If You Want to Know About My Life...

#verseday Peer Pressure

2012-01-26T06:42:00.000-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, January 26. My topic this week is peer pressure.

Write a poem about peer pressure by noon Friday, January 27.

Why Do I Write Crime?

2012-01-25T08:26:00.000-05:00

Following Zoë Sharp's post about why we read crime, Murderati's David Corbett asks why we write crime.

I commented:

I write crime (fiction and poetry) because, as engaging as reading it is, I wonder what I (or my characters) would do in the same situations. The curiosity eats at me until I pick up a pen and paper. Yes, that's still most often how I start writing.

If I ever tried to commit a crime off the page, I suspect I'd be caught right away if not in the "just thinking about it" phase. Still, every personality has positive and negative aspects—light and dark sides, as they say—and writers' ability to explore their dark sides on the page can prevent harmful tendencies from manifesting themselves off the page. Writers' conscious exploration results in fewer subconscious tendencies. To know oneself is to have greater self-control.

I also write crime because every paragraph, every sentence, every word seems to have purpose. That's how I like to write anything.

Where have you gone, Jorge Posada?

2012-01-24T03:51:00.000-05:00

Posada, the Yankees' No. 1 catcher from 2000 to 2010, retires today a member of five championship teams in a 17-year career spent entirely in a Yankee uniform.

Jorge played his heart out, played with fire, a quality the Joe Torre-led teams were otherwise thought to lack. Emotion got the best of him at times, but there's no denying his leadership and clutch performance.

Happy New Year All Over Again

2012-01-23T14:48:00.000-05:00

In Chinese astrology, today begins the year of the Water Dragon. I'm a good portion Chinese, and Chinese astrology is more interesting to me than Greek. However, having only so much memory to devote to trivia, I've forgotten the traits that go with each sign.

Chinese New Year usually means a meal with my extended family, but as it falls on a Monday this year, I don't see that happening. Anyway, as always, I wish you good fortune.

At The 5-2: "Outlaw at Peace" by Randall Avilez

2012-01-23T05:50:00.000-05:00

Enjoy.

Also, I'm pleased to announce you can now record audio of accepted 5-2 poetry by phoning a dedicated voicemail number. While creating and submitting your own audio/video files gives you greater creative control, I offer the voicemail number to anyone who can't make their own files but would like to perform for The 5-2.

Yesterday, I downloaded a message from Clarinda Harriss as an MP3 file. Clarinda is coming to The 5-2 February 13 with "Sweet-talk Me on Valentine's Day".

The Big Bang Theory: "The Recombination Hypothesis"

2012-01-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

The Big Bang Theory aired its hundredth episode last night, in which Leonard and Penny spontaneously go out to dinner. The date turns sour, but they end up having latenight sex and decide not to reveal to the group that they've gotten back together. Very late, Leonard is snapped back to before he asked Penny out. In other words, Leonard imagined most of the episode's events.

I enjoyed "The Recombination Hypothesis". The dialogue was expository at times, but I thought it honored the show's history and brought newer viewers up to speed. The shot of Leonard staring wistfully at Penny as he came up the stairs recalled the pilot. Their decision to keep their relationship secret recalled Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco's actual relationship.

Most of all, I like how the show has grown to include Penny's view of Leonard, but the expansion makes it difficult to accept that Leonard imagined the whole thing. Did he imagine Amy and Bernadette's conversation with Penny as she got ready for the date? Or was that Penny's imagination?

Next week, Leonard and Penny experiment with their new relationship. Does this mean the actual date went exactly as Leonard imagined? I wish there were fewer dream sequences on TV in general. Even in comedy, I can relate better when characters' actions make a difference and can't be taken back.

PENNY
Have you thought this through?

LEONARD
Yes. And I think we should go anyway.

Another Look at Parker's Shadow

2012-01-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Criminal Element's Jake Hinkson blogged about how he's become more open to Putnam's plans to publish new Spenser and Jesse Stone novels. Among other things, Jake touched on how Spenser had already grown beyond Parker with TV's Spenser: For Hire, as had Jesse Stone with the TV movies starring Tom Selleck.

I commented:

I'm a longtime Parker/Spenser fan, and I've been open to the idea of continuing Spenser for a year now. To me, Spenser casts too long a shadow on contemporary P.I. fiction to die with Parker.

...[W]ith TV's Spenser: For Hire, Parker was credited as "Creative Consultant" but claimed that simply meant he cashed a check every week. TV made some changes to the characters that didn't sit well with me, but the show did well enough on its own to run for three seasons (1985-88).

As you point out, the Jesse Stone movies also have a continuity independent of the books. I think that was a good decision, given that Tom Selleck is much older than the Stone of the books, and if the movies followed the books to the letter, they would hold no surprise for faithful readers.

I can't muster much interest in Brandman's Stone novels, and what I've read of Killing The Blues hasn't helped. However, Atkins' track record as an author is much better than Brandman's, and Ace's novel The Ranger [newly nominated for the MWA's Best Novel Edgar® Award -ed.] convinces me he can write in the Parker vein.

#verseday Sestina

2012-01-19T08:14:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, January 19. Today, try writing a sestina, like this week's 5-2 poem.

Write a sestina by noon Friday, January 20.

Quick Change

2012-01-16T19:08:00.001-05:00

Earlier today I tried to add Google's Share buttons to this blog, as I'd done to The 5-2 and Chatterrific. A long-forgotten tweak prevented the buttons from showing in my previous template, so I switched to this one. New York's unseasonably warm weather ended the other day. I guess it's only natural my blog return from its sunny vacation.

At The 5-2: "Railway Sestina" by Kimberly Poitevin

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

A sestina has seven stanzas, the first six of which are six lines long. The words that end each line of the first stanza are repeated in different orders to end the lines of the next five stanzas. Finally, the seventh stanza is three lines long, and each line incorporates two of the six established end-words.

The sestina originally adhered to more rules, such as a syllabic limit, but many poets have taken liberties with the form to drive their points home. "Railway Sestina", for instance, uses the same six end-sounds if not the same words.

My thanks to poet Kimberly Poitevin and reader Alison Dasho.

THE ZEN MAN by Colleen Collins

2012-01-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

Colleen Collins co-owns Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado. She has also written twenty novels for Harlequin and Dorchester and is a longtime member of my contemporary P.I. fiction discussion list, DetecToday. As preparation for a Chatterrific interview, Colleen sent me two instructional ebooks and her novel, The Zen Man.

Lawyer-turned-P.I. Rick Levine is the titular character. During a professional party at Rick's lodge, his ex-wife Deborah is murdered. Tabbed as the prime suspect, Rick, along with his partner/girlfriend Laura, must clear his name by uncovering who else stood to gain from Deborah's death.

The Zen Man is an homage and update of Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles, a well-paced mix of banter, action, and New Age philosophizing. At the heart of it is Rick, a sympathetic, flawed character working to redeem himself.

You can visit The Zen Man website to learn more. Why not take advantage of the 99-cent Nook price through January 18?

Wanted: Voices for The 5-2

2012-01-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

In many instances, 5-2 poets are not set up to send in audio/video files themselves. I'm always looking for people to perform the poetry featured there. To credit performers properly, I've redone the "Editors" page, renaming it "Confidential". It will include bios of our voice talent who read 5-2 poems besides their own.

E-mail me if you'd like to join the growing roster.

Why Do I Read Crime?

2012-01-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Today on Murderati, Zoë Sharp surveys the reasons we read crime fiction.

I commented:

All the reasons you mention are true for me to some degree. At the moment, I find I'm reading crime to make some sense of the seemingly senseless. I don't mean for stories of good conquering evil or chaos being restored to order, but for a more muted, personal coming-to-grips. I think writing, and reading in turn, allows us to see events and experiences in a different light, to get perspective.

#verseday Luck

2012-01-12T05:11:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, January 12. My topic this week is luck.

Write a poem involving luck (good luck, bad luck, blind luck, Andrew Luck...) by noon Friday, January 13. Incidentally, The 5-2 is currently accepting love- or passion-themed crime poetry if you wish to tie the elements together.

Eight is Not Enough

2012-01-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

On this day in 2004, I tentatively toed into the blogosphere to see if blogging would help my fiction and poetry writing, and it has. I started a weekly feature only in the past few months—linking to the poems at The 5-2. The bulk of this blog is at my whim. That keeps it fresh for me and, I hope, for you.

If you've been with me from the beginning, I salute you. If you're new here, I welcome you.

Realizing Characters

2012-01-10T05:08:00.000-05:00

On her blog yesterday, Patti Abbott discussed fully-realized characters, ending with the question, "What characters are memorable for you? Who walks off the pages of a book and into your memory?"

I commented:

To me, perhaps as much as half the responsibility for realizing a character lies with the reader. Part of the writer's job is to give just enough detail to let the reader's imagination go the rest of the way.

Offhand I think of Holden Caulfield (CATCHER IN THE RYE) and Alonso Quijana (DON QUIXOTE) because they resonated with me and my experience when I first read them (in high school and college respectively).

At The 5-2: "Some Like It Hot" by Charles Rammelkamp

2012-01-09T05:27:00.001-05:00

Rammelkamp returns to The 5-2 with a steamy, daydreamy poem.

Meanwhile, submissions are open for love- or passion-themed crime poetry to be featured in February.

New Look at Chatterrific

2012-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

I decided to revamp my author chat blog, Chatterrific, this weekend. I'm going for a comfortable coffeehouse experience that lends itself to chat. Have a look.

Coming soon, interviews with Brian Thornton, editor of West Coast Crime Wave, and Colleen Collins, Colorado private investigator and co-author of How to Write a Dick.

I'm open to talking anything related to fiction, poetry, film, or TV. If you're interested, we can chat by e-mail, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, or Skype.

#versday Epiphanies

2012-01-05T02:21:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, January 5. My topic this week is epiphanies.

Write a poem about an epiphany by noon Friday, January 6. Incidentally, The 5-2 is currently accepting love- or passion-themed crime poetry if you wish to tie the elements together.

"Remaindered"

2012-01-05T02:12:00.000-05:00

I'm back at Nasty. Brutish. Short. reviewing "Remaindered" by Lee Goldberg. Originally published in the August 2001 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the story is available as a free Kindle download this week only.

At The 5-2: "The Christmas Itch" by Kent Gowran

2012-01-02T08:16:00.001-05:00

This week, The 5-2 welcomes Kent Gowran, who is also editor of the flash fiction site Shotgun Honey.

The audio reading of Kent's poem is by my friend John Ricotta, who also composed and performed the music for this video.

A Look Ahead

2012-01-01T06:21:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I begin the final proofreading of my February 2012 ebook, Call Me Cupid: Six Screwball Stories of Love.

In April, I will be publishing a $2.99 ebook version of The Lineup #3 (2010) for Kindle and Nook, including seventeen of the original nineteen poets' work. Sarah Cortez sold the electronic rights to her poems elsewhere, and Carrie McGath opted not to have her poem reprinted. If you're curious, you can read one of Sarah's poems here, and hear Carrie's poem, "The Crimes of Cat-Calling", in an episode of Seth Harwood's CrimeWAV.

And later this year, I will publish a second ebook of C.J. Stone stories.

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T11:10:00.001-05:00

I have an associative, free-flowing memory. Moments from decades past feel as current to me as a minute ago. The flip side of this is I can't recall offhand the highlights of a given year. I started a blog, after all, to get the highlights in writing.

I also tend to focus on the moment or task at hand. You won't hear me say I had a bad year, a bad week, or a bad day. Time unfolds constantly. We have a choice in how and what we remember, the narrative we give the past.

I will only say I'm lucky to have had the time. I wish you all the same luck.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL

2011-12-30T21:43:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a belated gift of movie tickets from my Kris Kringle, I was able to treat two college friends to an IMAX showing of Mission: Impossible, which we had been hearing great things about.

If you've seen the commercials, you know the premise: Framed for bombing the Kremlin, Ethan Hunt and the IMF scramble to find the real bomber before he can plunge the U.S. and Russia into nuclear war.

I was not much a fan of the previous three movies, but this one stands on its own as a well-structured action/suspense movie that develops its supporting cast as much as it lets Cruise shine.

#verseday Being Late

2011-12-30T05:02:00.000-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. Participants must draft poems by noon Eastern today. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. My topic this week is being late.

Write a poem about being late by noon today, December 30. Incidentally, The 5-2 is accepting love- or passion-themed crime poetry if you wish to tie the three elements together.

Jim Winter's NORTHCOAST SHAKEDOWN Now an Ebook

2011-12-26T08:45:00.001-05:00

Jim Winter has re-released P.I. Nick Kepler's novel debut, Northcoast Shakedown, as an ebook. Here's my review as posted to Amazon.com:

Dogged and down-to-earth, Jim Winter's Cleveland P.I. Nick Kepler won me over years ago, when I was fiction editor for THE THRILLING DETECTIVE WEB SITE. Despite Kepler's long, fine reputation online, NORTHCOAST SHAKEDOWN, his novel debut, never received the publicity or support it deserved from its print publisher. I'm glad to see NORTHCOAST as an ebook, and fellow P.I. fans will be, too.

At The 5-2: A Haiku by Duane Spurlock

2011-12-26T05:34:00.002-05:00

Enjoy.

In other news, I've accepted poems from Nyla Alisia and Hal Sirowitz for February at The 5-2. Two spots remain open. Submit today.

Christmas Presence

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas Day, and for the first time I'm not expecting any presents from my extended family. I've had to tighten my belt for the second year in a row, and I don't want my relatives splurging on me, either. I say this knowing there will be presents anyway. From this perspective, I'll be truly surprised and pleased whatever they are.

The truth is, I've never had enough money to buy gifts for everyone. And I wouldn't be just checking names off a list; each of them has helped me in ways I can never repay. The only gift I can bring is my presence, to make our time together the best it can be.

Peace and good will today and every day.

UPDATE: This year, for once, the family stuck to the idea of giving only one present each, Kris Kringle-style. I planned to give cash, but my Kringlee went to Canada for the weekend with his girlfriend, who turned out to be my Kris Kringle.

Her gift, a $50 card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, was purchased by proxy, and I'm sure I'll use it toward some essential appliance in the future.

Part of the fun, of course, was trying to guess who each person's Kris Kringle was. I was on the right track for myself and my brother, but his Kringle skillfully lied when confronted. Said brother's Kringle also threw us off the scent of my Kringle for a while. Well played.

Christmas TV Traditions

2011-12-24T10:05:00.001-05:00

In years past, Santa visited us on Christmas Eve and gave out our presents, and we played through the night. Lately, though, the eve has been for preparation, so I try to sneak in some favorite episodes of TV to put myself in the mood.

Already today I've watched "The Miracle Job", a first-season episode of Leverage written by my friend Christine Boylan. Though the episode itself wasn't set at Christmas time, it originally aired on December 23, 2008, and involved lapsed Catholic Nate and the team trying to save the parish of St. Nicholas, patron saint of reformed thieves. The episode also starred Long Island's own D.B. Sweeney as Nate's priest friend Fr. Paul.

Next up is the Season 2 episode of The Big Bang Theory "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis". Sheldon buys several gift baskets for Penny, planning to give her the one closest to the value of her gift to him. The plan hits a snag when Penny gives him a napkin signed and used by Leonard Nimoy.

JAG always had momentous Christmas episodes because Harm's father was shot down over Vietnam on Christmas Eve 1969. My personal favorite is Season 4's "Jaggle Bells". Harm and the rest of the JAG staff are snowed in at headquarters, and Harm befriends Navy psychiatrist Jordan Parker (Susan Haskell), who goes on to play a vital role helping lure Mac's Little Sister, Chloe (Mae Whitman), out of an elevator shaft.

#verseday Endings

2011-12-22T04:29:00.000-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, December 22. My topic this week is ending.

Write a poem about an ending or endings by noon Friday, December 23. Incidentally, The 5-2 is accepting love- or passion-themed crime poetry if you wish to tie the three elements together.

6th Annual Graham Powell Appreciation Day

2011-12-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

December 22 was the day chosen in 2006 by bloggers grateful to be tracked on Graham Powell's ever-expanding CrimeSpot.net. I finally had the pleasure of meeting Graham at Bouchercon in St. Louis. As of late, he's volunteered to perform poetry for The 5-2. Thanks very much, Graham.

At The 5-2: "Cold Call" by Jay Stringer

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm glad to say I nudged crime fiction author, blogger, and podcaster Jay Stringer into writing a poem. As a bonus, Jay included a taped confession you can hear after his read of "Cold Call".

Meanwhile, The 5-2 is open to submissions and looking for a female voice to record an upcoming poem. If you're interested and can create audio files, e-mail me at g_so AT yahoo DOT com.

Ebooks and "Print Length"

2011-12-18T02:26:00.000-05:00

I noticed a new statistic in Amazon's Kindle Store, "Print Length", which estimates the length of ebooks "based on the page size of a paperback book". Putting aside that paperbacks come in different sizes, I can appreciate the stat's intent, to give me a better idea of the amount of content than does memory size (which is influenced by cover image size). However, for the ebooks I've published so far, the stat is misleading.

Amazon has assigned the 32-poem ebook of The Lineup #4 a "Print Length" of fifteen pages. If I hadn't read the poems, I'd flinch: $2.99 for fifteen pages? Amazon assigns my 3-story ebook First In, Last Out thirteen pages, my 3-story ebook Stones seven pages, and my own 24-poem, $1.99 ebook We Might Have five pages.

"Print Length" doesn't tell you poetry cuts to the heart of things. It doesn't tell you how much action I deliver in few words. It doesn't tell you my C.J. Stone stories rely as much on what isn't told as what is. I invite you to read sample poems from The Lineup #4. Read "Gypped" from Stones, or listen to four poems from We Might Have. By all means, decide for yourself whether the books are worth your money.

Still The One

2011-12-18T00:51:00.000-05:00

Upon hearing the long-running Lipstick Chronicles is ending with 2011, author and blogger Karen E. Olson yesterday asked if blogs are still relevant alongside Facebook and Twitter:

My friend and blogger at The Rap Sheet J. Kingston Pierce commented:

I realize I'm saying this as another blogger, but no, I don't think blogs are a dying breed. I do, however, think that a lot of people who started blogs did so without realizing the commitment they were making, and many of them have fallen by the wayside. But the more serious bloggers, those who feel they have something to say and are persistent in saying it, will probably continue to deliver their messages in the same form they've been delivering them.

On the whole, Facebook and Twitter don't offer real writing; they're merely networking tools, not intended for long-form remarks or creative prose, which the better blogs can supply.

I commented:

I read about the same number of blogs I always have—maybe not the same ones because a handful of them are defunct—but I think the form remains relevant for the reasons Jeff mentioned.

Also like Jeff, it seems to me a lot of people started blogs because they were trendy, not from a genuine desire or talent for blogging. I'd bet many of the same people have gravitated to Facebook or Twitter for the same reason.

I've had my personal blog for almost eight years. I started it with the simple goal of organizing my thoughts, which would ideally increase my creative output. Of course I use my blog to bring attention to my work, but my work isn't my blog's sole focus. I've never had a schedule or a formally stated purpose. Readers can jump in anytime.

I'm not on Facebook, but I am on Twitter. I use Twitter for in-the-moment thoughts, but my blog is still the place for anything I want to discuss in full.

#verseday Los Angeles

2011-12-15T08:08:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, December 15. My topic this week is Los Angeles.

Write a poem about Los Angeles by noon Friday, December 16. Incidentally, The 5-2 has a spot open in January 2012 that you could fill if you participate in this week's #verseday challenge.

ZEKE BARTHOLOMEW: SUPERSPY by Jason Pinter

2011-12-15T06:59:00.001-05:00

Twelve-year-old Zeke is mistaken for young spy Derek Lance and has to wing his way from there. It's escapist fantasy with several winks to the adult espionage genre, but Pinter maintains momentum and wit throughout.

I didn't read much outside the classroom growing up, but have been a James Bond fan since I was old enough to watch TV. If Zeke Bartholomew: Superspy had been around back then, I might have discovered the joys of reading earlier, and been better served for it.

My Best Reads of 2011

2011-12-15T06:42:00.000-05:00

Traditionally I'm not up on the newest books so I give you my favorite books I've read each year, regardless of when they were published. This year, though, my favorites are all from 2011:

COUNTY LINE by Bill Cameron continues his loose series of linked novels (Lost Dog, Chasing Smoke, Day One). I enjoyed the cross-country trip that delved into one of his characters' pasts.

LIQUID SMOKE by Jeff Shelby was the anticipated return of San Diego P.I. Noah Braddock after five years. When last we saw Noah and friends (Wicked Break), they fit snugly in the tradition of Parker and Crais, but in this third novel, Shelby takes his P.I. to a dark place Parker never (and Crais so far hasn't) dared.

LASSITER by Paul Levine was the even more anticipated return of ex-Miami Dolphins linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter after fourteen years. Some months earlier, I read Flesh & Bones, the immediately previous Lassiter novel, and could detect no rust in the new release. It's everything a fan wants in a return.

THE RANGER by Ace Atkins is the start of a new series by the author tapped to take over Robert Parker's Spenser. This novel gave me confidence Atkins could write like Parker, but, as curious as I am about the continuation, I'm more engaged by ex-Army Ranger Quinn Colson and the characters and past to which he comes home.

My favorite short story read this year was "Blind Date" by Scotti Andrews from the ebook anthology West Coast Crime Wave. Andrews expertly built on the premise of mistaken identity to keep me guessing to the end.

Coming February 1, 2012

2011-12-13T10:20:00.001-05:00

I've written many a lovelorn tale over the years, and I'm collecting some of them into an ebook in time for V-Day 2012:

"Call Me Cupid"
"Connect the Dots"
"Every Man for Himself"
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
"Rocky Road"
"Once Upon a Wedding Cake"

Comments here on the blog have called these stories "Brilliant," "Clever and entertaining," "Refreshing."

Give yourself or your Valentine the gift of my wit. Just $2.99 for Kindle or Nook.

At The 5-2: "Nothing To See Here" by C.J. Edwards

2011-12-12T06:05:00.000-05:00

This week's poem is by Indianapolis police officer and crime writer C.J. Edwards. Enjoy.

Pondering Pastiche

2011-12-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday on Do Some Damage, Scott D. Parker blogged about reading reviews of Anthony Horowitz's Sherlock Holmes novel, The House of Silk after he had read the book himself. Struck by how often the word "pastiche" appeared in reviews, Scott went on to wonder:

Why do we pigeon-hole authors, their characters, and their writing styles to a certain, compartmentalized segment of the literary world? ...What would a Holmes novel sound like if Hammett was the author? How about a Spenser novel written by P. D. James? A Perry Mason book written by Michael Chabon? Heck, what if Doyle himself wrote a Continental Op tale?

...[W]hy are experiments like this not the norm in literature? Are we so conditioned to having Holmes and Watson always live in 189- that we don't want them to sound like the pulp heroes of the 1930s? Are we so worried that if Spenser starred in a story that "sounded like" Agatha Christie wrote it that we'd throw the book across the room?

I commented:

It seems to me the restrictions placed on characters and authors naturally stem from the choices authors must make when creating characters, just as people are shaped by their upbringing and life choices.

Once defined by these choices, characters are expected to stay consistent; the author's fictional world as a whole is expected to stay consistent. People are more allowed to change than characters, but if they do so too often, they're seen as weak of character.

If you separate a character from the world and author that helped shape him, unless the new author painstakingly follows the original, the character will change. Individual readers are left to decide how much the character can change and still be recognized as himself. Some critics said [Jeffery] Deaver's Bond wasn't Bond enough.

Still, I would say experimentation is the norm in literature. Many if not all authors begin by imitating their idols, gradually experimenting with their own innovations. Parker, for example, asked, "What if Philip Marlowe lived in 1970s Boston?" The typical result of such experimentation is not just a new spin on an existing character, but a new character entirely.

New Trailer for STONES

2011-12-10T10:20:00.001-05:00

I've made a new video trailer my first C.J. Stone ebook, featuring original music by my friend and Stone fan John Ricotta:

The second Stone ebook is coming next year, featuring C.J.'s frenemy Kate Holden. Two of the ebook's stories are reprints I'm revising. Meanwhile if you want to get acquainted with Kate, read "Artifacts" at BEAT to a PULP.

And my latest original Stone story is "Partners" at Pulp Pusher.

Love- or Passion-Themed Poetry Needed. Deadline: January 31, 2012

2011-12-10T07:56:00.001-05:00

I'm seeking an original love- or passion-themed poem to run at The 5-2 the week of February 13-19, 2012. Submissions do not have to be specific to Valentine's Day. Crimes of passion take place every day, and I may publish poems from this submissions call after Valentine's week. Please submit by January 31, 2012.

Aside from the theme and deadline, the usual guidelines apply.

Honoring excellence in short mystery fiction

2011-12-10T06:45:00.001-05:00

Since 1997, The Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Awards have brought attention to short mystery and crime fiction. If you're a reader, writer, or publisher/editor of the genre, I urge you to join the SMFS by December 31, 2011 for full participation in the 2012 Derringer process.

Full participation includes the chance to submit your favorite stories published in 2011 for Derringer consideration, the volunteer judging opportunity to narrow the field to five finalists in each of four length categories, and the group vote determining the winners in each category.

As a past president of the SMFS, I know how much dedication goes into the Derringers, all for the love of the short mystery/crime story. Here are the Derringer rules in full.

You'd Better Watch Out

2011-12-08T16:08:00.001-05:00

My Christmas story "You'd Better Watch Out" is now live at The Flash Fiction Offensive. Thanks to editor David Barber.

#verseday January

2011-12-08T03:28:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, December 8. My topic this week is January.

Write a poem by noon Friday, December 9, about whatever January brings to mind. Incidentally, The 5-2 has two spots open in January 2012 that you could fill if you participate in this week's #verseday challenge.

The 5-2 Holiday Poetry Chosen

2011-12-08T03:25:00.001-05:00

I've chosen the 5-2 poems for the weeks of December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2011. They are a Christmas haiku by Duane Spurlock and "The Christmas Itch" by Kent Gowran respectively. Thanks to everyone who submitted holiday crime poetry.

Robert B. Parker's Official Site Updated

2011-12-07T05:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I noticed Parker's official site had been snazzily revamped by the Web marketing firm FSB Associates.

I'm not much interested in Michael Brandman's Jesse Stone novels, but it's nice to see the first one, Killing The Blues, was a New York Times bestseller. I did furrow a brow at the Contra Costa Times praise, "Definitely classic Parker". How can it be classic if it's a new book? How can it be Parker if Parker didn't write it?

I also peeked in on the Robert B. Parker Facebook page and learned more about Ace Atkins's first Spenser novel, to be published May 1, 2012.

Here's a brief summary from Ace's blog:

LULLABY takes place the following spring after we last saw Spenser in SIXKILL. Spenser helps a tough 14-year-old girl from South Boston find justice for her mother, who was murdered four years ago. The girl, Mattie, believes the wrong man is doing life for the crime, because she saw two other toughs shove her mother in a car the night she died. Spenser soon finds those two toughs are connected to Gerry Broz, the screw-up son of infamous crime boss Joe Broz, a man who's been missing for more than a decade and posted at the top of the FBI most-wanted list.

The Parker Facebook page goes two sentences longer: "As the forces gather against Spenser, he reaches out to Hawk to provide added muscle and firepower. The bad guys don't stand a chance."

That last sentence especially seems tacked on in zeal, but also gives me the impression that Spenser and Hawk will come through unscathed, just as in Parker's last few novels. I hope Ace brings some freshness along the way, but we'd be fools not to acknowledge Spenser is a franchise in which many have a stake. Parker claimed to submit essentially his first drafts, but how much control did Putnam take from there?

Was the person who thought of such poetic titles as Taming a Sea-Horse and Pale Kings and Princes the same person who thought of Potshot? "Lullaby" sounds like a last book, not a continuation or the start of something new.

Evidently, Putnam chose to brand post-Parker books as you see, "Robert B. Parker's TITLE HERE". As such, one might assume that Atkins and Brandman were completing Parker's unfinished works. When I interviewed Ace for Crimespree #42, he told me his book was all-new. I would have branded the books, "Robert B. Parker's Spenser/Jesse Stone in TITLE HERE by Ace Atkins/Michael Brandman."

These thoughts occur to me having just received the latest U.S. reprint of John Gardner's first James Bond novel, License Renewed, for Christmas. The front matter includes excerpts from an interview of Gardner by Bond historian Raymond Benson. Gardner may be best remembered for bringing Bond forward in time, but he mentions the publisher placed many minor and major constraints on him. This probably contributed to his feeling at arms-length writing Bond.

From top to bottom, the cover of the new License Renewed lists Gardner's name in black, medium-sized type, "James Bond" surrounded by a black-and-red Double-0 logo—the word "Bond" is largest of all—and the title "License Renewed" in red, medium type. No mention of Ian Fleming.

I'm ambivalent about continuation, more in favor than against it. After all, with luck, characters become part of the collective consciousness, and each reader/writer's subtly different interpretation is part of the fun.

At The 5-2: "VIP Security" by David S. Pointer

2011-12-05T07:04:00.001-05:00

This week's 5-2 poem is by Lineup #3 alum David S. Pointer, who often draws inspiration from his four years as a USMC military policeman.

Also be sure to check out the audio reading by CrimeSpot.net admin Graham Powell.

A Writer's Highest Calling

2011-12-04T04:07:00.001-05:00

Today on Do Some Damage, Joelle Charbonneau blogs about a family friend's death, concluding:

[T]omorrow I will start writing again because it is what I do—what I have to do—what he was so proud of me for. And while the holidays will take time away from the work we all want to do, I cannot stress enough that we should all give life permission to intrude. Our families, our friends and the memories we make every day are the reasons we all can do what we do.

I commented:

My condolences, Joelle.

I believe a writer's highest calling is to put into words an audience's deepest shared experiences, those most difficult to express. If writers don't indeed share in some of these experiences, they can't begin to write about them. Their writing becomes less vibrant, more routine.

Make Room for Ooma

2011-12-03T11:12:00.001-05:00

Having researched various voice-over-IP alternatives, my family and I this week chose Ooma for the bulk of our home phone needs. Ooma makes its money from the $200 initial hardware purchase. After that, there is no monthly charge, only taxes and fees.

As part of the move, we disconnected one line that was dedicated to a fax machine—the machine still works, but so does my last VCR—and switched our more-used landline to a less expensive, local-only plan for emergencies.

We've gained lots of desk space putting our motley crew of phones in storage, and overall we should save $100 per month. Ask again after our next bill.

#verseday Firsts

2011-12-01T06:44:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, December 1. My topic this week is "firsts", "first of the month", "your first time".

Write a poem about a first or firsts by noon Friday, December 2.

What Price Ebooks?

2011-11-29T17:53:00.001-05:00

Do Some Damage's Dave White, whose ebook thriller Witness to Death has sold well at the 99-cent price point, today argues that less expensive prices sell more copies and help lesser-known writers build fan bases.

I commented:

I can't speak about the ebook-buying public in general. I haven't bought many ebooks yet, but I used to be more willing to buy paperbacks by authors new to me when they were $4.99, $5.99, $6.99.

That said, I think it's every author's ambition to sell books for what the author thinks they're worth, not solely what might be an attractive price to buyers.

I may be alone on this, but if a more realistic, higher price is one's ultimate goal, I prefer the books be priced realistically from the beginning and not jump. As a buyer in a sea of 99-cent books, sometimes I am inclined to think a higher-priced book is of superior quality anyway.

Personally, I've priced my ebooks from 99 cents to $2.99. The 99-cent books contain three short stories each. I also have a $1.99 book of 24 poems, and I've published a $2.99 book of 32 poems, many by well-known authors. I think I've priced each book realistically and fairly based on amount of content.

From the Fringes of the Social Media

2011-11-28T05:44:00.001-05:00

A member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society is thinking of starting a personal blog and wondered if it would cut into paid writing time or leave ideas open to be stolen or otherwise exploited.

I replied:

I started my personal blog almost eight years ago to compel myself to write more. It could be about anything, as long as I wrote, and...I've found it's led to greater productivity.

Blogs are very flexible in terms of content. If you're concerned someone might steal or otherwise exploit your ideas, you don't have to put them on your blog. My blog has been mostly been about what's on my mind before I get down to fiction or poetry—in other words, I blog about stuff that doesn't fit either genre: book reviews, TV reviews, movie reviews...

[A]t the very least, a blog is a place where you can control how you and your work are perceived. There's no harm in having one more place to publicize where you and your work will be appearing.

I'm not on Facebook because a blog is enough for me. I am on Twitter because it seems lower-maintenance than Facebook. Again, I use Twitter for random thoughts that seem to have no place in my other writing. I also use it to publicize my writing.

As with anything of this sort, it pays to keep in mind what to put in and what to leave out. Good luck.

At The 5-2: "Just Ice" by Thomas Pluck

2011-11-28T05:24:00.001-05:00

A chilling poem.

And The 5-2 is open to holiday crime poetry through this Thursday, December 1.

A love- or passion-themed poem will be sought for the week of February 13, 2012, but regular spots remain open in January and beyond.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T07:56:00.001-05:00

My mother, brother, and I celebrated Thanksgiving at my cousin's house next town over. Various culinary talents came together to make every dish a winner. The turkey was bacon-covered, baked, and delicious. Apple-and-sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato. I wanted to eat much more than I did, which is better than eating much more than I should.

Fortunately, I was too busy socializing to fall into a food coma. Passing up a promise of ribs for dinner, I got home in time to work out before inertia set in.

And today is Black Friday, but I did my bargain shopping on Monday, so I'll stay in and watch Covert Affairs Season 1 on DVD.

Meanwhile, feel free to buy all three of my ebooks—twenty four poems and six short stories—for a total of $3.97. Click the "Store" tab for more information. Thank you.

#verseday Holidays

2011-11-24T03:12:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, November 24. My topic this week is holidays.

Write a poem involving a holiday by noon Friday, November 25. Incidentally, The 5-2 is accepting holiday crime poetry through December 1.

The Song of Lunch

2011-11-21T08:23:00.001-05:00

My friend Christine Boylan Twittered about this 48-minute Masterpiece film based on a poem by Christopher Reid, itself based on a pub scene from James Joyce's Ulysses. Starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson as old flames, it reminds me of the Fage Yogurt commercial voiced by Willem Dafoe in the way it leaves you hanging on every word. Brilliant.

Going Mobile

2011-11-21T05:29:00.001-05:00

I still don't own a mobile device, but for those who do, I've implemented mobile templates for my blogs and those I oversee. Of all the blogs, The 5-2's poetry may not align properly on a mobile template. Blogger's mobile templates don't allow much customization (yet?).

If you have a mobile, please let me know how the blogs look.

UPDATE: A friend sent me screenshots from his smartphone, and as expected, The 5-2's poetry does not display correctly on the mobile template. The good news is my specially-formatted 5-2 ebooks will resolve the issue. You'll be able to read the ebooks on your mobile device if you have an e-reader app.

As luck would have it, this week's poem, "Twelve Apologies" by Ray Succre, is a prose poem, so it does display well on mobile devices. Give it a read.

At The 5-2: "Twelve Apologies" by Ray Succre

2011-11-21T00:07:00.001-05:00

Enjoy.

And you still have ten days to submit holiday crime poems to be featured on The 5-2 the weeks of December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2012. Ever been depressed over the holidays? Dreaded seeing a particular in-law? Either one could be the germ of a poem.

GREEN LANTERN (2011)

2011-11-20T16:02:00.001-05:00

This summer's live-action Green Lantern movie, a box office disappointment, came up in my brother's Netflix queue this weekend. Ryan Reynolds was an okay Hal Jordan, but he had little chemistry with Blake Lively.

The movie's worst offense was its mashup of character histories and lore, linking everyone to Parallax. It was necessary to make a coherent movie for the widest possible audience, but, as Green Lantern would never approach Superman's or Batman's popularity anyway, I would've stayed closer to what Green Lantern fans know and love. It's also possible the studio egregiously overestimated Green Lantern's and Ryan Reynolds's appeal.

This much said, I give Green Lantern a C, having given Thor a D.

"Aw, f**k it."

2011-11-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, during a broadcast of ESPN's College GameDay, Lee Corso said the f-word in the course of making his picks. If there was a delay guarding against this sort of thing, it didn't catch up. Later, Corso apologized, saying he used an expletive he shouldn't have used.

This struck me funny because, if you watch the clip at Zap2it.com, linked above, you'll see he uses the f-word as commonly accepted slang for "Forget it." He doesn't say it in anger or malice; he says it in good-natured jest. If he used another expletive, perhaps that would be one he shouldn't have used.

A collective morality can't be applied because profanity is generally allowed on other programs the same audience may be watching. Microphones often pick it up during games. We can't and shouldn't take language out of context but address the intent behind it. Ultimately, one can only decide morality for oneself.

A Change of Scene

2011-11-20T06:25:00.001-05:00

The old faithful orange creamsicle may return after the holidays. For now, I invite your mind's eye to join mine in warmer climes.

New at The 5-2

2011-11-19T09:47:00.001-05:00

To make reading The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly as intuitive as possible, I've made some layout changes. Comments welcome.

Out-Regis

2011-11-18T20:16:00.001-05:00

This morning, Regis Philbin bowed out of "Live" after twenty-eight years. While he's long been parodied, to me, Regis's best quality is how natural he seems in front of people. Though he admits to embellishing the slices of life he shared each day, I had no sense he was doing so.

As well as he can play a crowd, that's how stilted he seems in the handful of scripted roles he's had, as if he might jump out of character any second.

I'd wager several factors contributed to his leaving "Live". Considering those, I'm glad he was able to leave on his own terms, and that I was able to say goodbye.

#verseday Guilt

2011-11-17T06:17:00.001-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, November 17. My topic this week is guilt.

Write a poem about a guilt by noon Friday, November 18.

Mike Krzyzewski Breaks Coaching Record

2011-11-16T04:11:00.001-05:00

With a 74-69 win over Michigan State last night, his 903rd career victory, Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski broke Bobby Knight's record.

Though Duke has traditionally been a nemesis for my favorite teams, St. John's and North Carolina, I can't help but respect Coach K's fundamentally flawless style of play. In high school, I managed a volleyball team for a coach like Knight, whose demanding act didn't let many see his core decency. I loved him the way Krzyzewski loves Knight, but Coach K is arguably more admirable than Knight in driving his players to the same excellence without Knight's tempestuous temperament.

At The 5-2: More from Paul Hostovsky

2011-11-14T03:42:00.001-05:00

Last week, I posted a video of Paul Hostovsky's poem "The Violence of the Violins". This week, The 5-2 presents Paul's new poem, "My Visit to the Gardner Museum". Enjoy.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

2011-11-12T09:56:00.001-05:00

Last night, I caught Cartoon Network's one-hour special preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which will air regularly next year. Of all the incarnations of GL Hal Jordan I've seen, this is the coolest and most nuanced. As silly as CGI looks as part of a live-action movie, all-CGI animation fits the imaginative Green Lantern better than any other hero.

Kudos to Josh Keaton, who succeeds in giving Jordan a deeper, more mature voice than his previous Spectular Spider-Man.

Q.R. Markham

2011-11-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

In the wake of yesterday's news that Q.R. Markham plagiarized much of his critically-praised debut, Assassin of Secrets, from several well-known spy novels, I've seen several curt comments on Twitter to the effect that plagiarism is bad and all, but we ought to stop flogging Markham and move on.

I tried a couple of times to sum up my thoughts in a tweet, but found I needed a bit more space. I don't object to Markham himself, but to the brazen way any plagiarism breaks readers' trust that when authors sign their names to work, it is genuinely their work.

Edward Champion has an extensive accounting of Markham's plagiarism.

"Partners" at Pulp Pusher

2011-11-09T08:21:00.001-05:00

"Partners" is my latest C.J. Stone story, posted today at Pulp Pusher. Thanks again to editor Tony Black.

First #verseday

2011-11-08T06:32:00.000-05:00

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I've come up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then write poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere, including The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, November 10. My first #verseday topic is deadlines.

Write a poem about a deadline by noon Friday, November 11.

JOHN SANDFORD'S CERTAIN PREY

2011-11-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

I've been a fan of John Sandford since The Empress File, written under his real name, John Camp. I read the first three Prey books and liked them, but didn't feel the need to read the rest of the series. That said, as I'm also a fan of Mark Harmon, I was looking forward to USA Network's movie of Certain Prey, the tenth Lucas Davenport novel.

A Saturday search of IMDb showed the movie was co-produced by Michael Jaffe and Howard Braunstein. This news was a mixed bag to me. Jaffe and Braunstein produced A&E's Nero Wolfe starring Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin, which I liked, but they also produced A&E's Spenser movies starring Joe Mantegna, which I liked only while in denial.

I didn't expect these projects to have much in common, but I found Certain Prey very mannered and talky. In the Wolfe series, I wrote the mannered dialogue off to Archie Goodwin's wit and the period. In the Spenser movies, I wrote it off to Parker's way with patter. I don't recall the Prey books as talky. The movie characters addressed each other by name multiple times in the same conversation, even when they talked one-on-one. Who but the most stilted characters do that?

The movie also suffered from the convention in serial killer books to reveal the killer early on. Again, the later Spenser books were like this. Spenser identified the villain early, and they danced around each other until Parker reached page 300 or so.

All these things combined to put me to sleep halfway through. I hope to comment on the whole movie when I get a chance to see it again, but there's something to be said for its not holding my interest the first time.

Reminder

2011-11-07T06:04:00.001-05:00

As some of you know, the day after we decided to suspend publication of The Lineup: Poems on Crime, I began accepting submissions for The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly. Since September 12, the site has showcased one poem a week, including a video reading of the poem and "signed confession" giving you some idea how the poem was written.

Starting today, each Monday, I'll post a link to The 5-2's Poem of the Week, inviting readers and writers to the site. This week's poem is "Reminder" by Stephen D. Rogers. You can also visit the Contributors page to see the poems published and scheduled so far.

I hope you enjoy and spread the word about The 5-2.

Graham Powell reads "The Violence of the Violins"

2011-11-05T15:50:00.003-04:00

I created this video with permission from Lineup 4 alum Paul Hostovsky and featuring the voice of Crimespot.net's Graham Powell.

Read the poem as originally published in diode, edited by Patty Paine and Jeff Lodge.

Moving On

2011-11-04T09:34:00.001-04:00

I've decided to end my non-paying weekly Boomtron reviews of The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Burn Notice, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Psych. In my two years of service, the higher-ups at Boomtron always had final control over what was posted. For much of that time, my editor was Elena Wolf, who, with very few exceptions, liked my work.

Three weeks ago, Elena had to step down as my editor due to a change at her day job. Since then, I'd been concerned I wouldn't meet what my new editor wanted from the reviews. Boomtron also sent word this week of an eventual move away from regular reviews to specialized pieces.

Most writing is subjective by nature. What suits one editor doesn't sit well with another, but any editor has the right to publish what s/he wants. Looking forward to my next opportunity, I hope you enjoyed my work for Boomtron. I thank them and wish them the best.

I remain a fan of the above shows and more, so you'll see reviews here if I particularly like or dislike an episode, and you may catch me on Twitter as I'm watching TV.

Call for Submissions: Christmas and New Year's Crime Poetry

2011-11-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

I'm seeking poems to run on The 5-2 the weeks of December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2012. The poems can involve Christmas, any holidays around the same time, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. The submission deadline is December 1, 2011, and the usual guidelines apply.

A Short Comment on Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher

2011-11-02T02:56:00.002-04:00

In a recent interview, Tom Cruise said he only took the role of much taller Jack Reacher for an adaptation of Lee Child's One Shot because Child gave his blessing.

In another interview with Irish crime author Declan Burke, Child spoke to his fans' backlash at Cruise's casting.

I commented:

I think the backlash is partly Child's own doing in identifying Reacher so often by his size. Perhaps if he didn't, we'd be able to imagine any number of actors playing Reacher.

I believe Tom Cruise can pull off everything else about Reacher. My objection is his Reacher would essentially be a role he's already played: Ethan Hunt.

Enter Today

2011-11-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

My entry of three poems goes out today to NoirCon's First Annual Poetry Contest. Readers, wish me luck. Writers, I thrive on competition. Go ahead. Make my day.

Halloween Bloggery

2011-10-31T10:15:00.000-04:00

I was never satisfied with my Halloween costumes as a child. It's not like anyone would really believe I were Spider-Man or Superman or E.T. I have enjoyed decorating my blog, though, so I give you this year's theme:

You can also read and hear The 5-2's Halloween poem, "Apparition" by Chad Haskins.

Falling Out of Love with an Author

2011-10-29T22:35:00.000-04:00

Today, Do Some Damage's Scott D. Parker blogged that his taste for an unnamed author's work has changed unexpectedly.

I commented:

What you describe usually happens to me when I've read several of one author's books in a row. These days, I'll only do it if I love the author's work, and with that kind of love, sometimes I have lofty expectations of what the author might do next. I also begin to see the author's go-to turns of phrase and other stylistic tics that pull me out of a story.

My remedy is to take a break from the author's books. I still keep an eye on each new one that comes out, but I don't buy it on the author's name alone. I decide if the plot sounds different enough from what I've already read to make me go back.

The trade-off with ongoing series is that the author has to keep returning readers engaged while delivering the same kind of book overall to keep the series consistent.

Jochem Vandersteen reviews FIRST IN, LAST OUT

2011-10-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

Sons of Spade's Jochem Vandersteen reviewed my ebook First In, Last Out, concluding, "Gerald edited fiction on the Thrilling Detective site and it shows. The writing is tight and well thought out. Solid, fast read."

Jochem Vandersteen's Top Five Private Eyes

2011-10-26T17:46:00.001-04:00

In a guest post on Chatterrific, the Sons of Spade blogger picks his five favorite fictional private eyes.

Keith West reviews STONES

2011-10-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

Adventures Fantastic blogger Keith West has reviewed my ebook Stones, writing in part:

How do the stories stack up? They were a delight to read. The central character, C.J. Stone, is a pilot in the Caribbean in the 1930s, and So does an excellent job of capturing the tone of the era. The stories are short, almost vignettes in some cases. But they work. They were a lot of fun, and I'll be tracking down the other stories about Stone that are mentioned in the author bio.

Thanks very much, Keith.

Rejection

2011-10-22T04:17:00.001-04:00

Today on Jungle Red Writers, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Joelle Charbonneau discuss a reality of every writer's life, rejection. Hank asks, "So how about you? Rejections make you stronger? Or just make you feel--rejected? How do you deal with it? And how have you changed?"

I commented:

Probably true for most writers, the first rejections were the hardest for me. I questioned whether I was doing what I was meant to do. Having kept at it and edited a few projects as well, I see rejection as a necessary part of the game; there's just not enough space to publish everyone.

Rejection only makes you a better writer if it teaches you to read your work more objectively. Then, from all the feedback you receive and all the times you re-read, you'll be able to do what's best for the particular piece, and send it out again.

Reginald Marsh-Inspired Flash Fiction

2011-10-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Three weeks ago, Patricia Abbott blogged the following challenge: "Write a story in any genre of under 1,000 words based on one of Marsh's paintings."

For each story, Patti is pledging $5 to Union Settlement Association. The stories are set to post today. Links will be on Patti's blog, and I'll gather them below. My story is inspired by Marsh's "Two Girls on Boardwalk" (1934):

Getaway

by Gerald So

My mother died when I was twelve. It had been a little more than four years since, but it was hard, painful, to remember our time together.

Dad and I lived in a small apartment in the Bronx. Mom had lived there, too, though Dad always told her, "You're too good for this place. Someday, I promise, we'll move."

Mom came from money. She and Dad met when he saved her from a mugger. "No reason for her to give me a second look," Dad said. But she had, apparently giving up her life for his.

Moving day never came, and when she died--just fainted in her chair--Dad's ambition died. He spent every free moment in her chair, with their wedding picture and a bottle of rye, not noticing if I were there.

I felt sorry for him, but more than anything, I swore the same wouldn't happen to me.

Luckily, Mom's money put me in snooty all-girls schools. I hated it, but I say it was lucky because I learned not to sound like I was from the Bronx, and the girls all talked about getting away to Coney Island.

So I knew where I'd go, and I knew how I'd get there. It was just a matter of working up the courage, which by sixteen, looking nineteen, I had in spades.

The farther I walked, the farther the train rolled, the freer I felt. That first time, I didn't remember walking from the terminal down to the shore.

I shimmied out of my clothes, showing off Mom's newest bathing suit.

"Excuse me. Miss?" someone said.

"Miss?" he said again.

I turned to see he was an artist.

"Do you mind?" he asked and gestured with his pencil.

"Not at all," I said.

"And may I ask your name?"

"Kate," I said quite naturally, though the name just came to me.

###

More Stories in the Challenge

Chad Eagleton, "The Letter"
Peter Rozovsky, "Smithers Should Have Listened"
Caftan Woman
John Norris, "Laff in the Dark"
Marylinn Kelly, "Lifeguards"
Gill Hoffs, "The Creature in the Coal"
Dana King, "Tugboat"
Rob Kitchin, "The El up 9th Avenue"
Sandra Seamans, "A Whistle and a Prayer"
Thomas Pluck, "High Yaller"
Rosemarie Keenan, "Window Dressing"
Katherine Tomlinson, "A Friend in Need"
Daniel Moses Luft, "Usherette"
Patricia Abbott, "The Ohrbach Girl"
Ron Scheer, "Geraldine"
Yvette Banek, "White Dress, Red Buttons"
Todd Mason, "Off Season" and "Slow Thursday Night"
William Morgan, "Sleeping"
Damyanti
Kieran Shea, "Reversed"
Loren Eaton, "Old Man Smith"
Seana, "The Normandie"

Tomorrow

2011-10-17T08:15:00.000-04:00

My story for Patti Abbott's latest flash fiction challenge, inspired by the works of painter Reginald Marsh, posts tomorrow. See you then.

Balance This!

2011-10-17T06:44:00.000-04:00

Today on Murderati, Pari Noskin discusses the myth of balance:

The Balance Paradigm: If I could just find the sweet spot, I’d be able to: work, write, get enough exercise, sleep, eat well, stay in touch with friends, be supportive to people I care about, be a good mom, find fulfillment -- and it’d all flow beautifully.

...Balance, for more than a moment, is impossible for any living creature. Do you hear me, people? It. Doesn’t. Exist.

I commented:

I agree that perfect balance is a myth. No way I can do as much of everything I'd like to do. For me, it's a question of what I'm willing to sacrifice versus what I'm not. For example, I'd like to buy and read every book that catches my eye, but if I did, I'd have less time to write. I've given up a lot of leisure and social activity in favor of writing, especially as the economy has declined, but writing is still most important to me.

I think anyone who has committed to calling him/herself a writer, lawyer, doctor, baker, mother, etc. is willing to devote the bulk of time to it, giving up other pursuits. The pace of people's lives reflects what they are most committed to doing.

That said, it's impossible to commit all your time to one pursuit and keep doing it well. The mind and body need to rest. Exactly how much downtime we need varies from person to person, but if "balance" means "a little of everything", I don't think we need it to be happy. We need to find the time to do what's most important to us.

Backstory

2011-10-16T06:17:00.000-04:00

Working on her second book in a new series, Do Some Damage's Joelle Charbonneau today ponders how to work in backstory.

I commented:

Backstory works best for me when it applies to the main story, when it seems to come up naturally. I find backstory less obtrusive in the middle of the main story. At the beginning, the writer is more obviously filling in the blanks. The exception, of course, is if the second book picks up right where the first left off, but I haven't read many tightly continuous series. I prefer the kind I can pick up at any point or get back into without much fuss.

I do cut writers some slack using the same information/description in multiple books. I understand that they have to court new readers and keep returning readers engaged. And after all, if I haven't read about the series protagonist in a year or more, it helps to have a reminder how she looks, how she sees herself, and where she is in life.

Psyched Up

2011-10-13T15:53:00.002-04:00

The sixth season of USA Network's Psych premiered last night, and my coverage at Boomtron continues.

LASSITER by Paul Levine

2011-10-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

After a fourteen-year hiatus—during which he wrote for TV's JAG and penned the successful Solomon vs. Lord series of romantic comedy legal thrillers—Levine returns to Miami Dolphins linebacker-turned-tenacious defense attorney Jake Lassiter.

In Lassiter, on sale September 13, Ohio insurance investigator Amy Larkin approaches Jake, believing he was the last person to see her sister Krista before her disappearance eighteen years earlier. Jake is reluctant to tell Amy the whole truth, regretting the night he spent with Krista and what he hadn't done for her the next morning.

Lassiter is full of people keeping secrets from each other. As many secrets as he reveals, Levine keeps enough in store for a great ending. When a writer returns to a series character after such a hiatus, I look for signs of age or the writer working his way back into the character's voice. Having recently read the previous Lassiter novel, I can tell you there are no such signs in the new one. Jake is as present as ever. I hope it's not another fourteen years before we see him again.

THOR (2011)

2011-10-09T06:41:00.001-04:00

The first time I tried to watch Thor was at a cousin's house just before my road trip to Bouchercon. I fell asleep in minutes. This weekend, Thor arrived from my brother's Netflix queue, and I gave it another go.

I know Thor comes from Asgard, but I found most of the Asgard scenes unnecessary, cutting into what otherwise might have been a well-paced movie. Chris Hemsworth looked the part of Thor, and I bought into his learning humility from his time on Earth, which could have been even more meaningful if the movie didn't keep shifting back to Asgard.

Thor's opposition lacked something. The Frost Giants were your run-of-the-mill monsters/orcs/Dark Riders. Loki was more whiny than threatening, and the robot Destroyer that came closest to killing Thor was simply programmed to do so.

I did enjoy Jeremy Renner's cameo as Hawkeye. I hope the Avengers plot gives Thor something more worth hammering.

Here are my Twitter updates throughout the movie:

What? No Championship?

2011-10-08T08:26:00.000-04:00

I grew up a Yankee fan and I still am, but many of the players I grew up watching have retired: Graig Nettles, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, David Cone. I can't watch younger players the same way, so I've come to enjoy the regular season more than the postseason.

And anyone who tracked the regular season knew the Tigers had better pitching than the Yankees. Consider that our projected rotation going into the season was C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia. Burnett started well, but tailspinned for most of the year. Sabathia faltered late. Phil Hughes had a dead-arm issue most the year (Innings limits, hah). Everyone expected Colon and Garcia to tire, and they did.

Going into the playoffs, our rotation was basically Sabathia and standout rookie Ivan Nova against Detroit's proven Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, and Max Scherzer. One wrinkle, like Game 1's suspension due to rain, and the Tigers would have even more of an advantage.

No surprise at all. I am surprised the Red Sox collapsed and the Phillies lost to the Cards. It could be the Tigers' year, but I give the edge to the Texas Rangers.

In My Prime (Again)

2011-10-05T03:12:00.000-04:00

Per a personal tradition, I'm awake in the wee hours of my birthday to ponder the passage of time. There is no significance to the age I turn this year, not like 18 or 21 or 30, except it's a prime number. I don't hit another one for four years. Enough clues for you?

Everyone I've known or met has shaped my life in part. I try to recognize and encourage the best in whomever I meet, the individuality that can improve the collective good.

Presents? I'd love it if you read my work and told me what you thought, but then I'd love that any day.

Pushed for Answers

2011-10-04T15:13:00.002-04:00

I'm interviewed today at Tony Black's Pulp Pusher.

Why a Poetry Ebook? Part 2

2011-10-03T16:37:00.000-04:00

The Lineup: Poems on Crime was always well received. Unfortunately, Lulu.com's high printing and shipping costs limit the reach of our print issues, which contributed to our no longer publishing new issues. The cost to Lulu customers tops out at $12 ($7 base cost + $4 shipping + $1 sales tax) for our final, most ambitious 52-page issue. Some chapbooks printed elsewhere are also priced at $12, but how many of them sell, I wonder.

The co-editors and I had always considered ebooks of our print issues to reach as many readers as we could. It was equally important, though, that any e-conversion preserve poetic lines as written. Having finally found a way to do this, I can offer The Lineup #4 without printing cost, shipping cost, or sales tax for $2.99.

Fall 2011 Mysterical-E

2011-10-03T15:17:00.001-04:00

The Fall 2011 issue of Mysterical-E went live recently, including my TV/film column on actors going from well-known roles to brand new ones this season. Thanks as always to editor Joe DeMarco.

The Lineup #4 Ebook Now Available

2011-10-02T16:52:00.000-04:00

After eight months of research, programming, and testing, I'm proud to bring The Lineup #4 to Kindle and Nook.

Again, the ebook is formatted to preserve the integrity of the poets' original lines as written. Original lines as written begin at the normal, unindented position. If a written line does not fit on a single line of your screen, the rest of the written line will continue indented on the next line of your screen. This practice is seen in print when a poet's original line would exceed a book's required margins.

Lines as written

Same lines enlarged by e-reader

Belated/Early Birthday Present

2011-09-30T14:07:00.000-04:00

Finally decided what to get with a ThinkGeek gift certificate from last year:

Busy, Busy

2011-09-29T13:13:00.002-04:00

It's been a week between blog posts here, but on Boomtron I've been reviewing four shows a week (Hawaii Five-0, the two NCIS's, and The Big Bang Theory). I've also been prepping the ebook version of The Lineup #4, due to go on sale October 1.

Speaking of e-reading, last Sunday I returned to Nasty. Brutish. Short. with a review of "Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case" by S.J. Rozan, whose latest Lydia Chin-centered book, Ghost Hero, is just out.

Also, my weekly poetry site, The 5-2, is booked through November, and NoirCon 2012 has announced a poetry contest I had a small part in developing.

What have you been up to?

Robert Parker and the P.I.'s Sidekick

2011-09-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month I stumbled across Jochem van der Steen's interview with Max Allan Collins on the P.I. fiction blog Sons of Spade. Of particular interest were Collins's thoughts on the P.I.'s sidekick as popularized by Robert B. Parker's Hawk:

I was asked about this on a panel and said that my protagonists do their own psychotic dirty work. Parker was and is an important writer in the field, and he made it possible for other writers -- like me -- to write private eye novels when the form might otherwise have died out...he's like Spillane in that regard. But to me the Hawk character is inherently a racist conception -- the black guy who does the white guy's dirty work. And the character itself is lifted from blaxploitation movies. That this aspect of Parker's work had such an impact -- with writers as popular as Mosley and Crais imitating it -- is frankly bizarre to me.

I'm a Parker fan, and I liked Hawk when he debuted in Promised Land, but I agree with Collins that, in the course of the series, Hawk too often excuses Spenser from difficult moral choices. Without Hawk's number in his Rolodex, Spenser would have to do his own dirty work. Without Hawk, Spenser would be a stronger character, and so would Elvis Cole, Patrick Kenzie, Myron Bolitar, and so on, and so on.

At a panel last Saturday morning at Bouchercon, Robert J. Randisi said Parker's legacy was giving the P.I. novel an unexpected setting, not California or New York, but Boston, opening the door for future writers to evoke the nuances of any place they chose. I'd say the avenging sidekick is part of Parker's legacy in the negative sense.