Dana King's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T13:13:53ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKinghttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60988021?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=DanaKing&xn_auth=noWriting as a Careertag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-08-01:537324:BlogPost:3948682014-08-01T15:50:41.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<div>The recurring topic of making a living as a writer has bubbled up in several locations over the past couple of weeks, prompting occasionally heated discussions in social media. Not that anyone cares what I think—nor am I saying you <i>should</i> care; this might all be a waste of valuable time you could have spent watching the Reince Preibus viral porn video—but a thought came to mind, and what are blogs for except as places for writers to vomit up thoughts?</div>
<div>The gist of these…</div>
<div>The recurring topic of making a living as a writer has bubbled up in several locations over the past couple of weeks, prompting occasionally heated discussions in social media. Not that anyone cares what I think—nor am I saying you <i>should</i> care; this might all be a waste of valuable time you could have spent watching the Reince Preibus viral porn video—but a thought came to mind, and what are blogs for except as places for writers to vomit up thoughts?</div>
<div>The gist of these articles is that it’s hard to make a decent living as a writer of any kind, and getting harder. To which I say: get over it. That’s probably as it should be.</div>
<div>No one is owed a career in their chosen profession, be it writing, music, dance, sports, database management, accounting, law, space flight, or medicine. (Though it is sincerely to be hoped The Sole Heir’s medical ambitions come to fruition, as I’m getting old and some free medical advice will come in handy.) It’s a tough world, and jobs doing what people may consider to be fun are even harder, because everyone who suspects they have an iota of talent in that direction wants to do it.</div>
<div>The hard truth is, the world does not need more writers. If authors stopped writing tomorrow, life would go on pretty much as it does now. People who love to read would have no shortage of books to enjoy. More books have already been published than humankind as a species will ever have time to read. Readers will miss their preferred authors for a while, but they’ll find someone else, and will always have the pleasure or re-reading favorites.</div>
<div>This is not to say new literature is not important; it is. What it isn’t, is necessary. Air, water, food, and shelter are necessary; everything else falls into the category of “nice to have.” The point is, more people want to be writers than can be accommodated economically; this has always been true. It’s funny how freshly-minted authors seem to have forgetten the traditional notion of the starving writer working in an unheated garret.</div>
<div>No one makes us write. If the economic prospects seem overly daunting to you, find another line of work and write in your spare time. What’s that? Speak up. Oh. “I couldn’t not write. The desire consumes my soul and I could never be happy doing anything that steals time from my Muse.” Then shut the fuck up and write. Whining steals time from the Muse, as well.</div>
<div>There’s another thing to consider, the hoary axiom to “be careful what you ask for.” Doing something you love for a living is not at all the same as doing it for the love of it. I tried to build a career as a musician into my mid-thirties before I accepted reality. I returned to play in a community band about ten years later, and couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed playing so much, even though my skills had atrophied. Playing had been satisfying, even rewarding at times, but not fun. It wears on one to be told when to play, what to play, how to play it, what to wear, which door to use, and to be a sideshow to the main event when you’ve dedicated your life to doing it. Sucks the joy right out of it.</div>
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<div>So here’s my advice if you know anyone who’s thinking of becoming a writer, musician, dancer, athlete, or any number of other highly competitive professions: talk them out of it. If you succeed, they had no chance. If they do it anyway, they may likely still fall short, but they knew the risks and gave it their best shot. Both your consciences will be clear.</div>Free Kindle Books Through June 29tag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-06-25:537324:BlogPost:3928702014-06-25T18:54:38.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>Starting today, all of my Kindle e-books will be free on Amazon through Sunday, June 29. Included are:</p>
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<p><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Small-Sacrifice-Nominated-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00E79UL1S/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403531412&sr=1-3&keywords=dana+king">A Small Sacrifice</a></i>. Nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Indie PI Novel, it’s the story of Chicago investigator Nick Forte, who is asked to clear the name of a man who has been…</p>
<p>Starting today, all of my Kindle e-books will be free on Amazon through Sunday, June 29. Included are:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Small-Sacrifice-Nominated-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00E79UL1S/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403531412&sr=1-3&keywords=dana+king">A Small Sacrifice</a></i>. Nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Indie PI Novel, it’s the story of Chicago investigator Nick Forte, who is asked to clear the name of a man who has been publicly vilified as the murderer of his young son. Forte learns, while Doug Mitchell might not be guilty, he’s no innocent, and the circumstances place Forte and his family in jeopardy.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grind-Joint-Penns-River-Novel-ebook/dp/B00IT6VH3G/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403531412&sr=1-4&keywords=dana+king"><i>Grind Joint</i></a>. Named by The LA Review of Books as one of the fifteen best noir reads of 2013, <i>Grind Joint</i> is the story of what happens in a small, economically depressed Pennsylvania town when someone gets the bright idea of solving their financial woes by building a low-roller casino. The local cops find themselves up against more than they bargained for when the Russian mob takes an interest. <i>A Small Sacrifice’</i>s Nick Forte plays a supporting but pivotal role.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Enemies-Penns-River-Novel-ebook/dp/B007F4227I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403531412&sr=1-1&keywords=dana+king"><i>Worst Enemies</i></a>. The first of the Penns River books, the story of what can happen when someone takes the scenario of <i>Strangers on a Train</i> way too seriously. Detectives Ben Dougherty and Willie Grabek have to solve two murders organized by a person who is close to both victims, yet operates at some distance.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Bill-Dana-King-ebook/dp/B005IHWHOW/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403531412&sr=1-5&keywords=dana+king"><i>Wild Bill</i></a>. A standalone tale of FBI Special Agent Willard “Wild Bill” Hickox, who’s ready to retire but wants to put the cherry on his career by bringing down Chicago’s Number One crime boss. When a gang war re-arranges all the players, Will must choose between duty, experience, and a combination of the two if he is to ride off into the sunset as planned.</p>
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<p>I’ve been shoving the reviews of these books down your throats here for months, so that’s all I’ll say about them for the time being. Take full advantage of the free stuff while it lasts. It’s golden opportunity for anyone who might be curious about any of the books, but has been thinking, “That asshole’s not getting any of my money,” so go for it.</p>
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<p> </p>Sleeping With Veronica Laketag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-03-31:537324:BlogPost:3882602014-03-31T19:34:24.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>Authors continuing series created by others is the rage right now. Among the first was Max Allan Collins, finishing up Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer series. (This is a bit of a special case, as Collins had worked hand-in-glove with Spillane for years, and was asked to complete the unfinished Hammer novels by The Mick himself.) Ace Atkins is continuing Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series at the behest of the Parker estate. More recently, Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe has been resurrected…</p>
<p>Authors continuing series created by others is the rage right now. Among the first was Max Allan Collins, finishing up Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer series. (This is a bit of a special case, as Collins had worked hand-in-glove with Spillane for years, and was asked to complete the unfinished Hammer novels by The Mick himself.) Ace Atkins is continuing Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series at the behest of the Parker estate. More recently, Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe has been resurrected by Benjamin Black, who isn’t even really Benjamin Black, but John Banville. (As if who’s writing these books lacks complication already.) Parker himself was an early adopter, having completed Chandler’s unfinished manuscript of Poodle Springs, and penning his own sequel to The Big Sleep, Perchance to Dream.</p>
<p>The only issue I have with this trend is mild disappointment that the reading public is too timid in its tastes to try something new, even after their favorite author has shuffled off his mortal coil. (This should also be an ego check for authors who write series; they love your characters more than they love you. Get over it.) Maybe a reader of one of Atkins’s Spenser novels will be tempted to try a non-Spenser book by the same author. One can only hope.</p>
<p>While I’m good with the idea in principle—anything that pays writers is a good thing, almost by definition—I won’t be reading any of them. No offense to the writers mentioned above, or others who may be earning a living doing the same thing. It’s a matter of authenticity.</p>
<p>L.A. Confidential is one of my favorite movies, as close to a perfect crime film as I can think of. A key plot line involves a stable of prostitutes who pass themselves off as famous actresses of the day, even if a little plastic surgery is required. Ava Gardner. Rita Hayworth. Kim Basinger plays a hooker who passes for Veronica Lake. (And, as Russell Crowe says in the movie, “looks better than Veronica Lake.”) Men will pay premium prices to have sex with these “actresses.”</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: sleeping with a hooker who looks like Veronica Lake isn’t sleeping with Veronica Lake, even if the hooker looks better. Even if she’s better in bed. It ain’t her.</p>
<p>I’ve not read any Atkins or Black yet. I may well do so, when my backlog sorts itself out a little. If/when I do, it will be a book with a world and characters they created. Just as I want the original Chandler or Parker, I’ll want these authors’ unfiltered best, to lose myself in their world, instead of hopelessly trying not to compare them to someone else</p>Misogynistic, or Picky?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-03-24:537324:BlogPost:3880122014-03-24T12:42:53.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">Egomaniac that I am, I publish an annual list of what I thought were the best books I read each year, as if anyone else gives a shit. </font><a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-reads-of-2012.html"><font face="Arial" size="3">In 2012 the list contained no female authors</font></a><font face="Arial" size="3">. This was a genuine surprise to me when pointed out—I honest to God hadn’t noticed—but it got me to thinking. Since then I have made a conscious…</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Egomaniac that I am, I publish an annual list of what I thought were the best books I read each year, as if anyone else gives a shit. </font><a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-reads-of-2012.html"><font size="3" face="Arial">In 2012 the list contained no female authors</font></a><font size="3" face="Arial">. This was a genuine surprise to me when pointed out—I honest to God hadn’t noticed—but it got me to thinking. Since then I have made a conscious effort to read more female writers, and to add female characters to my writing.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">My 2013 list contained only two females, both in the Honorable Mention list. (Laura Lippman and Zoe Sharp.) None made the Top Ten.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">This prompted some examination. Why don’t I read more female authors, and why don’t I enjoy them more when I do? As the father of a daughter, I felt a need to see if there was something more afoot. I doubt my conclusions will satisfy many, but what good is a writer without an occasional well-intentioned controversy?</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I looked for a common denominator in the writing that might put me off. This is dangerous business, as that implies all women write more or less the same way, which is no truer that saying all men do. I needed to organize my thoughts around writing, not gender, to see if there were common elements in the books I either didn’t like as much as I’d hoped, regardless of the author’s plumbing. I found three things:</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">1. So long as the story is plausible and doesn’t require me to rupture myself suspending disbelief, I’m interested more in the manner of the telling than I am in what’s told. In short, I read for style. Most of the female authors to whom I’ve been exposed are storytellers more than stylists, with a couple of notable exceptions. (Megan Abbott, Christa Faust.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">2. Women tend to be more descriptive than men. Lots more adjectives. I don’t care that it was a pale blue house with a white door and cedar shake shingles unless it’s important for some reason. I don’t care that a person set down his Louis Vuitton garment bag, shrugged up the sleeve of his Caraceni suit, and looked at his Piaget watch unless it tells me something about him, and it’s something worth remembering, which means I don’t have to hear about it every time. That reason doesn’t have to be readily evident, but there needs to be one. That’s a matter of personal taste. It doesn’t make me right, but it does affect my reading enjoyment.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">3. Forgive me for saying this, but a lot of female authors drop in too many scenes that seem to have been written for Lifetime TV movies. I don’t watch TV movies. As above, that doesn’t make me right, but it does affect my choices.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Who do I read and enjoy? Megan Abbott. (Though I’ll admit <i>Dare Me</i>put me off. Maybe because I used to be a public school teacher or because my daughter is not that far removed from high school, but every character I remember was detestable, and I just stopped caring about them. In fairness, <i>Bury Me Deep</i> is as good as it gets.) Christa Faust. Laura Lippman’s standalones (Tess Monahan I can live without). Sandra Parshall. S.J. Rozan. Zoe Sharp.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Help me out. With the above caveats in mind, who am I missing?</font></p>Win a Book! (Well, someone will)tag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-03-13:537324:BlogPost:3875412014-03-13T18:42:02.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>I'm giving away a free copy of <em>Grind Joint</em> to a random commenter over at my blog,<a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2014/03/ocd-observing-creative-discipline.html" target="_blank">One Bite at a Time</a>. (The comments shouldn't be random; that's just how the winner will be chosen.)</p>
<p>Contest is open through midnight, Sunday March 16.</p>
<p>I'm giving away a free copy of <em>Grind Joint</em> to a random commenter over at my blog,<a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2014/03/ocd-observing-creative-discipline.html" target="_blank">One Bite at a Time</a>. (The comments shouldn't be random; that's just how the winner will be chosen.)</p>
<p>Contest is open through midnight, Sunday March 16.</p>January's Best Reads (of the books I read in January, not those released)tag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-02-07:537324:BlogPost:3867052014-02-07T21:15:40.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">January was a <i>real</i> good month for reading. Let’s get to it.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Key-Dashiell-Hammett-ebook/dp/B004HFRJPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639373&sr=8-1&keywords=hammett+the+glass+key"><i><font face="Arial" size="3">The Glass Key</font></i></a><font face="Arial" size="3">, Dashiell Hammett. Said by many to be Hammett’s greatest, and I see why. Loyalty, betrayal, politics, and sex interwoven in a story…</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">January was a <i>real</i> good month for reading. Let’s get to it.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Key-Dashiell-Hammett-ebook/dp/B004HFRJPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639373&sr=8-1&keywords=hammett+the+glass+key"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">The Glass Key</font></i></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, Dashiell Hammett. Said by many to be Hammett’s greatest, and I see why. Loyalty, betrayal, politics, and sex interwoven in a story dated only by the colloquialisms. I think I still prefer <i>The Maltese Falcon</i>, but that may well be due to my greater familiarity. This will be re-read.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Point-A-Novella-ebook/dp/B00H9D129E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639411&sr=8-1&keywords=brennan+the+point"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">The Point</font></i></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, Gerard Brennan. A nice, vicious little noir tale of two brothers on the wrong path. One sees where it leads and wants to get off. The other can’t see that far ahead and wants company for his ride. Things go as wrong as you’d expect, but not at all in the manner you expected. Brennan nails the pace and language, and has me looking forward to the sequel. (<i>The Point</i> is free for the time being, so get your ass to Amazon before they change their minds.)</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hurt-Machine-Moe-Prager-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0069ZH5E4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639479&sr=8-1&keywords=hurt+machine"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">Hurt Machine</font></i></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, Reed Farrel Coleman. Moe Prager nears the end of his run, trying to decide how to tell the rest of the world about his cancer with his daughter’s wedding on the horizon and the death of his former lover’s sister to investigate. A perfect set-up for Prager to look back while trying to move forward, and the case’s complexities keep him from any easy decisions about the it, or his personal life. Prager is as human as any contemporary PI, and this is a great vehicle for him.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bitch-Edgerton-ebook/dp/B00HWJS2BQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639503&sr=8-1&keywords=edgerton+the+bitch"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">The Bitch</font></i></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, Les Edgerton. </font><a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-bitch-by-les-edgerton.html"><font size="3" face="Arial">Discussed in detail a couple of weeks ago</font></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, a classic noir tale of how a bad decision made with good intentions can lead to situations with only bad choices.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Runaway-Town-Eoin-Miller-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0097CI3TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639536&sr=8-1&keywords=runaway+town"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">Runaway Town</font></i></a><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>, </i>Jay Stringer. </font></font><a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2014/01/runaway-town-by-jay-stringer.html"><font size="3" face="Arial">I wrote in depth on this last week.</font></a><font size="3" face="Arial">Social awareness and questions of loyalty, betrayal, family, and attraction work together at a level that would do Richard Price proud.</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Runaway-Town-Eoin-Miller-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0097CI3TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391639536&sr=8-1&keywords=runaway+town"><i><font size="3" face="Arial">The Black Dahlia</font></i></a><font size="3" face="Arial">, James Ellroy. I started the <i>Underworld USA</i> trilogy in the middle, with <i>The Cold Six Thousand. </i>Big mistake. (Really, folks. Don’t do that. Start at the beginning.) I made a point of starting the LA Quartet at the outset. I’ve heard this may be the weakest book of the four; if that’s true, I can’t wait to get to the rest. Ellroy hadn’t developed his “tabloid language” yet, but primordial traces of it are here. The ending goes on a bit too long, but you’re aware you’re in the midst of something special from the beginning. Living proof that exposition can delay the start of the actual story as long as the author wants, so long as it’s engrossing in its own right.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I also read about twenty pages of one drop-dead stinking you gotta be kidding me piece of shit, but, as you all know, I believe if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything, so</font></p>The Bitch, by Les Edgertontag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-01-27:537324:BlogPost:3862872014-01-27T19:46:18.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">True noir is hard to find. By “true noir,” I mean the classic story of a person who is not necessarily bad, but can be nudged in that direction, either through opportunity, or forced by events. This person makes decisions that go sour, though the options at the time ranged from bad to worse; the die was cast with the first unfortunate choice. The stories are engrossing because readers can’t help but wonder what they would do in the same situation, and are relieved…</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">True noir is hard to find. By “true noir,” I mean the classic story of a person who is not necessarily bad, but can be nudged in that direction, either through opportunity, or forced by events. This person makes decisions that go sour, though the options at the time ranged from bad to worse; the die was cast with the first unfortunate choice. The stories are engrossing because readers can’t help but wonder what they would do in the same situation, and are relieved at the end because they didn’t have to do it.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Today we have plenty of neo-noir and “thrillers.” Too much neo-noir consists of bad people reveling in their own depravity. Bad things happen, and they’re often okay with it. The “protagonist” may, or may not, face consequences. Readers rarely empathize, because the reader would never be in circumstances remotely similar; too many unconscionable decisions were made in the backstory. The stories are often more <i>schadenfreude </i>than noir.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Modern thrillers often have protagonists with noir potential, but the opportunity is lost when the protagonist invariably chooses the option most likely to make the situation worse at every opportunity. Readers wonder what they would do for a while, until—if you’re like me—they start to root against the protagonist because he/she’s too dumb to be allowed to reproduce.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Bitch</i> is true noir.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Jake is a two-time loser. Another felony conviction will mark him a habitual criminal, which carries an automatic life sentence. (The “bitch” referred to in the title.) He learned to cut hair in prison and found he had a talent for it. He’s gone straight, married a woman who accepts his past and loves him for his present and future, and whose family has done the same. Jake and Paris have saved enough money to open their own shop in a few weeks; Paris is pregnant.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Enter Walker Joy, Jake’s old cellmate. Walker saved Jake’s life once in the joint, and he’s calling in the marker. Walker has not gone straight, lost some diamonds, and needs the help of master burglar Jake to make things right. Jake is torn, and doesn’t have as many options as he at first thinks.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">What happens next put me in mind of the classic <i>A Simple Plan</i>. Decisions are forced on Jake that continue to escalate the situation. He chooses as best he can from limited options, all foul. Every decision is framed by the fact he can never cut his losses and turn himself in; The Bitch looms. Only his conscience acts as a governor on his behavior; the law’s position is set in stone, no matter what else he does.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Les Edgerton has written a story that is effective on multiple levels. Time and again the reader will see a new crisis and realize almost simultaneously with Jake what has to be done, cringing as it happens, not knowing what else could be done and still avoid The Bitch, which will cost him Paris and his child forever.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">As if the engrossing personal situation isn’t enough, Edgerton weaves social commentary into the story without ever preaching about it. Habitual Offender laws have become commonplace, society’s way of dealing with people who just don’t seem to get the message. I had no problem with them—when properly applied—until I read <i>The Bitch</i>and realized a two-time loser has no reason not to go all the way once an act worthy of Strike Three has been committed. He’s already getting the maximum sentence; anything else he does to evade capture is without risk.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Bitch</i> is a fascinating story of how close any of us might be to the edge, where a single event could change our lives forever for the worse. True, few of us are twice-convicted felons, but it’s only the scale of Jake’s misfortune that differs. We’re all one phone call--chance meeting, lost job, medical emergency, car crash, random act of violence—away from a situation where every option is a bad one, and the most likely favorable outcome is to slow the rate at which your life circles the toilet while hoping for a miracle.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Read <i>The Bitch.</i> If it doesn’t affect you on multiple levels, read it again. You weren’t paying attention the first time.</font></p>Talking With Mike Dennis About Audio Bookstag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-01-13:537324:BlogPost:3858612014-01-13T16:20:05.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">Mike Dennis is no stranger to readers of this blog. A frequent commenter, his novel, <i>Setup on Front Street</i>, made my Best Reads of 2011 list. <i>The Take</i> made one of my monthly lists this year, and his short story, <i>The Session,</i> is one of the small handful of best short stories I’ve ever read, regardless of genre.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">It was a treat to sit next to him on this year’s Bouchercon panel, moderated by Peter…</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Mike Dennis is no stranger to readers of this blog. A frequent commenter, his novel, <i>Setup on Front Street</i>, made my Best Reads of 2011 list. <i>The Take</i> made one of my monthly lists this year, and his short story, <i>The Session,</i> is one of the small handful of best short stories I’ve ever read, regardless of genre.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">It was a treat to sit next to him on this year’s Bouchercon panel, moderated by Peter Rozovsky. The topic was hard-boiled and noir writing styles, and, as anyone who’s read Mike’s work is aware, Mike knows what he’s talking about.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I was delighted when he approached me to inquire into collaborating on an audio version of <i>Grind Joint</i>, and jumped at the chance. It’s been fun and informational to hear everything filtered through someone else’s interpretation and vision, and it’s been a pleasure working with him.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">It occurred to me there may be other authors, and readers, who might wonder how to get in on the audio book biz. Mike was kind enough to take time from his schedule of writing and recording to answer some questions I hope you’ll find informative.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">For the interview itself, go<a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2014/01/talking-with-mike-dennis-about-audio.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</font></p>Best Reads of 2013tag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-01-06:537324:BlogPost:3849672014-01-06T19:28:05.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">I don’t like writing Top Ten lists. It’s too hard to draw the line, but 2013 was such a good reading year for me, this post would be too long if I wrote a blurb for each worthy book. So, here are the Top Ten, plus some honorable mentions. (Books listed in the order in which they were read.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Cold, Cold Ground</i>, Adrian McKinty. If there’s ever been a better historical mystery written, let me know. McKinty…</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I don’t like writing Top Ten lists. It’s too hard to draw the line, but 2013 was such a good reading year for me, this post would be too long if I wrote a blurb for each worthy book. So, here are the Top Ten, plus some honorable mentions. (Books listed in the order in which they were read.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Cold, Cold Ground</i>, Adrian McKinty. If there’s ever been a better historical mystery written, let me know. McKinty weaves Sean Duffy’s story into The Troubles in a way that would make James Ellroy jealous, if James Ellroy still read fiction, and were prone to jealousy.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Cheapskates</i>, Charlie Stella. His best riffs on greed, duplicity, and amoral conduct in general. Funny in an Elmore Leonard “these guys are serious” way. Great fun.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>I Hear the Sirens in the Street</i>, Adrian McKinty. The second in the Duffy trilogy, and as good as <i>Cold, Cold Ground</i>, though the impact may have been lessened because the setting wasn’t such a shock to me. This time he works John DeLorean into the story and pulls it off. I’ll be all over <i>In the Morning I’ll Be Gone</i> when it’s available here in the States.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>American Tabloid</i>, James Ellroy. I read the Underworld USA Trilogy out of sequence, which is fine, as I like him better with each book I read (<i>The Cold Six Thousand, Blood’s a Rover, American Tabloid) .</i>Moving onto the LA Quartet this year.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Masters of Atlantis</i>, Charles Portis. Hard to think of two more different books written by the same guy than <i>True Grit</i> and <i>Masters of Atlantis</i>. Not only has Portis done it, one’s as good as the other, and they’re both very good. If you’re looking for something to read that’s just flat-out fun for a change, you can’t go wrong here.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Prohibition</i>, Terrence McCauley. 2013 was the Year of Historical Crime for me. McCauley writes of New York in the Twenties in the style of the old pulps, including enough modern touches to keep the writing from sounding dated. Highly recommended, along with its successor, <i>Slow Burn</i>. I put <i>Prohibition</i> in the Top Ten because it’s the first of the two, and sets the stage.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Walkaway</i>, Scott Phillips. All the great stuff you’d expect from Phillips. And then I found tears rolling down my cheeks in a restaurant while reading the ending. Brilliant.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Onion Field</i>, Joseph Wambaugh. Two young cops are kidnapped in 1963. One is killed; the other escapes. The best non-fiction crime book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read <i>In Cold Blood </i>twice.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Black Rock</i>, John McFetridge. Montreal in the 70s. Constable Eddie Dougherty assists on a possible serial killer investigation while Francophones threaten to blow up the city. Things in Montreal weren’t as bad as Belfast, but McFetridge puts you right there. Hopefully only the first of a series.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Ratlines</i>, Stuart Neville. John Kennedy is coming to Ireland and someone is killing Nazis hidden by the Irish government. Albert Ryan is tasked with stopping the killings and keeping the whole thing quiet so the Kennedy trip isn’t called off. Otto Skorzeny plays a key role in a book reminiscent of <i>Day of the Jackal</i>.</font></font></p>
<p><u><font size="3" face="Arial">Honorable Mention</font></u></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Hard Bounce</i>, Todd Robinson. About time this guy got a novel published. Hopefully the first of many.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Slow Burn</i>, Terrence McCauley. Follow-up to <i>Prohobition, and as good, yet different.</i></font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Devil Doesn’t Want Me</i>, Eric Beetner. A good action movie waiting to be made.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i>, Hunter S. Thompson.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Dirty Words</i>, Todd Robinson. Todd’s stories alone are as good as any of the Thuglit anthologies, and more consistent.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Road Kill</i>, Zoe Sharp. Charlie Fox and bikers. What could possibly go wrong?</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Vespers</i>, Ed McBain.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Crooked Numbers</i>, Tim O’ Mara. Get in on this series now so you can be one of the cool kids later, who gets to say, “Tim O’Mara? Know all about him,” and the latecomers will be jealous.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Saturday’s Child</i>, Ray Banks. I’m jealous of everyone who figured out Banks was the goods before I did.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Devil in a Blue Dress</i>, Walter Mosley</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>I’d Know You Anywhere</i>, Laura Lippman</font></font></p>
<p><u><font size="3" face="Arial">Best Re-Reads</font></u></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Deadwood,</i> Pete Dexter</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Get Shorty</i>, Elmore Leonard. The bad news is, just about everything I’ll read by Leonard from now on will be a re-read. The good news is, I can read <i>Get Shorty</i> twice a year and not get tired of it.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>The Lady in the Lake</i>, Raymond Chandler. Marlowe gets out of LA for some fresh air.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>American Civil War Trilogy</i>, Bruce Catton. History may not repeat, but it rhymes.</font></font></p>
<p><u><font size="3" face="Arial">Special Notice</font></u></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Vivid and Continuous</i>, John McNally. As fine a book on writing as I’ve read. Practical, unpretentious, and entertaining all at once.</font></font></p>The Best Books I Read in Decembertag:crimespace.ning.com,2014-01-03:537324:BlogPost:3844442014-01-03T15:28:20.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">In the order in which I read them:</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Crooked Numbers</i>, Tim O’Mara. The second book of what is shaping up to be an excellent series. He has a franchise brewing here. Don’t be surprised to see Raymond Donne on television someday. You heard it here first. (Unless you already heard it elsewhere. This is the first I’ve heard of it.)</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Saturday’s Child</i>, Ray…</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">In the order in which I read them:</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Crooked Numbers</i>, Tim O’Mara. The second book of what is shaping up to be an excellent series. He has a franchise brewing here. Don’t be surprised to see Raymond Donne on television someday. You heard it here first. (Unless you already heard it elsewhere. This is the first I’ve heard of it.)</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Saturday’s Child</i>, Ray Banks. All the Cal Innes stories were offered on sale for Kindle a few months ago; I’m working my way through them. I’m a big Banks fan, and this early work was no disappointment.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>Devil in a Blue Dress</i>, Walter Mosley. I tried reading Mosley about ten years ago, couldn’t get into it. Either I’ve grown, or he’s gotten better. Considering this was written before I first read him, my money is on Option A. Easy and Mouse are now in the rotation.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font face="Arial"><i>I’d Know You Anywhere</i>, Laura Lippman. Not sure what to say here. A psychological thriller on multiple levels, wonderfully written and crafted (as usual) by Lippman. Still, I feel I like this book better now than when I was reading it. Some of the characters’ motivations are suspect, though things work out in the end. I almost put it down a couple of times, but I had to see what happened next, which is a pretty good enforcement of any book, when you think about it.</font></font></p>It's a Festivus Miracle!tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-12-24:537324:BlogPost:3845572013-12-24T14:03:24.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>Festivus really was a holiday this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>First, <i><a href="http://sonsofspade.blogspot.com/2013/12/favorite-sons-of-2013.html">Sons of Spade</a>,</i> a web site dedicated to fictional PIs, named <i>A Small Sacrifice</i> runner-up for Best PI Novel of 2013.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, before turning in, I learned Woody Haut, writing in the <i>LA Review of Books</i>, has named Grind Joint among his fifteen favorite reads of 2013. Not in the Top Ten, but that was populated by the…</p>
<p>Festivus really was a holiday this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>First, <i><a href="http://sonsofspade.blogspot.com/2013/12/favorite-sons-of-2013.html">Sons of Spade</a>,</i> a web site dedicated to fictional PIs, named <i>A Small Sacrifice</i> runner-up for Best PI Novel of 2013.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, before turning in, I learned Woody Haut, writing in the <i>LA Review of Books</i>, has named Grind Joint among his fifteen favorite reads of 2013. Not in the Top Ten, but that was populated by the likes of Daniel Woodrell, James, Sallis, Max Allan Collins, and Sarah Weinman.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Haut said of <i>Grind Joint</i>: With crisp dialogue and sparse exposition reminiscent of Elmore Leonard and George V. Higgins, it’s an investigation of a town on the edge of a precipice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/woody-haut-best-2013">Read the entire list</a>. It’s not limited to 2013 books, so there may be a couple you’ve missed along the way.</p>Ratlines, by Stuart Nevilletag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-11-03:537324:BlogPost:3804352013-11-03T23:04:23.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>Soho Crime gave away copies of Stuart Neville’s <i>Ratlines</i> during Bouchercon 2012. I apparently had something more important to do—the hotel bar may have been involved—and I missed out. Consider this another argument against drinking; <i>Ratlines</i> is a great book.</p>
<p> <span style="font-size: 13px;">In 1963 the United States’ first Irish and first Catholic president—John Kennedy—visited Ireland, the first visit of an American president in Irish history. Many of Kennedy’s advisors…</span></p>
<p>Soho Crime gave away copies of Stuart Neville’s <i>Ratlines</i> during Bouchercon 2012. I apparently had something more important to do—the hotel bar may have been involved—and I missed out. Consider this another argument against drinking; <i>Ratlines</i> is a great book.</p>
<p> <span style="font-size: 13px;">In 1963 the United States’ first Irish and first Catholic president—John Kennedy—visited Ireland, the first visit of an American president in Irish history. Many of Kennedy’s advisors wanted to cancel so Kennedy could attend to more pressing Cold War issues; any excuse would do. The Irish were determined not to give them one.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">Problem was, Ireland had a dirty little sort of kind of secret: government acceptance of former Nazis, including SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny, hero of the Mussolini rescue mission. Officially living in Ireland as a gentleman farmer, Skorzeny hold the purse strings to get as yet undiscovered Nazis to havens such as Ireland and South America. The network of escape routes are the ratlines of the book’s title.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">Skorzeny himself comes under attack from an unknown individual or group. people known to him are killed; messages for him are left. Publicity of a string of murders is bad enough; too much exposure of Ireland’s coziness with Nazis would make Kennedy’s trip politically unfeasible. The Irish government wants this to go away at virtually any cost, and assigns Lieutenant Albert Ryan of the Directorate of Intelligence—the Irish G2—to take care of it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">That’s as much of it as I’ll give away. Neville’s understated, yet eloquent writing is reminiscent of John leCarré; his inclusion of historical figures as characters—notably Skorzeny and Irish Justice Minister Charles Haughey—is as effective as James Ellroy, though less bombastic; and the increasing complexities of the plot, including double- and triple-crosses (maybe even a quadruple) invokes fond memories of the best work of Alistair MacLean. Put it all together and Neville has created as close to the perfect thriller as you’re likely to find, with all the necessary elements in perfect proportion, never allowing the reader to step back and wonder what’s going on by going anywhere near a jumpable shark. Everyone who considers himself a thriller writer should read</span> <i style="font-size: 13px;">Ratlines</i> <span style="font-size: 13px;">and pay heed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">I’ll not soon deny Soho an opportunity to give me a Stuart Neville Book again.</span></p>Booklist Weighs in on Grind Jointtag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-11-01:537324:BlogPost:3803392013-11-01T14:27:35.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">The following will appear in the November 15 edition of <i>Booklist</i>:</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><em>King has created vividly drawn characters, a plot the late Elmore Leonard would appreciate, and dialogue that hits all the right notes. His Penns River recalls K.C. Constantine’s wonderfully rendered Rocksburg, another struggling, soulful Pennsylvania mill town. But the reclusive Constantine has retired. Let's hope</em> Grind Joint <em>is the first in a new series…</em></font></p>
<p><font size="3">The following will appear in the November 15 edition of <i>Booklist</i>:</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><em>King has created vividly drawn characters, a plot the late Elmore Leonard would appreciate, and dialogue that hits all the right notes. His Penns River recalls K.C. Constantine’s wonderfully rendered Rocksburg, another struggling, soulful Pennsylvania mill town. But the reclusive Constantine has retired. Let's hope</em> Grind Joint <em>is the first in a new series chronicling life and crime in the Alleghenies.</em></font></p>
<p><font size="3">The “official” launch for <em>Grind Joint</em> is at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, in Oakmont PA, at 10:00 EST, Saturday, November 16.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Hope to see you there.</font></p>Bouchercon Interviews, Part 2: Peter Rozovskytag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-25:537324:BlogPost:3802072013-10-25T16:36:03.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">Peter Rozovsky is the curator of the award-winning blog <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Detectives Beyond Borders</a></font><font size="3">, and is among the Bouchercon moderators whose panels are worth attending even if you don’t think you have an interest in the topic. This year he worked double duty: “The Siegfried Line: World War II and Its Offspring” covered crime during wartime and the aftermath of war; “Goodnight, My Angel:…</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Peter Rozovsky is the curator of the award-winning blog <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Detectives Beyond Borders</a></font><font size="3">, and is among the Bouchercon moderators whose panels are worth attending even if you don’t think you have an interest in the topic. This year he worked double duty: “The Siegfried Line: World War II and Its Offspring” covered crime during wartime and the aftermath of war; “Goodnight, My Angel: Hard-boiled, Noir, and the Reader’s Love Affair With Both” discussed topical and stylistic influences, and why they continue to resonate today. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the latter panel.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Peter has been gracious enough to sit for some questions about what the life of a moderator is like.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>One Bite at a Time</b>: I think you first moderated a panel in Baltimore in 2008, which was my first Bouchercon; so, to me, you’ve been doing it forever. Can you give us a brief run-down of the panels you’ve moderated?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>Peter Rozovsky</b>: Nope, I gained my first experience in moderation at Indianapolis in 2009. That year I moderated a panel on translated crime fiction with Robert Pépin, Steven T. Murray, Tiina Nunnally and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. Once I learned how to pronounce<i>Sigurðardóttir</i>, I knew I would be all right.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">I have generally moderated panels on crime fiction set outside the United States. In St. Louis in 2011, one of my three panels was on humor in crime fiction. Eoin Colfer and Colin Cotterill were on that one. Some of the attendees are still recovering from the experience.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: Which panels stick out over the years as being your favorites? Or are they like children, and you can’t pick?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: My panel in Cleveland in 2012 consisted all or almost all of authors I’d had on panels before. I quite enjoyed the challenge of writing fresh questions for that one. And the collateral reading for my 2013 Albany panel on wartime crime was fascinating. I read analyses of American military leadership and a history of the German occupation of France in World War II.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: Do moderators learn of their assignments at the same time as the panelists, or do you get advance notice?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: We’ll get asked in advance if we’re willing to moderate panels, but we find out about the assignments when the panelists do. That has been my experience, at least.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: How much say, if any, do you get in your panel’s topic? How about its panelists?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: That varies, in my experience. My first few years, I was simply assigned topics and panelists. I assume these were based on the sorts of things I write about and discuss at Detectives Beyond Borders. More recently, organizers have asked for my suggestions.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: Describe the preparation you do before a panel.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: Reading. Reading. And then some reading. Read enough to get a sense of the author’s work, and tailor your questions to that work. When necessary, as I thought was the case with my wartime crime fiction panel, do outside reading. But that’s what we love to do, anyway.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: It’s the day of the panel. What are your goals? What do you hope to avoid?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: Avoid asking questions to which the authors can answer “yes” or “no.” Keep all the panelists talking – to me, to the audience, and to one another. Hope that no panelists fall off the stage.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">My goal as a moderator is to be entertaining, illuminating, to the point, and, most important of all, brief.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>OBAAT</b>: Is there anything about the moderator’s job I’ve missed you’d like to tell us about?</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><b>PR</b>: You did miss the possibility of surprises. A moderator needs to be familiar with the work of all panel members. That may mean reading an author who falls outside’s one normal range of interests. That was the case with Anne Zouroudi, whom I had on a panel in 2011. I might not have read her work otherwise, and she turned out to be an absolutely delightful discovery.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Many thanks to Peter for making time to answer questions I hope were of as much interest to him as they have been to me for several years.</font></p>Submit a Question, Win a Copy of Grind Jointtag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-21:537324:BlogPost:3799872013-10-21T21:30:44.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>I'm giving away a copy of my first dead tree novel, <i>Grind Joint</i>, over at my blog, One Bite at a Time. To enter, just <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/10/submit-question-win-copy-of-grind-joint.html" target="_blank">read the post,</a>and leave one or more suggestions for interview questions in the comments. The winner will be selected at random from all commenters who post before 11:59 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, October 22.</p>
<p>I'm giving away a copy of my first dead tree novel, <i>Grind Joint</i>, over at my blog, One Bite at a Time. To enter, just <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/10/submit-question-win-copy-of-grind-joint.html" target="_blank">read the post,</a>and leave one or more suggestions for interview questions in the comments. The winner will be selected at random from all commenters who post before 11:59 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, October 22.</p>Bouchercon Interviews, Part One: Judy Bobalik and Jon Jordantag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-18:537324:BlogPost:3799612013-10-18T14:47:24.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>Today my blog, One Bite at a Time, begins a series of interviews with Bouchercon participants, seeking their opinions on panels. Today <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/10/bouchercon-interviews-part-1-judy.html" target="_blank">the discussion starts with Judy Bobalik and Jon Jordan</a>, who put together this year's panels, describing how it's done. Future interviews will include a moderator, authors, and readers.</p>
<p>Today my blog, One Bite at a Time, begins a series of interviews with Bouchercon participants, seeking their opinions on panels. Today <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/10/bouchercon-interviews-part-1-judy.html" target="_blank">the discussion starts with Judy Bobalik and Jon Jordan</a>, who put together this year's panels, describing how it's done. Future interviews will include a moderator, authors, and readers.</p>Chandler's Heroestag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-17:537324:BlogPost:3797412013-10-17T15:50:31.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>A non-fiction article, <a href="http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2013/10/17/chandlerss-heroes-non-fiction-by-dana-king/" target="_blank">"Chandler's Heroes," appears on the Spinetingler web site.</a> An examination of the relevance of Raymond Chandler's idea of the private eye hero from "The Simple Art of Murder," and whether such a character is relevant today.</p>
<p>Many thnaks to jack getze and everyone at Spinetingler.</p>
<p>A non-fiction article, <a href="http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2013/10/17/chandlerss-heroes-non-fiction-by-dana-king/" target="_blank">"Chandler's Heroes," appears on the Spinetingler web site.</a> An examination of the relevance of Raymond Chandler's idea of the private eye hero from "The Simple Art of Murder," and whether such a character is relevant today.</p>
<p>Many thnaks to jack getze and everyone at Spinetingler.</p>The Final Countdowntag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-16:537324:BlogPost:3796252013-10-16T13:45:19.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">Today marks one month until the official launch of <i>Grind Joint</i> at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont PA. Details will be provided as I learn them. What I can say for sure is:</font></p>
<p><font size="3">1. It starts at 10:00 AM</font></p>
<p><font size="3">2. It ends around noon</font></p>
<p><font size="3">3. Books will be available for purchase</font></p>
<p><font size="3">No one looks forward to the date more than The Beloved Spouse. I’ll read a couple of…</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Today marks one month until the official launch of <i>Grind Joint</i> at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont PA. Details will be provided as I learn them. What I can say for sure is:</font></p>
<p><font size="3">1. It starts at 10:00 AM</font></p>
<p><font size="3">2. It ends around noon</font></p>
<p><font size="3">3. Books will be available for purchase</font></p>
<p><font size="3">No one looks forward to the date more than The Beloved Spouse. I’ll read a couple of chapters from the book at the launch. Those who know me are aware my mouth has a tendency to get ahead of anything my mind is doing, so I’ve been reading aloud to her more than usual lately. Not from <i>Grind Joint; </i>she can recite parts of it from memory already. Last night she got large chunks of <i>The Onion Field</i> as I practiced slowing things down, enunciating better, and putting appropriate emphasis in my voice. Feel free to critique my reading after the signing. (If you’re there. I don’t care what the rest of you think.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Q&A can cover anything, with the exception of politics, religion, and sex, except for general questions about how any of the above relate to Penns River. (Editor’s Note: No sex questions. My mother will be there.) I’ll even be happy to talk about the eternal question, “Where do you get your ideas?” Peter Rozovsky asked his Bouchercon panelists if there were any questions we were sick of and would prefer not to have to answer. I’m so new at this, I’m delighted when people ask me the time of day; I’ll answer anything. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeVca9MwDX8" target="_blank">Get to me now before Crash Davis does</a>.</font></p>
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<p><font size="3">There will also be a guest appearance by my editor, Rick Ollerman, who will fill everyone in on some of the cool stuff currently available from Stark House. For example, did you know Stark House also publishes Charlie Stella, whose most recent novel, <i>Rough Riders</i>, was named one of the </font><a href="http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2012/12/roughjustice-top-five-books-of-2012/"><font size="3">top five books of 2012 by Crime Fiction Lover</font></a><font size="3">? You didn’t? Well, then, get your ass over to Mystery Lovers Bookshop on November 16. You clearly have dangerous gaps in your knowledge.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Breaking News!</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Amazon is now providing an estimated arrival date of October 23, 2013 - November 18, 2013 for pre-ordered copies of Grind Joint.</font></p>The Walkawaytag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-14:537324:BlogPost:3798502013-10-14T13:12:40.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>It’s hard to know what to expect in a book by Scott Phillips. There will be dark humor, and there will probably be a crime, though not necessarily, and whatever crime is committed may not be strictly illegal; more of a crime against conscience. For all the unpredictability, his books never disappoint. The more you read, the more different aspects of Phillips’s insight and talent become apparent. This is never more true than in The Walkaway.</p>
<p>The Walkaway begins a few years after…</p>
<p>It’s hard to know what to expect in a book by Scott Phillips. There will be dark humor, and there will probably be a crime, though not necessarily, and whatever crime is committed may not be strictly illegal; more of a crime against conscience. For all the unpredictability, his books never disappoint. The more you read, the more different aspects of Phillips’s insight and talent become apparent. This is never more true than in The Walkaway.</p>
<p>The Walkaway begins a few years after Phillips’s debut novel, The Ice Harvest, leaves off. Gunther Fahnstiel has done what he did with the money (read the book to find out exactly what), and escaped from the facility where he’s being treated for his senility. Gunther sets out with a mission, but his declining mental state keeps him from gaining a firm grasp on what it is, or how he intends to accomplish it; he just knows he has one. His escape sets his friends and relatives in a frantic chase to find him, as well as to discover how he’s been paying for some things all these years.</p>
<p>Set against this story are the events of over fifty years previous, when Gunther, then a cop, stood guard over a remote cabin where the winners of the sex lottery at Collins Aircraft collected their prizes. A thoroughly corrupt returning veteran, Wayne Ogden, has returned and has his own reasons for stopping that operation by whatever means necessary.</p>
<p>The Walkaway has Phillips’s dry, dark wit, and the writing never interferes with what he wants to say. He weaves at least three stories together with virtuosity: Gunther’s mission, the search for Gunther, and flashbacks of what transpired after the war, all of which are related. Elements of The Ice Harvest are referenced. Readers of the more recent The Adjustment will recognize Wayne Ogden, as Phillips integrated that story into seams of this one. (I hadn’t read The Walkaway when I read The Adjustment. It was a unique experience to see how he had worked the two together from the other side, so to speak.)</p>
<p>I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight in the beginning. Hang in there. Phillips combs out the threads of each story line from the initial ball of fabric until each character and story line has its own personality. Before long you’re shifting points of view and time periods effortlessly, fascinated as each scene brings meaning to others.</p>
<p>By the end I was caught up in Gunther’s story. He was what he was and did what he did earlier in life. Now he’s a confused old man who isn’t sure what he’s done or what to do about it. I’ve never read a book by Phillips I didn’t enjoy; The Walkaway is special. It contains all the things that show Phillips’s skills while probing emotions in a unsentimental manner that allows the reader to draw his own conclusions and discover his own emotions. A wonderful book.</p>Stuck, Not Blockedtag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-09:537324:BlogPost:3793192013-10-09T14:08:08.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">I was 486 words into what was intended to be this blog post when I had a rare moment of artistic lucidity and realized it was an even bigger stool sample than usual. So I ditched it, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTifdoKXoxM" target="_blank">which left me here</a>:…</font></p>
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<p><font size="3">I was 486 words into what was intended to be this blog post when I had a rare moment of artistic lucidity and realized it was an even bigger stool sample than usual. So I ditched it, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTifdoKXoxM" target="_blank">which left me here</a>:</font></p>
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<p><font size="3">Which brings us to the most dangerous boogey man in all of literature:</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Writer’s Block.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Why is it a boogey man?</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Because it doesn’t exist. Never has. Never will.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Writer’s block is not a reason people don’t write; it’s an excuse. I’ll bet writers who complain of being blocked can still crank out e-mails (in the past, letters) about being blocked. They wrote those, didn’t they? So I guess they’re not blocked.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">“E-mails don’t count. They’re not fiction.” First, anyone who truly believes that hasn’t read enough business emails that describe why a project is late, or over budget. Second, so what? You had to think of an idea and express it in words. In fiction you make up the ideas. What people call writer’s block is what happens when a writer hasn’t come up with an idea he or she feels like spending the time on, or they don’t think they can write well, or—even worse—they’ve tried to write it and the words just won’t come.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">That’s not writer’s block; it’s a bad idea. Not all “good” ideas are good for you. An idea Scott Phillips could write the hell out of would leave me staring at a blank screen for hours; it’s quite possible the converse is also true, even though Scott Phillips can write rings around me without requiring full consciousness. As Stephen King wrote in <i>On Writing</i>, “Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">I used to attribute my favorite writer’s block quote to King, though I can find no evidence of that on the web today. It sounds like something he’d say, and I like it, so here goes: Writer’s block is what happens when you try to be a better writer than you are. That’s not a pejorative comment; anyone, from you to Jonathan Franzen to Elmore Leonard can fall prey to it. (Okay, maybe not Leonard anymore.) When the words you put on the page don’t match the idea in your head, when you find what comes through your fingers or pen inadequate to describe the essence of what you’re thinking, then you’re blocked.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Forge ahead. Write the passage with all the care and attention you’d devote to an e-mail; no one cares about first drafts, anyway. Remember, readers take the final result as though it leapt fully-formed from your brain to the page. They don’t see the sausage being made; only you do. Real writing is done during edits. Ever hear of someone afflicted with Editor’s Block? Didn’t think so.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Everyone gets stuck. (I was stuck on this blog post for about ten minutes.) If you’re never stuck, you’re not trying hard enough. If you’re blocked, you’re trying too hard.</font></p>Resist the Urge to Explaintag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-08:537324:BlogPost:3791322013-10-08T13:37:24.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">I assume I’m going to like every book I read; why else would I have bothered with it in the first place? I can’t keep up with all the things I want to read as it is; why waste time on unnecessary risks?</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Of course, some books disappoint despite my highest hopes; I fail to finish about ten percent of the books I start. (That may seem low to some, but remember: I didn’t even startl if I wasn’t pretty sure I’d like it.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3">So…</font></p>
<p><font size="3">I assume I’m going to like every book I read; why else would I have bothered with it in the first place? I can’t keep up with all the things I want to read as it is; why waste time on unnecessary risks?</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Of course, some books disappoint despite my highest hopes; I fail to finish about ten percent of the books I start. (That may seem low to some, but remember: I didn’t even startl if I wasn’t pretty sure I’d like it.)</font></p>
<p><font size="3">So why don’t I finish the books I out down? Rarely is it bad writing; the authors I read have been vouched for by trusted sources. I can live with a weak plot; not an unbelievable one. I also have to care, at least a little, about the situation and/or at least one of the characters. Plausible dialog is important. Everyone knows about these, in one way or another. Something else that will pull me out of a book is overt explanation.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">There’s a fine book titled <i>Self-Editing for Fiction Writers</i>, by Dave King (no relation) and Renni Browne. I make a point to at least skim it every couple of years to remind myself of what’s in there. These two paragraphs exemplify not only the kind of direct, practical advice they provide, but what may be the most important lesson in the book:</font></p>
<p><i><font size="3">It’s more work this way, of course. It’s easier to simply say “Erma was depressed” than to come up with some original bit of action that shows she depressed. But if you have her take one bite of her favorite cake and push the rest away (or have her polish off the whole cake), you will have given your readers a far better feel for her depression than you would by simply describing it. It is nearly always better to resist the urge to explain (or, as we so often write in manuscript margins, R.U.E.)</font></i></p>
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<p><i><font size="3">This tendency to describe a character’s emotions may reflect a lack of confidence on the part of the author. And more often than not, authors tell their readers things already shown by dialog and action—it’s as if they’re repeating themselves to make sure their readers get the point. So when you come across an explanation of a character’s emotion, simply cut the explanation. If the emotion is still shown, then the explanation wasn’t needed. If the emotion isn’t shown, then rewrite the passage so that it is.</font></i></p>
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<p><font size="3">Best-sellers are guilty of this all the time. The authors (and editors, I presume) don’t trust their readers enough to understand what’s being said, or, even worse, to feel what the author wants them to feel. So they may show you, but then they’ll tell you, then probably tell you again. No chance will be left for you not to remember Erma was depressed. This is among the primary reasons I so rarely read best-sellers.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Lazy writing abounds with examples. “Katy, distraught over her mother’s accident, ran red lights, cut off other drivers, and was still late for work.” If the author has done his job, the reader will likely know Katy is close to her mother, and may be about to find out her mother has had an accident. The reader may then infer Katy’s driving, and tardiness, is related. The point may be reinforced later with added descriptions of actions or dialog.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">John is talking to Jim and says, “How’s your wife, Mary?” as a way of introducing Mary’s character. Here’s the problem: unless Jim is a bigamist, he already knows his wife is named Mary. That was written as it was solely for the reader’s benefit, in case they weren’t smart enough to figure out Mary is Jim’s wife from his answer, which could only be because the writer wasn’t good enough—or conscientious enough—to work it in.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">There’s another benefit of doing it right: you get to misdirect the reader without cheating. What if Katy’s doesn’t give a rat’s ass about her mother, but it’s in your story’s interest to leave an impression this is why she’s distraught? Maybe Jim is leading a double life and<i>is</i> a bigamist, but you don’t want the reader to know just yet. Lying is cheating; a little misdirection…? (As Delbert McClinton sings in his song, <i>The Rub</i>: “I might mislead you, but I wouldn’t ever lie/I said, ‘Hell, that’s the way it ought to be.’”) Don’t write yourself into a corner just because you didn’t spend the time to scope out the job first.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Give your reader some credit. By all means make sure they have the information they need to understand the story; don’t demean their intelligence to do so. It might keep you off the best-seller list—at least for a while—but you might also gain a devoted core of readers who respect you for treating them as equals.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">At least that’s my plan.</font></p>Where Do Ideas Come From?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-10-02:537324:BlogPost:3787352013-10-02T14:05:50.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">I saw Robert B. Parker at a book signing many years ago. He told a story of being on one of those morning wake-up shows all television stations have, sharing a spot with Elmore Leonard. They were sitting in the Green Room, passing the time, and agreed the question they least liked answering was, “Where do you get your ideas?”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Ten minutes later, on camera, the helmet-haired blonde hostess’s first question was to Parker: “Where do you get your…</font></p>
<p><font size="3">I saw Robert B. Parker at a book signing many years ago. He told a story of being on one of those morning wake-up shows all television stations have, sharing a spot with Elmore Leonard. They were sitting in the Green Room, passing the time, and agreed the question they least liked answering was, “Where do you get your ideas?”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Ten minutes later, on camera, the helmet-haired blonde hostess’s first question was to Parker: “Where do you get your ideas?”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">“Utica,” he said. “There’s a little store there. Lots of writers use it.”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The hostess accepted that as the most logical answer in the world, then turned to Leonard, “And how about you, Mr. Leonard?”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">“Same place.”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">This story came to mind at Bouchercon when I saw Reed Farrel Coleman on a panel, and the topic of where ideas come from was raised.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">“Schenectady,” he said, then did Parker one better. “Too bad this conference wasn’t a couple of weeks earlier. We missed the end of summer idea sale. Now they already have the Christmas ideas in.”</font></p>Interview With Austin Camachotag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-08-20:537324:BlogPost:3765812013-08-20T13:53:58.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>The Creatures, Crime, and Creativity conference is in a few weeks. <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/08/austin-camacho-on-creatures-crime-and.html" target="_blank">Here's my interview with author and organizer Austin Camacho.</a></p>
<p>The Creatures, Crime, and Creativity conference is in a few weeks. <a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2013/08/austin-camacho-on-creatures-crime-and.html" target="_blank">Here's my interview with author and organizer Austin Camacho.</a></p>A Small Sacrificetag:crimespace.ning.com,2013-08-14:537324:BlogPost:3763022013-08-14T20:08:40.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>I have released a PI novel for Kindle, <em>A Small Sacrifice</em>. From the description on Amazon:</p>
<p><em style="font-size: 13px;">Detective Nick Forte is not impressed when Shirley Mitchell asks him to clear her son’s name for a murder everyone is sure he committed. Persuaded to at least look around, Forte soon encounters a dead body, as well as the distinct possibility the next murder he’s involved with will be his own. Clearing Doug Mitchell’s name quickly becomes far less important…</em></p>
<p>I have released a PI novel for Kindle, <em>A Small Sacrifice</em>. From the description on Amazon:</p>
<p><em style="font-size: 13px;">Detective Nick Forte is not impressed when Shirley Mitchell asks him to clear her son’s name for a murder everyone is sure he committed. Persuaded to at least look around, Forte soon encounters a dead body, as well as the distinct possibility the next murder he’s involved with will be his own. Clearing Doug Mitchell’s name quickly becomes far less important to Forte than keeping references to himself in the present tense.</em></p>
<div id="ps-content" class="bucket"><div class="content"><div id="outer_postBodyPS"><p>Nick Forte has been kicking around my hard drive for a while; he's the character I cut my writing teeth on, an appears as a "guest star" in <em>Grind Joint</em>, to be released by Stark House in November. </p>
<p><em>A Small Sacrifice</em> is currently <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Small-Sacrifice-Forte-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00E79UL1S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376510627&sr=8-1&keywords=dana+king+a+small+sacrifice" target="_blank">available for $2.99 (or whatever the equivalent is in Amazon's overseas markets)</a>, as well as part of the KDP lending library program.</p>
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<p><span>My <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/fall_paperback_mystery_reviews.htm#cold%20cold%20ground" target="_blank">review of Adrian McKinty's THE COLD COLD GROUND</a> has been posted to the New Mystery Reader web site, as well as <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/adrian_mckinty1.htm" target="_blank">an interview with Adrian</a>. </span><a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/fall_paperback_mystery_reviews.htm#cold" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow"><br/></a></p>
<p><span>My <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/fall_paperback_mystery_reviews.htm#cold%20cold%20ground" target="_blank">review of Adrian McKinty's THE COLD COLD GROUND</a> has been posted to the New Mystery Reader web site, as well as <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/adrian_mckinty1.htm" target="_blank">an interview with Adrian</a>. </span><a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com/fall_paperback_mystery_reviews.htm#cold" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow"><br/></a></p>A Good Month For Declan Burketag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-11-03:537324:BlogPost:3596872012-11-03T21:09:41.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>To be honest, Declan Burke is having a good year. I'm having a good month because of him. Read my interview with the author of <em>Slaughter's Hound<a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-interview-with-declan-burke.html" target="_blank">here</a></em>: </p>
<p>There's also a review of his new editorial collaboration with John Connolly (Books To Die For), as well as another interview with Dec at the <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com" target="_blank">New Mystery Reader</a> web…</p>
<p>To be honest, Declan Burke is having a good year. I'm having a good month because of him. Read my interview with the author of <em>Slaughter's Hound<a href="http://danaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-interview-with-declan-burke.html" target="_blank">here</a></em>: </p>
<p>There's also a review of his new editorial collaboration with John Connolly (Books To Die For), as well as another interview with Dec at the <a href="http://www.newmysteryreader.com" target="_blank">New Mystery Reader</a> web site. As usual, Dec is as worthy an interview as anyone I know. His answers will add to the enjoyment of those who have read the books in question, and convince those who have not read them, they ought to.</p>Well, I'll Be Go To Helltag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-05-31:537324:BlogPost:3442142012-05-31T22:27:34.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><font size="3">After—let’s see, borrow from the one—eighteen years of writing, about fifteen years of looking to get published, and countless hours and blog posts whining about the current state of publishing, today I signed an honest-to-Chandler book contract with Stark House to publish the second of my Penns River novels, <em>Grind Joint</em>.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The successor to <em>Worst Enemies </em>(currently available for …</font></p>
<p><font size="3">After—let’s see, borrow from the one—eighteen years of writing, about fifteen years of looking to get published, and countless hours and blog posts whining about the current state of publishing, today I signed an honest-to-Chandler book contract with Stark House to publish the second of my Penns River novels, <em>Grind Joint</em>.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The successor to <em>Worst Enemies </em>(currently available for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dana+king+worst+enemies&x=12&y=15" target="_blank">Kindle</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/worst-enemies-dana-king/1109193938?ean=2940013891890&itm=1&usri=dana+king+worst+enemies" target="_blank">Nook</a> for a measly $2.99), <em>Grind Joint</em> is the story of what happens when the 21st-Century panacea for all urban financial woes rolls into a small town: a casino. It features many of the characters and occasionally looks back into an only partially resolved issue from<em>Worst Enemies</em> (yet another reason to get your copy, so you’ll be ahead of the curve).</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The release date is tentatively set for early 2014, so there will be plenty of time to torment all of you with my idea of promotion. Suffice for now to say thank you to Greg Shepard and Rick Ollerman at Stark House for taking a chance on me.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Plenty of future electrons will be devoted to thanking those who helped to get me this far, but three require mention immediately:</font></p>
<p><font size="3">John McNally, for treating the lone genre writer in his workshop exactly the same as the more literary types, both in expectations and respect.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Declan Burke, who rounded up a posse of friends to comment here when I thought of hanging up my keyboard a couple of years ago and convinced me to keep plugging along.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">And the inimitable Charlie Stella, who pretty much brokered the deal. Charlie is Stark House’s other writer of original novels (they focus on reprints of authors including Margaret Millar, Bill Pronzini, and Bob Randisi), and adopted me a couple of years ago. His counsel and encouragement have been formidable and much appreciated. Yes, Charlie, I did the writing, but I can safely say this book would never have seen print had it not been for you.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">That’s enough shameless self-promotery for now. I need to save some for <em>Worst Enemies</em>, available now for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dana+king+worst+enemies&x=12&y=15" target="_blank">Kindle</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/worst-enemies-dana-king/1109193938?ean=2940013891890&itm=1&usri=dana+king+worst+enemies" target="_blank">Nook</a>.</font></p>Why Re-Readtag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-04-27:537324:BlogPost:3416262012-04-27T22:51:42.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><em><font face="Arial" size="3">When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.</font></em></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="3">So goes what is sometimes called the greatest opening sentence in crime fiction, the beginning of James Crumley’s masterpiece <em>The Last Good Kiss</em>. The book is full of lines that…</font></p>
<p><em><font size="3" face="Arial">When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.</font></em></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">So goes what is sometimes called the greatest opening sentence in crime fiction, the beginning of James Crumley’s masterpiece <em>The Last Good Kiss</em>. The book is full of lines that good or better, beautifully crafted. When I read it in December 2008 I liked it, but didn’t see what all the fuss was about. The whole didn’t seem to equal the sum of its parts. My memories of it weren’t good as time passed.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Crumley’s name comes up a lot in the blogs and web sites I frequent, and he presented as someone I’d like in interviews. A couple of years ago I took a chance on <em>Dancing Bear</em> and loved it.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Confusion ensued. <em>Dancing Bear</em> is good, but Crumley’s magnum opus is universally considered to be <em>The Last Good Kiss</em>. How was I off by so much?</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Leave it to The Beloved Spouse to set me straight. “You read that when you were sick, didn’t you? Maybe that clouded your judgment.”</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Oh, yeah. I spent most of December 2008 and the early part of January 2009 on the couch with a nasty case of mononucleosis. That’s when I read <em>The Last Good Kiss</em>, followed immediately by Ken Bruen’s <em>The Guards</em>, which had also been highly recommended and I failed to see what all the fuss was about . The more I thought about it, I remembered reading more Bruen, too, and liked them both. (<em>Priest </em>and <em>London Boulevard.) </em>Maybe TBS was on to something. (It wouldn’t be the first time.) So this week, I got around to reading <em>The Last Good Kiss</em> again.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">God damn, that’s a good book.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I haven’t read much PI fiction lately, which could be why I’m having so much trouble putting together the PI novel I’ve trying to work on since September. Crumley reminded me why I love PI fiction, things that work better in first person POV, and how to work around some of its limitations. Wonderful book.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Most people have favorites they’ll re-read from time to time, comfort food for the mind. Try reading an occasional book you didn’t care for, too. The book won’t have changed, but you may have, even if you only just feel better than the first time you read it.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">I already have <em>The Guards</em> queued up.</font></p>Cleansing Eden, by Ben Sobiecktag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-04-04:537324:BlogPost:3400782012-04-04T19:39:19.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p>I don’t like serial killer stories. Read them only if there is some other compelling reason to. (Like maybe because it was written by Declan Hughes.) Serial killer stories are the lazy writer’s way to build tension, creating a villain with the conscience of a shark and a psyche that is screwed up in some inexplicable manner no one would believe, but the author gets away with because the killers actions and motivations don’t have to make sense, he’s clearly completely nuts or he <i>wouldn’t…</i></p>
<p>I don’t like serial killer stories. Read them only if there is some other compelling reason to. (Like maybe because it was written by Declan Hughes.) Serial killer stories are the lazy writer’s way to build tension, creating a villain with the conscience of a shark and a psyche that is screwed up in some inexplicable manner no one would believe, but the author gets away with because the killers actions and motivations don’t have to make sense, he’s clearly completely nuts or he <i>wouldn’t be a serial killer!</i> Serial killers most often prey on women, almost always relatively young and attractive women, which is another cheat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I could go on, but my bona fides have been established: I don’t like serial killer stories. I probably would not have read Ben Sobieck’s <i>Cleansing Eden</i> had I paid enough attention to know it was a serial killer story. I read it because people whose taste I trust kept recommending it, and I’d recently finished a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Funny-Detective-Stories-Starring-ebook/dp/B0076TZUEY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333567908&sr=1-1">collection of his Maynard Soloman stories</a>, which I enjoyed a great deal. So I got a few pages in and realized, “Bugger. This is a serial killer story.” The quality of the writing was good, and Sobieck had earned a little patience on my part, so I hung with it. Got to wondering what happened next. Pretty soon I was hooked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><i>Cleansing Eden</i> is not your basic John Sanford serial killer story.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>First, this guy doesn’t have some bizarre compulsion to kill. He has a plan, and killing is the means to his desired end. Yes, it’s a crazy plan, but, let’s face it, he’s a serial killer. He’s entitled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s also rational enough not to dirty his hands. He acts as Svengali to a much younger man, who does his killing for him. Don’t think Charles Manson; this DC sniper territory. The victims aren’t tortured to death. No murder is pretty, but the purpose here is to kill them, not gratify himself sexually. Remember, the deaths are only means to an end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What is that end? Read the book. Sobieck makes it easy for you. His prose reads easily, and amount of disbelief you have to suspend never becomes a burden. The juxtaposition of points of view from the killer to a cop to a TV paparazzi journalist keeps the reader half a step ahead of the action without knowing for sure what the action will be. <i>Cleansing Eden</i> is a fine first novel from a writer whose take on a hackneyed genre is fresh and will leave you looking forward to what he comes up with next.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cleansing-Eden-Celebrity-Murders-ebook/dp/B007C4D7ES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333567647&sr=8-1">Cleansing Eden is available for Kindle for only $3.99</a></i>, or free for Amazon Prime members.</p>WORST ENEMIES Breaks Its Review Cherrytag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-03-31:537324:BlogPost:3397982012-03-31T22:36:02.000ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
<p><span>Computer problems have kept me from flogging <i>Worst Enemies</i> as relentlessly as I might have (you're welcome), but reviews are starting to come in just the same, and they are very heartening. Leighton Gage, author of the award-winning Chief Inspector Mario Silva series, has weighed in on Amazon thusly:</span><br></br><br></br><span>When you write crime novels, as I do, you tend to read them differently - and your experience often detracts from your…</span></p>
<p><span>Computer problems have kept me from flogging <i>Worst Enemies</i> as relentlessly as I might have (you're welcome), but reviews are starting to come in just the same, and they are very heartening. Leighton Gage, author of the award-winning Chief Inspector Mario Silva series, has weighed in on Amazon thusly:</span><br/><br/><span>When you write crime novels, as I do, you tend to read them differently - and your experience often detracts from your enjoyment.</span><br/><br/><span><span>Instead of being borne away by the story, as the author intended, you get distracted by craft. You get hung up, for example, on how a writer is getting his effects, and the tricks he uses to delineate character.</span><span>But every now and then a new author comes along, whose touch is so subtle, and whose talent so well-developed, that you lose yourself within his pages.</span><span>That's the way I feel about Dana King.</span><span>I loved his first book, "Wild Bill".</span><span>But, as every writer knows, a first book sometimes takes years to create and polish, arduous months of re-writing and re-writing. And, in the rush to get another book before the reading public before the first one is forgotten, that luxury of time is often lost.</span><span>Hence the dreaded sophomore slump, the pit into which many an author falls when his second book is nowhere as good as his first.</span><span>Not so with King. "Worst Enemies", his second outing, is a book every bit as good as his first - and maybe better.</span><span>In the very first pages, he describes, in some detail, the killing around which the whole book rotates. He identifies the victim, identifies the murderer, and tells us why the killer was motivated to do what he did.</span><span>What kind of murder mystery is this?</span><span>Read it and find out.</span><span>You're going to be surprised and delighted.</span><span>It's a great book, and I recommend it unreservedly.</span></span><br/><br/><span>Many thanks to Leighton for his kind words. You can get your copy of </span><i>Worst Enemies</i><span> by clicking </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Enemies-Penns-River-ebook/dp/B007F4227I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333232848&sr=1-1">here</a><span>.</span></p>