The twilight of American publishing?


This morning, while holed up in my NYC home waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, I was saddened to learn of the imminent merger of two of America’s largest publishing concerns, Random House and Penguin. As if the storm weren’t enough to worry me, the headlines about the alliance managed to depress me even more than the dangerous weather. Whither publishing in America? That’s a very good question. Continue reading

Old wine, new bottles


There’s a recent trend in crime and mystery fiction, mainly in those books we label “suspense.” This is my particular niche–stories of everyday people, as opposed to professionals, who are caught up in criminal plots. It’s getting harder and harder for writers to isolate and endanger their protagonists, and I blame this entirely on electronics. With the harsh realities of the Instant Information Age everywhere around us, many crime writers have resorted to setting their stories in the past. Continue reading