John McFetridge's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T15:54:21ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcFhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60985194?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=JohnMcF&xn_auth=noThe Pitchtag:crimespace.ning.com,2011-11-17:537324:BlogPost:3223552011-11-17T14:26:22.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>I have a new book of short stories available for the Kindle:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As it says on the cover, they are short stories based on TV shows I pitched to networks.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70758600?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70758600?profile=original" width="400"></img></a></p>
<p>So, if you're curious what kinds of shows are, "As Not Seen on TV," here are a few adapted into short stories.</p>
<p><em>Pulp Life</em> was pitched as a comedy-noir cable show (it has swearing and…</p>
<p>I have a new book of short stories available for the Kindle:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As it says on the cover, they are short stories based on TV shows I pitched to networks.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70758600?profile=original"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70758600?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>So, if you're curious what kinds of shows are, "As Not Seen on TV," here are a few adapted into short stories.</p>
<p><em>Pulp Life</em> was pitched as a comedy-noir cable show (it has swearing and some sex) about a crime novelist who's hired to ghost write an ex-con's memoir - and the two commit crimes together.</p>
<p><em>East Coast</em> is a police procedural about narcotics cops working the Maine-New Brunswick border (and this short story has been available on Smashwords for a while).</p>
<p>And <em>Revolution</em> is a spy story set in Montreal in 1968 with a KGB agent as the hero (which the networks I pitched it to really couldn't understand at all).</p>
<p>It's available <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Revolution-stories-pitches-ebook/dp/B0067ATV6G/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1321539845&sr=8-6">here</a>.</p>
<p> </p>Finally Kindletag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-12-13:537324:BlogPost:2582442010-12-13T02:38:05.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p></p>
<p>Finally my first novel, DIRTY SWEET, is available for the Kindle for under ten bucks ($7.16 - no idea how it ended up at that).</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70754033?profile=original" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70754033?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a></p>
<p>The book was first published in Canada by ECW Press and then picked up for publication in the USA by Harcourt. A paperback version did get published just at the time Harcourt merged with Houghton Miflin but I don't know if any…</p>
<p></p>
<p>Finally my first novel, DIRTY SWEET, is available for the Kindle for under ten bucks ($7.16 - no idea how it ended up at that).</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70754033?profile=original" target="_blank"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70754033?profile=RESIZE_320x320" alt="" width="300"/></a></p>
<p>The book was first published in Canada by ECW Press and then picked up for publication in the USA by Harcourt. A paperback version did get published just at the time Harcourt merged with Houghton Miflin but I don't know if any made it into stores.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So now, finally, there's a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Sweet-ebook/dp/B004FPZ53S/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3" target="_blank">Kindle edition</a> (with the ECW cover).</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>Grow House short story now available from Smashwordstag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:BlogPost:2432952010-07-23T21:35:11.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>A short story I wrote, <em>Grow House</em>, is now available for free on Smashwords, <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19607">here</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70751686?profile=original"></img></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>The story appeared online in Demoiltion Magazine.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The description on Smashwords is:</p>
<p></p>
<p>Stand-off in a suburban grow op. Freddie is robbing the place, Victor has come to kill him, Steve is caught in the middle and Holly is looking for a quiet…</p>
<p>A short story I wrote, <em>Grow House</em>, is now available for free on Smashwords, <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19607">here</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70751686?profile=original"/></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>The story appeared online in Demoiltion Magazine.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The description on Smashwords is:</p>
<p></p>
<p>Stand-off in a suburban grow op. Freddie is robbing the place, Victor has come to kill him, Steve is caught in the middle and Holly is looking for a quiet evening at home. Any house in any neighbourhood could be a grow house...</p>
<p></p>It's Official -- The Bridge to air on CBS starting July 10thtag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-05-27:537324:BlogPost:2357932010-05-27T14:03:39.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>The cop show I worked on last year in Toronto, <em>The Bridge</em>, has finally been officially added to the CBS summer schedule and will debut on Saturday, July 10th at 8:00 pm.<br></br><br></br>Here is the show's description from CBS:<br></br><br></br><em>THE BRIDGE is a drama about a tough and dedicated police officer who is voted to become the police union's dynamic leader. To serve the public as well as his 8,000 fellow officers, charismatic Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) battles criminals on the street,…</em></p>
<p>The cop show I worked on last year in Toronto, <em>The Bridge</em>, has finally been officially added to the CBS summer schedule and will debut on Saturday, July 10th at 8:00 pm.<br/><br/>Here is the show's description from CBS:<br/><br/><em>THE BRIDGE is a drama about a tough and dedicated police officer who is voted to become the police union's dynamic leader. To serve the public as well as his 8,000 fellow officers, charismatic Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) battles criminals on the street, corruption in the ranks and his own bosses. On the force is his able partner and confidante Tommy Dunn (Paul Popowich), who rides with Frank across the bridge that spans the divide between the rich and the poor in the area they patrol; Staff Sergeant Bernie Kantor (Frank Cassini), a voice of reason and moral sounding board; Jill (Inga Cadranel), a detective with a lot of attitude who is moving up the ranks; Billy (Theresa Joy), a young female cop who is determined to prove herself to the guys; and Ed Wycoff (Michael Murphy), the shrewd Chief of Police. Abby St. James (Ona Grauer) is a sharp prosecutor who begins working with the police union, and shares a mutual attraction with Frank. In his new position, Frank Leo takes on the politically-motivated department brass. and makes many powerful enemies in the process.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>The best place to find info on this show is at the <a href="http://thebridgetv.com/">site created by one of Aaron Douglas's fans here</a>.<br/><br/>I was one of the story editors for 11 episodes (the two-part pilot had already been made when the writers' room was hired) and I'm credited with writing one episode and co-writing another.</p>
<p></p>
<p>There was a lot of ambitious, difficult material in <em>The Bridge</em> and with two networks involved - and two countries - it was challenging. The 13 episodes have aired in Canada to good ratings and mixed reviews. Right now there's no word on a second season.</p>
<p></p>
<p>When I finished working on <em>The Bridge</em> I tried to develop my own show. I wrote a pilot episode and shopped it around. It's called <em>East Coast</em> and it's about cops in Canada's maritime provinces and the New England states in the US fighting the unwinnable war on drugs.</p>
<p></p>
<p>While producers are looking at the material, I decided to turn the pilot episode into a short story and give it away online as an e-book. <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14367">East Coast is available here</a>.</p>
<p></p>Barbottetag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-05-20:537324:BlogPost:2354212010-05-20T20:47:38.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>A couple of years ago a short story I wrote called <em>Barbotte</em> appeared in Dave Zeltserman's webzine Hard Luck Stories, edited by Ed Gorman.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" height="657" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70750701?profile=original" style="WIDTH: 307px; HEIGHT: 433px" width="307"></img></p>
<p></p>
<p>Now Smashwords has made it easy for me to give the story away in a bunch of different formats. I use the Stanza app to read Smashwords books on my iPod. You don't need a dedicated e-reader, the books can be read online and are also available as .pdf and text…</p>
<p>A couple of years ago a short story I wrote called <em>Barbotte</em> appeared in Dave Zeltserman's webzine Hard Luck Stories, edited by Ed Gorman.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img style="WIDTH: 307px; HEIGHT: 433px" alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70750701?profile=original" width="307" height="657"/></p>
<p></p>
<p>Now Smashwords has made it easy for me to give the story away in a bunch of different formats. I use the Stanza app to read Smashwords books on my iPod. You don't need a dedicated e-reader, the books can be read online and are also available as .pdf and text files.</p>
<p></p>
<p>This is my first (and so far only) historical story. It takes place in Montreal in 1946, the summer Jackie Robinson broke baseball's "colour-line" with the Dodgers' top farm team, the Montreal Royals.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The story is available <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/15085">here</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>Ending the Year on an Up Notetag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-12-31:537324:BlogPost:2234122009-12-31T15:36:23.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
A review of my novel <i>Swap</i> that was first published in the London Free Press (that's London, Ontario) has been picked up by the Sun newspapers in Canada and ran in the Toronto Sun a couple of days ago.<br />
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The book will be published in the USA by St. Marins Press in February with the title, <i>Let It Ride</i>. My editor, the terrific John Schoenfelder, has left St. Martins to start up the new crime imprint at Little Brown, so I don't really know what will happen in the new year. Though this…
A review of my novel <i>Swap</i> that was first published in the London Free Press (that's London, Ontario) has been picked up by the Sun newspapers in Canada and ran in the Toronto Sun a couple of days ago.<br />
<br />
The book will be published in the USA by St. Marins Press in February with the title, <i>Let It Ride</i>. My editor, the terrific John Schoenfelder, has left St. Martins to start up the new crime imprint at Little Brown, so I don't really know what will happen in the new year. Though this is nothing new for me. A couple months before my last book, <i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i>, was published in the USA in 2008 by Harcourt they merged with Houghton Miflin and my editor, the terrific Stacia Decker, was let go (I have fantastic luck with editors, not so great with publishers).<br />
<br />
Anyway, here's the review:<br />
<br />
Now and then literary critics — and even some writers — lament that Canada, and specifically Toronto, lacks great fictional explorations of big-city life.<br />
<br />
Evidently they’re not looking at crime fiction when they’re working up their complaints — and they’re certainly not taking John McFetridge into account.<br />
<br />
In just three novels — his first two were <i>Dirty Sweet</i> and <i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> -- McFetridge has demonstrated gifts that put him in Elmore Leonard territory as a writer, and make Toronto as gritty and fascinating as Leonard’s Detroit.<br />
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Possibly what the critics think they’re missing are novels about hopeful artists living in above-store apartments who spend their evenings cruising the social hotspots of Queen Street West culture.<br />
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They, however, happen to be among those sideswiped in McFetridge’s new <i>Swap</i> — quietly poked fun at, along with executives who buy leather jackets and Harleys and masquerade as tough guys on weekends.<br />
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The Toronto that stars in <i>Swap</i> is a genuinely tough place, where old mobsters try to either fight off or acquiesce to the takeovers of their criminal pursuits by biker gangs, and cops wearily and doggedly, with and without the aid of cynicism, hope and booze, pursue the murders and drug deals that ensue.<br />
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The first victims in <i>Swap</i> are among the few more-or-less innocents in the novel — a Mississauga couple headed home from a night downtown, both shot in their car on an expressway on-ramp, providing an initial puzzle for homicide cops Andre Price and Maureen McKeon.<br />
<br />
Headed into town from Detroit, meanwhile, is former U.S. armed forces Sgt. Vernard McGetty — known as Get — who signed up for duty in Afghanistan in order to cultivate a prime drug supply for his mother and uncle who run the family drug trade back home.<br />
<br />
He’s looking to trade drugs for guns in Toronto, hooking up when he hits town with members of the Saints of Hell. The motorcycle gang has recently made a co-existence deal with the head of the local Mafia family, and unified biker activities across the country under its own colours.<br />
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There are still a few holdouts on both sides of the mobster-biker agreement, and death is bound to follow — including the out-of-town slaughter of eight recalcitrant bikers whose bodies get stuffed into car trunks and towtrucks, an event that may ring readers’ bells.<br />
<br />
McFetridge keeps a tight and sprightly grip on a big cast of people, weaving a whole lot of operations around, under and above each other through the streets of Toronto. His excellent underbelly includes a trio of women robbers, a sex trade worker or two up to more than the usual tricks, and some major examples of criminal uses of capitalist techniques.<br />
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Every character and conversation he creates is vivid, lively and often highly amusing, but for all their jauntiness of style, his most alert people are aware that one way or another, they could be gone in a minute.<br />
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McFetridge, by contrast, should be around for a long time. He’s a class act, and he’s creating fictional classics — maybe even that great urban literature of Toronto the critics now and then long for.<br />
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<br />
From <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/books/2009/12/29/12296911.html" target="_blank">The Toronto Sun</a>.The Publishers Weeky Reviewtag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-12-05:537324:BlogPost:2216362009-12-05T20:52:08.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Here is the Publishers Weekly review for my novel, <i>Let It Ride</i> (which is published as <i>Swap</i> in Canada):<br />
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Let It Ride, John McFetridge. Minotaur, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-59948-5<br />
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Too many characters and points of view throw off the rhythm of this sprawling homage to caper-master Elmore Leonard from Canadian author McFetridge (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere). Venard “Get” McGetty, a vet who served in Afghanistan, crosses the border from Detroit to Toronto looking to exchange…
Here is the Publishers Weekly review for my novel, <i>Let It Ride</i> (which is published as <i>Swap</i> in Canada):<br />
<br />
Let It Ride, John McFetridge. Minotaur, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-59948-5<br />
<br />
Too many characters and points of view throw off the rhythm of this sprawling homage to caper-master Elmore Leonard from Canadian author McFetridge (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere). Venard “Get” McGetty, a vet who served in Afghanistan, crosses the border from Detroit to Toronto looking to exchange guns for coke. As Get takes in the scope of the action of the Saints of Hell gang, he meets Sunitha Suraiya, a whore with big plans. Big Pete Zichello, a rival holdout targeted for elimination, tries to fight back, while Richard Tremblay, the head of the Saints of Hell who brought all the other gangs into line, tries to buy time for his last move. Meanwhile, Get and Sunitha hatch a daring plan to steal a jackpot of gold. Amid the busy plot, McFetridge does a good job depicting a crime-ridden Toronto (aka the Big Smoke) that resembles the wide-open Chicago of Prohibition days with corrupt cops, gang warfare, and flourishing prostitution. (Feb.)<br />
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I like it.The Bridge - trailertag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-16:537324:BlogPost:1938912009-04-16T14:52:06.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Here's the promo trailer for the TV show I'm working on, <i>The Bridge</i>.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HScvncMe5XE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="never" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HScvncMe5XE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" wmode="opaque"></embed> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param></object>
<br />
<br />
The show synopsis is:<br />
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<i>It is the role of the police to protect society - but who is there to protect them? The police union has become powerless against the politically-motivated police department and street cop Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) is sick of it. By popular vote Frank becomes president of the 8000 strong police union but makes many powerful enemies in the department along the…</i>
Here's the promo trailer for the TV show I'm working on, <i>The Bridge</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HScvncMe5XE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HScvncMe5XE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
<br />
<br />
The show synopsis is:<br />
<br />
<i>It is the role of the police to protect society - but who is there to protect them? The police union has become powerless against the politically-motivated police department and street cop Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) is sick of it. By popular vote Frank becomes president of the 8000 strong police union but makes many powerful enemies in the department along the way.<br />
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Inspired by the insights of a former police union head, The Bridge lays bare Frank's struggles - he not only battles criminals on the street but sometimes his own bosses and police force corruption, in order to protect his fellow officers and ultimately society.</i><br />
<br />
Right now the show is scheduled to begin airing on CBS in the US and CTV in Canada on Thursday, July 9th at 10:00 and run for 13 weeks.Lush Life and Google's Street Viewtag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-06:537324:BlogPost:1918252009-04-06T15:18:53.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Richard Price's <em>Lush Life</em> is a fantastic novel for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is its incredible sense of place. The whole book pretty much takes place within a few blocks on New York's Lower East Side.<br />
<br />
Now, I've never been to the Lower East Side and the book gave a complete feel of the place, but I was still a little curious to see the area, so I looked up one of the addresses given in the book, 27 Eldridge, on Google Maps and then hit the street view:<br />
<br />
…<br></br>
Richard Price's <em>Lush Life</em> is a fantastic novel for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is its incredible sense of place. The whole book pretty much takes place within a few blocks on New York's Lower East Side.<br />
<br />
Now, I've never been to the Lower East Side and the book gave a complete feel of the place, but I was still a little curious to see the area, so I looked up one of the addresses given in the book, 27 Eldridge, on Google Maps and then hit the street view:<br />
<br />
<br/><small><a href="http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=27+Eldridge+St,+New+York,+NY+10002,+USA&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=0,303.75&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=40.715166,-73.993497&panoid=jA9ZFCUq4O8pf5rgsz-jBw&cbp=12,70.90689434867811,,0,5&ll=40.72482,-73.989573&spn=0.032589,0.054932&z=14&iwloc=addr" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>
Google Street View has been <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/technology/01private.html">controversial</a> and I really don't know what to make of it, but it was very cool to spend a few minutes, "walking around," in <em>Lush Life</em>. It looks exactly the way the novel feels:<br />
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So, what do you think? Is this something you're likely to try? Do you ever have a desire to see even more of a place you read about?writing episodic TV is like writing Haikutag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-03-07:537324:BlogPost:1867242009-03-07T16:40:44.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Two weeks into my new job as a story editor on the TV show <i>The Bridge</i> (premiering July 9th on CBS at 10:00 pm), one of the more experienced writers said, "Writing TV is like writing Haiku, you have to fit everything into the structure," and I thought, yeah, that's right, people don't complain that Haiku is too formulaic.<br />
<br />
Then he said you could also use dirty limericks as the example, but that's not as classy.<br />
<br />
The writers' room is a very funny place and a fun place to be.<br />
<br />
It's quite…
Two weeks into my new job as a story editor on the TV show <i>The Bridge</i> (premiering July 9th on CBS at 10:00 pm), one of the more experienced writers said, "Writing TV is like writing Haiku, you have to fit everything into the structure," and I thought, yeah, that's right, people don't complain that Haiku is too formulaic.<br />
<br />
Then he said you could also use dirty limericks as the example, but that's not as classy.<br />
<br />
The writers' room is a very funny place and a fun place to be.<br />
<br />
It's quite different than writing novels. When I write a novel I start with a couple of characters I think would be interesting to follow and I follow them. I have a vague idea where they might take me, but most of the story emerges from the writing. I'm never sure exactly how the novel will end or even who will emerge as the main character. In <i>Dirty Sweet</i> there's an unnamed, low-level biker in one scene and he doesn't say anything, he's background. In <i>Everybody Knows This is Nowhere</i> he gets named J.T. and has some lines and some scenes. He's pretty much a main character in <i>Swap</i>. This was certainly no clever plan I had worked out.<br />
<br />
But the whole season of <i>The Bridge</i> (11 episodes actually, the pilot has already been filmed and is going to run as the first two episodes) is getting worked out in note form on a big whiteboard across an entire wall of the writers' room. All six story editors contribute to the outlines of every episode and the head writer (the <i>Showrunner</i>, in TV-speak) is the final word. Then each writer is assigned one or two of these detailed outlines and writes them up as scripts.<br />
<br />
The speed at which all this happens is also making my head spin. I'd fallen into a schedule that worked around my kids' school schedule. They start school in September and I start writing a book. For the past couple of years I've been able to finish by June when they finished school.<br />
<br />
We started outlining this TV show two weeks ago and the first episode we're working on will air July 23rd. When the producer told us this, I said, "July 23rd, 2010, right?" I was only half kidding. Filming starts April 20th.<br />
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So, everything has to fit. It has to be like Haiku.<br />
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Looks good so far.Swap - trailertag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-16:537324:BlogPost:1770552009-01-16T19:09:30.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Here's a trailer for my novel, Swap, coming out this fall.<br />
<br />
The question is, does this get you interested in the…
Here's a trailer for my novel, Swap, coming out this fall.<br />
<br />
The question is, does this get you interested in the book?<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3iiHEm9OY8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3iiHEm9OY8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Bouchercon meta-fictiontag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-11-24:537324:BlogPost:1684322008-11-24T18:23:21.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Before heading off to Bouchercon this year I started to write a bit of fiction about the trip. I present the beginning of it here and will post the rest of it over the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
Remember, it's fiction. It's all made up. All of it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Ten Rules</b><br />
<br />
<br />
When I wrote my novel, <i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i>, I used Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing, and I’m pretty sure that Declan Burke used them when he wrote his novel, <i>The Big O</i>, so it was natural when we teamed up…
Before heading off to Bouchercon this year I started to write a bit of fiction about the trip. I present the beginning of it here and will post the rest of it over the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
Remember, it's fiction. It's all made up. All of it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Ten Rules</b><br />
<br />
<br />
When I wrote my novel, <i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i>, I used Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing, and I’m pretty sure that Declan Burke used them when he wrote his novel, <i>The Big O</i>, so it was natural when we teamed up to pull armed robberies on our way to Bouchercon in Baltimore, we’d use Elmore’s Ten Rules for Success and Happiness from his novel <i>Swag</i>.<br />
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In both cases we had to make minor changes to the rules. For one thing, grocery stores and bars never have much cash on hand anymore and one exclamation point for every hundred thousand words? Come on, these are crime novels, people getting robbed and beaten up yell.<br />
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<br />
(the rest of Part One is on my blog: <a href="http://johnmcfetridge.blogspot.com/">www.johnmcfetridge.blogspot.com</a>)Free e-book - Flashtag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-10-01:537324:BlogPost:1616742008-10-01T18:35:10.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70742410?profile=original" alt="" width="375" height="301"/></p>
<br />
I've collected a bunch of my flash fiction and short stories (and a few interviews) into an e-book which is available for free on my <a href="http://johnmcfetridge.ca">website</a>.<br />
<br />
Please let me know what you think.
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70742410?profile=original" alt="" width="375" height="301"/></p>
<br />
I've collected a bunch of my flash fiction and short stories (and a few interviews) into an e-book which is available for free on my <a href="http://johnmcfetridge.ca">website</a>.<br />
<br />
Please let me know what you think.Hard Luck Storiestag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-06-26:537324:BlogPost:1480732008-06-26T16:48:43.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="657" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70741328?profile=original" width="464"></img></p>
<br />
Isn't that cool? It's the illustration by Jean-Pierre Jacquet for my story in <a href="http://www.hardluckstories.com/">Hard Luck Stories</a>.<br />
<br />
Dave Zelsterman and Ed Gorman did a fantastic job editing what will, for now anyway, be the final issue of Hard Luck (never say never, guys) and it's a tribute to the pulp era. James Reasoner's story is a great south seas noir (now that's a sub-genre) and Bill Crider's story is also terrific. The others, too,…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70741328?profile=original" alt="" width="464" height="657"/></p>
<br />
Isn't that cool? It's the illustration by Jean-Pierre Jacquet for my story in <a href="http://www.hardluckstories.com/">Hard Luck Stories</a>.<br />
<br />
Dave Zelsterman and Ed Gorman did a fantastic job editing what will, for now anyway, be the final issue of Hard Luck (never say never, guys) and it's a tribute to the pulp era. James Reasoner's story is a great south seas noir (now that's a sub-genre) and Bill Crider's story is also terrific. The others, too, of course.<br />
<br />
I'm honoured to be associated with it.I got a Kirkus reviewtag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-05-05:537324:BlogPost:1399042008-05-05T13:56:02.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> is out this week in Canada and comes out in July in the US and last week got a review in Kirkus. And it's starred.<br />
<br />
I'm humbled and shocked and thrilled. I don't even have anything to say, so here it is:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It’s refreshingly hard to tell the good from the no-good in this helping of cops and robbers, Canadian style.<br />
<br />
Sharon MacDonald, smart, attractive, a loving mother, wears one of those metallic adornments around her ankle. She’s under house arrest for…
<i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> is out this week in Canada and comes out in July in the US and last week got a review in Kirkus. And it's starred.<br />
<br />
I'm humbled and shocked and thrilled. I don't even have anything to say, so here it is:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It’s refreshingly hard to tell the good from the no-good in this helping of cops and robbers, Canadian style.<br />
<br />
Sharon MacDonald, smart, attractive, a loving mother, wears one of those metallic adornments around her ankle. She’s under house arrest for hospitalizing some wise guy who got out of line. As the operator of an established Toronto “grow room,” Sharon plants and harvests marijuana for profit. Enter Ray, good-looking, immensely appealing to Sharon, with an unnerving proposition likely to make drug kingpin Richard Tremblay unhappy. An unhappy Tremblay means a trembling Sharon, a state familiar to her ever since she knew the ice-eyed kingpin when he was only a scary student prince. On the other hand, Ray’s scheme has almost irresistible payoff potential if Sharon can trust her new partner long enough to double-cross him safely. Newly paired Toronto police detectives Bergeron and Armstrong have trust issues of their own. Neither is sure the other is the solid cop to be hoped for in a partner. Throughout the exposition, persistent, worrisome rumblings indicate that it’s shake-up time in Toronto, and everybody knows that on both sides of the law enforcement divide big players are going down.<br />
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Bristling action, a vivid sense of place and nary a plot twist telegraphed. Exceptional work from McFetridge (Dirty Sweet, 2006).Genre vs. Lit - everybody's talking about ittag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-10:537324:BlogPost:1359492008-04-10T13:43:00.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Recently on the Elmore Leonard discussion forum, someone posted this about the novel, <i>Pagan Babies</i>:<br />
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"I was a bit uncomfortable at the use of a horrific, real-life tragedy within a crime novel."<br />
<br />
Of course, almost every crime novel is inspired by some real-life tragedy. In this case it's the scale of the thing.<br />
<br />
<i>Pagan Babies</i> opens five years after the Rwandan genocide with a description of forty-seven bodies, "... turned to leather and stains," in a church. Two sentences in Elmore…
Recently on the Elmore Leonard discussion forum, someone posted this about the novel, <i>Pagan Babies</i>:<br />
<br />
"I was a bit uncomfortable at the use of a horrific, real-life tragedy within a crime novel."<br />
<br />
Of course, almost every crime novel is inspired by some real-life tragedy. In this case it's the scale of the thing.<br />
<br />
<i>Pagan Babies</i> opens five years after the Rwandan genocide with a description of forty-seven bodies, "... turned to leather and stains," in a church. Two sentences in Elmore Leonard's typical straight-forward, adjective-free prose. It's one of the most moving openings to a novel I've ever read.<br />
<br />
And it's material that's been covered before in the novel <i>Sunday at the Pool in Kigali</i> by Canadian Gilles Courtemanche and the movie, <i>Hotel Rwanda</i>, among others.<br />
<br />
None of those caused people to question the use of a real-life, horrific tragedy. So, it must have been in the context of a, "crime novel," that caused the uncomfort.<br />
<br />
For me this crystalized the "literature" versus "genre" issue. The feeling that genre isn't capable of taking on big, serious issues. I find it particularly frustrating as genre writing is almost the only place these days to find writing about these issues. While "literature" seems to operate more and more at the extremes - either big issue subjects in books like <i>The Kite Runner</i> (usually by foreign writers), or further and further stuck in the rut of domestic breakdowns and personal, individual, middle-class crises, it's genre writing, crime and horror and fantasy and sci-fi, that continues to dig deeper into things like murders, child abuse, corruption and yes, even the alienating effects of the modern world.<br />
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Sure, it was only one guy who said it, but to me it's the great unspoken in the debate. Genre just isn't worthy. All evidence to the contrary.Blurbstag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:BlogPost:1040952007-12-13T19:26:01.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>The advance copies of <em>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</em> are being sent out and blurbs have started to come in. This is very exciting.</p>
<p>“McFetridge has a verteran’s way with dialogue and prose, and the pages fly by like greased lightning. You’ll love every word, from the very first windshield splat, all the way to the dynamite end. Who’d have thought there was such a seedy side to Toronto, and McFetridge is the perfect guide. Everyone Knows this is awesome!”—Victor Gischler,…</p>
<p>The advance copies of <em>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</em> are being sent out and blurbs have started to come in. This is very exciting.</p>
<p>“McFetridge has a verteran’s way with dialogue and prose, and the pages fly by like greased lightning. You’ll love every word, from the very first windshield splat, all the way to the dynamite end. Who’d have thought there was such a seedy side to Toronto, and McFetridge is the perfect guide. Everyone Knows this is awesome!”—Victor Gischler, author of <i>Shotgun Opera</i></p>
<p><em>(</em>I'm sure <em>Shotgun Opera</em> is good, but come on, I'm really looking forward to <em>Go-Go Girls of the Apocolypse)</em></p>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><span style="COLOR: black">“Crackling dialogue, explosive action, cops, crooks, and the deadly setups, scams, and mind games these underworld types play. Sounds like a good Elmore Leonard novel. Reads like one, too. Enjoy.”</span><span style="COLOR: black">—</span><span style="COLOR: black">Parnell Hall, author of <i>Hitman</i></span></p>
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<p class="EC_MsoNormal"></p>Flash Fictiontag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-10-10:537324:BlogPost:803322007-10-10T20:38:38.000ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>Lately I've become a fan of flash fiction. I find it the perfect format to read online and it's often a good introduction to an author's writing style.</p>
<p>I've posted flash stories on Muzzle Flash, Powder Burn Flash and Shred of Evidence, they're all good.</p>
<p>Lately I've become a fan of flash fiction. I find it the perfect format to read online and it's often a good introduction to an author's writing style.</p>
<p>I've posted flash stories on Muzzle Flash, Powder Burn Flash and Shred of Evidence, they're all good.</p>