So there's this:
A few months ago, I received an advance copy of the Thomas Mullen novel "Darktown" (see review here:
https://yougabsports.com/…/book-review-thomas-mullen-darkt…/) from David Brown of Atria Books.
Unfortunately, the website I wrote for had gone offline by this time. But I was determined to read the book and write a review and put it up somewhere. When I put it up on the sports blog site that I used to write for, I sent him the link.
The feedback I received from him was that it was a great review and it deserved a wider audience. He suggested that I submit it to Mystery Scene magazine to see if they would publish it. Given that the magazine is pretty much the bible (at least to me) of the mystery/thriller genre, this was something I wasn't remotely confident in doing.
But I sent off an email to the magazine's editor. Then, nothing. But a couple weeks after I sent it, I got an email from the magazine's book review editor. She liked what I wrote, but they had already had a review of the book. So it wouldn't be accepted for publication.
BUT...she offered me a tryout. She'd send me a book that I would read and review. If it was accepted, it would be published in the holiday issue of the magazine. There'd be a small payment and the opportunity to be added to their pool of reviewers, which would mean more books to read and review!
For a long time, I didn't tell anyone about this but my mom.
My initial lack of confidence aside, I jumped at this opportunity. I received the advance copy of a medical thriller. Once I read it and wrote the review, I sent it off. I got it back with some notes for edits and worked up a better version of my review. I sent it off again and waited. I heard nothing. I sent off an email to inquire if the review had been accepted or not. A decision had not been made apparently.
I told a few people that I had the opportunity because in all honesty, I figured that it wasn't going to happen.
Then last week, the magazine's Facebook page changed their profile photo to a new cover. When that happens, it usually means the new issue is due out in a week or so.
So I have been waiting for a phone call from the magazine shop where I have a copy of the magazine saved for me each time it is published. I got the call today and after work I drove over to grab my copy and see if the review had made the cut.
After quickly leafing past page after page of reviews of books that weren't the one I read and wrote about, I got to page 65.
And THERE IT WAS! Rob McCarthy's "The Hollow Men" was reviewed. Despite knowing it was my words I was reading, I had to turn to the next page where the review concluded to make sure that it was indeed my name next to the review...SPOILER ALERT...It was!
HELL YEAH! I'm quite spectacularly excited because I've made it into the holy grail of mystery magazines!
Now, I know it seems strange that I am this excited about something that is about 400 words long, but I don't care. Short of actually writing my own mystery novel, this is huge for me...a paid piece of writing by me is now appearing in Issue #147 of Mystery Scene magazine.
My mom and dad's insistence on a love of reading paid off. Talking to authors like
Ellen Hart,
Jon Land, Hank Phillippi Ryan (whom I interviewed) and Ingrid Thoft helped give a baseline for how to approach reviewing a book. I should also acknowledge noted mystery critic
Oline Cogdill (whose work appears in Mystery Scene along with pretty much every newspaper you can imagine) for her advice in how to go about crafting the review to fit the guidelines and what pitfalls to avoid.
And in case anyone is wondering, yes I bought out the store's supply of the issue!
Have you read Leo Strauss?
