper-based book, or digitally, almost then more like a poster than a cover.

Poster or cover the same task is at hand—to grab the attention and to intrigue. But, as the old saw goes: you can’t tell a book by its cover. Now why was that ever coined? Damnable truth, I would say. Only on rare occasions have I seen a book cover for a novel that truly—and fully—reflected the contents within. Most likely because single-shot graphics must be simple for effect, yet are trying to reflect something complex—a long, imaginative narrative of many parts. The task seems almost impossible. But still, a task worth doing with seriousness, creativity, a certain amount of faith, and, hopefully, some dumb luck.

Even understanding all the above, for a novelist to see for the first time the cover of his or her latest work is exciting. You desperately want it to be all dressed up with many places to go. And even if you fear no one will really be able to “see” what your novel is in its totality by just looking at the cover, you still hope that the cover has some accurate hint of the full revelation inside that is compelling enough for a deeper look leading to a purchase, leading to a read, leading to appreciation.

It is that same first impression thing you have to contend with when looking for a job, not to mention a mate.

All this rambling, of course, has spewed out of me by way of introducing the cover of my new novel, IMP: A Political Fantasia. So, Ta-da!

I came up with a concept for the cover, which David Dodd of Crossroad Press, the book’s publisher, executed, greatly enhancing and improving the idea into what you see below.

I hope you find it intriguing.

IMP, A Political Fantasia will debut as an ebook soon.

The BY THE SEA Chronicles # 1: My Ego Gets Inflated

I don’t really remember what the weather was on early Sunday morning March 10th, but whatever it was, for me it was fine. For upon opening my email after my first sip of hot Earl Grey tea, I found this from Jo Graham, my editor at Crossroad Press.

Dear Steven,
Attached is my edit of By the Sea.  I'm sorry this has taken so long, as what a pleasure it was to read!  You have written an engaging, thoughtful, and kind book that is both a crystal-clear character study and a thoughtful meditation on what art is.  Even the characters who at first appeared unlikable are drawn with sympathy and skill.  There were surprises -- I found myself changing my mind about characters over and over as I read, each new facet of them revealed skillfully and gently.  I suppose that is what strikes me the most -- in this era of unlikable characters and the idea that a "good" book is one in which horrible things happen to horrible people, you have turned that entirely on its head.  Even when people act badly, you have told their story with sympathy and grace, with a complete kindness for even the most outwardly difficult characters like Trudy, Ben, and the Major.  (It is hard to think of him as Phillip!)  By the Sea was a true privilege to edit.

If Crossroad was a traditional publisher, I would be forced to say that at better than 140,000 words it is too long.  Fortunately, Crossroad is not a traditional publisher, and I don't have to suggest that you cut a thing!  I can't imagine where you would remove 20,000 words without doing the manuscript serious harm.  So yes, it's long.  But it's not fat.  It's all muscle, and I don't think cuts are in order.

I do think, however, that structurally some things read too long.  There is, for example, one chapter that is 75 pages.  I think the reader needs a visual break, a chance to put it down, look up from the page, and reflect at suitable points.  Profitably you could cut these very long chapters into several pieces with an eye to where you'd like that impact to fall.  There are also some very long paragraphs, one that runs nearly six pages, for example.  They really needs to be broken into smaller chunks for the understanding of the reader.  Again, the visual break is important, as is the emphasis that a paragraph break makes.  Also, some of them included things like a change of location within the same paragraph, and I think that could be broken at the location change to make it clearer that a character has come indoors or gone out.  I've also flagged some typos and spelling things, but those are not major.

My main thought upon finishing is what a satisfying book it is!  You have built this small world perfectly, and each character is so complete and well thought out that what at first seem disparate pieces fit together perfectly by the end.  It's a hat trick in perfect proportions!  Half way through I was wondering -- how in the world can he make this plot work out?  And then you did.  You made it look simple, which of course is the essence of real art as you say -- the authentic voice that makes the complex seem as if it could have happened no other way.
I enjoyed By the Sea so much, and I hope it has the success it richly deserves.

Jo

It wasn’t so much that Jo liked my novel, that I already knew from previous communications, but that she took the time to tell how much she liked it, and in enough detail to demonstrate that she “Got it.”  Her praise of certain aspects of By the Sea, ones that I had endeavored with purpose to achieve, was deeply satisfying. And thrilling. What it was not, of course, was humbling. I have never trusted those people who say they have been “humbled” by praise or recognition. Praise or recognition does not humble the ego, it inflates it. Declarations of humility or of being humbled after praise or recognition -- a staple of glitzy award shows 
-- have always seemed to me to be disingenuous at best, and Uriah Heepish at worse.

Or maybe it is just my age.

Writing was my first young man’s passion. Novels and plays, that’s what I wanted to write. That passion got diverted and energies were redirected away from it, when I developed another passion for a particular art within the world of cinema. I don’t completely regret that diversion, as there were some good experiences (along with some bad, of course), some good people to collaborate with (along with some bad, of course), some international travel and living, and some fine dining. But the diversion did not allow me to be completely true to myself. Or, more importantly, to my self. Writing though, does. And I am now too old, and too cognizant of finite time, not to be true to my self.

Jo’s words doubly satisfied my self and thrilled my ego because not only has she taken on the role of Submissions Editor and Book Editor at Crossroad Press, she is an accomplished writer herself.  

Jo Graham

And one of Jo's novels

Acknowledgment from your peers, from fellow soldiers in the trenches (also talked about so much on glitzy award shows) has a precious quality beyond almost any other kind of praise. Why? Well, I recently I appeared on a panel with the great Harlan Ellison

and he put it best that day:

"Everybody in the world thinks they can do three things well. Everybody thinks they can write -- ‘Just give me the time and I’ll write’ --; everybody thinks they can drive a car, perfectly; everybody thinks they know how to fuck. When in fact all three of these arts are skills that take a great deal of practice and knowledge and expertise"

It is usually only your fellow writers who understand this, and truly appreciate the skill and knowledge and expertise you have put into your work. For the general reader, your work is just a story they either like or they don’t like -- and why should it be anything more than that? If they like your story, you are pleased, indeed. But for a fellow writer to understand and appreciate how you made that story likable, that’s where deep satisfaction can be found.

Outside of the praise, Jo said something else that I began to muse on: “If Crossroad was a traditional publisher….” That will be the subject of The BY THE SEA Chronicles # 2: To Genre or not to Genre.  

But for now, I need to get back into the manuscript and address Jo’s editorial concerns and comments, 

format a table of contents page, add a dedication page, and, in general, prepare the manuscript for final delivery to Crossroad Press. 

I don’t yet know the publication date, but I certainly won’t be shy about letting everyone know once I know.

You can read about all my books on my blog’s MY BOOKS page, where you will find handy links for ordering said books on Amazon.com.

If you would like to receive emails about my books, please email me at: authorleiva@aol.com.

A Look Back at "Blood" - The Author Objectifies

A new cover for a new edition

Can an author approach objectively the history and value of one of his novels after twenty years? Can he offer an analysis -- cursory at least if not deep -- of his own work that he feels good enough about to share? Well, I hope so because I’m about to do it as a way of celebrating the return into print of my first published novel, Blood is Pretty: The First Fixxer Adventure. Crossroad Press, which has been selling an ebook edition for the last three years and an audiobook version for the last two, has now gotten their hands ink stained with my pretty blood, and I find that wonderfully pleasing.

Blood is Pretty was originally published in print in 2003 by one of the first publishers to take advantage of the print-on-demand technology, which was brand new and even futuristic at that time. 

The old cover for an old edition

The publication was an important event for me for personal reasons, but it was not an altogether happy experience, for I soon found that this publisher considered its customers to be not readers, but writers. It was (and is) a business model with no integrity.

It was more than a relief to be introduced to Crossroad Press 

and its publisher David Niall Wilson, a fellow novelist,

by another fellow novelist Steven Saville. 

David loves writers and readers in equal measure, and there is quite a bit of integrity in that.

I wrote Blood is Pretty between 1994 and 1995. In ‘94 I was still feeling the disappointment of the cancellation -- after three months of production and one million dollars spent -- of an animated feature my partner at the time and I were producing for Richard Zanuck and MGM.

And of another project we had (along with Gary Kurtz) at MGM being put into turnaround. 

"I could of been a contender!"

Although we were excited about a feature project we were writing and going to produce for Columbia Pictures, those MGM projects would have been a great deal of fun to have made.

I had just finished my writing work on the Columbia project, and while waiting for their reaction I came across a bunch of used (but not used up) hardback John D. McDonald Travis Magee novels being offered for sale at fifty cents each. 

I grabbed them. I had never read the Travis Magee adventures, but had always wanted to. That night as I was reading through the book jacket copy for each of the six books I had bought, the idea for the basic plot of Blood is Pretty, and the personality of its hero, The Fixxer, came to me in the well-known flash. I started writing it that night, producing pages which were eventually tossed with no regrets. But it got me started.

Working on the book for that year was a complete joy. It took me back to what I first wanted to be -- a novelist.

You are known by the company you keep.

In looking at Blood is Pretty today after nearly twenty years after writing it, I can see that I put three streams and a bit of a babbling brook from my life and mind into the novel.

The First Stream --

An adolescence enamored with

James Bond, 

The Saint, 

those Men from U.N.C.L.E., 

the operatives from the Impossible Missions Force, 

those Avengers, Mr. Steed and Mrs. Peel, 

Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott, who I Spied each week, 

and I even Maxwell Smart.  

All of these heroes crowding my brain in my formative years had to have an influence; it could not have been helped. And it led me to an interest in other heroes that I had been introduced to but had not really spent time with, such as 

the literary Saint in Leslie Charteris’ books, 

Bulldog Drummond, 

Nick Carter, 

The Shadow, 

Doc Savage.... 

By the 1990s all of this was a pleasant stew in my mind just gently simmering away. Somehow reading about MacDonald’s Travis Magee brought that simmer to a boil, and out came Blood is Pretty and my hero, The Fixxer.  

True to its antecedents Blood is Pretty is a work featuring thrills, suspense, and action. The hero is witty and charming (or so I tried to make him, and readers have agreed). He is sophisticated, not scruffy. But, in his own way -- he quite dangerous.

The Second Stream --

My reading of the great science writers of the day.

Here’s a list of real life heroes for you:  

Jacob Bronowski,

Carl Sagan, 

Richard Dawkins, 

Francis Crick, 

Paul Churchland -- 

scientists and thinkers and eloquent writers on science.

They, and others, were an education for me far greater than any I received in science in high school or college. Because of their influence and driving of my curiosity about the workings of reality, the “Macguffin” in Blood is Pretty is a computer program that works on the mind, allowing me to sneak in a bit of science (entertainingly presented, I hope), specifically one theory on how the mind works. I cribbed from the ideas of Dr. Rodolfo Llinás (as reported in the New York Times), 

a professor of neuroscience at New York University, on how the brain creates our reality. I used them as the basis for my "MacGuffin," a device call "Veritas" that can fool the brain and create new realities. And he who holds the power to create people's realities....

The Third Stream --

My Time in Hollywood.

When I started writing Blood is Pretty I had been involved in the film industry in one form or another for about twenty years. I started as an editor and feature writer for The Cinemaphile, 

Vol 1 No1 of The Cinemaphile. Short-lived but long remembered by me

a film publication covering Hollywood of old by catering to the film collectors of that time (who collected real film films in 8MM and 16MM), and covering Hollywood of the time by catering to cineasts and movie lovers crazy for current cinema. This led to a job with an animation society, 

which led to an animation programming job with a film festival, 

Addressing the crowd at screening I programmed at the Los Angeles International Film Exposition

which led to my setting up shop as a one-man publicity company with clients such as 

Chuck Jones, 

Chuck Jones, me, and Mel Blanc goofing off at a recording session.

Richard Williams, 

With Richard Williams and his coronet at Jimmy Ryan's Jazz Club in New York.

and Bill Melendez, 

Offering Bill Melendez a trim.

which led to executive and producing jobs working with such players as Gary Kurtz (Star Wars), 

Richard Zanuck (Jaws), 

and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), 

which led to screenwriting.

And even a detour to Montreal to produce programs for the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, such as The Top Ten Funniest Hollywood Cartoons of All Time!

During this time there was fun, travel, new experiences, expense accounts, and limo rides. And all the horror stories you have ever heard about ego-clashing, back-stabbing, upstaging Hollywood. 

But as I always counseled colleagues who would sit around and piss and moan and bitch about the horrors of Hollywood: “Hey, Hollywood is an all-volunteer army.” Which, coincidentally, provided the title for my second Fixxer novel.

This near twenty year experience -- both the fun and the horror --  was so prominent in my head as I sat down to write Blood is Pretty, that it was inevitable that it would become the playground for the novel.

My Hero, The Fixxer -- two Xs mind you, two Xs to set him apart from all those mundane, humorless fixers in organized crime and politics and big business -- plies his craft among the denizens of Hollywood who are constantly breaking lives and careers and good common sense, and needing it all to be fixed. And, going back to the first stream and despite the reality of the Hollywood setting, The Fixxer fits comfortably in his larger-than-life skin to take on the heightened (if not higher) reality of dire plots and black-hearted thugs and a complex villain.

And so, thinking of these two streams, I have described Blood is Pretty as 

The Player 

meets The Saint 

as introduced by James Bond.

The Babbling Brook --

My natural (some might say unnatural) and normal (some might say abnormal) sense of humor. 

I cannot dissect that sense of humor, 

if it would even be possible to dissect it, but it has always been with me, leading to askance looks from relatives when I was a child, 

Not an actual relative.

and being declared a “satirist” by the cartoonist of my college newspaper for which I wrote a column. To be called a satirist by a cartoonist is either a high compliment -- or a warning.

In either case, Blood is Pretty has certain satiric aspects which I hope the reader finds amusing among the blood.

And there is blood. 

Blood splattered, 

blood pooled, 

blood spurted. 

But, I suppose you should expect that in an adventure/suspense/thriller novel with blood in the title.

Some of my more raw-tending-toward-outrageous humor comes out in the character of Petey, who has become loved by some of readers of the book. Petey could be the bastard child of 

James Bond’s Q 

and Gilbert Gottfried, 

if such a thing were physically possible. 

Jeff Foxworthy’s manager 

Jeff Foxworthy - not his manager.

-- one of those who has looked askance at me in my adult years 
(I don't think Jeff was too sure about me either)

-- used to say to me, “Leiva, you are one sick puppy.”  I co-opted this as a statement directed by The Captain, one of The Fixxer’s aids, to Petey.  The Captain is very good at looking askance.

Some of the more subtle sense of humor I believe I have -- I hope I have -- comes out in The Fixxer’s first person narration, and in stretches of dialog that I like to think of as vaudeville.

Combining all these streams -- and the babbling book -- into a lake of fresh water I strived to create in Blood is Pretty a larger-than-life, hero-centric adventure thriller with suspense, humor, Hollywood dirt, and science. I present it to you for your entertainment and edification and -- an admirable goal for a writer -- your reading pleasure.

So if you are looking for a thriller a little different from the standard, with its tongue sometimes in its cheek, sometimes sticking out, with a hero more larger-than-life than down-to-earth; or if you are tired of those light comedy thrillers with no gravitas, and would be interested in one with gravitas (even if it defies gravity on occasion), and if you're interested in the location for the action being a den of iniquity that the curious inquire about, then I have no hesitation in recommending Blood is Pretty to one and all.

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