Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

Killer Smiles

This week's big true crime story is highly speculative: could a nationwide gang of psychopathic serial killers, linked by a "signature" of smiley face graffiti, be responsible for the deaths of up to 40 young, college-age men assumed to have died from drowning? That's what retired NYPD investigators Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, working in concert with Prof. D. Lee Gilbertson of St. Cloud State University, believe, though they've now run out of money to continue their investigation further, according to news reports.

Steve Huff is skeptical, as am I, for the same reason: it sounds way too pat to be real and more like a thriller narrative. But we also agree on why the story, however far-fetched, has a hint of plausibility:

One thing that made earlier theories of bands of killers using similar methods seem untenable was the lack of easy, fast communication. Were they burning up the phone lines, chatting about the next kill? Were they passing coded messages through classified ads? Possibly, but common sense really said no.

That's one element in favor of the theory of the Smiley Face Gang -- communication:

If this theoretical gang of killers exists and they began working in 1997, they had a still-new tool to work with: the Internet. People had been dialing into online bulletin boards since the 1980s by 1997, and the message board format was already hopping. Kansas serial killer John Robinson started seeking victims online in 1993, and he did it with chat rooms and message board posts.

Robinson could draw victims into his web from California and Indiana, and do it in relative anonymity.

The Web's capacity for instant communication across great distances (chat rooms, forums) would permit the formation of a gang of killers. That doesn't mean it has happened, yet.

However this story turns - my vote is for a mix of murders and accidents and perhaps some distant communication or copycat behavior - I expect to see some variant of the suggested plot in fictional format around 2010 or so.

Deals and Awards

On the awards front, St. Martin's Press and the Mystery Writers of America announce the inaugural winner of their First Crime Novel Competition: Stefanie Pintoff, a Westchester-based attorney.  According to the press release, Pintoff's novel, tentatively titled IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM, is set in turn-of-the-century New York City and will be published in 2009. The novel tells the story of a detective who teams up with one of the criminal profiler[s] of the time; it makes full use of Pintoff’s knowledge of theories of crime over one hundred years ago."

Meanwhile, Publishers Marketplace reports that Craig McDonald - nominated for an Edgar for his debut novel HEAD GAMES - will switch publishers for his next two books. Agent Svetlana Pirinko secured North American rights for PRINT THE LEGEND and GNASHVILLE MON AMOUR from John Schoenfelder at Thomas Dunne/SMP.

We've Got Ourselves Another Edgar Week

And that means another Girl's Guide, though belated since the fun has already begun...

Today kicks off the MWA's annual symposium, now expanded to two days and dubbed "Crime Fiction University." Lee Child, S.J. Rozan, Harlan Coben and Nelson DeMille are among those tapped to teach on topics ranging from "credible characters in credible worlds" to breaking into screenwriting to the meat of writing thrillers. Then from 6 PM on, the Mysterious Bookshop hosts the launch party for the MWA's newest anthology THE BLUE RELIGION, edited by past president Michael Connelly. It's also the first year there won't be a party at the late, lamented Black Orchid bookshop, but I suspect any bittersweet feelings will be superceded by the wine and cheese at Otto's place.

Tomorrow the Symposium continues, starting with the First Novel nominee panel hosted by Executive VP Harry Hunsicker and also featuring Doug Lyle, Katherine Ramsland and Cyril Wecht talking forensic science and later, a slew of literary agents advising would-be writers on what to do (and what not to do) when submitting manuscripts or chatting with them at the Agents & Editors party later on that day. As usual, no crashing - attendance will be strictly monitored and enforced.

Thursday is the big night, with cocktails at 6 and Al Roker hosting - so maybe the record-breaking quickness of last year's ceremony will be superceded this time around! Whatever happens, from who wins to who is dressed the best, I'll be blogging it live on the MWA's website. I'll be sitting up front tapping away on the gargantuan laptop that is my lifeline.

Friday means that Edgar Week is done, but PEN World Voices is still on - so crime aficionados should be sure to check out S.J. Rozan's "Mean Streets" panel at 5 PM featuring Christian Jungersen, Jo Nesbo, Roberto Saviano and Juan Gabriel Vasquez.

Happy Edgars, everybody!

Scam Artists in the Literary World

Or, to get all 1337-speak, my reaction upon reading this LA Times article by Scott Timberg was on par with OMGWTFBBQ!!!!111!!!:

With the explosion of computer viruses, identity theft and Nigerian e-mail scams over the last few years, it may have been inevitable that bookstores got a part of the action. And slowly but surely, stores are being contacted by people claiming to be someone they're not and trying to persuade the bookstore staff to send them money. It's bewildering to a community that operates largely on trust and personal relationships.

"It's an annoyance," said Jennifer Ramos, who handles the more than 300 author events a year at Pasadena's Vroman's Books. "It was funny at first, but it seems wrong now."

This tale is typical: [Skylight Books manager Kerry] Slattery was heading out of the store, not long ago, to see a movie down the street when a staffer handed her the phone. The caller addressed her like an old friend: "Oh -- thank God I got you before you left," he began.

The call came from someone who said he was the Los Angeles blogger and first novelist Mark Sarvas, who was reading at the store in a few days and seemed to be in a pinch. His car had been impounded, he needed money to get it back and he needed it right away.

"I thought, 'Why isn't he calling his wife?' " recalled Slattery. "But maybe he can't reach anybody, maybe he had an extra drink. . . . It never occurred to me that it wasn't him.

Well, it wasn't, but Slattery was thisclose to wiring $200 to the resourceful scammer, just one of several hitting West Coast bookshops. "We all think that we're smart about things,"Slattery tells Timberg. "There is this sense that bookstores have this special relationship with authors, that they help them out. And if it had really been Mark Sarvas I definitely would have done it."

Smatterings, the post-LATFOB edition

The Rap Sheet has your Agatha Award winners.

At the Boston Globe, Hallie Ephron reviews crime fiction and related books by Karen Joy Fowler, Peter Abrahams and Jane Haddam.

Marilyn Stasio has her say on new books by Jack O'Connell, Domenic Stansberry, Andrea Camilleri, Mick Herron and Richard Stark.

Newsday's Tom Beer Q&As with Reed Farrel Coleman.

Oline Cogdill understandably effuses about Jesse Kellerman's THE GENIUS.

Anne Enright walks down those mean, mean, mean streets of Dublin with Declan Hughes' latest novel.

Margaret Cannon reviews new crime offerings from Anne Holt, Harlen Coben, Daniel Kalla, Graham Hurley and Peter Abrahams as well as the TORONTO NOIR anthology.

The Nashville City Paper has its say on the Michael Connelly-edited anthology THE BLUE RELIGION.

Between this and this, there is some serious and unexplained manlove for Keith Gessen. I half expect to hear any minute now that he's moved out of Prospect Heights onto the Busted Flush, you know? Related, now I know what would have made his novel work better: vampires and shape-shifters!

Jane Henderson at the St. Louis Dispatch seems hung up on the hack idea. Hey, writing for money is awesome! Especially when you get very little!

And finally, the headline. So best.

...And That's A Wrap

The LA Times Festival of Books is done. I have a godawful early wake-up call for my flight back to New York tomorrow and about a day or so to recover before Edgar Week is in full swing. So the short version of this weekend was:

• Fabulous. Can't wait to come back next year because bar none, it's the best book festival I've been to for reasons already explained yesterday.
• Humbling. People wanted me to sign their books, scrawl on posters and have their pictures taken with me. Eh, what?
• Atypical, since the only panels I attended were the ones I moderated and I spent half the time in the green room (or, as Tod Goldberg put it, "once you're in the green room you can never go back.") But Jacket Copy's coverage has been wall-to-wall and John Fox (whom I wanted to meet and did not, dammit!) was in roving video reporter mode and there is tons more.
• Fleeting. As in, too many people to say brief hellos to or glimpse across a crowded way or talk to briefly when going in the opposite direction. There's never enough time, is there?
• Adventurous. As in, Koreatown and the 405 experience.
• Overwhelming. Combine over 100,000 people and 90+ degrees and stir. The net effect means that nap beds and a pool would be great additions for next year!
• Offbeat. Like the following exchange with an author escort, roughly sophomore-in-college-age and wearing an LA Times Festival of Books t-shirt like all the other volunteers:

HIM: So are you an author?
ME: Depends what you mean. I haven't written a whole book of my own yet.
HIM: Oh, that's too bad.
ME: No, not at all. I also write for the LA Times.
HIM: Oh, I don't read the LA Times.
ME: Oh [somewhat confused] then why did you volunteer?
HIM [points to another escort]: It was her idea.

• Gratifying. As in, so many people to thank, but most of all, to Maret, Jill, Stevie, all the volunteers and author escorts who clearly worked their asses off and kept their enthusiasms running throughout to make the festival so memorable, not just for me but for everybody. So if you can go next year or any year, go. It's so worth it.

Greetings from the UCLA Lawn

Day One of the LA Times Festival of Books is wrapping up. The sun is bright and the temperature is high, leaving this LA neophyte in a state of sweat-soaked overload. So of course I can't wait for tomorrow and for future LATFOBs. The big reason? I cannot get over how much of a cross section this festival is not of literary types, not of middle class values of a certain stripe, but of everyone, every race, color, creed, age, all coming out to celebrate books and to take part. I wish this could be replicated elsewhere, but it could only happen in LA. But when I come back, I'm renting a car - even if trying to snare a cab after the Book Prizes led me into something of an interesting adventure (UCLA security = awesome guys.)

The action, at least for me, centers around the Mystery Bookstore, from last night's packed party where pretty much every West Coast-based crime writer (plus a few midwest and east coasters) showed up to sign books and drink booze, to the booth near the food court where James Ellroy is about to get a line snaking halfway down the block, capping off a day of nonstop signings and incredible hard work from Bobby, Linda, Clair, Ingrid and the rest of the store's fine folks. They rock. Most in the mystery world already know this, but it bears repeating.

This morning's panel went well, thank goodness - my nerves kicked in this morning in the green room and only dissipated when the audience laughed at one of Peter Robinson's remarks early on. April Smith and Les Klinger, too, gamely weathered my off-kilter questions to talk about experimentation, character, the merits and cons of being prolific, and the genre in context.

And right as I type this, an older gentleman holds a sign saying "9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB" while another gentleman, passionately anti-Bush and pro-Obama, commends him for keeping up the good work. Sitting in the shade gives you the chance to see the damndest things....

More tomorrow.

Smatterings, the LA-Bound Edition

If this week hadn't been so travel-heavy I would have cobbled together a "Girl's Guide to the LA Times Festival of Books" of sorts, but with Callie Miller and Tod Goldberg on the case, that's pretty well covered. Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new acquaintances during the weekend as well as at Friday's Mystery Bookstore extravaganza.

Josh Getlin at the LA Times devotes his weekly "Bookit" column to the movie deal for Duane Swierczynski's THE BLONDE.

At the LAT's Jacket Copy blog, Carolyn Kellogg chats with Denise Hamilton about her upcoming standalone mystery novel THE LAST EMBRACE.

The Valley News Dispatch previews the annual Festival of Mystery in Oakmont.

As part of an interview with AP's Hillel Italie, Cynthia Ozick's two PEN awards are announced.

Janine Armin & Nathaniel Moore talk up TORONTO NOIR, which they co-edited, for the Eye Weekly.

The Brooklyn Literary 100 is, well...just is. I like how Vulture whittled it down though.

Garth Stein has been anointed by Starbucks, which means THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is an instant bestseller.

Ed Champion talks with Errol Morris about his new, must-see movie STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE.

Do not underestimate the power of green-colored pie. (via)

And finally, wow, Mike Judge is more prescient than he realizes!

Smatterings

Lee Child talks up his business side of writing to the London Times.

Marilyn Stasio takes a genre-centric approach to THE SILVER SWAN, and Mark Sarvas takes issue with Stasio as a result. Me, I guess I fall somewhere in between.

Mystery Ink announces the winners of the 2008 Gumshoe Awards.

Bryan Appleyard's interview of Nicholson Baker is wonderfully bizarre.

PW's Peter Cannon does his best to explain how he categorizes mysteries, thrillers and fiction.

Jessa Crispin took the outsider approach in reporting on the London Book Fair.

The Nat Sobel interview in Poets & Writers is certainly catnip for the unpublished writer, but the skeptic in me feels like pointing out that this is one agent's opinion; any other, based on experience and current savvy, could be (and should be) wholly different.

Also, one of Sobel's points was about the travails of being a young literary male author in these turbulent climes. Scott Timberg's piece may not prove him wrong, but it's certainly an antidote....

The Harwich Oracle profiles Cape Cod writer Peter Abrahams.

Nigel Beale chats with Canada's sine qua non of legal thrillers, William Deverell.

So Colson Whitehead, Margaret Seltzer and Sidd Finch hang out at the Chateau Marmont. Which part of the above sentence is true?

Also at NYMag, last week I teased out the secret publishing gossip subplot of Megan Hustad's rather delightful survey of self-help books, and several first novels make the grade.

Woe to be in contracts at Penguin/Putnam and have to sort out the Cassie Edwards situation, now ended under the moniker of "irreconcilable editorial differences."

Authors and students duke it out for space at the British Library, recently opened up to the public.

And finally, Japan has run out of butter. Seriously. Can we say "Great Depression II" boys and girls?

Crais Switches Publishers Once More

For those keeping score, Crais's last three books - which include July's CHASING DARKNESS - were published by Simon & Schuster. Before that, LA REQUIEM through THE FORGOTTEN MAN were published by Doubleday, and the early Elvis Cole novels were released by Bantam first and then Hyperion. Now Crais has changed houses again and landed somewhere brand new, as per PW and Publishers Marketplace:

Robert Crais's three new suspense novels, the first book, a sequel to last year's The Watchman, will be published in 2009, to Neil Nyren at Putnam, by Aaron Priest at Aaron Priest Agency.

On first blush it strikes me as a good move, though I now wonder which bestselling thriller writer will take that open spot at S&S, if that hole hasn't already been filled..