Connections

by Libby Hellmann

This is a story with a happy ending. In fact, it’s one of those experiences that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about technology, connections, and the internet.

A few months ago, I started researching a new novel. Some of it is set in the recent past, specifically the late ‘70s and ‘80s when Cuba sent forces to Angola to help that newly independent country defeat South African rebels and insurgents.

I knew absolutely nothing about that part of the world. Or what some called the Cuban “Vietnam.” So my first stop was Google for a basic understanding of the issues, timeline, and outcome. Within an hour, I knew enough to know what I didn’t know. I needed more.


On a whim, I decided to tweet that I was seeking more information. I used the Twitter hashtags #Cuba and #Angola, but I wasn’t really expecting any responses. Twenty minutes later, though, I was surprised when I got a reply. The tweet was from a Brit, Edward (Tedd) George, who said he’d written a book called Cuban Intervention in Angola.

I couldn’t quite believe it, so I went to Amazon. Sure enough, there was Tedd's book, which turned out to be an expansion of his doctoral thesis and was highly recommended. There was a problem, though. Since there was limited distribution, the book cost $140, too expensive for my meager research budget.

So I went to the WorldCat online catalog to look up the book. I discovered it was in 6 Chicago libraries, called my branch library to tell them which ones. Within three days I had the book.

Not bad, huh? Except that’s not the end of the story.

I read the book, took copious notes, but realized I still had questions. By now, Tedd and I were emailing, so I wondered if he’d be willing to talk to me. I was surprised when he asked if I had Skype – I probably shouldn’t have been -- and I replied I did. He did too, so we set up a time to talk. His only criteria was that we talk after the World Soccer cup match of that day.

At the appointed time, I skyped him, and we talked for 45 minutes. I came away with some excellent ideas for my novel, and I think Tedd enjoyed the brainstorming, too.

So, in a period of a week, I accomplished what probably would have taken months. None of it would have been possible without Google, Twitter, Skype, Amazon, Worldcat, and the internet. And it was all free!

I love technology when it works like this… don’t you? What are some of your good technology stories?

I Don’t Get Haircuts anymore -- I Update My Profile

by Libby Hellmann

I wrote this a week or so ago for Kaye Barley's blog, Meanderings and Muses, but decided to give it an encore.


Drew Barrymore ‘s riff in He’s Just Not Into You was probably the best thing in that otherwise unremarkable film. She was talking about dating, and how people no longer meet each other organically. That the entire process is now either on voicemail or online.

To that end, it struck me recently that I no longer do anything much “organically.” In fact, I don’t have much of a physical, tactile life. Over the past 10 years, almost everything I do has moved online.

For example:

News
I just canceled my subscription to the Chicago Tribune. At least during the week. Why? I get all my news online. The Trib sends me a daily email; so does Huffington Post and Salon. MSNBC is my home page on the computer. I follow a bunch of news outlets on Twitter. And I’ve bookmarked a slew of other publications and blogs which I visit daily.

Professional Life
I get most of my crime fiction news on line. Wait – who am I kidding? I get it ALL online: DL, 4MA, Sisters in Crime, Shelf Awareness, bloggers like Kaye and Sarah Weinman and Joe Konrath, CrimeSpree, Goodreads, plus PW Daily. (I know I’ve left out a ton of others). I do almost al my research online, order books for my research online, and – well – let’s not even get started on marketing online. Suffice it to say I’m here and here for starters. With bells on.

Book Discussion Groups
I am a member of two online Mystery Book Discussion Groups, plus a private group that focuses on love of our genre. I actually write book reviews (well, a few) and get most of my book recommendations from these lists. I also belong to a flesh-and-blood mystery group at my library, but guess what? We did an online chat with an author last month!

Shopping
This winter saw me redecorating a bit, and I got some fabulous things from Overstock.com. In addition, I ordered two new TVs from Amazon, plus a camera (they had the best prices). I book airline tickets, buy clothes, gifts, and office supplies online. Oh, and I make restaurant reservations online too.

Socializing
Facebook has taken over my social life. What little is left goes on Twitter. My war with the skunks has been well documented, and I’m in touch with friends from waaay back in my life. I’ve probably been on every dating website there is -- with less than stellar results, unfortunately, but that’s another story.

Entertainment
I play Scrabble online, do Suduko puzzles online, and play solitaire on my computer. I listen to music online, forward YouTube clips to friends, as well as greeting and birthday cards. Sometimes I even email thank you notes.I'm not into online gaming, but I know there are people who do little else in their lives. I renew library books online, decide where to go on vacation online. I watch movies through Netflix. Åll my photos are on my computer – I haven’t had a physical photo album since 2001.


Health
Whenever I have an unknown symptom or health problem (which happens more frequently these days), I don’t automatically call the doctor. First I check online. Of course, that can be a double-edged sword since I’m prone to thinking the worst. It could be just indigestion, but I’m convinced it’s ulcers… or worse.

Bills
I pay 90 per cent of my bills online. Haven’t needed new checks in years. And I do my accounting on the computer as well.

Volunteer/Donations
I make charitable contributions online, volunteered for Obama online. I receive at least one solicitation, maybe more, a day.


I can’t remember the last time I used a phone book. Or asked for directions. If I can’t remember who directed a film, I no longer blame it on a failing memory. I just Google it (if I remember). I receive a lost pet alert every few days, and I even communicate with my handyman online. And what would I do without Angie’s List?


Publishing
I don’t have a Kindle yet but am considering an iPad, and as of a couple of days ago, ALL of my books are on Kindle and the other e-book format (at Smashwords)(Yay!). I’m thinking of publishing an e-collection of my short stories this summer. Of course, if I go ahead with it, I will do all my marketing and promotion online.

Whew!

So, what’s the point? The internet has made my life much more convenient (as long as the computers work), but it’s also unsettling. Because I leave tracks wherever I go, it’s a certainty that someone could develop a detailed dossier on me, warts and all. And if it’s true that – as some predict – it’s possible to take control of the internet, what would happen to my life if they did? Could I be erased? Could someone eliminate or – worse -- take control of my virtual footprint? And if they could, what would the ramifications be in my real life? Am I, and are we all, heading toward virtual disaster?

It’s too spooky to contemplate. Happily, I don’t have time. I have to update my profile.

Btw, I’m sure I left out other activities people do online… What have I missed?

What happens to the novel in the Age of Fragmentation?

We rely on stories to make sense of the world around us. When writing was first invented in ancient Sumer, about five thousand years ago, it was because the Sumerians needed to create tax and property records (which makes me wonder if writing is really a sign of an advanced civilization). However, among the clay fragments that have survived five millennia of war and weather, we can also read the words of the poets, women and men, who were our first storytellers.
Stories typically have beginnings, middles and ends, because our lives are structured in that way. We need stories to make sense of our journey from beginning to end, of our times of loss, of our times of joy. We need stories to give us hope, and to give us understanding.
I have been wondering, lately, what kind of stories will survive the age of the Internet, which could also be called the Age of Fragmentation. We are awash in information, but we aren’t awash in the truth.
But in the Age of the Internet, the problem of information and how to evaluate it has become magnified. We are pummeled from all sides by snippets of news, all purporting to be facts. We go to websites, get soundbites, move on to the next, and we end up carrying around confused images of wolves, terrorists, censorship, milk, mortgages, pregnancy, life, death.
If we live only with sound bites, then we are at the mercy of the person who creates the most compelling narrative out of these jostling fragments,. This happened with the narrative about Saddam Hussein, 9/11 and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. When we don’t check for facts, when we don’t pay attention to the whole arc of an event long enough to build a reliable narrative, we end up being controlled by unreliable narrators.
Fiction doesn’t pretend to dig into the truth about public affairs, but, at it best, it helps us understand the human heart, the ways we make sense of the events that shape our lives. It gives us the heroes we all would like to be, and the ordinary people who look away, or don’t speak up in the moment—as most of us, or at least as I, too often am.
Lately, I’ve been wondering what happens to the novel in the Age of Fragmentation. If we only have time or attention enough for a single paragraph, I guess we could go with:
A silly woman with five daughters, who wants them all to marry well, finds her wishes partly realized when the two elder marry wonderful wealthy men. Sadly, her favorite, the youngest girl, runs off with a scoundrel and is forced to marry him. The fate of the remaining daughters is left ambiguous. The End.
Or: The great soul of the Russian people helps them endure war and suffering and also teaches the French a thing or two about invading and nation building. Artistic women like Natasha, who break their hearts over noble officers, don’t understand that their true need is to retreat to the land with a peasant-like lout and have a dozen babies. The End.
If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice or War and Peace, these little summaries will save you the trouble. But will they help you understand life?
Every day, we chop our lives into bits. On the college campus near my house, I see young lovers arm-in-arm, both talking on their cellphones. We text while driving down the highway, we cruise the Web while on the phone with our friends and children, we create more and more of a jumble in our minds. I am as subject to these distractions as anyone, although, since my own fears include a terror of traffic accidents, I don’t use my phone while I’m driving.

So what kind of story will survive the age of the fragment?

Reading is Fundamental

by Libby Hellmann

Every year, one of my new year’s resolutions is to improve my writing. For me, writing is a challenge, and I usually feel unequal to the task. I’m not one of those people who love the process of writing, and I’m jealous of people who do. I’m more the “I-hate-writing-but-loved-that-I’ve-written type. Which begs the question of why I’m writing in the first place.

The answer is I’m not sure, but I have my suspicions. I love stories, and I love characters, and I love it when either the story or the characters surprise me. I wasn’t always a book junkie (although I started out that way as a kid)… I was a film-maker way before I was a writer, and my goal was to be the Lina Wertmuller of the United States.

But somewhere along the way I came back to words. There are so many authors writing such wonderful books -- stories that inspire, that educate, that shock, bring me to tears, cause me to question, or make me fall in love all over again. There is a delight in settling down with a book and knowing I’m going to be taken on an author’s journey – whether physical, metaphysical, or emotional -- and let into their heads for a while. In fact, that joy is one of the most pleasurable activities I can think of.

So it’s probably not a stretch to see how that fueled my desire to write… to create stories and characters that would bring the same delight to others as I’ve always felt.

Sadly, though, (and yes, I’ve blogged about this before), people aren’t reading the way they used to. We all know the statistics about the hours Gen X’ers and Y’ers spend online, visiting social networks, or melding with their Blackberries. It's time they aren’t spending reading. Now, it seems that Baby Boomers are getting into the act too.

Shelf Awareness, a wonderful resource about bookselling btw, cites an article from the New York Times last fall:

"Technology investors and entrepreneurs, long obsessed with connecting to teenagers and 20-somethings, are starting a host of new social networking sites aimed at baby boomers and graying computer users. The sites …look like Facebook--with wrinkles.”

According to the article’s author, Matt Richtel "there are 78 million boomers--roughly three times the number of teenagers--and most of them are Internet users ... Indeed, the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a market research firm."

Does that mean Boomers, traditionally the backbone of the buying public, will be reading fewer books as time goes on? As a Baby Boomer myself, I spend more time online these days… time I used to spend reading. But if reading is the activity that inspires me to write, how do I improve my writing by reading less? The simple answer is that I won’t.

Author Elizabeth Berg wrote an incredible essay in the Chicago Tribune Books section last weekend about her resolution to read more. Here's part of what she said:

A lot of people say they don't have time to read, not even an hour a day. Whenever I hear that, I always think of my partner Bill, who says, "Give up 'Wheel of Fortune' in favor of reading, and you can go through 25 books a year, and that's with taking the weekends off!"

In this age of multitasking, of speed for speed's sake, of pop-ups and links exhorting us to go somewhere else when we're not even done with where we are, it is a relief, if not salvation, for us to focus on one dang thing at a time. Instead of being lost for hours in the time-sucking quicksand of the Internet, one sits in dignified, tick-tock, one-blue-mountain silence and reads a page ... turns it ... reads the next page, and so on. Such an elegant act, reading, isn't it? And such an elegant image, a person sitting in a chair, a book resting on a lap, lamplight spilling onto the page. Can't you just feel your blood pressure lowering, contemplating such a thing?

I can, and I've decided to modify my resolution. Like Berg, I’m going to try and read more this year and spend less time online.

What about you? How much time do you spend online? Has your reading declined as a result? What do you think about that?

One Of These Days I'll Chase You Down

By Kevin Guilfoile

The first thing that hit me sideways was the phrase "professional internet gambler."

If you're a crime buff there are few things that can become more obsessive than a real-life mystery in progress and we have one in Chicago right now. This week there was a huge break in a well-known local murder investigation and although details are sketchy and weird at this point, those few details don't add up at all. And I suspect that when the truth is known the story is going to get weirder. And more interesting.

Last October the body of 64-year-old dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet was discovered by his daughter in his 12th-story Michigan Avenue office, just across the street from Millennium Park. Cornbleet had been bound, gagged, and stabbed over twenty times. Surveillance video showed what appeared to be a young man entering the building just before the killing and leaving just after. In both instances he seemed to be hiding his face. A witness who rode the elevator with the suspect back down to the street reported that he had injured his nose and had blood on his sweatshirt, as if he had been in some sort of struggle.

The video ran for several days on Chicago television. Promising leads turned cold. The victim's family raised money for a reward and Dr. Cornbleet's son, Jon, created a MySpace page for soliciting tips from younger people--perhaps the killer's peers--who might not follow the mainstream media.

In June, apparently in part from leads developed on the internet, a 29-year-old New York resident and "professional internet gambler" named Hans Peterson (left in high school photo) became a "person of interest." DNA in Peterson's New York apartment was compared to DNA left behind at the crime scene. Two months after the murder, Peterson apparently had fled to the island of St. Martin where he applied for and received French citizenship. Last week, he turned himself in to St. Martin authorities, claiming that he committed the murder because five years ago Dr. Cornbleet had prescribed some acne medication that Peterson believed had made him impotent.

Because the French will not extradite their citizens in capital cases, bringing Peterson to Chicago for trial has suddenly become complicated.

Obviously there are many holes in this story which will be filled in the coming weeks and months. And I suspect that some of the "facts" as we currently know them will turn out to be untrue. But the bones of this story--New York internet gambler seeks acne treatment in Chicago, has bad reaction, then five years later returns to savagely murder the doctor who wrote the prescription--just won't stand up on their own, especially when you compare the complete irrationality of the act to the cold calculation of applying for foreign citizenship in order to avoid prosecution in the United States.

The local TV stations have been all over this story. The Tribune put news of the confession on Page 3 of Metro, probably because they know so little about Peterson and what they know is somewhat dubious. The Sun-Times seems to be giving it a little more wood with no more information. There are skilled reporters working the beat, however, and my gut tells me this story is going to blow up into front page weirdness in the coming days.

And although I will almost always put my money on professional reporters having the edge over internet gossips, this story might turn out to be an exception. Hans Peterson has friends. Some of his friends must know his story. Some of those friends no doubt have blogs.

I'm not making any predictions, but this could be the kind of halfway-under-the-radar tale the internet was born for.

John Doe 96-2863 and Buddy, R.I.P.

By Kevin Guilfoile

I had a simple question about the hierarchy of the homicide section of the Las Vegas Police Department and before I bothered anyone on the phone, I decided to check the web first. It's the sensible and courteous thing to do, but I wasn't optimistic I'd find my answer. Government web sites, and particularly city web sites, are usually about as organized and easy to navigate as that house on your block owned by the elderly widow who hasn't thrown out a newspaper since 1943. Except the web sites don't usually contain nearly as much useful information. Most of them seem designed specifically to foil you from finding any information at all beyond two-year-old press releases and ten-year-old photos of the mayor. Go to the City of Chicago web site and see how long it takes you to find the name of the number two man in the CPD, the First Deputy Superintendent.

I hope you won't be upset if we don't wait.

Anyway imagine my shock when I found myself at the LVPD web site. You could spend hours there downloading information that is useful, useless, fascinating, and often gruesome. The concerned parent can find out how many narcotics arrests have been made in the last 60 days within a quarter mile of his child's school. The sentimental animal lover can solemnly peruse photos from the funeral of beloved K-9 unit hero "Buddy". The budding Veronica Mars can drum up unsolicited new work with a list of current open homicide cases complete with victim photos and and crime summaries. And the morbidly curious can study coroner photos of unidentified corpses. (Warning, some people might find a few of these pics disturbing, although I had a much tougher time looking at the German Shepherd's funeral.) The corpse I keep coming back to is the possibly doctored to cover decomposition John Doe 96-2863, who was discovered, dead from exposure, seven miles out into the desert.

For citizens of Clark County, this site is a valuable resource and the LVPD deserves great praise for making this information public and accessible. For the rest of us (or for me anyway) it's a source of endless fascination. And potential stories.

Has anyone else stumbled on a crime-related web site lately that was unexpectedly useful or engrossing?