Monday Musings--David Morrell

More Than Rambo's Father




For those of you who read thrillers and suspense fiction David Morrell's name is a household word. If you do not read thrillers and suspense you will surely recognize what he calls himself --'Rambo's father.'

But he is so much more than that.

David received the prestigious Bob Kellogg Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Internet Writing Community at Backspace's annual conference in New York city a week ago. As a member of Backspace I attended for my second time and was one of the lucky ones in the audience both for David's acceptance speech and his keynote address the following afternoon.

Among his many titles are the aforementioned Rambo story, FIRST BLOOD, BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE and more recently SCAVENGER and soon to be released SHIMMER. The last two are biotech thrillers. Haven't read SCAVENGER yet but my girlfriend who has read all his novels said it is really creeeeepy.

What David Morrell should have said is that he is the 'father' of all contemporary writers.

I am an avid reader and an occassional reader of thrillers. I love Marcus Sakey's books...as much because he is an awesome writer as because he is a dear friend of my daughter, Jennifer. I also enjoy Sean Chercover and have hosted an authors' party for both these men. I enjoy Karen Dionne, who writes environmental thrillers and have hosted her at my local Rotary Club. I also enjoyed books by Elmore Leonard, who lives nearby, as well as his son, Peter's, book, QUIVER.
Peter has a new one, TRUST ME, that I can't wait to read.

I hate to admit I had never picked up any of David Morrell's books but I bought three at the conference, have read two and loved them both. His characters are complex, his pacing is awesome and his plots are both exciting and believable. And I love his voice...like it's Halloween and you're sitting on his lap and he's telling you this scary story. I love this guy!

David shared his life story with us and it isn't pretty. It is a story he often shares so I won't repeat it all except to say that the man he is today is proof of his tenacity, internal strength and compassion. Born in Ontario Canada his father died in World War I before David was born. When he was three his mother drove him in a borrowed car to an orphanage in the country, dropped him off at the playground to join the other children, turned around and left. She did return for him after marrying a man who hated children and was abusive to both David and his mother. He attended school in Canada up until his PhD which he received at Penn State University and has lived in the USA ever since.

David has an obvious love for writing and for writers, and more than that he cares about both--so much so that he spends a large portion of his time helping young sprouts like me stay focused and inspired.

I'd like to summarize some of the inspiration he imparted at his Backspace Keynote Address.

First you have to love writing because if you are in it for the fame or the money you will likely be disappointed. He told about the disparaging comments one of his early mentor made about David's early stories.

Second you have to read a lot and write a lot because that is the only way you will improve.

Third (and this was the one that struck me hardest) you have to find your voice. Where? It's hiding out with your demons in the unpleasant basement of your subconscious. David suggested we explore our deepest emotions and then listen to our daydreams. Listen to the good ones but, more importantly, listen to the ugly ones; and never, ever, stop them until they have played out to the end.

More than one author has suggested that an unahppy childhood makes for a writer's gold and this is what they meant. And if you say your childhood was perfect so you have no inspiration--most likely you are lying!

Finally David said to keep your integrity and write the book you are intended to write. Write for the moment you are in. Don't let the market, or what others say is the market, influence you. All of that is, after all, out of your control.

Thank you David Morrell for your inspiring words and support.

Ashes to Ashes to ????

I had dinner with some sisters-in-law a month ago and a topic came up in the conversation that has come up many times before. What should we do with our parents' ashes? Dad died in 1996 and Mom in 1999. It took the past four weeks to even find Mom's ashes...they were still at the funeral home.

Now I know many of you will be horrified and I can understand that. But you have to understand my family. No, we are not dysfunctional in the literal sense of the word. We actually have two family reunions every year...summer and Christmas and most of us attend most of the time.

So, what is the problem and what are we going to do about it?

Stay tuned.

The whole thing got started because after that dinner I e-mailed my brothers and sister to determine, for certain, what had happened to the ashes. I wasn't pushing for closure...I was actually planning to write an essay and wanted to get the story straight.

I still plan to write the essay but will have to wait a while. Plans are brewing for this summer's reunion to bring closure after all.

10 Things I Learned This Week at Backspace

This past weekend I attended a conference in New York City sponsored by the online writers group I belong to called Backspace. This is the second year I have attended. Last year, having only been a member for two months and being the shy person I am, was wonderful; but this year I was able to put faces to the names of persons I have met online and that made a huge difference.

I thought I'd parody David Letterman by listing the ten best things I learned in hopes of:

A. Being able to remember them six months from now and
B. Passing them on to people who did not attend.

Ten Things I Learned at the Backspace Writer's Conference:

1. Love, Love, Love What You're Doing.

2. Write Well. Sounds obvious, which it is, but so is 'eat well' but most of us don't. David Morrell (Rambo's father, as he calls himself) spoke about finding your voice (he says it probably lies within your deepest fears) and letting your daydreams play out to their ugliest conclusions...they are clues to your essence.

3. A Golden Rule: Create an engaging character who actively overcomes tremendous obstacles to reach a desirable goal.

4. Query well...which implies you must understand your story and be able to pitch it in about 100 words.

5. Build a Platform. Even fiction writers can benefit tremendously from being experts in their field...not necessarily just writing but whatever they are writing about. If your story is about a blues musician, your platform could be blues musicians. If your story is about dysfunctional families, it could be about alcoholism. Then reach out to the persons (there are a million of 'em tied into online forums, etc.) to broaden your readership.

6. Be Nice to People. Another obvious one, right? Expand this to the persons you hope will buy into your book...agents, publishers and readers. Start by querying agents you have researched...learn their likes and dislikes...who they've represented and which of these books sold well and then personalize each query with what you learned.

7. Have an Online Presence. Agents universally said a website, blog or Twitter presence is extremely important because the print media is shrinking and with it the opportunities to have a presence with book reviews.

8. Be Wary About Self-Publishing. We heard it both ways. That agents and publishers shy away from self-published authors because they carry the stigma of being unprofessional. Then there is the case of THE LACE READER by Brunonia Barry which she initially self-published sold to William Morrow with an initial print of some astronomical number for huge money. HUGE money. But, we were warned, this was a one in a million shot. Most agents and publicists suggested that if your book has regional appeal you might look to self publish; otherwise look to the bigger houses.

9. Writing Your Book (to paraphrase Hemingway) is just the tip of the iceberg. The other 85% of the process is selling it.

Be active in the writing community...network (read: Backspace!).

Hire a publicist if you have any extra money as some publishing houses never had marketing budgets and other have put all their marketing dollars into the big sellers.

10. Be Passionate About What You're Doing.