Author R&R with Robbie Bach

 

Robbie Bach is best known for founding and leading the team that created the Xbox. Today he is an entertaining storyteller and catalyzing voice who writes books and speaks to audiences on leadership, creativity, strategy, and civic issues. He also serves on the national board of governors for Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Magic Leap, an augmented reality company, and is the co-owner of Manini’s, Inc., a gluten-free pasta and baking company. In 2015, he published his first book, Xbox Revisited: A Game Plan for Corporate and Civic Renewal. His first thriller novel, The Wilkes Insurrection, debuts today.

In the novel, the relative calm at Offutt Air Force Base is shattered when commercial Flight 209 crashes down onto its runway. From the flaming wreckage, Major Tamika Smith must try to rescue survivors and make sense of the tragedy. But this isn't just an isolated incident. In a time of national unrest and division, a cunning shadowy mastermind is tearing down the United States from the inside out, playing law enforcement like puppets. Soon, thousands are dying and there are precious few leads. Can Tamika and an unlikely collection of committed Americans stop the destruction in time to rescue a nation descending into chaos?

Robbie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing the book:

 

People, Places and Things

By nature, I’m a detail oriented person, so when I set out to write my debut novel, The Wilkes Insurrection, I made an early commitment to getting things “right.”  For fiction to be believable, it has to have a level of accuracy that commands the reader’s respect and attention.  Since my storyline involves avionics, virtual reality, the military, politics, the dark web, and more, it required substantial research to augment whatever knowledge I already possessed in those areas.  And I used the full range of techniques to gather the data I needed.  Think of this as the “People, Places, and Things” of an authentic story.

My writing actually began with a number of short chapters for four or five characters that were running around in my head.  At the time, I had no clue how they might fit together or how a plot would develop.  But each of them had a profession, a personal background, and a life history that needed to be genuine.  Some of that I could create out of thin air – but I quickly ran into the constraints of facts and reality.  As an example, my main protagonist, Major Tamika Smith, is a reservist in the Air Force.  Since I’ve never served in the military, I did plenty of web-based research on ranks, functions, and base locations.  I also interviewed or received written feedback from two Generals, a Lieutenant Colonel, and two Captains in the Air Force with particular focus on military etiquette, communications, and procedure.  Making the People believable – likeable in some cases and despicable in others – was foundational for the plot.

The Wilkes Insurrection takes place all over the United States – and also has a scene in Afghanistan.  Strong fiction requires putting the reader “on location” by describing the scene well and creating a sensory image for them.  While I had been to some of my plot locations, many others were new for me.  In some cases, like Kandahar, Afghanistan, I relied on internet imagery, location descriptions, maps, and other forms of research to create a picture in my own mind.  But as often as possible, I visited my sites personally.  I went to Washington, DC for a Boys and Girls Club Board of Governors meeting.  I spent hours during breaks Ubering between Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Pentagon (in a suit in August, no less!) taking pictures and notes on various locations.  The next morning, I got up early and took a 7 AM Amtrak train to Baltimore, again to familiarize myself with the train (spoiler alert:  and it’s bathrooms).  Making the Place real – sometimes glorious and sometimes in destruction – is essential for a thriller.

Beyond the characters and locations, I was very focused on various technical details.  For a reader, there is nothing worse than going through a story and thinking, “Oh, I know that’s not right.”  I worked for Microsoft for 22 years, including being a founding leader and Chief Xbox Officer for that business, so people assume I understand technology deeply.  In fact, I have no formal technical training and don’t play video games(!).  So when I delved into the dark web, cybersecurity, and virtual reality in my novel, I had more exploration to do.  As an example, I met with over a dozen startup CEOs in the Seattle area who were building virtual reality products to understand the business and technical challenges they were facing.  From these interviews, I created a series of business issues for a mythical company, Cybernoptics, that framed an important portion of The Wilkes Insurrection plot.  Because of my background, I know that plenty of people with technical skills will read my book – and I want them to know that getting the Things accurate mattered to me.

Not all research and reference work requires extensive effort.  The internet, if used carefully, has a wealth of information that can fill in small gaps.  This was immensely helpful as I worked to get some very specific details correct.  So how many passengers can fly on a 757? How fast can world class female sprinters run the 400?  Or, how tall is the Oroville Dam?  There are also some areas where being less specific is helpful.  A successful author once told me that you either have to say “they made love,” or take the risk of getting very, very specific.  I choose the latter!!

Finally, I will point out, that despite my search for accuracy, I believe in literary license.  As an author, I had to gauge the fine line between authenticity and a reader’s willingness to suspend disbelief in the rush of a great plot.  That is an essential part of the art of writing great fiction.

 

You can find out more about the author and the book via this website, and also follow the author on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The Wilkes Insurrection is currently available in hardcover for in-store pick-up or shipping from all major booksellers. The ebook version will be available November 2.

Author R&R with James McGrath Morris

 

James McGrath Morris is a biographer and award-winning writer of narrative non-fiction. His works include The Rose Man of Sing Sing: A True Tale of Life, Murder, and Redemption in the Age of Yellow Journalism, which was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year; and, Jailhouse Journalism: The Four Estate Behind Bars. He is also the author of the Kindle Singles Revolution by Murder: Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, and the Plot to Kill Henry Clay Frick. In 2019 he received the BIO Award, which is given to a writer who has made a major contribution to the advancement of the art and craft of biography. 

His newest book is Tony Hillerman: A Life, which offers a balanced portrait of Hillerman’s personal and professional life and provides a timely appreciation of his work, including the almost accidental invention of Hillerman’s iconic detective Joe Leaphorn and the circumstances that led to the addition of Jim Chee as his partner. Hillerman’s novels were not without controversy, and Morris examines the charges of cultural appropriation leveled at the author toward the end of his life. Yet, for many readers, including many Native Americans, Hillerman deserves critical acclaim for his knowledgeable and sensitive portrayal of Diné (Navajo) history, culture, and identity.

James stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about "How Hillerman Taught Me To Accept My Mistakes":

 

In 1979, I wrote Tony Hillerman a fan letter. I was then working as a reporter in Jefferson City, MO, and I was curious to find out if the state’s capitol had been the model for his book The Fly on the Wall.

Apparently I wasn’t the only person to ask this question. “I run into reporters all over who say, ‘I know which State Capitol you are using. You use Jefferson City, Missouri or . . . ,’” said Hillerman. “You know they tend to be alike. It was actually based on the Capitol at Oklahoma City, where I had worked.”

I had briefly meet Hillerman the previous year or two when I was working as a journalist in Albuquerque, NM, where he lived. In my letter I reminded him of our passing acquaintance and asked about the possible connection between his book and Missouri’s capitol.

He replied. This was several years before his Navajo mystery novels became best-sellers generating such extensive fan mail that he ceased being able to write back. In his letter to me, Hillerman, unfailingly polite, said his fictitious capitol building might include some similarities with Missouri’s but was based on Oklahoma’s.

Then Hillerman asked if I had spotted the mistake in the book? I had not. So as not to give it away instantly, the author had taken the sheet of stationery out of his typewriter and put it back in upside down. That way the answer appeared upside down so I could not read it immediately.

When I flipped the page, I learned that the protagonist John Cotton had removed his shoes in a nighttime visit to the capitol, so that the men chasing him would not hear his steps on the marble floor, but he never put them back on. He then walked through streets wet with sleet, took a cab ride, and arrived at the final scene in the house of the Democratic Party state chairman, all in stocking feet.

“Readers do pay close attention. I get letters from ones who just read to find errors,” Hillerman said. “The best one I’ve ever had,” Hillerman commented with regard to reader complaints, “was when I got a call at 10 p.m. one night. The fellow said, ‘I used to have a lot of respect for you until I’ve just been reading Dance Hall of the Dead. Don’t you know deer don’t have gall bladders?’”

Over the course of eighteen Navajo novels, Hillerman would err no more than most writers but his immense readership included many eagle-eyed fans who eagerly pointed out mistakes. Re-reading Hillerman’s books and studying his papers in the course of preparing  a biography of his life, I found the author had a healthy attitude about the small errors he made. He accepted the fact that they were inevitable and unless they were major, errors could make for a good story. And, Tony Hillerman loved a story.

I’ve come to adopt his approach and often think about how, usually with a laugh, he recounted to audiences some of the mistakes he had made in his books. Over time, he grew fond of the one involving John Cotton’s shoeless night trek through bad weather, frequently sharing it with readers, like with the fan who wrote him in 1979.

 

You can learn more about Morris and his work via his website, and also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Tony Hillerman: A Life is available today from the University of Oklahoma Press via all major booksellers.

An Avalanche of (Non-Charity) Anthologies

 

Yesterday, I took note of some recent anthologies for charity, but there are many more anthologies based on other themes and events that have come through the publishing pipeline recently. Here are some of those titles:

Under the auspices of New York City’s The Mysterious Bookshop and its affiliated Mysterious Press, Lee Child has selected twenty short crime tales as the Best Mystery Stories of the Year. The award-winning Mysterious Press senior editor, Otto Penzler, brings his decades of anthologist experience to this new annual publication, each of which will feature a different bestselling author to serve as guest editor. The inaugural edition includes tales by Stephen King, Sara Paretsky, Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn, Michael Bracken, James Lee Burke, Martin Edwards, John Floyd, Jacqueline Freimor, Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Paul Kemprecos, Janice Law, Dennis McFadden, David Marcum, Tom Mead, David Morrell, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph S. Walker, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

Meanwhile, Steph Cha is taking the helm of the Best American Mystery and Suspense series (formerly edited by Penzler), with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor. Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York’s gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. The lineup of featured authors includes Jenny Bhatt, Christopher Bollen, Nikki Dolson, E. Gabriel Flores, Alison Gaylin, Gar Anthony Haywood, Ravi Howard, Gabino Iglesias, Charin Jones, Aya de Leon, Preston Lang, Laura Lippman, Kristen Lepionka, Joanna Pearson, Delia C. Pitts, Eliot Schrefer, Alex Segura, Brian Silverman, Faye Snowden, and Lisa Unger.

This Time For Sure is the latest Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan and available from Down & Out Books. What would you do if you had a second chance? A do-over? How far would you go to get back at the one who got away, the one who did you wrong, the one who tricked you, manipulated you, ignored you? Twenty-two brilliant skilled authors now offer their journeys into revenge, revealing how they would even the score, turn the tables, make things right. One used a map. One a tape recorder. A decoy. A disguise. A lie. One even used a banana. Featured authors include Craig Johnson, Gabriel Valjan, Kristen Lepionka, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Karen Dionne, Clark Boyd, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Elizabeth Elwood, Damyanti Biswas, Martha Reed, Lucy Burdette, Sharon Bader, Alexia Gordon, Alex Segura, Edwin Hill, Steve Shrott, Elisabeth Elo, Alan Orloff, G. Miki Hayden, Charles Todd, Heather Graham, and Ellen Clair Lamb.
 

Midnight Hour, edited by Abby L. Vandiver and published by Crooked Lane, showcases 20 mystery and suspense stories written by people of color, each with a pivotal moment set at midnight. Highlights include Callie Browning’s twisty "Dead Men Tell No Tales, which centers on the murder of the prime minister of Barbados; Christopher Chambers’s clever "In the Matter of Mabel and Bobby Jefferson," in which Shane, an English major now working the night shift at an insurance company call center, wearily concludes, "It’s going to get funny tonight," but he doesn’t know the half of it; Tina Kashian’s unsettling "Cape May Murders," Sona and Priya, both mothers of young daughters, go away for a relaxing weekend at the Jersey Shore and wind up sharing their B&B with a murderer; and Sanjay, the Hindi Houdini, finds his séance spinning out of control in Gigi Pandian’s droll, "The Diamond Vanishes."
 

Untreed Reads recently released Monkey Business, featuring a Who's Who of award-winning crime writers paying homage to the Marx Brothers in fourteen short stories, each inspired by one of the brothers' studio films. Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Duck Soup, Animal Crackers...over the two decades between 1929's The Cocoanuts and 1949's Love Happy, the Marx Brothers-Groucho, Harpo, Chico (and sometimes Zeppo) entertained movie-goers around the world with their madcap antics, rapid-fire dialogue, and prowess on the piano, the harp, and in song. Authors with stories here include Donna Andrews, Frankie Y. Bailey, Jeff Cohen, Lesley A. Diehl, Brendan DuBois, Terence Faherty, Barb Goffman, Joseph Goodrich, Robert Lopresti, Sandra Murphy, Robert J. Randisi, Marilyn Todd, Joseph S. Walker, and editor Josh Pachter.

The stories in Murder by the Glass: Cocktail Mysteries, also from Untreed Reads, infuse this collection of deadly deeds with a variety of potent potables from light-bodied puzzles to edgier tales with bitter consequences. This anthology includes works by Allie Marie, Betsy Ashton, Frances Aylor, Mary Dutta, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Diane Fanning, Debra H. Goldstein, Libby Hall, Maria Hudgins, Teresa Inge, Maggie King, Kristin Kisska, Allie Marie, K. L. Murphy, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter, Shawn Reilly Simmons and Heather Weidner.
 

So West: Love Kills is the latest anthology from Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter. From the wilds of Arizona’s Rim country to its dusty lowland deserts, you’ll find it all within the pages of So West: Love Kills. Bonds forged and broken. Covenants kept and cast aside. Love nurtured and left to rot. Not everything is as it seems. Not everyone can be trusted. But one thing is for certain—love hurts. Sometimes it even kills! Contributing authors include Shannon Baker, Mysti Berry, Meredith Blevins, Patricia Bonn, Lauren Buckingham, Susan Budavari, William Butler, Patricia Curren, Meg E. Dobson, Beverly Forsyth, Denise Ganley, Roberta Gibson, Katherine Atwell Herbert, Tom Leveen, Susan Cummins Miller, Charlotte Morganti, Julie Morrison, Claire A. Murray, Kris Neri, Karen Odden, R K Olson, D.R. Ransdell, Kim Rivery, Elena E. Smith. 

Stores in the Capitol Crimes 2021 Anthology, Cemetery Plots of Northern California (with a foreword by best-selling author Catriona McPherson), delve into the creative minds of Capitol Crimes members. The setting: Northern California. The theme: that place we all finally must visit, the cemetery. The plots and characters are as diverse as the authors. And their stories will touch your spirit where adventure and fear intersect. The featured stories are from Donna Benedict, Melissa H. Blaine, Jenny Carless, Chris Dreith, Eve Elliot, Elaine Faber, Kenneth Gwin, Kim Keeline, Virginia Kidd, Nan Mahon, Jennifer Morita, Karen Phillips, Richard Schneider, Terry Shepherd, and Joseph S. Walker.

Another Sisters in Crime chapter, SinC NY-TriState, has published the anthology, Justice for All: Murder New York Style 5. Injustice may lurk inside a swanky Manhattan apartment, a high school classroom, a Soho art gallery, a Madison Avenue church, the waters traversed by the Staten Island ferry, turn-of-the-century Lower East Side, or the Brooklyn suburbs. The crime committed may involve homophobia, xenophobia, child abandonment, sexual abuse, white privilege, ageism, or literary snobbery. Regardless, these tales are designed to both enlighten and delight readers of suspense who seek out a bit of fairness and integrity in the city that may never sleep but does often rectify its wrongs. Participating authors include Lori Robbins, Catherine Siemann, Cathi Stoler, Anne-Marie Sutton, D.M. Barr, Roz Siegel, Kathleen Marple Kalb, Ellen Quint, Mary Jo Robertiello, Catherine Maiorisi, Nancy Good, Nina Mansfield, Susie Case, Stephanie Wilson-Flaherty, Nina Wachsman, and Elle Hartford.

There's also Death by Cupcake, edited by Jess Faraday. A cupcake sounds so innocent, but these cupcakes aren’t always sweet. In fact, many lead to a sticky end. But only for those who truly deserve it. Featured stories include "The House Next Door" by Lee Mullins;" Sweet Anaphylactic Revenge" by Meg Candelria; "Tea & Misery" by Tracy Falenwolf; "Hello Goodbye Cupcake" by Mark Hague; "Cupcakes and Emeralds" by Maggie King; "The Third Act" by Gay Toltl Kinman; "Up a Pole Without a Paddle" by JoAnne Lucas; and "Little Miss Cupcake" by Korina Moss.
 

Bristol Noir has published two new anthologies: Tainted Hearts & Dirty Hellhounds, featuring Alpheus Williams, Andrew Davie, Anthony Neil Smith, B.F. Jones, Ben Newell, Blake Johnson, Bobby Mathews, C.W. Blackwell, Curtis Ippolito, David Tromblay, Don Stoll, F.J. Romano, Gabriel Hart, Graham Wynd, Ian Ayris, Jason Butkowski, J.B. Stevens, and John Bowie; and Savage Minds & Raging Bulls, with stories from John Bowie, M.E. Proctor, Mark Atley, Mark McConville, Max Thrax, M.Jack Hall, MJ Newman, Nathan Pettigrew, Paul D. Brazill, Phil Hurst, Richard Barr, Russell Day, Scott Cumming, Stephen J. Golds, Tom Leins, William R. Soldan, Wilson Koewing, and Zakariah Johnson.
 

Murderous Ink Press has just published Crimeucopia - Careless Love. Is love ever perfect? Or is it an obsession that remains rather than just a passing phase? And who’s to say that Revenge isn’t, in fact, a dish best served hot from the flames of passion? Fifteen writers tell us about affairs of the heart – some with humor, some with a darker intent, and others that are never quite exactly what they seem. There are stories from Steve Sneyd, Ange Morrissey, James Roth, Michael Wiley, Gustavo Bondoni, Matthew Wilson, Peter W. J. Hayes, Wil A. Emerson, Brandon Barrows, Bern Sy Moss, Michael Anthony Dioguardi, Russell Richardson, Robert Petyo, Sam Westcott, Bryn Fortey, and Vicky LaPerso – all of whom take us on roller coaster rides through a fictional Tunnel of Love. 
 

One of Down & Out Books' latest anthologies (with a release date of October 11) is Trouble No More. Turn on any classic rock station, and you’ll hear Southern Rock tunes that will make you stomp your foot and sing along to. The hard-rocking pioneers of the genre left behind a legacy of hard living that endures today. The stories in Trouble No More celebrate those pioneers. Find ramblers, gamblers, swindlers, and double-dealers within these pages, all striving to survive more than the Southern humidity. There are twenty-one stories of heartbreak, murder, robbery, and barnyard brawls from Bill Baber, C.W. Blackwell, Jerry Bloomfield, S.A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Michel Lee Garrett, James D.F. Hannah, Curtis Ippolito, Jessica Laine, Brodie Lowe, Bobby Mathews, Brian Panowich, Rob Pierce, Joey R. Poole, Raquel V. Reyes, Michael Farris Smith, J.B. Stevens, Chris Swann, Art Taylor, N.B. Turner, and Joseph S. Walker.

 

Anthologies for Charity

 

Some recent anthologies that are raising money for various charities have popped up in my various newsfeeds lately. Here are some of the more recent ones that are helping to provide money and awareness for Covid relief, cancer, and violence against women:

This Halloween, a group of crime writers including Peter James, M W Craven, T M Logan, and Trevor Wood are publishing a spooky crime anthology to help raise funds for the Barnardos Children in Crisis Appeal, set up in the wake of the "shadow pandemic" created by Covid-19. The collection, Afraid of the Shadows, features 20 short stories edited by Miranda Jewess, editorial director at Viper. It is the third volume in the bestselling Afraid of the Light series, launched during the March 2020 lockdown, which has raised thousands of pounds for its chosen charities. It includes contributions from CWA Short Story Dagger shortlistees Victoria Selman, Elle Croft, Robert Scragg, James Delargy, and Dominic Nolan, as well as stories by Phoebe Morgan, S R Masters, Clare Empson, Matt Wesolowski, N J Mackay, Kate Simants, Jo Furniss, Heather Critchlow, Adam Southward and Rachael Blok.

Telos Publishing has picked up a new crime anthology edited by USA Today bestselling author, Samantha Lee Howe. The book, titled Criminal Pursuits: Crimes Through Time, has been put together by Howe to raise money for the charity POhWER which works to give a voice to those struggling with Human Rights issues in the UK. The authors taking part are: A A Chaudhuri, Raven Dane, Caroline England, Paul Finch, Samantha Lee Howe, Rhys Hughes, Maxim Jakubowski, Awais Khan, Paul Magrs, Sandra Murphy, Amy Myers, Bryony Pearce, Christine Poulson, and Sally Spedding.

The Pixel Project, established to end violence against women, has launched its first charity anthology, Giving the Devil His Due, published in partnership with Running Wild Press. Best described as "The Twilight Zone meets Promising Young Woman," the anthology will feature sixteen stories in homage to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, one of the largest annual anti-violence against women events in the world. Edited by Rebecca Brewer, formerly of Ace (Penguin Random House), the anthology includes sixteen major names and rising stars in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror today including Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Henry, Dana Cameron, Errick Nunnally, Hillary Monahan, Jason Sanford, Kaaron Warren, Kelley Armstrong, Kenesha Williams, Leanna Renee Hieber, Lee Murray, Linda D. Addison, Nicholas Kaufmann, Nisi Shawl, Peter Tieryas, and Stephen Graham Jones.

The C Word: For some lockdown has been murder is a collection of short stories collated during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise money for NHS Charities Together. Described as "a plethora of wonderful stories created by a wide variety of writers, each with their own unique style," the anthology includes contributions from Steve Mosby, Sophie Hannah, Elly Griffiths, Sarah Hilary, and twenty other crime fiction authors.

The fourth installment in Gutter Books’ Rock Anthology Series, Coming Through in Waves, pays tribute to Pink Floyd and is edited by horror author and cancer survivor T. Fox Dunham. Coming Through in Waves weaves together a plethora of dark, strange, and intriguing images that only Pink Floyd could inspire, with stories by Dunham, K. A. Laity, Paul Brazill, Allan Rozinski, A. Patterson, Morgan Sylvia, S. Lauden, Andy Rausch, Tom Leins, and Kimberly Godwin. A portion of the proceeds from this project will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to which T. Fox Dunham, a survivor of a rare form of lymphoma, is indebted.

Back in February, Down & Out released The Great Filling Station Holdup, edited by Josh Pachter, featuring crime stories inspired by the music of Jimmy Buffett, famous for his iconic "Margaritaville." Here, you can enjoy stories from Leigh Lundin, Josh Pachter, Rick Ollerman, Michael Bracken, Don Bruns, Alison McMahan, Bruce Robert Coffin, Lissa Marie Redmond, Elaine Viets, Robert J. Randisi, Laura Oles, Isabella Maldonado, Jeffery Hess, Neil Plakcy, John M. Floyd, and M.E. Browning. A third of all royalties are being donated to two charities co-founded by Jimmy Buffett, Singing for Change and the Save the Mantee Club.