Interviews with Indies: Larry Abrams — Philosophical Novelist

Posted on December 12, 2011 4:41 am UTC by bidinotto

 

(Note: My review of Larry Abrams’s debut mystery novel, The Philosophical Practitioner, can be found here, and I think it’s worth reading before proceeding with this interview. —RB)

~*~

The Vigilante Author: Okay, Larry, why don’t you tell us about your book?

Larry Abrams: The Philosophical Practitioner is a mystery/thriller/romance about a man (Eric) who helps people find answers to the big questions (and some small ones). Meanwhile he is trying to solve his own romantic problems with his old sweetheart who has the fame and fortune that he lacks. At the same time, a woman he’s never seen before is trying to kill him. He has to stop her, but to do so he needs to find out who she is and why she wants him dead. There’s also a lot of humor in the book, mainly because Eric sees the world largely the way I do, and I couldn’t resist.

The Vigilante Author: As I said in my review, I loved the humor throughout the book. Very wry, very dry. How would you characterize the tale? To me, it doesn’t seem to fit a neat category.

Larry Abrams: In addition to being a mystery/thriller romance as stated above, I’d say it’s also a self-help book, because some of the problems and conflicts Eric’s clients bring to him are and have always been universal.

The Vigilante Author: I loved the originality of the entire concept. The book is light-hearted and fun, but at the same time grapples with some big issues.

Now, tell me about this fellow Larry Abrams. Where did this guy come from?

Larry Abrams: I was spawned in a ditch by a mother who…no. Born in Brooklyn, went to Brooklyn Tech, where I met a great bunch of guys. Then on to the University of Chicago when I was 16 and to the University of Pennsylvania for a Masters, armed with which I couldn’t get a job for six months.

I worked in the 9-to-5 world for four years before quitting to devote most of my time to reading, thinking, playing chess—I became chess champion of NYC Mensa and the state of Connecticut, neither of which I could come close to doing today—and occasional attempts at writing. Meanwhile, I supported myself by sporadic forays into the stock market with my meager savings (more about how to begin doing this in the book). The Philosophical Practitioner is my first novel.

The Vigilante Author: I love the fact that you’re such a logical “numbers guy,” yet you have such a creative imagination. You really put a lot of that into the character of Eric.

Whatever possessed a man like you to write fiction, Larry? Teachers? Adolescent traumas? An encounter with a burning bush on the way to a Mensa meeting?

Continue reading →

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Book review: Larry Abrams’s THE PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTITIONER

Posted on December 11, 2011 6:55 am UTC by bidinotto

In an age of formula fiction, a novel with a fresh premise is an unexpected delight. The Philosophical Practitioner is such an original, witty, thought-provoking, and polished bit of writing that it’s hard to believe it is Larry Abrams’s debut novel.

Eric, the first-person protagonist of this clever tale, is a “philosophical practitioner.” That’s something like a psychotherapist or “life coach.” But instead of focusing on emotions and childhood traumas, Eric emphasizes the key role that reason, and his clients’ philosophic ideas and values, play in causing and resolving their problems, and ultimately, in achieving their dreams and happiness.

Eric isn’t rich, but he loves the intellectual challenges of his work, and he enjoys helping people straighten out their lives. He has a small roster of colorful clients, a cat named Circe, and a girlfriend named Sheila who is a famous movie actress. (How and why they are a couple is part of the story.)

Eric also has his own problems. Reconciling his modest New York lifestyle with that of his superstar, Hollywood-rooted girlfriend. Coping with his ailing father, who lives in a Florida nursing home. And — oh yes — worrying about that strange lady with a gun who shows up, repeatedly, at his office door, promising to kill him for reasons she won’t specify…then vanishing.

The latter mystery provides the story’s thread of mounting suspense. Eric must deal with that looming threat, emotionally and practically, while he wrestles with the problems that his neurotic clientele bring into his office. What is most clever about the story is how Abrams uses these sessions to explore some of the fundamental philosophical questions that we all face: how to find meaning in life; our need to define fulfilling goals; how to navigate the shoals of intimate relationships; whether to choose personal independence versus the siren calls of money, fame, and power.

If this material sounds dry, trust me: In Abrams’s hands, it is anything but. His dialogue is razor-sharp banter; descriptions of dress and mannerisms are transparent windows on characters’ souls; and Eric’s first-person, internal monologue is a virtual stand-up comedy routine for the reader, loaded with hilarious but incisive observations about all things large and small — anything that seizes his attention (which seems to suffer from a touch of A.D.D.). It’s great fun to look at the world through this character’s wry, shrewd, but quirky perspective.

Larry Abrams brings a fresh new voice to fiction that I want to hear again. There’s plenty of potential for Eric, the philosophical practitioner, to have a long and happy career, both in his office, and also in the pages of future books.

(The Philosophical Practitioner is available as an ebook or as a trade paperback. Read my interview with author Larry Abrams here.)

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Book review: Edd Voss’s RAMBLING

Posted on December 9, 2011 8:49 pm UTC by bidinotto

 

The cover of Rambling — Edd Voss’s collection of thirteen beguiling short stories — uses such adjectives as “unique,” “heartwarming,” and “legendary” to describe his tales. Well, they are all that, and more.

Mr. Voss is a cross-country truck driver. The cover photo shows a guy who looks like Charlie Daniels, and the stories he has collected sound like the kind that the famous country musician might tell — if he could write. Fortunately, Mr. Voss can write, and the compelling yarns he spins for us have a charm, sensitivity, and voice that are utterly distinctive.

The collection opens with “Welcome Home,” a poignant tale of a Jim, a trucker, and his youngest son Dave during a too-rare visit home. The boy has discovered a footlocker in the attic filled with mementos from his dad’s tours of service in Vietnam. Jim has never spoken of those days, but prompted by his youngest son’s questions, he opens up. Then he’s off to spend more weeks on the road. He finally returns, and the story ends with a touching twist that reminded me a bit of O.Henry.

Family takes center stage in a number of these stories, and Mr. Voss’s deep love for his own is everywhere evident. Particularly moving are “Christmas on the Mesa,” where a cowboy looking for a lost calf finds more than he bargained for, and “Jo Anna” — a hauntingly sad, stoically restrained, fictionalized retelling of the author’s loss of his own young daughter in a horse-riding accident. Another bit of autobiography is “Airborne: One Man’s Journey,” a vivid account of the grueling training he underwent during his Army days to become airborne-qualified.

Mr. Voss is a product of the American West, and he captures its vast grandeur and legends in such tales as “Apache Tears,” “The Ghost of Hi Jolly,” and “Storm.” But there are surprises, too. “Blind?” is a short story filled with an ominous, tactile sense of creepy menace that would have made a wonderful episode of the old “Twilight Zone” TV series. “Shade” is a futuristic, dystopian thriller that ends all-too-suddenly, with the promise of future episodes that could blossom into a novel. And there’s much more in these pages for you to enjoy.

Edd Voss is an American original. His unique voice rises from the heartland, and his diverse anthology of stories is as sprawling and charming as is the vast country that he explores from the cab of his eighteen-wheeler. This is a terrific collection, and I can’t wait for Mr. Voss’s next book. But you shouldn’t wait a minute longer to buy Rambling.

(Note: Check out my earlier interview with Edd Voss.)

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HUNTER: now a Wall St. Journal Top Ten Fiction Ebook Bestseller

Posted on December 9, 2011 6:38 pm UTC by bidinotto

While HUNTER has been a Top 10 Kindle bestseller, not every ebook reader uses a Kindle. There are Nooks, Sony Readers, Kobos, iPads, Android phones, and a host of other ereaders that obtain books from sources other than the Kindle Store.

That’s why it is hugely gratifying that HUNTER hit the Wall Street Journal’s “Top 10 in Fiction Ebooks” bestseller list for the week ending December 4, 2011, listed at #10. This list includes sales of ebooks from a host of sources other than Kindle, and it demonstrates the amazing sales generated by HUNTER from the date that the special Amazon promotion began, on November 27, through December 4. During that period, over 24,000 HUNTER ebooks were purchased.

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HUNTER: Now the #1 Best-selling Mystery-Thriller on Kindle

Posted on December 3, 2011 1:32 am UTC by bidinotto

At 4:35 p.m. Eastern on December 2, 2011, HUNTER passed thriller master Michael Connelly’s new release, The Drop, to replace it in the # 5 spot on the Kindle Bestseller List. Repeat: HUNTER is now the fifth best-selling item in the Kindle Store — fiction, nonfiction, games, the works.

But more intensely meaningful for me is that in passing Connelly’s latest blockbuster, HUNTER became the #1 Kindle Bestseller in “Mystery & Thrillers.” That’s been my favorite genre since childhood. To have the bestselling mystery/thriller ebook in America is simply mind-boggling to me.

Folks, I’m as happy as I’ve ever been in my entire writing career. This is a milestone I’ll always treasure.

UPDATE, 12/3/11, 1:25 p.m. — One other realization. At #5, I’m now the #1 male author on Kindle. Only two ladies, Suzanne Collins (with her “Hunger Games” fantasy trilogy) and romance author Catherine Bybee are selling faster than I am right now. Now, that’s another milestone that thrills me.

UPDATE, 12/3/11, 9 p.m. — HUNTER has just surpassed Suzanne Collins’s Mockingjay, the latest in her hugely popular “Hunger Games” trilogy, to become the # 4 bestselling title on Kindle.

UPDATE, 12/5/11, 11 a.m. — Having hit the #4 Kindle bestseller slot, and #1 in the “Mysteries & Thrillers” category, HUNTER appears to have topped out in sales ranking, at least for the moment. The special Kindle promotion ended Saturday night. I’m gratified, though, that even without that push, HUNTER has remained on the bestseller list, sliding a bit to #8 as of Monday morning 12/5, but still selling strongly enough to be ahead of the latest books by Stephen King, James Patterson, and Janet Evanovich.

Nearly 27,000 copies have been sold since the Kindle promotion began. And — most encouraging — it has sold about 2,500 more copies since the promotion ended just over a day ago, at the higher $3.99 price. Its prominence on the bestseller list, and also on a host of genre and subgenre bestseller lists, guarantees that strong sales will continue for some time.

UPDATE, 12/8/11, 12:01 a.m. — The first week of December is now done, and here are the mind-boggling results:

Total sales (ebooks and print), first week of December alone, 12/1 through 12/7/11 (midnight till midnight, Eastern time):

19,279.

Total sales from beginning of the Amazon promotion on 11/27 to the end of the month 11/30 (midnight Eastern):

12,178.

Total sales since the promotional period began, to the present (11/27 – 12/7):

31,457.

Total sales, November 1 – December 7:

32,141.

Un-believable!

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HUNTER still climbing the Kindle bestseller list

Posted on November 30, 2011 7:48 am UTC by bidinotto

As of 12:01 a.m. Eastern time, 11/30/11, HUNTER climbed to the #9 bestseller position on Amazon’s Kindle Store.

The book’s category rankings are now:

# 9 in Kindle Store (all products)
# 9 in Kindle ebooks
# 9 in Kindle Fiction
# 6 in Genre Fiction
# 5 in Mysteries & Thrillers
# 4 in Thrillers
# 2 in Romance
# 1 in Romantic Suspense
# 1 in Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue

The sales numbers for Tuesday 11/29 are even better than Monday’s.

* 3,332 books sold on Tuesday 11/29 (3328 were Kindle ebooks)
* 138.6 ebooks per hour
* 2.3 sales per minute (avg. Some hours it was up to 5 sales/min.)
* 8,335 total books sold since 12:01 a.m. Sunday, 11/27
* 8,930 total books sold in November, with one day to go.

(Monday’s total was 3,084 books sold; Sunday’s was 1,919.)

Which means the pace of the book’s sales is actually accelerating.

This is Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, manifested in an indie book title suddenly going supernova.

Want to know why this is happening to my book? This is why:

Here.

Here.

And here.

It is very clear that the Kindle Direct Publishing editors like HUNTER and have decided to give it special attention. This advertising spotlight is bringing it to the attention of thousands of browsing book customers.

Obviously, I’m grateful and couldn’t be more pleased.

UPDATE, 11/30/12:34 p.m: HUNTER has now surged past the latest books by Stephen King and James Patterson to reach #8 on the Kindle Bestseller List, right behind Janet Evanovich’s newest book. It is currently also #8 in the categories of “Ebooks” and “Fiction,” #5 in “Genre Fiction,” #4 in “Mysteries & Thrillers” (behind only Michael Connelly, John Grisham, and Evanovich), #3 in “Thrillers” (behind Connelly and Grisham), #2 in “Romance,” and #1 in “Romantic Suspense” and “Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue.”

Pinch me, please.

UPDATE, 12/1/11, 5 p.m: HUNTER climbed again in all the relevant categories, passing Janet Evanovich’s and John Grisham’s latest novels to become #7 on the Kindle Store (all items) and in “Ebooks” (fiction and nonfiction). It’s now #6 in “Fiction,” #3 in all “Genre Fiction,” #2 in “Romance,” “Mysteries & Thrillers,” and “Thrillers” (right behind Michael Connelly), and #1 in both “Romantic Suspense” and “Spy Stories/Intrigue.”

Total sales for November: an incredible 12,862, of which only 616 were sold prior to November 27. In other words, 12,246 books sold in the last four days of November. And the sales pace hasn’t let up on Thursday, December 1, either.

Absolutely insane!

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HUNTER: now a Kindle bestseller!

Posted on November 28, 2011 5:14 pm UTC by bidinotto

 

Folks, I am delighted to report that HUNTER: A Thriller is now a genuine “bestseller.”

As of noon on 11/28/11, HUNTER was listed at #23 on the overall Kindle bestselling sales list. That ranking is out of about a million Kindle ebook titles.

Within the 24 hour period that ended at midnight last night (11/27), my debut thriller sold an incredible 1,919 copies, almost all of which were Amazon Kindle ebooks.

In Kindle categories, HUNTER currently is ranked as the #1 bestseller in “Spy Stories” and in “Romantic Suspense,” #4 in “Romance,” #7 in “Thrillers,” and #10 in “Mysteries & Thrillers” (a broader category). Overall, it is the #22 hottest-selling work of fiction on Kindle, and #23 among all ebooks. HUNTER also ranks #2 on Amazon Kindle’s “Movers & Shakers” list — books that have had the biggest recent percentage jump in sales.

Absolutely incredible!

How did this sudden surge occur?

Well, yesterday, and without my prior knowledge, HUNTER was named a Kindle “Editors’ Pick” — one of 18 books selected by the editors of Kindle to be featured, top/front and center, on the Kindle “Cyber Monday” promo page.

In addition, it is also listed front/top/center in the best position among all the titles appearing on the Kindle “home page.”

And it is a selected participant, prominently listed in the Kindle “Big Deal” promotion.

I had no idea that Amazon was going to do the first two things. And it’s clear that these spotlighted placements are what is driving these sales. Countless thousands of Amazon customers are seeing my book cover for the first time, and they are buying it at an incredible clip. During certain periods yesterday, the book was selling at a rate of 2.7 copies per minute.

And the sales surge continues. From midnight until noon today (11/28), HUNTER has already added 894 more sales.

I’ve buckled in for the rest of this wild ride. Let me tell you, I never saw this coming.

UPDATE, as of 12:01 a.m. 11/29/11:

Total books sold Monday, 11/28: 3,084.
Total books sold Sunday, 11/27: 1,919.
Total books sold during the 2 days: 5,003.
Total books sold so far this month: 5,687.

Kindle Bestseller Category Rankings, as of 12:01 a.m. 11/29/11:

#11 #10 in “Ebooks” and in “Fiction”
#8 #7 in “Genre Fiction”
#6 in “Mystery & Thrillers”
#5 in “Thrillers”
#2 in “Romance”
#1 in “Romantic Suspense” and in “Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue”

Barring something extraordinary, this is as high in those rankings as HUNTER is likely to go. The competition ahead of it is formidable; the next fiction title above HUNTER is the latest Alex Cross novel by James Patterson, and above that, in ascending order, are 9 recent releases by the late Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, John Grisham, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich…well, you get the idea. Almost impossible for an unknown to compete against new releases by those icons. Besides, the Amazon promotion won’t last much longer, and when it does, HUNTER will sink back down to a lower sales level — though likely far above where it stood two days ago. And this unexpected success will serve as a platform for the book’s sequels.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Posted on November 27, 2011 12:52 pm UTC by bidinotto

Before returning to posts, I just wanted to share some good news.

Amazon has selected HUNTER to participate in its special post-Thanksgiving “Big Deal” promotion.

From Sunday, November 27 until December 3 only, the ebook edition of my novel — normally $3.99 — is on sale for just $1.99! That’s a 50% saving.

If you’ve been meaning to read my top-rated suspense thriller, but haven’t gotten around to downloading it yet, try it now. The price has never been better, and it’s unlikely to go lower!

Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can download FREE “Kindle apps” to your smart phone, PC, Mac, Blackberry, or other device, and use them to purchase and read HUNTER and other ebooks.

And if you’ve already read and enjoyed HUNTER, please tell your friends about this limited-time sale. Again, this is a one-week-only special promotion at just $1.99, after which the price will go back to $3.99.

Now, go enjoy HUNTER . . . with a vengeance!

 

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Interviews with Indies: Edd Voss — American storyteller

Posted on November 9, 2011 6:43 pm UTC by bidinotto

 

Edd Voss is a true American original. Most of his waking hours, he is a long-haul, cross-country truck driver. But Edd spends his spare time reading voraciously and also writing his own stories—intensely personal tales drawn from the many things that he has seen and experienced during his decades on the road.

Portrait of Ed Voss -- American trucker and storyteller

Whenever Edd isn’t rolling down the nation’s highways in the cab of a truck or collecting ideas for new stories, he lives on twenty acres just outside of Springdale, Washington. He shares this place with his wife, Polly, and their dog, Scout, who makes occasional appearances in his stories.

It takes two dirt roads to get Edd’s home, and that is the way he likes it.

 

The Vigilante Author caught up with Edd Voss during one of his periods of “down time” on the road.

The Vigilante Author: Edd, congratulations on your most recent book, Rambling. Why don’t you tell us a bit about it?

Edd Voss: Thank you for the invitation. My book Rambling is a collection of short stories that cover a range of genres. Some are based on western legends. Two—“Airborne: One Man’s Journey” and “Jo Anna”—are autobiographical. There are even a couple that could be considered science fiction.

The Vigilante Author: How would you describe or characterize your fiction, either by genre, themes, or subject matter?

Edd Voss: I have a hard time trying to define what I write. It covers a wide variety subject matter and genres. The one theme I think that runs through all of my stories is overcoming the obstacles life throws at you. It may be something as seemingly mundane as finding shelter from a storm, or as devastating as dealing with the loss of a loved one. Most of the stories do take place in the western part of the United States. Of course, that is where I have spent most of my life and know the best.

The Vigilante Author: Readers are always interested in what prompted someone to become an author. Where were you born and raised, Edd? Describe your upbringing and early life for us a bit.

Edd Voss: I was born in the small town of Liberal, Kansas, which is in the southwestern corner of the state. My father died of leukemia when I was four, leaving my brother, who was fourteen at the time, to try and fill in. My mother remarried a man who had a problem with alcohol.

Continue reading →

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Coming soon: interviews with indies

Posted on November 8, 2011 3:05 pm UTC by bidinotto

I’m about to launch a series of interviews with self-publishing fiction writers on The Vigilante Author in coming days. These are authors whose good novels and short stories deserve wider attention. I’ll also intersperse the interviews with reviews of their works, as my time allows.

Stay tuned….

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