Buzz, Balls & Hype : Guest blogger James O Born

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Help Yourself! IF NO ONE KNOWS YOUR BOOK EXISTS THEY WON'T BUY IT. Authorbuzz.com is M.J.'s one stop marketing solution for authors and publishers. Reach 350,000 readers (and up), leaders of more than 11,0000 bookclubs, 3000 booksellers & 10,000 librarians via AuthorBuzz notes. Reach millions more via blog ad campaigns. We work with all the top publishers and hundreds of wonderful writers every year and do over 60% repeat business.

March 23, 2006

Guest blogger James O Born

I'm still under the weather and the covers with the flu so its with thanks that I have this guest post from the talented James O Born

When M.J. suggested I do a guest column for her blog I was a little uneasy. I read a few blogs. I keep up with Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind because by reading Sarah Weinman’s opinions then taking them as my own I sound like I read a lot of good books. The key is to stay vague about the particulars and never admit to reading the blog. I read Crime Fiction Dossier for much of the same reason. I also read Paul Guyot’s Inkslinger because he touches on a lot of the personal issues writers face, like contributing to a blog as a way not to face up to when the next book is due. I also like Paul’s blog because I’ve convinced him I wrote the Kite Runner. I like gullible friends.

M.J. said I could write about anything and that a little controversy doesn’t hurt. The problem is that everyone has opinions based on what they read in the newspapers or hear TV pundits blab about endlessly. Few people have opinions based on unique, personal experience. I always hear convincing opinions about the war in Iraq from people no more qualified than me. People who were never in the military or the State Department who are somehow experts on why we should be fighting or why we should not be fighting in Iraq. Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favor of everyone’s ability to express their opinion I‘m just not that interested in someone repeating the opinion of a Fox news commentator or a New York Times columnist. So I considered my opinions on a number of subjects.

This blog focuses on publishing and I will confess that until July of 2002, I had no connection with publishing except numerous and consistent rejections. Since then I’ve been with one publisher who I’m very happy with. I don’t know enough about publishing to offer an opinion. I still can’t find someone to satisfactorily answer what the hell a “literary novel” is. I even thought J.A. Konrath was a cute chick from Chicago until I met the furry little guy. So I’ll keep my uninformed publishing opinions to myself.

Law enforcement issues, that is a possibility. As a cop, yes a working cop here in Florida, I have a formed some opinions based on my experience. Not on statistics. Not on anything quantifiable (those are the best kind of opinions because they’re harder to challenge). This is an opinion based on dealing with assholes and seeing the aftermath of other people’s actions.

First let me say I am not representing law enforcement as a whole. I have a specific job as an agent with the State’s Department of Law Enforcement. I don’t wear a uniform. I don’t generally get in fights much any more. I’m not the Hollywood view of a redneck southern cop in that I don’t chew tobacco, I’m not a racist, I’m not even a Republican and I went to college, or, at least Florida State.

Now here is my opinion. The death penalty is a useful tool. There I said it. My friends in New York can shun me now. My façade as a liberal writer has been dropped. Canadians can call me a barbarian in the most polite terms. Mothers can keep me away from their children and dogs can now growl at me when I walk down the street.

Now save the usual argument about it not being a deterrent. I agree, it is not a deterrent to a gang-banger who has no decent life any way. It is no deterrent to a junkie who robs a liquor store and doesn’t mean to shoot someone. I agree. However, used in a proper place, with the on the appropriate population, capitol punishment could have an extraordinary effect on the country.

I would be in favor of legislation that instituted the death penalty for corporate executives who plunder companies. If Ken Lay were sent to the electric chair for his actions or Dennis Kozlowski received a lethal injection I believe that big time corporate corruption would cease almost immediately. Once these despicable men realized what they had to lose they would consider their actions much more carefully.
I see the victims of crime every day. I am not minimizing the loss of a family who has had someone shot by a carjacker but the forgotten victims are the little people who have lost their life savings and retirements to fraud. These folks are never the kind who can just start over, they are the ones who, after a lifetime of hard work and savings, and think their pension is secure, get wiped out by some asshole who wants gold bathroom facets and to throw his wife a birthday bash is Monte Carlo. These poor victims end up with their self esteem shattered, working at McDonalds putting up with kids pissed off because there is catsup on their hamburger.

I constantly put up with the little losses I suffer as a small investor when there are ‘accounting anomalies’ at a waste management company or have to write off stocks like Adelphia because someone thought they could use a public company for their own benefit. It annoys me but it doesn’t ruin me financially. But take a moment to consider the number of employees Enron had and the number of investors who sunk in all there savings based on the belief that it was a sound company which would supply a means to survive as the employees grew older.

Those opponents of the death penalty should take another look. By thinning the heard of crooked CEOs we might all benefit. I’m open to opposing view points but not loud ones.

March 23, 2006 | Permalink

By M.J. Rose

Starred Library Journal Review. Booksense Pick for September and 2007 Highlight List. Starred Publisher's Weekly Review.
THE REINCARNATIONIST. "A fascinating story of reincarnation that is one of the year's most ambitious and entertaining thrillers." - David Montgomery - Chicago Sun-Times
Finalist for the Gumshoe award for Best Thriller of 2006.: The Venus Fix
"One of the year's best thrillers." -- David Montgomery (reviewer for the Chicago Sun et al.) "M.J. Rose is a bold, unflinching writer and her resolute honesty puts her in a class by herself." - Laura Lippman
James Patterson: Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night
I'm a proud member of this anthology that's gotten stars from PW & Library Journal!
Lying In Bed
After years of toying with the idea... my first erotic novel. In stores May 30th. Order now.
The Delilah Complex
"Erotic, suspenseful, impossible to put down. M. J. Rose acknowledges sexuality's power - and danger - in a highly original thriller that keepsyou guessing right up to its surprising final twist. I loved it." - Joseph Finder
Finalist for the Anthony Award: The Halo Effect
"Utterly fascinating! Fans of Kay Scarpetta will be equally captivated by sex therapist Morgan Snow, whose job has her too often confronting the dark-side of human nature." - Lisa Gardner

Finalist for the 2004 Anthony Award for Best Original Paperback
Sheet Music
"No one writes so simply and superbly about such lush things as food and sex as M.J. Rose -- and at the same time, gets deep inside the heart and mind of a wonderfully complicated heroine. Literate and page-turning." -- Caroline Leavitt - author of Coming Back to Me
Finalist for the CT Book Award: Flesh Tones
"Intensely erotic and compelling, Flesh Tones explores the disturbing realm that lies between love and obsession." -- Tess Gerritsen, author of The Surgeon
In Fidelity
"Rose offers a well-crafted study of infidelity, wrapped within the context of a psychothriller. ... a fast paced-tale ... altogether a satisfying blend." --Kirkus Reviews
Excerpted in Susie Bright's Best American Erotica : Lip Service
"M.J. Rose blends the dark eroticism of Anais Nin with the lusty cravings of Erica Jong, and delivers a refreshingly open look at a modern woman's sexual coming-of-age." -- Katherine Neville, Author of The Eight

July 2008