New Jersey: The Promised Land--Crime & Danger

In 2008, the second most dangerous city in the world was Camden. In the past few years, it has been as high as #1 and as low as #5. I am proud of this fact. We are one of the wealthiest states in the nation. We are one of the most densely populated nations in the state. We have a lot of things to hang our hat on.

It is clear we are also one of the most dangerous.

Camden normally tops the list. Route 21, which runs from Newark to Passaic is often called the stolen car highway. In Paterson, Joe Clark famously ran Eastside high school with a megaphone and baseball bat. Jersey City just had a wild shootout last night.

New Jersey is dangerous. We're like the badboy at the bar. The girl knows he's no good for her, but she can't take her eyes off of him. She thinks she can change him. But she can't.

You don't mess with New Jersey.

Compare this to Maryland (#20). THE WIRE did a good job of building up Baltimore as this dangerous, crime ridden city. Where does it fall on the list of dangerous cities? TWELFTH. Please, a Camden crook would laugh at Omar... and then steal his money. There's no way a Camden criminal would let a (SPOOOILLLERRRSSSS) kid take him out. In fact, if I remember correctly, a bunch of the dealers in THE WIRE often had to go to NJ...Baltimore has the water front... all those cool restaurants that Tess Monaghan goes to. Camden... they have an aquarium. WITH SHARKS.

And please, the rest of Maryland? Pretty safe. Pretty plain. You don't hear Stevie Nicks singing a song called "Glen Ridge."

New Jersey, the bad boy of the nation. Another sign that we are the promised land. We encompass everything.

Summer Time Songs

Well, it's the middle of July, the sun is shining, the Coronas are being passed out by the bucket, baseball is on the TV, and there is cheesy music on the radio.

I am far from a music snob, and I hardly ever bash what people are listening to. (Okay, that's not true, but when I bash it, it's in a loving way.) And everyone has a favorite summer song. You know the ones: the catchy beat, the hook you can't get out of you head, and the fact that you're singing it is something you'd never let your friends know.

Well, my blog reading friends, I'm about to give you a gift. I'm going to tell you all about my favorite summer cheese song.

"Girlfriend" by Avril Levigne.

That's right, "Hey, hey, you, you... I don't like your girlfriend."

And as it always happens, I absolutely loathed this song when it first came out. I was mocking it, singing it with fake lyrics that were supposed to be funny. Making fun of it with friends. And I kept singing it. Because, like that mouse you can't catch, it keeps rattling around. I'd be sleeping, and I subconsciously hear it... hey hey you you...

Then I saw the video. Pure, unadulterated lameness. Avril playing both the hated girlfriend, with her nerdy glasses and sweater, trying to ruin the boyfriend's day on their very special date. And Avril also as the bad/cool girl, messing with the bitchy girl. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen... hey hey you you...

And then you're at a bbq, and late in the night, that song comes on... and you find yourself singing it with all your friends... But not ironically. You're singing it because it's fun. HEY HEY YOU YOU...

Then, when you wake up the next morning, you're still singing it. You hear it in the car and you pump it. The song comes on and you smile. HEY HEY YOU YOU...

And then it's your favorite. You can't help it. You never admit to liking it. But you have to watch the video when it's on. You refuse to turn off the radio when that drum and bass line kick in.

So, come on, out there... What's your favorite summer cheese song? I just bared my soul to you.

New Jersey: The Promised Land--Accents

Ouside of NJ, people make fun of our accents. People talk about how we say Joisey (which I don't, the r must be pronouced) or cawfee (seriously what's co-ffee?).

Good.

I'm glad NJ has its own accent. It makes us unique. We stand out. People know what a Jersey accent sounds likes. It's recognizable. It's not like we blend in, disappear... we'd never get the Grail... silently. We'd kick butt.

Our accent represents a hardboiled attitude. Never say die. You think it sounds stupid? Who cares? We'll overcome it. Just like everything else. We rule. We don't sound plain. We stand out. And the accent? It's all ours.

Not like Maine.

Do they have accents in Maine (#19)? Yeah, but it's a BOSTON accent. Or close to it. No one says to people from Jersey have New York accents. Maine steals their accent from from a metropolis. Jersey lends their accent to New York.

Maine people live in their huts and get their lobsters and root for Sawx and pahk their cah. Just like Boston.

In Jersey... we do it different. We influence. We are not influenced.

We are the promised land.

The Cow and the Milk

There's been a lot of talk about giving away content for free lately. Authors, I've heard, should give away their stories and their books for free to build an audience. There are many sites which do this. You can Google them if you'd like.

I have no problem with this. In fact, I think it's a good idea.

Give away stories, give away novels, give away podcasts. It's a great way to build an audience, sure. I've picked up tons of free books in my day and it's introduced me to many of my favorite authors. Guys who's later books I've shelled out countless dollars for.

The problem lies when authors giveaway content and then try to sell the same content. If I get a book for free, I'm unlikely to go out and buy that book. You want to give something away, great. But if you then want me to buy something, it better be different.

Lou Lamoriello, General Manager of the New Jersey Devils, was at one point head of the Nets as well. Before he took over, the Nets had a bad habit of giving away tickets and never selling out seats. The moment Lou took over, he ended that process, believing you can't sell something that you're willing to give away.

The same goes for the recent trend of pumping up Amazon sales with a small press or self-published book. Weekly I get on Facebook, and as I'm about to update my status for the seventh time that day about what I'm going to have for dinner, or my exact latitude and longitude at that moment, there's someone else telling me I have to go on Amazon at this exact moment and buy some book to pump up its sales rank on Amazon.

Apparently it's a plan to show New York publishers they can get people to buy their book. And sometimes it works. (Mostly because if you get 300 people to buy your book in one day, it's going really mess with the sales rank. Hell, 30 people over 2 hours is probably going to put you up pretty high, numbers wise.)

But I have a question about that... let's say the person sells their book to a big time publisher. What are the odds the author is going to get someone who ALREADY bought the book to buy it again?? It cuts into sales. It's very hard to sell and re-sell a book without some form of new content. An introduction. A new short story sequel in the back of the book.

You have to give the customers something new.

Now, I don't have a Bookscan account or sales numbers in front of me. I could be dead wrong. A free book followed by trying to sell the same book may work. These books may be selling like gangbusters.

I know there's some great stuff out there. Seth Harwood is out there doing it, and he's written a quality novel. From what I understand, so has Scott Sigler is a bestseller according to his website. David Wellington too.

But each one of them is giving free content that is different as well. Harwood has the great Crimewav website, for example.

So, what's the solution?

First, write a good book. No publisher is going to buy a crappy self-published book, no matter how well you bumped the Amazon numbers. And no reader is going to buy it either.

Second, I think publishing has to think about giving away a first book for free. Draw an audience in that way. THEN, sell the second, and the third. Sell NEW content.

(For example, I've given lots of stories away for free. You can check most of them out @ Thrilling Detective. If you like what you read, you can purchase either of my books in the sidebar.)

Will it happen in publishing? I don't know.

Will the attempts to sell the same thing three times over continue? Probably.

Again, I don't have sales numbers. I could be way off. But, as a consumer, I think it's common sense. If I can get the milk for free... I'm not going to buy the cow.

What do you think?

The Dave and Krewer Show--Episode 2

Click here for Episode Two--"Sports Guys"--featuring an interview with Ed Champion.

Or download it on iTunes! Please subscribe!

Big thanks to Brian Witte for the logo!

More on Fear

So, I've been reading Lee Child's fantastic GONE TOMORROW. In the opening chapters, Jack Reacher is watching a woman on a subway. She's giving off the 11 signals that people give off before they're about to blow themselves up... a suicide bomber.

The day after I read that chapter, I got on the PATH train. As I was on the train, I noticed a guy who was giving off seven of the signs. My stomach twisted in knots, and I watched him the entire trip.

Obviously, I was fine.

But that brings me to a thought. Books can do something to me that movies can't. They can frighten me. JAWS never made me scared to go in the water. Modern movies are too computer generated to frighten me long term. They can startle me, but they can't fill me with dread.

IT made me think twice about walking past sewers. THE SHINING made me nervous about shrubbery (though not too much.).

And most thrillers find a way to make me nervous.

I think it's about the amount that's on the page. Books can back things up with facts. They can give me enough information to make fears legitimate. A suitcase bomb is much more likely on the train from Penn Station to Union Station in DC. Yikes.

Greg Rucka convinced me that there is no way to survive a subway bomb.

Books bring the facts. TV... movies... bring pictures. I know it's fake. I can rarely apply it to myself... my life.

Planes... well, that's a different story.

But what about you? What's more frightening? Books or movies? Why?

New Jersey: The Promised Land--THE JERSEY SHORE

Never has something ever been so synonymous with a state. The Jersey Shore is where it's at over the summer.

Want to swim and sunbathe? Jersey Shore.

Want to eat and drink? Jersey Shore.

Want to surf, boogie board, fish, boat, parasail? Jersey Shore.

Want to rid roller coasters, play boardwalk games, and avoid stepping on used syringes? Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore is like 8,000 tropical resorts wrapped into one. It is warm and scenic and relaxing. It's even sponsored several MTV specials, from their summer at the Shore to their "True Life: I Have a Summer Shore Share." Never has some spurred more stereotypes, attracted more tourists, and had more drunken fist fights and arguments. You can swim for an hour and then clog an artery or two.

Who else has that? Louisiana (#18)..? PLEASE. Louisiana has, what? The mouth of the Mississippi? Please, a river that's not even named after the state is ends in... Yeah, they have New Orleans, but you can't find any stereotypes there. Are there even beaches in LA? Maybe something kinda along the Gulf of Mexico... but it's not much.

The Jersey Shore... stereotypical, sanitary (at least lately), and fun. You can have crazy (Belmar), fun and relaxed (LBI), nude (Sandy Hook), historic (Cape May), or kid friendly (Wildwood)... TAKE YOUR PICK!

Jersey rules.