Good Day in Hell -- J. D. Rhoades & Sea Change -- Robert B. Parker

The Devil's Right Hand introduced Jack Keller, who works for H & H Bail Bonds in North Carolina. It was clear in that book that Jack had a lot of bad stuff in his head, left over from the first Gulf War, and in J. D. Rhoades's Good Day in Hell we find out what a lot of it is. We also find out, as if we hadn't already, that working for a bail bondsman (or bondswoman in this case) is at least as dangerous as fighting in Iraq. This time, Jack's dealing with mass murderers who make the Freeway Killers look like wussies. He's also trying to make a go of his relationship with Sheriff's Deputy Marie Jones, but Jack's not good at relationships, to understate the case. The action is fast and furious, with plenty of fighting, shooting, and sex all tossed into an enjoyable mix of complex characters and violent set-pieces. Good writing, too. Don't miss this one.

Then we come to Robert B. Parker's Sea Change, the latest Jesse Stone novel. Why, you're probably asking yourself, is Crider reviewing these two together? There's a very good reason, that's why. But you should't read any further if you plan to read both of them, because SPOILER ALERT, WILL ROBINSON! both books turn on the very same major plot point. Not that I'm going to tell you what it is right here. END SPOILER ALERT! Parker's book is lean and dialogue heavy. In fact, if Parker uses any more dialogue in the next one, it's going to be a play instead of a novel. But he does it expertly, in my opinion. Anyway, the body of a woman washes ashore in Paradise, and of course it turns out that she was murdered. Will Stone prove that he's mas macho que tu? Damned right. Will he solve the crime? Sure, but he gets a little help this time from a cop in Florida who does a bit of investigating on her own. I always enjoy Parker's writing, and even though this book took me only an hour or so to read, I still recommend it highly.

You Read It Here Second

The Saturday Boy: "Allan Guthrie's finally got off his shapely behind and updated Noir Originals (check out the new author photo) and it's well worth the wait."

Ray Banks beat me to it, but be sure to check out the new articles, interviews, and so on.

Things I Never Read in a Ken Bruen Novel

From Dave Barry's Blog: "In Ireland, if somebody is a wimp, you call that person, quote, 'a big girl's blouse,' as in 'Ah, you're a big girl's blouse.' You can also call such a person 'a complete handbag.'"

Today's Croc News

Man in court after 1067 baby crocs found - The World - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au:
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in George, South Africa

March 15, 2006

A MAN allegedly caught with 1067 baby crocodiles in his car appeared in a South African court overnight.
Paul Gildenhuys of Cape Nature Conservation's environmental crime unit said the man faced charges of possession and transport of the crocodiles without the necessary permits.

There was no immediate information about where the crocodiles came from and where they were to be sold."

I'm Among the Faint at Heart

RGJ.com: 'Testicle festival,' this weekend-Virginia City offers food, fun: "It's not a festival for the faint of heart.

But organizers of the 15th annual Mountain Oyster Fry -- known among Virginia City locals as the 'testicle festival' -- say Saturday will be filled with good food and fun.

'They're all officially known as 'gonadologists,'' Jett Aguilar, chairwoman of this year's cookoff said of the participants, 'and they actually think that's just great.'"

Happy Birthday, Max Shulman!

Max Shulman, born this day in 1919, was another of my formative influences. (He died in 1988.) I laugh just thinking about some of his novels and stories. Lots of people remember Dobie Gillis because of a TV series. I remember him because of Shulman's books. I have a stack of those books here to re-read, and I should do that one of these days.

The Mafia Name Generator

Here's a link provided by Walter Satterthwait (or, as he's known to the Mob, Fat Alphonse Giordano. Walter's the author of the terrific Perfection, as you may know, and you should get a copy soon. Either that or Fat Alphonse will drop a dime on you. (I'm Nicky the Brain, by the way.)

The Mafia Name Generator

Happy Birthday, Phil Phillips!

"Sea of Love" is one of the great ones. It owes a lot of its success to the back-up group, the Twilights, but Phil Phillips was the lead, and he really sold it. Here's a RealAudio clip: streaming mp3

Goldband Artist Phil Phillips: "Born John Phillip Baptiste on March 14, 1931 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Phil Phillips was a member of the Gateway Quartet and a bellhop before he recorded 'Sea of Love.'

'Sea of Love' was arranged and produced by Eddie Shuler for neighbor George Khoury's label. The first time Eddie heard the song he knew it would be a hit. They took their time with the arrangement, building up the vocal group and trying out different musicians. After three months of work, the song was ready for release. The record sold heavily and was leased to Mercury Records. 'Sea of Love' went to #2 in the U.S. pop charts and spent 14 weeks in the top 40. It sold over two million copies in 1957."

Mystery*File Update

MYSTERY*FILE ON-LINE: "March 13. IN THE FRAME. In Vince Keenan’s latest column of commentary on books and film, he discusses two books from Europa Editions (by Massimo Carlotto and Patrick Hamilton) and then compares the two versions of the classic noir film KISS OF DEATH, both available now on DVD."

Depressing News on the Pecker Front

Twitchers in a flap over elusive pecker | The Register:
"'Very rare' bird actually extinct all along?
By Chris Williams
Published Monday 13th March 2006 14:59 GMT

It was with great fanfare last summer that the US Fish and Wildlife service trumpeted the rediscovery of an apparently 'extinct' species: the ivory-billed woodpecker. Until a Cornell team reported the sighting in a Arkansas swamp, the iconic bird had not been spotted for more than 60 years.

The revelation was the hottest news to hit the bird watching community in years, and the administration moved quickly to appoint a dedicated 'recovery team'. They threw $10m at the tenuous grip on existence the species happily seemed to retain.

But now, almost a year on with no further sightings, others are casting aspersions on the original Science identification."

Bigfoot Update

Channelnewsasia.com: "JOHOR : Investigators who found what is believed to be a clear footprint of Malaysia's own 'Bigfoot' are waiting to meet the Johor Chief Minister. They want to present him with a cast of the print found in the rainforest and get his permission to carry out further investigations. They came from across the world, drawn by a common attraction - the prospect of finding Malaysia's very own Bigfoot. "

I hope they're all going to buy a copy of my new book. (Photo on left.)

Prayers for the Assassin -- Robert Ferrigno

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's what the movie guys call "a futuristic thriller," set in 2044 in an America that's dominated by Muslim culture and religion. While it could have been marketed as science fiction, the publishers must have thought that would be the kiss of death. It might also have invited comparisons with George Alec Effinger's series of novels about Marid Audran, books which I believe to a much better job of picturing what the world would be like in a future where the Muslims run things.

That's not to say that Ferrigno's book isn't effective in some ways. The thriller elements work very well indeed, and if that's what you're looking for, you'll certainly find them. Someone's probably working on the screen play even now.

Ferrigno's a writer whose work deserves to be better known, but I'd suggest that you start with one of his other novels like Scavenger Hunt or Heart Breaker.

And for a slightly different take on Prayers for the Assassin today, check out Vince Keenan's blog.

Where the Buffalo Roam

Judy and I took a quick trip up the road to visit her mother yesterday. And while you might not expect to catch sight of a herd of bison in East Texas, you can sometimes do just that about five miles out of Thornton, Judy's hometown. Here's a snapshot I made this morning.

Happy Birthday, Peyton Place!

Update 3: 50 Years Later, 'Peyton' Memories Remain - Forbes.com: "Grace Metalious' sensational story of sex, violence and other scandals in a small New England town, based in part on Gilmanton, made the author an international celebrity and a local pariah. It transformed an otherwise obscure township into a symbol of decadence and hypocrisy and rivaled Elvis Presley as a shocking breach to the official decorum of the 1950s. "

This book had a huge impact on me. I've read it at least three times. Read the whole long, interesting article at the link. And for a fictional account of a Grace Metalious-like author, check out Vin Packer's The Girl on the Bestseller List.

Stephen Marlowe

I know you all read Ed Gorman's blog, but I wanted to mention this post. Don't miss it. I've already mentioned the book, here, and there's a cover scan.

Gormania: "The cover says:
VIOLENCE IS MY BUSINESS
TURN LEFT FOR MURDER
Two Thrillers by Stephen Marlowe
and the double volume is a February 2006 publication of Stark House Press under the rubric Stark House Mystery Classics ($19.95). In the front matter you’re regaled with an ISBN number (1-933586-02-8) and other publishing impedimenta—and finally the key dates, 1958 and 1955."

It Might as well be Spring

It's a well-known fact that I hate to mow the lawn. The only good thing about the drought conditions in Texas this year is that I didn't have to mow in January of February like I did last year. Today, however, I cranked up the old mower and shoved it over the lawn for an hour or so. I'll admit it looks better. The neighbors on both sides had mowed a week or more ago, but I refused to give in. I couldn't put it off any longer, however. Now the grind begins, week after week. The heat. The humidity. The sweat. The whining. I'm really looking forward to it.

Recommended Reading at Mystery*File

MYSTERY*FILE ON-LINE: "March 9. ROBERT MARTIN. A profile in three parts. (1) An overview of Robert Martin’s writing career by Jim Felton, who grew up in the same Ohio town as the author. (2) A complete checklist of all of Martin’s books and short stories, including those he wrote as Lee Roberts. (3) Coverage by Gary Warren Niebuhr of Martin’s most well-known character, private eye Jim Bennett, with an in-depth look at each of the novels Bennett appeared in."

Happy Birthday, Amazing Stories!

According to a post to fictionmags by Mike Ashley, March 10, 1926, was the day the first issue of Amazing Stories went on sale at newsstands. That makes the magazine 80 years old today. I first encountered it in the 1950s. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was at the appearance of a new issue. People will tell you now that the magazine was at a low point at that time, and that the stories were pretty uniformly bad. Maybe so, but I didn't know it at the time. I read each issue straight through as soon as I bought it, and every story was magic to me. I think I'll pull out one of those old issues right now and have a look.

Suddenly I'm not Hungry

Waiter, waiter, there's a penis in my hotpot. 10/03/2006. ABC News Online: "China's exotic food industry has a new addition, a restaurant that specialises in animal extremities.

China's increased wealth has brought a growing demand for exotic delicacies.

A new Beijing restaurant is serving up traditional hotpot with a difference.

Customers can choose from more than 30 kinds of penis - including yak, donkey, dog, ox or even seal.

Although a meal can cost more than $500, the restaurant still boasts a loyal clientele.

Eating penis is said to improve everything from male virility to skin tone.

The new delicacy joins old Chinese favourites such as frog, silkworm, scorpion, dog and snake."

More Cool News

Rat-Squirrel Not Extinct After All - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny squirrel — and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is pretty special: It's a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years.

The long-whiskered rodent made international headlines last spring when biologists declared they'd discovered a brand new species, nicknamed the Laotian rock rat.

It turns out the little guy isn't new after all, but a rare kind of survivor: a member of a family until now known only from fossils."

Happy Birthday, Mickey Spillane!

Mickey Spillane is 88 years old today. By way of celebration, here's a photo of the Mick with Judy Crider at the Milwaukee Bouchercon in 1981. Judy still looks exactly the same, and I'll bet Spillane does, too.

Cool News

New Scientist Breaking News - Watery atmosphere discovered on Saturn's moon: "Saturn's snow-white moon, Enceladus, is shrouded by a thin water-vapour atmosphere, reveal measurements from the US-European Cassini spacecraft. The atmosphere may be pumped out by erupting ice volcanoes or geysers - which could signal toeholds for life on the tiny moon."

Beyond Body Piercing

From Wired News: Shannon Larratt was a child when he first dreamed about modifying his body. When his father would make pizza and sit with him to watch Star Trek, Larratt was captivated by the diverse looks of people from other worlds. He was particularly taken with the forehead ridges.

In Larratt's ideal world, "Everyone looks interesting, everyone looks different." So when body modification artist Steve Haworth invented a way to implant jewelry under human skin, Larratt jumped on the opportunity.

After Haworth was done, Larratt's forehead sported two symmetrical ridges that stretched at a jaunty angle from a spot above his temples down toward his eyebrows.

Larratt was an early adopter of subdermal implants, a form of 3-D body modification pioneered in 1994 at Haworth's piercing shop in Phoenix, Arizona. The first human canvas for the art form was a woman from New Zealand who came in and asked for a bracelet. Haworth pondered the challenge, then suggested that he could place series of beads under the skin around her wrist. She enthusiastically agreed.

Another Mystery*File Update!

MILTON K. OZAKI - An Homage, by Bill Crider:

Originally written and compiled
For EyeCon, 1995

In addition to being the author of more than twenty mystery novels, many of them featuring private eyes, Milton K. Ozaki, who also wrote as Robert O. Saber, was a newspaperman, an artist, and the operator of a beauty parlor.

You might know him as one of the stars of Bill Pronzini’s Son of Gun in Cheek (1987). In addition to devoting several pages to the glories of a non-PI novel (Dressed to Kill), Bill quotes what is probably my favorite line in the entire Ozaki oeuvre: “What the hell is this all about?” Hara demanded. “Damnit, I thought I made it clear that you weren’t to do any private dicking!” (Maid for Murder, 1955). "

Click the link for more, plus cover scans.

Happy Birthday, Leslie Fiedler

I stole the following comments from The Writer's Almanac. Many years ago (40!) I read Love and Death in the American Novel for the first time. It was a revelation to me, a way of writing about literature I'd never encountered before. George Kelley, well aware of my admiration for the book, was lucky enough to have Fiedler on his dissertation committee and got me a signed copy of the book. Thanks again, George.

It's the birthday of the literary critic Leslie Fielder, (books by this author) born in Newark, New Jersey (1917). He's best known for his book Love and Death in the American Novel (1960). He was one of the first American critics to argue in favor of popular culture. He loved comic books and horror movies and soap operas, and he once said that the only writer of the late 20th century who would be remembered was Stephen King. He believed that the great theme of American literature was the search for identity. He said, "Americans have no real identity. We're all ... uprooted people who come from elsewhere."

Robots

I liked just about everything about this movie. It's a pleasure just to look at it, and there's a Rube Goldberg nuttiness to the whole thing that I really enjoyed. The transportation system in Robot City is worth the whole price of admission.

The plot (young robot goes to big city to follow his dream, encounters real problems) is just an excuse for plenty of slapstick, with all kinds of joking references to other movies thrown in. There's so much going on all the time that you'd probably have to watch the movie several times just to catch half of the stuff that's being tossed out there.

And I'm always amazed at how good the acting in some animated movies is. I don't mean just the voices (and this one has an amazing cast in that regard), but the facial expression and body language of the animated stars.

You can watch Robots and feel good for a long time afterward. Check it out, if you haven't already.

Mystery*File Update

Ziff-Davis Fingerprint Mysteries: "A COMPLETE SET OF FINGERPRINTS

An Annotated Checklist of the Fingerprint Mystery Series published by Ziff-Davis,
by Bill Pronzini, Victor Berch & Steve Lewis"

Great stuff, with cover scans. Check it out.

Remembering the Alamo

Chron.com | Remembering the Alamo lost in time: "170 years later, tourism clouds the sacredness of the hard-fought battle

By AMY DORSETT
San Antonio Express-News

SAN ANTONIO - Strolling the grounds of the Alamo, where background noise is provided by hucksters across the street trying to lure tourists to their gaudy attractions, it's easy to forget that the area is sacred ground.

It was 170 years ago on March 6 that hundreds died.

Even the landmark's own gift shop can feature less-than-tasteful souvenirs (nothing says Remember the Alamo quite like a $5.25 ashtray made in China), and last spring it offered temporary tattoos as a fundraiser.

Between the commercial distractions and a population that seems permanently tethered to cell phones, keeping the sacredness of the Alamo intact has become a growing challenge for those who operate the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

'There are things we have no control over, so we control what we can,' said Bruce Winders, curator and historian of the Alamo."

It's Azalea Time in Alvin

Sample on the left, and you can see a slideshow by clicking here.

Open-Minded Arkies

Arkansas Times: "Who says Arkansas is closed-minded? According to a recent weekly New York Times ranking of various media, Arkies seem more interested in the cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain than residents of other states.

The Times said: “According to Hitwise, which measures Internet traffic, 57 percent of the visitors to the official movie Web site in the four weeks ending Jan. 28 were male, and 54 percent of them were ages 25 to 44.”

By region, the highest index of visitors was from Arkansas. That is, Arkansas residents who went online were more than two times as likely to visit www.brokebackmountain.com as the overall Internet population in the United States. "

Oscar Report, Part the Second

I became aware that the Academy Awards were a fraud when Denise Richards (left, the one who's not Neve Campbell) was shamefully omitted from the nominations after her sterling performance in Wild Things. Denise, however, was not deterred. She "stretched" for the part of nuclear scientist in The World is not Enough. Yes, a nuclear scientist. Even Niels Bohr would have been convinced. But did she get nominated? Nooooooooo. It was then that I determined that the Awards were nothing more than a "popularity contest" and not worthy of my attention. And when Denise wasn't nominated for Undercover Brother, I gave up on them entirely.

Oscar Report

No doubt you're all wondering what a hip, with-it Hollywood insider such as myself thought about the Oscar telecast last night. I didn't watch. I decided to read a book instead.

Art Buchwald in His Final Days

For many years I read Art Buchwald's column every time it appeared. He could almost always make me laugh. Then the papers I got stopped carrying it, and I never tried to find it on the Internet. I'm sorry now that I didn't.

My paternal grandfather died of diabetes, much like Buchwald is doing, after having both legs amputated. My grandfather didn't get dialysis, but I don't know that it was even available back in 1947. Like Buchwald he was upbeat, even the last time I saw him. I think they'd have liked each other.

A Visit with Art Buchwald in His Final Days:
March 04, 2006
By Suzette Martinez Standring

SOURCE:Editor & Publisher

MILTON, Mass.—Renowned author and columnist Art Buchwald has refused dialysis, and it's only a matter of time, maybe a short time, before he dies. For a man awaiting The Reaper, he's in unusually fine fettle."

Must-Read Books?

Yes, it's another list. Some I've never read and don't plan to read. One I've never heard of. I've read most of the others already, though.

Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Harper Lee tops librarians' must-read list: "Harper Lee tops librarians' must-read list

MIchelle Pauli
Thursday March 2, 2006

It was published over 40 years ago and its American author has lived as a virtual recluse ever since, but according to Britain's librarians, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird is the book that everyone should read."

In Good Company

For a while, fifteen or twenty years ago, I thought Dennis Quaid was going to be a big star. He had the looks and that killer grin, and he could even act a little. But for some reason he never quite made it. The Right Stuff, The Big Easy, Innerspace, the remake of D.O.A., Everybody's All-American. They didn't put him over the top. Then he made Great Balls of Fire, which was pretty awful. Maybe he never recovered from that. Anyway, he still makes an interesting movie now and then, and this is one of them.

Quaid plays Dan Foreman, an ad salesman for a sports magazine, whose company is taken over by a conglomerate. Suddenly Dan finds that he has a new boss half his age. People get fired. The new boss dates Dan's daughter. Dan's wife is pregnant. You're thinking this can't end well. It does, though maybe not convincingly.

Topher Grace, who plays the new boss, Carter Duryea, manages to do very well in a part that requires him to be scared on the inside and confident on the outside (except with Foreman's daughter), and it's on his character that the movie finally turns. Both he and Foreman learn something about themselves and about the need for change, but it's Carter who has farther to go.

Things probably never work out quite so well in real life as they do in movies like this one, but then again maybe they always do. As Jake Barnes says at the end of The Sun Also Rises, "Isn't it pretty to think so."

Side by Side #3

Here we have the 1956 Graphic Books edition of Richard Powell's Say it with Bullets side by side with the new Hard Case Crime reprint.

Not That There's Anything Wrong with That

Dan Brown, Cover Your Eyes: Gay Porn 'Da Vinci' Adaptation to Be Released Same Day as Ron Howard's 'Da Vinci Code'

March 01, 2006
By Chuck Shelton

Production outfit PZP Productions has announced plans to release its gay-sex film The DaVinci Load on May 19, the same day the movie that it parodies—Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code—is scheduled to hit theaters.

PZP head Peter Zaragoza told Gay Video News, “The DaVinci Load is our most ambitious and expensive film to date. The star, new discovery Sebastian Young, is a hot bad-boy with a [remarkable appendage] and great charisma.”

Sunset at the Crider Manse

If you look up at the top, in the middle, you can see the fingernail sliver of the moon.

Just in Time for Texas Independence Day

The photo on the left if of the San Jacinto Monument at the battlefield were Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna. As you can see, it now overlooks the Houston Ship Channel. The story below is related to Texas Independence Day.

WASHINGTON - One of the state's most historic documents is back where it was created.

Four mounted Texas Rangers Tuesday escorted a stagecoach carrying documents penned at the birth of the Texas Republic back to the place where ink was applied to the now yellowing paper.

The Star of the Republic Museum at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site will display the 170-year-old documents beginning Thursday, which also happens to be Texas Independence Day.

The papers include what is believed to be the first draft of the Republic of Texas Constitution.

The constitution was written in 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his troops battled with Texans seeking independence from Mexico.

‘‘This document was touched by patriots,'' Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. ‘‘These guys heard the hoofbeats over their shoulders as they drafted this.''

The draft was lost to history until an archivist at the Texas General Land Office identified it two years ago in the agency's collections.

An armored vehicle picked up the historic document from the land office in Austin Tuesday morning to return it temporarily to the historic site on the banks of the Brazos River.

At the historic site, the papers, which were stored in a strong box, were transferred to a stagecoach escorted by four mounted Texas Rangers who took it the rest of the way home.

Lindsay Lohan's Nipples

No, I don't have any pictures. But this guy does: What Would Tyler Durden Do?

And in the interest of truth and honesty, it's only one nipple. Click the link at your own risk.

Into the Blue

I'm with James Reasoner on this one. It's not a bad little movie. But then I'm a sucker for pirate treasure. Throw in a some really nice underwater photography, Jessica Alba and Ashley Scott in bikinis, and I'm there. Sure there are people holding their breaths for what seems like five or six minutes. Sure the actors aren't ready for Shakespeare. Sure the plot's a little too cute. But who cares? Certainly not me, movie slut that I am.

My Homie!

Chron.com | Former Playmate Smith charms the high court:
"Smith's case goes to Washington and could leave with a surprising result

By PATTY REINERT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, photographers trampled each other as they tried to get glamour shots of Anna Nicole Smith, former Playboy Playmate and widow of an elderly Houston oil tycoon.

Inside the buttoned-down, no-cameras-allowed courtroom, the onetime Texas stripper, who has waged a fierce and often comical legal battle to inherit her late husband's fortune, was just another role player in heels and a conservative, knee-length black dress.

Her appearance before the highest court in the land was the latest episode in an 11-year-old Texas soap opera, and it offered the prospect of an ending worthy of the short story master O. Henry.

Judging from what happened inside the court Tuesday, Smith might just win.

Despite her uncharacteristically demure demeanor, or perhaps because of it, Smith, or her legal cause, or both, seemed to charm several men — and the one woman — on the bench."

Thanks to McGinnis expert Art Scott for the photo tip. Art believes that Anna's had a little work done. He's such a cynic.

One Tough Gramma

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Crocodile-wrestling gran honoured:
"A 61-year-old Australian grandmother has received a bravery award for wrestling a giant saltwater crocodile as it dragged her friend from a tent.

Alicia Sorohan was awoken by screams while camping in Queensland and jumped on the 4.2 metre (14ft) reptile's back in an attempt to distract it.

The animal then turned on her, breaking her nose and almost ripping her arm off before her son shot it."

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the tip.

Scooped Again!

Yes, once again Banjo Jones has come up with Alvin news that I missed. I beat him on the "Honk for Tittys" sign, though.

THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS: "Recently, in Alvin, former hometown of fireball pitcher Nolan Ryan, state environmental authorities handled two cases.

One was against the Wee Mart, a little rundown convenience store.

The other was against Equistar Chemicals, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyondell Chemical Co., which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange."

The Sad Decline in the Spelling Skills of America's Youth

This morning when I was out for a little jog, I went by the Alvin High School parking lot. A little red truck parked there had this painted across the back window: "Happy Birthday! Honk for Tittys!" While I admire the sentiment, I deplore the spelling.

Another Mexia, Texas, Story

Just so you don't think Anna Nicole Smith is the only woman from Mexia, Texas, to make it big in Washington, here's story about Mary (Martin) Ourisman, Mexia High School Class of 1965. (The photo at left is from an earlier event.)

Forget the Script. Try the Backstory.: "Yee haw! Laura Bush was the surprise guest at a Texas-themed birthday party for GOP hostess Mary Ourisman yesterday. The bipartisan luncheon for 24 'Texas girls' at the Northwest Washington home of NBC4 anchor Barbara Harrison celebrated all things Lone Star: Tex-Mex food, cowboy hats and bandanas, and a fiddler. The first lady joined in a version of 'Deep in the Heart of Texas' customized for Ourisman: She's cute, it's true, Her faults are few, Just like the state of Texas.

After enough verses of that, we would have begged for a margarita.

And for all those keeping track: Harrison, who has lost four pounds on her on-air sweeps diet, skipped the tres leches cake."

Miss Smith Goes to Washington

I'm back from ConDFW, and the big news is that Anna Nicole Smith is doing the old hometow proud. Well, that and the fact that Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, and Dennis Weaver have died. A sad weekend indeed.

Star-Telegram.com | 02/26/2006 | Anna Nicole Smith case gets Supreme Court hearing: "Anna Nicole Smith case gets Supreme Court hearing
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
Star-Telegram Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Even participating attorneys admit that Supreme Court Case No. 04-1544 is dry and legally esoteric. So why does Marshall v. Marshall get so much attention?

Three words: Anna Nicole Smith.

Smith, whose evolution from topless dancer to celebrity widow to reality-TV star is the antithesis of dull, descends on the nation’s highest court Tuesday in her long-running claim for the fortune of her late husband, Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshall II.

The 38-year-old former Playmate of the Year is expected to be present in the court chambers as attorneys argue the case for one hour before the nine black-robed justices. But those looking for any display of flamboyance inside or outside the court are apt to be disappointed, says her companion and attorney, Howard Stern."

Con Update

So here we are in Dallas (okay, Richardson), where it's cool and rainy. We didn't go out for dinner, just had a hotdog in the con suite. Now it's time to go down for the Opening Ceremonies.

So far one actual blog reader has mentioned that he saw that I'd be here. Shall we try for two?

ConDFW

And speaking of science fiction and fantasy, as I was in the post immediately below, Judy and I are about to leave for Dallas (actually Richardson), where we'll be guests at ConDFW, a regional SF convention. If you happen to be around the Radisson Hotel at Campbell Road and Central Expressway, drop in and say "hey."

Blogging will be light to nonexistent until we return next Tuesday. See you then.

Otto Penzler, Prince among Men

Several years ago, I got a call from my wife, who said that several boxes had been delivered to our door from the Mysterious Bookshop. What, she wanted to know, had I been spending money on? I couldn't remember having ordered anything, so I was eager to see what was in the boxes. Imagine my surprise to discover a bunch of issues of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from the 1950s and 1960s. Otto Penzler had heard that I was collecting those old digests and had sent me the ones he had in the store. It was a big thrill to go through them, look at the covers, and read some of the stores.

Yesterday, another big box from the Mysterious Bookshop arrived at the door. Sure enough, it contained more issues of F&SF, this time from the late '60s and the 1970s. Otto had found them when moving the contents of the bookshop and wanted me to have them. Wotta guy! Many more hours of fun lie ahead for me as I go through these, and I want to thank Otto here for doing me such a good turn.

Mystery*File Update -- A Tribute to Robert Colby

A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT COLBY, by Peter Enfantino: "Robert Colby died last week. A lot of people won’t even recognize the name. That’s a shame, but it’s their loss. Colby was every bit as good a writer as the other Gold Medal authors of the 50s and 60s who’ve found favor among historians and collectors. He just never had one of those million sellers like the other guys did. There was no Death of a Citizen or Hill Girl. Just respectable sales for some of his “adult” titles like Lament for Julie (Monarch, 1961) and Executive Wife (Monarch, 1964). "

Happy Birthday, Captain America!

According the the paper, Peter Fonda is 66 today. Hard to believe. To people my age (frighteningly close to his age), he'll always be Wyatt, an Easy Rider looking for America.

iBooks Down the Tube

A Writer's Life: "I've heard from several authors with deals at iBooks that the publishing company, which was run by the late Byron Preiss, has declared bankruptcy and is folding. This puts many upcoming releases in doubt and quite a few authors I know are very worried about the status of the rights to their unpublished books (not to mention if they will ever see the royalties on their past titles for the company). It's sad news all around."

I was sorry to read this on Lee Goldberg's blog today, mainly for selfish reasons. On Tuesday I got an e-mail from a Japanese literary agency asking about reprint rights to We'll Always Have Murder, the book I did featuring Humphrey Bogart. No way that deal will ever be made now, I guess.

Flash Fiction

If you haven't checked out Tribe's flash fiction site lately, you should take a look. Some good stuff over there. Here's the link:
Flashing In the Gutters

Some Beautiful Covers to See Here

Division: Pulp Fiction Magazines: "Before we had television, we read pulp fiction magazines.

Frank Munsey revolutionized magazine publishing in the late 1890's, when he made ARGOSY into something totally new: it published only fiction, and was printed on the cheapest paper available.

For sixty years, you escaped your miserable existence (in War or Depression) with vast tales of larger-than-life heroes, fantastic romances, and incredible adventures of people who might just be you some day (when you grew up).

By the early 1950's the Pulp Magazines were all but dead, victims of television and a change in public tastes. But they left an imprint on American (and World) culture that survives to this day.

Here are some for you to look at; and now you can imagine what it was like to read them."

Robert Colby, R. I. P.

I heard from Peter Enfantino this morning that Robert Colby passed away last weekend. Colby was a prolific paperbacker for a number of houses, including Gold Medal, where he published what might be his best novel, The Captain Must Die, a book that I wish Hard Case Crime would reprint because it deserves a wider audience.

Mystery*File Update

Steve Lewis continues to update the Day Keene material. New cover scans, new items in the bibliography, etc. Check it out.
GOLD MEDAL CORNER - DAY KEENE, by Bill Crider

Happy Anniversay to Me

The copyright page says "February 1981." That means that it's been 25 years since the infamous Nick Carter thriller The Coyote Connection was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

It seems like only yesterday that I thought I'd soon be right up there with Mary Higgins Clark on the best-seller list. Somehow it didn't happen. Still, it's been a great 25 years. I didn't make a million bucks, I didn't get my name in lights, I didn't even get a movie deal. But who cares? I've published 60 or 70 books (who's counting?) under various names including my own, I've done a bunch of short stories, and I've had a lot of fun. What's money compared to that? (That's a rhetorical question. Please don't bother to answer.)

I'm on Mary's Side

New York Daily News - Home - Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Higgins Clark caught up in copycat fight: "Did rich and famous author Mary Higgins Clark steal the story line for her 29th novel from a little-known Israeli writer's screenplay on the same subject?

Dalia Gal claims in a lawsuit that Clark's book, 'The Second Time Around,' recycled the plot, key scenes and characters, and even character names from Gal's screenplay about intrigue in the drug industry."

Headline of the Day

'Brokeback Mountain' Tops British Academy, with 'Capote' in Line Behind

The Lost Kingdom -- Bernard Cornwell

The Lost Kingdom is the first book in a proposed trilogy about Alfred the Great. I don't read a lot of historical fiction these days, but I like Bernard Cornwell's writing, and George Kelley recommended that I give this one a try. I'm glad I did. Viking adventures have always appealed to me (a long-time favorite is The Long Ships, both book and movie), and this one stacks up well.

The narrator of the novel is Uhthred, captured by the Danes at the age of ten. He grows up as a Viking, but his heart is still in England. Eventually he'll have to make a big choice. Nothing new here, and the novel doesn't break any new ground, but it's good reading, with plenty of historical detail and the "shield wall" and other things. I learned a lot (not that I'll remember it), and had a fine time doing so. The trade paperback edition that I read has over 300 pages, but it moves right along at a fine pace. I've enjoyed Cornwell's first-person narration in other books, both contemporary thrillers like Wildtrack and Scoundrel, and historical mysteries like The Gallows Thief. He's equally adept at it here. If you're looking for a fast-moving historical novel as a change of pace, check this one out.

A Letter from William Faulkner

ABC News: William Faulkner letter auctioned for $18,000: "Feb 19, 2006 — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A letter by author William Faulkner complaining about a screenwriting contract with a Hollywood studio sold today for nearly $18,000, according to auction house Bonhams & Butterfields.

The two-page, typed letter was written by the Nobel prize-winning author of 'A Fable' and 'Soldiers' Pay' to his agent in August, 1943."

You know what's interesting to me? It's the two novels they chose to associate with Faulkner's name. I mean, if you were going to come up with the titles of two Faulkner novels, would those be the ones?

Of course the price for the letter makes me wonder how much mine are worth.

Okay, I just got off the phone with Bonham & Butterfields. They told me mine are worth four cents each, if the stamps haven't been canceled.

The World Has Been Waiting for This!

A new Anna Nicole Smith movie! Who cares about this year's Academy Awards ceremony? I can hardly wait for 2007, when this will be up for "best picture" and Anna Nicole will be nominated for "best actress." My hometown will be so proud. (Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the tip.)

New York Daily News - Home - Ben Widdicombe's Gatecrasher: Pic gets under Molly's skin: "I adore B- and even C-grade movies, but they might have to add a few letters to the alphabet to do justice to 'Illegal Aliens,' a new spoof starring Anna Nicole Smith and Joanie (Chyna) Laurer.

The plot: 'Three aliens morph into superhot babes and arrive to protect the Earth from the intergalactic forces of evil.'

Laurer, a former WWE wrestler turned reality-TV star, got on the phone to plug her debut as a leading lady (not counting the porn tape she once released with her ex-boyfriend). 'I play a crazy, deadly, psycho bitch alien who wants to take over the planet,' she says.

And how was working with Anna Nicole? 'She's extremely nutty,' says Laurer, who admits that she herself is 'a campy, corny person anyway.'"

Blogger Run Amuk

Several posts I've made recently have disappeared. Blogger has been eating them, it seems, and they can never be recovered. No great loss, however. I'm going to try to republish the blog, and blogger might eat everything. We'll see.

I Wonder if Lawrence Block Knows this Guy

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily: "As songbirds awaken the early risers at dawn on the farm, one resident is already up; in fact, he never slept – not once in the past 33 years.

You’d think going without sleep for that long may have its drawbacks, but not for the man in central Quang Nam province who has never been ill after decades of insomnia."

Several Very Interesting Articles about "Dean Hudson"

eFanzines.com - Earl Kemp: e*I* Vol. 5 No. 1: "The Whitewash Jungle*

By Earl Kemp

Part One

Surely it can’t be true, that persistent rumor I keep hearing that Mother Lombino’s two-faced son is cleaning up his past. Evan Hunter/Ed McBain is denying a major portion of his illustrious writing career…those freewheeling, easy-money years when he was almost much better known as Dean Hudson."

Essential reading if you're a guy who loves old paperbacks, pen names, and that sort of thing.

An Article, Followed by a Short Movie

Chron.com | HPD may add cameras to ranks (with audio): "HPD may add video cameras to its ranks
Officer shortage leads city to look at surveillance of streets, malls — even some homes

By ALEXIS GRANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Facing a shortage of police officers, Police Chief Harold Hurtt called Wednesday for a new type of patrol: surveillance cameras on downtown streets, apartment complexes and shopping malls — and in extreme situations, private homes.

'If you're not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?' Hurtt told reporters."

Scene: A Houston Courtroom

Prosecuting Attorney: Judge, this man mooned a surveillance camera. I suggest you throw the book at him.

Judge (looking around): I can't seem to find a book. Baliff!

Baliff: I'm sorry, Judge. I removed the bible. The Jews wouldn't swear on anything except the Old Testament, the Catholics wanted the Apocrypha to be included, the Muslims demanded a Koran, the -- well, anyway, I said the hell with it and tossed the book.

Judge (suspciously): Do you mean the Christian hell?

Baliff (hastily): Oh, no, sir! I just meant some vague cartoon hell, you know, like the one in The Far Side.

Judge (nostalgically): Damn, I miss Gary Larsen.

Baliff: Did you just use a shortened form of a profanity? Sir.

Judge: It was just a vulgar colloquilisim. What were we talking about, anyway?

Prosecuting Attorney: You were going to throw the book at the defendant.

Judge: I don't have a book. (Looks around, picks up gavel.) I do have this neat wooden hammer. I could throw that.

Defendant cowers.

Prosecuting Attorney: That would be swell, Thor. I mean, Sir.

Defense Attorney (piping up): But my client didn't intend to moom the camera! He was in his bathroom.

Judge (confused): The moon was in his bathroom?

Defense Attorney: No, sir. My client was. He was weighing himself and removed his shorts so they wouldn't give a false reading.

Prosecuting Attorney: That's a lie! Throw the hammer at him, Judge.

Judge: How about I just give him five life sentences?

Prosecuting Attorney: Fine. If they're stacked.

Defense Attorney: No deal. They have to run consecutively.

Prosecuting Attorney: Deal.

Judge: Fine. Done and done. Next case!

Baliff drags defendant away. Defendant kicks and screams as we fade out and fade in on the office of The Police Chief, who is sitting at his desk reading a newspaper. We see the headline: "Mooner in the Can for Life!"

The Mayor appears behind the Chief and puts a hand on his shoulder.

Mayor: Another foul miscreant off the streets. Good work, chief. How does it feel to be the instrument of justice?

Chief: God, it feels good.

Mayor: By "God," did you mean the Christian diety, the Muslim diety, or some pagan diety?

Chief: I was just referring to some vague cartoon god, you know, like the one in The Far Side.

Mayor: Damn, I miss Gary Larsen.

Fade out.

Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, R. I. P.

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear : "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." -- Peter DeVries: "Character actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez has passed away at the age of 80, and the best way I can describe the man is that he was the William Huang of his time. He was able to parlay a 1953 appearance on Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life (where he was introduced as Ramiro G. Gonzalez) into a movie and television career, most notably in several John Wayne movies, The High and the Mighty (1954) and Rio Bravo (1959)."

We always listened to You Bet Your Life at our house, and I vividly remember the show on which Gonzalez-Gonzalez appeared. I'd never heard my parents laugh so hard. And of course I remember Gonzalez-Gonzalez as the hotel keeper in one of my favorite westerns, Rio Bravo. I hadn't heard anything of him in years, but I'm sad to learn he's gone.

Mystery*File Update

MYSTERY*FILE ON-LINE: "Feb 16. DAY KEENE BIBLIOGRAPHY. Thanks to Monte Herridge, Bill Pronzini and Richard Hall, many new stories have been added to Keene’s pulp fiction bibliography, including six under his real name, Gunard Hjertstedt, and nearly 20 others as by Keene from Short Stories magazine. Victor Berch has done some research, and here also is his theory of how Day Keene came to choose the name."

Some great new stuff here. Check it out.

The Kinkster

The Austin Chronicle: News: Here Comes the Guv: [Kinky] Friedman is determined to get his name on the ballot and to win the race for governor. He and his supporters are fed up with the "business as usual," he says, which has done nothing but tarnish the Lone Star State, destroy Texas' sense of pride, and increase voter apathy and distrust of government. As evidence, he ticks off a list of shameful rankings: first among the states in dropouts and in executions, last in education and in the percentage of people with health insurance – and that's only the beginning of the list. In short, Friedman says, "the soul of Texas is riding on this [election]." Kinky Friedman, or, as he'd have it, The Guv, is determined to save it from the abyss.

The link goes to a long article from which I've extracted a one-paragraph sample. I'm still trying to make up my mind about the governor's race. I can't think of a single good thing to say about Rick Perry, our current Guv (except that he has good hair), so even as weird as it seems, the Kinkster's candidacy has a certain appeal to me. I hope he'll at least manage to get on the ballot. If he does, there's no question that he'll make the race the most interesting one in Texas in a long time.

Flaming London -- Joe R. Lansdale

When you want full-bore balls-to-the-wall weirdness, Joe Lansdale is the go-to guy. Flaming London is the sequel to Zeppelins West (and also to Joe's novella "The Steam Man of the Prairie"). If you haven't read Zeppelins West, you should probably do that before you read any further here because I'm going to tell you that Ned the Seal was about the only survior of the earlier book, although a couple of others put in a brief appearance. In this one Ned teams up with Mark Twain and Jules Verne as they try to save an alternate Victorian earth from the Martian invasion described by H. G. Wells in The War of the Worlds.

Flaming London is a very short novel, but there's a lot going on. It has Martians with tentacles and two assholes, a giant ape, the Steam Man, trips by balloon (and several other gadgets), pirates, the Flying Dutchman, and, well, a lot of other stuff. If you're looking for tight plotting, look somewhere else. What you've got here is action, scatalogical (and other) humor that provides plenty of laughs, and some commentary on the human condition courtesy of a literate seal. You also have one of the most blatant set-ups for a sequel since the heyday of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Mark Twain may the one of the major characters, but it's Ned the Seal who gets all the best lines. Tim Truman's artwork is a fine complement to the text. You know you need this book, so what are you waiting for? Go get it.

Damn Near Dead

Duane Swierczynski has announced the line-up for the Damn Near Dead anthology. You can have a look right here: Secret Dead Blog.

New Issue of Hardluck Stories

Hardluck Stories - Best Hardboiled and Noir fiction

This is a great issue. Fiction by Ed Gorman, Ken Bruen, JA Konrath, Robert W. Walker, Pat Lambe, Adrian McKinty, Harry Shannon, and Dave Zeltserman. Check it out.

Mystery*File Update

The Short Fiction of EARLE BASINSKY: "
One of the two crime novels of Earle Baskinsky, an author encouraged to go into writing by his wartime buddy Mickey Spillane, is included in the checklist of Dutton’s line of hardcover Guilt Edged mysteries. The other was a paperback original from Signet. Checking into his career a little more diligently, it was quickly discovered that Basinsky also wrote three short stories. Who better to tell us about them than Mystery*File’s own expert on the crime digest magazines?"

Not That There's Anything Wrong with That

BREITBART.COM - Nelson Releases Homage to Gay Cowboys: "Nelson Releases Homage to Gay Cowboys
Feb 14 8:37 PM US/Eastern

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Country music outlaw Willie Nelson sang 'Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys' and 'My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys' more than 25 years ago. He released a very different sort of cowboy anthem this Valentine's Day.

'Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)' may be the first gay cowboy song by a major recording artist. But it was written long before this year's Oscar-nominated 'Brokeback Mountain' made gay cowboys a hot topic.

Available exclusively through iTunes, the song features choppy Tex-Mex style guitar runs and Nelson's deadpan delivery of lines like, 'What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?' and 'Inside every cowboy there's a lady who'd love to slip out.'"

Someone at Publishers Weekly Likes Me

I'm not saying "loves me," mind you, but here's the review for A Mammoth Murder, due in April. Start saving your money to buy several copies.

"Brisk and funny dialogue propels Crider's diverting 13th mystery to feature Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes (after 2003's Red, White, and Blue Murder). When a dead body turns up in a Blacklin County forest better known for its bigfoot sightings, Rhodes hopes the murderer won't be as hard to catch as the legendary monster itself. One morning, town character Bud Turley alerts the sheriff that he's found bigfoot's tooth in a patch of woods notable mainly for its feral pigs-and for a local boy having disappeared there years back. When the fossil tooth proves to be that of a mammoth, Rhodes isn't surprised, but when the corpse turns out to be Turley's best friend-and when another murder takes place nearby, not long after-things really get complicated. Turley, meanwhile, has already summoned amateur bigfoot investigators nationwide to come to Blacklin County to investigate. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this playful romp with a Texas drawl.
"

Sometimes the Jokes Just Write Themselves #2

Janie's Got a Gun. Or did he say "Cheney's Got a Gun"? Hear for yourself.

Side by Side #2

Donald Hamilton and Charles Williams (see Side by Side #1) are a couple of my favorite writers, and I'm gald Hard Case Crime is reprinting them.

Some Guys Still Like Westerns

WLTX News 19 Welcome to Whiskey Creek, South Carolina: "(Elgin) - A Midlands man has actually built something right out of the Old West, in his backyard.

Ken White's frontier spirit has inspired a piece of living history. Three years ago, the Nebraska native got an idea from watching the old CBS show, 'Gunsmoke.'

'I was sitting one night watching 'Gunsmoke,' and thought it might be pretty neat if I could build something like that. So that's what started it all.'

Using wood from old barns on his family's land back home, he started constructing a miniature town that looks to be right out of the Old West. There are two hotels, a church, a saloon, a jail, a doctor's office, a funeral parlor, a dry goods store, a post office, a blacksmith's shop, an outhouse and a wash house."

I Know a Couple of Guys Who Have Probably Already Started to Fill Out Their Job Applications

Officers allowed to get sexual services at parlor | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "They enter the massage parlors as undercover detectives. They leave as satisfied customers.

In Spotsylvania County, Va., as part of a campaign by the sheriff's office to root out prostitution in the massage parlor business, detectives have been receiving sexual services from 'masseuses.' During several visits to an establishment called Moon Spa last month, detectives allowed women to perform sexual acts on them on four occasions and once left a $350 tip, according to court papers.

Spotsylvania Sheriff Howard Smith said the practice is not new and that only unmarried detectives are assigned to such cases. Most prostitutes are careful not to say anything incriminating, so sexual contact is necessary, he said."

Michael Gilbert, R. I. P.

Independent Online Edition > Obituaries: "In 1947, the publishers Hodder & Stoughton - at the time not renowned for puffing their first-time authors (as Eric Ambler had very quickly discovered a decade earlier) - issued a detective novel called Close Quarters to something like a fanfare. On the dust-jacket and to the trade they announced 'a new and coming name in Crime Fiction. Watch his career. With Close Quarters you are in on the beginning.'

This, for a publisher, was an unusually perceptive judgement. Michael Gilbert, their tiro author, garnered not only critical but reader praise from the start, and became, in a writing career that lasted nearly 60 years (his last book, The Curious Conspiracy, a volume of short stories, was published in his 90th year), one of a handful of British crime writers who were acclaimed and respected on both sides of the Atlantic."

You Just Know Harry Whittington's Going to Write a Great Ace Double about This!

BREITBART.COM - Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter: "Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was 'alert and doing fine' in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner."

It's News Like This . . .

. . . that gives me hope for the world.

Paris Hilton in Indian director's 'Mother Teresa'? - Entertainment News - Webindia123.com: | February 12, 2006 11:15:06 AM IST

"Well known Malayalam director T. Rajeevnath, scouting for a suitable actress to play the title role in his film on Nobel Peace laureate Mother Teresa, has sent feelers to American actress Paris Hilton.

'My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton,' Rajeevnath told IANS.

The director said he was impressed when he read a report sometime ago in which the hotel heiress said she had refused to pose nude in Playboy magazine and decided then to shortlist her."

Maybe We Can Impeach Him

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World News - Prosecutors: Jury's Morales Letters Faked: "SAN FRANCISCO — Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor to spare the man's life, prosecutors said Friday."

Top Twenty

The best thing I found in those letters I've mentioned here and here, is a list I made in January 1961 of my twenty favorite SF books. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.) I make no apologies for this list. I still love those books, even #6, Hunters out of Time, which isn't strictly a book but a novel that appeared in Amazing Stories in 1959. Number 9, Starship Soldier, is obviously a reference to the serial version that appeared in F&SF, and I probably hadn't read the novel version in 1961. You'll notice there's a lot of Heinlein on the list. I was obviously a big fan. You might also notice that there are several short story colections on the list. I came to SF reading through short stories, and I read a ton of them. There's one book on the list that I don't remember at all: Harlan Ellison's The Man with 9 Lives. I must have liked it a lot since I put it on the list, and it's embarrassing to me that I have no memory of it. I have a copy, so I'll have to check it out.

Mystery*File Update

GOLD MEDAL CORNER - DAY KEENE, by Bill Crider: "As I’ve been telling anybody who’ll listen for nearly forty years now, one of my favorite paperback writers is Harry Whittington. But this isn’t about him. It’s about a friend of his, Day Keene. Whttington and Keene shared an agent (Donald MacCampbell), which might explain why the two turned up so often at the same publishing houses, places like Phantom Books, Original Novels, Ace, Graphic, Pyramid, Avon, and of course Gold Medal. "

This is an article that originally appeared in the print version of Mystery*File, with some slight changes. Steve Lewis has compiled an excellent bibliography, and there are lots of nice cover scans.

Paging Terrill Lee Lankford (Again)

Charleston Daily Mail: "Here's a tip about life: Naming something probably means it's going to stay in your home for a very long time.

That's what happened to Parkersburg resident Sarah Stapp, who was driving on W.Va. 47 five years ago when she saw what looked like a newborn kitten crawling along the highway.

'I just can't pass it by,' Stapp recalled thinking. 'I just can't do that.'

Well, it wasn't a kitten. It was a baby opossum. A near-blind, toothy, road-crossing, acting-dead-when-threatened marsupial."

Feral Pigs?

The very first Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery, Too Late to Die, featured an encounter with feral pigs. So does the one coming out in April (cover at left). Some people wonder if there really are feral pigs running loose in Texas. Sure there are, and I wish I'd known about this classified ad before I wrote A Mammoth Murder so I could have included it. Thanks to Banjo Jones for finding the ad, even if it's a little late for me.

Why Private Eyes Love Valentine's Day

WSJ.com - One Tough Day for Two-Timers: "'It's a good holiday for business,' Mr. League says. The Greensboro, N.C., gumshoe has already scheduled five infidelity investigations for Tuesday, and plans to add two part-time sleuths to his staff of four to handle the demand."

Good Grief! I Wrote FanFic!

A while back I mentioned some letters I wrote over 40 years ago. A friend had sent me a couple of them, and today he sent me the rest. I now have a total of 33 letters and two postcards that I wrote to him when I was in college. (Naturally I didn't keep his replies.) Among the many things I didn't remember was that I wrote fanfic in one of the letters: "As I raced across the ochre sea-bottoms of Barsoom, the dying planet, astride my thoat, followed closely by the faithful Woola, I remembered the many times that my sword had drunk blood and sliced bodies to the greater glory of my planet. I thought of Tars Tarkus, Kantos Kan, Cathoris, my son, and the incomprable Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, my wife. The red mist, remnant of the fighting blood of my Virginia ancestors, swirled before my eyes, as I thought of being slain by the horrible Drefgs."

The Drefgs were my own invention, and the passage mercifully ends right there. As far as I know it's the only fanfic I ever wrote, but I'm not swearing to that.

More Than You Really Want to Know

This guy is definitely no James Bond.

FunReports.Com: British spy caught on tape masturbating on a stone-like transmitter: " Journalist of Russia’s First TV Channel (ORT) Viktor Shvagerus insists that Russian special services have a video of British spy Andrew Fleming masturbating on the spy stone. Two weeks ago, Russia’s FSB reported seizing of a spy electronic device belonging to the British intelligence designed as a stone. But it turned out later that the national TV channels did not show the most interesting part of the spy scandal."

Side by Side

It's always fun (to me) to look at the new covers that appear on the Hard Case Crime editions and compare them with the originals. Here was have the original Gold Medal cover for A Touch of Death paired with the new one. Both very nice. Note the cover blurb on the earlier one. I agree.

Holmes on the Range -- Steve Hockensmith

I went to Steve Hockensmith's signing at Murder by the Book last night and picked up a copy of the hardcover, though I did a blurb for the book and had already read an ARC. So you can tell I liked it.
Though this book is set in Montana around 1892, St. Martin's is wisely marketing it as a mystery novel, which it is, and not as a western, which it also is. Old Red and Big Red Amlingmeyer are a couple of cowboys who admire the exploits of Sherlock Holmes (who's a real person as we all know). Old Red decided to emulate the Holmesian method in solving the murder of the general manager of their ranch, and the fun begins.

If you've read Steve's stories in EQMM about the Amlingmeyer brothers, you know you're in for a good time with this well-plotted mystery. And plenty of laughs as well. Check it out.

Over at Ed's Place

Gormania: "I'm always interested in the lives and working methods of other writers so toward that end I'm beginning a series called Pro-Files in which various professional writers answer the same seven questiions.

Pro-Files launches tonight with one of the most skilled and neglected writers working today. Bill Crider's books and stories have been giving me true pleasure for well over two decades now."

Ed is too kind. He might get an argument from some small-minded persons on that "skilled" bit.

You Won't Want to Miss this One!

Houston's Mystery Book Store Since 1980 - Murder by the Book:

"MBTB's Noir Night II

Monday, May 8, 2006, 6:30 p.m.

Ken Bruen, Steve Brewer, Reed Farrel Coleman, Bill Crider, Peter Spiegelman, Jason Starr, Duane Swierczynski"

Priest -- Ken Bruen

You didn't expect me to wait until next year to find out what's going on with Jack Taylor, did you? Of course not. I bought the British paperback at Murder by the Book the other day and read it the following evening.

I wasn't at all sure how Jack was going to survive the terrible event that concluded The Dramatist. Now I know, but I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to buy Priest to find out. But survive Taylor does, and he's asked to investigate the beheading of a priest. There's abuse of children involved, and Jack has other problems as well. A young man named Cody wants to be his partner in the p.i. business. Ridge is being stalked. Jeff and Cathy, devastated by the death of their daughter, are on Jack's mind and conscience. They both turn up, and Cathy threatens Jack's life.

There's an REM song that Jack mentions often, "Hurt." Jack seems to prefer the Johnny Cash rendition, but the words are the same: "I will let you down. I will make you hurt." Anybody who associates with Jack should take those words to heart. They might as well have been written about him.

You might think (or hope) that this will be the time that Jack sees a light at the end of the tunnel. As usual, if he does, it's just a will o' the wisp, luring him on into an even deeper darkness. The end of Priest leave a number of questions unanswered, but it's just as terrible for Jack as the ending of The Dramatist, if not more terrible. Now I'll have to wait another year to find out what happens to him next.

D. B. Cooper, Where Are You?

Arkansas Times: "A Mena resident who found the only money recovered from the famous 1971 D.B. Cooper plane hijacking and robbery is preparing to sell what is left of his bounty.

Brian Ingram, who is now 34 years old, came across a buried bundle of twenty-dollar bills in 1980 while camping with his family on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington state. "

David Goodis

microbrewjournalism - Shooting pool with David Goodis: "If I had two hours to live, I would spend most of it watching Dark Passage, the best movie every made. "

James Reasoner pointed me to this page with a post to rara-avis. Some interesting commentary, along with great cover scans.

Janes in Jail [Not Starring Sybil Danning]

14 WFIE, The Tri-State's News Leader: New Jail Goes Wild: "There was also concern that male inmates were able to watch women in certain cells take showers and use the toilet. Jailers say that problem has been fixed by moving all the women to a different housing pod.

Williams says, 'Those women were putting on a show. It wasn't that they didn't want to be seen. They were performing.'"

Ray Rhodes

Anna Nicole Smith isn't the only famous person from my hometown of Mexia, Texas. The defensive coordinator for the Seahawks is Ray Rhodes, the best football player to come out of Mexia High School. He was an excellent defensive back even then, and he starred in the NFL. Now he's coaching (he was head coach in Philadelphia for a while). He's several years younger than I am, but I knew his father. When I was in high school, I worked at a freight line, and his father was the stock manager at the local J. C. Penney's store. I saw him nearly every day of the week in the summers when we delivered the freight to Penney's. So naturally I'm rooting for the Seahawks today.