New Year’s countdown of 2018 reader favs: day 3

For day 3 of this countdown to readers’ favorite posts from 2018, here’s one with still spot-on tips on thriller writing from a master of historically-based thrillers, Steve Berry, first published March 23, 2018.

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The thought of attending an author’s book tour talk in a restaurant intrigued me. Add that the author was master thriller writer Steve Berry, speaking at one of my favorite Italian restaurants, and, well, count me in. Berry’s specialty is thrillers with a historical hook, and his latest is The Bishop’s Pawn, a fictionalized analysis of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968.

It’s both the most immediately pertinent one, debuting in this 50^th anniversary year of King’s murder, and the hardest for Berry to write, “because it’s history I remember,” he told his audience.

That element of personal remembrance led Berry to alter his long-standing habit of writing books in the third person. For the first time ever in The Bishop’s Pawn, long-time Berry sleuth Cotton Malone speaks in his own right, in first person.

But Berry’s switch from third-person to first-person narration didn’t alter his two must-haves for writing historical thrillers: an “ooh” factor and a “so-what” factor. The “ooh” factor is the book’s hook, its defining historical event. The “so-what” factor is the way that historical event changed the world.

The crux of the story in The Bishop’s Pawn – the possibility of a botched coverup of the assassination due to the conflict between King and then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover – occurred to Berry about a decade ago. Other layers accrued around the story during the 18 months – and the reading of hundreds of books – that are Berry’s normal research schedule for each book.

“I can’t make up (the history),” Berry said. “It has to be real.”

The more he read – and watched and listened to the video of King’s last iconic “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech given the night before his death, the more convinced Berry became that King had a presentiment of the end.

Steve Berry & wife Elizabeth

“Listen to it all,” Berry said, noting that King had initially tried to avoid speaking because he was ill, essentially having collapsed after delivering address. “The speech is about mortality. Every word sounds like a man who knew he was about to die.”

“I was very respectful of King and his message. (But) everything went wrong for him in the last year of his life,” Berry said, citing the apparent failure of King’s message of nonviolence in the face of the Vietnam War, and the increasing racial unrest, personal difficulties, and Hoover’s ongoing campaign of persecution.

Following King’s death, Hoover would announce that there had been no conspiracy, and that a drifter named James Earl Ray was the sole killer.

In the present day, when FBI directors seemingly serve only at the whim of a president, it’s difficult to fathom the power Hoover held. Originally appointed as director of the FBI’s predecessor organization in the 1920’s, Hoover helped found the FBI in the following decade. He remained in control of the organization until his death in 1972.

Horrifying allegations against Hoover have surfaced since, many rendered unprovable due to his private secretary’s destruction of Hoover’s secret files.

(Since Hoover’s death, law changes now limit the time an FBI director may serve.)

But to return to Berry’s conspiracy theory. Consider, he said, that James Earl Ray, although untrained, supposedly managed to kill King with a single bullet fired from a rooming house window. “What are the odds?”

Added to the improbable display of marksmanship is the inability to match the badly-fragmented bullet to Ray’s rifle, as well as uncertainty that he was even in the house from which the bullet was supposedly fired. And then there’s Ray’s penchant for both confessing to the killing and endlessly recanting that confession, making him “the perfect guy to (pin) a murder on, because you couldn’t believe anything he said.”

OK, an audience member asked, then who was involved in Berry’s supposed conspiracy against King?

“Can’t tell you,” Berry said with a smile, “because that would give away the book.”

Fall forecast: A whopper of a storm of literary events

The fall hurricane season has barely begun, but a storm of autumn literary events is scheduled to hit North Texas – right now! There’s so much going on, I’ll only track events through September in this post, with more to come later.

August 12: (Yes, that’s tomorrow!) Dallas’ newest indie bookstore, Interabang, hasn’t even had its grand opening, and it’s already launched a line of name brand authors, including today’s appearance by Will Clarke at 7 p.m. Clarke will read from his new novel, The Neon Palm of Madame Melancon. The store’s located at 10720 Preston Road in Dallas, in the shopping center at the northeast corner of Preston and Royal. Free, but with books available for purchase and signing.

image: Wikimedia commons

August 13: This is the 45^th anniversary year of Dallas-based Half Price Books, and the flagship store at 5803 E. Northwest Highway in Dallas, has been rolling out author signings  galore to celebrate. August 13, local authors Farahana Kassam and Wayne Peterson sell and sign their books from 1-3 p.m. at the flagship store. See the site and below for more Half Price events.

August 15: The Interabang action keeps rolling Tuesday, August 15, with an appearance by Joe Tone, author of Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream. 7 p.m., 10720 Preston Road.

August 15: Authors LIVE! presents Howard Merkel, author of The Kelloggs: The Battling Brother of Battle Creek, at 7 p.m. in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. Free, but books available for purchase and signing. Or RSVP at (?) for a 6 p.m. author’s reception for $30, which includes a signed copy of the book. See the site for upcoming authors – and more about that below.

August 17: Missed Will Clarke at Interabang (or just can’t get enough)? Catch him at the Wild Detectives bookstore, 314 W. Eighth Street, Dallas. See the site for more bookish events, including authors tours and book club discussions.

August 24: The Dallas Morning News partners with SMU Reads for  Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond. Join the online discussion August 21-25 at dallasnews.com/opinion and hear Desmond in person, 6 p.m. August 24 at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium. The program is free, but signed books will be available for sale. RSVP at smu.edu/smureads.

August 24: New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross visits Half Price Books, 5803 E. Northwest Highway, Dallas, at 7 p.m. to discuss and sign copies of his historical thriller, The Saboteur. Books available for purchase through the store while supplies last.

August 26: Celebrate African-American culture at the Tulisoma Book Fair, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with poetry, theater, book signings and more. At the African American Museum of Dallas, 3536 Grand Avenue, Dallas (inside Fair Park). Free admission and parking.

September 9-11: At last, the grand opening of Interabang bookstore climaxes with an appearance September 11 by guest of honor Ann Patchett. The author most recently of Commonwealth, Patchett is also co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, and an advocate for independent bookstores. Although information is not yet on the Interabang site, manager Jeremy Ellis tells me by email that Patchett will attend the grand opening party September 11 from 6-9 p.m. and speak briefly at about 7 p.m. Signed books will be available at the store.

September 24: The Dallas Museum of Arts opens its new Arts & Letters Live season as international bestselling author Ken Follett arrives to discuss the latest in his historical saga, A Column of Fire, 7:30 p.m. in First United Methodist Church of Dallas, 1928 Ross Avenue (across from the museum). Tickets start at $60 for the public (includes one copy of the book).  See the site for details and other ticket options. Other blockbuster authors on the lineup include Michael Chabon, photographer Annie Leibovitz, Dan Rather, Dan Brown, and more! See the site for specifics.

September 26: Richardson Reads One Book each year, and 2017’s is Sing for Your Life, by Daniel Bergner. Lecture and book signing at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson High School, 1250 W. Beltline Road, in Richardson. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Free tickets available at the Richardson Public Library, 900 Civic Dr., Richardson, Texas, beginning at 10 a.m., September 5.

Did I say only events through September? Here’s one more I can’t resist mentioning:

October 4: Art Garfunkel appears at Authors LIVE! in partnership with Friends of SMU Libraries and Friends of the Highland Park Library, to discuss and sign What is All But Luminous. At Wesley Hall of Highland Park UMC, this one is requires a $28 ticket, which includes a copy of the book. A portion of the proceeds benefit the libraries.

From Australia to Texas: live your favorite fairy tales

Kate Forsyth

Australian author Kate Forsyth lives her own fairy tale. She dreamed of becoming a writer from childhood and is now the author of dozens of bestselling books. Many of them are based on retellings of fairy tales -- only fitting, given that she holds an academic degree in fairy-tale studies. Among these fairy tale-themed books: The Beast’s Garden -- a beauty and the beast set in the underground resistance to Hitler. And Beauty in Thorns -- out this summer, the tale of a love affair amid a 19^th century circle of artists and poets. And of course, like a perfect fairy tale heroine, Forsyth fell in love at first sight. And married him.

Next week, June 15-17, Forsyth brings her magic to Dallas, in a whirlwind tour. As with any good fairy tale, readers (and writers) will have three chances to get their wishes granted.

There’s the Friday, June 16 talk, with signed copies of Bitter Greens (winner of the American Library Association’s award for Best Historical Fiction) at 6:30 p.m. in the Half Price Books flagship store, 5803 E. Northwest Highway in Dallas.

her Rapunzel-inspired novel

Saturday, June 17, Forsyth will teach a morning writers’ workshop from 9 a.m.- noon on “Keeping the Reader Turning the Pages: The Importance of Pace, Suspense, & Surprise”; and an afternoon workshop, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. on “Building the Fictional World,” both at the Richardson Woman’s Club, 2005 N. Cliffe, in Richardson. Workshop attendees will have a choice of two Forsyth novels, Bitter Greens or The Wild Girl, inspired by the true story behind the Brothers Grimm’s collection of fairy tales.

(Forsyth urges workshop attendees to come prepared with plenty of questions to ask, and be answered.)

Finally, those who buy all three of these wishes (book talk/signing, and both workshops) will receive the special prize awarded to superfans, an invitation to a small meet and greet session with Forsyth Thursday, June 15.

Of course, there is a cost. After all, this spinner of tales has a long way to go to reach the fabled city of Dallas, Texas. Fortunately, the cost to us is far less onerous than being exiled to a tower to watch your hair grow. Or taking a really, really long nap. Or even spinning straw into gold.

The June 16 talk/book signing will set you back $10. Other local authors will be present with books of their own to sell, and raffle tickets for more goodies. Space is limited.

Cost for each of the workshops is $60 (or $110 for both, with lunch included). Again, space is limited.

Or buy all three events for $125 and get that Thursday, June 15, meet and greet as a bonus. See the WORD writers site for details and ticket purchases.

But, you say, you don’t believe in fairy tales. Maybe you prefer kids’ chapter books. Or young adult fantasy. Or even poetry. Forsyth has done those too, plus she’s a former journalist and an accredited performance storyteller with The Australian Guild of Storytellers.

Whichever type of reading (or listening, or writing) you prefer, make your dreams come true with this chance to meet Kate Forsyth.

Build a better world this summer, one story at a time

When I wrote about the Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge of the Dallas Public Library system earlier this week, readers in surrounding cities may have felt left out. So, here’s some good news about summer literary activities for young people, no matter where they live.

artist: Matthias Zimmermann

Since I have family members in Richardson, I’ve long been familiar with the wonderful programs offered by the Richardson Public Library, from toddler story times to advanced activities for teens and adults.

A couple of offerings in Richardson this summer have grandkids Gabe and Alex particularly buzzing, including the Writer’s World Building Workshop, June 24, 2-4 p.m., taught by Polly Holyoke, author of the Bluebonnet-nominated The Neptune Project and The Neptune Challenge. Holyoke will offer practical tips to help build vivid new worlds in their own fantasy and science fiction writing.

Adult writers (like me) have paid to take classes on world building, but this one is free for writers ages 10-18 years. Registration required, at the Youth Services Help Desk at the library, 400 Civic Center Drive in Richardson, or by calling 972-744-4358. I called to be sure and – there’s no residency or library card requirement for this!

Also on the boys’ to-do list is the Young Authors class taught by children’s author Nancy Churnin (The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game) on Friday mornings from June 16 – August 4 (no class July 7). The boys have been writing and illustrating their own miniature comic books for years.

It helps that their dad is an illustrator and graphic designer. Still, Churnin’s help with writing strategies, illustration techniques, page layout and more, is a huge boost. Participants have a chance to write and illustrate a picture book to add to the library’s collection. How’s that for becoming a published author is just seven weeks? (Maybe dad will take the hint and get started on that picture book he keeps talking about. . . )

The classes are available to Richardson residents entering grades 5-9 this fall. Free, but this one requires registration and a valid Richardson library card (if you need more incentive to get kids their own library cards). Call 972-744-4358 or stop by the Youth Services Help Desk at the library to register.

Other free, no residency required summer offerings from the Richardson Library include 3D printing & Tinkercad (ages 13 and up), introduction to LinkedIn (teens and adults), and a 3D printing contest with separate categories for ages 7 through adult. And more. See the library site for details.

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Texas-based Half  Price Books  also joins the summer readathons with its Feed Your Brain summer reading program for kids in preschool through high school. Reading 15 minutes a day (during June and July earns Bookworm Bucks (good for in-store credit) for ages 14 and under. (Adults may read aloud to kids still learning to read.)

For teens, there’s a Feed Your Brain Summer Reading #BOOKBINGE. Read HPB’s recommended Penguin Teen titles and write a short review to earn your own Bookwork Bucks. See the site for details.

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The Richardson Library programs mentioned here and the Dallas Library’s reading challenge are just the iceberg tip of what’s available at local libraries this summer. Find, read, share and enjoy! 

Wordcraft – What it means to be a literary good citizen

It was a first – the first visit to Dallas of the Writers' League of Texas, with a public panel discussion similar to those held monthly in its home base of Austin. The topic in this election year, when civic issues are on everyone’s mind: defining what it means to be a good citizen in the literary sense.

Judging from the enthusiasm of the crowd that filled the community room of Dallas’ Half Price Books main store on Northwest Highway, it should be the forerunner of many more such panels to come. WLT Executive Director Becka Oliver moderated an eclectic panel of four Dallas-area literary figures: Karen Blumenthal  (author, Tommy: The Gun That Changed America); Will Evans (publisher, Deep Vellum); Sanderia Faye (author, The Mourner’s Bench); and Jeramey Kraatz (author, The Cloak Society).

So what did they think being a literary citizen really means? What are the pathways to becoming a literary citizen? What are the ways of claiming and acting on that citizenship?

For a lot of writers who create alone, “being a literary citizen is like engaging with a community,” Evans said.

His literary journey began with the intention of becoming a writer. But it was discovering Russian literature in the original language in college – and realizing that he was able to translate books he wanted to read into English – that would move him from translating to engagement with the international literary community through his nonprofit press, Deep Vellum.

Blumenthal also found her definition of literary citizenship evolving. From a career as a journalist and nonfiction writer for adults, she became interested in nonfiction for children when one of her daughters became interested in the Great Depression, a subject with little representation on her school library shelves.

Public and school librarians have been enthusiastic supporters of Blumenthal’s work. Her volume Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition was one of School Library Journals Best Books of 2011. The support of libraries in turn influenced her to help, including organizing support for expanded hours fat Dallas’ public library system and for the upcoming April 30 Dallas Book Fair.

For further delving into that literary community, Blumenthal recommends organizations such as the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators), which has a North Texas chapter, and PEN International. “And PEN Dallas,” Evans said. (He’s vice president of the Dallas chapter.)

Perhaps the most unlikely of journeys to literary citizenship was the one Faye took: as regional manager for Walmart, where she helped direct corporate giving to community organizations such as Dallas’ Tulisoma, the annual South Dallas Book Fair.

“I believe in supporting the artists financially,” she said, noting that as an author, even one with a book acclaimed by the likes of Dennis Lehane, “I work so many hours for zero dollars.”

Support can also be as simple as buying books, at readings as well as bookstores such as Deep Vellum’s, opening next month, as well as supporting the support systems of writers, such as libraries, recommended by both Blumenthal and Kraatz.

Add to that the act of writing reviews. And finally, social media.

“If it weren’t for social media, I don’t think anyone would know about Deep Vellum,” Evans said wryly (a position sure to change following this week’s very favorable review in The Dallas Morning News of his translation of Fardwor, Russia! by Oleg Kashin).

Wordcraft – Psst! the world ends Thursday, pass it on

Code of Conduct

by Brad Thor

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Brad Thor strode into Half Price Books’ flagship store in Dallas last week on tour for Code of Conduct, the most recent thriller in his series about ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He insists that “Thor” is his real name, and like him, he bears an eerie resemblance to such older gods of modern thrillerdom as James Rollins and David Baldacci, all buff-looking literary deities with expressions as intense as those of my small hound dogs on a scent. It’s probably hard to appear laid back when you write in the shadow of Ragnarok.

I’d seen writers with entourages before, but none that I recall with such obvious security guards as those traveling with Thor. Apparently the extra precautions date from the publication of his New York Times #1 bestseller a few years back. The plot of that book, The Last Patriot, revolved around a supposed final revelation from the Prophet Muhammed whose depiction inspired death threats.

For a Dallas audience, Thor’s current release (which also debuted on the NYT bestseller list) involved a prospect, if anything, more terrifying than the fumings of jihadists: an artificially enhanced version of African hemorrhagic fever, a sort of Ebola virus on steroids.

You had to live in my East Dallas neighborhood to appreciate the media frenzy unleashed when a Liberian man visiting relatives here was diagnosed with Ebola last fall, further infecting two nurses at a local hospital. News helicopters circled a nearby apartment complex where one of the nurses lived, following mass phone calls from the City of Dallas to residents warning them of the contagion. Fortunately, the nurses survived. Unfortunately, the patient from Liberia did not.

Back to Thor and his book. As might be expected for someone who’s been a frequent guest of right wing guru Glenn Beck, he’s wildly popular in Dallas, making his third appearance at the HPB flagship store on Northwest Highway.

Still, he at least tried to brush off the insinuation that he’s only a darling of the tea party set. “I have readers on both sides of the aisle,” he said, citing both Newt Gingrich and a former member of President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Concerns about national security, he said, can and should cut across political parties. “When al-Qaeda hit the World Trade Center, they didn’t do it because they thought it was full of Republications.”

Code of Conduct opens with hero Harvath speeding his beautiful current girlfriend, Lara Cordero, toward a plane that will transport her to a remote spot in Alaska. It’s a location where, Harvath hopes, she will be safe from a deadly virus unleashed on the world by billionaire philanthropist turned crackpot Pierre Damien. The story immediately backtracks one week, when the head of a medical charity receives video of gunmen breaking into a clinic in one of the most war-torn regions in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Why would anyone want to exterminate a small family medical clinic, especially while wearing biohazard suits? What's in the smoking pit in the video's last frame? (And by the way, what part does beautiful Mossad spy Helena, whom Thor appears to be saving for a sequel, have to do with all this?)

This was my first reading of a Brad Thor thriller, and although I have some qualms, I tore through Code of Conduct almost as fast as I put together the 500-piece dinosaur jigsaw puzzle I scooped up from HPB on the same visit and pondering advice for readers. Frst, if you’re going on pilgrimage to Mecca this year, take plenty of sanitizer. Second, that flu shot you always intend to get and then find an excuse not to? This time around, get it. Just don’t ask me why.

Wordcraft – Summer reading clubs – not just for kids!

Was there ever any feeling as wonderful to a child as leaving your classroom behind on the last day of school? And then, two days later, the realization arrived that there were only so many lightning bugs you could chase, only so many places to ride your bike or skate, only so many hours your mom was willing to let you spend shriveling up like a prune in the neighborhood pool.

But even in the bad old days before the Internet or video games, when there was nothing on TV except reruns, my sister and I, and later my daughter, never had to worry about being bored as long as the local library was open for our free-range reading. Summers in Texas are long and hot. You need some really cool books to see you through.

Now, like a remembered glass of cold lemonade, like that first icy dip of a toe in the swimming pool, the joy of summer reading is back. And it’s bigger and better, with prizes, even free books. And it’s not just for kids anymore.

I signed up for the Dallas Mayor’s Summer Reading Club online the first day it opened, finished the first book on my list (timed to coincide with the club’s June 6 opening) and posted my first review. Those of us over 18, which I admit to, have to write a brief online review. If that sounds too much like school, don’t worry. Give them the title of the book, the author’s name, and a brief description of why you liked it. You won’t be graded on the review. Instead, you get chances to participate in two drawings for really grownup prizes – tickets for symphonies, film fests, theater; gift certificates and weekend hotel stays (where you and your beloved will, no doubt, share a few good books).

Not sure what to read? The Dallas Public library staff has posted reviews of a few of their five-star recommendations to get you started. Sign up at Mayor’s Summer Reading Club.

Oh, and your kids? OK, don’t keep all the fun for yourself. Sign up kids up to age 18, have them read (almost) anything – books, e-books, audio books, or magazines, for 30 minutes each day for a week, and they’ll receive kid-friendly prizes. Children too young to read can still qualify by being read to.

Not in Dallas? My grandsons are entered in the summer reading club at their home library in Richardson, Texas. Or check your own local town’s library for possibilities.

Local bookstores would love to encourage children to read also. Currently in progress is the Barnes & Noble summer reading club. Read any eight books, record them in a journal available online or in the flier at your local B&N store, and choose a free book from the age-appropriate lists for readers from grades 1-6.

Half Price Books strikes back with its Feed Your Brain summer reading program that lets children from preschool age through high school earn $5 HPB Bookworm Bucks monthly. Eighth graders and younger qualify with 15 minutes of reading (or being read to) daily in June and July. High schoolers can earn Bookworm Bucks by reading a book each month in June and July and writing a short review.

Ready, set, read!