The Hook -- Surprise in Macau

Following is the opening scene of volume 2 of The Chinese Spymaster, tentatively titled The Ninja and the Diplomat. What I want to know is HOW DOES IT GRAB YOU? (The following image is of a casino interior downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.)

“Room service.”

Kim, the North Korean arms dealer, looked across the ample rosewood and silk chairs and sofa in the living room of his suite to his bodyguard and motioned with his head to send him to the door.

“We did not order anything.”

“Compliments of Viktor.”

The arms dealer hesitated then nodded. His bodyguard opened the door cautiously and waved a metal detecting wand over the man as he wheeled in a polished wooden cart laden with a basket of fresh lychees, a plate of tempting desserts, and the customary bottle of champagne in an ice bucket.

The man from room service was a local, so they could assume he was not from Viktor’s “inner circle” but Viktor notoriously used gangs of local organized crime.

He snatched a knife from the cart and attacked the bodyguard. Even though there was a crazed look in his eyes, suggesting that he was under the influence of some drug, he wielded the knife with skill. It was, however, as if a lucky beginner was fighting a hardened professional. The guard had to dodge three or four times before blocking a knife thrust with the metal detector and striking the attacker’s throat. The attacker arched backwards while slashing at the outstretched arm; the guard spun to avoid the knife and caught the attacker by the wrist. He swung the man effortlessly into a wall against which he crashed and lay crumpled

As the attacker slumped to the floor, another man moved silently into the doorway. “Was that too easy?” he asked as he raised his silenced Glock 19 and shot at the bodyguard who sprang at the same instant to relative safety behind the furniture in the living room

The arms dealer wasted no time in firing his 9 mm Beretta. He did not miss, not even when a second gunman rushed into the room.

“You really should try the egg tarts. They are better than what you get in Hong Kong,” purred a heavily accented voice from outside the door. “By the way, your marksmanship has improved greatly but there are three more of us and we have something—”

There was a short pause as guns clattered and curses were muttered. A door had opened by the staircase.

A shrill whistle blew.

“Stop! Police. Drop your weapons.”

The arrival of the police surprised everyone inside and outside the suite of rooms at the quietly stylish hotel that had served as Kim’s base of operations. Even so he maintained his usual calm facade as Viktor and his crew cursed. The police brought with them the odor of officious authority that blended well with the whiff of sulfur.

In a few minutes, all the attackers and those attacked were taken, separately, into custody.

What is this about a TARGET MARKET?

A writer has to be engaged in what he/she writes. Personally, I could not write with an eye out for a potential audience. I write because something bugs me or enthralls me; it demands that I pay attention and sort something out in my mind and perhaps on paper. Recently it had to do with some Mycenaean myths. But that is so last year.

Now it is the question why China seems to go out of its way to alienate its Eastern and Southeastern neighbors over some very small islands in the open seas. This does not make sense to me; there is something I must be missing and it has puzzled me for a year or two. O.K. so geopolitical intrigue is not everybody's  cup of tea. I wonder if it is anybody's? Should I add a pinch of romance and a dash of the paranormal? Honestly, I might succumb in volume three of the series but don't think I am ready for either yet.

There are tons of academic or military studies of the issue(s). I shall read a few to see if anything stands out, but my expectations in this area are low. My intention is to tell a story about some intelligent and reasonably open-minded Chinese and their attempts to make sense of these questions. I will wrap an intelligence agency around the concept to spice it up a little. Besides I have a series started called The Chinese Spymaster and I have a wish to continue the story of Spymaster Wang (up to a volume three).

The CIA will not be involved, nor MI-6, and not the Mossad. But yes, the story will center on an imagined Chinese intelligence agency having to deal with a matter of its national security and incidentally there are these perhaps larger questions. There will be local (Party) intrigue, of course. Some of the nation's concerned neighbors will have a role of major or minor consequence, depending.  

What market could I target for this? 

Beats me, but I would love some advice. A few zingers would be just lovely. 

Send me an email. Or a tweet.

BETA READERS --WE SALUTE YOU !

An author has only so many family members and friends to dragoon into reading "work in progress." This is a pity. Consider how we face difficult issues of life, career, parenting, etc. Don't we turn to a friend or several for advice or reaction to our own proposed actions? Well, writing needs that kind of feedback.

It is possible to pay for several edits of one's writing. If that is an option for you, go for it. I prefer the feeling of getting "live" reaction. For Agamemnon Must Die, I was fortunate enough to have four such "beta readers"--think beta sites, beta ware, etc. One found my manuscript completely off-putting. This is a valuable discovery: The world is not going to swoon over the appearance of my book. O. K. It is a concept that amazes, but I can live with that.

Fortunately, the next response was from a very enthusiastic reader. Wasn't there anything you did not like, I asked. Apparently not.

One reader was a friend and I recognized the risk of have taken this step. If a friend accepts your manuscript and does not say anything, I consider it not good form to remind the friend. I'd rather keep the friend than have a manuscript read. Also, if a friend is negative--if any reader reacts negatively--it presents a challenge. If you are paying for the edit, you can choose to not ever do business with that person again. That's hard to do if you are friends.

Anyway, those who wish to become a beta reader, be assured that it is a most rewarding process. You get to say more than you would in a review. You get to influence the development of a story, a book.

Here are some questions that you might ask yourself while doing a beta read:

Is It Boring?

~Did the beginning draw you into the story and leave you wanting to know more? How could you improve the beginning?

~Is any part of the plot implausible?

~Did the ending leave you satisfied? If not, what went wrong? Did the story leave unanswered questions? If so, what?

~Which part of the story was the best?

~Which part of the story was the worst?

~Does any part of the story drag?

~Are there parts that you skipped to get to “the good part”?

~Do you feel over-informed anywhere?

Do The Scenes Flow?

~Does one scene lead logically into the next?

~Did the actions and positions flow smoothly from one to the next, or did they jump as though something was skipped?

~Is there enough downtime between intense scenes to allow it to build to the next?

~Where the flashbacks smoothly integrated to fit into the current scene?

~Was anything redundant?

~If you could change any scene or scenes in the story, which one and why?

~Was there a nice clean scene break or chapter break between each change in point of view?

Is it Confusing (to try visualizing the story)?

~Can you see every action clearly in your mind or was it too confusing?

~Could you see what the characters looked like clearly?

~If you went there in real life would you recognize the location/place?

~Did you have to reread any part of the action sequences to understand who did what?

~How does the setting work?

During Dialog

~Could you visualize the characters talking?

~Could you see where the characters were while talking? 

~Did characters using gadgets and talents ignore their advantages for the sake of plot?

~Was the dialog necessary, did it add to the development of the story?

~Do the characters appear realistic? 

~Do their reactions seem logical?

~Could you feel the emotions between the characters?

~Does any one character get in the way of the story?

~Was there a character that would have made the story better by being left out?

Realism

~Is the plot, the development, the characters--all realistic?

To participate, consider joining a group in Goodreads.com that specializes in getting writers and beta readers together. There is choice of genres--romance, horror, paranormal, historical fiction, etc. Go to First Readers (a small group) or plunge directly into the Beta Reader Group (about 4,000 members).

You will notice that some beta readers are editors "in training" and may charge. That is entirely a matter for consenting adults.

More promotions !

"They" advise frequent promotions for Indie writers to succeed in selling their books. Of course one wants to be read even if one does not write for a specific audience. 

As an aside, let me confess that "What is your target market" is the question that gives me most pause when it comes up in an interview. 

I write what interests me, in a way that, I hope, would make it interesting to others. But it has never occurred to me to write a scene because it would sell. Obviously, this is something to ponder for the future.

For now, I have enlisted the help of the INDIETRIBE 
and I have also made Agamemnon Must Die
available for 0.99 from today until December 11 at its AMAZON site.

Interviewed by blogger-friend

The following interview if from Bella Harte's Blog reproduced by permission.

What inspired you to start writing novels for your chosen genre?

I wrote my first novel because when I read The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, considered one of four great Chinese classic novels, I found it very boring. A couple of years later I found myself studying Mandarin (it’s a long story) and wondered if I had read a bad translation. Then I got into it and turned the 120-chapter classic into a twenty-three chapter novel I called The Battle of Chibi. Somehow it flatters me whenever I am told how close to the original readers find it.

Agamemnon Must Die grew out of decades of wondering why at University I was told I had to read Aeschylus’ Oresteia because it was essential to the foundation of Western culture and politics.

Are you working on anything new right now and can you tell us more?

I am sketching out a sequel to The Chinese Spymaster, which I had written because I found James Bond and Jason Bourne entertaining but not at all believable. So I decided to write about an intelligence agency in China whose main concern is intelligence, and the finding and analysis thereof.

Can you offer any advice to the fledgling authors, just starting out?

Be very sure this is what you want to do. The muse, some say, is a bitch-goddess and the pay is terrible. Some call what it takes, “passion.” I have settled for “curiosity.” Also, be sure to ask yourself why anyone would want to read what you write.

What is/are your all-time favourite novel/s?

I honestly can’t say although I have read The Lord of the Ring three or four times (also The Alexandria Quartet) and all of the Harry Potter stories at least twice (also Remembrance of Time Past). I also wish I could write something like The Life of Pi.

What are you reading at the moment & would you recommend it to us?

The Wine-dark Sea, a book about an English captain and his crew. It is quite knowledgeable and witty.

Do you have a favourite quote, if so what is it?

Life is uncertain; eat dessert first.

How do you come up with the Titles for your novels?

There does not seem to be any magic to it and three of the five things I have written have a straightforward title. The fourth, Heaven is High and the Emperor Far Away is a well known saying in Chinese culture among those who don’t have country homes or perhaps any homes. The original was a three act play about a tea house in Beijing. It had over seventy characters, etc. I adapted it into two acts and twenty characters, but I wanted to keep the feel of a world similar to that which Dickens might have written about. It was also about struggling to survive during with war and civil war. Agamemnon Must Die came to me early in my writing of the novel.

Do you have a day job, other than writing – if so can you share?

I used to teach history, then I was a banker, but I am now retired.

What is your preferred method of writing:-  The plot pre-planned from day one, or just go with the flow and see what happens next?

Both actually. One has to adapt.

If you don’t like a character you’re writing about, what do you do?

            a. Kill them off instantly

             b. Get over it and learn to like them

             c. Give them a whole new personality

            d. or something else – do tell?! Please!

You are the author and can do anything you want with the characters. But they do grow roots, so to speak. In any case, it should be easier than breaking up. If it isn’t, you need more help from a different department.

Do you have any input in the Cover design of your novel?

One tries. Cover designers should have a mind of their own though.

Who would be your dream cast if your novel was made into a movie?

Angelina Jolie as Clytemnestra (like a majestic Lara Croft) and Brad Pitt as her lover.

Tell us one thing that no-one else knows about you – your darkest secret if you dare!

I am an old Chinese male who wishes he had had the opportunity to play the role of Lady Macbeth.

Can you tell us why you think we’d love to read your novel?

The War, the Trojan War, is over. In Mycenae, it’s back to reality. Except the gods have something unfinished on their agenda. Wouldn’t you want to know what it is?

Finally, what 7 words best sum up your novel?

Love, reasonableness, realistic goals, honour, courtesy, courage.

Day 17. Twenty-seven thousand words to go

The National Novel Writing website is quite useful. It told me, for instance, that as of today the seventeenth I had 27,000 words to go. and should be writing at the rate of 1,943 words per day for the rest of November, Thanksgiving Day included (no football then). I had reported that to date I have written 22,801 words.

I am not sure whether to be comforted since my target was to write two thousand words a day, but it is killing me. I feel like the fifty year old parent I was after having taken my then preteens on a horseback ride up and down some national park trail. Would I make it to dinner? Is there enough tylenol or advil to make me feel whole again?

Several other fellow writers in a local community group are also in this month of insane endeavor and are slightly ahead. Perhaps they "shaved their points" in our discussion to allow me to feel better. On the other hand, a correspondent blithely reported that he had not only written thirty thousand words but also just released a CD of original yuletide songs.

Both those who encourage and those who humiliate (without malice aforethought) are to be cherished. So help me God.

NaNoWriMo, the first step

Perhaps I took the first step last year. If so, it did not lead anywhere. Our local writers' group hosted two regional facilitators (or whatever it is that they are called) for an evening earlier this month and I was inspired to think I would try again. Besides, I am experiencing a writer's block in the worst way and believe extreme measures are in order if I am to get even a draft of the second volume to The Chinese Spymaster (published in 2013) done/started this year. 


The spy novel was announced as the first of three as I wanted to challenge myself to write something other than about Chinese Classics. Since last year, I have written a retelling of a GREEK classic (the subject of several posts on this blog), but I did not know this when I dreamed up the Spymaster. As an aside, let me note that some kind of political correctness filter must be in place on this site or on the sites to which I link this blog because the cover of The Chinese Spymaster will not show at the other site. But I digress.

As the facilitators shared their enthusiasm, I was lulled into thinking this year's NaNoWriMo would be a good exercise, at the very least. I determined that I would sign up and be official this year.

So here's the OFFICIAL logo and the link to the NaNoWriMo website. The website requires participants to check in regularly and to upload the novel occasionally. It also provides opportunities for writers to connect in person or "virtually." Early
life experience has taught me that I was more likely to get something done if I told other people, especially family (Mom in particular), what I wanted to achieve. 

Alas, Mom is no longer around. So I am telling my potential readers, you.