"Pain shouldn't be this fun."

...reads the title of Shawn Robertson's Amazon review for my poetry ebook, We Might Have. Shawn runs the text-and-audio fiction website Tales of Old, and is on Twitter @TalesOfOld. Thanks very much, Shawn.

@g_so I loved "We Might Have." Poems about pain should not be that fun! B&N site would not let me review, but I put one on Amazon.

— Shawn Robertson (@TalesofOld) August 30, 2012

#verseday Lunch

#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.

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 lunch.

Write a poem about a specific lunch or lunch in general by noon Friday, August 31.

Coming in October: The 5-2 Volume One Ebook

Fifty-two poems by fourty-four poets, $3.99 for Kindle and Nook.

Featuring poems by Nyla Alisia, R.A. Allen, Margaret Anderson, Michael A. Arnzen, Randall Avilez, Jack Bates, Alec Cizak, Robert Cooperman, Ray Daniel, Michael Chacko Daniels, Cassandra de Alba, C.J. Edwards, John M. Floyd, Kent Gowran, Bruce Harris, Clarinda Harriss, Chad Haskins, Kathleen Hellen, Kyle Hemmings, Paul Hostovsky, Peter Ivey, Dorothy James, Tonia Kalouria, Susan Kelley, Ian Khadan, Rauan Klassnik, Lola Koundakjian, Dennis Mahagin, Catfish McDaris, Trevor Nelson, Brett Peruzzi, Thomas Pluck, David S. Pointer, Kimberly Poitevin, William Dylan Powell, Charles Rammelkamp, Keith Rawson, Stephen D. Rogers, Nancy Scott, Jackie Sheeler, Hal Sirowitz, Duane Spurlock, Jay Stringer, Ray Succre.

At The 5-2: "Sheriff Andy Taylor" by David S. Pointer

Like all his fans, I was saddened by Andy Griffith's passing. David S. Pointer incorporated Griffith's beloved character, Sheriff Andy Taylor, into this week's 5-2 poem. Enjoy.

With next week's poem, The 5-2 wraps up its first year. I am now working on the Volume One ebook collection, fifty-two poems by forty-four poets, that will sell for $3.99 on Kindle and Nook.

Meanwhile, The 5-2's second year is booked through October 2012. Submit today.

#verseday Overseas

#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.

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, August 16. My topic this week is overseas travel.

Write a poem involving overseas or your idea of overseas travel by noon Friday, August 24.

Same Blog, Different Name

Yes, I figured I'd switch from "If you want to know about my life...", a catchphrase I used in college, to something that would grab anyone scanning a blogroll. How'd I do?

At The 5-2: "Broken Sestina for Mary Bell" by Cassandra de Alba

Cassandra, a Massachusetts-based slam poet, brings us a poem about child killer Mary Bell.

THE LONELY SILVER RAIN by John D. MacDonald

I've read several of MacDonald's Travis McGee books, but never this final one until now. I felt like reading it after learning that Robert B. Parker's Cole and Hitch would be continued by actor/screenwriter Robert Knott. I support the continuation plans, but they also remind me that no two authors have the same intangibles. Parker wasn't the first mystery writer I read, but his eloquent, clean prose overshadowed everyone I read after him, John D. included.

I've been an email list moderator for thirteen years and, in that time, have tried to read widely and see writers' strengths and weaknesses. Even so, only now, two years after Parker's passing, do I realize to what extent he colored my opinions of other writing. As flattered as I'd be if someone likened my writing to Parker's or MacDonald's, I want to be appreciated for my intangibles.

Ready to see MacDonald in his own light, I chose The Lonely Silver Rain because I have a soft spot for first and last books. Writers put the most on the line with the first book; it's the one that sells the rest. It's pretty to think writers put the same into a series' last book, but most writers don't know they're writing a last book as they're writing it. In MacDonald's case, there's plenty to suggest he might have known.

Tracking down a friend's stolen yacht, McGee comes across the aftermath of three brutal murders and vows to bring the killer or killers to justice. A couple of close calls and encounters with recurring characters dying from cancer give him plenty of time to ponder, if not his own mortality, when he might give up his crusading lifestyle. The book is a satisfying last adventure in print, but its ending lets readers imagine more, the best of both worlds.

Melky Cabrera

Former Yankee outfielder Melky Cabrera, a member of the 2009 championship team, was suspended fifty games yesterday, having tested positive for elevated testosterone. Melky was among the league leaders in hits this season with a .346 average and was named MVP of the All-Star game. As a Yankee, Melky was a streaky hitter, his strong defense not making up for his inconsistent offense. As glad as I was to see him succeed, I was also suspicious.

I'm suspicious of all athletes today, and I feel terrible about it. I want to enjoy sports at face value. I want to believe people are doing their best and succeeding naturally. But the sad fact is, as long as major money is involved, professional athletes will do anything to get an edge.

I would only be shocked anymore to hear Derek Jeter were on PEDs. Now 38 years old, Derek is also among the league leaders in hits this season, after having batted .270 with his second-lowest season hit total in 2010. Derek is not only a Yankee, but also symbolizes everything good about sports and how to carry oneself on and off the field. In his case, I hope image is reality.

#verseday Sixteen

#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.

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, August 16. My topic this week is sixteen.

Write a poem involving the number sixteen (16 lines long, the age sixteen, etc.) by noon Friday, August 17.

JESSE STONE: BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

My DVD review of CBS's last Jesse Stone movie has posted to Crimespree Magazine's blog.

At The 5-2: Rauan Klassnik

This week, an untitled prose poem.

Visit Rauan Klassnik's blog.

Robert B. Parker's Cole and Hitch To Be Continued

Shortly before Ace Atkins's Spenser continuation novel, Lullaby, was released, I asked Mel Farman of the Parker estate if there were plans to continue Parker's Western series starring Marshal Virgil Cole and his friend Everett Hitch. Mel said yes, and they were exploring continuing Sunny Randall as well.

I saw a post on the Robert B. Parker Facebook page from last Thursday that news of the Cole and Hitch continuation novel, Ironhorse, was coming soon. I went on to find Ironhorse's information page at Penguin Putnam. Written by Robert Knott, who co-wrote and produced the Ed Harris movie adaptation of Parker's Appaloosa, Iron Horse will be published January 8, 2013.

#versday Midnight Snacks

#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.

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, August 9. My topic this week is midnight snacks.

Write a poem about a midnight snack by noon Friday, August 10.

At The 5-2: "Lift Her to the Witnesses" by Kathleen Hellen

This week, a poem of how bystanders might react to an emergency:




I'm reminded of Reed Farrel Coleman's poem, "The Dying Man", which originally appeared in The Lineup #2:

Partners & Crime Closing September 20

Getting into mystery fiction in 1993, I first visited Partners & Crime in Greenwich Village in 1998, the only time I met Robert B. Parker. Becoming friendly with co-owner Maggie Griffin and then-employee Sarah Weinman, I also had the pleasure of meeting Robert Crais, Lawrence Block, S.J. Rozan, Lee Child, George Pelecanos, Jack Bludis, Reed Farrel Coleman, Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Alexander McCall Smith, and Joseph Wallace at Partners.

I wish I'd made it to more events, of course, but each one I did make remains clear and special to me.

#verseday England

#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.

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, August 2. My topic this week is England.

Write a poem about England by noon Friday, August 3.