Walter Mosley in Orlando

This past weekend was the weekend of CAMEX. I work for the National Association of College Stores and our yearly tradeshow is called CAMEX. This year the event took place in Orlando. Most of CAMEX would probably not be of much interest to you, but if you remember back to last year at this time, I wrote about the Book and Author Breakfast that is a part of CAMEX. This year was especially exciting for me because the three guests were Dwayne Betts, author of the memoir A QUESTION OF FREEDOM, Dave Isay, author of LISTENING IS AN ACT OF LOVE, and...WALTER MOSLEY!!! Yes, I typed that correctly, Walter Mosley attended our CAMEX Book and Author Breakfast this year.

I was thrilled beyond belief to have the opportunity to escort him from the hotel to the conference center. Bless his heart, he asked questions about the blog. And I happily filled him in. We also talked a little about bookstores.

All three authors had wonderful presentations for the audience. Dwayne Betts is a young man whose life was changed when he started reading in jail. He spoke about an anonymous person who slid THE BLACK POETS under his cell door when he was in isolation. Dwayne pointed out that an author requires a witness, that the author's words aren't complete until someone witnesses them. Many times it requires an intermediary to get those words to their witnesses. And someone sharing THE BLACK POETS with him was the only way he would have learned about it; that anonymous person changed his life and turned him into a witness. His statements were directed at the booksellers of course, but I also took a little away from that. I took away a sense that this hobby may make a difference to someone down the line; a difference I may never know anything about. It was encouragement for me to continue talking about books that I enjoy, books that mean a lot to me. And reinforcement that there should only be room here on the blog for the books I like. The important role is the one where I encourage a person to pick up a book; not the role where I encourage a person to avoid a book.

The next author to speak was Dave Isay. Dave Isay is the founder of a project called StoryCorps. If you listen to NPR you may know about this project as they play some of the stories on Friday mornings. The objective is to record people's stories, all people's stories, everyday people's stories. I think it is such an amazing idea. As Dave spoke I thought about all the people who should be participating in this project. It's also a reminder of something we all should be doing to save the stories of our families. He included some audio of people's recordings, including a husband and wife who had been with Martin Luther King, Jr. the night before he was assassinated. A pair of cousins who spoke about a neighbor of their grandmother's, Ms. Devine, who caught them lying. A man who related the story of his father, a chauffeur, staying up all night to teach himself algebra in order to be able to teach it to his son. Dave also played an animation of an interview done by a twelve-year-old with Asberger's Syndrome with his mother. The stories were funny and emotional and all worthy of being recorded for all time.

Walter Mosley wrapped up this year's program. He started off his presentation talking about the fact that he's uncomfortable trying to sell his book to people. It was very much his way of saying he didn't intend to stand up and try to talk people into buying his book. Instead, he shared some wonderful stories. The audience loved his stories; they loved him. He was animated, warm, funny and sincere.

Walter's first story tied back to Dwayne Betts. Dwayne had mentioned Etheridge Knight's influence on him as a poet. So Walter talked about a poetry convention he attended when he first thought he wanted to be a writer. Three poets spoke of stories that discourage Walter from wanting to pursue a life of writing, but Etheridge Knight opened Walter's heart to the possibilities of writing. Then Walter turned his story to a reference from Dave Isay's presentation, and he spoke about a story Studs Terkle told him about a young man burglarizing his home.

The Walter went on to talk about people who truly love books. These people create a world that allows people like Walter to survive and even thrive. True booksellers create an environment and an atmosphere where books can live, a place where people's lives can be changed.

And possibly my favorite part of Walter's presentation was the end when he spoke about his new series character Leonid McGill. You may have read my review of his first book, THE LONG FALL, and the second Leonid McGill novel, KNOWN TO EVIL will be released later this month. Walter sees Leonid McGill as a representation of America. For years Leonid has been on the wrong side of the law doing very bad things. Now he is trying to change, and that change is not a simple decision. We (America) have been doing wrong all over the world, doing wrong to people in prisons, elderly people, sick people...we do all kinds of things wrong, and now just a tiny bit we want to try and do things right. Walter says this is almost and impossible task and that's why he enjoys telling Leonid's story so much.

Following the presentations, the authors all held court and signed books. I was honored (and tickled pink) to assist Walter with his signing. He was convivial and personal, but still quick, allowing everyone to get their book signed. We even ran out of books.

Afterward, Walter posed for this picture with me. I'm going to have it enlarged to lifesize and hung in my living room! Just kidding. But it is a very precious prize to me.

Finally, I was afforded the opportunity to walk Walter back to his hotel. And I managed to almost get us lost twice. Mind you the hotel was across the street from the convention center! But we had a wonderful time chatting about everything from comic books to James Joyce. Then, Walter gave me a kiss! I plan to never wash my cheek again!

But seriously, he is an amazing man. He's funny and smart and generous and kind. Walter Mosley is the stuff heroes are made of. I am so incredibly honored to have had the chance to meet him and talk to him. I will treasure this day forever! Thank you for letting me share it with you.

THE LONG FALL - Walter Mosely

First line: "'I'm sorry, Mr. um?..." the skinny receptionist said.

Leonid McGill is trying to go straight, or at least straighter than he's been most of his life. These days he's working as a P.I. His most recent case involves locating four men given only the street names they donned in their youth. After he's located all the men and they start turning up dead, LT, as his friends like to call him, receives a visit from a stranger trying to kill HIM. So, Leonid starts tracking backwards. The man who hired him was using a false name and when Leonid finds him, the man is dead. All his leads turn into dead ends, but if he doesn't find out what's going on, he may very well be the next dead end, himself.

THE LONG FALL is the first book in Walter Mosley's new Leonid McGill series, and he's off to a smashing start with this one. McGill is a former boxer who was also involved in a very shady occupation. However, he's decided to "go straight" as a P.I. McGill is also father to three children, of which only one is his biological child. And his marriage is essentially dead, but he remains in the union. The depth of McGill's character makes understanding him as much a part of the mystery as the crimes of the plot are.

The plot of THE LONG FALL weaves several storylines together, all directly connected to McGill. In addition to finding out who is killing the men he located, McGill is trying to prevent his son Twill from making a grave mistake that, while intended for the best of reasons, would forever alter Twill's life.

The language of Mosley's prose is the greatest of the strengths in this novel. The way that he blends the beauty of language with the rough, harshness of the characters, the crimes, the streets of New York, it mimics the dynamics of his protagonist. One of my favorite examples of this is early on in the novel when Leonid is talking about boxing:

" Throwing a punch is the yang of a boxer's life. The yin is being able to avoid getting hit."

Not only is that a wonderful metaphor, but it sets the tone for the whole novel: black and white, male and female, good and bad, rich and poor. Mosely is examining the intricacies of their relationships. Yes, they create a good deal of gray, but the gray comes from the blending of those extreme opposites.

THE LONG FALL is a perfect example of how a writer can continue to write, continue to grow, and continue to do all of it well. Walter Mosely has done just that, and I look forward to the next outing with Leonid McGill.

I listened to THE LONG FALL on audio, read by Mirron Willis. Willis did a fantastic job with this narration, bringing out the distinct characteristics of all the characters. His tone and pacing seemed to match the character and plot that Mosley has created. Penguin did a nice job of matching the reader with the book on this project.

THE LONG FALL is available from Riverhead Books in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1594488580) and from Penguin Audio in unabridged audio book (ISBN: 978-0143144205). A softcover format should be available next month.

They Said WHAT?

It's the last day of January already. I'm having a hard time believing that January 2010 is already over. Where did it go?

I'd like to first send out some thanks today. All the folks who have commented here, on Facebook or sent me emails about the new blog look. Thank you so much for the kind words. And those of you who have found glitches for me, thank you for that also! I'm ecstatic that so many of you have said it is easier to read and navigate. That makes it worth all the effort to change. You know it's so darned easy to stay status quo and just go day to day. But, this change was completely worth the effort.

Also, I'd like to thank all the folks who sent me such nice emails this week about my post on Robert Crais' event in Dayton. First of all, it's such a blast to be able to talk about him with you guys. I love talking to other Craisies. And I also love hearing from some of the lurkers. It's nice knowing you're out there. Thank you for sharing my love of RC with me! I was surprised at how many people on Twitter said they were reading him for the first time because I had been tweeting about him. Warms my heart. And actually I was surprised. I thought for sure everyone already knew about his supreme wonderfulness. So, thank you all!

Today's post is a new project I'd like to try this year. The last Sunday of each month, I'll round up great lines/segments from books I've read in the month. This month's will have a couple from December, too, but after this it will be books I've read in that month. There are so many times when I read a great line and think, "man, I want to tell everyone about this." And then ultimately I forget because my memory is pathetic. And this will be my effort to remember. It's my goal to document them now. They might be lines that made me laugh or ones that jolted me with an incredible use of language or ones that really made me think. Overall, they are lines that stood out to me and elicited a "wow" response.

I hope you enjoy this. AND, if you have some great lines that you loved from your reading and would like me to include them. Send them my way. This can be a collaborative post. That would be fun! So here's the first "Great Lines" post of 2010:

From Kelli Stanley's CITY OF DRAGONS:

“ ‘The Chinese say whoever learns without thought is lost. But whoever thinks without learning is in great danger.’”

From Sean Chercover's TRIGGER CITY:

“A kid in a police uniform strode toward me, his hand held up like a traffic cop.

‘You can’t park there.’ Blond wisps of hair sprouted from his upper lip, petitioning for a promotion to the rank of mustache.”

From Marcus Sakey's GOOD PEOPLE:

“Even braced for it, the roar of the first shot hit like a thousand volts, kicking every cell into life, adrenaline pounding fast and hard. People didn’t realize how loud the things were, like God clapping his hands.”

From Walter Mosley's THE LONG FALL:

"Throwing a punch is the yang of a boxer's life. The yin is being able to avoid getting hit. I'm pretty good at the yang part."

"A person with no books is inconsequential in a modern setting, but a peasant who reads is a prince in waiting."

"If anyone was an example of having too much on the ball it was my son. He would track down Satan and then try to brace him for a bad loan."

From Craig McDonald's PRINT THE LEGEND:

"Hector didn't know if he would go in this direction in life, not just yet, but the opening line of a story or novel suddenly occurred to him: When you start sleeping with women younger than your cigarette lighter, you know you've turned a sorry corner."

From Steve Hockensmith's HOLMES ON THE RANGE:

"You can follow a trail without even knowing you're on it. You can start out just ambling, maybe get to thinking you're lost - but you're headed somewhere all the same. You just don't know it till you get there."

And my last one is from Robert Crais' THE FIRST RULE, but it's a bit difficult to take this out of context and have it mean much. I'll preface it by saying the male body is a murderer named "Moon" who Joe Pike has been looking for and this is the scene where he finds him:

"The dog's face and chest were matted with blood, and its feet were red boots. A second male body was half on a couch and half on the floor. The flesh on the second man's left forearm had been partially eaten, but his right forearm was intact. The numbers tattooed there were easy to read.

187
187
187
187
187

One for each of the people he put in the ground.

Pike said, 'Good night, Moon.'"

So there's my January roundup. Hope you enjoyed these lines. Maybe they even tempted you to read one of these books if you haven't already. They were all wonderful reads. Hope you had a January filled with great books and I hope your February finds you with even more.

Happy Reading!