by
Scott D. Parker
"Do you know what the difference between a saxophone and a lawnmower?" my college band director asked all of us sax players one day. "Vibrato."
We all chuckled, mostly, and then reminded ourselves that at least we didn't play the French horn. I mean, really, you know the difference between a French horn and a Scud missile? The Scud's more accurate.
More chuckles. Then the slew of "How many trumpet players does it take to screw in a light bulb" jokes. We band geeks have a ton of internal band jokes that we laugh at and no one else gets.
I thought of this the other day when I polled my fellow DSDers on a simple question: What, if any, are the differences between a traditional mystery and a cozy? If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll remember my reading and writing interests are changing (or, rather, expanding to encompass more types of stories).
While I got some good feedback, Jay raised a separate, but important, question: Do we keep talking about all of these distinctions because they're real and important, or are they real and important because we keep talking about them?
It's a natural inclination. We mystery readers like mystery books so we gravitate towards others with the same interests. We create societies, we create awards to bestow, and we have in jokes. So do the SF folks. And the romance group. And so on for just about every group in the world. It helps us feel good that we fellows who like what we like.
What about Jay's question? Does the talking about the distinctions between cozies and noir and traditional mysteries and police procedurals and hard-boiled PI stories make them real and important or are they important because we talk about them?
TV Show of the Week: "Harry's Law" I watched the first two episodes last night and I have to say that I always enjoy watching David E. Kelly character pontificate in court. And I still miss "Boston Legal."
Showing posts with label book groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book groups. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, April 30, 2010
McLean, Unplugged
By Russel D McLean
This evening's post will be short, written late as it is, due to the fact that I have been out, doing what writers do... meeting readers.
The joke going around certain quarters is that this evening was McLean, Unplugged. A book group meeting with a guest author in a small village, but this is the kind of event I love to do - - talking to and interacting with enthusiastic readers is one of the pleasures of this gig.
It was the kind of evening, however, where I wasn't sure what to expect. The organiser -the lovely Teri - had told me that "maybe a wee talk about the book and we'll take questions" was in order, which sounded fine to me. But from the moment I arrived the questions came thick and fast, and I was only too happy to take them, even if I did frequently lose my train of thought. It was also interesting to talk about various topics that I had never considered before. That's the other joy of readers - - they mention things you would never have thought of before. And the fact that they all just leapt in, quite unafraid, was wonderful; a whole different experience from larger events where often people are hesitant to ask any questions after a talk.
This kind of one on one meeting - there were maybe nine or ten there in total - is also good for the readers, who have the chance to interact on a more casual level than they might otherwise. And to ask some harder questions (like, did you make this word up or is it slang? when I couldn't even remember the word in question!) or make some valuable insights. One member even taught me to do sweary words in Sign Language (and it was interesting to learn that you can even sign with a Dundonian accent).
So with thanks to Teri and the Gateside book Group* for a wonderful evening, some great questions... and for buying the book!
And since today's post is short, here's some bonus footage from the launch of THE LOST SISTER last year...
*And here's a question, why don't many men join book groups? It seems to be a common question among those I know... and even as a man who is not part of a book group, I don't really have an answer...
This evening's post will be short, written late as it is, due to the fact that I have been out, doing what writers do... meeting readers.
The joke going around certain quarters is that this evening was McLean, Unplugged. A book group meeting with a guest author in a small village, but this is the kind of event I love to do - - talking to and interacting with enthusiastic readers is one of the pleasures of this gig.
It was the kind of evening, however, where I wasn't sure what to expect. The organiser -the lovely Teri - had told me that "maybe a wee talk about the book and we'll take questions" was in order, which sounded fine to me. But from the moment I arrived the questions came thick and fast, and I was only too happy to take them, even if I did frequently lose my train of thought. It was also interesting to talk about various topics that I had never considered before. That's the other joy of readers - - they mention things you would never have thought of before. And the fact that they all just leapt in, quite unafraid, was wonderful; a whole different experience from larger events where often people are hesitant to ask any questions after a talk.
This kind of one on one meeting - there were maybe nine or ten there in total - is also good for the readers, who have the chance to interact on a more casual level than they might otherwise. And to ask some harder questions (like, did you make this word up or is it slang? when I couldn't even remember the word in question!) or make some valuable insights. One member even taught me to do sweary words in Sign Language (and it was interesting to learn that you can even sign with a Dundonian accent).
So with thanks to Teri and the Gateside book Group* for a wonderful evening, some great questions... and for buying the book!
And since today's post is short, here's some bonus footage from the launch of THE LOST SISTER last year...
*And here's a question, why don't many men join book groups? It seems to be a common question among those I know... and even as a man who is not part of a book group, I don't really have an answer...
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