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Trestle Press is bringing my new Young Reader series to eBooks soon! Here's what Small World Global Protection Agency is all about:

I've been spinning my own webs for a while now. One strand is my site (www.MillerWords.com), another is Facebook (and countless other social sites) and then, of course, this blog.

As the web grows, I seem to be catching a lot of delightful little things. I often find wonderful, positive comments from you, my readers. It really makes my day to see someone respond to my words.

Another neat thing is all the people in "the business" that I connect with. There are so many authors out there trying to do what I am trying to do. I know how busy each one is, yet many take the time to reply to emails and respond to friend requests. Who would have thought I would be "friends" with James Patterson, Vincent Zandri or Dan Poblocki to name a few. Then there are the bloggers and other people that work extremely hard to make our stories part of your life, like Giovanni Gelati.

I know there are many others that I haven't listed, but thank you to all of you as well. Thank you to Comfort Publishing for giving me the first opportunity to spin this web.

I know this is kind of a random post, but that's the mood I find myself in and that's what blogs are for, right?

And thank you, reader, for getting caught in my web!

Donald Stoker is Professor of Strategy and Policy for the U.S. Naval War College’s program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His most recent book is The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War, and in the original post below, he dismantles a common myth about the Battle of Bull Run–the first major land battle of the Civil War–which was fought 149 years ago, today.

On July 21, 1861, the Union troops under Irvin McDowell were defeated by the combined forces of Confederate generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston on the banks of Virginia’s Bull Run Creek. Too often it is reported that this clash was the result of press pressure on Abraham Lincoln to act against the Rebels. This was not the case.

Lincoln did push for action, but he pushed because he wanted a quick end to the war. Moreover, something often ignored is that the Union plans were bigger than just marching an army into Virginia and hoping something good happened. McDowell’s advance was only one prong of the Union operation. Major General Robert Patterson commanded another Union force in the Shenandoah Valley, one that was supposed to pin Johnston’s forces in the Shenandoah. Union troops under Benjamin Butler at Fortress Monroe, at the end of the Virginia Peninsula that George McClellan would soon make famous, were to hold Confederate forces in that area. McDowell, using multiple prongs of attack, aimed at Manassas Junction with the intent of defeating 20,000 Confederates with 30,000 Union troopers.

For the North, none of this went according to plan. The Union forces in the Shenandoah needed a vigorous and aggressive commander. This, Patterson, was not. A veteran of the War of 1812 branded “Granny” by his troops, failed to do his job. As happened so many times in the Civil War the South stole a march on the Union. This allowed them to deliver Johnston’s troops to Bull Run in time to stop McDowell.

The events after the battle greatly impacted the course of the war. Union defeat meant McDowell’s replacement with McClellan, and the subsequent paralysis that then gripped the Eastern Theater until the spring of 1862. Confederate President Jefferson Davis failed to give his generals proper credit for their victory. Both Beauregard and Johnston were very prickly in regard to personal honor and reputation. This perceived slight helped poison the relations between the Confederate president and these two generals for the rest of the war, adding to the South’s difficulties prosecuting the struggle.

The New York Times has an article about how publishers are cutting back on expenses."For decades the New York publishing world promised a romantic life of fancy lunches, sparkling parties, sophisticated banter and trips to spots like the Caribbean to pitch books to sales representatives."

Well, I'm not sure it was ever all that great, esp. for the rank and file, but I would guess it's ratcheting down across the board now. Macmillan has gone from having a sales conference in a ritzy hotel in San Diego to a Web meeting.

I do disagree a bit with something uber agent Amanda "Binky" Urban says in the article, "Ms. Urban said some of the more lavish practices could not be sustained by a slow-growth, low-margin industry that can’t charge luxury prices. “Books can only support a certain retail price,” she said. “It’s not like you have books that can be Manolo Blahniks and books that can be Cole Haan. Books are books. A book by James Patterson costs the same as a book by some poet."

Books by Patterson are routinely discounted 30 percent or more by Amazon and big chains. Good luck finding a poet in the same category.

Click here to read more.

I seem to have a decent-sized list here...has it been that long since my last recent-reading post??


AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER, by Jacqueline Woodson. MG, contemporary realism, new in hardcover. Wow. I'm a Woodson fan already, and I'd have to say that this is probably my favorite of hers so far. The friendship of a trio of girls in the mid-nineties, against a backdrop of rapper Tupac Shakur's life and work, and the incarceration of one girl's brother.

Slight aside: In Neal Shusterman's fantasy EVERLOST, some characters can control others by inhabiting their bodies for short periods of time--getting inside their skins. In the EVERLOST world, this is called 'skinjacking.' Cool term, no?

Well, I got 'skinjacked' by the characters in TUPAC. Although I know from personal experience what it's like to be not-white, I could only make an educated guess about what it might be like to be black...until I read this book. When I was immersed in its world, I felt like I was black. I think this is testament to the author's ability to depict both the universality of being human and the specificity of being a young black girl in an urban neighborhood in the mid 1990s. Brava.


ELIJAH OF BUXTON, by Christopher Paul Curtis. MG historical, library. One of this year's Newbery Honor titles, about the first free child born of former slaves who escaped to Canada. (What a premise!) Wanna laugh OUT LOUD through three-quarters of a story, then cry at the end? If yes, this is your book. The funny parts are SO funny that I immediately wanted to read them aloud to whomever else was in the room. The sad part made me think of Toni Morrison's BELOVED. Recently I had a conversation with another (very astute) reader who was unconvinced by the first-person narrator's use of dialect--too modern, she thought. On the one hand, I agree. On the other, it enhances the story's accessibility. Which hand are you slapping?


SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU, by Peter Cameron. Contemporary YA, library. New York City teen drifting without an anchor, trying desperately to find one. I read this book in one sitting, meaning that I found the story compelling. The writing is very strong, indebted to / echoing CATCHER IN THE RYE and THE BELL JAR. All good, right?

A week later, when I went to make a few notes so I could blog about it, a weird thing happened: I couldn't remember a thing about it--except that it was YA. I mean nothing, nada, almost as if I hadn't read it! I literally had to scan the flap copy before I recalled anything about the book. I think maybe it's because I've read an awful lot of YAs lately that are 'teen-adrift-searching-for-anchor' and I'm sorry to say that many of them lack standout qualities, hence tending to blur into one another.

I don't know if this particular time, it's more of a comment on the book itself, or my (admittedly porous) memory. But there it is.


MAXIMUM RIDE, by James Patterson. Upper MG (maybe YA to some?) adventure-thriller, paperback airport bookstore purchase. I was skeptical, that's for sure. And I'm still not entirely convinced: For one thing, the story doesn't end: It just stops in its tracks, screaming 'sequel.' But...lots of action! and short chapters! about six kids who can fly! all of whom have distinct personalities! There's a lot to like here, and a big sigh of relief: Unlike many books aimed at so-called 'reluctant readers,' the writing in this one is decent--hurrah!

(Don't get me started...on my firmly-held assertion that books for reluctant readers need to be the BEST written of all. If they're only going to read a few books, those books need to be stellar examples of GREAT WRITING. I mean, sheesh, if you could feed a kid only half a dozen meals, would they all be canned spaghetti-o's and frozen pizza?! Me, I'd at least give them home-made fries, using the twice-fried method--fry once in medium-hot oil, remove from pan, let rest, finish in hot oil, serve piping hot with lots of salt and ketchup...ambrosia...--so they'd know what angels get to eat in heaven...but I digress.)


KEEPER, by Mal Peet. MG magical realism (or something like it), library. Now THIS is exactly what I'm talking about! When I went to the library, I was actually looking for Peet's TAMAR, which I've heard good things about. No TAMAR on the shelf, so I took KEEPER instead. An internationally-renowned soccer goalie recalls his boyhood years and his path to stardom.

Yeah, baby! A sports story and a ghost story: plenty of ferocious sports scenes and deliciously eerie ghosty bits, and the writing is better than decent or good--it's terrific. SEE?! DON'T TELL ME IT CAN'T BE DONE!

(I didn't say it's easy. Just that it's essential. And that I sometimes feel like I'm beating my head bloody against a brick wall comprising a whole bunch of folks--publishers, editors, educators, writers--who seem to think that it's okay to give a reluctant reader a less-than-well-written book so long as it's action-heavy and/or humorous.)

I have more titles on my list but if you've read this far, I am grateful and should give you a break. More anon.

Publisher’s Lunch says that Nielsen Bookscan figures show that James Patterson has a 2.5 percent share of the ENTIRE MARKET FOR FICTION in the UK.

There’s just something scary about that.

PL also says “Random House UK unveiled their plans for taking over the James Patterson publishing program from Headline next February. They'll double Patterson's annual releases to eight titles a year, adding his new teen fiction series (Jack X) and rebranding the Maximum Ride series for crossover sales, non-fiction, more romance and a graphic novel.” [Full disclosure: most of those books have a credited coauthor.]





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What's it like being partners with James Patterson?

The good: good money.
The bad: the copyright is only in Patterson's name.
The good: will likely hit the best-seller list.
The bad: with a formulaic book with chapters running no longer than 4 pages, most ending with a twist or surprise, some cheezy.
The good: you get to quick your day job.
The bad: but not exactly how you dreamed.
The good: you might be able to one day sell your own novels for more money.
The possibly bad: but will they have to be in James Patteron's style?

Read more here about how James Patterson wrote his new book, Step on a Crack.

"Tt has all the ingredients of a Patterson page-turner: drama, emotions and short chapters (116 in 383 pages). Patterson calls it "a delicious stew" while acknowledging that the ending "is over-the-top." But, he says, "never let reality get in the way of a good story."

Ledwidge says his role was to flesh out the outline, adding details like St. Patrick's underground bomb shelter, which he invented. Ledwidge, who lives in Avon, Conn., says he wrote several chapters at a time and sent them to Patterson, who spends most of the year in Florida. Patterson sent back revisions, which, he says, mostly dealt with "the pace, not getting bogged down," and "not neglecting the detective's family."

Ledwidge says Patterson served less as an editor and more as a "writing coach or teacher." Patterson says Ledwidge was an ideal partner: "talented, pleasant and hungry.""





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