Dana King's Page

Dana King 52, Male Laurel MD, United States: DanaKing; Share

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Writers as Entertainers - Mutually exclusive?

Added a post Sep 18

Setting for building tension, or what do you find to be creepy weather?

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Latest Activity

Dana King added the blog post 'Food Noir' Sep 29

Dana King commented on the blog post Crime Pays Sep 26

Dana King commented on the blog post Amazon Review Chart Sep 24

Dana King replied to the discussion Try again, fail again, fail better Sep 22

Dana King commented on the blog post Countdown to Bouchercon-16 days Sep 22

Dana King commented on the blog post Blurb Me! Sep 22

Dana King replied to the discussion Help with Autopsy Report? Sep 22

Profile

Hometown:: Laurel MD

About Me:: 52 years old, recovering musician, currently working for a consulting firm. (No, not music consulting; neither am I reading your email or listening to your phone calls. Unless you email me, or call me.)

I've had several short works published, and I'm a regular contributor to the New Mystery Reader web site. (www.newmysteryreader.com) I have an agent who is currently looking for a publisher for my novel.

I Am A:: Reader, Writer, Critic

Website:: http://danaking.blogspot.com

Books And Authors I Like:: Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard are the first tier. I also stay current with John Connolly, Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, and Carl Hiaasen. Lee Child, Declan Hughes, Michael Koryta, Simon Kernick, SJ Rozan, and Robert Wilson are among those who also keep me up at nights.

Favorite books that require occasional re-reading: The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; Money, Money, Money; The Frumious Bandersnatch; Basket Case; Get Shorty; Glitz; The Hot Kid; The Maltese Falcon.

Movies And TV Shows I Like:: The Wire; Deadwood; The Sopranos; The Departed; Pulp Fiction; Godfathers I and II; Goodfellas; Casino; Sunset Boulevard; Double Indemnity; Body Heat; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Animal House; Blazing Saddles. (Not everything is a mystery..

Dana King's Blog

Restaurants aren’t just snow white tablecloths and smiling hostesses. While you’re out trying to have a good time, eat a nice meal, the owner is treading a thin line between giving you what you paid for and making a profit. Sometimes they cross that line. That’s where I come in. My name’s Sundae. I’m a health inspector. It was hot the way only the Strip District can be hot. The seams in the pavement were as tacky as freshly chewed gum on the soles of my shoes. The smells of Restaurant Row were… Continue

Posted on September 29th, 2008 at 11:25am — 1 Comment (Add)

Everyone's a Critic. Or Should Be.

In addition to much appreciated writing credits, producing reviews has definitely made me a better fiction writer. Read entire post.

Posted on September 18th, 2008 at 5:23am — No Comments (Add)

The Underpants Gnomes

South Park once did a wonderful story about Underpants Gnomes. Tweak, the boys' new friend, was constantly wired on caffeine from the coffee his coffee shop-owning parents kept pumping into him. (Yes, they would do that. This is South Park we're talking about. Besides, if you read past the Underpants Gnomes premise, what's the problem with a ten-year-old caffeine addict?) Since Tweak never slept, he was awake to see the Underpants Gnomes march into his bedroom every morning at 3:30 and steal his… Continue

Posted on August 31st, 2008 at 11:54am — No Comments (Add)

A Priceless Resource

Crime fiction writers have resources available to us now our literary ancestors could not have imagined. The Internet. Citizen police academies, where writers can get a taste of police work from the inside. A couple of hundred cable channels competing to see who can show the down and dirtiest true crime stories. Another couple of hundred channels for movies, including some devoted entirely to crime flicks. TiVo and DVRs so you can watch whenever you want. NetFlix. All of these are great; we've a… Continue

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 at 10:55am — 2 Comments (Add)

One Bite at a Time

Today begins my new blog, One Bite at a Time. Credit for the title goes to my beloved Spousal Equivalent, who gave me the best writing advice I ever received, and I've received a lot of good writing advice. (The doldrums in which my "career" currently resides are due entirely to my own failings; I have been singularly fortunate in getting the attention and good advice of many.) One day a few years ago, The Spousal Equivalent caught me whining about how discouraging it was to know I had probably… Continue

Posted on August 18th, 2008 at 4:00am — 2 Comments (Add)

Comment Wall (37 comments)

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At 1:25am on August 20th, 2008, Alafair Burke said…: No can do, either to the 15 posts a week or summarizing my own week's work. I'm at max capacity on this online stuff as it is.

At 7:17am on August 19th, 2008, Alafair Burke said…: Thanks for letting me know. I did the cut and paste last year during book tour, but now with this, myspace, facebook, the website...no way. So the home site it is. Take care (and thanks for the nice words about JLB)

At 10:49pm on July 22nd, 2008, Cynthia Rice said…: Dana - Could you share the web address for The Psycholopathology of Everyday Life. It caught my interest and I can't locate it on line. Thanks.
Cynthia Rice

At 6:01am on May 30th, 2008, Jeannie Holmes said…: Thanks for the kind words. I'm super excited about the whole prospect. :-)

At 11:27am on May 6th, 2008, Doug M. Cummings said…: Crais and Child are phenomenal. By the way, I have friends down around Woodridge and used to cover a bunch of stories out that way.

At 11:20pm on May 1st, 2008, carole gill said…: okie dokie! so glad for you! sounds more than encouraging. Keep on writing--I'm sure you will be busy all summer. All the best to you Dana!

At 4:27pm on May 1st, 2008, carole gill said…: you so made my day, Dana! No I hadn't seen that. I never dreamt anybody would really look at my page anyway--you know outside of Crimespace. But when I have a tough day, I just lose myself in the world I created there. btw how are you? Guess what?! I'm a third into my second draft. won't say anything else. too superstitious. will keep you posted!

At 1:01am on April 14th, 2008, Libby Hellmann said…: Hi, Dana. Thanks so much for your comments. As I have said, CHICAGO BLUES will always be one of those "golden experiences" for me. Everything came together... the stories, the publishing, the marketing.. it was all so simple and easy that I suspect it was meant to be.
Let me know the next time you're in our fair city for more than an hour. It was wonderful to meet you in person.

At 4:07am on March 13th, 2008, Christopher Valen said…: Dana,
It's hard to believe Dubya could be smarter than Spitzer:) Then again, he has a lot of people covering for him.
Chris

At 11:17pm on March 3rd, 2008, John McFetridge said…: Dana, you should never listen to me.

But, weirdly, I also have a story up this month with a returning vet - also a wheeler-dealer type vet, just returning from a different war to a different country - it's on demolitionmag.com