The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
by John Ramsey Miller I have something like two million books in print, not counting what has been pulped. Not a huge number compared to lots of other authors, but not too shabby for a country boy without a college diploma. It's been a struggle here and there, and I was out of print for eight years between my first book, THE LAST FAMILY, and INSIDE OUT, my second. LF was a Literary...
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
John Ramsey Miller Recently I listened to, “Breaking Through The Wall Of Sound,” an audiobook about Phil Spector, and it was a very sad listen. I’m sure most people are familiar with Spector, if not for his unprecedented unbroken string of number one hits in the fifties that lasted through the eighties, then because he was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson....
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 11/28/2009
John Ramsey Miller During my first six decades of life, I have learned know a lot about self-indulgence, image, illusion and self-delusion, and I’ve been trying to live a more honest, simpler, and more meaningful existence. I don’t mind telling you I am stunned and amazed by what I see on television. In the name of research I have been watching a few "reality"...
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
John Ramsey Miller A friend of mine recently said that like Westerns, Thriller plots and characters by totally different authors seem to be the same five pounds of words tossed through slightly different fans. Okay, in Westerns there were only a handful of plots and they pretty much all fit into the Zane Gray/ Louis L’Amour formula. I read and love Westerns, and I always...
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
... there's a chance that more and more authors will be forced into making the same decision. Our own John Ramsey Miller recently posted about the difficulties writers face today, and how it only seems to be getting harder. Some people argue that self-publishing ebooks will fill this void. To be honest, I have my doubts. First of all, the benefit of an advance is that it enables...
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
John Ramsey Miller Hold your ire, girls, I was just trying to get your attention. We can talk, now that the men have by now nodded and gone on to read something else. Here's the thing, I don't know why so few women win EDGAR and THRILLER Awards for mysteries and thrillers. I know Sisters In Crime are up at arms over the new PW list of top Ten Books or some such crap. When was the...
The Kill Zone (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
John Ramsey Miller You know how “old” guys are always giving advice, usually unasked for and often as not unwanted. I find myself doing that these days. In the fifteen years since I began writing fiction, I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge, mostly by stumping my toe on obstacles that I didn’t know were in my path until I tripped over them. I wish I had known...
