Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Don’t worry about being famous or making money; the most important thing is being the best. You have to become a master of your craft, and everything else will come.—Anastasia Soare
I recently wrote a post about fame and while the number of people I don’t know and who approached me to say “Hi” is infinitesimal, the number of similar stories about my books and writing could…well, fill a book. Let me tell you one of my favorites.
Until it was torn down to build a hotel, the Country Dinner Playhouse was the second largest theater in Colorado. Mary and I liked to go there because the live entertainment was first rate and the food was pretty good. One of the things we also enjoyed was that because there were few tables for two people, we were often seated at a table for four and enjoyed meeting the other couples that were seated with us.
Once we shared a table with an older couple and the husband asked what I did for a living. This was during my most productive writing book period when I was knocking out one a year, so I said I was a writer. The gentleman then told me his next-door neighbor was also a writer and that person had given him one of the books he’d written. But he added, “I never read it, of course. How good could it be, he lives next door to me!”
The guy who lives next door to me is an IT person for a large commercial real estate company but you never know who might live next door to you. For years I unsuccessfully pitched book publishers about writing a biography of William Mortensen and during my research made contact with one of his last students. In one of our conversations together he casually mentioned that his next door neighbor was a writer too and asked if I knew him. His neighbor’s name was Joseph Wambaugh.
As an aside, in 2013 Robert Balcomb convinced a publisher to produce his book, Me and Mortensen. He was also one of Mortensen’s students and the book featured some of the lessons he learned and goes on to describe how those lessons helped him forge a successful career as a fine art portrait photographer. I’d love to get a copy but right now they are too expensive for my book-buying budget.
Books I’m Reading or About to Read
OK, riddle me this: Why do all of the mystery novels I’ve ever read treat photographers so badly? If a character shows up in a book and is a photographer, he’s (and it’s almost always a “he”) either sleazy or dead—because he was sleazy. Case in point: Jonathan Kellerman’s newest book Unnatural History.
I love Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels and strongly recommend them to this blog’s readers. I also recommend the Clay Edison series that he writes with his son, Jesse, including their latest The Burning. But back to Jonathan Kellerman: His newest book, Unnatural History, is book number 11 in my “Books Read in 2023” list. From the get-go Lt. Milo Sturgis of the LAPD calls psychologist Alex Delaware to the scene of a murder of a photographer. As I write this I haven’t read past this early part of the book and while it’s possible the dead guy only photographed apple-cheeked babies and cute puppies, I’ll bet the odds are better that the poor guy is some kind of, to quote Kennan Wynn in Dr. Strangelove, “deviated prevert.” I’ll update this guess…
UPDATE: NO SPOILERS. I finished the book and decided I didn’t want to ruin it for everyone, so you’ll have to read it to find out what happened to the unfortunate photographer. When compared to some of Kellerman’s previous tomes in this series, Unnatural History seems somewhat softer-edged, yet it’s full of interesting, twisted plot points and is populated with some interesting characters. In that respect, it’s introspective approach makes this an ideal first book for new readers of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series.
Book Reviews Coming Up: Porsche 365: 75th Anniversary. During my motoring life, I’ve owned three different Porsche automobiles but never owned a 356 although I would have liked to. Chances are that I never will own, let alone drive, a Porsche 356, so I’m looking forward to receiving and reviewing this book.
The 1947 Black Dahlia murder case is one I’ve been mildly obsessed with since I read James Elroy’s novel The Black Dahlia. I can’t recommend the film The Black Dahlia, however. As much as I love Brian De Palma’s movies, this is not his best work. Even the Tomatoes agree with me for once. Although Black Dahlia, Red Rose is not a new book—it was written in 2018—I’ve reserved a copy from the library and plan to share my thoughts on the book with you after I’ve read it.
Books to Review: If you would like to send me any books to review or any other stuff that could be used for these posts and my YouTube videos, please Contact me directly for shipping address and related information.