Here's where I've been

In the northwestern part of Michigan's lower peninsula, which is seriously gorgeous although has two flaws. The food is universally midwestern blah food. You might believe you can outthink it, but your order is always foiled by soft bread, too much cheese, too much mayo.
From restaurant to restaurant, the same dull menu. Secondly, where the heck are the movies. You have to drive 45 minutes to one. But for sheer beauty, nice beaches, sand dunes, great sunsets, good air, it's tops.

Read On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. Terrific. He never lets me down. Who is your favorite author in terms of consistency? Your favorite director on the same terms (Kubrick) Or is consistency important?

Happy Father's Day, Ralph Nase

I won't be around on Sunday to post this so here it is a bit early. My father, now 92, was the 16th of 19 children born to a man who supported the family working in a cigar factor. My father worked from the age of 6 to the age of 89, never for much money or esteem. He served in WW II and was at Nordmandy and the Battle of the Bulge. He received his draft notice on his weddding day and came home four years later to find his father-in-law had replaced him in his job. He never hit me, never yelled at me but we also have never had a really meaningful conversation. He made sure toys were under the Christmas tree, that I never went to bed hungry, that we went to Ocean City, N.J. for a week every summer. When I was getting in with the wrong crowd in high school, he took out loans and sent me to a private school that made me march for Jesus but also provided a good education. It was the only school he could afford. He has never said he loves me, but I know he does.

When I used to write poetry, I wrote one for him. You'll see why I turned to fiction but I'll probaby never write a story about him so this will have to do. (My father never learned to swim.)

Antaeus in the Swimming Pool

Like the figure of Poseidon
in a Woolworth's goldfish bowl,
you stand, legs planted firmly
in the three-foot end of Fisher's pool.
Really you're more of an Antaeus
among the bobbing toys, Never mind,

I'll be no Hercules. Neither of us sees
something foolish in our circumstance.
Instead, I swim, stomach scraping
concrete (for I'm too big here too)
between your pillared legs.
Executing figure eights, eyes splayed,

treading carefully so as not to knock
you down or even skim your surfaces.
Neither of us could bear to find you
helpless in such shallow water, tumbling
frantically, screamine strings of bubbles
among the tiny bodies of your peers.

A Saving Grace

I have a new story on The Thrilling Detective. Thanks to Gerald and Kevin for their suggestions.

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/fiction/07_06_01.html

Lessons from a former Detroit Police Officer

Mostly I wanted to know the dynamics of an interview in a homicide case. But one of the cop's observations about cop protocol wreaks havoic with how I want a scene to play out. How authentic to an actual interview does it have to be if it's not a police procedural? I guess at this point I would call it a suspense novel. Anyway the nice Police Guy is taking the relevant chapter home and going over it with a red pencil. Here I go again, letting someone read it before I'm done. Only my husband should read it because he always says, "Great job, honey." He's such an enabler.

Re: The Sopranos. I commented on it on a million blogs. I loved the ending. I love ambiquity though. I will miss that show even though I never completely got all the mob machinations. I have no instinct for it, I guess.

My troll story is sailing along. I think it's way too complicated for a five-year old though. Maybe my husband will like it.

Please go see "Once" if it comes your way. What a lovely movie.

The Trouble With Trolls (the real kind)

Yesterday I met a five year old who immediately informed me that he had heard that I had written a story about trolls and he would like to read it. This very precocious boy insisted that he could read the scariest stuff I could come up with and go away unscathed, that, in fact, he was ready to take on Night of the Living Dead and Scream should his parents come to their senses. He shared with me several books featuring pretty scary stuff including versions of the mask here.

In my story in Thuglit, the trolls were dully human and barely suitable reading for adults so I promised the child I would write a story about trolls just for him. I know nothing about trolls. Are there any troll experts out there trolling by. Are trolls usually short or am I confusing them with dwarves? I have an idea if shortness is involved. Are they always evil? Maybe this story will turn out to be scarier than the Thuglit one.

Summer Picks from The Boston Herald

Maybe someone with blog traffic bigger than mine will pick up this list. Check out #7. Forgive me for promoting, but she doesn't have a blog.

BOOKS : Bask in the Glow of These Hot Summer Reads

Friday June 01 Boston Herald
By SANDRA KENT

Whether you're baking in the sun or lolling in a lounge chair - summer's sublime supine moments were made for a good, or good 'n' dishy, book. Here are 10 eclectic picks for the beach bag.

1. "Diary of a South Beach Party Girl"
By Gwen Cooper

2. "An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege"
By Heidi Ardizzone

3. "Free Food for Millionaires"
By Min Jin Lee
Warner Books, $24.99

4. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
By J.K. Rowling
5. "The Gravedigger's Daughter"
By Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco, $26.95

6. "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton"
By Carl Bernstein
Knopf, $27.95
Available Tuesday

7. "Queenpin"
By Megan Abbott
Simon & Schuster, $13
Available Tuesday
Maybe it's the sultry heat of a Saturday afternoon - but there's something about summer that cries out for noir. In the sly and stylish "Queenpin," Megan Abbott gives a feminine spin to hard- boiled crime, crafting a tale of grifters and their marks. Master of the game: Gloria Denton, a former beauty who still has "the legs of a 20-year-old Vegas showgirl, a hundred feet long and with just enough curve and give and promise."

8. "Michael Tolliver Lives,"
By Armistead Maupin
Harper Collins, $25.95


9, By Ann Brashares
Riverhead Books, $24.95
Available Tuesday

10. "Waking with Enemies"
By Eric Jerome Dickey

On that long drive, we talked about

The spouses of series' detectives. First of all, there aren't that many. Most of the men and nearly all of the women detectives are single. And if there is a spouse, they are usually little more than a domestic diversion. Or get killed off or divorced (Wexford). Or the gymast that was married to one of the Dutch detectives.
Can you think of any examples of spouses that are interesting, developed characters? Nora Charles, of course, to start the ball rolling.

Book Launch for Voices of the Lost and Found

Last night we went to a book launch that Wayne State University Press
held for my friend Dorene O'Brien's new collection of short stories Voice of the Lost and Found. Another short story collection by Andy Mozina was also making its debut (The Women Were Leaving the Men). It was a lovely evening at the Detroit Historical Society with champagne and pastries.

The room was filled with WSU people. friends, family and of course, writers.
Mitch Bartoy (The Devil's Only Friend) had one piece of good news--that his first book was being translated into French. But other than that, we were a pretty dour group. Michael Zadoorian (Second Hand) had lost his publisher and agent, after having a first novel that was well reviewed everywhere including in the New York Times. He and other writers are bitter about unrealistic expectations of how books should do, what sort of investment should be made by the author, how much time should be spent traveling to bookstores to sell a few copies of the book. One wonderful writer has had every book go out of print and can't really see the point of writing a sixth book. It is doubtful that bookstores outside of Michigan will carry Dorene's book unless it gets reviewed in newspapers and we know how likely that is to happen with decreasing reviewing space. Anca Vlasopolos, (with a book of poetry and an historical novel this year) is bearing all the expenses of publicizing each despite receiving no advance. Her expenses also include trips to Japan and Hawaii to do research.

This discussion is taking place on Crimespace too, of course, and other blogs. What can be done to make people read more and to make publishers satisfied with smaller sales? How can we get bookstores to stock writers other than Patterson and Evanovich. A smaller Barnes and Noble near us is shockingly exclusive in what they stock. They give no room to noir writers at all, for instance. No Ken Bruen, I couldn't believe it. And yet, bookstores are on the edge of disaster too, so the problem probably rests finally with the decline in reading.

I wish I believed that blog reviews really helped writers much. But the general public still thinks of them as bogus. When I talk about seeing a book reviewed on a blog, people look at me like I'm talking about the one-page newspaper I used to put out in elementary school with my trusty printing press.

Sorry to go on for this long. But it keeps me up nights. Does anyone have any ideas? PLEASE!

A real live Detroit cop is having lunch with me

Or an ex Detroit cop at least. He's agreed to meet with me to help me get it right. Although I am knee-deep in those books that explain police procedural, something tells me that Detroit may do it differently. I tried to go to their website to see how the Department is organized, but it always claims it's being rebuilt. I guess that's appropos of everything here. Or at least that's what we're always told. If you think of any good questions to ask a cop investigating a homicide, let me know.

Saw the movie Knocked Up on Saturday night. I'd put the picture up but it crowds everything else out. It was funny and had some moments that rang true, but boy, was the plot generic. And boy, as my daughter said, when the director can make a movie about female geeks who find love with gorgeuous men, maybe we can take him seriously. His movies are every teenage geeky boy's wet dream.

Re: Megan. Jim Winter has a nice review of Queenpin in January Magazine. I'm not supposed to mention her here, so shhhhhhhhhhhh.

Oh, those Sopranos. I am biting my nails until the finale.

Is it ever too creepy for even you?

I'm wondering if you ever find yourself writing stuff that is too creepy for even you. I mean if you saw it in a book, would you skip over it? Obviously this would differ from person to person, but I find myself in that situation and wonder if I'm going too far.

After spending his morning writing an article on sixties feminism, my husband and I went to a garage sale where he found something he wanted to buy for a $1.00. He paid the man standing near him who was wearing an apron. The man told my husband that the woman at the cash box would give him a bag. Husband walked over and said, "The boss said you would give me a bag." Now I ask you, if the two people had been reversed would he have said the same thing. He claims yes, but we know better.

Two films on DVD in two nights. Both dealt with trying to solve a crime of some type but how differently they did it. One used atmosphere and mood to keep your attention while the "detective" poked around.. The other seemed tedious because it had no atmosphere or mood even though it was set in Paris. We can learn a lot from the movies of the forties/fifites in that regard. Also all female detectives seem like they're doing a poor imitation of Helen Mirren now.

It's All in the Details

How much detail in a novel is too much? Specifically how much are you willing to learn about—let’s say—running a hardware store. What if the information about screws and drills and rakes is pertinent to the story or creates the atmosphere that makes the story go?

I am wrestling with this now. In short stories, it was pretty easy—just a sentence or two was all I had space for. But now I can tell you lots and lots about hardware stores. I studied up on them and there is a case for putting a lot of this in the novel. It will reek of wood and metal and fertilizer if I do. And jeez, I did spend months learning about how they do the inventory and what kind of things customers say when they come into the store.

I know it depends on how interesting it is and how it adds to the story but do you usually want to get back to the action? Do you usually think, “All right already with how bolts work? Give me a murder about now.

Save me from drowning in my details before it’s too late. See, even here there is too much detail.

How Far Are You Willing to Go

in rewriting a story for an editor? Lately, editors seem to be getting more proactive in what they want stories in their mags/zines to be like. Maybe this is a good thing and it's probably likely that I write too lit-light, not dark enough for some of the places I submit to. I still haven't given up on the idea that a story can end without a big bloody death. But in that case, I should probably go back to the lit mags, I guess.
Do you change your stories to suit an editor? How many times will you go back to the drafting board to please someone? If the editor makes his/her case, I usually will go along with it. I'm not sure or secure enough to be wedded to a particular ending. How about you?

I did have stories accepted recently in fall/winter editions of Spinetingler and Demolition. A nice treat!

Recommended Movies: Waitress & Away From Her.

She's in the Army Now

A short piece on Muzzle Flash (D.Z. Allen) brought about by a news story I heard on NPR. It may be too political and angry to function well as a story. Do you ever find that? The pieces you care most about are not often your strongest pieces?

http://www.muzzleflashfiction.net/

Queenpin

Megan's third book Queenpin is out now and a PBO to make it more affordable. If The Song is You was about a man who tried to reform, Queenpin is about a woman who doesn't know the meaning of the word. It's a racecar of a novel and I highly recommend it.

I'm lucky enough to have some of Megan's earlier efforts (ages five and on) and she was writing (and illustrating) noir even then. Maybe I can scan them on here sometime.

I'd also like to recommend a collection of short stories by my good friend, Dorene O'Brien. They may masquerade as literary fiction but they are about as dark as any noir. Voices of the Lost and Found is published by Wayne State University Press, their first fiction. It's a real treat.

Some Personal Observations about Travel

I took the four books recommended from the nice people on crimespace. Excellent, life changing books that would hold my interest. Instead, I read a romance novel (Marrying the Mistress)by someone called Joanna Trollope I found on the shelf where we stayed. If she is Anthony's relative, she has some 'splaining to do. It was quite bad but easy to follow, requiring no focus or commitment. You could open it on any page and be right at the same spot. Apparently she has never heard of the Page 69 rule or else applies it on every page.

I devoured it.

Budapest seems to be still in the thralls of Soviet bureaucracy. Buying a train ticket required two stamps from two officials and took twenty minutes. We paid huge fines on the metro system because we changed lines without buying a new ticket. A virtual army of citizens stood guard and pointed firmly to the sign that warned us that ignorance or misunderstanding of the law did not constitute an excuse. In free museums, we stood in line to get a ticket that said we could enter for free and then stood in another line to pass this ticket on. In one museum only the dome required a fee and that was guarded by two women more ferocious than any in a noir novel.

I am being evil here though because Budapest was just lovely: the people, the food, the sites.

In Vienna, our parsimony undid us as we discovered out flight on Ryan Air was actually in Bratislava, an hour away. It was Sunday and early so we had to pay a female taxi driver to drive us there. She spoke no English but talked the whole time. It turned out she had no idea where the airport was and spoke no Slavakian. We made it, of course and paid her the equvalant of $120. She tapped her inch long red nails on the window and sped away crying out...something.

In England, I fell down the stairs at Lilly Whites and was nearly rushed to hospital. Later on the bus a woman next to me spend forty-five minutes applying makeup. I doubt I have spent that time in my life. She also sniffed something called Oil of Alba. I got quite jolly by the end of the ride.

I bought my six month old grandson a football uniform but understand I picked a bum team. I couldn't resist the fetching colors.

Jetlag is setting in now but glad to be home. Forgive me for any errors here. I am truly loggy.

If anyone wants me

I'll be in Budapest, Vienna and London. I'm still trying to pick my four slim paperbacks to take and figure out how to get everything into a carryon bag. It's not clothes that I'm worried about-it's money belts, umbrellas, guidebooks, prescription drugs and microfiber towels.
Take care. I'll miss all of you (or at least the three of you I hear from).

The Trouble With Trolls

My new story "The Trouble with Trolls" is in Issue 15 at Thuglit-link on the right.

The Son-in-Law Weighs In

Basically he likes it. Thinks the premise works, the characters work, the atmosphere works.

On the more alarming side, he doesn't see her as being dark, doesn't think she would murder anyone, sees the novel as a self-discovery narrative rather than suspense-- much less noir.

I thought I had long buried that self-discovery crap but here it is raising its ugly head. I don't think I can pitch a book that's not genre. So do I begin to change it now or write till the end and hope it works out. Or write to the end and then change things.

I knew this babe was running off with my book by the third chapter. I knew she wasn't gonna let me take charge. What would you do?

Funny How...

we now get invested in the lives of people we don't actually know but whose blogs we read. I'm thinking mainly of David 's Molly, who I don't know at all but am sick about. I am also worried about Christa's move to SC, Anne's new home in an MTM house, whether Bryon's girlfriend is treating him well, how the Killer Year Books are doing, what happened with Megan Powell's Shred of Evidence, where Tribe has gone, if Sandra is writing again, if Daniel can get to the US soon, if Ken will kill off Jack Taylor, and on and on. I've only met two of these people but it feels like they're just around the corner.
We now share the intimacies of our lives with strangers. Except they are not strangers after a bit, are they? May all of you in blogland have a wonderful year and life. I'm rooting for you. I'm worrying about you.

Hot Fuzz

It may well be that I don't have the necessary references to draw upon for a complete enjoyment of this film For instance, the two films it continually referenced: Bad Boys 2 and Point Blank are blanks for me. As is Reno 911 and all the Police Academy movies. I did get the references to horror movies though.
But I didn't find this film as funny as I expected. I did find it smart, well done and literate-if you know the literature. But shouldn't I have laughed more at a comedy as I did with the fabulous Shaun of the Dead? There were very few minutes of pure glee. And the ending went on forever--I mean it. Thirty minutes of mayhem may be too much.
If I hadn't love Shaun I would put it to age, but I don't think it was...quite. Or maybe watching the entire cast over 50 get smacked upside the head played its part.

A Good Week if You Don't Have Allergy Issues

It's been a very good week. I've had stories accepted at Thuglit, Demolition and Murdaland, Issue Three. And the one on The Thrilling Detective will soon appear. That one is my all-time favorite story so far. Or the protagonist is my favorite character. And if I ever finish this book, I will try to expand that story next. (33 K and going strong) My son-in-law is going to read it for me this week. I can't ask Megan. She read the last one that sits in my drawer. The one I only sent to ten agents before giving up. Just lost the heart for it.

I still have not recovered from not placing a story in Detroit Noir either. When I saw the list of contributors, I was almost okay with it. Almost all of them are very distinguished writers, and probably wrote better stories than I did.

One of them, however, is the person who so discouraged me in my first writing group seven years ago that I almost gave up writing. That story that he told me to burn was the one in Murdaland, Issue One. I hope his story is a very good one. Cause he took my spot.

Cliches

Real people use cliches all the time. But when I write cliches for my characters to use in dialogue, I always feel guilty. I feel I should do better by my characters or better by my old writing professor at least. No cliches in the narrative, but cliches in the dialogue as its suits the characters. Right? Or do you omit them entirely?

Check out the great artwork on the link to the right that says PatrickDostine. It will brighten up any room and he's ultra reasonable for we poor writers.

Story Gathering

What's your policy on writing stories based on incidents that happen to people in your life? Or stories that people in your life tell you about their friends or relatives? Or stories where a character is clearly Aunt Harriet or Uncle Bob? If you know they'll never see it does it change things?Where do you draw the line? What's the proper protocol here?

The Black Book. I really, really disliked this movie. It played out as one long chase with intermittent scenes of torture, degradation.

There were so many wildly improbable incidents I stopped counting. The director clearly is indicting the Dutch and all of mankind as black-hearted scoundrels. Unfortuntately, so is he.

Historical Fiction

One of my deficits as a reader of literary and crime fiction is that I am unable to read books set very far in the past. It seems too much of the text is taken up with the presentation of arcane material on how people lived in that time.As a former history major, I am embarrassed at this failing. Is there a series or even single book that does this job very well, balancing crime and a evocation of the time period? I would like to read something different this summer and maybe this is the time for historical fiction. I am talking about a book set before 1900 and probably even earlier.

Hoax. Couldn't get past Richard Gere in this film to truly appreciate it. He gives the same unnuanced, dull performance in every film to my mind. I also thought Marcia Gay Harden was awful. And so many scenes with coporate types who are always portrayed the same way. Did I miss something because Rotten Tomatoes has an 87% approval rating.?

Some Random Thoughts

I said a few days ago that I became a man when I got up and walked out of a dental cleaning that was too painful to endure. But last night my dentist left a message on my machine asking me to call to discuss the "incident." I don't wanna call him. I don't wanna talk to him about it. I have my therapist for talking about things.
But my husband says if I'm a man, I have to call him back. What do you think?

After bemoaning the critiques of my writing group for 24 hours, I rewrote the first chapter and guess what, it's better. I was locked into the idea that the novel had to start where the short story did bit it made no sense to start there in light of 200 pages to work with instead of 20.

Hats off to Laura Lippman for What the Dead Know, a terrific book. I read it more quickly than I've read anything in a long time. Compelling yes, but also pithy, meaty and beautifully written.

The Sopranos. What a sad and touching death for Johnny Sack. Only The Sopranos' writers could make you mourn the death of a scumbag. Although his love for his family always made him transcend the rest of them.
Last week I thought Bobby might take Tony out. This week it could be Chris who whacks him.

Truthiness

This a concept I can't quite get a handle on. Is it entirely satirical? Is the whole idea a critique of the Bush Administration's. Or is it something more? Does it exist outside late night humor. Is it a beltway term? What the hell is it?
Could you use it in a sentence for me? And not a sentence that requires me to know the meaning to understand the sentence. In other words not, Charles Colert invented the term, "truthiness." Or "you'll know truthiness when you see it." 'Cause I won't.

Check out the interview with Megan Abbott with Steve Allan right here: http://noirwriter.blogspot.com/

Going Against Some Sound Advice and

my own instints I gave the first two chapter of the novel to Writing Group 2. They are accustomed to getting fairly polished if not finished stories from me. Stories where most of their questions get answered. Now there's a lot up in the air since there are another 200 pages coming, and none of us are used to this. None of us know when or if questions will be answered. Including me. They are not all readers of crime fiction either so there is that to consider.
I think I learned some valuable things today though and am on the whole okay if not happy with the outcome.
I do hope to wipe the term "degrading dialogue" from my head some day. This term was used by the playwright, the person who best understands good dialogue. By this he meant, the dialogue was less convincing in the second chapter than the first. I am using dialogue to get across information and it makes it sound wrong. He is the most brutal of us, yet he's fair and some of his criticisms in the past have produced better stories.
Probably I would be better off not sharing this manuscript at this point but I don't know how to write without a group to critique me, so I am forced to continue with this.
Like it or not. Not.

The Office

Does this show just keep getting better and better or is it me? They certainly have the best casting office in the business. Every character they add brings more depth to the show. And I love how they are getting further and further from the notion that any business gets done in that office. Have you ever even heard Michael, the boss, tell anyone to get to work. And what show has people that look more real than this one?
I haven't liked a comedy this much since Seinfeld.

Today I Became a Man

Today I up and bolted in the middle of having my teeth cleaned. I have had my teeth cleaned four times a year for the last 20 years and twice a year before that. It hurt too damned much and it occurred to me suddenly that maybe some hygienists were in it for the pain. Maybe watching Minnie Driver on The Riches inspired this thought. I cried, the hygienist cried, and the clerk at the front desk cried as I headed for the door. I'm sure they saw the $$$ I had spent there over the years going with me. But still I left.

It's been quite a week and this event sent me home to multiple glasses of King Shag wine from Trader Joe's.

My story The Squatter had been reprinted in The Weathervane: An Online Journal for the Great Lakes. http://www.theweathervane.org/. They sounded like a mythical organization but here it is. Thanks to Bryon Q. for first publishing it.

Off to the movies-my main source of painkillers.

Bayou Magazine

Bayou Magazine told me a year ago that they'd like to hold onto my story "At Sea." I was dubious that they would want to publish it a year later, but today I got word that they are. This is only the second literary story I had accepted this year. I haven't been concentrating on lit stories at all. But I am so glad to see this one in print. Sometimes good things happen. Especially when you asked whoever is listening for it. I work very hard at being a mediocre writer. Sometimes I get rewarded. Sometimes I don't.

Whatever Happened To?

Do you have a favorite writer you know is still alive and yet stopped writing at an early age? Beside from Salinger, of course. I'm thinking of a literary writer here, Jayne Anne Phillips who wrote Machine Dreams, Black Tickets and Shelter and then seemed to disappear. Does it get too much after a while? The grind of doing readings, worrying about sales, satisfying an agent, an editor, a publisher? The actual writing itself. Do you have a favorite writer who dropped out of sight?

Happy Birthday, Josh.

My son is 37 today. He was a delightful child and is a fine young man. I have never gone to bed ashamed of him or hurt by something he said. He always asks about my life, what I think about things, and he seems to care. To my knowledge, he has never been mean or cruel to other people. He is a fine son, a good husband, and this year, a terrific father. He studied hard in school and works dilegently as a prosecutor, seeing some of the worst crimes you can imagine.
Josh likes to read, listen to music, play tennis, play softball, watch sports on TV, go to movies, garden. He knows more about baseball statistics than anyone I know. He can remember the details of every Detroit Tiger game he's ever been to and that must exceed 200. He votes for Democrats. He supports the Michigan Wolverines.
I feel very lucky to have such a son. Happy Birthday, Josh.

The One Hundred Page Mark

Although my daughter says I have to learn to talk about ks rather than pages. But anyway, this is what I'm thinking and maybe you will comment. There are days when I walk into my office and have no idea what's going to happen next to my protagonist. Is this normal? There are other days when I know exactly. And when I look at the pages later, I can't tell the difference. The spontaneous action and the carefully planned action seem about the same. They both can suffer from a certain stasis and they both can seem fairly strong.
How often do you know exactly what you're going to write ahead of time? I'm not talking about an outline, just knowing in your head.

The Namesake

I was a big fan of Jumpra Lahiri's book of short stories The Interpreter of Maladies, but much less so her first novel, The Namesake. The movie shares all the weaknesses of the novel, I thought. It was too episodic and too much a generic view of coming to America. It could have been any immigrant experience.

The acting was very fine and Mira Nair is a talented director. It also looked good, but it lacked an overall arc unless you count Gogol's troubles with his name. I also didn't think his first name would have been that unusual among his American when paired with his last name.

The most successful part of both the novel and the movie was the depiction on his parent's marriage. I found that by far the most compelling part, especially the isolation his mother experiences and how it plays out in a tragedy.

What did you think?

Breaking the Rule

I broke my rule last night and wrote a flash piece. Now this may not seem like such a bad thing, but as I was writing it I thought of several more ideas for flash pieces or shorts. It's like I opened the door on distraction here.
It's partly because I have not been able to make time for the novel in two weeks. A trip to NY last weekend and now Easter festivities will take a big chunk out of this one.
The flash piece was also pretty didactic, probably not what the flash sites want anyway.
How do you bite back the need to instruct readers in a story? Can the political and the criminal be combined in a 700 word piece effectively? Who does this effectively even in a longer piece?

Why do writers use the same gimmick over and over.

Watching The Big Fix last night (My husband is still working on his piece on radicalism in the sixties) and there was the old standby routine where Dreyfus walks up to a door that is ajar and, of course, the woman inside is dead. Is there ever a time when the door is ajar and the person is not dead or the place ransacked? How often in life is a door left ajar even on these occasions. Wouldn't a murderer shut the door to keep the crime from being discovered so quickly. So why use this stunt again and again? Is there an inherent drama in this set piece that makes its creakiness worth it? What do you think?

Five TV Shows I Should Have Liked But

1. West Wing-too smug
2. Scrubs-too frantic
3. Lost-to0...lost
4. The Simpsons-too much like a cartoon
5. My Name is Earl--too driven by a concept plus narrated by an annoying voice. Let Randy do it, Earl.

What are yours?

Silence of the Grave

This is the kind of book I used to read all the time twenty years ago and now I remember why. Indridason is a master at plot, creating memorable characters, and evoking Iceland during World War II and today. His detective has a compelling personal life, is likeable and gets the job done. Indridason balances POVs masterfully-there's never a moment when you wish the writer would get back to solving the mystery.

I can't think of anything that didn't work in this book and this is from someone with adult onset ADD. I will certainly seek out his first book, Jar City.

Love Men But

Would Hillary Clinton be permitted to continue on her bid for the presidency if Bill had cancer? I think not--despite their flawed and strange marriage. Not tending to him would assure her defeat. What do you think?

Starting Dark

My writing group read the first two chapters of the novel. None of them write solely crime fiction although several have dabbled in it. They felt the protagonist was so dark in these first two chapters that I had no where to go with her except toward the light. What do you think? Can I sustain this darkness throughout the book when everything is filtered through her eyes? Would she grow tiresome by the end? The book is written in the third person but she is definitely our only POV. I guess I'll post this on crimespace too since that's where the action is lately.

Bond, the first metrosexual?

At my writing group last night, a fellow who was reading the Bond series again after many years, observed that Bond seemed like the first metrosexual to him-- what with wearing cologne, talking about his clothes, taking about food and wine. Was this consistent with the times or was Bond ahead of his time in his interests. Can you think of other fifties-sixties era crime fiction heroes who shared this qualities. Spenser can a bit later, I think?

Laura Lippman Appreciation Day

Who could not admire a woman who was the first person to put a welcoming comment on Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind when I subbed for Sarah last summer?
Yes, she is the one who opens the door for newcomers and ushers them in. This is a rare and wonderful thing.

Oh and there's the little thing of her being a fantastic writer. That's pretty amazing too.

Congratulations to LL for making the list. I bet she climbs higher still if the display in our local Borders is any indication.

Vicki Hendricks

In anticipation of the rerelease of Miami Purity, here's the greatest line ever from an interview with Vicki Hendricks in Hardluck Stories with Kevin Tipple:

"I don’t think of men as evil, more like luscious..."

Can you top that?

Yikes!

Now I see why this guy's been on a downward spiral since Three Kings and Flirting with Disaster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzqjimUs2RU

The Lure of the Short

This is not a political blog so I will leave it at two words: four years.

As I move farther away from writing short stories, ideas appear before me like formerly beloved children who have now been consigned to orphandom. Yesterday two ideas popped up unbidden. One- a woman told me the story of how she was being stalked by a woman who is incorrectly convinced she is having an affair with her husband. Two-a former colleague's daughter has had him institutionalized after the death of his wife and is selling everything of his she can get her hands on while he waits for a psychiatric hearing.
Only today, a woman on the bus was dressed entitely in beige. Now this would not be that interesting if she had on some designer beige outfit. But she had on beige jeans, running shoes, gloves, hat, coat, purse, bookbag and scarf. Not another color in sight and no patterns either. Why beige?
It's easy to say file these ideas away for when the novel is complete, but I lose the voices. Does that make sense to anyone out there?

NYT Book Review

Although I know all the blog traffic is over on crimespace nowadays, here's a question. Is it just me or is the NYT suddenly printing more negative reviews of novels than positive ones? Today the new Leithem and Shriver books got run over pretty good. It seems like in the past if you got reviewed in the NYT it was usually a good review. Now they often review books negatively--sometimes even more than once. I'm thinking of the Jane Smiley book which got multiple poor reviews. Do NYT book reviewers get more mileage out of a bad review than a good one? I'm not thinking about Marilyn Stasio here who generally picks books she likes to review but the literary novel bunch.

Crime novels where the writer chickens out

Can anyone think of examples where the expected crime does not take place and yet the story is still satisfying and you don't feel cheated? I've written myself into that situation. This is why I like short stories. You don't spend enough time with the protagonist to fall in love with him/her and want to save them from the original ending. Thanks.

Does Amazon have intuitive powers?

Okay, is it just me or has Amazon begun to pick up on books you might want to read and started featuring them on your amazon homepage. Today I was looking for novels on sixties radicalism for my husband on crimespace and some of the ones mentioned appeared without my searching for them. No kidding. It's like I searched for one and the rest of them magically appeared. This has happened before. A few days ago I said I was looking forward to reading Priest by Ken Bruen and there it was the next time I opened Amazon. It's pretty freaky. And it's not just with books. I mentioned aloud that I need a new pair of walking shoes and bingo, there's a shoe by Merrill on the site. Or I hear bits of the soundtrack from Pan's Labyrinth on NPR and--well, you know. Is it just me?

Are you going to write this story or should I?

Breach

Talk about a movie being completely dependent on one performance (Chris Cooper's)-this was it. The other performances seemed very dully conceived. When was a government boss not exactly like the Laura Linney character and when was a young agent not like Phillippe.
I also don't understand why Hansen was so susceptible to what seemed like the amateurish machinations of the younger O'Neil. If he had been able to outwit virtually every agent for twenty-years, why did he fail so badly here? The lure of a Catholic mentee couldn't be that blinding.
Perhaps someone who has read the book can enlighten us.
Best line: "I am much safer if you know little about me"

Walked around Belle Isle trying to steep myself in it for the novel. It truly makes me want to cry. If you're from Detroit, you know why and truly it's about poverty and not racism.
The one bright spot was the fabulous greenhouses. Truly amazing.

Ken Bruen Appreciation Day

It was a long car trip to Cape Cod. Neither of us enjoy such things. My husband doesn't usually enjoy audio books and decent radio stations become scarce. Music can only take you so far.

I shuffled through a group of audio books I had picked up at the library and picked out "The Dramatist." My husband and I barely exchanged another word as we became part of Jack Taylor's world. Although I had/have read other Bruen books, this one was just about tore our hearts from our chest. Thanks, Ken, for the only enjoyable car trip we've ever taken.

Here's a Question---

For some of you who have written pieces that exceed 20 pages, here's a question...If I am bored with writing a section of this so-called novel, can it possibly NOT being boring to read it? I mean-- do you ever get bored with a section of your novel. Should every chapter knock the reader off his feet?

In a short story, you can keep the flags flying at full mast, but should you expect it in a novel?

You get what I'm saying now that I've bored myself and you saying it six different yet exactly the same ways. When do you hit delete?



Thanks.

I've Been Used

Last week, an entry on here that mentioned "friends" drew three comments from people obviously trying to sell me something (greeting cards, I think). There must be a program that picks up mentions of "Friends" automatically. Has this happened to you?

Using the Internet for various good and bad purposes is only natural, I suppose. God knows, I get emails from perhaps two or three dozen politicos each week from Union for Concerned Scientists to my local congressman, to Hilary and Bill, and so on. I sign a lot of petitions and have perhaps become careless in what I sign. Do you share this problem too? I know I signed a bunch of petitions to register my ire at a possible pardon for Libby this week. I'm sure my name is on an enemies list somewhere but so is yours probably. Does any of this do any good? Wasn't marching in the street more effective? How do we affect change in the era of the Internet? Is the Internet at all effective in this?

How Far Will You Go for Friendship?

A friend who we dearly love suggested that we go see Wild Hogs Friday night. Because I am deeply neurotic and never see a movie unless it has gotten fairly good reviews, I checked it out on Rotten Tomatoes and saw that the more credible critics came down 6% positive on Wild Hogs. So I vetoed it. We had planned to see something else so he conceded it.

Over the years, I have seen movies with friends I would not have chosen on my own--mostly horror and war movies. The first scares me, the second bores me. But if the reviews are okay, I will usually give in. The four worst ones , I was talked into were The Songcatcher, What Time is it There? Sum of All Fears and a pastiche of cartoons I believe was called Looney Tunes . These movies are all different genres and different friends invited us to see them--all with good intentions. As far as Loony Tunes, I didn't like cartoons as a child, so there you are.

What was the worst film a friend ever dragged you to see? (I hope that friend wasn't me!)

Wisconsin Death Trip

In trying to submerge myself in the culture of death I came across this book and eventually a movie that deals with a strange phenomenon that happened in Wisconsin in the 1890s. Due to an economic downturn and disease a lot of people there died (especially children) went mad, committed strange acts. Lots of very strange acts, both lethal and not. The movie is well worth seeing although extremely morbid. The book written many years earlier than the film has the newspaper accounts of the time and photographs of the dead. Anyone know any more about this? I'm into death so help me out!

Don: The posting where we were communcating got deleted inadvertently. Feel free to comment here instead.

A story of mine called "Quality Operations" appears today on Hardluck Stories. I'll add the link on the side.

Flash Story for Bryon's Blog-themed Challenge

Re: University Protocol on Incidents of Student Plagiarsim

by Patricia Abbott

Dear Dr. Goodman:

I know you’ve told me I must not email you again, and that you won’t, in fact, open emails bearing my name. And, if you happen to open one and discover it’s from me, you’ll immediately delete it. The snippy departmental secretary also informed me that you’ve opened a new account and access is limited to non-student email addresses. How do you expect me to get a hold of you?

By chance, I came across your blog today on a google search for badminton sets. Who would have guessed you’d choose the name Badman for your blog? It is you, isn’t it? Although the sexual references in your posts initially threw me off, I eventually recognized your list of “favorites.” You do talk about Godard films a lot in class, and I know your favorite composer is Arvo Part. His music was often playing during your office hours before I was forbidden attendance. Yes, the Arvo Part references really gave it away.

I couldn’t resist using the comment portion on your blog to remind you that I didn’t plagiarize my paper. I know you found a somewhat similar essay on the Internet using your sophisticated spy software, but my occasional use of, “Women Who Lie in Bed in the Literature of Dickens” by Gavin Brighton was strictly an homage. (In case, you are unfamiliar with the term, please consult Wilkipedia).

Another thing to keep in mind is I’m not an English major, Dr. Goodman. For eighteen years, my mother placed increasingly difficult words on my pillow in preparation for the SATs so please don’t hold this burden against me and say I can do better.

I’m only enrolled in your course to fulfill my humanities requirement. To expect me to meet standards designed for English majors is unfair. In case you’ve forgotten, I am majoring in Phys. Ed. I can wrap my legs around my neck. I would be glad to demonstrate this during your next office hours if you will just send that security guard away. I think you’ve witnessed my agility in class. (I am referring to the unfortunate incident that led to student complaints about the inadvertent display of my genitalia).

Dear Dr. Goodman:

Removing my comments from your blog doesn’t mean you didn’t read them.
A brief response to what extra credit I could undertake to raise my grade is not much to ask. I am hoping to enter medical school in 2010 and need a 4.0 to assure admittance. It’s time to let me put a childish mistake behind me.

Another point to consider: there’s a distinct possibility my participation in the vault and floor exercise will enable Team U.S.A. to defeat the Russians in the 2008 Olympics. An awkward blemish on my record might prohibit this. I know you don’t want to act unpatriotically, thus playing into the hands of international terrorists and the Romanian team.

P.S. You get some very unusual comments on your blog, Dr. Goodman. I wonder if Mrs. Goodman ever reads it.

Dear Dr. Goodman,

I came to your office hours on Monday, but again you were absent. The security guard, Moe Albani, and I had an interesting conversation about what constitutes temporary insanity. We agreed it differed from state to state, but certain aspects remain constant.

I must remind you that the exact time of your office hours was on the syllabus you handed out in September. This document functions as a contractual obligation. I had a new paper on hand to replace the one you insist is plagiarized. And although Moe Albani and I had shared our innermost thoughts on insanity minutes earlier, he stubbornly insisted I must hand the paper to you directly. Standing outside your office has definitely soured him and I am not so sure that we will remain friends.

Dear Dr. Goodman:

I think it’s unfair of you to appeal to readers of your blog to come to your defense. Pasting my paper there was unprofessional. There must be university regulations on student privacy that forbids it. That comment by Molly A. was especially cruel although I do think you solicited such remarks by going on too long about my egging of your office door.

I admit my original paper for your Victorian Literature class was sophisticated for a freshman, but please remember I worked for several years at Sports Authority before beginning college. I also competed in gymnastic events across the state, possibly picking up a veneer you might not expect to find in a girl of twenty.

You’re making me angry, Dr. Goodman. Have I created a blog where I make fun of you? Have I sought a public forum for my grievances? I think you know the answer. Perhaps your chairperson would want to know how blithely you’ve addressed student concerns. I’m sure he/she would find your blog most interesting, Badman.

Dear Mrs. Goodman:

I was released from police custody today and am back in my dorm room with my beloved stuffed animals and photographs of my favorite gymnasts. Right now I am gazing at a picture of Olga Korbut and wondering if her thighs were as strong as they look.

The police pathologist decided Dr. Goodman was strangled by an unknown assailant. Since my hands were badly bruised from my fall from the balance beam, it couldn’t have been me. He didn’t once consider the use of thighs as a weapon.

Finding your blog and its discussion of Dr. Gs favorite sexual practices was fortuitous, Mrs. Goodman, and I’m glad we became friends. Who knew my homage to an obscure (or so I thought!) paper on Dickens would bring us together?

I have filled out the paperwork to transfer to a school in Oregon noted for its gymnastics program. BTW, I see you have removed both Dr. Goodman’s blog and your own from the Internet. Good idea, Goodwoman!

Yours truly,
Student 146098.

Thanks for reading this. Please check for other 1000 wrd blog-themed stories at www.bryonquertermous.blogspot.com

Help Brian Ochab Get on The Lot

Take a look at Brian Ochab's short film. He's trying to get on the Fox TV show called The Lot, which helps aspiring filmmakers. He's a talented magician as well.

http://films.thelot.com/films/25670

Zodiac

If I had to use one word to describe Zodiac it would be meticulous. Every scene effortlessly feeds into the next one. This is a story of obsession and how it destroys the men in both the police department and in the media who become involved with this case. The acting is very fine--although I have to say I've seen the Downey performance before. I'd like to see him cast in a movie where he doesn't play a character with alcohol and drug issues. The movie also looks good. Gritty. Rain seems to glimmer off every surface. The period details are great.
My one criticism would be the length; it feels longer than it even is since it is relentlessly hyper-focused on the Zodiac case. However, the last hour is the strongest so that helps enormously.
Grade 8 out 10.

Hey, I lost my toolbar where I might have shown a picture. Does anyone know where it went and why? Maria, are you out there?

What's in a name?

Sandra brought up the importance of finding the right name for a character. It is a chore sometimes.
I wonder if I were to throw a name out to you, what characteristics would come to mind. This is a real person so don't goggle him. But how would you describe
Anthony Athos in your next crime story. A perpetrator, a victim, a bystander, a reporter, a cop. I wonder if any of us read a name the same way.

Peopling your story

Some other site today talked about choosing the right name for characters. which reminded me of an issue I am constantly confronted with. Is it permissable for me a white, middle-aged woman of European descent to make my characters black, ethnic, male, young ,etc?
Well maybe some of these things, but what about portraying African-Americans? Am I claiming ownership of experiences I haven't had when I write about a black man? Is it offensive? Should I even think I might be successful at it.
I wrote one story about a black man and his grandson a few years ago for a journal that deals with disabilities. The man was deaf in the story. Now I had no problem with thinking I could show what it was like to be deaf but I chickened out on his being African-American and took out all the hints. I probably know more about being black than deaf but didn't concern myself with offending the deaf community who would be more likely to read the story in the journal it was in. Should I stick with portraying a white world? Isn't that more offensive in the end?

First Reader Sends Me Back to the Drawing Board

All right, not on the whole first 50 pages. Just on Chapter Four-the protagonist's childhood. According to first reader, (also known as my husband), I changed my tone in that chapter and began writing in the style I usually use in literary short stories. All the tension drained away. At least, it returned in Chapter Five and Six, thank, God.
I admit Chapter 4 was almost a cut and paste job so I'm not surprised. And, on the bus today, I suddenly saw what has to happen in her childhood. The tone reasserted itself when I thought of the story I should tell about this period.
I am still unsure how much childhood is good for the story. Very little, I expect unless it is as dark as her adult years.
My husband, a great fan of Sara Gran's, waved Come Closer in front of me this morning. I read half of it on the bus. She does manage to sustain tension, doesn't she? I'm not much a fan of horror (although I loved Dope), but as a roadmap to what I want the book to be like, it's right up there with Megan's Queenpin, Duayne Swierczinksi, or Anne Frasier's novels.

Everyone has a Boo Radley. Right?

Reading To Kill a Mockingbird for my bookgroup, I am reminded of the Pershings who lived on my street in the West Oak Lane section of Philly in the late fifties. Mr. and Mrs. Pershing, elderly and childless as far as we could tell, was the family that scared us.
We lived on a street of rowhouses, of course, (this is Philly) and about one-hundred children populated that particular block in the babyboom era. After dinner on summer nights, most of the kids under fourteen played games in the back alley--baby in the air, dodge ball, etc. Midway through the games, when the noise level reached a certain pitch, the Pershings, in the center of our street, would set their dog upon us, dispersing us to our homes. The dog was a terror, big-jawed and a loud barker.
This trick was more effective in sending us to bed than a thousand parental calls. The Pershings were not as mythical as the Radleys but they were the family on our block that terrified us. To my knowledge, no one ever reported their behavior to the police or even commented on it. Parents then were not so easily enraged or proactive. Maybe our parents were grateful for another fall guy.
Did you have a family like the Pershings on your childhood street?

The Novel

I have definitely left the short story range with the novel finally, having forty pages. (Or do I need to think in Ks instead of pages). It's not exactly the story it started out to be, somewhere the story of Detroit is pushing out some earlier ideas but it's as dark as I hoped. In trying to get rid of the hint of a short story though, I am still finding myself writing little epiphanies every so often. Now I have to get rid of them. I think they are functioning as little wrapups to chapters. Just cut the last line of each chapter and it will go away perhaps.

Megan arrives today for a three-event deal in the Detroit area. What are you supposed to serve people after a book signing? Last time, we didn't know any better and just had wine and cheese. This time I've been buying food and drink all week and am still wake at two wondering if I have enough. Maybe those little fingers sandwiches will assure enough food. I know nobody ever eats the veggie tray.

Fifteen to Eighteen Years ago

These is some of the crime fiction I was reading between 1989-92. I found the log cleaning up in the attic. This was during a period when I was trying to wean myself from reading so much of this genre. What were you reading? (I know Bryon Q. was reading Horton Hears a Hoo but the rest of you?)
Sleep and His Brother-Peter Dickinson
Well-Schooled in Murder-Elizabeth George
Burden of Proff-Scott Turow
Nemesis-Rosamond Smith
Going Wrong, The Crocodile Bird, Anna's Book-Ruth Rendell
Icy Clutches, Old Scores-Aaron Elkins
The Wench is Dead-Colin Dexter
H is for Homicide, I is for Innocent--Sue Grafton
Dancehall of the Dead, Coyote Waits--Tony Hillerman
A Ticket to the Boneyard, A Dance in the Slaughter House-Lawrence Block
Body in the Vestibule-Katherine Page
Shadown Play, Not That Kind of Place, Deep Sleep-F. Fyfield
A Simple Plan, Scott Smith
A Literary Murder-Batya Gur
Sculptress-Minette Walters
Past Reason Hated-Peter Robinson
Devil in a Blue Dress-Walter Mosley

Stalkers, Anons, and Other Nasty Stuff

We're vulnerable in 2007. Not just the writers or actors or public figures out there, all of us. So much of what we have, think, or do is available for public scrutiny. A discussion on DorothyL brings this home. Several writers are enduring the harrassment of stalkers.
Then there's the problem of websites and blogs that allow people to post comments, sometimes anonymously. Even if the site does not allow anonymous comments, it's easy to circumvent this by setting up multiple gmail accounts.
How can we protect ourselves from this? Is it fair to give a forum to commenters who will not identify themselves? What's to stop someone from setting up a blog or website that engages in dirty tricks, scurrilous remarks? Nothing that I can see.
How public should we be? Should we answer emails from strangers claiming they liked our story, our book, our comment? Where should the line be drawn?
As the Internet draws us all closer, can we still keep an arm's length from people who wish us ill?

Reading Funk

I am in one of those reading funks where I start books at a clip of several a day and reject them immediately. I won't name names because it's not you, it's me. I need to read To Kill a Mockingbird for my book group, but I want something else first for fun. What have you got out there?

I bet Sarah Weinman finishes every books she starts. I look at her site in awe. I have friends who do this too. Me, I finish abut 20% of them nowadays. I am ashamed.

Additionally I have let myself become distracted from the novel for a day or two to write a story for Bryon's Q.s little challenge. Matter of fact, I wrote two of them and loved every minute of it. Why do I so love the 1000 word or less format? It feeds into my ADD, I guess. Oh, for the days of FITG. Some of the newer sites are fine, but stories turned up on Gutters at a ferocious pace and some of them blew me away. Tribe, we miss you.

Tribe, Tribe, are you out there? I guess not.

Deubt Dagger: Will I or Won't I?

My writing group took a look at my synopsis for a possible Debut Dagger entry last night and voted it about a C+ I'd say. I showed them the sample one the website emailed me first and they didn't much like that one either. My entry didn't pop. I agree. But how can I pop for 750 wrds. Don't I eventually have to give some of the more mundane details or should there be none?
I guess I don't understand synopses yet, which is probably why none of the 11 agents who read it took my novel in stories. I know I should read Ms. Snark, but damn she is a sassy, sarcastic lady.
How can I make every line pop? And do I basically spill all my beans in the synopsis? Don't the 3000 wrds count for more? Back to my computer/ Oh, here it is right here.

Podcast with Megan Abbott

There's a terrific interview with my daughter, Megan Abbott, on Behind the Black Mask -http://www.btbm.libsyn.com/. The other interviews on that site are well worth listening to also. These guys do a great job. They also have a series of shows on classic films that I love.

Megan does make it sound like we encouraged her to watch pretty racy movies by age five. I guess we did. We took both kids to their first subtitled movie-Grand Illusion, at the corner arthouse at ages six and seven, figuring they could read well enough by then. My husband told them it might not mean much to them yet but later they would appreciate the film. Of course, it's a family joke now.
Luckily the second film was Annie Hall, which they did enjoy. We were and are a pretty movie addicted family.

Anyway, check it out. Next up comes Allen Guthrie and Reed F. Coleman. Can't wait.

The Thirteenth Tale

I admit I am stalling here. I am approaching the dreaded middle one hundred pages, and it scares me to death. I know what happens in that section but filling it out with hand gestures and the like is not always fun. How often can people say something without scratching their head or closing the cabinet door? You know what I mean. I see vast stretches of untethered dialogue in ohter books but when I do it, it feels wrong. Yet too much tethering will bring it down too.
Meanwhile I am reading Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale and admiring the way she has written a nineteenth century novel and gotten high praise for doing it. You can luxuriate in her prose, roll around in it, because very little happens for long stretches. I can see why many like the book and there are some nice touches, some nice writing, but gee whiz, hasn't she watched The Wire.
I wish I could take more pleasure in it. I think I might have when I smoked twenty years ago.
How did I get to be in such a hurry? How did I get to be so ADD?

Will She Bake a Cherry Pie?

Okay you crime/mystery writers out there. Answer this one: someone left a cherry pie on our back step this morning. It was in a Kroger's bag and it was a Kroger's pie.
How can I find out who left it?
At first I thought it was our snow removal guy (he plowed the back lot at 5:30), but we live in a six townhouse group and none of the others, all who also pay him for his services, had a pie. Any friend would leave it on our front step because the back is more difficult to get to, especially with six inches of snow this morning. No relatives live near by. It's not from my husband; he knows cherry pies are my least favorite and I'm not really a pie person anyway. We are not particularly close to any of the six neighbors--cordial yes, but not close enough for Valentine presents.
So what to you think?

The Future of Bookstores

My husband and I decided to forgo the usual Valentine's Day gifts and instead buy a book of photographs. Our corner big name store is a small one with little choice so we made a trip across town (45 minute drive) to the biggest one in the area and found a wonderful selection of books. We picked one out, a classic book figuring that we should start this new collection with the classics. It was $75, an amount we figured was equal to the cost of the cards and flowers and candy we usually bought. But the cover was dogearred so we went over to the Customer Service to see if there was another in stock. Putting down her cellphone reluctantly, the clerk said there was nothing in stock, but she could order a copy. We then asked "well, if she was doing that, could she have it delivered to the bookstores down at our corner." She said no. And no again. And no, a third time. We went home and orderd it on Amazon. The cost including handling was just over $50. Now why should I use the chain if they will not provide better service or the better price? You tell me.
The only reason I can think of is this--I couldn't have looked at the books on Amazon.
If those two "B" stores want to stay in business, why don't they provide better service?

Sweet Land

This may have been the first movie I've ever seen where the female lead was so pretty, it distracted me. Maybe I'm in the midst of a sexual preference shift.
This film has gotten rave reviews but I thought it needed to be edgier, rougher, less pristine. Okay, I know those Scandinavians were a real clean bunch out in Minnesota in 1920 but they must have occasionally left dirty dishes on the table or failed to bathe immediately upon rising. And did women in 1920 on the plains have long, loose, wavy hair? If she had pulled that hair back, I might have focused more.
Also what happened before would have been much more interesting than what happened after. Why spend so much time on their deaths years in the future when seeing where they came from, how and why would have been more enlightening?

Question: How close to real events do you go when the people in your book/story are still alive? The true story of my two central characters has suddenly taken a turn for the better as far as my story goes. Whereas I was formally just using the real story as a background, it is now tempting to include a lot more of the real stuff. What do you think?

Pan's Labyrinth

This was a terrific movie but I have one caveat. Why did the villain have to be so one-dimensional? And if he's going to be one dimensional-you can stop showing me his tools of torture after the first time. He did everything but roll his moustache. Maybe it's the fable/fairtale aspect that led to this sort of villain.
I very much liked that the women in this movie were heroic and able to save themselves/or others. I liked their sense of adventure. It was beautifully filmed, acted, etc. The big surprise for me was how little fanstasy it actually had. From the previews I had expected it to be the major element and it was definitely secondary to the Spanish civil war.

Isn't it nice to put on a warm pair of socks on a day like this? Unfortunately I thought so last night and put them on in the theater, then took them off and lost them. If anyone finds a hugely fat pair of blue socks....

Short Story into Novel--Or not

For the last seven years I have been writing short stories. In these stories, I have learned to excise every unnecessary word. I try to keep my stories under 5000 wrds. Under 4000 even better. And I could learn to love under 2000.
Now, if I'm going to write a novel, I have to come up with at least 50,000 wrds. I can no longer say "That night she slept alone." Now I have to describe the tossing and turning, the trips to the liquor cabinet, the hysterical phonecalls. Or maybe I don't. Maybe that's not a sentence that should be expanded. Maybe I need to expand. "On Thursday, she bought a gun." Maybe writing about the gunshop, its location, the proprietor is what should be expanded. F***
Having the general idea of how this novel will play out is apparently not enough. I have to fill in the blanks. But what blanks need filling. HELP.
I'm delaying this process by entering the Debut Dagger contest. Maybe writing the synopsis will help clarify things. At least I've got those first 3000 wrds. You bet I do.

The Painted Veil

I have agreed to be part of a group called movie bloggers. They found me due to the frequency of movie mentioning that goes on here. There is a link on the side if you want to check them out. I am not in any way claiming I have the credentials to review movies. I But I do see a lot of them.

The Painted Veil. I didn't expect to like it much because it seemed like it would be the predictable Masterpiece Theater sort of story--and it was to some extent. But it happened to hit upon one of my weaknesses as a movie watcher. I love movies where people learn to be good. This may never happen in life but I like to think it does. And it certainly does in literature and the movies. That's why Groundhog Dad is one of my favorite movies. Bill Murray learns to be good--and not just to attract Andie McDowell. He eventually finds satisfaction in being a good person.

The Painted Veil was also good for its exotic location, its acting and its lush production values. My only caveat was that it seemed like the Naomi Watts character should have been about ten years younger. Still she's such a spendid actress, she made it work. And Edward Norton is always compelling.

What kind of movies do you cut a little slack?

Collecting

My husband and I have decided to collect vintatge crime paperbacks and picked up four this weekend-all under $3.50 and consequently not very valuable. We got a copy of Laura, The Thin Man, a Vin Packer novel and an Ed McBain.
This is not our first collection. Over the years, because we like to prowl around junk shops, we have collected everything. For instance, we collected postcards of Ocean City, Jersey briefly. Ones that had been sent to someone. My favorite read "Dear Myrta, I am still intact. Cold but fine weather here. Best wishes, L.C.
We also collected photographs of weddings for a bit and displayed them in a fan-shaped holder. I got tired of people asking if they were my parents and looking shocked when I said I had no idea who they were. It just seemed such intimate pictures needed rescuing from a junk shop. But it turned out, they can't be rescued by strangers.
We have also collected Mexican pottery, white candlesticks, water pitchers, Frankoma pottery, old cook books, books by obscure poets, carnival prizes, stones.
The main criteria has always been it must be cheap. We've never paid more than ten dollars or so for anything. Usually under five.
What do you collect? Or are we the only ones?

Music to Excercise To

Or in my case, not music. At my gym, and I use that word loosely, most of the rats like to exercise to 1) Fox News 2) ESPN 3) the Golf Channel.
Me, I usually prefer old sitcoms like Raymond, Friends, Seinfeld, King of Queens. Shows that make me laugh. But last night I found the perfect accompaniment. So perfect, I hardly knew I was walking my mile. Humoresque. Watching Joan Crawford emote made me forget all my aches and pains. I had never thought of watching TCM at the gym. normally preferring to watch movies in their entirety. What do you watch?

Also-be a pal and come out and see Megan and Theresa in their book swing on the west coast. Here are the dates.

TexasMurder by the BookDate: Thursday, January 25, 2007Time: 6:30 pmLocation: 2342 Bissonnet Street, Houston TXContact: (713) 524-8597

Southern California
Mysterious Galaxy with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Friday, January 26, 2007
Time: 7 pm
Location: San Diego
Contact: (858) 268-4747

Mysteries to Die For with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2007
Time: 10:30AM
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact: (805) 374-0084

Mystery Bookstore with Theresa Schwegel and Charlie Huston Date: Saturday, January 27, 2007
Time: 2:30PM
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact: (310) 209-0415 Book Carnival with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Sunday, January 28, 2007
Time: 1PM
Location: Orange, CA
Contact: (714) 538-3210 Northern CaliforniaBook Passage with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Monday, January 29, 2007Time: 1PM
Location: Corte Madera, CA
Contact: (415) 927-0960 M is for Mystery with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Time: 7PM
Location: San Mateo, CA
Contact: (650) 410-8077 SeattleThird Place Books with Theresa Schwegel and Naomi Hirahara
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Time: 7PM
Location: Lake Forest Park, WA
Contact: (206) 366-3316 Left Coast Crime
17th Annual Western Mystery Fan Convention
Date: Thursday, February 1 through Sunday, February 4, 2007
Location: Renaissance Seattle Hotel
Panel: Noir: It's the New Black
Date: Saturday, February 3, 2007
Time: 10 am
Panelists: Con Lehane, Megan Abbott, Cornelia Read, Edward Wright,
Moderator Tim Wohlforth Seattle Mystery Bookstore with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Saturday, February 3, 2007
Time: 12-2PM
Location: 117 Cherry Street, Seattle
Contact: (206) 587-5737

Reading

Maureen Corrigan (Washington Post and NPR) has written a book about her life with books. Her father read compulsively, her mother not at all. My childhood experience with books centered around my local library in Philadelphia. Every Friday I went there and took out the five books I was allowed. The librarian was an African-American woman named Mrs. Robinson and she led me away from exclusively reading series like Trixie Belden or Nancy Drew and into books with more literary aspirations or at least books not written by committee. Not in any strong-arming way, but in a good one. She also blocked by repeated attempts to enter the adult section and read John O'Hara et al. until I was eleven or twelve.
At home, we had one small bookcase with books written by Francis Parkinson Keyes and the Readerss Digest books. Not much to read there because money was scarce and the library close. The books I loved most were the Betsy, Tacy, Tib series by Maude Hart Lovelace and All of the Kind Family by Sidney Taylor. Of course, Nancy was right up there too.
What did you read? Was the library the center of your reading?

Movies to Cheer You Up

What movie are you likely to choose to cheer you up? With me, it's the movies of my childhood. In particular, it's Pillow Talk. Is Pillow Talk a guilty pleasure? I'm not really asking about guilty pleasures though. More just a film that will take you our of yourself for two hours.

Story into novel--or not

I am mulling over the idea of trying to turn an unpublished short story of mine into a novel. Actually it was published as a flash and may still be published as a short story. I asked on DorothyL for examples of this being done and got several answers. One, in particular, is available right on my bookshelves.
My short story is about a photographer that begins taking pictures of dead men in Detroit. Her "procurer" is a mortician. I like the ending so if I expand it, it would be from the middle out. Advice is welcomed. The thing I need to avoid is writing it as stories instead of chapters. I have the results of that last time I did that wasting awawy on my hard drive. Why is it so hard to see the forest?

Check out the Rap Sheet

Where Megan is divulging family secrets about her childhood. Is it true we sat around and watched noir movies around the clock? Is it true we took her and her brother to double features of foreign and noir films at the old Punch and Judy theater outside Detroit when they were six years old. You betcha. How else do you raise a prosecutor and a crime fiction writer?

Notes on a Scandal

Maybe the Oscar race this year will be between two actresses over sixty because Judi Dench's performance is Notes was nearly as good as Helen Mirren's in Elizabeth. I so admire peformers who don't try to rise above their character and say --this unattractive person is not really me. It's expecially brave in these instances when their appearance and their character traits were so unappealing. Only the English seem willing to put on some wellies, an old pilled sweater (vest?) and slog around in the muck, never needing to tip off the audience that they are really film stars. In both films, their hair was especially unlovely. I would have had to grab a comb.

Reading the new Alice McDermott book and I amazed at how she feels confident enough of her aiblity to have nothing happen in the first 60 pages. I read mostly crime fiction nowadays, but I can't picture a chapter that describes a trip to the beach where the biggest event was a tiff between two children. Yet in her hands, it works beautifully.
Do you feel you have the luxury of starting a piece this slowly, of describing and evoking an atmosphere with very little plot? McDermott's That Night is one of my favorite novels. Just brilliant.

Dreams

Several blogs recently had talked about dreams. I only have (or remember) two kinds of dreams and pretty prosaic ones they are. The first type features various versions on the idea that I realize it's the math final and I haven't attended class all semester. The second type has me hunting through various rooms of a house, secret rooms that I hadn't known were there. Generally the rooms are old and dangerous. I never go outside.
My husband, on the other hand, has fabulous dreams. He's usually in a foreign country, often eastern European, and is often called upon to do valiant acts. I think he's channeling Olen Steinhauer.
Certainly lying next to him has not influenced my dreams at all. I never travel, never save the world. Only last night, he traveled across the ocean on the back of a whale, sitting in a deckchair.
I wonder if writers use up their imagination in the daytime. Do you have prosaic or exciting dreams? Do you remember them?

Whoops

Megan Abbott and Theresa Schwegel's New York Dates: Come see the two sweetest crime fiction writers on the planet.

Partners & Crime Bookstore with Theresa SchwegelDate: Tuesday, January 9, 2007 Time: 7PMLocation: 44 Greenwich Avenue (corner of Charles) Contact: (212) 243-0440

Black Orchid Bookstore with Theresa Schwegel
Date: Thursday, January 11, 2007 Time: 6:30PMLocation: 303 East 81st Street (Between 1st and 2nd)Contact: (212) 734-5980
Texas

Manly Things

It's finally cold again in Detroit and once again I am reminded of the manly rules in dressing for the weather. My husband tells me he can't wear a hat, boots, or an umbrella. (He can however nudge me out from under my umbrella). Such clothing would define him as a sissy, I guess. Now are these the rules from 1965 or do they still hold today? Do all men have such a stringent manly code?
Oddly enough, my husband does wear pink/lavender shirts quite regularly. It isn't about color apparently. Just your willingness to let the elements pour down on you.

Children of Men

Although I didn't enjoy this movie, it was very good. Quite the contrast to The Holiday, which we saw two nights earlier. I haven't read the book and wonder if things were spelled out more thoroughly in the novel. I wasn never sure exactly what forces were at work other than totalitarianism and chaos
Clive Owens was terrific--never gave into doing a Harrison Ford imitation. He was the hero, but in much the way Philip Marlowe was the hero. Only by default.
Interesting how in so many dystopias, there is a magical place that the protagonist et al must get to to be saved. I guess that conceit is the only way we can tolerate the mayhem. I know James is generally judged to be a Thatcherite and conservative but I couldn't quite work out her philosophy here except in the reverence for motherhood. Still good movie.

Another word on writing groups

As I have probably mentioned, I belong to two WGs and each serves a useful function for me. The first group operates in the traditional way; we email the stories/poetry/plays, critique them at length and meet to discuss it. Great help. The second seems less helpful on paper. We read our work aloud, no exhange of material.
But I have noticed something in the last few months. Reading the story aloud really points out sections that go on too long, dialogue that sounds wooded or unrealistic, characters that seem like stock figures. The critiques given are seldom very deep or thoughful but the reading it aloud itself helps.
Long ago, I have a MAC which had a fuction that read my stories aloud and that was a great help. Since then, I have experimented with taping stories, but it is just too much work and I hate the sound of my voice more than Rachel Ray's so listening to a tape is agony. But just reading it, points out deficiencies without such pain.
What do you find helpful?Do you ever read your work aloud before publication?

Baby Books

The last time I bought books for babies, there were only a few and they were written on stones. Well, almost. Anyone have a few suggestions from the newer batch. What did your baby like? Or for Bryon and his peers, what did you like? (Only kidding.)

Writing Short Stories

Megan and I occasionally get into a discussion about the differences between writing short stories and novels. She doesn't understand why I wouldn't want to take a character from one place to another--go the distance with them.
But right now I am in the head of a a forty-something guy in an auto-shop in the midwest, worrying about a woman who's getting pounded.
Two weeks ago, I was a neighborhood in 1960s Philly, watching a black man have an affair with a white woman.
Two weeks before that I was a fourteen year old girl who was convinced the man who was having her deliver drugs and take her mother's money was the love of her life.
Before that I was a female-vice president of a corporation who had to insure their new product line would be successful.
Now maybe these people do not have the depth of characters in novels but how can you deny that sitting in a 6 by 9 foot room and going to these places is not pure bliss?

Cleveland

We just spent two days in Cleveland. I was very impressed. Lots of tall buildings, lots of culture, good restaurants. But where the heck are the people? The guy in the tie store outside our hotel said there was no retail left downtown to draw them in. Sounds awfully familiar (Detroit).
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...rocked. I bought two CDs but I think I missed the point. I bought a Doris Day CD from the forties and a Lena Horne from the same era. The reset I can get other places but these were gems. The Barcelona exhibit was fantastic. Even saw the glass pavilllion at the Toledo Museum.
I highly recommend Cleveland if you live near by. I just hope some people come out for you. Those streets were awfully lonely even in broad daylight.

Post Christmas

Christmas exchanges were more moderate and more certificate-oriented than ever before. I didn't open one item of clothing-the first time ever for that. Three CDs a Charlie Parker, the new Damien Rice, Regina Specter, and Anita O'Day. Two books-the Donald Antrim memoir, Every Eye by Isobel English, movie passes, a manicure, a scarf, money.
The only one to really make out like a bandit was one month old, Kevin, who has more Baby's First Christmas ornaments than you'd think possible.
Movies-we saw Volver and The History Boys, both good.
Watching the old Family DVDs. The pilot of that was a humdinger.

Hope you had a good one too.

RIP Flashing in the Gutter

This was my favorite place to spend some time over the last year. Gone now, thanks to some uncivil people who exercised their right to make mayhem at our expense. RIP, FITG. And thanks to Tribe for being the "host with the most" for the last year.

Best of the Year

Best books I read in 2006: *The Song Is You, Dope, The Lonely Doll, Country of Origin, Abide With Me, The Dramatist, *Winter's Bone, Damn Near Dead, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan, Sharp Ojects, A Field of Darkness, Ethan Frome, Arc of Justice.

Best movies: *The Proposition, Cache, Somersault, The Departed, Casino Royale, Little Children, Tristram Shandy, Gabrielle, Half-Nelson, La Moustache, Little Miss Sunshine

What about you?

Muzzle Flash

A new story on Muzzle Flash. Link to the side.

I'm reading Time Bends (Arthur Miller's memoirs)for my book group. I can't complain about the length of this one since I chose it but damn it's long. It's beautifully written but the last time I read it 20 years ago I had more time and still smoked. I think smoking made me a better reader. Also the lack of an Internet and lack of a job. gave me time. I was able to polish off 3-4 books a week. Now it's more like one. On a good week.

After a rewrite, Hardluck Stories took my story Quality Operations for the femme fatale issue.

Stories about older people

Let's face it. It's hard to place them and I love to write them. This week I wrote one for Flashing in the Gutters, and now another one I first wrote two years ago was accepted by Mouth Full of Bullets, a new zine. I have to say the crime fiction world is more amenable to the elderly than the lit journals. At one time, this story had no crime element and it was rejected by about twenty places, many who said they didn't like to publish stories about old people. Especially disliked are stories about mental decline.
Adding the crime element did make it stonger, especially at the end where we can at least hope that these two can go on murdering stray Yankees for many more years.
I have another story about the elderly--she's a docent. Maybe I can have her murder the stray visitor to her house too. Empower the elderly by making murderers out of all of them. Try f****** with Social Security after that.

A Fair Trade

Check out my new story on Flashing in the Gutters. It's a happy story, I promise.
Don't use the link to the right though. It's defunct till I figure out what changed.

The Wire

Even though I didn't fully understand a lot of the dialogue and even though every time money (even in the form of drug deals) came onto the scene, I tuned out, I loved this season of The Wire. My husband kept complaining about the lack of a larger arc but for me the arc was how we are throwing our children away. And what's bigger than that idea? Also it turned out to be a two-year arc, so there. I will truly miss it for the next year. It digs so much deeper than The Sopranos, for instance although I love that one too.

The best show on TV, hands down.

Five movies I have never seen and should--Lawrence of Arabia, A Clockwork Orange, 2001, On the Waterfront, Dr. Strangelove. How about you?

Book Buying

Standing in line at bookstores the last few days, I have been amazed at how few real books people buy. The standard fare today was: a sudoku book, Christmas cards, a calendar, a travel book, a Peter Mayles book, children's books. Apparently only children get real books. I have bought about 5-10 books as presents so far including The Road, an early Woodrell book, the Cigar girl book, the basis for Poe's Marie Roget, an earlier Cormac McCarthy book, Paris Trout by Pete Dexter. I still have several to buy. and this doesn't include the five baby books I bought. What books have your purchased as Christmas gifts? What would you like to receive?

Flash Fiction

I love to write flash fiction, but truly it isn't good for me unless I can develop the short pieces into longer ones. I have some nice shorts from Flashing in the Gutters that I'd love to work on but many sites frown on stories that have appeared in any form. I guess I could get around it by sending the short pieces to referreed journals too and then they would feel more finished. Or would they?
There is something so democratic about sending them to zines that put them up without the fuss. Also here is an opportunity to experiment, to try something new. I am so ambivalent.
This follows an invitation by D.Z. Allen to submit some flash to his new site. I probably will do it 'cause I love flash. What do you think? Do you regard stories published indiscrimately on zines as valuable as ones that go through a selection process? Do you use the flash as a blueprint for future longer stories?

How far do you go?

With a potential editor's suggestions for a short story? I feel my stonger short stories are about voice more than anything. If I stifle the voice by playing out each scene (the show don't tell credo), it becomes more about plot than voice. A potential editor wants me to animate scenes rather than having the protagonist describe them in her somewhat (I hope) distinctive voice. How far do you go to get it into print? Does the writer know best in the end? Do some editors want every story to reflect their taste?

P.S. I am in love with my grandson. Such a different feeling than parenthood. Much less about responsbility than pure unadulaterated love.

Kevin Louis Abbott

Was born yesterday at four o'clock to my son and daughter-in-law. This world is just not good enough for him but we'll try to make it better. Why don't all parents and grandparents work together toward this goal for 2007? What else do we have to leave behind?