Write About Now

Two Bits of Official News

If you take a look at the sidebar, you'll see I've updated my bio and book list. That's because the novel I co-authored with Deeanne Gist, Beguiled, is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. The release date is February 2010. This is from the official description:

When novelists Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand first met in a Houston critique group, they never expected where friendship would take them. She wrote romance; he wrote crime novels. But growing respect for each other's work culminated in the decision to try blending their talents into this wonderfully engaging story merging romance and mystery. 

Rylee Monroe walks dogs in old-money Charleston, a part of the city recently targeted by a daring thief. Logan Woods works the crime beat for the local paper but dreams of a life as a nonfiction writer. When the string of robberies takes a strange twist, Logan sees the making of a once-in-a-lifetime book that seems to circle around this charming, eye-catching dogwalker. But pursuing the truth means ignoring that he seems to be falling for her. And what is she hiding in her past that could crack the story wide open?

I know a lot of writers day dream about co-authoring with their critique partners ... Dee and I actually did it. It's been great fun, and I'll chat more about the process (and the project) as the publication date gets closer.

Above: Along the harbor in Charleston, the exotic setting of Beguiled.

Another bit of news: my debut crime novel, the first in a series featuring Houston homicide detective Roland March, will be called Back on Murder. My working title was The Suicide Cop, and "Back on Murder" was the name of one of the book's two sections. After much deliberation, a swap was made, so now novel is called Back on Murder and the first section is called The Suicide Cop. There you go ... 

Back on Murder will be out next summer. It introduces Roland March, the detective who will star in the three-book series, at a time when his once-promising career hangs in the balance. I'll have plenty more to say about it between now and then.

My Review of How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read

Looking for something different to read during the never-ending summer? My review of Pierre Bayard's How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read has just been published online by Comment.

Publisher's Weekly

I guess it's official. This was announced in Publisher's Weekly:

Regular contributor to Relief Journal and creator of the website Write About Now J. Mark Bertrand's SUICIDE COP, in which a homicide detective suspects the disappearance of a famous televangelist's teenage daughter is linked to corruption and murder, to Dave Long at Bethany House, in a very nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Chip MacGregor at MacGregor Literary (World).

JMB on the Radio: Prime Time America @ 4:30 PM (Central)

This is short notice, but if you happen to be a Prime Time America listener, I'm booked to appear on the show today to talk about Rethinking Worldview. It's a live interview, and it should be on the air somewhere around the 4:30 PM mark, give or take. If you're not in the listening area, you can follow the link to the Prime Time America site and listen online.

A Feat of Words

Medieval knights, to prove their virtuosity with blade and lance, used to organize a feat of arms, an aggressive, exuberant -- and sometimes deadly -- display of just how good there were. This blend of prowess and pageant, in addition to testing skill, provided stirring entertainment for the onlookers. I've often wondered if something similar could be done today, substituting writers for warriors, a feat not of arms but of words.

Inspired by class I took years ago called Fiction Forms, here's how I'd go about it. Each author who entered the lists would write three short stories, each in a different genre. Let's say suspense, romance, and fantasy, though we could choose alternates easily enough. The idea is to take a recognized form, where readers have definite expectations, and give it a unique bravura spin. By working in three categories, the author displays flexibility, the way a knight would by trading sword for axe or mace.

The entries would be written to deadline, and only the authors who submitted all three stories would make the grade. The results would be indexed centrally for reading, and we'd determine three winners: (1) the author whose three entries, averaged, receive the highest number of reader votes, (2) the author with the individual story receiving the highest number of reader votes, and (3) the author who receives the highest number of votes from the other entrants.

Of course, there are many details to be worked out -- minimum and maximum word counts, which three genres would be represented, deadlines, voting mechanisms. But I wonder if a modern-day feat of words, undertaken for no other purpose than to delight readers, is an idea that would find any traction. What do you think?