We recently visited a suburb of Fort Worth Texas to visit our son, his wife, almost 3 year old daughter and 8 week old son.  They moved to Texas in May where my son started his new job.  This was our first visit to the Lone Star state and to meet our new grandson.

Texas has a reputation for being big in all things, and my first impression is that it is.  The airport is plunked down west of Dallas and north of Fort Worth, earning it the common name of the Dallas Forth Worth Airport, locally called DFW.  The airport is currently under massive construction.  My son told us the airport boasts 28,000 parking places yet on a Thursday afternoon he couldn’t find a parking place closer than a mile from our gate arrival.  Leaving the airport was too much of a challenge for his gps because it was ignorant of the construction detours.  We circled the airport about three times before finding an escape route.  Our son lives only 15 miles from the airport but it took us 90 minutes to get to their home – traffic is also big in Texas.

We traveled on local state highways that were three lanes in each direction and about a football field space between the set of three lanes.  I was afraid to see the interstate system after being on the state highway system.  The speed limit on the state highway system was 70 mph but I don’t think anyone traveled less than 80 mph when they’re not bogged down in traffic congestion.

Our son and family live in a moderate town house north of Fort Worth.  You can see downtown Fort Worth which is about 15 miles away or about 90 minutes most days.   Their neighborhood includes large homes, duplexes and townhouses which are surrounded by an 8 foot high brick wall.  As we drove around the community I noticed nearly all of the neighborhoods were surrounded by brick walls.  Some of the neighborhoods were gated, some not.

We took our granddaughter for a walk and I noticed every welling, no matter the type, had a sign posted near the front door that the home was protected by security.  Our son’s home didn’t have such a sign so I asked, they had a security system but it wasn’t turned on – too expensive for a family with two small children.

The other curious thing I noticed was that many of the homes had a large black gate barring the way to their drive and garage.  The gates were electronically controlled and some even had a sensor so that when the owner arrived the gate would automatically open.

I asked my son if there was a lot of property crime in the area.  They’ve only lived there about five months and he wasn’t sure.  “People just want to feel secure.  With gates and security systems there probably won’t b crime.” He suggested.

What it told me was that people were living in fear.  I can’t imagine living anywhere surrounded by walls and having a home security system.   It’s literally the modern day castle, with moat and all.  How sad, I thought for these good folks to be living in fear. 

Our Tuesday Morning Book Talk discussion group is reading both To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. The story provided by the publisher, Harper Collins is that Lee submitted Go Set a Watchman which the editor rejected and she was told to undertake a major re-write and To Kill a Mockingbird was the result.  There is no way to determine the credibility and in the end it doesn’t really matter.  Given Harper Lee’s current medical condition it isn’t clear if she even gave permission or is even aware the Go Set a Watchman has been published.

I do not want to compare the books with each other, I believe that us unfair and inaccurate, they are very different books.  Characters may have the same name but the personality and age of the primary characters differs as much as night and day.

I have always found it difficult to find Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird a credible character.  He has been diminished to a white knight in a white suit with admirable qualities of fairness and principles based on the rule of law but he is also one dimensional, aloof from his children, and more of a characterization than a living, breathing, middle aged man living in the south.  Frankly, Atticus is too good to be true. 

The Atticus Finch we meet in Go Set a Watchman is credible and we learn he can defend of black man from injustice while still believing in gradual social progress for the race that does not disrupt the white culture of the south.  Marshall Cook’s description of Jean Louise as “self-absorbed, petulant, and insufferably judgmental” is accurate.  While Go Set a Watchman is Jean Louise’s story, she is not a character we learn to like or even care about.  At best we can feel empathetic for Jean Louise.

The craft in Go Set a Watchman leaves a lot to be desired.  The plot is uneven and Madonna Dries Christensen pointed out at some points just boring.  Chapter 9 is pure telling followed by Chapter 10 an exposition on what the reader was just told.  Both Chapters 11 and 15 are flashback scenes that for me had no place in the book and don’t move the story along; in fact they are detours to the main theme and story.  Chapters 17 and 18 are pure dialogue with no action.  The dialogue borders on the trite and expected versus compelling.  While the entire story builds to the dialogue of Chapters 17 and 18 the use of dialogue is disappointing and unrewarding.

As an author, I find it most sad that Go Set a Watchman tarnishes the Pulitzer Prize winning contribution of Harper Lee to American literature.  In addition, the only real beneficiary is the publisher, Harper Collins who will generate millions in profit from releasing this book.  

I want to share my experiences with two authors I have met on what I lovingly call the “author circuit”.  The first I met last year at the Irish Book and Music Celebration in Chicago.  He and his wife drove all the way from New Jersey.  He is an independent author and at that time offered two historical fiction books.  He’s a retired professional who decided to explore his wife’s Irish family history and his own Irish family history in America.  His wife’s grandfather climbed the political ladder like many Irish Americans in eastern cities and became the mayor of Pittsburg.  He claimed to write historical fiction but it was closer to historical docudrama since the book included pictures from family albums.

Based on that books success he wrote a second book about his own family’s journey to America and he used the same format as the first book since that had been successful.  The second book was not as well received as the book about his family.  The book about his wife’s family had name recognition and a well defined readership in Pittsburg at least.

When we met the New Jersey couple they were spending their summer crisscrossing America participating in a variety of Irish themed events.  He was very aggressive about selling.  Our tables were directly across from each other and as people looked at my book he would walk up to them and ask if they were interested in reading a story about Irish family history in America.  His wife was noticeably embarrassed with his assertiveness and I had to ask him to politely return to his table.  His next strategy was to stand in front of his table and try to engage people in conversation as soon as they left my table.

He didn’t get it.  People didn’t want to be attacked; they wanted to browse like in a bookstore or library.  I don’t think he sold more than 5 books all weekend and he didn’t understand why.

I met him again at the Milwaukee Irish Fest this year.  He didn’t remember my name.  A tent was set aside for book sales.  He stood outside the tent in +90 degree humid weather handing out a blurb about each of his books to anyone that walked by.  I tried to engage him in conversation.  He spat out a few sentences as he handed out his flier to the ill prepared passersby.  He still doesn’t get it.  He did teach me a lesson about how to not be “in your face” book promoting/selling.

Recently I attended an author presentation at a local independent bookstore.  The author was the brother of a friend of mine.  He’s a policeman in an average size California town and has written his debut police crime mystery, has an agent and was published by an imprint of McMillan.  His agent secured a two book deal for him and his second book is scheduled to be published in February 2016.  The format was to have a local journalist, recently fired from the newspaper, interview the author.  The questions centered on the author’s childhood history in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin setting for most of the novel.  The interviewer didn’t want to discuss the plot of the book, but did generally discuss three of the main characters in the book.  The author was asked if he considered independent publishing and he said he never considered it because he was focused on commercial fiction.  He also related how he had no voice in determining the title of his books, he was given a non-negotiable schedule to turn in the draft of the second book and the editing was done for him.  He is determined to be a commercial success.

I felt sorry for him because both the interviewer and the audience were not interested in the book but only interested in his life as a cop.  He did read a few paragraphs from the prologue to his book and it should have hooked a few in the audience.  His hardcover book sells for $26 which I find very expensive for a debut author.  Unless you are a true crime story zealot that is too much money for a book.  The next day I saw him and he wouldn’t reveal how many books had been sold.

His path was to be a commercial novelist, in a very specific genre that he has credibility for because he’s a cop.  He doesn’t need to spend time researching the details and he admitted that he fictionalized his own experiences. 

He has given up creative control of his writing in exchange for commercial success.  He never talked about having readers – just selling books.

Talking with him reinforced my decision to be an independent author.  I retain total creative control of my work.  I want to have a relationship with my readers.  My life as an author has opened many unexpected doors including my own radio show interviewing local authors, leading two book groups, working with a team of teachers to teach writing skills to fourth graders and many author events.    

So, to each their own.   

Did you miss me?  I haven’t posted my regular Wednesday blog for two consecutive weeks.  We spent one week in Waupaca at the beautiful Crystal River Inn.  The Waupaca area is Wisconsin’s land-o-lakes and we enjoyed paddling in our new kayaks.  After a brief few days back home we drove to Door County to stay in Ephriam at the Waterbury Inn.  The Door County State Park has bike trails that weave between the lake and the forested inland that we enjoyed.

I have to admit that I have struggled to get book reviews for my second novel, Out of Darkness.  The book has been published for three months and I have only two reviews.  The urban myth is that book reviews directly generate sales.  When I challenge those that make such claims for objective documentation they are not able to present the evidence.

That being said, I do believe that book reviews demonstrate that readers have read the work and care enough to take the time to write a review.  From an author’s viewpoint a review is another form of feedback and critique that is valuable for lifelong learning that authors, at least this one relish.

To entice readers to review Out of Darkness I am making a giveaway offer.    I will send readers a FREE copy of Out of Darkness in exchange for a book review to be posted on my Amazon site at:  within 1 MONTH of receiving my book in the mail.  The number of books I give away depends on the number of requests I receive for the book.  MAKING A REQUEST FOR A FREE BOOK DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE A FREE BOOK.  Your participation in the program means you also agree to receive e-mail updates regarding my work in the future.

To participate send an email to:  [email protected] and put BOOK GIVE AWAY on the subject.  In the e-mail provide:  Your name and full mailing address.