Ask the Author: Bobby Underwood
Answered Questions (25)
Bobby Underwood
Why so many so-called book reviewers, feel no obligation to fellow readers.
Many readers rightfully complain — even in their own disappointed reviews, all over this site and many others — about being misled by all the good reviews for certain books, which is not limited to, but certainly includes the latest “must read’ from the mainstream publishing houses. I'm not talking about well-written, not well-written, exciting or boring, but the CONTENT of the book.
Reviews have sadly become in essence, the new “fake news” for those just looking for a good read, and good information about a book from reviewers. Often this happens because someone’s like-minded pals have piled on with tons of glowing reviews, other times because one of the Net Galley sycophants got it Free to read and they want another Free read so they can keep up their “reviewing” status.
More than one genre has been all but ruined by the current decline in standards — even allowing for genre and subject matter — for what is acceptable and what is not. Police procedurals, Noir, Thrillers, even the once sacred Western genre, have not been immune. Once unacceptable — even disgustingly repugnant — content has now become not only acceptable, but preferred. Think about that.
The mystery is why, if it’s so great, do so very many reviewers mask the content when they write their reviews? Could it be because very few of them want to come out and say outright — “There is graphic and disgusting violence against women and children in the book, some told in detail from a psychotic’s viewpoint, some told from three different perspectives throughout the book, so you get to experience the meticulously and brutally described pain and suffering and graphically excruciating bloody violence/murder/rape multiple times, and it was also filled with expletives throughout, and some sexual deviancy which was also graphically described.” ?
No, “code” phrases like “Very dark and disturbing,” “Gritty,” and “Violent but riveting” among others are usually used. This is because no reviewer wants to write out what they’re reading, because it sounds as disgusting and eyebrow raising as it actually is in reality. Reviewers need to realize that no, you don’t have to defend what you read, but you do, however, just morally, have some obligation as a reviewer to realize everyone is not of your ilk, and they need to know what’s actually in that book before they waste money and time on due to your glowing review that had little if any indication what kind of content the book contained.
Or is the answer more simple? Has one half of society — and let’s not kid ourselves about which half, and who is embracing this stuff — sunk so low, become so debased, so tolerant of everything but someone with traditional values, that many reviewers consider those not embracing this decline, and their own personal tastes — or lack thereof, depending on your viewpoint — not even WORTHY of a content warning?
Maybe a litmus test for reviewers should be this: If you feel uncomfortable writing out what’s actually IN the book, then fellow readers thinking about the book deserve you do so for them. Then they can decide for themselves if they want to read it. Just an opinion. Like Dennis Miller used to say, I could be wrong, but I don’t think so…
Many readers rightfully complain — even in their own disappointed reviews, all over this site and many others — about being misled by all the good reviews for certain books, which is not limited to, but certainly includes the latest “must read’ from the mainstream publishing houses. I'm not talking about well-written, not well-written, exciting or boring, but the CONTENT of the book.
Reviews have sadly become in essence, the new “fake news” for those just looking for a good read, and good information about a book from reviewers. Often this happens because someone’s like-minded pals have piled on with tons of glowing reviews, other times because one of the Net Galley sycophants got it Free to read and they want another Free read so they can keep up their “reviewing” status.
More than one genre has been all but ruined by the current decline in standards — even allowing for genre and subject matter — for what is acceptable and what is not. Police procedurals, Noir, Thrillers, even the once sacred Western genre, have not been immune. Once unacceptable — even disgustingly repugnant — content has now become not only acceptable, but preferred. Think about that.
The mystery is why, if it’s so great, do so very many reviewers mask the content when they write their reviews? Could it be because very few of them want to come out and say outright — “There is graphic and disgusting violence against women and children in the book, some told in detail from a psychotic’s viewpoint, some told from three different perspectives throughout the book, so you get to experience the meticulously and brutally described pain and suffering and graphically excruciating bloody violence/murder/rape multiple times, and it was also filled with expletives throughout, and some sexual deviancy which was also graphically described.” ?
No, “code” phrases like “Very dark and disturbing,” “Gritty,” and “Violent but riveting” among others are usually used. This is because no reviewer wants to write out what they’re reading, because it sounds as disgusting and eyebrow raising as it actually is in reality. Reviewers need to realize that no, you don’t have to defend what you read, but you do, however, just morally, have some obligation as a reviewer to realize everyone is not of your ilk, and they need to know what’s actually in that book before they waste money and time on due to your glowing review that had little if any indication what kind of content the book contained.
Or is the answer more simple? Has one half of society — and let’s not kid ourselves about which half, and who is embracing this stuff — sunk so low, become so debased, so tolerant of everything but someone with traditional values, that many reviewers consider those not embracing this decline, and their own personal tastes — or lack thereof, depending on your viewpoint — not even WORTHY of a content warning?
Maybe a litmus test for reviewers should be this: If you feel uncomfortable writing out what’s actually IN the book, then fellow readers thinking about the book deserve you do so for them. Then they can decide for themselves if they want to read it. Just an opinion. Like Dennis Miller used to say, I could be wrong, but I don’t think so…
Bobby Underwood
Hi,
Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I didn't get a notification email, and I rarely check the dashboard here, where they show up (I probably should). I'm not a huge fan of Block, having read a couple of his Scudder series novels way back and hating them as per content and tone, disgusting story choices/elements which I felt were poorly handled. Perhaps there's an entirely different vibe on his Burglar book series, if they're meant to be humorous, but I've never tried one, so don't have an opinion on them. I'm generally, as a personal preference however, not a fan of the criminal as protagonist, especially in a series. Life's too short to hang out with scumbags. :-)
Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I didn't get a notification email, and I rarely check the dashboard here, where they show up (I probably should). I'm not a huge fan of Block, having read a couple of his Scudder series novels way back and hating them as per content and tone, disgusting story choices/elements which I felt were poorly handled. Perhaps there's an entirely different vibe on his Burglar book series, if they're meant to be humorous, but I've never tried one, so don't have an opinion on them. I'm generally, as a personal preference however, not a fan of the criminal as protagonist, especially in a series. Life's too short to hang out with scumbags. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Sorry, this is another one I just didn't see until now. He's doing pretty well for being 14, still active, and has lost none of his Jedi mind control abilities. He "inspires" me to take him to the park twice a day, morning and afternoon, and to feed him both from his plate, and when I'm eating, from mine. I don't recall afterward whose idea it was, kind of foggy on the details. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Sorry I did not see this all those months ago! It only shows up on my Dashboard, which I rarely check for some reason. Not even sure why I checked it tonight, other than being unable to sleep while unwinding after a busy creative spurt. Just busy writing as usual. I'm no longer on FB any longer, only MeWe, which is probably why you haven't seen me around. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Cisco. He's a long-hair Chihuahua crossed most likely with a King Charles. He was a rescue dog of about two-and-a-half who'd never had a real home, probably used for breeding and confined. A wonderful little dog with an easygoing, sweet disposition. My wife saw him on the Snowy Mountains Smart Animal Rescue site and just fell in love with him. He's had the good life for a lot of years now, very happy. I take him twice a day to the park, morning and afternoon. He's my buddy, always ready to leave his mansion under the bed to go with me, but he follows Barb everywhere in the house because she's his mom. He's nearly fourteen now, but still going great. He found it fairly easy to train us. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Sorry I didn't see this question earlier, must have missed the notification. The answer is probably as simple as something both John D. MacDonald and Gustave Flaubert spoke about, and something Somerset Maugham said. MacDonald said you had to write for yourself above anyone else, and Flaubert, earlier, went as far as stating the only way to create something beautiful was for a writer to write for himself. The essence being, I suppose, that if you love the story, someone else will too. As to style, I believe Maugham was correct in regard to literary pretension, feeling that a writer calling attention to himself rather than the story was a detriment to the story. Being in love with the story you're writing, whether it's a short one or a lengthier one, and sliding into the narrative almost covertly, helps a reader get lost in the narrative, rather than stopping to wow over some seventy-eight word sentence filled with arcane words and questionable punctuation that only serve to call attention to the writer, and away from the actual story. Maugham's actual quote is: "A good style should show no effort. What is written should seem a happy accident."
At the end of a story I've written, some piece of my soul I've put out there, I'd much rather have someone love the story, and not think of me at all initially, but what they've just experienced. That way, later, when they do think of me, hopefully it's as a great storyteller. I'd rather be remembered that way, as a storyteller, and a writer, rather than an author, as Mickey Spillane once said. :-)
At the end of a story I've written, some piece of my soul I've put out there, I'd much rather have someone love the story, and not think of me at all initially, but what they've just experienced. That way, later, when they do think of me, hopefully it's as a great storyteller. I'd rather be remembered that way, as a storyteller, and a writer, rather than an author, as Mickey Spillane once said. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Hi, Jacqui
If you'd asked that question at the beginning of the year, my answer would have been that I planned to step back this year, for the most part, and just relax, enjoy the creative accomplishments of the past eight or nine years. But as time has passed, I've found myself finally wanting to do some writing. That led to the spicy pulp novella, Running Hot, and the Noir Shot short story, Angel in the Rain. I even began thinking about the next Seth Halliday novel, due to abandoning a story-line I eventually found distasteful as a writer. I also began toying with the idea of a new one-off western, a genre in which I've not delved into for a spell, despite my love for it. My urge to write now that half the year is in the bag has led to me writing and releasing those two projects this year (Running Hot, and Angel in the Rain). I've decided to leave the larger and more complex and draining stuff, however, like Seth Halliday, Matt Ransom, a Western, Nostalgia Crime, for next year. I have more short story to novelette length tales I want to write in the latter half of the year. I've decided to focus on those when I feel like writing this year. Some are poignant or romantic stories, while others will fall under my older style Noir Shots umbrella (I've planned ahead creatively for four at this juncture). I'm vacillating at the moment between writing a little romantic ghost story, another Noir Shot entry, or an achingly poignant romantic piece, in regard to what's up next. Since I hadn't expected to do any writing at all this year (stories are always in my head, being planned and played out like films, but they usually remain there circling the airport until I sit down to work on them and bring them in for a safe landing) anything I do write and release is a bonus, like playing with house money. Most often they land without much fanfare or notice, but hopefully time will remember they passed this way. To a writer, as I'm sure you know, your stories are your legacy, pieces of your soul and heart that you put to paper for all to see. Just as an artist displays their paintings in a gallery, to be viewed for all time, we writers release our work in a larger gallery. Sometimes it goes un-viewed, other times unappreciated, but if we're good, it can touch or entertain those who read it (now, or sixty years from now) and be as much of a gift to the reader as it is to the writer (to have such a God-given gift). I guess the more direct answer is that I'm not certain which project is next, at least not today, Jacqui. Tomorrow or the next day, when the mood for a particular story hits me, I'll know. :-)
If you'd asked that question at the beginning of the year, my answer would have been that I planned to step back this year, for the most part, and just relax, enjoy the creative accomplishments of the past eight or nine years. But as time has passed, I've found myself finally wanting to do some writing. That led to the spicy pulp novella, Running Hot, and the Noir Shot short story, Angel in the Rain. I even began thinking about the next Seth Halliday novel, due to abandoning a story-line I eventually found distasteful as a writer. I also began toying with the idea of a new one-off western, a genre in which I've not delved into for a spell, despite my love for it. My urge to write now that half the year is in the bag has led to me writing and releasing those two projects this year (Running Hot, and Angel in the Rain). I've decided to leave the larger and more complex and draining stuff, however, like Seth Halliday, Matt Ransom, a Western, Nostalgia Crime, for next year. I have more short story to novelette length tales I want to write in the latter half of the year. I've decided to focus on those when I feel like writing this year. Some are poignant or romantic stories, while others will fall under my older style Noir Shots umbrella (I've planned ahead creatively for four at this juncture). I'm vacillating at the moment between writing a little romantic ghost story, another Noir Shot entry, or an achingly poignant romantic piece, in regard to what's up next. Since I hadn't expected to do any writing at all this year (stories are always in my head, being planned and played out like films, but they usually remain there circling the airport until I sit down to work on them and bring them in for a safe landing) anything I do write and release is a bonus, like playing with house money. Most often they land without much fanfare or notice, but hopefully time will remember they passed this way. To a writer, as I'm sure you know, your stories are your legacy, pieces of your soul and heart that you put to paper for all to see. Just as an artist displays their paintings in a gallery, to be viewed for all time, we writers release our work in a larger gallery. Sometimes it goes un-viewed, other times unappreciated, but if we're good, it can touch or entertain those who read it (now, or sixty years from now) and be as much of a gift to the reader as it is to the writer (to have such a God-given gift). I guess the more direct answer is that I'm not certain which project is next, at least not today, Jacqui. Tomorrow or the next day, when the mood for a particular story hits me, I'll know. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Across the Dreamless Sea, to live and write in a better time.
Bobby Underwood
As that which remained of him stood looking down at the shattered and broken body lying beneath the soulless skyscraper on this moonlit night, he knew with certainty that the brutal way the girl he’d been worshipping from afar had murdered him would never be listed on his death certificate. Revealing his love for her on what had begun as a fine spring day, her response that she did not love him, and never would, had killed him with as much efficiency as any gun or knife, but coroners never listed cause of death as loss of all hope.
Bobby Underwood
Sorry I did not see this earlier, and answer. I may have missed the notification. I'm not around these parts much lately either, so that may have been how I missed it. I assume you mean the western series? Both the Seth Halliday series and the Nostalgia Crime series also have three books. I don't crank out the westerns like some, because there is a lot of attention to detail in the older Zane Grey type of westerns I write, which can be rather involved, both story-wise and with the romantic atmosphere. My next western will most probably be a Bar~S western, an off-shoot of the Wild Country series, featuring The Southerner and his men from the Whisper Valley entry of the Wild Country series. Probably next year on that one, and hopefully next year on the third Wild Country entry as well. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Oh, that's always so hard, because they're your babies. Also, the books or stories you like best as a writer, may not be the ones a reader, depending on their tastes, enjoys most. Another thing which makes it difficult is that in my case, it might be a couple of books deep into a series, and therefor not where a reader would start sampling your work. I also write in a lot of different genres, so there is a wide variety, depending on your reading preferences. I do have favorites, but also have kind of a Sophie's Choice moment (though less serious, of course) when asked to choose. The Turquoise Shroud (the first Seth Halliday novel), I Died Twice (a soft romantic/noir drama set in the 1940s), and The Wild Country (the first in a popular western series -- by my standards) are probably my most reviewed. I price all my Kindle books at .99¢, whether it is a novel, novelette, novella or short story, to make it easy for readers to give my work a try, and keep my trade paperbacks in line with the big publishing houses. For a small sampling of my work (though it's only a couple of genres), I have made a couple of stories FREE to read here on Goodreads. A lovely six-chapter (short chapters) story, JOY ISLAND, is available by going to the anthology, Lovers' Tide, and clicking READ underneath the book photo. A PDF of Joy Island, one of the four terrific stories in that romantic work (Holly, Surfer Girl, and Galveston are the others), will pop up in its entirety, and can be read for free here on Goodreads. By going to my nine-story anthology of retro suspense stories paying homage to pulp magazines of the '30s and '40s, The Unlocked Window, and clicking under READ below the book photo, one of the stories, VOODOO ROAD, can be read on PDF in it's entirety at your leisure. That one is just a short story of old-fashioned suspense as a woman and a young girl try to escape an island. It's great fun, I think, if you are familiar with the older style genre -- and perhaps even if you aren't. I thought REQUIEM was a particularly beautiful story, and I am proud of that one. A lot of what I consider my favorites, however, do come later in series I write (Matt Ransom, Seth Halliday). Feel free to check out Joy Island and Voodoo Road here on Goodreads, and thanks for the question!
Bobby Underwood
Sorry, I only now saw this, and didn't get a Goodreads email about it! My wife and I (and Cisco, our dog) live in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, so that's home for me now, though I'm American, born in Oklahoma and raised in California. A beautiful area, lots of paddocks and horses grazing. A small town near the Tumut River, which runs along the edge of town. Lots of parks, and a walking/riding trail along the river, plus some wetlands. Lovely area. Thanks for asking! :-)
Bobby Underwood
Rick, I think you might have intended this for someone else, and perhaps posted the question to the wrong author? I run a lot of Free events, but haven't done a 5 Free books event. I normally do the Free Kindle download events for five days each on the books specified, on the dates specified, but that's all. I see now there is a Bobby in the Western group we're both in who had this giveaway going. Certain now you meant to contact him. A link to his page should be on the American Western page where he made the offer. Sorry for the confusion.
Bobby Underwood
Actually, I'd never heard of him, but I'll check him out now. Thanks for the tip! :-)
Bobby Underwood
I don't do reading lists, nor do I do reading challenges. I read what I want, when I want. Structured reading takes the fun and joy out of reading for me. It's nice to have no plan, to just read whatever I'm in the mood for. Stuff like that leaves little room for spontaneity, or the excitement of discovering something new, even if it's something old that I haven't yet read. When I'm working on a project of my own, albeit a novel, novella, short story or collection, my reading pace naturally lessens somewhat. If I had a "quota" to meet, it would only be a nagging thing, rather than a joy, which is what reading should be for everyone. And besides, living in Australia, where the seasons are reversed, when it's summer in the US, it's winter here. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Because I'm a film buff, I would pick fictional movie couples rather than literary couples -- though Nick and Nora would qualify as both. My all-time favorite couple would be Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake (This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, The Blue Dahlia, Saigon). Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy), and Bogie and Bacall are in there somewhere as well. I dedicated my Nostalgia Crime series (Beautiful Detour, and Where Flamingos Fly) to Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, which says a great deal about my affection for their films.
Bobby Underwood
First, I wanted to write mysteries about damaged and broken people, said damage often coming from families and dysfunction. Second, I wanted to make them fast moving and entertaining,usually with a colorful setting for atmosphere. In a way, I wanted to blend elements of Ross Macdonald and John D. MacDonald with TV's Mannix, bringing to it an easy and readable style of narrative like that of David Dodge or Robert Parker. Like those guys, the mystery form gave me all the rope I needed. I wanted to have a tarnished protagonist who had a heart, and use the mystery form to not only touch on personal damage and its aftermath, but comment on society through Seth and his interactions with Sonny and others. Just as with Travis McGee, Lew Archer or Spenser, it isn't necessary for the reader to agree with every observation made during the trip in order to enjoy the ride. I wanted the surrounding characters to have flaws and their own stories which would slowly be revealed over time in the series, as Ed McBain did with the 87th Precinct series. For instance, things are revealed about Sonny in the second Seth Halliday outing, The Long Gray Goodbye, that readers of The Turquoise Shroud might not have expected. Caroline's poignant backstory was revealed from the very beginning, in The Turquoise Shroud, but nuances will come out over time to add depth. Detective Sanchez, and Seth's crippled psychologist friend Jeanette, both have tremendous their own unique stories, so that no one who is a regular or semi-regular in the series is a throwaway character. Another thing that I wanted to do in a series that is rarely done (Spenser would be the exception, though I can't stand the Susan Silverman creation) is have the protagonist permanently attached to someone, someone worthy. This would allow me as a writer to eliminate the need for a new romantic or physical attachment in each new entry, allowing the reader to settle in and focus on the mystery story, while I added a bit more to Seth and Caroline's relationship each time out. I wanted it to have a bit of that cool feeling from past decades, like watching Mike Conners as Joe Mannix, or Robert Urich as Dan Tanna. Basically, I wanted to write the kind of series I'd like to read myself; entertaining yet thought provoking. How well I succeeded is up to readers to decide. Thanks for asking!
Bobby Underwood
Oh, we're doing fine, and thanks. Not certain on the book (s). Among other books I read recently on vacation was a Kate Shugak mystery by Dana Stabenow called Midnight Come Again. A lot of Alaska atmosphere. First one I've read though the ninth or tenth in the series, and I'm going to pick up more now that I've read it. A few years ago there was a terrific book by David Gann called The Lost City of Z about Percy Fawcett's disappearance in the Amazon so long ago and it is very thrilling and entertaining, history written almost as an exciting work of fiction. It is sort of in that Kirkpatrick, A Cast of Killers in tone and style and a wonderful book. Other than that and a few good ones from Independent authors I've reviewed, I've been on an Ed McBain and Donald Hamilton kick lately. :-)
Bobby Underwood
Oh, yes, actually I do, Poopak. I have a personal page and an author page as well. Thanks for asking! And I hope you enjoy the books! The fist link will be my personal page, the second my author page. Looking forward to connecting. :-)
https://www.facebook.com/bobby.underw...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobby-...
https://www.facebook.com/bobby.underw...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobby-...
Bobby Underwood
Don't worry about where and how your book will "fit in" to a bland, cookie-cutter market. Don't try to write a bestseller. You might succeed, but end up empty, creatively unfulfilled. Stay true to your vision and tell your story with passion. People read books every day that they forget shortly after the last page, not necessarily because they want to, but because the big publishing houses saturate the market with them, until readers despairingly feel like it is all they have to choose from. What they really want is a terrific story, in whatever genre. If you have a great story to tell, and tell it well and with passion, beauty, poignancy, some wistfulness, they will love it. And when one person discovers it, they'll tell others, and you'll begin to build an audience.
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