Amazon Video Interview
While I was in London, I did a video interview for Amazon.co.uk. I wrote a blog post about it last month. The video is meant to be embedded on the Amazon Page for The Painted Man as a sales tool, but I was also told it would be live on YouTube and that I and my various publishers around the world were free to use it with impunity.
Then a month went by. No video. I guess the editing folks were a little backed up. I kind of forgot about it.
Then, this morning, google alerts pointed me to YouTube, and voila! There it was. After they boiled down 30 minutes of interview into 4 minutes of video, I think I came off pretty lucid. It’s not even up on the Amazon site yet, so check it out here first:
Wow, this is the first time I’ve actually heard the voice that goes to the writing after all these years. Strange. It doesn’t quite register yet…
It’s a good video! YouTube..you’re on your way!!! Schweet!
This is a very nice interview. You clearly explain your intentions with the book and give ample backstory for those who don’t know you or where you’re coming from. Well done.
The beard works. Keep it.
I never knew that you and your family personally experienced 9/11. It really adds a whole new dimension to The Painted Man.
I was so nervous before the film crew showed up at my hotel that Myke, Dave and I popped open a bottle of champagne. I had a nice buzz going for that interview. You can’t really tell, though.
Hi,
Long time visitor to the website, though I haven’t read your novel yet. I have read all of your blog posts about writing and taken them to heart, being a (albeit-unpublished-so-far) writer. I wanted to ask you a question, not sure if this comment is the right place but not sure where else to put it…
I picked up Scott Meredith’s book Writing to Sell after reading about it on your blog post and am about three quarters of the way through. You mentioned that there were certain things you disagreed with, rules that you break all the time. I was wondering what they were. Its really made me take a look at the book I’m working on at the moment, but there are certain things I’m not sure of. For example, he says that the protagonist should always be personally involved in the outcome. However, if you look at a murder mystery with a detective, they don’t always have a personal involvement, beyond doing their job. Is this one of the rules you don’t agree with?
Sorry this has turned out so long!! 🙂 If you get time to respond, that would be great, if not I’m really enjoying your blog and can’t wait to read the novel!!! 🙂
Joel
Hi Joel. I’d be happy to give my thoughts on Writing to Sell. Lord knows I have plenty; the margins are filled with my notes. I’ll write it up as a blog post sometime soon. Some of my other readers have read it, too, and perhaps will add their thoughts in the comments section.
Hi Joel, Peat’s agent also prescribed “Writing To Sell” for me.
The personal involvement “rule” you state above is one I agree with. I’m not a huge reader of hard boiled detective novels, but I would argue that the best ones (Hercule Poirot comes to mind) *do* result in personal involvement of the protagonist in the outcome of the investigation.
Even if this involvement is tangential (the desire of the detective to prove he is the best, to see that justice is served, etc. . . ), it’s still important. A protagonist personally divested from the plot outcome isn’t going to be sufficiently compelling. The very best detective yarns have the protagonist becoming unintentionally personally involved in the case (a lot of good noir fiction works this way, with the private dick falling for the dame who brought him the case – and usually getting a raw deal in the process).
After all – if the protagonist doesn’t really care, why the heck should your reader?
Hope that helps. Glad to see you reading the book. And, for the record, I drank a lot more champagne than Peat did.
I’m glad the champagne was put to good use! I really wanted to send you a big bottle of cider, but the guy I spoke to was giving me a hard time, so I picked something more typical.
I think you did a great job. And your haircut looked nice.
Hi all,
Wow, thanks for your responses. Peat (can I call you Peat? 🙂 ), I look forward to reading the blog post! Myke, that does make sense. I got to thinking about it later on and realised that the ‘personal involvement’ rule made a lot of sense. So I’ve changed my MC to have a more personal involvement. It’s a great book; I’m really interested to know what other people took away from it.
Thanks again,
Joel
I agree with the personal involvement thing too, but only to a point. I’ll elaborate in my post on the book.
Everyone can call me Peat. Been using that moniker since I was 12. Even my mom spells it that way now.