Declan Burke - Johnny Mac
Posted: 23 May 2009 08:17 PM   [ Ignore ]
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Johnny Mac gave The Big 0 a good review. Burke gets compared to Elmore a lot (although not by Johnny) but, as always, it’s not close. Clunky sentences and a pervasive self-consciousness take you out of the book, the cardinal sin of fiction writing. Calling the main characters Frank & Karen doesn’t help.

But almost everyone loves this guy Burke. (Although 100 times as many people love Dan Brown, the crappiest writer on the planet, including James Patterson). He’s good, he has potential, but he’s not ready for prime time.

Makes you wonder: How hard can it be?

Maybe that guy who was writing Gator Bait will finish it and get it published. It’d be interesting to see the reactions. Although if it does get written, it’d be best to change the names of the characters.

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Posted: 29 May 2009 08:27 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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LACrimAtty - 24 May 2009 12:17 AM

Maybe that guy who was writing Gator Bait will finish it and get it published. It’d be interesting to see the reactions. Although if it does get written, it’d be best to change the names of the characters.

I remember making this suggestion back when Gator Bait first appeared, change the names and finish the story.

Declan is Irish, so you have to epxect more words to be used, he comes from a completely different literary tradition. He does have a lot of potential.

And just for the record, it’s fucking hard.

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Posted: 29 May 2009 10:17 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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I understand it’s fucking hard to write well. Of course.

But my point was how hard can it be to sell, when writing skill has almost nothing to do with it.

Plot is everything, the level of writing almost irrelevant. I guess it comes down to plot and luck. A crap writer with the right plot at the right time can get lucky and make a natural fortune.

Viz. those hacks, Patterson and Brown.

BTW, did you see Elmore on Charlie Rose? Charlie says, “did you have a problem with the Dan Brown book?” Elmore laughs and says, “I had a problem with the first paragraph.”

My man.

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Posted: 29 May 2009 01:07 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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LACrimAtty - 29 May 2009 02:17 PM

I understand it’s fucking hard to write well. Of course.

But my point was how hard can it be to sell, when writing skill has almost nothing to do with it.

Plot is everything, the level of writing almost irrelevant. I guess it comes down to plot and luck. A crap writer with the right plot at the right time can get lucky and make a natural fortune.

Viz. those hacks, Patterson and Brown.

BTW, did you see Elmore on Charlie Rose? Charlie says, “did you have a problem with the Dan Brown book?” Elmore laughs and says, “I had a problem with the first paragraph.”

My man.

It’s like this; selling books is like selling food - Dan Brown, Patterson (especially) and the other hacks are opening up McDonalds franchises and selling Big Macs. Elmore Leonard, and a very few other writers, are opening gourmet restaurants.

It pisses me off that some critics and reviewers still can’t see that EL belongs in the gourmet category, but that’s their problem and it is changing.

I haven’t seen the Charlie Rose yet, but it’s good to hear someone tell it like it is.

You’re right, the bestseller lists are dominated by plot-diven crap, the same way the box office is dominated by special effects crap these days.

For some reason we love indie movies and indie music but there’s never really been an indie book scene. There are lots of small presses trying but most of their stuff is too academic. Hard Case Crime are putting out some decent books - and some cool reprints.

Anyway, you get Gator Bait finished. You may not sell many, but the people on here will appreciate it.

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