The Return of "You've The Right to Six Words"

Back by popular demand, the six-word Wednesdays! I've been working on lining some great new authors up for another season of "You've the Right to Six Words." I'm aiming for 10 to 12 weeks and we'll see what happens. Throughout this season I'll be making every attempt to link the authors' book titles to independent book stores where you can purchase the books if you so choose. I'm in no way compensated for this, I just want to offer you an indie store that can provide you with the books. If you have an indie in your neighborhood, I encourage you to buy from them and support your local businesses. If you're like me and you don't have one close, the links can help you out. I'm also linking to the authors' websites and/or blogs. I've had so much fun perusing these sites and learning about the authors. If there's an author who catches your interest, I encourage you to check that author out further.

So let's start off Week One of Season Two with a bang, shall we?

I know many of you are going to like this first author because you were voting for his characters in the "World's Favorite Detective" tournament.

Our very first author for Season 2 of “You’ve the Right to Six Words” is a man who started a journalism career in the military. John Camp, whom we know better as John Sandford, earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in American Studies, but went on to pursue a career in journalism after a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. He worked for the Girardeau Southeast Missourian, The Miami Herald, and the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, where he would be a finalist for the Pulitzer in 1980 and win a Pulitzer in 1986. He left full-time journalism to pursue his novel writing in 1989, but his roots still pull him back on occasion to write book reviews, a series about being embedded in Iraq and even coverage of the Republican National Convention.

In 1989 John Camp prepared to release his first two novels, THE FOOL’S RUN (first of the Kidd series) and RULES OF PREY (first of the Prey series). Since they were to be published three months apart, his publisher asked him to publish RULES OF PREY under a pseudonym and thus, John Sandford was born. THE FOOL’S RUN would later be re-issued under the John Sandford name. Since 1989, he has published four novels in his Kidd series and three novels in his Virgil Flowers series (with number four, BAD BLOOD, due in September). But Sandford’s most popular series is the Lucas Davenport Prey novels, and yesterday, the 20th book in that series, STORM PREY, hit bookstores across the U.S. Sandford and Davenport are both taking the crime fiction community by storm.

A father, grandfather, journalist and novelist, John Sandford sums it all up with

Have gun (and laptop), will travel.

And the crime fiction genre, luckily, will never be the same.

From seasoned to debut. I'd like to introduce you to Douglas Corleone. Right out of the gate, Doug is earning awards. His debut novel, ONE MAN'S PARADISE won the Minotaur/MWA First Crime Novel Award. Doug's debut novel deals with a hotshot defense attorney, Kevin Corvelli, who loses big. It isn't until his client dies in jail that the client's innocence is discovered and Corvelli is disgraced. The case haunts Corvelli when an eerily similar case arises. Before ONE MAN'S PARADISE, Doug worked as a criminal defense attorney in New York. Today he's soaking up sun in Hawaii and working on the next novel. Douglas Corleone decided he'd

Rather write about law than practice.

Welcome to the crime fiction community, Doug.

And we'll finish off the first week with a man who's experienced a tremendous amount. His first novel being published last year seems like the icing on an amazing career. I, in no way, want to make it sound like he's at the end of his career, we all hope that Richard Lange has a much, much longer career writing crime fiction.

Richard went to film school at the University of Southern California, taught English in Barcelona and then worked in publishing. His short story "Bank of America" appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2004. 2007 brought about the publication of his collection of short stories DEAD BOYS. And last year Little Brown published his novel THIS WICKED WORLD.

If that doesn't sound like a polished enough resume, let's add his 2008 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Literature and his 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. Last week THIS WICKED WORLD came out in paperback and Richard is hard at work on another collection of stories, a new novel, AND a screenplay for German director Matthias Glasner. See what I mean? There's no end to this career in site!

I absolutely love what Richard has to say about all this success:

My old life was good too.

Well, we're thrilled with whatever brought Richard Lange to the world of crime fiction.

As I've been working this past week to get everything in order to re-start this series, I'm once again astounded at the generosity of the authors participating. It is my honor to share these fun, creative and revealing tidbits they've contributed to this project.

Thanks everyone for coming back. I look forward to sharing more memoirs with you in the coming months, and I thank John, Doug and Richard for hangin' out here at Jen's Book Thoughts today.

Happy Reading!


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