Seven crime novels that killed me. (But inspired me even more.)

I've always loved crime.

Murder. Larceny. Blackmail. Arson. Kidnapping. Burglary. Serial killings. Extortion. Gang violence. It doesn't matter what sort of crime, I'm up for it.

Luckily, it hasn't landed me in jail yet, but it has given me a love of one of the most popular genres of writing.

The Crime Novel.

Here are seven books that have inspired me to write about crime. 

And then there were none.

From the Queen of Crime herself. I remember reading this when I was eleven - it was called something terribly non-PC then. Having finished it, I went back to the beginning and started again. All the clues were there, I just hadn't seen them. Fiendishly well plotted, even for Agatha Christie

The Daughters of Time

Again, something I read when I was young. Beautifully constructed, it made me revisit the history of the period and re-evaluate all that I believed about Richard III. Great title too. I read it again this year. It stands the test of time which is always the sign of a great novel.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

The series of works that gave rise to the modern crime novel. An eccentric detective, a fumbling sidekick and stories that blew readers away with their sheer brilliance. Every other crime novel is measured against the master.

The Name of the Rose

Every once in a while, a book comes along that shows the crime novel can be far more than a series of gory killings. This has wit, erudition, an understanding of philosophy and, at its heart, a plea for more laughter in the world. Who could ask for more?

The Remorseful Day

A great central character with enough quirks to sink the Titanic. Another sidekick with a love of the Full Monty. Great plots, intriguing stories, palpable intelligence, and the most wonderful sense of place: Oxford in the Eighties.

L A Confidential

I could have chosen any of James Ellroy's books. Once I start them, I can't put them down. They have such a pace, style and sheer pizzazz, that is quintessentially American. Elroy leaves out the bits other authors keep in. I'd love to have those bits.

The Talented Mr Ripley

Vastly underrated, Patricia Highsmith for me is the writer's writer. Beautiful sentences, crisp characterisation and an understanding of human psychology, all go hand in hand to make this a wonderful crime novel. Even better, she created an anti-hero that we could all love. Brilliant.

So those are my choices. I can hear you all shouting now. How could you leave out Mario Puzo, Val McDermid, Stieg Larssen, Peter James, Ellis Peters, Dashiell Hammett, P D James,Thomas Harris, C J Sansom and Stephen King? 

Nobody said choosing seven was easy. You have to murder some you love. But that's the job of a crime writer after all.

What would be your most inspirational crime novels?

SEVEN TIPS FOR WRITING CRIME. (NUMBER FIVE IS THE KILLER.)

 

I turned to crime about three years ago.

Luckily, I haven’t been caught yet. Here are the basics of crime writing that have helped me stay out of the long reach of the law.

1. You need a crime.

Pretty basic, I know. It could be any crime but the best is a nice, juicy murder, red in tooth and claw. Something for the reader to get their teeth, and their imagination, into.

2. You need a likeable criminal.

It sounds strange but if your criminal is totally evil, he becomes one dimensional. Readers like to empathise with characters, even killers. Hannibal Lector is the classic example of a truly evil man with whom one can imagine having a very pleasant dinner, including a bottle of Chianti and fava beans. I would avoid the liver though.

3.  You need a hunter.

Crime novels often take one of the oldest themes known to man; the idea of the quest. Somebody has to want to bring your killer to justice. Remember ‘The Fugitive’. How many years was Dr Richard Kimble on the run?

4.  You need motives.

Why is your killer killing people? Does he take pleasure from it? Is he seeking revenge? Or justice? Or money? Or just company? Murderers always have a reason. I spend a lot of time working out why my killer is killing. Again, it helps readers believe in my characters.

5.  You need to be surprising/original/unexpected/deadly.

Keep people up late at night, turning your pages to find out what happens next. When I’m writing, I always ask myself, what would not happen now? And then I make it happen. Your readers may wake up grumpy and baggy-eyed in the morning, but they will feel much better.

6.  You need to know forensics, poisons, weapons, police procedures.

It’s the CSI effect. Unless you get these details right, your reader will not believe you. I took three courses to get to know how police forces and forensics teams work. And I never stop learning. My latest is the effect of cold on the human body. Did you know your corneas can freeze? Now, there’s the start of a novel.

7.  Lastly, you need to want to live crime.

Because you are going to be in the murderer’s head for a lot of the time. Or surrounded by the stench of death. Or stepping in blood. Or strangling a victim, living the moment through their eyes of those and of the killer.

You need to want to spend time in those places.

Which sounds a bit strange, but is actually an amazing journey to take one’s mind.

Why I turned to crime.

A few years ago, a group of hikers discovered the mummified body of a man, high up in the Alps.  For some reason they called him Otzi.

After a forensic examination, pathologists discovered that Otzi had died 5000 years ago. Even more, he had been shot in the back with an arrow. Was he running from an enemy? Had someone ambushed him? Was he attacked and robbed?

We'll never know the truth, but that doesn't stop people from speculating. And there lies the beauty of historical detective fiction.

At the most basic level, it's trying to understand a crime that happened in the past, using the limited techniques of that time. That crime may be the real life terror of Jack the Ripper. Or the created horror of C J Sansom.

I'd been writing for most of my life, and had finished a couple of novels without ever publishing them. One day, I was re-categorising my books (as you do) and decided to change from an alphabetical author list to something more akin to the Dewey Decimal Classification.

I know, I know, either I'm terminally OCD or I have far too much time on my hands.  Probably both. But I discovered that the biggest section was crime, followed by historical novels, with a wonderful cross-over between the two.

At the time, I was living in Shanghai and loving the city. Particularly, walking around the French concession and discovering the old art deco buildings that still exist in profusion.

Then a visit to the Shanghai Police Museum sealed it for me. Why not bring all those elements together in a historical crime novel set in the 1920s? Danilov was born and I began to write the first book. 

I had finally turned to crime.

And, one day, I'll work out who killed Otzi. 

It's launch day.

Finally, the day arrives. Death in Shanghai is finally published and available.

.

It's been a long journey. Full of re-writes, re-thoughts, re-plotting and re-editing. But the more I worked on it, the more I realised that this was just the process of writing.

Things develop. They become better. They find their own voice. And resolution.

A bit like life really.

I hope people enjoy reading it.

Which cover?

My publishers have been kind enough to design two different covers for 'Death in Shanghai'. But only one will be available on launch day, September 10th.

Which do you like? 

Let me know your favourite on my Facebook page at writermjlee or on the website writermjlee.com

And, if you really like it, why not pre-order at:

UK: ow.ly/QNMH8

US: ow.ly/RkcYa

                                                                                                    Number 1.

                                                                                                     Number 2.

Editing Tricks #2. The Exclamation Mark!

It's ugly and it serves no purpose other than to tell me you can't write a sentence.

What it it?

The not-so-humble exclamation mark. Using too many suggests you are trying to shout at your reader rather than talk to them. And using them with a question mark- !!?! - is just overkill.

Here's a conversation between Dean Koontz and an overenthusiastic fan:

FAN: 'OH, MY GOSH, I AM YOUR BIGGEST FAN!!! YOU ROCK!! YOU HAVE GIVEN ME SO MANY THRILLS AND SO MUCH EXCITEMENT OVER THE YEARS. THANK YOU!! I HAVE VERY STRANGE DREAMS WHICH MY HUSBAND BLAMES ON YOUR BOOKS. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAVE EVER GOTTEN AN IDEA FOR A NOVEL FROM A DREAM? HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR INTENSITY? I WAS SCARED TO DEATH READING IT! THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HOURS OF WONDERFUL READING!!'

DEAN KOONTZ : I have several pieces of advice, and because I care for you, I want you to listen carefully. First, massive amounts of caffeine taken with steroids and methamphetamine makes a deadly combination. Second, your husband is obviously a bad influence. Third (and this is not generally known), when we are born, we are granted by God a specific number of exclamation points. When we use them up, it is our time to go. As for getting an idea from a dream-it has never happened to me. Indeed, when I’m working on fiction, I rarely have dreams. I only dream when I’m between book projects. And thanks for your enthusiasm!!!!!!! (Don’t worry, I’ve got tens of thousands of exclamation points remaining in my allotment.)

To get rid of exclamation marks simply go to the find and replace section of your word document.  In find, type in a !. The number you have used will come up and then you can go through them one by one, replacing them with a full stop or rewriting the sentence to make it work without the !.

There. Done. No more exclamation marks!

Like Dean Koontz, I've still got a few left in my lifetime's supply.

Editing Tricks # 1. Getting rid of weasel words.

All writing is re-writing. And more re-writing and more re-writing. In this blog and others in the series, I'll attempt to show you some of things I've learnt to help shorten the editing process, making your writing better and more fluid.

Today's tip is Using the Find and Replace function on your writing programme.Whether it's Word, Pages or something else, this is one of the key functions.

This function can be used in many different ways; Searching and destroying adverbs. Getting rid of accidental double spacing. And basic polishing.

I use it to get rid of weasel words that have a habit of creeping into my writing.  Weasels are those words that creep into writing but can effectively be eliminated without losing meaning or sense in a sentence. In fact, removing them adds pace to all you work, making it easier to read.

Examples of weasel words are;

    •    nice

    •    that

    •    little

    •    and then

    •    quite

    •    just

    •    totally

    •    good/great

    •    very

    •    really

In a first draft I might find over a 100 examples of each word. 'That' is my own particular bugbear. I've just checked one piece of writing. There were 75 examples of 'that' in just 28 pages. 

To make it work, simply go to your program, find the edit heading and scroll down to the Find function. Type in the word you want to check and see how many examples come up. I immediately reduce the number of instances by at least half by rewriting and eliminating. It's amazing the effect just doing this simple edit has on my writing

In the next post, I'll talk about he dreaded exclamation mark. Get rid of it!

Getting the words right.

'Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?
Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.
Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?
Hemingway: Getting the words right.'

Hemingway making his 38th revision.

Hemingway is one of my favourite writers. Achieving his pared back style took a lot of work, 39 revisions for the last page alone. 

I know exactly how he feels. Having written five novels now, I've come to the conclusion that all writing is rewriting. It's that process of constantly searching for the right words in the right order with the right rhythm, which makes something sing off the page. When I was working in advertising, I would sometimes write a single line over 100 times until it felt right, driving my co-workers mad. But if it was going to be done, it was going to be done properly.

Now I don't suggest you do this with every line of your novel. Sometimes you have to say to yourself enough is enough. There is the law of diminishing returns when the amount of work required to change something is not reflected in any improvement in the finished piece. 

When you get to that point, STOP. Say thank you very much and start a new project.

Perfectionism is a disease that has no cure. The more perfect something has to be, the less perfect it will always seem.

I've never thought anything I've ever done was perfect. Simply because, once I believed that, there was nothing left to achieve. Perfectionism is like nirvana -  to be strived for rather than attained.

That should not stop you from rewriting though. Go through that process of creating the plot and looking for holes. Fleshing out the characters so that they are tangible. Finding a voice for each character so that their dialogue seems unique and believable. Digging out and illuminating those themes that hide in the background like shadows. And finally. always finally, checking grammar, word choice, syntax, dangling modifiers, weasel words, and all the rest of the technical stuff that makes or breaks a novel.

I'll be illustrating a few tips and tricks that i've discovered for the last of these in the next post.

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend. And to all my friends in Singapore, happy 50th anniversary!!!!

Seven books that changed my life.

I originally wrote this post for Daniel Riding as a guest on his site. Here it is for those who haven't seen it.

There are books you read for pleasure, others for fun, even more just because you are lying on a beach and having nothing else to do. And then, there are the books you read that change your life. Here are seven that changed mine, for good and bad.

The Name of the Rose. Umberto Eco

At last, proof that a detective novel could be more than a whodunnit. Here were characters, philosophy, intelligence and history, all wrapped up in a murder mystery. The denouement was integral to the theme of the book, and left the reader with a wonderful sense of rightness. I’ve read it five times now, each time finding something new to like.

Lord of the Rings. J R R Tolkien

When I was fifteen, I went through a phase of reading long books. War and Peace. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. And this. Each was over a thousand pages. But it is this one I fell in love with. Tolkien created a world filled with wizards, trolls, elves, dwarves and hobbits that was believable and wonderful at the same time. Written during the war, it has passed the test of time and is still as relevant today as it was when I read it all those years ago.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee

Another book where I became lost in created world. This time of the Amercan Deep South. Who couldn’t fail to love Atticus Finch as the father we all wished we could have. Harper Lee will publish a new novel soon. I wish she had decided not to. One book is her gift to the world. It’s enough.

Master and Commander.  Patrick O’Neill

I really want to nominate the whole Aubrey-Maturin series of twenty books. I’ve read them all twice. Humanity, an understanding of nature, and adventure, all set against the Napoleonic wars. Brilliant.

David Copperfield. Charles Dickens

I was given this by an aunt when I was eight. She had seen the first episodes of the TV series and thought it was a children’s book. I read it slowly but thoroughly over the next year. I think it gave me my love of reading. The realisation that there were these other worlds that one could explore through books. I will be forever grateful to my Aunt Nancy.

From those wonderful folks that gave you Pearl Harbor.. Jerry Della Femina

I was in my twenties, I’d done a degree and a master’s. I’d worked in a few jobs but nothing had really interested me, so I was a bit of job-hopper. Then I picked up this book for 5p at a Thrift Store and thought that his job sounded fun. I ended up getting a position and have spent the last twenty-five years as an advertising Creative Director. The book is probably out of print now but just watch Mad Men and you’ll get the whole gist of the story.

The Red and the Black. Stendhal

You know that feeling when you never want to a book to end? I enjoyed that with this book. As soon as I finished it, I immediately turned to page one and started it all over again. A wonderful novel about love and life and people.

So those are the seven books that changed my life. None of them particularly intellectual, but all affected me in one way or another. What are the seven books that changed your life? 

Martin Lee has been writing for his whole adult life as a university  researcher, social worker and advertising creative  director. His debut novel, Death in Shanghai, will be published on the September 10th. You can find our more about him over at writermjlee.com or his Facebook page.

What kind of writer are you? A Pantser or a Planner?

Their are two kinds of authors in this world. Pantsers and Planners.

For the uninitiated, a pantser is a writer who doesn't work with a set plan, somebody who flies by the seat of their pants. A classic example of this kind of writer is Stephen King.

The opposite is a planner or outliner. Sometimes , these writers go into excruciating detail over the plots of their books, spending months or years working their outlines before they start writing. Jeffrey Deaver takes eight months to outline his books and only two months to write them. Jo Nesbo writes 100 page outlines that he then fleshes out to create the book itself.

Of course, these are the two extremes and there are variations that lie between the two.

I would describe myself as a pantser. I have a beginning, usually an image in my head. I will also have an end scene or location, plus a couple of scenes that I use as way points in the novel.  But that's about it.

Who's the killer? I don't know when I start.

Why did he commit the murder? I haven't a clue.

How will he get caught? Your guess is as good as mine.

By the time I've reached the end of the book, I will have worked all this out and so, hopefully, will my reader.

If you are a pantser, like me, then you are going to spend a lot of time editing your books. In my case, about the same amount of time as I spend writing the first draft. There's going to be an awful lot of time spent working out and back rationalising the plot. Plus planting the clues exactly where you want them.

It all takes time. But I wouldn't have it any other way because I hope I achieve a freshness and a surprise in the writing that is often missing from heavily planned books.

After all, if I don't know who the murderer is when I'm writing, how can the reader?

So next time you read a book, ask yourself, is the writer a planner or a pantser?

The funny thing is, you can usually tell.