The new online map ain’t the old territory

On November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

When you set a story in the past and are researching its location, Google Maps isn’t the place to go. Why? Because looking at today’s online map, doesn’t tell you which of those roads were there twenty or thirty years ago.

Here’s a Google map of Liberty County where my four Florida Folk Magic novels are set:

Since I grew up in the area, I can tell you right off the bat that I-10 wasn’t there in 1954. We used highway 90 for east-west travel. Most state highways I know one way or another, but I can’t be sure of city streets.

If you can’t find anything online or in the library about road maps from an earlier era, one solution is going to a site like eBay where there are usually old road atlases and service station maps from almost every decade in the last fifty years.

A few dollars spent on a paper map is money well spent. You can, of course, rely on Google Maps Street View to get a general idea of what areas looked like, especially those out in the county where no new construction has occurred. When you do this, you often find out that certain roads are scenic byways and probably have separate websites where you can look up flora and fauna, including the yearly growing seasons for plants so you know when flowers appear. (Nothing worse than saying Flowers are blooming during a season when they’re not!)

Old maps and the websites describing protected areas will sometimes link to folklore and history sites–quite a treasure hunt.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “The Land Between the Rivers.” Since it’s set before there were any roads, the accuracy of highway maps wasn’t a research issue.

What’s all that green stuff?

On November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing2 Comments

Part of describing a locale in a novel is mentioning the green stuff outside the car window. Oaks and Pine trees and flowering shrubs are usually obvious. But what about the wildflowers and grasses?

I once knew a man who knew what every single piece of green stuff was, whether it grew in a forest, savannah, marsh, or coastal area. When he led tours, I was there as he not only named and described every plant and its seasonal cycle but told us how to know one plant from another.

If there had been a test, I would have flunked. Even if I’d crawled through it, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between Bluebunch wheatgrass and rough fescue.

I have wildflower guides for most of the areas I write about. I’ve found others online. But occasionally, I come across (in my writing research) a place where my characters will interact in some way and realize that I can’t be sure what all the green stuff is.

Many state, federal, and private wildlife areas and private preserves list the specialists in charge of interpretation. They have been a godsend. For some books, I’ve asked about the prominent plants one sees when driving through a place. In others, where there are, say, Longleaf Pines and other trees that depend on fire, I’ve asked specialists what order the smaller understory plants return after a fire.

I owe a great debt to specialists who will take time to field questions from a novelist, some of which take quite a few pages to answer. I always try to note down their names and organizations and mention them in each book’s acknowledgments. It’s my kind of thank you and also a way of saying that I’m a writer and not a biologist.

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “The Land Between the Rivers” which focuses on early Florida Folklore and animals.

Book Bits: Harlan Ellison, The Essay, Booker Prize, James Patterson

On November 17, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, publishing

As “Poets & Writers” reports, this is a busy week in books news: “Barack Obama’s highly anticipated memoir released today, the National Book Awards will be announced on Wednesday, the Booker Prize ceremony is on Thursday, and the Times will release its “100 Notable Books of 2020” list on Friday.” Seemed like a good day to post my first Book Bits in a while.

News. An Epic Week for the Books Desk – “We talked to Pamela Paul, the editor of The Book Review, and Andrew LaVallee, a deputy editor on the Books desk, about how they’ve been preparing for the big week, the impact of the pandemic on the publishing world and what titles they’re keeping on their own night stands.” (The New York Times)
Wikipedia Photo
Feature. Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions may finally be published by Alison Flood- “It is the great white whale of science fiction: an anthology of stories by some of the genre’s greatest names, collected in the early 1970s by Harlan Ellison yet mysteriously never published. But almost 50 years after it was first announced, The Last Dangerous Visions is finally set to see the light of day.” (The Guardian)

Interview. What Makes a Great American Essay? by Phillip Lopate – “Talking to Phillip Lopate About Thwarted Expectations, Emerson, and the 21st-Century Essay Boom.” (Literary Hub)

Upcoming Title: New Fiction from Robert Hays – “When faced with the end, how does one reconcile the pieces of an ordinary life? Does a man have the right to wish for wings to carry him to a summit he believes he doesn’t deserve to reach?” (Thomas-Jacob Publishing)

News: “The New York Times reports on the ongoing bidding over Simon & Schuster, which was put up for sale by its parent company, ViacomCBS, early this year. Penguin Random House and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which owns HarperCollins, are considered leading bidders.” (Poets & Writers)

Point of View: Wikipedia, “Jeopardy!,” and the Fate of the Fact by Louis Menand – “Is it still cool to memorize a lot of stuff? Is there even a reason to memorize anything? Having a lot of information in your head was maybe never cool in the sexy-cool sense, more in the geeky-cool or class-brainiac sense. But people respected the ability to rattle off the names of all the state capitals, or to recite the periodic table. It was like the ability to dunk, or to play the piano by ear—something the average person can’t do. It was a harmless show of superiority, and it gave people a kind of species pride.” (New Yorker)

News: Patterson Was Decade’s Bestselling Author by Jim Milliot – “From 2010 to 2019, James Patterson sold 84 million units across print and e-book formats, making him the past decade’s bestselling author at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Patterson’s sales total was double that of Dr. Seuss, and more than those of Stephen King, David Baldacci, and John Grisham combined, BookScan said.” (Publishers Weekly)

Book Bits used to be compiled randomly but now appears to be compiled sporadically by author Malcolm R. Campbell.

‘Child of Sorrow’ audiobook edition released today.

On November 16, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books2 Comments

Thomas-Jacob Publishing has released the audiobook edition of book three in Melinda Clayton’s “Tennessee Delta Series” Child of Sorrow. The paperback and e-book editions were released in June; the audio edition is narrated by Brett Leach. The novel is also available in hardcover.

From the Publisher

When fourteen-year-old foster child Johnathan Thomas Woods is suspected of murder, an old letter and a tacky billboard advertisement lead him to the office of attorney Brian Stone. Recognizing the sense of hopelessness lurking under John’s angry façade, Stone is soon convinced of his innocence. When John offers up his lawn-mowing money as payment, Stone realizes this is a case he can’t refuse.

In the face of overwhelming evidence assembled by the prosecution, Stone and his team find themselves in a race against time to save an angry boy who’s experienced more than his fair share of betrayal, a boy who more often than not doesn’t seem interested in saving himself.

The cover link above takes you to the Audible listing page. You can also find the audiobook listed on Amazon here. The story will keep you occupied while you’re in quarantine, lockdown, or simply relaxing at home after a busy day.

–Malcolm

New edition of Florida Folk Magic ‘boxed set.’

On November 15, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, Florida

**The cover looks different at online sellers that don’t use the 3-D approach of the Kindle cover.**

With the release of Fate’s Arrows, my publisher Thomas-Jacob has updated the so-called boxed set that features all four novels in the Florida Folk Magic Series in one large e-book. If you’re interested in the entire series, buying the novels this way will save money.

I’m also happy to announce that the hardcover edition of Fate’s Arrows is now available. Moving the hardcover into print was one of the things the pandemic slowed down.

We’ve started initial work on the audiobook, but down hold your breath. Audiobooks that are complete and ready to go are waiting a long time for Audible’s approval. (Another pandemic slowdown.)

Enjoy the books.

–Malcolm

Spam and other sorrows

On November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn healing2 Comments

In the last several days, I’ve gotten a slew of SPAM messages from people pushing Amoxicillin. Do people think this antibiotic will combat COVID or is there some other reason why it’s suddenly hot? I may never know.

**Sounds reasonable, though doctors don’t want to lesson**

Speaking of antibiotics, my wife has a recurring infection that gets knocked out by an old antibiotic. A specialist figured this out years ago. Then we moved. Her new GP doesn’t want to prescribe it because it’s old and he prefers to prescribe stuff that doesn’t work including Amoxicillin. One would think a GP would believe the results of a specialist rather than rolling his own when it comes to prescriptions. We’re constantly at war with doctors about using medications that work as opposed to using medications that are new.

When asked why they refuse to prescribe stuff that works, the doctors say, “Well, it shouldn’t work.” I have no patience with that answer. A can of real SPAM would probably work better–or a trip to my neighborhood conjure woman.

I’ve always thought I should be able to go to the pharmacy and order what I need without a doctor’s prescription. I usually know what I need and dislike paying for an expensive doctor’s visit to get a piece of paper allowing me to buy that I need. And then, the medication is (of course) overpriced.

There are so many sorrows involved with getting sick, it seems unnecessary for doctors to add roadblocks to our recovery. I don’t mind doctors and I appreciate what they do, but giving them absolute control over my health is a bridge too far (so to speak).

Without a few good doctors in my past, I’d probably be dead. However, the rest of the herd is costing me more money than I can afford. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

How about you? Do you trust the man or woman with a stethoscope?

—Malcolm

“Fate’s Arrows” is now available in hardcover.

Review: ‘The Guardians’ by John Grisham

On November 11, 2020November 11, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, reviews

Innocence Projects track down individuals who appear to have been wrongly convicted, analyze their cases, and seek to have them exonerated by proving that the original trials were flawed, witnesses lied, evidence was improperly handled, or possibly that everything beginning with the arrest was a total and expedient fabrication.

John Grisham turns in another winning and compelling novel with The Guardians, about a nonprofit innocence project that runs on a shoestring with dedicated personnel and a thorough and tenacious approach to the law that gets results.

Lawyer and priest Cullen Post believes Quincy Miller’s 22 years in prison for a murder he did not commit represent not only a miscarriage of justice but brought additional power and financial gain to a small-town Florida sheriff and the criminals he sheltered, aided, and abetted. Proving Quincy Miller’s innocence is a tall order, perhaps impossible, especially when those who framed him want him to quietly rot in prison dead or alive.

The book is an exciting mix of courtroom work and investigative work. The courtroom work can be slow. The investigative work is slower because after 22 years those two lied at the original trial have scattered on the winds and don’t want to be found, much less recant. The more successful The Guardians is in exposing flaws in the original arrest and trial, the more likely thugs hear about it can come out of the woodwork–and they don’t place nicely.

The book reads well, keeps the excitement and tension at a high level, and exposes readers to the concept of innocence work and how it is done. The reader becomes aware early on that neither Cullen Post nor Quincy Miller has any guarantees that they’ll make it out of this novel alive.

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “Fate’s Arrows,” the fourth in a series of novels set in a small Florida town in the 1950s when the KKK was active.

If wine were banned, I’d buy it on the street

On November 10, 2020November 10, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn booze

If you watch old movies, you know that reporters gather at their favorite watering hole after a hard day’s work. My uncle was an old-time reporter and he told me stories about watering holes while we dined on steaks and Jim Beam at the nearest watering hole to his house.

Today’s fru-fru reporters probably don’t go to watering holes except when they need to talk to sources. Otherwise, they’ve moved past Jim Bean to crates of Pappy Old Van Winkle that they have shipped to their houses. If you order a shot of this stuff at a bar, you’ll need a handful of Krugerrands.

Most writers drink booze because booze calls the muse. However, I think it’s likely that the fru-fru reporters at certain networks and newspapers (that I don’t plan to name here) drink out of endemic remorse that occurs when you sell your soul to a corporation with a political agenda that takes precedence over facts.

Those of us who write novels tend to drink more wine because once the muse shows up, it helps to remain sober and awake. Wine, then, is an essential writer’s tool even though the people running the MFA scams won’t tell you this. A cardinal rule of publishing is the better the wine, the better the book–or, at least, the better promotional effort the writer will receive from reviewers, PR flaks who used to drink Jim Beam at watering holes, and readers in general.

I feel sorry for the authors who had to write during prohibition. Many of them probably became bootleggers just to feed their families. My problem and I need your advice on this, is would it help me or hurt me if I ran a crowdfunding campaign to help me buy better wine?

Right now, I’m drinking Gallo wine which I buy in 55-gallon drums. At least I’m not buying wine in a box with a faucet on the side of it. Seriously, is it asking too much to at least try to move up to Sutter Home?

Even though I think inventing white zinfandel was a bad mistake–partly because it’s pushing real zinfandel off the shelves–their dark reds aren’t too bad. No, they’re not Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, but I’ll have to outsell James Patterson before I can buy wine in a 750 ml bottle for $85.

I’m just brainstorming the wine crowdfunding plan right now, so if any of you want to send me a few magnum bottles of Sutter Home Zinfandel (dark red!) to get in on the ground floor of my writer’s improvement program, I’ll consider making you a character in my next novel. (Anyone who sends anything other than red except the cough syrup tasting merlot, will probably get murdered on page one.)

So, do I launch a crowdfunding campaign or can y’all promise to send enough quality wine so I won’t have to?

—Malcolm

Just think, if you’d sent me some quality wine a year ago, you could be one of the KKK-fighting heroes in “Fate’s Arrows.”

For goodness’ sakes, keep the notes you take while writing a novel

On November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing4 Comments

I tend to take notes on the backs of envelopes, grocery store receipts, and random pieces of paper. While working on a book, those notes pile up on my desk. Years later, I have no clue where they are.

Sometimes the notes go into a file folder. Sometimes I type them into a DOC file. File folders get lost. DOC files disappear when hard drives crash. What’s left after that? The memory that you used to know something, but now you don’t.

Case in point: a friend is reading an old novel of mine that has a lot of Blackfeet language phrases in it. I used to know what they meant. Now I don’t. So, when she asks, I can only say, “Figure out those phrases in the context of the scenes where I use them because I’ve got nothing for you.”

Awkward!

And now I’m thinking of writing a novel related to the one she’s reading. Or, seeing that there aren’t any notes in the house, maybe I won’t.

A better filing system would save a lot of anguish. Not to mention time in terms of how long it will take to re-research stuff I already researched. I guess when a book is done, I don’t think I’m going back that way again. So, stuff disappears.

What I need is a crack staff (as opposed to a staff on crack) to tidy up the mess on my desk each time I finish a book. Then I might have a clue (as opposed to not having a clue).

My advice is to keep the notes you take (in an organized fashion) whenever you write a novel.

—Malcolm

Since it hasn’t been that long, I still know how to find the notes I took while writing “Fate’s Arrows.”

A conversation or a momentary glance?

On November 8, 2020November 8, 2020 By Malcolm R. CampbellIn blog2 Comments

Many websites ago, I noticed that the number of visits a page had over the previous day or week or month took on quite a different meaning when I considered the average length of each visit: usually in nanoseconds. So, most of those visits that I first thought were people actually considering my words or the books I talked about actually were bots that came and went faster than human fingers could possibly operate a mouse or keyboard, and that when the time-length of each visit finally got long enough to suggest a human saw my page, it was apparent that s/he was only there long enough to give my presentation a momentary glance.

Ah, so that’s why a thousand visits to a page in a website translated into so few clicks on links to other pages, much less to my books sitting there on Amazon waiting to engage you in a conversation. What a humbling epiphany it was, discovering that most of what I perceived as attempts to engage were machines scouring the web for this or that or people in a hurry to go somewhere else when they found nothing to slow them down on my page during their frenetic pace through cyberspace.

To my knowledge, WordPress isn’t telling me how long you are here, much less the impact–if any–upon you from what you see. So, as I sit here at my Dell desktop computer screen with my cat occupying a fair share of my desk chair, I wonder who you are and what you make of this place. If you’re here long enough to grok what I’m saying, you know by now that this blog has no niche. That’s good and bad, depending on what the gurus are saying.

I don’t care what the gurus are saying because if I really listened to their prescriptions about how to manage this weblog, I would become too bored to manage this weblog. Yes, I understand the value of knowing what you’re going to get before you arrive on a page, the certainty that one blogger provides daily writing tips and another provides humorous commentaries on national issues. So, I don’t offer any certainty, because I might talk about anything here from Trump to tadpoles to transformation.

I’m unrepentant about my overt lack of a niche. I thrive on chaos because as a writer (you do know I’m a writer, capeesh!) I think our most creative moments come out of chaos rather than plans and outlines.

So, you’re brave to come here because the whole place probably is about as sane as the movie “Fargo” or some film from Federico Fellini. If you’re a bot, I don’t care why you’re here, and (frankly) I hope the chaos shorts out your circuits. If you’re a person, I appreciate your brief glance at this page and can understand why it may not be your cup of tea. But then, if you’re here long enough to read today’s post and think “well, this is crap” or “hmm, he might have a point,” then thank you for stopping by–you’re the person I’m writing for.

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of a chaotic array of books.