Book Review, Author Interview: Murder, Mystery, & Mascara

I occasionally do book reviews for The Grand Rapids Press. I have not done so recently due to all of the time constraints placed on a first year teacher (soon to be second). However, there is one that I would like to point out for you. The book review was very enjoyable, but ultimately it was the lesson learned that sticks in my mind. I took the initiative to contact the publisher and requested an interview the Turkish author Mehmet Murat Somer. The novel is entitled The Kiss Murder, and is part of a successful series. It was the first one to be released to the United States. I conducted the interview via email.

So, when I mention the lesson I learned, of course, I refer in large part to the interview itself. For example, it was critical to do research ahead of time. In fact, at one point, the author commented on this. Also, when you are taking part in an interview through email instead of instant messaging or some form of real time communication, you must play out the questions posed in your mind. You have to anticipate possible variations of answers to the questions asked, a pre-follow up if you will.
the Turkish author
Upon further reflection, the true lesson had to do with publication rights. I posted the question and answer interview with the author PRIOR to my article's publication. The newspaper, and I am sure this is true of almost every news publication, has the rights to the printed material. By publishing the interview on my old blog before the article in the newspaper, I forfeited the interview. In other words, the newspaper did not publish the interview simply because I put it up on my blog first. The grand Rapids Press boasts the second largest newspaper distribution in the state of Michigan. My blog ,at the time, was more or less the classroom blog I established during my student teaching. In essence, my 12th grade composition class was privy to the interview instead of The Press subscribers.

I am reminded of those old cartoons on Rocky and Bullwinkle that resembled Aesop's Fables. Upon conclusion of the short cartoon, two morals were given. In my case, the moral was either, Investigate all personal legal issues ahead of time, or honesty sometimes has it's price.

Learn more about the Turkish author on his Facebook site.