Gary Clifton and Ryan Sayles; HOW I WROTE THIS STORY

Gary Clifton: THE LAST AMBASSADOR TO PUSHMATAHA,  is a tale based on an actual case wherein a low rent doper, who claimed to be a prince in exile infatuated with a dope-numb-brained stripper, went around  planting crude bombs against enemies real and imagined until he had a premature ejaculation (the stripper's words) and involuntarily retired from the bombing business.  In the real world, he died in the joint several years ago, still disarmed, so to speak. 

Gary Clifton, forty years a cop, a lifetime comedian has a giant Santa bag of war stories, all true.

Ryan Sayles:  Getting published on All Due Respect was a big goal of mine. When I read the submissions guidelines, Chris Rhatigan was very clear about one thing: he publishes "fiction about people who are criminals..."

That got the gears turning.

Earlier in the year I read another author's story which took place in a strip club. I always try to leave comments on the stories I read, and this was no exception. I made some comment about strippers working for formula and meth.

That also got the gears turning.

So I wrote a story called "Formula and Meth." I wrote about a stripper who runs a scam on the clients she has, and I tried to make it funny in tone but sad in reality. So, the third person narration (in Rhatigan's words) just made fun of everyone. But, the situation itself--especially Angelina, the lead stripper--was sad. It was too bad. Single mom, having an elderly neighbor check on her kid at night while she's at the club, addicted to meth, working for drugs and baby food.

No one is decent here. The sliding scale of humanity is near the bottom. No one is honest. No one has love. Everyone uses everyone else and the end focuses all of that into what I hope was a lingering feeling of that sad reality.

So grab the collection. Ignore me blabbing about my story and know that every single one in here is solid as a rock. I'm proud my drivel made the cut, because this thing is THE anthology to have. Rhatigan proved he could do the crime fiction world a favor with how he selected the stories. Get your hands on it.

HOW I CAME TO WRITE ALL THIS STUFF: Eric Beetner

HOW I CAME TO WRITE . . . ALL THIS STUFF

by Eric Beetner

I’ve been told to slow down. I’m not good at it though. See, 2011 turned out to be a prolific year for me. Most years are, you’d just never know it because all the pages in the world, if they are left on my computer – who cares? This year saw several releases and for that I’m grateful and proud.

I should note that it seemed as if all year Patti and I were stalking each other. By the time we finally got our ever-so-brief face time at Bouchercon we’d already been between the covers of several anthologies with a few more still to go.

D*cked, Off The Record, Grimm Tales, Pulp Ink. I have been lucky enough to be invited into all these stellar anthologies alongside Patti and several other top writers I am honored to share a table of contents with. The scariest part of an anthology is wondering what the other writers are going to surround you with, and if your own story will be up to snuff. I had nothing to fear in any of these collections. Every one is a top notch collection.

Pulp Ink has some of the flat-out hardest core crime stories all year. Appropriate since the inspiration was a Tarantino movie. I was beyond thrilled when Nigel Bird handed me the title “Zed’s dead, baby”, and I’m pleased with the story that came from that prompt.

D*cked is the craziest anthology I’ve ever seen and it prompted me to write the craziest story I’ve ever written – one narrated by Dick Cheney’s heart. In an election year the world needs to know about this book.

Off The Record took dozens of classic songs and re-imagined them as crime tales and then gave away all the profits to children’s reading charities. How could I go wrong with California Dreamin’? Of course, my dream is a dark one, despite all the sunshine.

Grimm Tales has been in the works for a while now so no one can accuse us of jumping on the bandwagon of reinventing Grimm Bros. fairy tales in a new genre. The results here are outstanding. My take on Cinderella is one I’ll not be reading to my kids any time soon.

I also had two novellas published this year. Dig Two Graves puts me alongside Patti again in the Snubnose Press stable of writers. With the high bar raised by Monkey Justice and Keith Rawson’s The Chaos We Know, my sordid revenge tale slipped behind the velvet rope and took up residence aside some serious talent.

Dig Two Graves had been sitting around for a while and when Snubnose announced they were throwing their hat in the ring I couldn’t resist sending this nasty little adventure their way. So far the response has been great. My Mother had to stop reading only two pages in. Score one for me, I guess. I warned her.

Split Decision is my entry into the Fight Card series of novellas set in the 1950s. The series is loosely tied together but each is a standalone book written by a different author under the blanket pseudonym Jack Tunney. The two that came before, Felony Fists and The Cutman, were great so I knew I had to be on my game when they invited me to pen an original story. The slate of entries for 2012 is already mighty impressive and I look forward to lining up these books on my shelf as they come in. (Yep, they do have print versions available, with alternate covers and our own names on them too)

So, yeah, a big year. That’s not even mentioning the three novels I completed that still await discovery. So will I slow down in 2012? Doubt it. I’ve been taking a break in December to handle publicity of the books and to sell our house and move. But, the ideas are piling up and I’m getting antsy. I only hope I can have another great year of generous editors, gracious writers and kind readers like I had in 2011.

How I Came to Write This Story: Glenn Gray

HOW I CAME TO WRITE THIS STORY

Glenn Gray

BIGOREXIA

Basically, it was like this: I gotta write another muscle story. I’d been working on this novel about black market steroids for a while. I needed a break. I wanted to write some stories about the muscle world; steroids, rage, gyms. The psychopathology associated with the hardcore element of this subculture. And the characters that populate this world. Figured it would help flesh out that world in my mind.

The first story was “Jacked,” in Thuglit (thanks Big Daddy). Then “Mr. Universe,” which ended up in Blood, Guts and Whiskey (thanks again, Big Daddy). Then “Muscle Chick,” in PWG #3, “Balls to the Wall,” in Pulp Pusher, “Johnny Boy,” and “Strong Island Disco Doorman,” in Powder Burn Flash, “Marvin K Stein’s Killer Penis,” in OOTG 6 Sexploitation, and “Ass Shot,” in the long silent, Shred of Evidence.

Then I figured if I wanted to put a bunch of these muscle-themed stories together as a collection someday, I would need a couple more. Some longer stuff. Brainstormed. Decided to tap into the crazy days I spent pumping iron in Venice Beach in the early 80’s. Out came “Venice Beach Birthday Boogie.” Steve Weddle and crew were kind enough to accept it for an upcoming NEEDLE. Awesome.

Okay, maybe one more.

Bigorexia. In my mind, that’s a word that begs to be a story title. Ever since I heard it, I knew it had to be a story. Bigorexia is a real psychiatric term and is relatively new, coined in the 90’s. Roberto Olivardia, PhD wrote the first article in 1996 describing bigorexia/muscle dysmorphia. It’s also referred to as Adonis Complex. Some refer to it as reverse anorexia, and it’s part of the spectrum of body dysmorphic disorders. It’s like this:

Anorexic: I’m so fat. I can never be thin enough, even if it kills me.

Bigorexic: I’m so small. I can never be big enough, even if it kills me.

There are multiple criteria that need to be filled to make the diagnosis. I wanted the character in this story to exhibit most, if not all, of these traits. So I already had a fully fleshed out character. I wanted my character to be the ultimate bigorexic, not just using steroids, but site enhancement oils too.

I get the whole concept of wanting to be big, muscular. Training like crazy, dieting. Feels great. I even understand the desire to use anabolic steroids, to get to new levels. I mean, you still need to train like an animal, eat right. It’s damn hard work. Muscle doesn’t just “happen”.

BUUUUTTT. Injecting site enhancement oils. Man, that’s a whole different ball game. Instant size with no work. Once I started researching, I was hooked. Fascinated. Googled, “synthol freaks,” and was blown away by what I saw.

Who does this?

To this extent?

……..The BIGOREXIC.

Site enhancement oils were first developed by a German bodybuilder, Chris Clark in the early 90’s, as a way to fine-tune right before a contest. Just a few cc’s. Maybe if the calves were weak, you could give them a little boost. Or maybe one bicep was a tad smaller, asymmetric, you could add a bit of oil right before a show, even things out.

BUUUUTTT. Some people just can’t control themselves.

It’s a disease.

Now, there’s a story.

Glenn Gray has numerous stories published both online and in print. He has stories forthcoming in Shotgun Honey, Pulp Modern, Needle and Beat to a Pulp: Round 2.

HOW I CAME TO WRITE THIS Book, Anonymous 9

HOW I WROTE THIS BOOK by Anonymous-9

Synopsis of HARD BITE, the novel

The hit-and-run driver took everything—his wife, child and legs. Now a paraplegic, Dean Trahearn unleashes payback on suspected hit-and-runners in Los Angeles. Helper-monkey Sid is his deadly assistant as a satisfying conglomeration of dirtbag-corpses piles up. Until Dean kills an innocent man by mistake. The revelation is agonizing—just as the Mexican Mafia figures out that his first murder victim was one of them. Carnales kidnap Marcie, his home-visit nurse, so Dean uses himself as bait—armed with only Sid, his wits, and a last chance at honor—to save Marcie.

How I Wrote the Book

Terry Pratchett said, “You need the darkness to let the light show up.” Triumph of the human spirit enthralls me, so I made my main character disabled, with a limited amount of life left, and burning with ambition to avenge his own hit-and-run accident. The big challenge? Making him a serial killer. Dean had to be human and sympathetic enough that you’d actually care about him, not just watch at a distance and wait for him to get caught. Obviously, this is a razor’s edge of writing, a very fine moral line, and each reader will decide if I pulled it off or crashed.

I decided Dean would follow a vigilante code of honor, and I delved into the code of the bushido plus “the officer and a gentleman” credo to get a handle on it. I got so into Miyamoto Musashi, the original badass samurai, born in 1584, that I started waking up and writing every day at 4am, just like he says he did, in the preface to THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. However, I didn’t stop bathing, like he did. I tried, but it was hell on my social life.

If the book doesn’t make enough money to buy me a private island with servants I don’t know what I’ll do. Probably write another one, I guess.

Check out my website www.anonymous-9.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for this forum, and the invitation to write, Patti!