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Submit Your Questions to: dearlee@writersnewsweekly.com.

Random House Rethinks Publishing the Controversial Book

Random House is pulling the plug on the much anticipated historical novel by Sherry Jones, titled “The Jewel of Medina.” The book was to be released August 12, however the book publication has been canceled because “[the book] might be offensive to some in the Muslim community,” according to a statement released by Random House. Random House bought the novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal with the author.

“The Jewel of Medina” is the story of Aisha, the favorite young wife of the prophet Muhammad. After sending out advance reader copies of the book to several reviewers, Random House received responses from “credible and unrelated sources,” warning the publisher that the novel may be offensive to some in the Muslim community and may incite violence by a small segment. According to a statement released by Random House, the threats were taken very seriously and the decision was made to cancel publication of the book.

Some critics of Random Houses’ decision feel that the publisher is looking to avoid another fiasco like that seen with the publication of “The Satanic Verses.” The 1988 controversial novel “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie is another fictional tale of the prophet Muhammad which caused an uproar in the Muslim community when it was first released. A bounty was placed on the author by Muslim religious leaders, and the author was kept in hiding for several years. Since its release, those connected to the book have been hit by a series of violent attacks by radical opposers of the book.

So why have two fictional books caused such an uproar in the Muslim community? Dan Brown’s controversial book, “The Da Vinci Code” suggested that Jesus married and had children with Mary Magdalene. The book was found offensive by some Christians, however it was not censored or banned; in fact, it was made into a box office smash movie starring Tom Hanks. Is it a double standard? Are books questioning the Muslim faith off-limits, but Christian books criticizing the church acceptable?

Jones’ eight-city publicity tour has been postponed, as the author and her literary agent are currently seeking an alternate publisher for the book.

Read more about the controversy surrounding "The Satanic Verses".

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John Lutz

John Lutz is an award-winning author of 40 fiction books. His novel Single White Female was the basis for the 1992 film staring Bridget Fonda.

Q: What is your opinion of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.?

A: Holmes is a fine model for any PI writer. He’s thoroughly realized and consistent throughout. The stories also demonstrate the importance and effective use of satellite characters like Inspector Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson and of course Watson.

Q: How do you account for the increase in detective/crime novels currently on the market?

A: The popularity of mysteries is cyclical. For crime-writers like myself to not realize that it won’t last forever and enjoy it would be, in itself, a crime.

Q: What is the best way for new writers to improve their craft and polish their work?

A: By writing. I think the craft of writing is something you learn by doing.

Q: How did publishing short stories in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen’s mystery magazines impact your career?

A: Both have had an enormous impact on my career. Some of my early novels began as short stories in the magazines. During those times when I had difficulty selling novels, those magazines helped to keep my career lurching along.

Q: Describe the challenges of floating from one genre to another.

A: You have to keep your potential readers in mind. As I write, I’m always aware of a reader looking over my shoulder. You must never forget that your audience changes with each genre.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.

Photo Courtesy: Ronnie Bergeron

This week we will continue to work on the setting of our novel.

Setting Exercise Five
Objective: To show how different places affect character

A woman character whom you now relatively well is going on a blind date with a man whom she is to meet at a specific place. She has seen his picture, so she knows what he looks like.
Write a brief scene of 4-8 sentences in which these two characters meet for the first time in the following settings. Her blind date has chosen the place in which they are to meet. Be sure to include sensory descriptions. Note how each place influences the characters in specific ways, including dress, speech, emotions and reactions to each other.

1. A California fern bar
2. An amusement park
3. A bowling alley
4. A performance of the opera, Madame Butterfly

Setting Exercise Six
Objective: to eliminate period inaccuracies

Part 1
Read the following scene set in the American Revolutionary War. Look for period inconsistencies. Some are obvious, some are more subtle.

Elizabeth sat in the library, trying to compose a letter to her sister, Mildred. Just as her pen ran out of ink, she heard a noise at the door and in bounded Rex, her father’s golden retriever. The dog slid over the linoleum floor and bumped against Elizabeth’s bare leg.
“Daddy!” cried Elizabeth as her father entered the room. “did you speak to Tobias?” She caught her breath; even the mention of her beloved’s name made her heart race.
“Liza, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, dear,” said her father. His shoulders were hunched and his gray eyes, normally so bright, looked as dull as cardboard. “Tobias already has a wife.”
Liza took a sharp breath. So now her father knew as well. “It doesn’t matter to me, Daddy,” she said softly. “I shan’t care if I ever get married. I’ve decided to visit him in Boston anyway.”
Her father nodded. “Perhaps that is best,” he said. “You’re a woman now, almost seventeen. You know your own mind better than anyone else. But be careful, daughter. I fear Tobias is not to be trusted.”

Part 2
Rewrite this scene removing any modern rferences and replacing them with appropriate period ones so that the reader will believe she is vicariously experiencing the scene. Some points to consider are: What items and terms seem out of place? What attitudes are being expressed toward adultery? The role of women? The role of parents and children? Do they seem appropriate for the time?

What’s a Story Without the Setting? - Part One
What’s a Story Without the Setting? - Part Two

For more helpful tips and exercises, visit www.sterlinghouse-bookstore.com and check out:
Writing Aerobics I by C. Sterling and M. Davidson

Agree? Disagree? Tell us at editor@writersnewsweekly.com or join the discussion on facebook.com.

There is a scene I’ve always loved in the 2005 movie “Walk the Line.” It’s when June Carter gives Johnny Cash the book she’s just finished reading. She doesn’t want it back because she doesn’t keep books; she shares them. I like the give-it-away outlook; the idea that in sharing a book, it will enter someone else’s thoughts after it has left your hands. Even though I have a tendency to keep my books, wanting them on my shelves to go back to, I want to be more like June in that scene. Lately I’ve been trying to share what I’ve read with the people around me, whether I think they will connect with the story or not. When two people are willing to read the same text, they share a bond that years cannot take away because the story remains the same, even after our perspective changes and we end up seeing the story differently.

When I was a junior in high school, a friend gave me a copy of E.M. Forster’s “A Room with a View” to borrow. Because our classes kept us more than busy with required reading and studying, I wasn’t doing much outside reading. My friend saved me by introducing me to a book that I didn’t have to analyze or write a paper on. I loved the story, and it quickly became one of my favorites. “A Room with a View” even helped one of my teenage birthdays become very funny. I chose for everyone to watch the movie version and shocked the room with the scene of three naked men running around a swimming hole together. “How d’ye do? Come and have a bathe,” aside, I recently reconnected with that high school friend who lent me the book after all these years. One of the first things we recollected about each other was “A Room with a View.” What we read together as human beings influences us, inspires us and connects us even when the years change us.

My neighbor recently let me borrow a stack of books to take on a trip with me. I didn’t end up getting to read as much as I had anticipated, but one of his books wrapped itself around my travels. I ended up talking about Masaru Emoto’s “The Hidden Messages in Water” with almost everyone I met. The photos were fascinating to show to people, especially the people that looked at me like I was crazy, or worse, who wouldn’t discuss the book at all. Discovering people who are willing to talk about books we may or may not believe in is worth the occasional glance from people that can make you wonder if yes, you are in fact crazy.

Becoming more like June Carter is easy if you let it be. Yes, it’s hard to bring up an interesting subject your reading about or a story that intruiges you, only to be stared at strangely in silence. But for the people who look up at you with eyes that actually get it, opening up about books becomes worth the risk. Almost every book I’ve been given is one I never would have chosen for myself. That’s what I love about sharing. That’s why I’m working on the June thing and loving it.

View Tyler's BookExpo America 2008 Author Interview

Tyler Oaks earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from California State University, Stanislaus and her Master of Arts in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento. Tyler lives in California's Napa Valley with her husband and twin daughters. Tyler is presently at work on her next novel.

Last summer, single-handedly and ill-equipped, I began to remodel my kitchen. In a burst of novice enthusiasm, I sledged through studs and ripped up floors. I hung drywall and knifed mud. I tiled, grouted, griped and complained. Then, frustrated and over my head, I walked off the job. It’s now a year later, and unfinished trim work taunts me to this day.

Writers often face the same dilemma: After fits of inspired toil, they hit the proverbial wall. Sometimes writer’s block is to blame, but just as often it comes down to having the right tools for the job. Next time you’re stuck in construction, power up with these:

Photographs: Images are a great way to tap the visual cortex for ideas. Need to nail the description of a landscape or a character’s chin? Whip out a National Geographic or People and you’ll find dozens of each. Want to flesh out your antagonist’s history? Find an old yearbook or photo album and start lifting details. To really power up, create a collage by pasting hundreds of overlapping images on to a poster board. Unexpected contrasts will spark your imagination every time.

Objects: You know that kitchen drawer full of random junk? Or that trunk of memorabilia in your attic? Gather a bunch of items and lay them on a table. Each one will have a different function, association or story behind it. Who wears those old snakeskin boots? What emotions or memories do they evoke? How do they smell? Their history and tactile qualities can inform and inspire your writing.

Prompts: Writing prompts are an excellent way to tap into your creativity and move in directions you wouldn’t normally go. Use them to get warmed up, spark ideas, or generate fresh material. If you’re having trouble developing a character or engaging her in a plot, write a prompt from her point of view and see what happens. Find hundreds of free prompts at www.creativewritingprompts.com.

Therapy Room: Get comfy, close your eyes and breathe. Imagine an empty white room. Put a couch in there if you want, and invite your writing problems in for an interview. Maybe your protagonist lacks motivation. Sit him down to talk about it. Ask pointed questions, and listen to his answers. Structural problem in your non-fiction book? Invite it in for a session and see what it has to say. For a twist, put yourself on the couch and have your problem interview you.

Ever heard of a pneumatic angled finish nailer? Me either, that is until the Home Depot guy said it would make my trim work a snap. All kinds of obscure tools for all kinds of different jobs exist out there, each adaptable to your unique writing challenges. Once they’re in your hands and you know how to use them, few jobs are out of reach.

Have your own power tools that you’d like to share with other writers? If so, please click the link below and send them in with a detailed description.

Have a question for Doug? Click here to submit it to THE WRITE MIND.

Doug Kurtz is a published novelist, certified life coach and the owner of Write Life Coaching (www.writelifecoaching.com). He earned his MA in creative writing at the University of Colorado, where he also taught fiction writing. He currently lives in Boulder, where he’s busy coaching other writers and working on his next novel.

By Amanda Linsmeier
Elsewhere (published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux,) a novel by Gabrielle Zevin, tells the story of a 15-year old girl named Liz who is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Liz wakes up on a cruise ship with a slight headache. She does not realize she is dead until she gets to watch her own funeral from the ship. The ship arrives in Elsewhere, and it is there that Liz is greeted by her grandma Betty, who died before she was born. Betty tells Liz the reality of Elsewhere: You will age backwards, beginning at your age of death and ending when you become a baby again and return to Earth. Liz is devastated by this news and quickly sinks into a deep depression. Like most teenagers, she does not want to get younger; on the contrary, she wants to get older. Liz wants to get her drivers license, go to college, fall in love, get married and have babies. She does not want to live in Elsewhere with a grandmother she never met, away from all she knows and loves. Eventually Liz learns to accept her fate and makes friends, relates to her grandmother and gets a job. She even fulfills some of her goals.

Zevin asks the question, “Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?” and as I read I began asking myself that same question. I loved everything about this book from beginning to end. I thought the idea was intriguing and the characters wonderful. Although this is actually a novel for young adults, I found myself relating to the teenage Liz. I remembered what it was like to be that age and how I would feel if this happened to me. I felt for Liz, even when she was being an impossible teenager, sullen and depressed. I cheered for her when she found herself happy again. I enjoyed the other characters as well; Grandma Betty, who only wants the best for her; Owen Welles, who becomes a close friend of Liz’s after busting her trying to make contact with her living family, and I especially loved Liz’s adopted dog Sadie who is capable of communicating with her. As a person with a fondness for animals, I loved the idea of Liz and many other lucky humans in the novel communicating with their pets.

The novel spoke to my heart and made me think about my own life. It was positive, yet bittersweet. I cried a few times while reading the book, partly from sadness, but mostly because I found the language to be so beautiful. On Earth, people don’t know when they’re going to die, but in Elsewhere, Liz knew she was exactly fifteen years away from the day of her “rebirth.” The experiences she had in that time were truly heartwarming. The concept is unusual, and the characters relatable. Author Gabrielle Zevin has created a novel you won’t soon forget.

Agree? Disagree? Tell us at editor@writersnewsweekly.com or join the discussion on facebook.com.

Photo Courtesy: Susie Holderfield

Robert Santoro, Esq. & Helen Dukhan, Esq.

Anyone can go to a local print shop and have business cards made calling themselves a literary agent. However, merely labeling oneself a literary agent is not going to assist one in selling books. Not by a long-shot. A literary agent must have the right connections and be part of the proper networks in order to generate business. Thus, an agent’s reputation in the publishing industry among other literary agents, publishing houses, editors and authors is the cornerstone to their success or failure.

Lately, certain literary agents have been waging battle against internet sites and other forms of mass media for publishing “allegedly” false information against them in order to ruin their reputation within the publishing industry. Dirty pool.

So, what can literary agents do to obtain recourse against someone publishing false statements against them? Seek legal justice in the courts of law in the form of a Defamation law suit.

One of the most publicized legal battles currently being waged in court is by Barbara Bauer, a literary agent, and her literary agency against several websites which she is suing for Defamation and for Tortuously Interfering with her Prospective Economic Advantage. Considering that we are discussing the pitfalls of being literary agents, we’ll rephrase Ms. Bauer’s allegations in plain English.

Ms. Bauer’s first allegation against the websites is for Defamation of Character, which when I consulted my “Black’s Law Dictionary,” is defined as any false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person’s reputation. Falsely written statements are known as libel, and falsely spoken statements are called slander. The key thing to remember here is the importance of the word “false,” for truth is always a defense to a Defamation law suit.

For example, the websites in question published that Ms. Bauer is a “scammer” and a horrible literary agent. These statements have to be false, and the person making them has to know they are false and be doing so maliciously for them to be guilty of Defamation.

Ms. Bauer’s second allegation is for “Tortuous Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage” which are a lot of words that simply mean that a person maliciously and intentionally induced another person(s) (a prospective client for example) not to contract or engage in business with a third person.

Typically in cases such as these, the Court will balance the individual’s interest in their reputation against the public’s interest in the right to free speech, aka, the First Amendment to the Constitution.

It is important to note that the courts impose a different standard to private individuals as opposed to public figures. Consider the case of New York Times v. Sullivan. As a result of the ruling, a relatively well-known individual in the literary community or in the general public’s eye would not be afforded as much protection by the courts as a private citizen who has more of an expectation of privacy.

Also worth noting is that if Ms. Bauer can prove that all of the websites “acted in concert” to ruin her reputation and her prospective economic advantage, she could charge them with conspiracy. To do so, this charge would raise the level of consequences the websites face. If Ms. Bauer is successful in her case, she can obtain a public retraction of the statements, a public apology, money damages and counsel fees, the most common punishments for both crimes.

The outcome of any Defamation case and any Tortious Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage case depends on the value of the claimant’s reputation and how that relates to monetary gain or loss. Accordingly, Ms. Bauer will need to show that not only were the written words malicious and untrue, but also that they caused her a quantifiable loss of income. This is because the courts require a claimant to show actual pecuniary loss to be successful in a Defamation lawsuit. If such a rule were not in place, just think of all of the litigation that would emerge every time someone yelled, “Hey asshole, the line starts back here!”

Read More About the Barbara Bauer Case

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