NEW ONE TRUE SENTENCE INTERVIEW BY JOHN KENYON

On the eve of the launch of ONE TRUE SENTENCE, John Kenyon interviews me at Things I'd Rather Be Doing about the new novel, and the Hector Lassiter series... Check it out HERE.

LET'S PLAY ONE TRUE SENTENCE...

Let’s play a game.

The arena is Twitter, and the time is every evenin’, or thereabouts, over the next month or so.

The name of the game is One True Sentence.

The phrase, “One true sentence,” was a goal and a kind of mantra for author Ernest Hemingway.

When faced with his own writing that seemed false, or prefatory, Hem claimed to dig down into the manuscript of a short story or novel until he arrived at his first “true sentence,” and then begin his tale with that “one true” line of prose.

My continuing character, crime novelist Hector Lassiter, first appeared in a short story called “The Last Interview,” published in the Mississippi Review what seems like a lifetime ago.

In the course of that story, a callow young interviewer sent to write an article on the aging Lassiter circa 1967 ends up engaging in a high-stakes game of One True Sentence with the author.

Hector, a Hemingway intimate for several tumultuous decades, used to play the writing game with Papa over the years and countless drinks, as he explains to his young interrogator.

The game went this way, according to Hector: One author would start a true sentence, and the other had to finish it, nice and pithy, and on the spot.




Something about that game I invented hung with me. When I decided to center a novel around Hector Lassiter — HEAD GAMES — I equipped Hector with a gift Zippo from Hemingway. The windproof lighter bore the following inscription:

To Hector Lassiter:
‘One true sentence.’
— E.H.
Key West,
1932

Asked about the lighter in that novel, Hector says of it, “Something from an ex-friend you’ve been lately reading. A kind of shared credo. I remember it. Not sure he does anymore.”

In the second Lassiter novel, TOROS & TORSOS, Hector and Hemingway are actually seen playing their game. Some of their collaborative “One True Sentences” from that novel roll this way:

• “The old man died…” “illusioned and therefore disappointed.”

• “The drunken priest, awaiting execution..” “…wished that one of his fellow prisoners was a whore.”

• “Absinthe tastes…” “…like regret.”

• “A man truly alone…” “has no last words.”

• “A best friend…” “…one day stands alone.”

Okay. You get the hang of it.

So, to celebrate the Feb. 15, 2011 release of Hector Lassiter number four, ONE TRUE SENTENCE, over at Twitter, I’m going to be challenging all takers to a game of ONE TRUE SENTENCE every night through February and much of March. Our first round starts the evening of the novel’s release on February 15, probably about 7 p.m. eastern so intrepid types on the west coast can play, too.

Here’s how it goes:

Follow me @HECTORLASSITER. Every night starting this Tuesday, I’ll start One True Sentence.

Any takers can finish that sentence, rationing just enough of their 140 characters in order to add the hash tag #1TS.

Every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. eastern, I’ll review the One True Sentences on the #1TS page, and pick the week’s winner. The one who writes the truest One True Sentence will be awarded the ultra rare limited edition of TOROS & TORSOS with their own One True Sentence inscribed inside. Our One True Sentence.

So…

Want to play a game?

FIRST PRINT REVIEW FOR ONE TRUE SENTENCE

One True Sentence won't be officially released until this coming Tuesday (Feb. 15), but the first print review is in courtesy of Vick Mickunas and The Dayton Daily News.

Mickunas writes, "McDonald’s ingenious plot has this maelstrom of mystery writers who are writing their own fictional stories while simultaneously being whirled through a lethal tsunami of impending doom. At one point Hector muses: 'Oftentimes, the obvious solution is the right one, he told himself. Except in crime and mystery novels.'”

For the whole review, click HERE.

Last year, Mr. Mickunas interviewed me regarding Print the Legend. That interview can be heard HERE.

RT BOOK REVIEWS GIVES ONE TRUE SENTENCE 4 STARS

The March edition of RT BOOK REVIEWS carries a four-star review for ONE TRUE SENTENCE (coming February 15 from Minotaur Books).

Reviewer Michelle Wiener describes the novel as "one heck of a ride through 1924 Paris. The mystery follows a classic trajectory, with enough red herrings and curveballs to make readers who guess at the culprit early on feel exceptionally smart." The entire review can be read HERE.

Also, The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona has released its staff picks for February. ONE TRUE SENTENCE is a four-staffer choice among booksellers at that fine establishment.



I'll be appearing at The Poisoned Pen on Feb. 22 with the great James Sallis (pictured left). More on that event HERE.

A SIGNS AND WONDERS RAVE FOR ONE TRUE SENTENCE

ONE TRUE SENTENCE gets a rave review over at Signs and Wonders, which declares the novel, to be released Feb. 15, 2011, a "masterpiece."

Particular attention is paid to the central female character in the novel, mystery writer Brinke Devlin.

Read the entire review HERE.

HEAD GAMES, THE eBOOK, IS COMING

I get a lot of questions on the eBook front these days.

TOROS & TORSOS has been available as a downloadable eBook for Nook and Kindle for a couple of months now. As a result, I've been increasingly receiving inquiries about HEAD GAMES, the only one of the Lassiter novels not offered in eBook format, and whether one can be expected.

The answer is, yes, sometime in March, likely — April at the latest — HEAD GAMES will be released to Kindle and Nook.

I retained digital rights for my first four books, so I have been taking some time to figure out ways to best present/augment the books in this new format. Learning curves can be irksome, but they also can give you some fresh perspectives.

TOROS was released with some preview materials regarding ONE TRUE SENTENCE attached at the back.

For HEAD GAMES, I decided to cast a wider net. In addition to the novel, the eBook version will also include a reader's guide with suggested book club questions/topic discussion points.

I've also enclosed the original short story that introduced the Hector Lassiter character (and figures tangentially in the novel), "The Last Interview." Excerpts of TOROS & TORSOS, PRINT THE LEGEND and ONE TRUE SENTENCE, the fourth and forthcoming novel in the Lassiter series, will also be included.

I'm still mulling possibilities for bringing over my two collection of author interviews, ART IN THE BLOOD and ROGUE MALES, to eBook format and how best to do that.

An obvious notion would be to expand the books: incorporate interviews with authors who didn't make the books as originally published. That's one possibility.

Because I have audio tapes of the interviewed authors, I'm investigating the possibility of incorporating some audio files as part of an enriched format. Unfortunately, not all eBook readers are created equally, so it may be a matter of allowing the technology to kind of even out across platforms before attempting anything quite that ambitious.

So, eBook fans, what are your thoughts on supplemental materials? Is it overtaking the plumbing, or a value-added enticement? Beyond the book itself, what would interest you in an eBook version of a novel or nonfiction title?

One True Sentence Book TRAILER