Zap2it.com: Pilots: O'Mara Is ABC's 'Marlowe'

Zap2it.com relays word that Irish actor Jason O'Mara will play ABC's present-day Philip Marlowe. I'm still wary of the time shift, but I liked O'Mara's portrayal of American investigator Charles Conti on last season's In Justice.

Zap2it.com: Harris Reunites with 'Harold & Kumar'

Where would Neil Patrick Harris be today if it weren't for a little movie called "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle"?

Harris, who turned in a brilliantly crazed career-energizing self-parody in the stoner comedy, has signed on to appear in the sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Jump to article...

New Blogger Tips

As the switch to the New Blogger becomes mandatory, several of my friends are switching their blogs, but few are using New Blogger's custom layout. The custom layout automatically lists and counts all your labeled posts, making it easier to find that post on Yoda's grooming habits from 2003. If you use Labels with a classic Blogger template, you will have to make links to your labels yourself and only the first twenty labeled posts will appear, with no way to get to the rest. This is why you should really use the custom layout.

When I switched last weekend, I was back to a 2-column layout and all the links under my old umbrella heading "Work Online" were wiped out because I listed each piece's date of publication as normal text followed by a link to the piece itself. To make a mixed text-and-link list in the New Blogger, you need to select "HTML/Javascript" from the "Page Elements" tab under "Template". From there, you can enter whatever HTML you like in the space provided. (This is how I put the Thrilling Detective Support button back on my blog after I switched. You'd do the same for stat trackers, counters, etc.) If you're making a relatively simple link list, though, I recommend you select the "Link List" page element. It lets you organize your links with a few clicks as opposed to the ol' cut-and-paste method.

From the same "Page Elements" tab, you'll be able to see where each element (link list, profile, blog archive, etc.) will appear, and each element can be placed, dragged, and dropped wherever you like. Also, link lists and other created content are saved separately from the look of your page, so you can switch from Douglas Bowman's Minima to Dan Cederholm's Tic-Tac without having to redo your links.

I was able to restore my 3-column layout thanks to Beautiful Beta.

New Blogger's custom layout. Try it, you'll like it.

Coming to DVD: NCIS Season 3

Below is a shot of the cover art for NCIS Season 3, due April 24. One question: Why is everyone wearing formal attire?

Just Ordered

The Casino Royale 2-Disc Special Edition will be released March 13, but you can pre-order it at Amazon for $15.99, which, along with Norah Jones's new CD for $9.99, worked out to free shipping for me.

Zap2it.com: Pilots: Janssen on the Beat at NBC

Famke Janssen has signed on to an NBC pilot from "House" creator David Shore, in what would be her first starring role in a TV series.

The "X-Men" star will play a police officer in the untitled show. NBC has also cast Rocky Carroll ("Chicago Hope") in its comedy "The IT Crowd," and ABC has ordered a comedy pilot from British writer Victoria Pile ("Smack the Pony"), the showbiz trade papers report.

The Janssen pilot places her character at the center of a group of cops. Shore co-wrote the pilot with fellow "House" scribe Peter Blake, and like that show, the pilot will mix procedural stories with ongoing character development.

Jump to article...

Before Goldeneye, before X-Men, I was a Famke fan starting with Model by Day.

Naked Knuckle Folds

Editor Greg Edwards is folding his great little poetry zine to focus on his burgeoning music promotion business, Off The Air. I regret that my work never appeared in Naked Knuckle, but I always appreciated the challenge and encouragement Greg offered. Best of luck.

McConaughey, P.I.

On Tom Selleck's 62nd birthday I'm glancing at this graphic from EW.com's Popwatch Blog, and McConaughey (left) seems a decent rumored choice to play Magnum. I doubt the rumor because of its casting similarities to Sahara.

John Forsythe

As famous for his voice as for his face, Forsythe turns 89 today.

Lots of Stasis Before the Play

Yesterday my brother used $140 in gift cards to defray the cost of a Sony PlayStation 3 in advance of the Final Fantasy and Virtua Fighter games due out in February.

Physically connecting the machine was a snap compared to the 90 minutes reading onscreen instructions to establish its Internet presence, and 30 more minutes spent downloading a Gran Tourismo game.

After all that, I'm told the game looked awesome. I'm not eagle-eyed enough to enjoy High Definition. Sure, I might notice the difference if I watched Standard and High side-by-side, but who does that?

My first comment about the PS3: "It looks like a George Foreman grill."

Worlds Colliding

Sci Fi Channel's new series The Dresden Files has me interested in the source material by Jim Butcher. I thought last week's premiere was decent. I probably would have been more "nerd-furious" had I read the books first (Joe Mantegna as Spenser?!), but there's something to be said for enjoying an adaptation in itself. I was glad for the chance to watch the Dresden show with no preconceptions.

In fact, I can enjoy adaptations even after I'm aware of changes made from their sources. I have trouble following both an adaptation and its ongoing source at once. I'd prefer a source to finish before adaptations are attempted, but that's not the way to make money.

So it's a blessing that I never bought a Star Wars or Star Trek tie-in while enjoying the original series and movies, that I read Robert Parker's Spenser books with no memory of Spenser: For Hire, and that I have no interest in Kathy Reichs's books while watching FOX's Bones.

On the other hand, I enjoy USA's Monk and Lee Goldberg's tie-ins at once because Goldberg has written for the show. The Monk of the books is not exactly the Monk on TV. I don't think he can or should be, but he's close enough for me. Review of Mr. Monk and The Blue Flu coming in a week or two.

More at Crimespree Cinema

This morning Jeremy Lynch posted my DVD review of NCIS Season 2.

Thought for the Day

There should be more gunmen in versus-fighting games.

Getting the hang of this

I've implemented the New Blogger's custom layout to take full advantage of things like the labeling feature and comment feeds.

I was able to retain a 3-column layout thanks to Beautiful Beta.

Links under the old umbrella heading "Work Online" weren't picked up by the New Blogger. Since my profile explains my work as Thrilling Fiction Editor and discussion moderator, I've removed the "Fiction Editor" and "Moderator" headings,

My online fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are now under proper Blogger headings of their own. Everything else is more or less the same.

"More Than Anything"

Up a few days early is the February issue of The Orange Room Review, featuring my poem "More Than Anything." Thanks again to editors Corey and Rachael Cook.

Coming to ken*again

Editor John Delin has accepted my poems "Seedlings" and "Stars" for the Spring 2007 of ken*again.

So glad we made it.

The Spencer Davis Group is playing in my head as at last Blogger allowed me to upgrade this blog and Chatterrific to the new version. And I didn't have to delete any more posts to do it. Gimme, gimme some bloggin', ev-ery day.

Bones Jones

Bones resumes its second season next week. In the meantime Crimespree's Jeremy Lynch has posted my DVD review of Bones: Season One.

"Call Me Cupid"

Regular readers of this blog know I'm no fan of Valentine's Day. (See here, here, and here.) However, Aldo Calcagno's call for Valentine's stories at Powder Burn Flash and Graham Powell's request to be fictionally killed have culminated in my latest piece, "Call Me Cupid".

Thanks to Aldo, Graham, and all the girls I've loved before.

Why can't you be more like...

Blogging on The Outfit, Sean Chercover writes:

[L]ast week I was doing an interview and the reporter said, “I loved [Big City, Bad Blood], but I really didn’t like your protagonist, Ray Dudgeon. He’s not a very nice guy. Couldn’t you have made him more likable?”

Good question.

And one to which I didn’t really have a good answer. Perhaps I could’ve made Ray a nicer guy, but I would’ve been creating a different character, and writing a different book.

Ray’s an idealist living in a corrupt world, and he’s got a lot of anger. He's psychologically damaged, but he’s no sociopath. I don’t approve of all the things he does, and I don’t expect that most readers will, either. But he interests me. He’s not a bad man (most of the time) and he’s trying to become a better man. He’s just not very good at it. There’s a lot of room for him to grow, in future books, and I'm rooting for him.

I commented:

In hardboiled crime fiction I want to see just how a cynical, gritty world affects the protagonist. Such a world is bound to wear down the most idealistic character. If it doesn't, it's not quite real to me. If external conflict doesn't cause internal conflict, I lose interest.

Then again, series protags who go through hell in every book, constantly conflicted and brooding, don't seem real to me either. The greater the range of emotions a character can show, the better.

Black Orchid's Winter Carnival of Crime

Just back from Black Orchid Bookshop's Second Winter Carnival of Crime, featuring past and present members of the Mystery Writers of America. I actually arrived an hour early and chatted with Russell Atwood and Margery Flax about the aforementioned Edgar noms. Talk turned to the CIA movie The Good Shepherd, easily confused with Joseph Kanon's The Good German. I said someone should write a book called The German Shepherd... . Maybe you had to be there.

Just after 6:00 the authors poured in, filling the shop to standing room-only. Reed Farrel Coleman, a.k.a. Tony Spinosa signed my copy of Hose Monkey and we chatted about the YouTube trailer for his next Moe Prager book, Soul Patch.

I met Lee Goldberg, who signed my copy of Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, "To Gerald, a fellow Parker fan. I love your blog!" I also met DetecToday chat regular Harry Hunsicker and his wife Alison for the first time. Great to finally put faces and voices to names.

Crime fiction's preeminent photographer Mary Reagan was there and still I haven't had my picture taken by her. I'm way behind this guy on that score.

Another reason I attended was to exchange Christmas presents with my friend Deshant. Then leaving Black Orchid, we walked down to Nell's Coffee Shop where I had turkey on rye with a side of fries, an excellent way to wrap things up.

Thanks to Black Orchid owners Bonnie and Joe, gracious hosts as always.

Looking to the 2007 Edgars

Sarah Weinman has blogged the 2007 MWA Edgar Award Nominees. Here are the categories I'm watching:

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Goodbye Kiss by Massimo Carlotto (Europa Editions)
The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
Snakeskin Shamisen by Naomi Hirahara (Bantam Dell Publishing – Delta Books)
The Deep Blue Alibi by Paul Levine (Bantam Dell Publishing – Bantam Books)
City of Tiny Lights by Patrick Neate (Penguin Group – Riverhead Books)

I've blogged about Paul Levine's writing often. It's that good.


BEST SHORT STORY

"The Home Front" – Death Do Us Part by Charles Ardai (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
"Rain" – Manhattan Noir by Thomas H. Cook (Akashic Books)
"Cranked" – Damn Near Dead by Bill Crider (Busted Flush Press)
"Building" – Manhattan Noir by S.J. Rozan (Akashic Books)

Three fine writer friends in this category. Good luck, all.


BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

The Closer – "Blue Blood", Teleplay by James Duff & Mike Berchem (Turner Network Television)
Dexter – "Crocodile", Teleplay by Clyde Phillips (Showtime)
House – "Clueless", Teleplay by Thomas L. Moran (Fox/NBC Universal)
Life on Mars – Episode 1, Teleplay by Matthew Graham (BBC America)
Monk – "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", Teleplay by Hy Conrad (USA Network/NBC Universal)

Has House gotten an Edgar nom in the past? If not, it's about time.


BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY

Casino Royale, Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Paul Haggis, based on novel by Ian Fleming (MGM)
Children of Men, Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, based on a novel by P.D. James (Universal Pictures
The Departed, Screenplay by William Monahan (Warner Bros. Pictures)
The Good Shepherd, Teleplay by Eric Roth (Universal Pictures)
Notes on a Scandal, Screenplay by Patrick Marber (Scott Rudin Productions)

The screenplay that made Bond Bond again. 'Nuff said.

TV Last Night

On Smallville, tech billionaire Oliver Queen convenes a team of heroes to take down Lex Luthor's secret lab. The episode written by Steven S. DeKnight features the first references to Bart Allen as Impulse and Arthur Curry as Aquaman, supposedly codenames assigned by Green Arrow. Clark's codename? Boy Scout.

Overall it was an interesting take on JLA lore with Chloe keeping an eye on things from Oliver's loft, codenamed Watchtower. Compelled to join the rest of the team taking on similar Luthor labs around the world, Ollie is forced to end his romance with Lois.

On CSI, Liev Schreiber came aboard as Mike Keppler, an enigmatic investigator from back east. In the first episode of any CSI I've watched all through, Keppler helps the team discover a kindly-looking killer dentist.

And on Shark, Sebastian matches wits with an audacious genius serial killer (Billy Campbell) who not only represents himself in court, but actually kills the key witness against him to beat multiple murder charges on a technicality.

Who else remembers Billy Campbell as P.I. Walter Tatum on Moon Over Miami? That show deserved a better fate.

Process. There is no substitute.

The entry title paraphrasing Joel Goodson from Risky Business continues a look at why I write. As I mentioned Monday, when an 8th grade classmate had a book published in the school library, I realized I wanted to write and be published.

Many people are happy just reading. Some people are thrilled to be mentioned in the front or back matter. Others get a kick out of having characters named after them in someone else's books. Still others are content to hold up self-published books. Me? I'm not fully satisfied until I write it, an editor reads and accepts it, and it is widely published.

BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD by Sean Chercover

In the opening pages of Chercover's debut novel, former Chicago reporter-turned-P.I. Ray Dudgeon takes a beating on his way to a date with the woman he just might love. Shocked to see Dudgeon in such a state, his girlfriend, a nurse, breaks up with him. This was my first clue that Dudgeon was not the impervious hero in an incongruous relationship that has grown common to private eye fiction.

Hired to protect one victim of a building scam when the other tenants start dying, Dudgeon finds himself in Outfit territory, but before pursuing his mobbed-up suspect, he asks permission from the suspect's superior. It turns out Dudgeon has stumbled upon a brewing Outfit mutiny, and when members of the same family can't trust each other, who can be trusted?

Sean Chercover's bio is full of varied skills, from P.I. to magician to scuba diver, and he blends many of these credibly into the novel. Because Dudgeon himself is very real from the start, his actions and reactions seem real. His sense of virtue is not some jock ethic or courtly code adopted for kicks; it was instead ingrained in him as a journalist. When things get bloody, Dudgeon seems to care more about the truth's survival than about his own. Gotta respect that.

I look forward to more.

24 with William Shatner

I have no video of this and don't know if anyone has thought of it, but watching Charlie Rose interview Kiefer the other day, I thought he looked and sounded enough like Bill. Comment with your 24 scenario or dialogue starring Shatner.

Tonight on Jeopardy: State Names

Lots of people must wear glasses in this state; it's the only one with four I's.

One contestant asked, "What is Hawaii?"

The Denver syntax

...is a cool e-zine of fiction, essays, poetry, and art. Issue 10 features my poems, "Christmas Snapshot" and "Trash Day - Two Falls, Texas".

Thanks again to Jonathan Bitz, Suzi Q. Smith, and the syntax staff.

Where are They Now?

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I remember someone else born January 15. I didn't commit to writing until the eighth grade, when a classmate had a book published in the school library, but my imagination was first sparked by my sixth-grade homeroom teacher. Yes, she was twenty-six and super-hot, but she also taught English, assigning a journal as one of our projects. She was a Hofstra alum, so I decided to attend Hofstra.

She got married that summer, inviting the class to her wedding. I practiced self-denial and did not attend.

Today, she leads Toddler Time at her local library: "Stories, rhymes, songs & crafts. (Children must be accompanied by an adult.)"

Happy birthday. I hope I've made you proud.

Living Vicariously Again

One of my favorite poems, "Living Vicariously Through Luggage", will be reprinted in the premiere issue of Poetry:stet along with a new poem, "Never Joined a Choir". Thanks to editor Dawn Mungovan.

"Solomon & Lord Sink or Swim" by Paul Levine

UPDATE: Originally published as "Solomon & Lord Drop Anchor" in Akashic Books' Miami Noir (2006), this story is now available as an Amazon Kindle standalone, along with all Solomon vs. Lord novels—SOLOMON VS. LORD, THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI, KILL ALL THE LAWYERS, and HABEAS PORPOISE.

The story opens with Steve Solomon trying to convince Victoria Lord that he's going out on Manuel Cruz's boat, Wet Dream, for a simple business meeting. Victoria knows that Cruz slowly bilked Steve's benefactor, Teresa Toraño of $3 million. The law hasn't been able to touch Cruz so far, and Solomon's Law No. 1 is "If the law doesn't work, work the law."

Intending to force Cruz to tell him where the money is, Steve wants to leave Victoria on the dock, but at the last minute she hustles aboard. Like Levine's Solomon vs. Lord novels, this story highlights how Steve and Victoria complement each other. There's a desperate side to Steve that he likely would've acted on were Victoria not present. Victoria also provides the means by which they elicit Cruz's confession.

Tonight's Smallville: "Form of...water!"

Thanks to those wacky meteors, Daily Planet gossip columnist Linda Lake (Tori Spelling) can turn into water. What better way to get the scoop? And so she does, first breaking the news that Lana is torn between lingering feelings for Clark and Lex's marriage proposal, then learning that Clark is an alien. Is a head-on collision with Lana's SUV enough to finish her?

Meanwhile, Lois enlists Jimmy and Clark's help to unmask the Green Arrow, but when she fakes a mugging, Oliver and the Arrow appear side by side. There were other clues, but I didn't realize until Lois kissed the Arrow that it was Clark in disguise. That's gold!

The episode had a lot of great moments, charged dialogue, and almost no lulls. Kudos to writers Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson and director Tom Welling.

"Let there be blog."

Here it is mid-January and I'm over the giddyness of a new year. For the past week my work has felt like work. I've felt more clumsy than clever, but that's how it is sometimes, especially at the beginning of things.

So it was on this anonymous mid-January day three years ago I started this blog. While I'm doing some housecleaning around here, I hope what I keep is a better representation of me. If so, the blog continues to grow.

Return of the House

I watched the hopefully final episode of the House vs. Tritter arc, in which House finally apologizes to Tritter, Tritter rejects his apology, and we learn House's rehab attendant has been slipping him Vicodin the whole time. Oh, that House. Did we really need to drag this out for six episodes?

The Blog Workout

I've been deleting old posts in the hopes Blogger will let me upgrade sooner. Targeted for deletion are outdated template notes ("I've added a tagline, Haloscan comments, etc."), outdated gossip ("Ashton and Demi Tie the Knot", "Katie Holmes Dating Tom Cruise"), movie buzz that didn't pan out ("Beyonce as Lois Lane?", "Eric Bana Playing Bond?"), and past celebrity birthdays ("Cindy Crawford turns 38."). If this doesn't allow me to upgrade sooner, it's still nice to trim some of the fat and reduce my blog-publishing time.

UPDATE (01/09/07): I didn't think I'd make it, but I've cut back to under 2000 posts. Of course, Blogger still won't let me upgrade... In any case, I have a new understanding of how much celebrity gossip I had blogged and how seldom people commented on it. I don't care as much as it seems what celebrities do. Chalk the gossip up to impulse-blogging. I did not intend, for example, to preserve rumors of Jessica Simpson dating John Mayer for years.

A blog is not a toy.
A blog is not a toy.
A blog is not a toy...

From the man who brought you THIN AIR and POTSHOT...

As posted to his Amazon blog today, Robert B. Parker's next Sunny Randall book is titled Spare Change (Sea Change, what?) and his next Spenser book is Now and Then.

Excuse me, but yawn.

What really gets me is I'll be reading Now and Then as I've read every Spenser book regardless of title, and a few months later its plot will blend with the rest of the Spensers since A Catskill Eagle.

Victor Gischler's Blogpocalypse

Gischler officially joins the blogosphere!

2006 Thrillies Ballot

Here are my responses to Thrilling Detective's annual poll of the best in P.I. fiction:

BEST P.I. BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2006:

A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton

BEST P.I. BOOK READ IN 2006:

The Barbed-Wire Kiss by Wallace Stroby

BEST NEW P.I., ANY MEDIUM:

Shawn Spencer of USA Network's Psych

BEST P.I. FILM/TV SHOW PREMIERED IN 2006:

Psych

WHAT THEY SHOULD BE THINKING
P.I. TV Shows and Movies That SHOULD Be on DVD

Spenser: For Hire, Vengeance Unlimited

BEST MYSTERY MAG, WEB SITE, E-ZINE, LIST-SERV, BLOG or NEWSGROUP (Besides Your Own):

CrimeSpot.net, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, James O. Born's Amazon Blog

WISDOM OF THE AGES
The Best Thing I Ever Learned from a P.I. Novel Was...

Never use a fist when a verbal jab will do.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
What Gives You Hope for the Future

All the talented people I've worked with and met as Thrilling Fiction Editor and DetecToday moderator.

The April 2007 release of Payback: Straight Up, Brian Helgeland's director's cut.

NO FUTURE, NO FUTURE
Most Depressing P.I. Trend

Anytime a P.I. is portrayed as a crass snoop or walking cliche, moreso in movies and TV I've seen than books (e.g. Matt Dillon as Pat Healy in There's Something About Mary)

THE "THAT''S MORE LIKE IT" AWARD
Best Cover Art

St. Martin's cover for The Blonde

SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU
We'll Miss Them...

Darren McGavin, Dennis Weaver, Jack Palance

Thrilling New Deadline

As mentioned, Kevin Burton Smith is in the midst of posting the Holiday issue of Thrilling Detective. In the meantime, the fiction submission deadline for the Spring 2007 issue is February 14, 2007.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at the address in the left sidebar.

Danica McKellar as a Soccer Mom

The onetime Winnie Cooper (32 today) has graduated to writing, producing, and starring in mystery movies on the Lifetime Movie Network. In the Inspector Mom series, McKellar plays investigative reporter and mom Maddie Monroe.

If I had a digital cable box or Flash Player 8, I'd be watching.

AP: Lucas: Filming `Indiana Jones 4' in 2007

By ALICIA CHANG, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 29, 5:10 PM ET

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - George Lucas said Friday that filming of the long-awaited "Indiana Jones" movie will begin next year.

Harrison Ford, who appeared in the three earlier flicks, the last one coming in 1989, is set to star again.

Lucas said he and Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script for the film.

Jump to article...

Can it be true? Dave White alerts me to more detail from Dark Horizons.

A Fine Chap

I'm about to start picking poems for an entry to the Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contest (deadline: January 31, 2007).

UPDATE (01/03/06 7:12 AM): Just tucked my manuscript into the mailbox.

You will travel far, my little parcel...

Spare Time

I've spent most of my New Year's Eves at home, usually asleep when the ball drops. While I enjoy clean slates, new leaves, and similar symbols, the actual ticking down/up to midnight on January 1st does not excite me. I know the ticking itself is a symbol, but with so many clocks, watches, and cell phones around, it's the weakest of metaphors.

I used to have a clock on my radio, my CD player (also a radio), my VCR, and my computer. Does anyone need that many reminders in one room?

My New Year's message: Whenever possible, switch off that targeting computer and use the Force, Luke. Unlearn what you have learned.

You'll at least save the time spent checking all those clocks, not to mention setting them for Standard and Daylight-Saving Time.