Clues: short film noir

A little film noir a la Fellini that should give you a few clues contained in Blue Moonlight, a Dick Moonlight PI Thriller recently reissued by Down & Out Books!

Where the Home Is

People ask me...and ask me often I might add...if I have a home.

An editor for a magazine I work for referred to me in a nice way as a vagabond, and a fellow author posted in Facebook just the other day , "Does Vince even have a home?" My sig other got a little frustrated with me about month or so ago when she shook her head saying, "I feel like I'm living with a nomad."

I assure you I'm neither a vagabond, nor a nomad, and I do have a home, even if the home I live in is not my own. This goes for both my studio and said sig other's place of residence. I will admit, having been on the road for months and months over the past five years has begun to make me feel like I don't have one place in the world that I can call my own, so much as places I can return to, to sleep, to wash my clothes, and to be cared for by others while I care for them. But always in the back and fore of my mind are thoughts and dreams of where I might escape to next.

Italy has been a great place to escape to. Florence in particular. It's a good place to write and a good place to think. Its cobblestones seem to resonate with the inspiration that so motivated DaVinci, Machiavelli, Dante, and yeah, Zandri. I wrote Blue Moonlight here which takes place in part in Florence. There isn't a time I don't walk past the Duomo in Piazza Dell Duomo and picture Dick Moonlight being chased by two Russian mobsters on top of the dome, a la Alfred Hitchock. For me, this is more than a place for escape, it is romance and intrigue. A place where, in the fall as the rains come and darkness settles in early, men don their leather coats, scarves and black watch caps, while the women put on their black leggings, short wool skirts, and tall black leather boots. 

Other places have been good for escape and writing. Paris is one of them. I even wrote well in Cairo, but always there was this sense that the barrel of an AK was staring me down. There is West Africa, and Moscow, and Athens, and even Lima. I've written in many places, but none of them I refer to as home. I will always consider them escapes regardless of the reason I go there.

In January I will return the US and my day will be the same as it is here in Florence. The only difference will be that at the beginning and end of the working day I won't hear the bells ringing from the Cathedral, nor will I make out the click-clack of the women's high heels pacing past my open French windows, nor will the street lamps shine down on the damp glazed stone in a way you never get sick of looking at. The voices will not speak Italian and the smells of olive oil and garlic cooking will not fill my head and make my mouth water. But when I look up on a clear night and see the same moon that we all see the world over wherever we lay our heads, I will know that I am never far from anywhere I call home.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Libraries Get It

The great Alexandrian Library: "Believe it or not, one day, the scroll will be replaced by something called a mass market paperback book..."




I'm week three into the re-release of five novels along with the release of two new novels: BLUE MOONLIGHT and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GRACE. The former by a major, Thomas & Mercer of Amazon Publishing and the latter from an indie, StoneHouse Ink. While the "Blue" E-Book edition, especially Kindle, is being pushed in a major way, it's also available in paper and audio, etc. For the time being however, "Grace" is available in E-Book only. In the meantime the new editions of my five previously published novels are moving like crazy. In E-Book primarily.

You see where I'm going with this...

In the past three weeks I've moved more units of my novels than I did in an entire first year with Delacorte. No lie. Much of that has to do with the tremendous author support I am lucky enough to enjoy from Amazon Publishing (They are so good, they even push my independent books, if you can imagine that...), but it also has a lot to do with the changing nature of publishing. E-Books have been and are now becoming the most popular way by which we read. The mass market paperback is quickly disappearing. So is the hardcover while the trade paperback takes over the roll of both.

This leaves me in a bit of a conundrum. I find myself wanting to do some in-person promotion of my books, aside from the stuff I do at several writerly book conferences every year (I never sell many books at these things anyway since they are attended primarily by other writers and all we do is have fun eating and drinking together). But approaching brick and mortar bookstores with the prospect of a book signing in support of paper being published by their major competitor is probably a road I want to avoid. And besides, book signings are always a gamble anyway. In short, they suck.

But there are other avenues to explore. Schools, universities, and hell, even book signings at coffee shops and my favorite, the local corner gin mill. And then there's the holy grail of book venues: the library. I have always been a fan of libraries and the fact that no matter what happens in terms of the evolutionary/de-evolutionary business/retail aspect of writing, the library will always withstand the test of time. A place to store many volumes, both ancient and new, as well as a place to share and exchange ideas. From Socretes to Stephen King, the library has always been a refuge for the intellectual, for the hopeful, the creative, the thinker, and the dreamer.

That clearly in mind, I contacted the head rep for my local library system, the Albany Public Library and asked her about setting up an event much like the one we did for Moonlight Falls back in 2010. This one would be in Dec/Jan in conjunction with yet another new Thomas & Mercer novel, MURDER BY MOONLIGHT, a fictional take on the infamous Porco axe murder case which hit New York's Capital region some years back. She was happy to hear from me for more than one reason. I played drums in her band a while ago, and we are friends. She was delighted to set up an event for "Murder." But just as I was about to tell her how great the trade paperback version of "Murder" looked, she said, "We're really pushing E-Books these days."

I must admit, I was taken a bit back. Me, the king of E-Books.

Libraries pushing E-Books...What a concept.

That said, my library event will more than likely be about the E-Book version of my brand new book and it will take place inside the hallowed halls of an institution older than even the world's most ancient cathedral. But then, E-Books are becoming far more popular than paper and libraries recognize this. Doesn't mean they are about to give up their paper. Just means they are adapting. Can't say the same thing about bookstores. But something tells me they'll get it eventually. Hopefully before it's too late.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

    

Release Me...Let Me Go!

I had six books released five days ago.
I'm still trying to wrap that number around my finger...get a grip on it.

Two of those titles are brand new releases...Well, scratch that. One of them, Blue Moonlight, is brand new. The other, The Concrete Pearl, is almost brand new, having been published originally about a year ago with hot indie publisher, StoneGate Ink....

The other books are as follows (click on the website link below if you want buy some):

The Remains

The Innocent

Godchild

Moonlight Rises....

All of the books are doing great right out of the gate and I'm not surprised. My new publisher is Thomas & Mercer of Amazon Publishing. While my agent could have accepted similar deals in terms of advance money from other, more traditional publishers, I would not even entertain the thought of it. I've been published by the traditional majors in the past and trust me when I say you are pretty much on your own when publication date arrives. They put your out to sea in a rubber raft. If you happen to make it to dry land unscathed, they gladly take credit for putting you on the right course. If you drift in circles and die from starvation, then well, it's your own damned fault. 

Not so with Amazon Publishing. Just yesterday I received an email from my marketing staff, detailing (in bullet form) their initial marketing plan. That's right, "initial." In the words of one of my peeps at T&M, "We are on fire for you!" That's the kind of enthusiasm and support that takes my breath away. And the numbers show it. While "Pearl" is closing in on the top 500 in overall Kindle sales, "Blue" is edging its way towards the top 1000. And the others are holding their own nicely. Paper and European/Asian sales are also beginning to happen as well.   

When I think back to where I was just five years ago after having published two books under two Random House imprints and how dreadful an experience it was, I shake my head and shiver. It's a new world and the new publishing model is quickly dismantling an old system that worked for only a few, very wealthy people, while writers were considered a necessary evil.

I'm embracing it. Are you?

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Sleeping "in" the Job: How I Create a Story

That ain't me catching flies...

I work a lot.
I write nearly everyday.
When I'm not writing, I'm still writing.
Sort of.
Often times, people lie in bed and worry about stuff: The dwindling bank account...Paying off the student loans...Is the wife cheating on me?...My boss sucks...Looks like I'll never make it Spain in this lifetime...That sort of thing.
But when I lie in bed, or close my eyes some place else like a on transatlantic flight somewhere, I think about stories. Plots and characters and story lines. If I hit upon something that really excites me, I feel a physical twinge in my body, much like a short, sharp electric sharp (I'm not making this up). I open my eyes, feel a smile form on my lips. I've created a new novel in my head. I've written without having typed or penned a single word.
How do you write when you aren't writing?
 
To Pre-Order the brand new Zandri Novels, MURDER BY MOONLIGHT AND BLUE MOONLIGHT go here: WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Does Size Really Matter?

I was recently asked by the ITW Thriller "Roundtable" if, as a an author, I thought a thriller had to be played out only on a large canvass or if an intimate setting might suffice. Here's my neither right or wrong answer:

I believe an intimate story can thrill as much as a story played out over a large canvas. As always it's what the author brings to the story...the tone, the pace, the setting (even if it's a cafe table occupied by a man and a woman in conflict), the dialogue, the ability to use flashbacks as a devise to shift the setting from the intimate to the large.

I'm reminded of that famous writing exercise in which the student is asked to write a story that has a beginning, a middle, and an ending and the only character will be a piece of fruit. But the trick is, the true identity of the fruit can never be revealed (You can't start the story out by writing, "I'm an orange"). It can only be described. I'm also reminded of a movie I watched recently on Netflix about a contractor working in war-torn Iraq who has the misfortune of waking up inside a coffin buried in the earth. All he has on him is a cell phone and a lighter, and it's either call for help or die. The story in particular was far too claustrophobic for me to endure the entire ninety or so minutes, but it was certainly thrilling.

There are no real rules for writing thrillers (Okay, who disagrees with this statement?). Traditionally speaking, as both a writer and a reader, I prefer a pile-driving plot with an eclectic and rich cast of characters, and a story that takes my protagonist on the trill ride of his or her life. I have some novels, like the forthcoming Blue Moonlight, that has my main character, detective Dick Moonlight, chasing after a zip-drive that contains sensitive nuclear secrets in New York, Florence, Italy (Yup, there's a Hitchcock-style chase scene between Moonlight and a leather-clad Russian thug on top of the Duomo), and back again. But I also have a new offering called Permanence, that although taking place also in the US and Italy, involves only a man and a woman in serious, if not dangerous conflict. I consider both thrillers, but while the former might please a large variety of readers, the latter is more suited to an audience that might enjoy a more ummmm, gasp, literary style psychological suspense read.

In the end, if an author really wants to break out of his shell and come to realize his true story-telling potential, he needs to experiment with different types of stories, different forms of writing, different POVs and certainly, different canvas sizes.

As an author, what kinds of risks are you willing to take?

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Bri Reporting for the Vox: Screamcatcher

Howdy Voxers,

If you don't know from social media I am Vince's new full time publicist. Some of you might know me from Facebook or as a guest blogger here at the Vox. Anyways I'll be popping in with updates, invitations and news from time to time for Vince. With me on board that leaves time for our favorite author to write. So I hope you'll tolerate me. I promise to keep it fun and exciting.

To make good on that promise my first post will be the Scream Catcher blog tour and reveal of the new trailer.

What so different about this Zandri trailer compared to previous ones?

This one has Zandri written all over it from footage, editing, design and creation.

How is that possible? Did Vince invest in a sharpie and write Zandri on everything?

No his son's Jack and The Bear produced and filmed it. The whole idea was Vince's as well.

So sit back, not alone hopefully this is a Zandri trialer, and enjoy. Then check out the blog tour calendar of events below.

December 1:Review@ livetoread-krystal.blogspot.com

December 5:Guest Post@ sithereandread.com

December 7: Interview@ double-crossing.com

December 9: Review@ joelmandre.info

December 14: Review@ readingreadingandlife.blogspot.com
December 18: Review @ http://www.curlingupbythefire.blogspot.com/

December 19:Review @ http://lifeinreviewblog.wordpress.com/,       http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/
December 20: Review@ reviewsbymolly.com

December 21: Review,GuestPost&Giveaway@ mamaknowsbooks.blogspot.com

December 22:Review@ the-top-shelf.com

December 23:Guest Post@ the-top-shelf.com

December 23: Review@ booksrusonline.com

December 24:Guest Post&Giveaway@ thebookconnection.blogspot.com

December 25: Spotlight&Giveaway@ cmashlovestoread.blogspot.com

December 26: Review&Giveaway@ tweezlereads.blogspot.com
December 28: Review @http://booksake.blogspot.com/

December 29: Review@ celticladyreviews.blogspot.com

December 30: Review@ jhsiess.com

December 31: Review@ readerssuite.blogspot.com

December 31:Review@ kristincanread.blogspot.com