A Little Reflected Glory

        I just got word that Mirron Willis' reading of The King of Ragtime for Blackstone Audiobooks received AudioFile Magazine's Earphones Award, and I'm happy to bask in the reflection of Mr. Willis' glory.  The review said, in part, "Mirron Willis gives a virtuoso performance in Larry Karp's second immersion in the syncopated rhythms of ragtime...Willis never strikes a false note in Karp's well-researched period mystery. He fashions living human beings of all colors, textures, and dispositions with only his smooth, sultry voice.
     Here's a link to the entire review.  http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/showreview_pub.cfm?Num=40367
     Thanks, AudioFile.  Thanks, Mr. Willis.

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

        That's probably the Number One question writers get asked.  The answer is, "Everywhere, all the time." 
        Last night I went to a concert at Kenyon Hall in West Seattle, where the terrific Cornucopia Concert Band played selections in honor of Black History Month.  There were rags, blues, popular melodies, show tunes. 
        One of the most prominent names from the list of musicians represented in the concert was James Reese Europe.  A century ago, he was composer, bandleader, arranger, promoter, labor organizer, one of the most important New York musical personalities of the time.  He was a key figure in getting the dance craze of the 'twenties going, composing tunes for headline dancers Irene and Vernon Castle.  He took ragtime and early jazz to France, thereby setting the stage for that country to be a post-war hotbed of jazz and related music.
         Unfortunately, Europe died far too young.  In May, 1919, an argument with his drummer led to the drummer's stabbing the conductor to death.  What might have been behind this murder?  Was it simply a case of an unstable percussionist being pushed just a little too far by his boss?  Or was there more?  There's a relatively-new book out, A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James Reese Europe.  My daughter and son-in-law gave me a copy for Christmas, and it's now near the top of my TBR pile.  I think I'll move it up to Number One.  There might be a story there.

What's All The Fuss About Octuplets?

Doesn't seem like such a big deal. My wife, Myra, has had octuplets
since this past Christmas. Of course, they're hedgehogs, but
still. Our daughter and son-in-law found them in the Loch Ness Gift
Shop. Here they are, sitting on a row of my mystery novels during our recent
Puget Sound Sisters in Crime Holiday Gathering. That's Sister Morrie
Robkin in the chair behind them.
All together, counting plush hedgehogs, glass and ceramic hedgehogs,
concrete, metal, and pine-cone hedgehogs, Myra has well over a
thousand of the little guys. So what's all the commotion about a
mere fourteen sibs?

Now I'm A Performer

One of the interesting things about research and promotion is that
you keep finding yourself in novel situations. Musically challenged
as I am, I never dreamed I'd be up on a stage as part of a music
show. True, I've presented research seminars at the Scott Joplin and
West Coast Ragtime Festivals, a step in the general direction, but
no, not really a performance.
But as of last weekend, I'm officially a performer. Here's a
picture of me with Donald Sosin, a terrific ragtime pianist who also
does a spectacular job of providing musical accompaniment for silent
films. Donald came all the way from Connecticut to do this
show. We're at Kenyon Hall in West Seattle, providing an evening of
Ragtime in Music and Words. Don played the music, I spoke the words
- the history of and stories about ragtime pioneers such as Scott
Joplin, John Stark, Irving Berlin, and Brun Campbell (The Ragtime Kid).
Putting on a performance feels very different from presenting a
seminar or a bookstore event. It's actually fun, a real kick. Who'd
ever have believed it? Not I. But now, I'm looking forward to doing
more shows. Stay tuned.

A Busy Week on the Web

        Like the shoemaker with his barefoot children, I've done a good deal of posting on other sites this past week.
        Want to learn a useful technique to help develop realistic settings for your historical novels?  Read "Larry Karp Maps It Out," at http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/2009/01/writing-tip-14-map-it-out-larry-karp.html
        Want to read my nomination for Worst Mystery Ever Written?  Go to http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2009/01/fridays-forgotten-books-january-9-2009.html
        Then, if you'd like, check out my interview by William Kenower of Author Magazine.  Click the link in "Links to Interviews with Larry."

Yuk Yuk. We've Got A Million Of Them

After he'd read my latest book, Bob Resta came up with this suggestion:

        Hey, here's an idea for your next series: Jew escapes Russian Gulag, sneaks into America, builds a business dealing in Oriental rugs.  He develops a special weaving pattern/technique that deviates from the usual rug patterns, and copyrights it as Syncopated Weaving.  You can call the book The King of Rugtime.

        Hmm.  Most people know that the punched cards used by Joseph Marie Jacquard for his mechanical looms foreshadowed modern computer technology ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom).  But those cards also served as the operational basis for many forms of automatic music, including the player piano.  And Scott Joplin recorded several of his rags on piano rolls.  What if Joplin had met the King of Rugtime, and been inspired to write the Cutting a Rug Rag?   
        Thanks, Bob.  I think I'll go back to work now.

A Little Automatic Music

Happy New Year.

For me, any happy year would have to include a good deal of music.  Antique music boxes, collecting them, restoring them, has been a hobby of mine for many years.  Martin Edwards, a fellow Poisoned Pen author who's seen my collection, asked me to write a short piece on these 
fascinating self-playing instruments for his blog.  You can read it at  http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/2008/12/larry-karp-on-music-boxes.html