Wednesday, May 11, 2011
And So They Begin, the Sandwich Wars
NYC deli sues to protect Heart Attack sandwich: "A lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court says the Heart Attack Grill restaurant chain has accused the 2nd Avenue Deli of stealing its idea to spoof healthy eating with calorie-bomb entrees like the three-patty Triple Bypass Burger. It asks the court to block the Arizona-based restaurant chain from pursuing a trademark infringement case."
Need a Hat?
I see on Lawrence Person's blog that this hat is for sale on eBay. Just about every writer at the convention signed the hat. You can see the names if you click the link. The money from the sale will benefit Bryan Smith, a horror writer whose wife died recently after a long-term illness. Take a look. Maybe you'd like to bid.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Nonfiction Item of Interest
Nonfiction Review: Eudora Welty: A Biography by Suzanne Marrs / Author . Harcourt $28 (652p) ISBN 978-0-15-100914-5: "The story of Eudora Welty's long relationship with Kenneth Millar, who wrote detective fiction under the pen name Ross Macdonald, has the weight of genuine tragedy. Both of them believed in the magic of fate, their meeting at the Algonquin Hotel in 1971 and the years of twice-monthly correspondence that followed. One of the revelations of the biography is that Ken Millar and Eudora were in each other's company only about six weeks in total. Though Eudora tried, she was never able to complete any of the stories she began on the subject."
Hat tip to Paul di Filippo of the Fictionmags list.
News from Wayne Dundee
FROM DUNDEE'S DESK: JOE HANNIBAL NOW ON KINDLE: "I am pleased and excited to be able to announce that the back list of Joe Hannibal novels are now being re-issued as eBooks, starting with first in the series, THE BURNING SEASON, currently available on Amazon Kindle. Up until now, unfortunately, many of these books have been out of print. The older titles will start coming out an on average of two a month and then, in August, an original, never-before-published title --- GOSHEN HOLE --- will be available."
Uh-Oh
Just How Dangerous Is Sitting All Day? [INFOGRAPHIC]: "Sitting down, which most of us do for at least eight hours each day, might be the worst thing we do for our health all day.
We’ve been preaching the benefits of stand-up desks for a while around here — and no one needs this good news more than social media-obsessed web geeks. A recent medical journal study showed that people who sit for most of their day are 54% more likely to die of a heart attack."
We’ve been preaching the benefits of stand-up desks for a while around here — and no one needs this good news more than social media-obsessed web geeks. A recent medical journal study showed that people who sit for most of their day are 54% more likely to die of a heart attack."
Mystery Scene Update from Kate Stine
Hi everyone, If you haven't read Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next bibliomysteries, then you're in for a real treat. Tom Nolan gives an introduction to the whimsical world of Thursday Next, literary detective in this issue. (Here's some advice for newbies, though: start with the first book in the series, The Eyre Affair.) Have you ever wondered about the loyal wife, silently standing by her disgraced husband, usually a politician, on the evening news? The Good Wife places that enigmatic figure at the center of one of the most enjoyable dramas on TV. It's full-bodied, nuanced storytelling - and possibly features the only time in history that a steamy sex scene has had National Public Radio's evening news as a soundtrack. Find out more in Matt Zoller Seitz's thoughtful article. Novelist Kelli Stanley is making a splash and her conversation with Oline Cogdill reveals why. It's not every woman who is equally comfortable discussing ancient Roman curse tablets, the second Sino-Japanese War, segregated 1970s Florida, and comics! Also, Art Taylor talks with Louis Bayard about his acclaimed literary-themed thrillers, the latest of which, The School of Night, focuses on a secret, possibly heretical, society of scientists and artists in Elizabethan England. Theatrical crime is running rampant across the country and Wm. F. Hirschman has tracked down some of the top perpetrators on Broadway and in regional theater for us. Don't miss his list of classic crime plays - they make good reading! There's lots more in the new issue. Hope you enjoy! Kate Stine Editor-in-Chief |
Black Swan -- Chris Knopf
I've read and reviewed several of Chris Knopf's books in the past and enjoyed all of them. Two of those I reviewed were about Sam Aquillo, a carpenter in the Hamptons who was once a corporate trouble-shooter. This time time Aquillo's not in the Hamptons because he's (and his girlfriend, Amanda, and his dog, Eddie van Halen) delivering a boat when an October gale blows him off course and onto Fisher's Island, a sort of unattached scrap of Long Island, where the richest folks in the country spend their summers. The only hotel on the island is the Black Swan.Before you can say "enclosed setting with a small cast," someone's found hanging in a hotel shower. Sam's certain it's not suicide, and of course it's not.
The book has a great cast of eccentrics and nutcases, not to mention some fugitive techies with a past that's threatening to get even more people killed, including Sam himself. If you haven't made his acquaintance, this would be a good time.
Slight disclaimer: I was on a panel with Chris Knopf at the San Francisco Bouchercon in 2010, but I'd already read and reviewed three of his books.
By the way, I'm sure the title of this book was decided long before the award-winning movie of the same name. The movie and book have absolutely no relationship. Sam Aquillo doesn't do ballet.
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
Deadline.com: "Bristol Palin had been heavily courted for her own reality series following her highly rated run on ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Now she has settled on her follow-up to Dancing, a docu-series for BIO Channel, which reunites her with her Dancing co-star, actor Kyle Massey. BIO has ordered 10 half-hour episodes of the untitled series, which also will feature Massey's brother, actor Christopher Massey. It follows single mom Bristol Palin’s move from Alaska to Los Angeles with her son, Tripp, to work at a small charity in need while living with her good friends Chris and Kyle Massey."
Buzzing Overlords Update
Yahoo! News: "Several thousand bees that were part a multi-million pound neuroscience research project have been stolen from a British university."
"Fuzzy Man"
When one of my books is published the nation goes "meh." When John Scalzi publishes a book, someone writes a power ballad for him.
Witness to Death -- Dave White
Those who've read Dave White's earlier novels and stories about private-eye Jackson Donne already know that White's one of the best of the younger generation of crime writers. Now he's stepped out in a new direction with a man-on-the run novel, the story of an ordinary guy who's suddenly tangled up in a mess not of his own making. Accused of multiple murders, John Brighton is on the run from cops and killers alike. The ending is a stunner.Witness to Death is a e-book thriller that really thrills and a book that a lot of people are going to be talking about. Check it out.
I For One Welcome Our New Buzzing Overlords
Bees Solve Complex Problems Faster Than Supercomputers: "In a new study, researchers report that bumblebees were able to figure out the most efficient routes among several computer-controlled 'flowers,' quickly solving a complex problem that even stumps supercomputers. We already know bees are pretty good at facial recognition, and researchers have shown they can also be effective air-quality monitors."
At Least He's Familiar with the Classics
Yahoo! News: "In the wake of the dramatic Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's compound earlier this month, it was perhaps to be expected that some expansive soul would step forward to claim the prestige of a fabricated tour as a SEAL for himself. Such tall tales are not uncommon, after all, amid high-profile military actions.
This time the exposed fabricator was a preacher--though people who monitor this brand of public lie note that members of the clergy are often tempted into such misrepresentations. More curious still, the prevaricator in question seems to have lifted at least some details of his account from the 1992 Steven Seagal SEAL-themed blockbuster, 'Under Siege.'"
This time the exposed fabricator was a preacher--though people who monitor this brand of public lie note that members of the clergy are often tempted into such misrepresentations. More curious still, the prevaricator in question seems to have lifted at least some details of his account from the 1992 Steven Seagal SEAL-themed blockbuster, 'Under Siege.'"
Hat tip to Cullen Gallagher.
Forgotten Films: I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
You want to talk noir? I think this film is a fine example or being noir before noir was cool. Paul Muni plays a man who's asked by a friend to go for a hamburger. The next thing he knows, he's working on the chain gang. (Cue Sam Cooke.) He escapes, goes to Chicago, gets work, and marries. Badly. For reasons I won't go into here. The rest is best left undiscussed. Except that I'll mention that this one has an unforgettable last scene and final line. Check it out.
Monday, May 09, 2011
A Video Interview
Greater Boston: "Sixkill, the last “Spenser” book written by the late crime novelist Robert Parker, hit bookshelves on Tuesday. But while Parker may be gone, a new deal with his publisher will allow Boston’s favorite private eye to live on. Robert Parker’s widow, Joan, joins Emily to talk about Spenser's latest adventure and the deal to keep her husband's popular character alive."
Hat tip to Ted the Younger.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Steve Turner's The Band that Played On is an in-depth look at the lives of the musicians in the band that played on the Titanic. If you've ever wondered what kind of men would continue playing while the big ship sank, you'll find the answers here. Thorough research, lots of illustrations. Check it out if you're interested in the history of the Titanic or in the kind of story where you already know the ending but nothing else.
Mea Culpa
In error I posted a list of Antony nominees, and in greater error somehow failed to remove it when I thought I had. My apologies to all.
No Comment Department
The Asheville Citizen-Times: "[T]he 45-year-old carpet cleaner found himself in the Buncombe County jail under a $300,000 bond on charges of driving while intoxicated, failing to heed police lights and sirens and possession of 91 pounds of cocaine.
He was released four days later after sheriff's deputies realized Hernandez, who said he doesn't drink at all, wasn't intoxicated and that what was in the back of his truck was exactly what he had said — $400 worth of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough meant as a gift to his sister."
He was released four days later after sheriff's deputies realized Hernandez, who said he doesn't drink at all, wasn't intoxicated and that what was in the back of his truck was exactly what he had said — $400 worth of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough meant as a gift to his sister."
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
The Raw Story: "Aretavia Kimbrough, of Staten Island, New York, was arrested Sunday for assaulting the father of her 8-month-old child, the New York Post reported. Charmean Allen, Kimbrough's boyfriend and father of their son Charmean Allen Jr., said that Kimbrough woke him up at 7 a.m. and wanted to know what gifts he had gotten her to celebrate her first Mother's Day as a mom.
'I was going to get her balloons and candy and take her to dinner,' Allen told the Post. He said he explained this to Kimbrough, who was holding their son in one arm and a large cooking pot in the other. As he explained his plans, Kimbrough hit him in the head with the pot, . . ."
'I was going to get her balloons and candy and take her to dinner,' Allen told the Post. He said he explained this to Kimbrough, who was holding their son in one arm and a large cooking pot in the other. As he explained his plans, Kimbrough hit him in the head with the pot, . . ."
And the Winners Are . . .
The winners in the Laura Lippman book giveaway are Sandie Herron, Rick Ollerman, and Tom Walker. As soon as I get their addresses, I'll send their names to the contest coordinator, and the books will be on the way. Thanks to all who entered!
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
CBS Dallas / Fort Worth: "The Mockingbird DART station and the surrounding area, including the Angelika Theater, were evacuated Saturday after a police dog alerted authorities to a passenger onboard with two suspicious packages, a spokesman said.
Riders traveling through downtown stations reportedly expressed alarm after a man asked them for help carrying a duffel bag and a large box."
Riders traveling through downtown stations reportedly expressed alarm after a man asked them for help carrying a duffel bag and a large box."
the only t
The Expositor: "A suspicious package, discovered May 5 in a mailbox behind U.S. Bank, on Mose Drive, was found to be a box, containing a defective cell phone and charger, which was intended to be returned to the phone company.
[. . . .]
Explosive experts with Tennessee Bomb and Arson, Tennessee Highway Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigation were called to the scene to examine the package."
[. . . .]
Explosive experts with Tennessee Bomb and Arson, Tennessee Highway Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigation were called to the scene to examine the package."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Houston Community Newspapers: News:: "A Cleveland man was attacked by a housecat Friday afternoon and the man's injuries are so severe that he had to be taken by air ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
The altercation between the man and the animal occurred at a home on CR 3182 a few miles south of Cleveland in Liberty County."
The altercation between the man and the animal occurred at a home on CR 3182 a few miles south of Cleveland in Liberty County."
John Walker, R. I. P.
BBC News: "John Walker, one of the founders of 1960s group The Walker Brothers, has died at the age of 67.
His spokeswoman said Mr Walker died on Saturday at his Los Angeles home after a six-month battle with liver cancer.
The band was formed when three unrelated US musicians - Scott Engel, John Maus and Gary Leeds - adopted the Walker Brothers name in 1964.
Their biggest hits included the songs Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Any More)."
His spokeswoman said Mr Walker died on Saturday at his Los Angeles home after a six-month battle with liver cancer.
The band was formed when three unrelated US musicians - Scott Engel, John Maus and Gary Leeds - adopted the Walker Brothers name in 1964.
Their biggest hits included the songs Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Any More)."
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Shooters eBook: Terrill Lee LankfordYou can read what Lankford has to say about the book here. Before the eBook was published, used paperbacks were being offered for over $30 on Amazon. That tells you something about how good this one is.
Speaking of The Decline of Western Civilization
Mail Online: "Street slang terms including thang, grrl and innit are among almost 3,000 additions to the Collins Official Scrabble Words reference guide, which sees its latest edition released today."
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
CNN.com: "Last week PepsiCo unveiled a prototype of a 'social vending system' branding it as 'the next generation in interactive vend technology.'
The machine features a touch-screen that allows users to buy a drink as well as gift one to someone. By entering the recipient's name, mobile number and a personalized text message, the machine generates a code and instructions on how to redeem the beverage at another social vending machine.
There's also the option of personalizing the gift with a short video recording at the machine itself."
The machine features a touch-screen that allows users to buy a drink as well as gift one to someone. By entering the recipient's name, mobile number and a personalized text message, the machine generates a code and instructions on how to redeem the beverage at another social vending machine.
There's also the option of personalizing the gift with a short video recording at the machine itself."
Dana Wynter, R. I. P.
Dana Wynter obituary: Dana Wynter, star of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' dies at 79 - latimes.com: "Dana Wynter, an actress best known for her role in the 1956 science-fiction classic 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' has died. She was 79.
Wynter died Thursday of congestive heart failure at Ojai Valley Community Hospital's Continuing Care Center, said her son, Mark Bautzer.
She portrayed Becky Driscoll, the love interest of Kevin McCarthy's Dr. Miles Bennell in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' director Don Siegel's tale of a small town whose residents were being replaced by emotionless duplicates grown in pods."
Wynter died Thursday of congestive heart failure at Ojai Valley Community Hospital's Continuing Care Center, said her son, Mark Bautzer.
She portrayed Becky Driscoll, the love interest of Kevin McCarthy's Dr. Miles Bennell in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' director Don Siegel's tale of a small town whose residents were being replaced by emotionless duplicates grown in pods."
Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Looking for a good p.i. novel? John Lantigua's On Hallowed Ground has what youre looking for: drug dealers, cocaine bosses, double crosses, big money, kidnapping, family vendettas, and a detective tough enough to see the case through. I've enjoyed John Lantigua's work in the past, and this looks like another good one. Check it out.
Laura Lippman Giveaway -- Last Chance!
Yes, right here on your favorite blog, I'm giving away 3 copies of books by the wonderful Laura Lippman. Up for grabs are two copies of I'd Know You Anywhere and one copy of What the Dead Know. Just send me an e-mail at the address over on the right, put "Laura Lippman Giveaway" in the subject line, and say you'd like to be entered in the drawing. I'll give you a number, put the numbers in a random number generator, and three of you lucky persons will get the books. Such a deal! Don't delay, as I'm going to turn this for only four days.I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE is a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award (mystery category) and for the 2011 Edgar Award in the Best Novel category. The book was also nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award. I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE was included on numerous “Best of 2010” lists, including Stephen King's list in Entertainment Weekly. Lippman has previously won Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Gumshoe and Quill Awards for her work. The Washington Post calls her “One of the best novelists around, period.”
Sada Thompson, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: "Sada Thompson, 83, who won acclaim in matronly roles on Broadway and was best known for her Emmy-winning role as the caring mother on the television drama series “Family,” died May 4 at a hospital in Danbury, Conn. According to news accounts, she had lung disease."
this letter to Norman Court Part 6
this letter to Norman Court is a novella consisting of 22 sections (each between 1000 and 1250 words) I am releasing by way of the following experiment: I am trying to serialize the piece across blogs, by reader request. If you read and enjoy the section below and have a blog the readers of which you think would enjoy a selection, as well, please get in touch with me to be an upcoming host. A little hub site is set up at www.normancourt.wordpress.com that has a listing of the blogs that have featured or will feature sections—please give it a look, get yourself all caught up if the below piques your interest.
It is my simple hope to use this as a casual, unobtrusive way to release this material to parties interested. There is some suspense, in that if a new host does not appear after each posting, the train comes to a halt (back tracking to previous hosts is not an option in this game). So, if you enjoy what you read and would like to host an upcoming selection, please get in touch with me via unburiedcomments@gmail.com. I welcome not only invitations, but any and all comments on the piece (positive, negative, or ambivalent) or general correspondence about matters literary.
Cheers,
Pablo D’Stair
this letter to Norman Court
Pablo D’Stair
six
I stepped from the car, duffle feeling a grip heavier for Klia’d withdrawn the money all in tens, maybe just my imagination. Leaned to the open window, I handed the letter, the original, toward her, but she kept in profile, not reaching, maybe thinking I’d tease it away from her hand up for it, didn’t want to go through anything else belittling. I placed it on the passenger seat I’d vacated, turned right up the block, not looking back till the crosswalk—her car was there lulling, window open still, face in profile.
Three blocks up I could tell I seemed edgy, legs all clunk with each step, so I purposefully let my pace get sluggish, more-than-casual, strolled with still some vague anxiety on me. I don’t know what I thought she’d do—if she called the police, what’d she say? Even if I was found with this money, I couldn’t be because I didn’t have to open my bag, anything.
I shook all thoughts like that off. Klia wouldn’t do a thing at all, didn’t for one single minute believe she’d seen the last of me, that I didn’t have the letter in duplicate, the replica just as much damning to her as the genuine she’d just bought off me. I did still have a duplicate, she was right, nothing I was gonna hold over her, but she wouldn’t believe that no matter if I’d told her.
I ducked into a fast food restaurant, ordered a burger, a shake, sat as much in the corner of the place as I could manage, waiting out the last of the feeling, for time to dull me out. I took the letter from my bag when I’d done eating, the photocopied pages still in the original envelope—I smiled at myself about that, what’d been the point?
Looking at Klia’s address, it struck me it wasn’t Herman’s, not where they lived now, was someplace Pennsylvania. I pictured an apartment, they’d moved down to Mill Creek, someplace hardly any different except a house, Herman’s job. It didn’t matter. Norman lived in Virginia, according to the envelope, I kind of thought that was close, but then put the letter away, nothing left to do with it but get it to Herman, put it in his hand he got back in at the office, next day.
Something in that thought lingered with me up a few more blocks, into a bar where I took a seat in a booth, ordered a bottle of decent wine for myself, sipped at it looking at the empty space across from me, the shallow brown of the high booth back.
Nothing left to do.
Didn’t seem Klia’d seen it that way.
What’d I said? Whatever, it’d been something to the tune of she didn’t pay I’d find another use for the letter and straight off her thoughts’d gone to Lawrence and not her husband. Why’d that be? Well, seemed I was after money to her, of course, and why’d Herman be a viable source for that from I have a letter his wife’d been going around in back of him?
She’d thought of Lawrence as someplace else I’d go for money’s what she’d thought.
I downed my bottle to halfway, looked at the envelope front, tapping this letter and that, little bugs, little crumbs.
It was she didn’t want Lawrence to know she’d been telling the long and short of their thing to anyone, maybe, either just she thought he’d go sour on her because of it or because it’d put Lawrence in some kind of spot.
She knew he’d’ve paid, that he’d have to for some reason or another.
She’d not been with him maybe in the two years since this letter’d gone missing, maybe further back than that—it was way past her caring Lawrence knew how he’d affected her, she’d want him to know that, probably, more than anything. If there was a chance it’d lead even to meeting face-to-face with him for an I’m sorry or a How could you do this, she’d want Lawrence to have the letter.
There was something else to it if she was trying to keep me away from him.
Away from him where?
I looked at the addresses—Klia from Pennsylvania, Norman somewhere Virginia.
Where’s Lawrence in all of that?
Bottle emptied, I made my way to the bar, asked could they leave a bourbon at my booth, break five dollars for coins and did they have a public phone. I was soft, head a heavy breeze, felt the coins grinding in my fingers, the phone just a wall mount in over by the toilets.
I dialed information, stammered through I was looking for a personal telephone number—really I wondered did they give those out, but they did, provided it was listed.
-I think it’s in Pennsylvania, in Sandbar Pennsylvania, that’s what I have, I said squinting at the envelope front.
-What listing?
-Lawrence Stephanie Glass.
-Lawrence or Stephanie Glass?
-Just Lawrence Stephanie, middle name’s Stephanie. Lawrence S. Glass.
There was a moment or two, I rubbed an itch on the side of my thigh sort of, leaned around the phone, head tip tap tip tap tip tap to the wall beneath a reproduction advertisement for Calvert Whisky. I was staring at the slogan—the Whiskey with the Happy Blend—when the operator said there was no listing in Sandbar, but she had four listing for Lawrence Glass in Pennsylvania and one L.S. Glass Plumbing in Horton.
–Is one of the Lawrence’s maybe in Horton?
She checked.
-I have a Lawrence Glass in Horton, hold for that number.
I heard a click as an automated voice started giving me digits, padded around myself for a pen, but worse thing was I’d call back I’d heard things wrong.
Hung up, dialed, woman answered almost immediately, hardly the purr of a single ring’d gone off before a kind of short breathed clip of Hello?
–I was looking to talk to Lawrence Glass, given this number for contact.
-Who’s this?
-I’m with Nyborg Realty, calling back off a message he’d left?
-I think maybe you were given the wrong information.
-It’s Lawrence Stephanie Glass, is it? Horton, Pennsylvania.
I could almost see her blink, shoulders up down, saw her whole expression in the elongation to her first word Ye-e-es, that’s him. There was some muffled sound, her saying something to someone, not Lawrence though, then half a beat later it was He’s out just now—another bit of her talking in another direction, not covering the phone this time, a bark of Pick that up, now—then she exasperated huff out her teeth said I’m sorry.
-No no, not a bit of it, I’m sorry. I can just try him later, you let him know Nyborg Realty rang back—or nevermind, I hear you’re busy, just I’ll try back.
Not even stopping long enough to enjoy my little victory, I was slipping coins back in the slot, got the number for some motel in Horton, placed a call, asked did they know were there buses, a train station anything, how I’d get to them from whichever station.
-You’re coming in on train? Commuter train?
-I am, I said, smiling dumbly like the guy was there to make a face at.
-We don’t have shuttles, but I’m sure a cab’d do it.
-Train stops in Horton?
-No, commuter trains in to Darcy, but cab’d be the best to get here, no buses really.
I chatted back and forth a bit before just hanging up midsentence, bored with the pointless make believe, certainly not going to reserve a room.
I was surprised to find the bourbon at my table, glanced around to see maybe who’d left it, my mind catching up with itself it’d been me as I sat, lifted it, let some of it press up against my lip, swallowing nothing, inhaling deeply, tongue out for the little taste left over the scruff under my nose when I set the glass back to the table.
Pablo D’Stair is a writer of novels, shorts stories, and essays. Founder of Brown Paper Publishing (which is closing its doors in 2012) and co-founder of KUBOA (an independent press launching July 2011) he also conducts the book-length dialogue series Predicate. His four existential noir novellas (Kaspar Traulhaine, approximate; i poisoned you; twelve ELEVEN thirteen; man standing behind) will be re-issued through KUBOA as individual novella and in the collection they say the owl was a baker’s daughter: four existential noirs.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Smokey Update
Smokey the cat's deafening purr wins place in Guinness Book of Records
Video at the link.
Hat tip to Angela Crider.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
WCVB Boston: "A Cohasset man has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly ramming his neighbor with a ride on lawnmower, police said."
Seve Ballesteros, R. I. P.
ESPN: "Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose incomparable imagination and fiery personality made him one of the most significant figures in modern golf, died Saturday from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54."
The Bastard Hand -- Heath Lowrance
The Bastard Hand is narrated by Charlie Wesley (Methodists take note), who may more may not be crazy. He's recently escaped from a mental hospital, and he talks to his dead brother a lot, so how much of his narrative are we supposed to trust? That's an important question, since some of the things that happen in the course of the novel that certainly appear real. Are we in the territory of magic realism, or are we simply listening to the lunatic ravings of a nonsensical mind? It's up to each reader to decide that, I suppose. Charlie goes down South, the gothic South of crazed preachers, mysterious women, drug gangs, small-town secrets, sex, and such. Charlie falls in with the reverend Phineas Childe, who has some secret purpose in mind for the town of Cuba Landing. Charlie doesn't mind, not at first, anyway, and he goes along. For a while, anyway.
The book moves fast, and Charlie's voice carries it right along to the slam-bang ending. Check it out.
Rancho Diablo Rolls Along
Mel Odom has a great post about the success of the Rancho Diablo series on Kindle and about some of the plans we have for future books. If you haven't gotten in on the fun yet, you can buy Mel's book here, James's book here, and my book here. Then you can read Mel's blog post here: Adventures In Writing: Rancho Diablo Rolls Along
Friday, May 06, 2011
They're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
BostonHerald.com: "Buddies out mackerel fishing today came upon a giant great white shark like they’ve never seen before “bumping” and “nudging” a dead whale and then circling their boat off Martha’s Vineyard.
The monster of the sea was “20 feet” long, said boat captain Jeff Lynch of Chilmark. “To see something that big was crazy. It was as big as my boat.”"
The monster of the sea was “20 feet” long, said boat captain Jeff Lynch of Chilmark. “To see something that big was crazy. It was as big as my boat.”"
Here's the Plot for Your Next Geezer Noir Story
The Detroit News: "A group of older women, wearing hats of various colors and shapes, have stolen money and credit cards from distracted shoppers in four counties, police said Thursday.
Dubbed the Mad Hatters by police, the women then use the stolen checks and credit cards to receive money from banks and merchandise from retailers, said the Sterling Heights Police Department."
Dubbed the Mad Hatters by police, the women then use the stolen checks and credit cards to receive money from banks and merchandise from retailers, said the Sterling Heights Police Department."
Nicolas Cage Update
People.com: "Nicolas Cage is in the clear.
The actor, 47, who was arrested for alleged domestic abuse and disturbing the peace after an allegedly drunken argument with his wife in New Orleans last month, won't be prosecuted."
The actor, 47, who was arrested for alleged domestic abuse and disturbing the peace after an allegedly drunken argument with his wife in New Orleans last month, won't be prosecuted."
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Naples Daily News: "An apparent pork rind rampage at a food market landed an “irate and cursing” man in jail this week, according to a police report."
You Would Be, Too
WSB Atlanta: "An Atlanta man is frightened since finding three dead frogs in his car Monday."
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Clark Howard is an award winning and acclaimed mystery writer. In 1981, his story "The Horn Man" won the Edgar Allan Poe award for best short story of the year from the Mystery Writers of America. In 2009, Howard won the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Short Fiction Mystery Society.
A professional writer for over 40 years, he has written sixteen novels, six books of non-fiction, and has two published collections of short stories, in addition to more than 200 uncollected short stories.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 and served as a rocket launcher gunner in the Punchbowl in Korea. He was one of eight survivors in a platoon that survived the battle of the high ground north of the Punchbowl. He was discharged from the marines at age 20.
In 1990, Dutton published Howard's novel Hard City in hardback. Hard City was never published in paperback, and the book is now hard to find even on the shelves of used bookstores.
Hard City was Howard's most personal novel. The semi-autobiographical novel features Richie, a young boy from a troubled family, who lives on the streets of 1940s Chicago at age 12 while sleeping in a bowling alley every night. Eventually, Richie's love of reading is key to Richie's surviving, and eventually leaving, the street life.
Writing about Hard City in a new Author's Preface for the publication of Hard City as an ebook, Howard writes, "Because much of it is based on my life as a wayward boy on the mean streets of Chicago's lower West Side, a life frequently fueled by truancy, petty thievery, gang membership, and other disreputable behavior, I had, as a respectable adult, left those bleak days far behind and buried them deep in my memory. The things I had done back then, the life I had experienced, as well as vivid recollections of my mother's drug addiction and my father's incarceration in federal prison and subsequent disappearance, had all melded together into some dark recess of my mind and, I thought, been locked away forever."
Now, Hard City is widely available as an eBook. For those who missed Hard City's paperback publication in 1990, you now have the chance to share Richie's life on the streets of Chicago, and his ultimate redemption via books, reading, and writing.
Arthur Laurents, R. I. P.
Los Angeles Times: "Arthur Laurents, the writer-director behind 'West Side Story,' 'Gypsy' and other theatrical works, is dead. He was believed to be 93."
Hello?
PaperPhone: The smartphone made out of paper that will shape with your pocket
Maybe if I could get this, I'd actually use a cell phone.
Hat tip to David Cranmer.
Vega Westerns
James Reasoner's comment on my post of the Nelson Nye Vega paperback led me to look at the last page of the book to see what other westerns Vega published. Here's the list.
Prequel Time
Los Angeles Times: "Mario Puzo's bestselling mafia novel, 'The Godfather,' will get a prequel, it was announced Wednesday. Publisher Grand Central says 'The Family Corleone' will come to shelves in June 2012.
'The Family Corleone,' an 'all-new prequel,' will be based on an unproduced screenplay written by Puzo. The 78-year-old Puzo died of a heart attack in 1999.
Assigned to bring Puzo's original characters to early life was Ed Falco, a novelist, short-story writer and playwright who runs the creative writing program at Virginia Tech. Falco is an interesting choice for a number of reasons: He grew up Catholic in Brooklyn; his writing has dealt with violence; the Virginia Tech shooter, who killed 32 people in 2007, was one of his students. And on the more frivolous side, he is the uncle of actress Edie Falco, who starred in the modern-day mafia hit 'The Sopranos.'"
'The Family Corleone,' an 'all-new prequel,' will be based on an unproduced screenplay written by Puzo. The 78-year-old Puzo died of a heart attack in 1999.
Assigned to bring Puzo's original characters to early life was Ed Falco, a novelist, short-story writer and playwright who runs the creative writing program at Virginia Tech. Falco is an interesting choice for a number of reasons: He grew up Catholic in Brooklyn; his writing has dealt with violence; the Virginia Tech shooter, who killed 32 people in 2007, was one of his students. And on the more frivolous side, he is the uncle of actress Edie Falco, who starred in the modern-day mafia hit 'The Sopranos.'"
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