Valin was one of the good ones, but he never got the
attention Robert
Parker got, and I gathered from some interviews I read that
writing
mysteries had him living a hand-to-mouth existence. It isn't
generally
realized just how little money there is in mystery writing.
Most have
to work a full-time job while they write, often living in the
vain hope
that their books will catch on. Publishing being what it is,
it takes a
miracle for that to happen. For every Michael Connolly there
are a
dozen Jonathan Valins about whom people say "what happened to
that guy?
His books were wonderful."
-- ************************************** Robert E. Skinner, Director Xavier University of Louisiana Library 7325 Palmetto Street New Orleans, LA 70125 (504) 483-7303 (voice) (504) 485-7917 (FAX) e-mail: rskinner@mail.xula.edu ************************************** # # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.