Coping with Sanity

Another Day, Another Post at the New Place

2007-10-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

I've got a new post up at the new blog today about my trip to Cleveland with Becky.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

Love in a time of sinus infections

2007-10-13T10:25:00.000-04:00

I'm still not getting any Crimespot love for the new blog, so I'll continue posting these little notes making people aware of the place. I've got a new blog up today that talk about why today is special for Becky and I.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

Coping with Moving

2007-10-12T09:53:00.001-04:00

Got another post today over at the new place. This is about my recent decision to pursue a few independent presses despite my past feelings that they weren't "real" publishing.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

On the hunt

2007-10-10T13:44:00.000-04:00

I had a job interview today. Read about how much I love interviews at the new blog:

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

And remember to update your blog links to the new site. Thanks.

Running out of synonyms for "still"

2007-10-09T11:28:00.000-04:00

I've got another post over at the new blog about some stories I read in the new BAMS anthology.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

Family Matters

2007-10-08T14:07:00.001-04:00

Continuing our seven day celebration of moving, I've got a new post up at the new blog again, this time dealing with adjusting to a family that feels like I'm not spending much time with them now that I have a woman and they feel like I might be turning into the devil.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

Still Moving

2007-10-07T16:02:00.001-04:00

Until I get all of my readers and Crimespot on board with the new Wordpress site, I'll be posting here to remind people of the new space. I've got a blog up today about learning how to balance the exhilaration and frustration of being a Lions fan. Check it, yo.

http://bryonquertermous.wordpress.com

We're Moving!

2007-10-05T15:36:00.000-04:00

All of the updates have been completed and the move is complete. I am now an official resident of WordPress Land. http://www.bryonquertermous.com is now home to all things Bryon Quertermous (and Becky and Stewie and Ruby for those who care).

If you're one of the nice folks who link to my blog, please change your link to the new site so everyone can partake of the joy that is my new site.

Thanks for almost four years of support here at Blogger and here's to many more at the new place.

Hack, snort, blech

2007-10-04T14:18:00.001-04:00

I'm finally emerging from a snotty haze in which it felt like a poisonous badger was running around in my head eating my eyeballs. I left work early on Monday and just returned today. I'm still trying to catch up with everything so for those who emailed me about stuff don't think I forgot about you. I might have, just don't think about it.

I went out and used some of my Borders Bucks today to get the bran spanking new edition of Best American Mystery Stories. I love this anthology and it really gets me in the mood to write short stories and I think the best of my work has been directly inspired by various incarnation of the BAMS series. Unfortunately it brings out an almost obsessive desire in me to be included in it one day. It basically boils down to a desire to be validated in a literary sense by all of the goofy academics who looked down on my crime stuff in school. And I just think it would be cool. The obsession is dying down as I get picked up in other anthologies, but it's still there and it's still nipping.

And speaking my my stories, I'm developing a new website and blog over at Wordpress that will all eventually be housed under the www.bryonquertermous.com domain address. But for right now, check out the Wordpress home and particularly the links to my online stories. I like gratuitious validation.

Independent Verification

2007-09-26T13:29:00.000-04:00

So CK is in the D-Town for some conference or such and Becky and I will catching up with her later for some burgers and that will make Becky the first person to meet one of my online buddies. It will also provide a real witness that Becky actually exists.

The Detroit-area has been under a UAW strike this week and it made me realize how lucky I am not to have to work in the shop. Because my dad earned a good living, I was able to take the time I needed to find my own career without having to take a job just to pay the bills. His job also gave me great healthcare for 25 years of my life, paid for my first two years of college, and gave me a great discount on my most recent car purchase. It's laso given my dad a decent pension and healthcare since he retired so that I don't have to support his sorry butt. So tahnk you UAW, thank you GM, and mostly, thanks dad for what I'm sure were 30 miserable years of work. I appreciate it.

A couple of good pieces of news writing-wise. My short-story RUINS OF DETROIT will be appearing Shamus-Award winner Rick Helm's new webzine The Back Alley. And I've been invited to submit to an anthology of crime poetry. I haven't done much poetry in my life but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Tighty Whitey

2007-09-25T12:59:00.000-04:00

Dave White has a book coming out today and Sarah Weinman is running a web roast for him. I've gone back and forth on whether to write a depp and heart-felt tribute for a good writer and decent friend, or a funny, biting, take-down. But mostly I've just tried to avoid writing a bitter, whiny screed about how unfair it is that someone younger than myself already has a book out while I try and finish my third unpublished manuscript. But I digress.

David Montgomery had a good point though in Sarah's blog, how do you roast a guy who makes such a boob of himself on his blog and in public? I mean that would be like roasting...well, me. But that shouldn't stop others from digging out their best Dave White stories and make the guy blush like a little school girl.

And for the record, none of the bookstores in Ann Arbor have the book on the shelves yet which is disappointing because I wanted to see if my name is spelled right in the acknowledgements. Yeah, even as mean as I am to him, Dave still put me in his acknowledgements for all of the **cough** support I've provided. What a guy.

There's a Lot More Room Here on the Bandwagon

2007-09-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

People told me not to put so much faith and trust into the Lions, even though they started the season 2-0. Older and wiser fans told me they've seen this sort of thing before and they always get their hearts broken. But I didn't listen. I invested my soul, my being, my everything into them winning on Sunday and they screwed me like a cheap date with a bag over my head.

I was in a FOUL mood on Sunday, needless to say. Later that evening, Becky and I decided we needed some light and frilly entertainment and went to see the new Amanda Bynes movie SYDNEY WHITE. It's a googy retelling of Snow White set with nerds in a fraternity and sorority environment. It's a loose sequel to the 2004 Hilary Duff movie A CINDERELLA STORY and I think I enjoyed this one even more. Bynes is great at playing the pretty tomboy girl while charming everyone around her. The seven dorks she lives with are great character actors and really add a nice dimension to the story. While the plot is predictable, it's funny and full of feel good moments and a wondeful lesson is learned at the end. Normally this sort of thing was be too sappy for me but it was just what we needed last night.

Making an Ass, er, Donky out of Myself

2007-09-20T11:50:00.000-04:00

Common wisdom says that people get more conservative as they get older but I've found myself getting more liberal as I get older. Some people would say this is because I've been spending too much time with the gays and hippies in Ann Arbor and liberal crime writers. But I don't buy it. I've been in music and theater since high school so the proportion of gay and hippie influence in my life has always been high, yet until now, the only non-Republican candidate I've voted for was Ross Perot...yeah, I know. But now, I'm actually undecided for the first time.

I'm not exactly ready to jump on the Hillary band wagon, but I'm going to read Obama's book because I liked the first few chapters I read in the bookstore the other day. I think I still fall on the conservative side of the line but more with the "liberal" candiadtes like Rudy more than the hard righters like Mitt or the Law and Order guy. A lot will depend on who gets the nominations for both parties and if I've learned anything from past performance it's that the front runners in September almost never are the actual candidates.

I wonder if I'm not just getting more a-political and not caring as much. I've been kind of fatigued by the last few years on both sides and I'm ready for a fresh start. But I have noticed that as I get older, my music taste is certainly getting more conservative. All I listen to these days in country and easy listening stuff from the 70s. Sad, I know. Now get off my lawn dagnabbit.

Web Slingerz

2007-09-19T12:14:00.000-04:00

It's finally getting back to normal at work and one of the things I've been doing with my down time is figuring out how to update my personal website (bryonquertermous.com) and/or my blog. My current website is very outdated and this blog isn't quite as well organized as I'd like for everything. With the kind of traffic I get to this blog it seems stupid to have a separate website just to house all of the same stuff. I think I'm going to take my bryonquertermous.com domain name and just attach it to my blog and leave it at that.

For this purpose though, I don't like Blogger that much. I've been playing around with Wordpress and I like the layout and possibilities of that more for a central site, but I'm not sure what to do with all of the stuff over here. If I move the blog to Wordpress will my readers come with me? Most of my traffic comes from direct access or through Crimespot, so as long as Graham is nice enough to add my new blog to the site I should be fine there and I can put a link up at this site so I guess that would work.

The other issue I've been folling around with is layout design. I've always been fascinated by layout design and while I think I'm fairly talented at it, I'm nowhere near as good as I'd like to be or as many of the others in my blogroll over there. I'm too cheap to pay the $15 bucks at Wordpress needed to do intimate customizations so that's been a treat and a half on my old brain. But it's coming along.

All through college when I was working on newspapers and literary magazines the part I enjoyed the most was doing the layout. I could pass an entire day without eating or drinking just trying to get everything to look perfect. After I started realizing how much I hate the reporting part of the newspaper busines I looked into becoming a layout artist/copy editor but my crappy spelling and grammar skills couldn't be helped by my design skills or AP style knowledge. Oh well.

So for those out there with blogs and websites, do you see an advantage to having both or would you ever consider combining them?

Yes, I smell like one too

2007-09-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the best possible birthday I could imagine. It started with brunch up in Flint with my parents and sister and grandma and included a win by the Detroit Lions while I was at the game for a 2-0 season for the first time in four years. I also received lovely amounts of cash and gift cards, some clothes, and the Spenser movie DVD collection. Did I mention I got to go to the Lions game with Becky AND THEY WON. Again. Should be interesting to watch next week at Philly. And then my dad and I are going to the game on the 30th against Chicago (Thanks Becky, Love you!).

My life is going pretty good right now. Work is back to normal call volumes and the mandatory overtime has been scaled back to two days for this week and then all voluntary after that. Yay. And I'm rounding the 100 page mark on the new book and a weekend away gave me some perspective on it AND I got a letter from an agent asking to see the full manuscript of THE SCARS WE CARRY, so that one still might have some life. Now I'm just aiming to have this new book completed and revised by December in time for the Mystery Writers of America/ St. Martin's Press contest. For some reason, I'm just attracted to these contests. I love the thought of winning and being announced as the winner at the Edgar Awards banquet. But of course I'll also be proposition unsuspecting agents and editors as well.

It's good to be me at 31.

I Look Like a Monkey

2007-09-16T09:06:00.001-04:00

Today is my 31st birthday. The approach to this one has not exactly been a smooth one, but this weekend has been great for relaxing, and reflecting, and realizing how good I have it. I've got a good woman, a good dog, and a good life. And even though I was passed over yet again for the PWA/St. Martin's Press contest, I'm coming along well with my writing and I've still got plenty of time to get my career started.

So today we celebrate what I have done, and what I have the potential to do, and all of the people who have helped me achieve everything (and birthed me and such--Thanks Mom).

Reader Digest

2007-09-12T15:13:00.001-04:00

Much hoopla has been made of the recent article stating that one in four readers last year didn't read a single book. Yeah that's bad for society and bad in general for the publishing industry, but it's not really all that bad of news for writers.

The estimated population of the USA right now is 302,853,302. That means, according to the study, there were still 75,713,325 people in the country who read a book last year. And the median number of books read was nine. That means half read more than nine and half read less. If we just take the half that read nine or more books, that leaves 37,856,662 readers. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Even with the "dismal" numbers in the survey, the reader pool is still VERY large. When you consider that the new Harry Potter book had a first printing of 12 million copies, that translates into sales of roughly 6 million copies. To make a huge seller like that, only 15 percent of the heavy readers in the county had to buy it. But let's look at it from a more realistic goal. The bestselling book in 2006 was ONE MORE DAY by Mitch Albom with sales just over 500,000 copies. That's about 1 percent of that reader pool. Many other top sellers had sales of 100,000 to 250,000 which is even less than half of a percent of that reader pool.

So yes, there are some serious problems with the publishing industry and things need to change, but there is not a lack of readers out there and there won't be for quite a long time.

Go Blue...Silver and Blue

2007-09-10T11:48:00.001-04:00

I never would have thought I'd be more proud to wear my Lions jersey than my University of Michigan colors. But after a great game Sunday, it was nice to see the Lions playing like a real professional football team. The entire first half they dominated the Raiders and basically ran their offense at will. During the second half though, they started falling apart and a collective sigh went up from Detroit and we all though the same old Lions were making an appearence. But they didn't crack. They took a minute to gather themselves together then went back and scored a touchdown, a field goal, and then another touchdown off of a recovered fumble to win 36-21. I've never been prouder to be a Lions fine. Now I just hope they didn't blow their whole season's worth of talent on that game because Becky and I are going to the home opener against Minnesota this Sunday for my birthday.

As far as the writing goes, I'm feeling much better and refreshed. I went to the Kerrytown Book festival which reignited my writing fire, and the fact that all of the "new" and "younger" novelists were at least 5-10 years older than me made me fell alot better. I've still got plenty of time to get my career started and I think I'm on a good track if I just take the time to develop my books right and let patience, drive, and luck work their magic. So thanks to everybody who sent me encouraging notes and read the chapters of my WIP. This community is amazing.

Bang Head Here

2007-09-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

I'm so very frustrated right now. Dedicated readers maybe be seeing this as a running theme here over the last few weeks and it's only been getting worse. I'm frustrated withg my job and I'm frustrated with my writing and I think the two are related. I hate my job and wish I could give it up and write full time and I hate my writing because it's not at a place yet where I can sell it and make any money, let alone enough to live on. So instead of taking the time to go slowly with my writing and let it develop at it's own pace, I'm trying to force it and make something happen sooner than it's ready. And in turn that's making the writing even worse. It's manifesting itself in anger and confusion about plots and characters and basically an identity crisis of who I am professionally at work and in my writing. I'm getting imapatient and feel like I

I don't think it's a coincidence that this is all happening as my 31st birthday approaches on September 16.

My personal life, on the other hand, is going amazing and that's the area I always thought I'd have to sacrifice in order to reach my professional goals. But I have a great fiancee, a wonderful dog, and a wonderful life ahead of me. If I can just take a deep friggin breathe and let things happen in their own time.

Now, of course, all of this conflict and mental anguish, and such would make great material for the literary novel I've been feeling like I need to write lately. But, again, I'm over thinking it. I mean does the world really need another semi-autobiographical novel about another friggin writer with troubles. But even if I write it and its theraputic, can I really sell it? And if I sell it, nobody will buy it and my career will be over on the first book.

I think my brain needs a vacation and I need a break. But I don't have the patience to take a break. Calgon, take me away...

PS: On the bright side, I get to meet up with several great and fun writers tommorow at the Kerrytown Book Festival in Ann Arbor.

Dear Contributor

2007-09-06T08:37:00.000-04:00

I don't get it.

Most people understand that the mystery and crime fiction market for short stories is not as brisk as other genres, particularly science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but I'm starting to discover just how out of whack our markets are and I have no real understanding of why.

This morning I was reading a blog from sci-fi cum crime writer Lyman Feero and he was mentioning some of the markets he's been submitting to and from there I started looking at the contributor bios which led me to more speculative markets, and without fail, every single one of them was a paying market. And not just the $5-$25 that counts as a paying market in crime fiction, but real professional rates.

I looked at maybe twenty markets and the lowest pay I saw was a $35 flat rate and the highest I saw was $.10 a word which is even more than the top print crime markets pay. But the AVERAGE for these markets seemed to be $.03 to $.05 a word. That's nuts. And I have no idea where they get the money to pay the writers. I didn't have to subscribe to any of the magazines and there weren't even any donation links. A few of the sites had some advertisements but most of them didn't. How are they doing it?

This is not meant to be a dig against online crime zines. I love them. Zines like Thuglit and Hardluck Stories have given me a platform for stories I couldn't have published anywhere else. And I even run one of those non-paying sites with Demolition. So I'm not angry, I'm just confused. There's got to be something we can learn from these magazines that can be applied to crime markets.

Pass this post around and see what we can find out. Now. Go my darlings.

Holiday Jeer

2007-09-04T11:28:00.000-04:00

Holidays are just mean. They give me extra time to spend with my fiance and puppy and then they get ripped away again when the cold reality of the work week returns. I'm really getting burned out in the call center here and the internal job search is not going as smooth as I hoped (and I wasn't even hoping for all that smooth) so it was a nice break to have a few days off and relax and recupperate. But now it's back to the real world. I'm not a big fan of the real world. So I take a deep breath, realize I could be much worse off than I am, and open up the file for my new book that is now 17,000 words strong. And it's not complete trash as far as I can tell, yet.

Lift my spirits, people. Tell me about horrible jobs you're glad you don't have anymore. Or if your in a miserable job, tell me how you make it through the days.

Looking for my gold medallion and chest hair grease

2007-08-30T12:04:00.000-04:00

I work in technical support, but the focus is really being shifted to sales in recent months. This does not make everyone happy, particularly those who are very technically savvy but not so much with people skills needed to survive in a sales environment. Now I've mostly worked in the service industry and it seems in recent years every job I've had eventually involves some sort of sales aspect. Even the newspaper I worked for started pressuring us to pimp the wireless service being started by the company that owned us. Am I just in an isolated bubble because of the jobs I've had or does anybody else see their job turning into a sales position?

And the obvious connection to writing and publishing can't be ignored. Writers, once expected to be soley creative and artistic are now expected to be pimp and sales flack even more than artist. Is there a trend national for everything to be moved to sales positions? And if so, why? The economy isn't that bad. Maybe its greed. I don't know but I'm curious. Any thoughts out there?

Mandatory Overtime Day Three: Our hero is still surviving

2007-08-29T12:33:00.000-04:00

Today is the first full day of mandatory overtime I will have to work. So far I have had meetings and interviews in the middle of the day which got me off the phones for a while. But I gotta say, if I have to add an extra hour to my day I like doing it at the begiining of my shift instead of having to stay an extra hour.

In other news, my fiance is amazing. In general we are a great team and have very little to argue about. But I always knew one of my weaknesses in this relationship (and one of her greatest strengths) is my problems with money. As we've been together she's been working with me to get my finances in order and even helped me get a loan for a brand new car (did I tell you all about my car yet). But even as we've worked to make our finances mesh together, incidenst from my past have popped up that need to be dealt with. I've tried to keep them to myself and deal with them on my own but in God's wonderful wisdom and humor, he has made sure all of the secrets have come into the open before they exploded into something we might not be able to get through.

In each situation, Becky has been level headed but firm and helped me take care of the problem without wavering in her love for me. I feel weak and sad and sick that I can't be the provider in these situations but it hasn't affected her view of me (though it has given her some wonderful ammo if I ever question her spending or money habits).

So I'm decalring today Official Becky Kilgore Recognition Day. Tell her how awesome she is in the comments and remember I do have a PayPal account if anyone feels led to contribute to the fund to keep me off the welfare rolls.

(Insert Imperial Death March here)

2007-08-27T11:20:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Greg Bardsley for nailing my problem right on the head (shut up, John). In his comment on my last post he asked me if I'd always felt hatred toward writing crime fiction and suggested I might just be burnt out on it or it might be growing pains from trying something different. For the record, no, I have not always felt this way about crime fiction. Since I moved from sci-fi and fantasy in my high school days, I've enjoyed and excelled in crime fiction. The reason I seek refuge in literary fiction is one of mere laziness. I don't want to have to create strong characters unlike myself and a plot that not only gives me opportunity for fun dialogue and situations, but also tells a cohesive story. But good writers don't give up on something just because it's hard and I'm not going to give up on this book.

The other part of the problem, in addition to what Greg alluded to, is the pressure I've been putting on myself. My 31st birthday is less than a month away and I'm no closer to a book deal now than I was last year. I want to be published now even though my book might not be ready. Since I've placed these arbitrary time goals on myself, everything that comes off the keyboard needs to be perfect so I don't waste any time with revisions. But that's not how I work. My best process is one of multiple messy drafts and lots of exploration and backtracking. I need to get back to that and let myself write the messy first draft this book needs.

The first person bounty hunter stuff is pretty solid. I've got lots of practice in that area. But the third person scenes involving an 18 year old girl on the run are killing me. I have absolutely no experience writing this type of story and it plays into every one of my writing weaknesses so it's going to take a few tries to get it right. Toady I'm going to go back and cut off a bunch of scenes that were taking the story in a direction I didn't like and start again with it. I feel better about my situation and I'm going to give myself the time and space to do this book right.

And if all else fails, I hear truck drivers make good money and get to travel frequently.

Selling my soul like a pimp

2007-08-25T16:08:00.000-04:00

I'm so sick of writing crime fiction right now. I don;t like the clues or the plots or any of the other things that make writing crime fiction so much freaking harder than other kinds of books. If I didn't have to worry about money or marketability or any of the realities of publishing I'd be writing a voice-driven semi-autobiographical literary novel full of interesting people talking and doing interesting things.

But no, I've got to try crime fiction. I love reading it, but I'm wondering if I'm really capable of writing it. I've tried to work on my plottong skills, and they've been getting a little better, but they're still not where they need to be. I know there are people who write the type of book I'd rather be writing and then casually throw in a simple crime to be solved just to make sure it gets onto mystery readers radars. Can I be one of those people? I'm having a mid-writing-life crisis and I don't know who I am as a writer any more. I know my characters and my voice are there, but I'm really having trouble finding the right story to put them into.

You take the good, you take the bad, etc.

2007-08-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

Things are looking up on the job front, even as the first week of mandatory overtime approaches. After several weeks of not hearing anything about two jobs I applied for, I got lots of news. Last week I had testing for a clerk position in the Plymouth office, about fifteen minutes from here, in which I scored "proficient" and then this week I found out I've got an interview for the Plymouth job this Friday and I've got testing today for the same clerk position at my current office. I'll take either one and hope between the two that I've got a good chance of being selected. I just hope there's not more unbearable waiting after the interviews.

I'm up to a little less than 11k on the new book. I completed 11k last night and then cut about 200 words because it started taking the 3rd person stuff in a wrong direction. It's so tempting to open that 3rd POV up and give everybody in the book their own sections, but I'm having a hard enough time keeping the stupid thing focused as it is.

This Sunday I'll be guest blogging for Mike Maclean over at Murderati. Any topics you'd like to see me discuss?

We Are Pleased to Announce...

2007-08-20T12:43:00.001-04:00

...that Becky and I made a nice little pile from our engagement party yesterday. Neither Becky or I was particularly excited about this party which sounded to be a rather stuffy, boring, occasion cutting into our Sunday dinner and karaoke time. But it ended up being a fun little party where I got to see some cool relatives, family friends, and unfortunately one kinda trashy 12-year-old in a way too short skirt. There was also cake, and pie, and cupcakes, and other desserts along with some real food as well. Our parents also got to meet for the first time and the fabric of the universe is still solid.

Between cash and gift cards though, we should have a couple of fun trips to Home Depot for washers, dryers, lawn mowers, and something called "tools." I've never heard of them and still question their existence.

We Are Pleased to Announce...

2007-08-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

...that Becky and I made a nice little pile from our engagement party yesterday. Neither Becky or I was particularly excited about this party which sounded to be a rather stuffy, boring, ocassion cutting into our Sunday dinner and karaoke time. But it ended up being a fun little party where I got to see some cool relatives, family friends, and unfortunately one kinda trashy 12-year-old in a way too short skirt. There was also cake, and pie, and cupcakes, and other desserts along with some real food as well. Our parents also got to meet for the first time and the fabric of the universe is still solid.

Between cash and gift cards though, we should have a couple of fun trips to Home Depot for washers, dryers, lawn mowers, and something called "tools." I've never heard of them and still question their existence.

Booooooo Hisssssss

2007-08-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

Mandatory. Freaking. Overtime.

Because we're not stressed enough at work with the ungodly call volumes recently, they decided we should all have to come in an hour earlier now. Somehow I suspect this might burn us out even more and affect our customer service skills. Luckily they've updated all of our computer systems and service tools so they are running at peak performance allowing us to do our best job. Oh...wait, no they didn't. I think our entire network is running on a Chevette engine and some of those gravity balls that clank back and forth.

Good news though, I've got testing and an interview tommorow morning for a different position, in a different call center, doing office work and not tech work on the phones. That would rule. Better job. Better schedule.

Through it all though, I've managed to write. I'm up to 5k on the book and the last chapter I wrote broke the whole thing open for me. It's in third person (yes I've gone to the dark, mixed, side) and it follows a character I'm very interested to know more about. I hope this doesn't bore or confuse me. Cause that's very easy to do.

Testify...halleluja!

2007-08-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

I fell out of the habit of going to church for a while as Becky and I tried to tes some other places (and general laziness on Sunday mornings as well, to be honest) but now that we've been attending her parent's church (where our wedding is going to be) regularly for a few months, my brain is starting to perculate with topics inspired by the Sunday messages.

I know there are several broad religious views represented in this blog's readership including fellow protestants, those who aren't prone to believe in any god, and those who follow the church of the Jedi, but I've never been harrassed for expressing my religious views here and I appreciate that. One quote stuck out at me from this Sunday's message "There is opportunity in the attention of the world."

I don't think I've been shy about telling people what I believe, but I've also tried not to be one of those big-time Bible thumpers who try to knock people over the head with my beliefs. Some Christians would take that quote above and think they needed to preach to everyone they came into contact with. I don't believe that way. In an artistic context, some might think that means they have write Christian fiction, or sing Christian music, or paint Christian paintings. I also don't believe that way. While I enjoy exploring the themes of good and evil and redemption in my fiction (like in my THUGLIT story ALTER ROAD), I have never wanted to preach or "have a message" in any of my work. But I am exposed to more people through the blog and through my writing than I would be otherwise, and I do make sure I talk about it when it's important, because it is a part of me, and when i get to a level of financial success in this business, I would like to use some of my wealth to support churches and causes I believe in.

Here's my question to you guys: When it comes to your beliefs and causes (not just religious, but social as well) where do you stand on using your platform as an author to further those causes?

Lions and Bengals oh my

2007-08-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

This is going to sound a lot like a Dave White post only...interesting.

Tonight I'm taking off work early to go see the Detroit Lions who start their pre-season against the Cinncinnati Bengals. I've been a Lions fan casually since the mid-90s, but my interest in the team has risen dramatically over the past couple of years and sort of came to a full boil with meeting Becky who is a full-blown Lions fan and has season tickets.

I've been following the team alot during the off-season, looking at staffing changes, and player changes, and draft choices, and I see something exciting building for this season. Now there's always a lot of bravado and false optimism with Lions fans at the beginning of the season, but I think this is something different. And it's not just me, many sports journalists agree. For the first time, ESPN has rated the Lions as one of their top teams to watch, and quarterback Jon Kitna was rated by Yahoo Sports in the top ten ahead of several former Superbowl QBs and high draft picks. Of course the #2 draft pick Calvin Johnson will have a great affect as well. Between him, Roy Williams, and Mike Furry we should have a great receiver corps, and Jon Kitna, believe it or not, is one of the most acurate and highest rated quarterbacks in the NFL. He just needs some better protection around him.

But none of that matters when it comes down to games. The Lions have to win games to show how much they've changed. It's sad that's I'm wishing for the good old days of 8-8 seasons and losing in the first round of the playoffs. But I've been a Lions fan long enough to keep my optimism guarded, though I haven't been one long enough to be jaded. Yet.

I mean if Rutgers can turn their program around...

A Challange from FLASH PAN ALLEY

2007-08-08T14:14:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how many of you know I also run a flash fiction site called FLASH PAN ALLEY. Well traffic and submissions have been down over there so I decided a writing challange might be in order. So here you go:

Okay, folks, I’ve got a challange for you.

Everyday I drive by a car repair shop and they always have several police cars, and ambulances in the lot that they are working on. This got me thinking about what kind of person might work at a place like that and what sort of opportunities he might have working on emergency vehicles like that. I’m too lazy to write a story, so I want all of you to.

In less than 1,000 words, give me a story related to a car repair shop or mechanic who works on emergency vehicles. They don’t have to be crime stories, but they have to be good. I’ll post the ones I like over at FLASH PAN ALLEY and award arbitrary kudos accordingly.

Send submissions to flashpansubmissions@gmail.com

Deadline is September 1, 2007

Working stiff

2007-08-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

This job is killing me. I'm starting to see why the average employment of a call center worker is only about a year. Our calls have been back-to-back every hour, every day, for the last two months. It's getting ridiculous and nobody has any idea why our call volume has spiked so bad and won't go away. Saturdays have always been like this and they were always the most horrible day of the week. Now every day is like that.

I complain to Becky about it all the time, and I'm trying to find something else within the company that isn't on the phone side, but the internal interviewing and hiring process is even slower than our response time now. I could probably go out and find something else with a better schedule and less stress, but I'm making pretty good money and it's hard to turn my back on 21 vacation days. So I just try and make it through each day one at a time.

The other thing that sucks about this is that I don't have two days off in a row to recover. I have Fridays off, then I work Saturday, then I have Sundays off. It's better than my last schedule that had me with Wednesdays and Sundays off, but it still bites. I'm hoping in the next shift bid I can get Saturday and Sunday off...if I'm still in the call center, God forbid.

Despite the crappy stress, I've been making some decent progress on the outline for LUCKY TOWN at work. It's still a bit over complicated and some of the motives don't make total sense, but overall I think this has the best structure of all of my attempts so far. I've had to really concentrate on the basic mystery elements like suspects and motives and clues which is waaaaaay harder than others make it look. I think I've got good characters and some nice themes, but none of that makes any difference if there's not a decent story to hang them on.

Stakes on the grill

2007-08-06T13:02:00.000-04:00

I'm horrified to admit it, but part of me was disappointed that the death toll in the Minnesota bridge collapse wasn't higher. I also had the same feeling during the early stages of the Tsunami disaster a while ago. Only in that case, my bloodlust was satisfied by a record death count. Am I the only one who thinsk this way? It seems I've been so desensitized to these issues, that the only way they make any dent on my consciousness is to be of magnifigant stakes. When I saw the lead on Yahoo that the death toll would be much lower than feared, my initial thought was "they broke in on the TV for this?"

I know, I'm awful. But before you get ready to cyber-lynch me, I have a writing related reason for discussing this. I think this expectation of mammoth stakes is why I've never gravitated toward the big thriller end of the writing/reading spectrum. I like series, and there's no way to keep the stakes raised high enough over the course of a series for thriller level surprises. It gets to the point of ridiculousness even in some stand alone books.

I've always been drawn to the smaller stories, the mistakes that lead to bigger mistakes and change lives. In a tragedy like the Minnesota bridge collapse, the stories that have captured my attention have been those of people who missed the collapse due to bad traffic, or a long meeting or whatever, or even more dramatically, those who were on the bridge and normally wouldn't have been if not for a small change of fate.

What's your preference? Do you like massive, take over the world, enormous devestation stakes, or the smaller conflicts that can be just as heartbreaking?

Coloring inside of the outlines

2007-08-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

After hitting a pretty depressing lowpoint in my confidence with my plotting skills, and particularly the plot of LUCKY TOWN, I think I made some breakthroughs yesterday. Instead of jumping in and starting the book, waiting to see where it takes me, I've been trying to wrap my mind around the whole plot and get it solid and outlines before I start the next draft. This is not normally how I work with a new book, but this is not really a new book. The plot, for the most part, is the same as SCARS, just different. If that makes any sense.

So after sketching out the three main tentpole events in the story, I've been scribbling down questions and backstories and notes in a freewriting style in my little black notebook and I'm starting to make progress. I think I know everything about this plot that I need to. There's still more developing and fine-tuning to be done before I can even start outlining, let alone writing, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I've also found a middle ground between the first-person PI character I really want to write and the police warrant detective I think is more marketable. I'm making Dallas Ellington a freelance bounty hunter. When the story opens he's raiding a house looking for a junkie who skipped bail and instead finds Steve Voss, his old TV co-star who he hasn't seen since the show ended twenty years ago. During the raid, Voss pulls a gun and Ellington kills him in self-defense. The police are convinced Ellington knew Voss was going to be there and murdered him so Ellington has to find out what Voss was really doing in Detroit, which of course brings up all sorts of nasty skeletons, secrets, and feuds.

This gets the story off to a much faster start than SCARS and provides more opportunity for actual detective work and conflict than SCARS, which was pretty much Dallas running around town trying to find Steve.

We'll see how that all works out in practice though.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for a whole bunch of writers better than me, check out the Summer Issue of DEMOLITION, now live. It's real keen.

Short Order Crooks

2007-08-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

Dave ran a list of what he thinks are the best crime novels and asked for input. I was thinking about what to add to his list, but I realized summer is really my favorite time for short stories and crime fiction has some real doozies. So here's my list of my favorite/the best crime short stories of all time.

1. By Dawn's Early Light by Lawrence Block

2. Memento Mori by Jonathan Nolan

3. The Killers by Ernest Hemingway

4. Hilly Palmer's Last Case by Duane Swierczynski

5. Until Gwen by Dennis Lehane

Honorable Mention: Too Many Crooks by Donald Westlake

Discuss...

So much to say, so little of importance

2007-07-31T11:54:00.000-04:00

I hate coming back from a long trip or vacation or surgery or whatever and trying to remember all of the cool spots without making the post a hundred pages long. But I did just get back from vacation, not surgery, and I did have some fun with the lovely Becky who sadly, is more of a man camping than I will ever be. So here are the highlights:

Day One

-Arrive
-Explore The World Famous Mystery Spot
-Explore St. Ignace
-Visit Walmart in Cheboygan
--Made my first ever fire, no one dead, and/or scarred, though Becky's body seemed to reject the hotdogs later that evening in a nice little pile

Day Two

-Mackinaw Island- More fudge per capita than anywhere else in the US, and an equal amount of horse poop on the streets
-Walked 8.3 miles around the entire island, blisters to prove it, then up another mile or so to grave sites and other assorted funery. Got to watch guys in wool shoot guns and blow up foil in a cannon
-Saw "The Simpsons Movie", great movie, not exactly sure why it took them 20 years to make it
-Another fire, dryer wood, still no casualties

Day Three

-Explored the UP, housing market seems to consist exclusively of single and double-wide trailers with garages, porches, and dog houses added on, thought of Patrick Shawn Bagley and how comfortable he might feel here
-Hit the Soo Locks which is like watching cars in gridlock, only less exciting, nasty town, nasty site, and bad parking
-Crossed over to Paradise, home of a certain crotchety PI, was a little disappointed to see it wasn't as rustic as I imagined, they had a Subway and a Best Western
-Went up to Whitefish Point where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, walked in the water, bough souvenirs
-went back up a little ways to Oswalds Bear Ranch--A BEAR ranch!!!--certainly the highlight of the trip, though I was a little disappointed we didn't get to ride or rope the bears like at a horse ranch, but we did get to touch a baby bear.
-Visited Taquahmanon Falls, more stairs, more walking, more ice cream, also had first UP traditional pastie which tasted suspiciously of Crisco and feet
-Yet another injury-free fire

Day Four

-Back to the Island, more walking, more horse poop, more fudge and icecream as well
-Visiting Arch rock, waaaaaaaaaay up high over the lake
-nachos
-driving back home eager to vacate the wilderness and return to civilization and the internet (okay maybe that last one was just me)

Northward hos, er, ho...

2007-07-26T12:38:00.000-04:00

After managing to write four consecutive blog posts this week (how do you people who post every day do it??), this will be my last post for a while. Becky and I will be going camping up north for the next five days. We'll start with Macinaw Island and Macinaw City (where of course we'll see The Simpsons Movie Friday) and then onward into the upper penninsula, somewhere I've never been despite having lived in Michigan for all my 30 years.

This will be the longest I've camped so far, I'm used two or three days, but much of our time will be spent at the beach or site-seeing, not sitting around a campfire stewing in our body sweat like other camping trips I've been on. I've got a stack of books to read, my trusty journal for notes on LUCKY TOWN, and a whole lot of stress from work to burn off. So enjoy your weekends, wherever you may be, and let's pray it doesn't rain here.

Writing is Life

2007-07-25T12:33:00.000-04:00

Today seems to be the first really dreary, rainy day of the summer and I'm missing it here stuck at work. I wish I was at home curled up with a book, or better yet at a bookstore or coffee shop downtown with a book or my laptop. Oh well.

I did another 800 words last night on LUCKY TOWN (any thoughts yeah or nay on the new title?) after I cut out most of the start I had for chapter two, and that brings the grand total to 2000 words. I'm also feeling better about my place in the writing career timeline because, when it comes right down to it, I may never have a career as a writer. I don't believe the idea that all good works will find a home. If I never make it professionally as a writer, I've got to be able to be happy with the actual writing itself. The challenges, the joys, the frustrations, the skill development, etc.

And I think I can be. One of the reasons I was so jolted by my last writing funk was it left me without a direction in my life temporarily. I would go to work and have these large blocks of time with nothing to work on and my job itself is not fulfilling enough in itself and that's why I like it.

What keeps me going day-to-day is the possibility that I might be able to have a career at this one day. Sure it's nice to experience little successes here and there, like a short story sale, or an award nomination, or an agent interest, but those can sometimes be worse than failure because it gets my mind off the true goal which is getting better as a writer. Failure fuels me and makes me want to get better and hit markets I've missed so far. That's good. Success can distract me.

So are you happy with the writing?

Comfort Zone Breeched

2007-07-24T13:12:00.000-04:00

Fifteen hundred words in and I'm already having trouble with this new book, I'm currently calling LUCKY TOWN. But I'm also feeling very excited about the possibilities with this new job for my MC and the newer storyline. The first problem I faced right after I completed the first chapter was one of POV. Dave White suggested it might be nice to have have part of the book from the POV of the guy my MC is looking for and I agree that it would be cool. But that would have to be in third person and so far the first chapter was written in first person. That's all I've ever written in novel length, with one minor exception.

So I switched to third person for chapter two and it sounded pretty good, but I've always hated the idea of mixing 1st and 3rd. When Michael Koryta came up to Ann Arbor last week he was talking about this very thing and he said he always viewed it as cheating and I tend to agree. There are certainly people who do it well. I immediately think of Jason Pinter's who's great new book THE MARK does this well, and Dave's own WHEN ONE MAN DIES. Robert Crais and Harlan Coben have also done great books this way, but it still feels like cheating so I think I'm going to go back and rewrite the first chapter in third person. I think it will actually be easier to write in 3rd person, but the temptation to show more than I tell about my characters will be great and I'll really have to keep an eye on that.

Another problem I faced with the second chapter is one of my long-time weakness, action scenes. Since this book and everything about it are more geared toward thriller territory (someplace I'm much less familiar with than PI territory) I'm going to have to have action scenes. Chapter Two will be a hospital escape and I smacked into a wall almost right away. My action scenes always feel false and ridiculous and just generally crappy. I'll probably end up having to throw out several tries before I get the scene right, and I guess that's fine, (what better way to learn?), but it just puts me further from the finish line.

On a positive note, I have a much stronger grasp on the story than I have ever had when I started a project. It helps that much of the underlying story of SCARS will be used for this book, just told in a different way. So I sat down with my new Moleskin notebook yesterday and sketched out a basic outline and a series of action-reaction plot points to get me through the ugly middle part and the first two-thirds of the book are solid. I'll do the same thing with the last third after I've gotten more of the book underway.

So while it mostly sucks, and it's hard, and I'm treading on feeble skills here, the book is coming along. I wrote 1000 words yesterday and I'll write 1000 more today, even after I cut the 500 from chapter two. Good thing I'm still young and stupid...

"I Wish Every Day Was Negro Day"

2007-07-23T13:40:00.000-04:00

I went to see HAIRSPRAY last night with dear, dear Becky (who was happy to go, but certainly not the one to drag me there like many of the other guys in the audience)and it rocked. When I wasn't tapping my toe along to the peppy songs and great dance numbers, I was thinking about Laura Lippman and what Baltimore must have been like for her when she was there in 1963 and whether or not she would have ever auditioned for a show like the "Corny Collins Show."

There were a couple of fun lines in the script, including one about Tracy being a chubby communist, but the lines about Negro Day, where the show featured black music and black dancers, were full of irony and wit. It's especially interesting to think about in light of the anniversary here of the 1967 Detroit riots. While the theme of integration on television is a strong subplot of HAIRSPRAY, it never becomes too political, or distract from the singing and dancing.

While I will always have a soft spot for the campy and slightly dark original John Waters version of HAIRSPRAY, this sanitized and zippy version makes me a very happy person and that's always a good thing. I strongly recommend anyone who likes music and America to go see this movie.

PS: Another interesting side product of the movie, was finding out Becky knows all of the words to "Suddenly Seymore" and "Mean Green Mother From Outerspace" from "Little Shop of Horrors." That's always good information to have.

Please, sir may I have another

2007-07-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

I feel sick to my stomach right now. What I'm contemplating needs to be done, and I know it's the right thing to do. But man, I really don't want to do it.

I need to rewrite my new book from scratch again.

I'm more than 70 rejections deep into the submission process of THE SCARS WE CARRY, and while the new letter that eliminates the "PI" words got me more requests for the partial, I still haven't had any requests for the full manuscript. The overwhelming response is that my writing and characters are good, but my plot is convoluted and hard to follow. This isn't exactly a new revelation, this has been my problem all along, but I thought I was getting better at fixing it.

The plot is stronger and more comprehensible than it was in the beginning, and it's faaaaar superior to the mess that was LUNCHBOX HERO's plot. But still, it's not there yet. So I've known a rewrite was going to be in the offing soon, but I was hoping I'd be able to salvage a portion of what I've got right now. But then I started thinking about the whole PI aspect of it and how that really wasn't vital to the plot. I have this much better idea of making him a fugitive apprehension detective for the Detroit Police Department and pitting him against a female homicide detective in basically the same story, but told entirely different.

And that's when I knew I was going to have to scratch everything and start again.

Part of me is very excited about this. I love the new ideas and there's so many more possibilities to work with, and I can write in more than one POV. But the biggest part of me is just ticked that I have to start all over again. Once this draft is done I'll have to revise it several times. And then once it's revised I'll have to start looking for agent's all over again. That ticks me off. I was starting to think I was getting so close to breaking through.

I finished the first draft of SCARS in May of last year and then had a submission ready draft by September. That's ten months ago. I sent the first query letter in December. That's seven. freaking. months ago.

And now I've got start all over again.

Loaded Story

2007-07-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

Can you imagine a better way to start your Monday than with a story about two morons robbing a Detroit sperm bank? Check out my story LOAD, now live at SHRED OF EVIDENCE.

Thanks to Megan Powell for reprinting the story and to Jennifer Jordan who originally accepted it for CRIMESPREE. Editor chicks rule!

Signs of the times

2007-07-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

It seems that in the last few years, the bulk of my signed books I pick up at author events have some variation of "good luck with your own book" or "can't wait to see your book in stores." While on one hands it's very cool to be viewed as a legitimate writer to my professional peers and idols, the other, more bitter part of me seems to wonder if that's as close as I'm going to come.

These author events always play duel roles on my emotions. They encourage me to keep writing and give me a glimpse of the life I know I want, and it's also fun to see old friends and catch up and chat over drinks. But it also just reminds me how far away I am from achieving my dreams. I don't know if it's worse to be at the very beginning with no idea how long the process is, or be where I am where I know I'm getting close, but know I've still got to have an immense amount of patience. How did you guys handle it before you published your first book? Or for those of you who aren't published yet, how do you get through these bouts?

I'd also like to take a moment to thank Robin and Jamie Agnew of Aunt Agatha's books who picked up dinner and the first couple rounds and the Michael Koryta who kept me at the table until nearly 2am and paid for the rest of the rounds.

Cars and Books

2007-07-11T11:55:00.000-04:00

I should be on my way to work right now. Instead, I'm here waiting for someone to come give me a jump start for my stupid car (yes, the same car that died on me a couple years ago on the way to Milwaukee). Have I mentioned how much I hate cars and how much I wish I could live somewhere with excellent public transportation? Grumble grumble swear swear.

If things work out with my car though, and I do get to work today, I plan on starting my third book. Yes, I know I technically started my third book a while ago during the failed contest with Dave but that doesn't count and this book will have the same title (Murder Boy) but will be more of an Elmore Leonard type crime thriller and not a PI novel like I was trying to do during the contest.

I'm glad to be past the weird funk where I couldn't figure out what to write. I completed a decent short story and know what book project I want to work on next. While I'd still like to make my debut with a PI novel, I also realize that might not be possible so I want to have something else waiting in the wings. If I do get off the ground with a PI career, this book might make a nice standalone further down the road.

As a bit of novelistic encouragement tonight, I will be hitting Aunt Agatha's book store later this evening to visit with Michael Koryta and the PJs Parrish who will be signing their new books. Of course that's only if my car gets back up and running...

2007-07-09T08:11:00.000-04:00

I finished a story over the weekend, that always feels good. I'd been working on it for a month or so and I knew it was winding to a close around Thursday but couldn't find the hour or so of uninterupted time I needed to actually finish the stupid thing until Sunday at Starbucks. As always, the ending was the hardest part and while I like what I have right now, it works better in theory than in practice. That's what rewrites are for though, right?

Overall, I feel good about the story and where I am right now with my skill level. There's some excellent promise in the idea and themes of the story, a few flashes of good writing, and a whole lot of garbage that needs to be eliminated. The final word count of the first draft was 9,440 words and 35 pages. That beats my old record by a good 2,000 words. Of course I didn't actual figure out what the story was about until halfway through so I think that explains a lot, but I've certainly moved beyond the days when I had to struggle to eek out 3,000 words for a solid story.

With that story done, I've got one more story I want to write and then I want to start work on the next book. Not a PI book, but an Elmore Leonard type crime story with lots of cool characters and neat dialogue based on my MURDER BOY short story.
We'll see how that turns out.

What are your summer writing plans?

Guest Star

2007-07-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

I've got a guest blog up today over at Murderati about marriage and writing. Check it out, people.

http://murderati.typepad.com/murderati/2007/07/how-to-marry-a-.html

Manic Monday

2007-07-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

I'm back to my regular schedule this week after having a glorious week OF 8-5 with Saturday and Sunday off. This kind of thing is fun, but it really spoils me for "normal" work hours. I can't complain too much though because the job is great, the benefits are great, and we all just got raises. Some highlights of the weekend include a river boat cruise on the Detroit Princess.

Actually, the first four hours of the cruise were a highlight, but after they stopped for a fireworks show, they were unable to get the anchor back up. Two and a half hours later they managed to manually raise it, but we didn't get back to the dock until well after 3am. Bleh. Sunday, I took Becky to meet my favorite aunt and uncle for brunch. She got to meet the first writer I ever knew and the man who gave me my first Spenser and Elvis Cole novels, and my first typewriter. I'm sure she was very impressed. We also ate pancakes.

In the mail on Saturday was my check for the reprint of LOAD in SHRED OF EVIDENCE. I immediately took out my picture of me and Harlan Coben from a frame and put the check in instead. It was quite a moment. Unfortunatley, with all of the activity though over the weekend and with training last week, I've ground to a halt on the short story I was working on so I'll have to get back to that today. I've got about 7k words and I know it should be ending sometime soon, just not exactly sure how...

Now a question for the audience: Who was the most influential relative in your writing life?

Shred Games

2007-06-26T16:00:00.001-04:00

There's a list I've got of online crime zines I'm dying to be published in, until recently Hardluck Stories and Shred of Evidence were at the top. You all know that I made it into Hardluck, and as of today, I'm happy to say I'll be appearing in Shred. Megan will be reprinting my spermbank robbery story LOAD that originally appeared in Crimespree last year.

I'm happy the story, always one of my favorites, will be getting the wide exposure of the web, but the best news is that I'll be paid for the story. This will be the first check I get for my writing since the check for the Thuglit anthology probably won't come until the book is published.

Even better is that this acceptance comes only a few days after I received the news that my first Dallas Ellington short story UTOPIA will be published in Mysterical-E magazine. These acceptances combined with the progress I've been making on a new Dallas short story make me believe I'm not only out of my funk but left it in the dust behind me.

Hard Day's Night

2007-06-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

Stewie got his first erection last night. My, they grow up so fast. He's still got a month before he's old enough for us to clip his manhood, and in the meantime I hope his fights with the cat don't turn into humping the cat. Right now he seems content enough to look at it and lick it occassionally. I keep telling him that if he shakes it more than three times after peeing he's playing with himself, but he just stares at me.

I'm at the end of a long three-day weekend celebrating Becky's 25th birthday and we both realized we're way too old for this sort of thing. The funniest highlight has to be Friday night though. Before we could head into Windsor, Canada for a night of karaoke and splurging on the weak but not as weak as once was sadly) Canadian dollar, we had to remove a hacksaw and boxing gloves from becky's trunk. This is the woman I'm going to marry. God help us all...

Under Pressure

2007-06-18T13:04:00.000-04:00

Becky and I made our first official appearence as an engaged couple Friday night. We hit the Courtyard by Marriott in Livonia...get your mind out of the gutters, it wasn't for THAT. It was one of those high pressure sales meetinghs you have to sit through in order to win a free fabulous three day two night vacation to the motel of your choice. But I was rather disappointed in how UnHighPressure it was.

I was all excited to do research into this field for a possible short story down the road. The guy we got though was like the anti-salesman. He was very low-key, and charming, and made us feel like we had an actual choice in the matter( which we used to NOT purchase three friggin' grand worth of pots and pans) and played up like he was doing us a favor and going against the spiel his company told him to use. Afterward, I told Becky that I bet he took so many people by surprise with his tactic that he did pretty well sales-wise. Of course maybe he really was a weaselly shill but was going lowkey because we were the last meeting of the night on a Friday.

Of course we didn't buy any of the cookware and we were the first ones out the door with our vacation voucher in hand. There are some cool options on here, but I think we're going to bypass the international resort options and hit one of the local ones. We can either use it on our honeymoon for Orlando or, more likely, we'll take a long weekend and go to Atlantic City so I can get the Dave White God's Dice tour of the city. Sure the place is known mostly for casinos, but there is also the great boardwalk and beaches and shopping and other cool stuff and I've always wanted to visit one of those eastcoast seaside resort towns. Guess we'll see what happens.

Have any of you ever fallen for a high pressure sales pitch?

Mr. Average

2007-06-13T09:45:00.001-04:00

I got another request for a partial manuscript in my email today that makes 4 requests in 14 responses for the new query. That gives me a batting average of .285 which puts me in the top six if I were on the current MLB leading Boston Red Sox or in the top 5 of my hometown American League Champion Detroit Tigers. Unfortunatley I couldn't hit a baseball if it were superglued to the bat.

Yesterday was also my first real good writing day in a while. I took out a Dallas Ellington story I wrote a while ago that was way too long and way too complicated and whittled into shape enough that I felt confident submitting it to a couple of new markets. I also chipped away a few hundred words on the new short story I'm working on. I decided to take the idea I had for the second Dallas book and do it as a short story instead for submission to AHMM which has a solid history of publishing excellent PI shorts. I plan on following it up with the story about the computer repo guy that will go to EQMM. Then maybe I'll know what the heck to write as the next book.

What's your literary batting average look like?

Letters, we've got letters

2007-06-11T12:42:00.000-04:00

For those of you playing along at home, I thought you'd be interested in an update on my query status. As of Friday, I'd sent out 57 query letters and query emails for my novel THE SCARS WE CARRY. Out of the first 32 queries I had absolutely no success. All form rejections, so I changed tactics and reworded my query letter to remove all words pertaining to private investigators and since May 3, I've sent out 25 of the new letters. As of today, I've received 10 of them back with two requests for the partial manuscript. That makes me happy.

The interesting thing is that both requests for the manuscript (and my only handwritten rejection letter) came from California. Early on, I passed on submitting to the CA agencies, still stuck in the mindset that a proper literary works out of NYC. But now that I think about it, it makes sense. My book deals with movies and TV and pop culture and features several links to Hollywood and California. To test this theory further, I've put together a list of six more California agencies I haven't queried yet and will see what kind of response I get.

This whole thing is at once exciting, becuase I feel like I have the most control of my career right now, but the rejection and the emotional beat downs come at such a steady pace it's exhausting. But I'm a fighter, and more than that I'm stubborn. So I will survive.

The Better Half

2007-06-07T15:22:00.000-04:00

I feel bad for my new fiance, Becky. If you do a Google search on me you get over 1000 hits and most of them are blog posts or stories of mine. If you do a Google search on her you get over 20,000 hits but they're all about a jazz singer in Oregon. So today I'm putting out a link to the BEST Becky of them all. Her given name is Rebecca Kilgore but she is known to most as Becky Kilgore from Canton, Michigan (though she currently lives in Taylor, a downriver suburb of Detroit).

She has been a kickboxer and her first true love is former Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington. The best thing about her love for Joey though is that she has season tickets to the Lions of which I get to partake of a few times during the season.

Of course, along with the pleasure of having an online presence, Ms. Becky has to fess up to the fact that we met online. She wants to tell people we met through a mutual friend (Dr. Phil at Match.com) but I don't buy it. Long gone are the days of the internet being only for perverts, weirdos, and John Rickards. It's hip, it's trendy, it's now. So un-very-much like me.

I love you baby, please don't hate me!

Now, just one blog post isn't going to be enough to make a dent in the jazz hits, so as an online engagement gift from all of my friends in the blogosphere, I ask you to mention the BEST Becky in the next few days on your own blogs. Thanks!

Here's some pics so you have a visual to go with my tidbits.

Doggy Style

2007-06-05T08:09:00.000-04:00

It's not as good as an engagement, but today my short story CADAVER DOG is now live in the Hardluck Stories Blues issue. This is one of my favorite stories and I'd love to know what you all think of it.

She said Yes!

2007-06-01T19:18:00.001-04:00

Eight months ago I went on a date with the most amazing girl. I'm kind of dense though, so it took me a while to realize what a treasure I had been blessed with. But I finally came around. And tonight, I asked her to marry me.

And she said yes.

This just proves there's hope for everyone.

Pilby and Pistols

2007-05-29T13:26:00.000-04:00

I missed the boat on The Rap Sheet's great feature highlighting forgotten or under-appreciated mystery novels and didn't get my suggestions in on time but that doesn't mean they have to go unmentioned. One of them, THE NIGHT MEN by Keith Snyder, already got a nice writeup at Laura Lippman's blog The Memory Project that I recommend you check out. The other I would have recommended was Victor Gischler's brilliant academic satire THE PISTOL POETS. Mostly when people talk about VG's work they mention GUN MONKEYS, SHOTGUN OPERA, or possibly even SUICIDE SQUEEZE, but I never hear mention of PP. When I was talking to him about this a while ago, he also mentioned it's one of his own favorites and feels is was overlooked. So everyone go out and check it out. Now!

But when it comes to the one book I feel has been so under-appreciated it's criminal, it's not a mystery book. It's called CARRIE PILBY by Caren Lissner and it was published by Red Dress Ink a few years ago. I first ran across this book in manuscript form when I was working at Bantam Dell and it was being considered by the pub board. They eventually passed on it, but the story of a young genius struggling to adapt and survive in New York City after graduation from Harvard at 19 stuck with me. I kept in contact with the author over the years here and there, then when it was finally published by RDI in 2003 I eagerly grabbed several copies and I've been passing them out like religious tracts.

If this book would have been published by Knof or Scribner it would have been hailed as a female CATCHER IN THE RYE. Catcher is by far my favorite classic novel, but Carrie is a much more likable and realistic character. Her transformation from a naive and judgemental girl into a full grown woman and fully rounded character is one of the true literary joys of my life. This book should be famous, and read in universities and high schools across the country and Caren Lissner should be the next big literary super star.

Seriously. Yo.

Static Cling

2007-05-23T11:12:00.001-04:00

I'm sick of static in my life, it seems to be everywhere. I have a crappy radio so none of the stations come in clear and the new ipod car transmiter I bought has static too because of the radio. And then I talk on the phone all day at work and it seems like everybody is calling on a tincan under water. I think 90% of the people use speaker phone and then don't bother to turn the TV down or tell their kids to shut up while they're on the phone.

I think I've got static on my brain too. While the bulk of the funk seems to be behind me, I'm still not real happy with what I'm doing. I don't feel like I'm working on THE project I should be, but I'm working on something at that's all that matters, right? I do get glimmers of rightness here and there, though. I wrote a little flash story that I liked and some of the passages in the new book have tickled me, but overall I'm still very meh.

This weekend should be good for me though. I have Friday through Monday off and I'll be very busy so probably won't do much writing. I've got a lot of reading lined up though and I think that will go a long way to filling the old writing well that's a bit dry.

What do you guys do to fill the writing well?

Busting the Funk

2007-05-21T12:49:00.000-04:00

Free at last, free at last, I'm no longer funky, I'm free at last.

And in more ways than one. I worked on the new book yesterday which makes two days in a row on the same project and I'm excited about the possibilities of future work on it. Also, I got the first responses back from my last round of queries and one of them asked for sample pages. This makes the first positive response in nearly 40 queries, but since I changed up the letter I'm 1 for 2.

I'm also starting a new shift at work today with a new desk. A desk I don't have to share with anyone. The way are scheduling is set up is in a shift bid format. All of the possible shifts for the call center are put into a database and each team member is assigned a bid number based on their hire date. I was toward the middle of the third phase which isn't too bad considering I was the very last person on the list last bid. But I'm a little ticked that everybody else who was in my training class was at the top of my phase which gave them much better shift choices. I ended up with 12:30pm to 9:30pm with Fridays and Sundays off. Not exactly perfect, but better than what I had.

What's the worst shift you've ever had to work?

Permanent Resident of Funky Town

2007-05-19T10:02:00.001-04:00

All right people, this is getting ridiculous. I've tried reading books, and I've cracked my reading funk, but I cannot get myself motivated to work on any one project. I've emailed friends a couple of times with exciting ideas that I think I've finally been able to crack open, but then they fail miserably right afterward. I've been writing, and I've been trying, so it's not a matter of laziness, I just can't get any of these projects to catch fire.

I know I need to just pick a project and stick with it until I burn the funk off, but part of the reason for the funk, I think, is that I don't know what the best project is to be working on. Short stories or novels? Series novel or stand alone novel? I've eliminated plays from the mix and series short stories, so that's something I guess. And I think I want to, and need to have a new book in the works. So it comes back to the same qustion I keep asking: Write the next book in the series, or write something new. Grrrrrrrr. You've all been great with the answers and explainations, and support. MOstly this is just me working out my thoughts in written format which works better for me than trying to manage all of this in my head and still try to answer customer calls at work.

Sigh...maybe I'll just look for a nice house here in Funky Town and set up shop as a bum.

Demolitioning Spring

2007-05-18T14:47:00.001-04:00

Hello my darlings. I know it's beautiful outside, but it's downright
nasty at Demolition Magazine. Our Spring issue is now live with
stories from Pat Lambe, Albert Tucher, J.D. Smith, Alan Girling, Greg
Bardsley, and Terry White.

Recently we've been awarded the Gumshow Award from Mystery Ink for
Best Crime Fiction Website and one of our stories, "The Law and the
Order" by Paul Guyot was named as a notable story in the StorySouth
Million Writers Award.

We couldn't be prouder and plan on resting on our laurels for a good
long time to come.

http://www.demolitionmag.com

I still think she should have ended up with Christopher

2007-05-17T09:20:00.000-04:00

This may be the first blog post I write on the verge of tears. Earlier this week I was ambushed with the news that Tuesday would be the final episode of The Gilmore Girls. For Ever. Now I have not been very vigilante this season because it was kind of stupidly written and my DVR kept screwing up the recording times and the CW kept taking it off the air for long periods. So yeah, I was definately caught off guard by this announcement.

I was happy though that I found out enough in advance to make sure my DVR recorded it properly and yesterday sat down to watch it with Becky (my girlfriend, I know it's odd to hear of one referenced by her real name but we all know how the last time turned out...) and about halfway through the episode just ended. My DVR only recorded the first half. I was angry, but figured I could find it online like I had many episodes before. This morning I was able to find it and watch it by myself because it was just perfect that way with nobody laughing at me during commercial breaks.

I have many happy memories of watching Gilmore episodes since I first discovered the show three years ago. And the best thing is I think watching this episode and thinking about it has helped me crack the funk. Also helped by Steve Hockensmith's second novel which is just as great as the first, so thanks Steve. I'm about 1000 words into the story about the computer repo guy and think it will work out nicely.

Greetings from Funkyville

2007-05-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

I'm still feeling funky. Over the last couple of days I've written 500 words on the new novel, 500 words on the novella, about 100 words total on three or four other stories, and even started a couple of new stories. And still, nothing. I also realized I was in the middle of a corresponding reading funk and I think that may have something to do with it. I know a lot of people say they cant read in the genre when they're writing, but I'm the opposite. If I'm not excited about what I'm reading then I'm rarely excited about what I'm writing.

The main problem with the writing seems to be my thinking too much about the marketability of the pieces. That's crap and I need to get over it. The only exception to this is the novella. I've only got a couple of weeks until the deadline and to meet that I'd have to write non-stop every day and I'd just make the deadline with no time to rewrite. That seems like a waste to me.

What I really want to do is write a short story for EQMM or AHMM and then get back to the new book. The choice is between writing a story with my PI character dealing with his theatre background, or doing a standalone story about a computer repo guy. Anyone out there who has published in AH or EQ have any suggestions?

And speaking of EQ shorts, one the books I'm hoping will take me out of my reading funk is Steve Hockensmith's second novel On the Wrong Track. One of the highlights of my trip to NYC for Edgar week was meeting Steve and having him recognize my name from the blog. I told him that I don't like westerns and I don't like Sherlock Holmes, but I liked his first novel about cowboy ranchers who try to be detective like Holmes. I'm hoping the second one is as good.

Kelly Girl

2007-05-14T11:56:00.000-04:00

My girl is coming to town! Saturday I bought tix for me and the girlfriend to go see Kelly Clarkson in concert on August 10. She's already been to see her when she was touring with Clay Aiken but I haven't seen Ms. Kelly at all yet. This is only the third pop concert I'll have been to, mostly because I haven't had anybody to go with.

I've been to quite a few country concerts with my dad or hillbilly friends, but the last pop concert I went to was Metallica's Summer Sanitarium tour about five years ago. Before that was Billy Joel and Elton John when I was in high school. Both great concerts, but I think this one is going to be the bestest ever.

What's your best concert story? Any concerts you're ashamed to admit you attended?

Funky Town

2007-05-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

I'm in one of those funks where I don't know what to work on next. Before I took a month off to do a rewrite of SCARS, I was working on the next book in that series dealing with urban exploration. I've got about 50 pages of that started and think it's off to a nice start. But I don't want to work on it yet. I guess I'm still leery about writing the next installment in a series that hasn't even found an agent yet even though I'd like to have the second book done before the first one sells.

I also though briefly about doing some short plays, but I wasn't feeling that jones and submitted some already completed plays instead. My urge tends to be leaning toward short stories, but I've pretty much tapped out the hardboiled online market so it's got to be a different type of story.

I have the beginnings of two stories, one a funny horror story and the other a sort of romantic comedy mystery piece. That one has the most potential, but I've got to figure out how to approach it exactly. This is a piece I'd like to work on for the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Nero Wolfe novella contest. While the story isn't derivitive or a pastiche of Nero Wolfe, it does fall into the same kind of style and think it would be fun. But something's got to catch soon. I need to be writing, I don't feel if I'm not writing.

Anybody else experience this?

Off-off Madison

2007-05-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

For the first time in almost ten years I have plays out on submission. That makes me very happy. As much as I enjoy seeing my words in print and online, there is NOTHING that beats hearing your words and seeing your stories acted out on stage. I'm submitting the script for MURDER BOY to several theaters in the Detroit area and then I sent off a short play to a theater in Flint for their short play festival. Doing all of this has got me thinking about the similarities between theater and publishing.

Of course when publishing short stories or novels, people always ask if you're getting paid. This isn't as true with theater venues. I think people assume that there is an apprenticship period for things like that, where it's more about the experience gained then the payment. It's not uncommon for playwrights to form their own theater troupes to put on their plays so they can see them onstage. I think the same thing is true of writers and small print and online zines.

The Off-Broadway theater developed as an alternative to the increasingly commercialized Broadway stage, much as small presses developed in response to commercial publishers. And then, when Off-Broadway even grew too commercial, the Off-Off-Broadway movement developed in the coffee houses and church basements and pubs of Greenwich Village. This is how I see online zines and smaller print zines like Crimespree and Hardboiled. At this level, it's all about the experience of being read and developing skills as a writer that can only come from seeing your work published.

As hard as the publishing climate is today, I'm much happier trying to make it as a novelist in America than as a playwright.

Public Service Announcement

2007-05-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

Like most of you, I've been missing Flashing in the Gutters. I miss
being able to whip off a quick flash on a lark to feed the creation
machine, or fiddling ednlessly with a short but potent work. There
have been a few zines who came up to fill the void but I haven't seen
the no-frills, no crap, simple zine that Flashing was so I'm going
to try and do it.

I've created Flash Pan Alley and I want your
stories. One of the coolest thing about Flashing in the Gutters early
success was the amount of people who contributed in the initial phase.
I'd like to get as many people involved early on. There is no editing and no rejection, I'll just format the stories for readability.

http://flashpanalley.wordpress.com
Submissions can be sent to flashpansubmissions@gmail.com

Its a mad, mad, mad, mad world

2007-05-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

I got an email yesterday regarding the Debut Dagger short-list...I'm not on it. I know most people say they don't ever really expect to be nominated for awards or anything like that, and for the most part with me, that's true. But I've been riding that Debut Dagger nomination from 2003 for all it's worth and really expected to make it this time as well.

At the time, and until a couple of years ago, that's all I ha going for me writing-wise. Now I've published some shorts, and made some inroads in the business, and generally aquired a reputation (not saying whether it's good or bad) based on things other than the DD. So I figured the best way to celebrate all of the progress I made was to submit th new book I'd written. It's a better book. Longer, deeper, more skillfully executed. The characters are better developed, the plot more coherent, and the reception from readers generally favorable. But it didn't make the shortlist.

Yet I book I wrote on a lark when I was 24, that's a good 10k words under the minimum word count for a standard novel, and with pretty one dimmensional characters, and a rambling, virtually byzantine plot, that is so far away from what the CWA traditionally recognizes, was shortlisted. I'm very, very confused.

And it's not just this event that makes me wonder what's going on. I've detailed my struggle with the query for this stupid book that has received absolutely no lovin' from the industry even though, again, most people find it intriguing and entertaining and well-written.

I guess it only goes to show how screwy this whole business can be. My faith may be dinged a bit, but I'm not giving up. I still have my dillusional optimism and my jovial nature and a few days ago I finished a huge revision of the book for a great agent who has expressed excitement in the project.

And I'm still better than this guy.

Good Things

2007-05-02T08:37:00.000-04:00

First, I'd just like to thank Mystery Ink on behalf of Dave and myself for awarding Demolition their 2007 Gumshoe Award for Best Crime Fiction Website. We're in very good company and I couldn't be prouder of the writers who have graced our pages over the last year or so. Thanks guys.

In other good news, my short story Alter Road is now live at Thuglit. Detroit. Venegeful preachers. Shotgun toting old women. Moronic meth dealers. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Breakfast at Tiffany's and McDonalds

2007-04-30T11:55:00.000-04:00

So the guy in front of me at McDonald's was complaining because his cappuccino tasted like...wait for it...coffee. Because of this morons delicate and uniformed taste buds I missed the breakfast time cutoff. I do not get this whole policy. For as long I have been going to McDonalds for breakfast, people have been complaining about the 10:30am cutoff time. There are always more people in line complaining about it when I'm there and it doesn't make any sense to me. It's not like the store has to be set up any different for breakfast. I know, I used to work there. And who really eats lunch at 10:30am other than high schoolers? Of all of the reasons McDonalds has been sued over the years, I'm surprised this one hasn't popped up.

I ate at McDonalds on my last day in NYC as well. It was good. I wasn't particularly clear in my last post about the feelings I was expressing regarding New York City so here's another attempt. I was very excited to be going, and I was very excited when the plane banked on approach and I could see the whole island, and I was very excited on the bus as I approached the city. But once I was there, I was disappointed that the city wasn't the end-all-be-all it had once been for me.

After thinking about it, I realized there hadn't been any change in the city, rather in me. I am no longer willing to pay $2000 for a 100 year old moldy broom closet in a sketchy neighborhood. I'm also no longer looking to "escape" my current life. I'm not at the start of my career or looking to stake my claim in the city or anything like that. I'm very happy with where my life is right now, and I'm just not willing to go through the inconvieniences of living in NYC for it's limited benefits. I still loved visiting the city and loved the dining and theater options, but for the most part I like Ann Arbor and Detroit.

The only aspect of NYC that I absolutely adored and wished I could replicate in my city is the public transportation. I was able to go from the airport to my hotel and back and into all parts of the city and even into Connecticut, all using public transportation. If I could ever give up my car completely I would be the happiest man alive.

Mock me with Praise

2007-04-29T00:02:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged about my time in NYC because I've mostly been busy, but also having some conflicting emotions about being here this time. I've been unable to find the words in my own vocabulary, but luckily, on my last night in the city, I went to see the Broadway revival of COMPANY, and in it I found the words I needed:

Robert: The problem is you want too little. That's the hardest thing in the world
to get. (Pause) Thank you for your park.

Kathy: You're welcome. But, see, it and I, we just don't fit. I think there's a time to come to New York and a time to leave. Enjoy your party. (And she is gone)

Thanks to everyone who made this trip special, particularly Karen Olson, Sarah Weinman, Dave White, Duane Swierczynski, and Judy Bobalick.

See you at New Year's NYC...

May Showers

2007-04-24T08:34:00.000-04:00

May is going to be a good month for me and my stories. I've already mentioned I have a story coming out in the Blues issue of Hardluck Stories, but I just got word last night that my other favorite story, "Alter Road," has been picked up for the May issue of Thuglit. That makes me 3-3 with Thuglit which I think is very cool. I was never able to be one of Plots with Guns's Crimedogs, but I'm happy to be one of Thuglit's loose cannons of crime fiction.

I'm very happy to see this story picked up for publication because I think it's one of the best stories I've written but I had a nasty time trying to find some place to publish it. Who wouldn't love a story that tackles the Biblical concept of grace with prison preachers, shotgun toting old women, and moronic meth dealers? But I racked up several rejections with it under it's original title "Where Sin Abounds," but then I rewrote it under the "Alter Road" title when I was invited to submit to the planned Detroit Noir anthology from Akashic. The DN editors passed on the story and I thought my anthology dreams were dead, but then Big Daddy Thug Todd Robinson picked me for the Thuglit anthology so I could put away the pills and the whiskey. Now they have saved me again and I couldn't be happier.

I'm going to be a part of it

2007-04-23T12:04:00.000-04:00

Today is my only day at work this week. Not bad for a Monday. Tommorow I will be playing catch-up on all of the things I've been putting off for several weeks and then Wednesday morning I will be flying out to New York City for Edgar Week. I already have a few lunch and dinner gatherings scheduled, but I'm certainly going to make time for exploring (still have to see Ground Zero) and some sort of theater experience.

Of course the big deal will be the Edgar Awards banquet on Saturday night where I will be in the presence of Stephen King and may even be able to cash in enough favors, blackmail, and groveling to meet him. For once I actually had a flash of forethought and bought my ticket to the banquet early which is good because they sold out a few days ago. I would have been crushed if I planned all of this and wasn't able to go to the main event. In honor of the fancy-schmancy occasion, I went to Target and bought a nice black pinstriped suit off of the clearence rack for $50 and I'm not ashamed to admit that. Yes, I love clothes, and much of the time I like name-brand and designer clothing (Goodwill is a name brand dangit),but I don't have very many occassions to wear a suit these days and it's not like this one is made out of paper bags and duct tape or anything.

It's hard to believe I haven't been back to NYC in six years. This morning I heard on the news that The Producers gave its last performance last night. I was there when it first opened and was one of the first people to get tickets by waiting outside all day for Standing Room Only tix. Funny thing is, when I lived there it was six years after I had visited for the first time in 1995.

Who else is going to be in NYC for Edgar Week? And what are the best memories you have of the city?

Sticking to my (PI Licenced) guns

2007-04-20T12:11:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I posted a message at Crimespace regarding some issues I was having trying to sell my novel as a PI novel. I've gone 0-30 on queries and I'm starting to think it was because I repeatedly referred to the book as a PI novel and the MC as a PI, and the general sense in the industry is that the PI novel is dead. On the upside though, I do have one agent who expressed interest in the book and gave me some detailed points for revision and said he'd be excited to read it if I chose to revise. I've got most of the plot revisions taken care, but I was debating whether or not to change the MC's job from PI to a detective with the Detroit Police warrant squad to avoid the market trouble.

Well, after much support from the Crimespace folk, I've decided to keep the character as a PI and exhaust all of my options along that route first. If I fail completely, then I can go back, change his job, change the title, and requery everyone all over again. So for now, I'm just updating my query letter to remove any references to PI novels or PI characters. This is how it will read:

Dallas Ellington is a TV gossip show's wet dream. He's a former child
star, acting coach for vice cops, and currently working with his
former co-star Steve Vaughn doing skip traces and corporate security
work in Detroit. It's not long before a team from the show HOLLYWOOD
BACKSTORY is in town, but when Vaughn and the daughter of the show's
producer disappear, Ellington is tapped to play hero.

A female cop, a ballerina-turned-stripper, and Ellington's own
girlfriend all pull for his attention to their aspects of the case,
while a crushing clue reveals the decade old attack that ended his
acting career might not have been a random stalking but a murder
attempt. To figure out what's happening in the present, Ellington has
to atone for mistakes he made in the past, otherwise a killer will do
more than scar him this time.

THE SCARS WE CARRY is a 70,000 word thriller for the media generation.

Tree Town to Motown

2007-04-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

Today I get to cut out of work early and be chauferr to New York Times Bestselling Author Laura Lippman for her trip to Ann Arbor. While I still love Ann Arbor, this is actually the first time I will have spent signifigant time downtown in quite a while. Lately I've been spending more time downtown Detroit, partaking of it's fantastic revivival.

Yesterday, my girlfriend took me to see the Tigers play at Comerica Park. The game started off well enough, with temps in the 50s and some nice sun shining down on us. But around the sixth inning it started getting colder and windier. The tigs were up when we left but then managed to blow the game. I don't think it had anything to do with us leaving. After the game, we spent some time in Greektown and also visited John King Books, the largest used and rare bookstore in the state. Next week, of course, I'll be visiting my favorite city for Edgar Week. It's hard to believe I haven't been back since after September 11.

Not exactly picking cotton

2007-04-17T10:01:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, the outgoing vice-president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made some stupid comments about electronic media and called any writer who gives work away online a "webscab." I'm from the union-heavy state of Michigan and the word scab ain't one we like so much around here. Many arguments and counter arguments were made but MJ Rose said it best today when she said it's really a non-argument. Poll after poll and study after study showing giving it away for free increases a product's customer base.

None of that really concerns me all the much, but one of the funniest thing to come out of all of it is the declaration of:

International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day!

Now technically, the official date isn't until April 23, but I want to do it today. Every few months I get an email from someone asking where they can get a copy of my first novel, Lunchbox Hero, so I've been thinking about posting it online in some form and I think this presents enough of an excuse to do it now. I still have some great fondness for this book and it was shortlisted for the 2003 CWA Debut Dagger.

The text is published exactly as I last left it except for some of the character names. After I decided to stop pursuing publication for Lunchbox, I cannibalized several of the lead characters and their back stories for my current novel. To avoid any confusion I have changed these names in Lunchbox Hero.

I'd love to know what you think of it, so drop a comment here or send me an email.

So now, I'm proud to present, the Coping With Sanity Publications presentation of the 2003 Debut Dagger Award Nominated novel LUNCHBOX HERO

**UPDATE** If anyone tried to view this earlier and had formatting problems, those have been fixed. Carry on.

Dog Days, on ongoing saga

2007-04-16T11:25:00.000-04:00

The cat has finally started retaliating. After almost a week of having the new puppy steal his chicken, treats, and Baked Cheetos, the cat has gone on the offensive. The other night we were having porkchops and I gave the cat a piece and when the dog approached to steal it, the cat started growling. It was the funniest sound I've ever heard. But that wasn't enough to scare the dog. So then the cat started hissing. I was cracking up. Later the dog started egging the cat on like he does, but the cat pounced on him and finally took a stand. I was so proud.

Caught in the cross-blog

2007-04-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try an experiment. And hopefully we won't lose nearly as many small animals and hair products as last time. I've been trying to figure out how to best play around in Crimespace without committing to another e-void. I've never really seen the purpose of forums like that because most of the topics discussed are also discussed on most of the blogs. But as I was glancing through the list of members, I realized there was a huge section of writers and readers I didn't know and probably don't know who I am.

So in an effort to draw traffic to this blog, which I consider my main internet presence, I'm going to start cross-posting between the two sites. But I'm not going to just cut and paste my post from this site and drop it over there because I have no way to track reader stats or somments or anything like I do over here. Instead, I'm going to post the first paragraph or so and then have a link to the rest of the post on this here site. It may sound kind of like a pain in the seat right now, but I think it will work. So if you end up over here from Crimespace, or vice versa, drop me a line and let me know.

Otherwise, how will we ever cure baldness?

Dog Days

2007-04-09T08:27:00.000-04:00

I've finally cracked a market I've been 0-4 in until now. I'm happy to announce that my short story CADAVER DOGS has been picked up by Trey Barker for the Blues Issue of HARDLUCK STORIES. Hardluck was one of the last of the top online markets I've been unable to crack and it feels great to finally sit among the many fine names Dave Z's been able to publish there.

Now, the bad news end of this is that I've pretty much exhausted the online markets at this point. I've been published in almost all of the ones still going now, since it looks like Shred of Evidence is no longer updating, and I've probably been blacklisted from the other online site I haven't published in for some comments I made regarding their professionalism.

My next move, of course, is to start really aiming for the top print markets. I want to make it in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Murdaland. I've been submitting toi EQ and AH on and off since I first started writing, but I know I've never really written a good story that suits their market. which means I've got to start working on a different kind of story. Which means a new learning curve.

I've pretty much gotten to the point with my crime stories that I know once a story's done I have an almost certain possibility of publishing it somewhere. I don't have that certainty with this new type of story. In fact I'm almost certain it will be the opposite. I've never received more than a form rejection from EQ or AH, even on some of my stronger pieces. I did get a nice personalized rejection letter from Murdaland which made me feel good, but still...I guess with the desire to succeed at a new task, the acceptance of early failure is neccessary.

One other good bit of dog related news, my girlfriend bought me a dog. She's always been a cat person and I've made no secret of the fact that I've always wanted a dog. A big dog. She told me that would be fine eventually, but she'd need to start with a small dog to get used to them at first. So last week she got a miniature daschund and said he was mine! I named him Stewie because he's an evil genius at getting out of the confinement areas we put him in, but he still poops and pees like a baby.

Dagger Debate

2007-04-02T11:30:00.000-04:00

First off, thanks to everyone who responded with encouragement regarding my agent search. The reply envelopes from my last batch of paper queries are starting to come in and I think I'm back in the read head about it. And speaking of encouragement, I'd suggest everyone read Mike Maclean's post from Sunday at Murderati about making fans for life through small encouragements.

Now, another thing I've been contemplating. Four years ago I was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger for LUNCHBOX HERO and that did some good things for me. Now that I have a new book done, I'm contemplating entering again. The main problem I'm having with it is the cost. While it seems easier to enter these days because they accept email entries and payment by credit card (last time I had to go to the airport to buy a British ten pound note to send with my entry), but the entry fee has almost doubled.

I know I stand a pretty good chance of being nominated again, but I seriously doubt I'd win. There are several benefits to being shortlisted. I got several emails from agents wanting to read the book even though I didn't actually have the last draft finished when I submitted my entry. That prevented me from sending the book to a bunch of people who were interested and I wonder what other opportunities I missed by not having a completed final draft at the time of my nomination.

Another big reason I'd like to enter again is because I think I've been riding that last nomination too long in my bio. It was almost four years ago and for a book that never ended up being published. If I get a nomination this time around and then I sell SCARS, it will be cool to be able to put a CWA DEBUT DAGGER NOMINEE label on the cover or in my bio.

Any thoughts? Anyone else contemplating entering?

Agent Green

2007-03-30T13:35:00.000-04:00

There's been an interesting discussion on Crimespace recently about whether the search for an agent or the search for a publisher is the hardest to endure. Since I haven't gotten an agent yet, I can only respond to that side and the answer is unequivocally: the agent search is harder. I'm in the midst of the submission process for my second novel. While I'm not nearly close to the submission numbers of some other people, I've tallied up quiet a total myself and it's starting to wear on me.

I almost wish I could just send out hundreds of query letters and know they would all be passes. The worst part is getting nibbles here and there that show you glimpses of the promise land. I have no doubt that I will eventually sign with an agent and eventually sign a book deal. But that dream is at best several months or several years away, and in the worst case scenario, it could be decades before it happens. I'm not sure I have the patience to deal with that time frame.

Now part of me really enjoys the query process. It makes me feel like I have a measure of control over my career and that I'm not just waiting around. But the more successful I am at the querying process, the more waiting there is involved. When I was querying for Lunchbox Hero, I sent out letters to 31 agents. More than 60% requested sample chapters, and that process went pretty quick. I sent the letters out and started receiving responses within a few weeks to a month. After I sent out the sample chapters, I would usually hear back on them within another month or so. None of the agents who requested sample chapters requested the whole manuscript, so the process went fairly quickly.

With this new book though, I've so far had three requests for the full manuscript. One agent responded within a few months, another agent has had it for almost six months, and a third agent just requested it a week or so ago. In addition to those requests, I've sent out about 30 queries, mostly through email and haven't had any other bites. I've been pretty turned off by my success rates with email queries, so I gave up on that and will concentrate any further efforts through snail mail. Last Wednesday I sent off a batch of 10 query letters and received my first two rejection letters in the mail today. I've got a list of another 10 agents I will send paper queries to within the next couple of weeks.

I realize it sounds like I'm complaining about my tiara being too tight or my wallet being too full, but I guess I'm just trying to work this all out in my head and understand the process. The key, I think I've finally figured out, is to keep myself busy with other things. Not only am I constantly researching and updating my list of potential agents, I'm also working on the next book in the series (Sorry Harry) and rewriting the last couple of chapters of the current book on the advise of a great reader.

But until I get an agent, it all can seem at times like I'm wasting my efforts. When it all comes down to it, I guess I'm desperately seeking the validation that comes with a reputable agent wanting to sign me.

Slip and Slide

2007-03-29T12:12:00.000-04:00

You know you're getting old when you go to the doctor for a physical and there's a tube of KY jelly and a rubber glove on the counter. Luckily, it turns out I'm still 5 years away from that particular set of explorations but it's nice to know what the future holds.

I felt very adult getting my exam and showing my Blue Cross benefit card. I think that's the first time I've ever gone to the doctor without being sick or bleeding. And apparently I'm in fine shape for a man my age, though I could stand to lose 20 pounds and eat better. Next on my adult health checklist is my first dental exam in nigh unto five years, and then I need to hit the eye doctor and make sure I'm not any closer to being blind.

Since my doctor is back in Flint, I stayed a couple night with my parents and went to see the new Mark Wahlberg movie SHOOTER with my dad. Overall it was a pretty good movie. A little too political at times and sort of a dumb ending, but it's fun watching a guy shoot down a helicopter with one shot from a well placed high powered rifle shot. And the only thing better than watching professional killers work with the highest technology, is watching them work with next to nothing.

Contract Killer

2007-03-26T16:52:00.000-04:00

I just got my first publishing contract in the mail today, so I guess I can spill the beans.

My short story MURDER BOY, that was originally published in THUGLIT, will appear in THE BEST OF THUGLIT-VOLUME 1 anthology to be published next Spring by Kensington books. I know many of my favorite Thugs will be included in the anthology, including Mr. MFA himself, Steve Allen, along with new stories from authors who may or may not be Ken Bruen.

The smile on my face right now is set to Deliriously Giddy and my jaw is starting to hurt so I should get back to work. But I want to thank Big Daddy Thug Todd Robinson for selecting the story initially for THUGLIT, and then being dope enough to pick it for this anthology as well. Dave White, Sarah Weinman, and Patti Abbott all helped me hack the originally unruly story into publishable shape.

First anthologies, then the world...

Silence Ain't Exactly Golden

2007-03-26T13:30:00.000-04:00

When a former New Kid on the Block and a dummy are are the best actors in your film, you've got trouble. I went to see DEAD SILENCE, the new movie from the SAW team, last night, and honestly, it was a pretty good movie. Aside from some of the worst acting this side of porno, there were some genuinely creepy moments and a lot of fun dialogue courtesy of Donnie Wahlburg, the aforemention New Kid, playing a smarmy homicide cop. He has the best line in the whole movie:

"The mystery toy department is down the hall, this is homicide."

Much schlocky fun was had by all, and my girlfriend will now have nightmares for the next week.

On the writing side, I think I've finally fallen back into a nice groove and not getting so distracted by the query process. I've got about 6k words done on the urban exploration book and even started a new mystery short story I'm thinking might be mainstream enough to try at EQMM AHMM. Guess we'll see.

Fly in the Vaseline

2007-03-23T12:42:00.000-04:00

I think I'd rather be locked naked in a lion's cage with a steak tied around my neck than order airline tickets. I've been trolling the internet looking for tickets to NYC for Edgar Week and they've been getting more and more expensive. Then yesterday they all dropped substantially and I jumped at it. But while I was filling out all of the required information I was still filled with dread because for something so expensive there is absolutely no refund and a huge potential for making mistakes as I type everything into a hundred different pages. But I got everything secured and felt happy when I was done.

This morning I got that sense of dread again and decided to check the confirmation emails to make sure everything was ok. I bet being the savvy crowd you are that you can guess everything wasn't ok. All of my departure dates and info was correct, but they had my return flight scheduled for THE SAME FRIGGIN DAY. Who does that? And I know I didn't accidentally pick that because the system automatically jumps the return flight ahead a day.

So I got on the Northwest website and tried to make a correction to the reservation and they wanted to charge me almost double. Instead, I called up their 800 number and much to Northwest's credit they were able to help me. I have to leave New York Sunday earlier than I planned but that's fine as long as I still get a cheap fare.

Bleh.

I'm very excited about this trip though. Stephen Friggin King, people. Now I have to make sure my suit still fits me. Maybe I'll rent a tux in NYC.

What the Bestsellers Know

2007-03-22T11:45:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to Laura Lippman who just found out that her new book WHAT THE DEAD KNOW will be her first New York Times Bestseller. I read her post last night and almost started crying for her, this has been a long time coming.

This whole thing made me realize how much I want this. All of it. The book deal, the publishing experience, the bestseller. I would love to have Laura's career. Not just the fancy-schmancy part of it. But she started off with a mass market career and has slowly built it from there.

I hadn't realized until recently how much participating in the contest with Dave was distracting me from the whole submission process of my new book. I had the manuscript out to a couple of agents who were reviewing it but I was so focused on getting pages done on the contest book that I didn't think too much about it. But now that I don't really have that going, I'm driving myself batty wondering what's going on.

I sent out one batch of email queries that I haven't heard a thing on, and yesterday I sent out a batch of snail mail queries. All I can think about it getting an agent and getting a deal and having a career. It's bordering on the point of obsession now and that's got to stop. Obviously I need to immerse myself in another project. I'll probably stick with the urban exploration book that I'm about 3k words into.

But I've also debated doing more short work, including a mainstream-type story for EQMM or AHMM and possibly even a novella for the AHMM/Nero Wolf Society novella contest. With the way I'm feeling though, I think a massive, long-term project like a novel is just what I need.

Vodoo Monkey

2007-03-19T12:14:00.000-04:00

I met Robert Crais this weekend and it was better than I could have even dreamed. Not only did I get to shake his hand and gush dorky fanboy sentiments and get my book signed, thanks to the generously well-connected Jordan family I was able to have lunch with "Bob." He is a wonderful charming, and funny fan and I had the absolute best time of my life. So thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.

In addition to the boxload of books that Jon gave me before I left, I also made some neat purchases at Mystery One. Top of the list is of course an autographed copy of Neil Smith's THE DRUMMER. A close second would be a copy of Jon Jackson first novel about Detroit detective Fang Mulheisen. But this edition is one of the few Dennis McMillan pbacks that had a cool graphic cover that looked like grafitti. I also bought the first Dresden book by Jim Butcher and the first Rawhead book by David Bowker.

I also got to hook up with Christin Kuretich and she was pretty cool too.

Now I'm back to the real world and I have to go back to work, but I have plenty to keep me busy. I'm going to attempt a horror short story for the first time (if you don't count the story I wrote in high school about gladiator cockroaches that killed unlucky exterminators) and I want to read up on what the genre has to offer these days online. With the novel contest done I'm still picking away at the urban exploration novel, but I'm craving to write short stories as well. I'd probably keep writing crime stories, but I've pretty much saturated that market and I'm looking to explore new horizon and all that BS anyway.

Does anyone out there have experience writing or publishing horror stories? Any tips?

Did I Forget To Mention...

2007-03-17T10:45:00.000-04:00

...that I'm in Milwaukee this weekend? I will be joining the Jordan clan and Sean Chercover in harassing and adoring one of my great writing idols: Robert Crais. I will also be catching up with a certain March Madness Widow as well so that should be fun. I hope she writes about me on her blog.

Can I say how cool these Oasis thingies are all through Illinois. Sure the toll's suck the big Donkey Show, but free wireless internet access with my McDonalds breakfast is not too bad. Carry on, Illinois, carry on.

Follow-up the Leader

2007-03-16T14:34:00.001-04:00

Jim Winter brought up an interesting topic at Crimespace today regarding what to write as a follow-up to the novel he and his agent are currently submitting. His book is a standalone and he mentions that if it were a series book he would start working on number two right away and possibly even outlining book three.

Harry Hunsicker was of the adamant opinion that one should not write the follow-up to a series novel until the first one has sold. He advocates starting something new even if it's basically the same characters. Now Harry is a great writer, and has had quite a bit of success with his Hank Oswald series, so obviously he knows what he's talking about. Buuuuuuuuuttttt, Laura Lippman is also an excellent writer with some success of her own and she advocates the opposite approach. Laura had the second book in her Tess Monaghan series finished by the time the first one sold and credits that with being able to jump start her career early on.

Both have valid points but because you're here you obviously are dying to know what my opinion is? I side with Laura.

This is actually a debate I've been having with myself for a few weeks. I have the first book in the series finished and I'm submitting it currently to agents. I wanted to immediately start the next book and did so with MURDER BOY. About halfway through I knew this wasn't the book I wanted to followup the first in the series. I wanted it to be a bigger and better book than the first one and one that, if the first didn't sell, could be used as the new first book in the series. I'm confident enough in my character that I know he will sell, I think it's just a matter of which book he will debut in. So right now I'm working on a different book, one that I hope will be the second book in the series, but I think could be reworked to act as an opening book if it had to.

Any thoughts?

Come Sail Away

2007-03-15T09:39:00.000-04:00

It happened even faster than I could have imagined: My anthology ship finally came in. I don't know how much info I can give away at this point, and I know some people are superstitious when it comes to revealing good news, but I've always been the sort to jump head first and grab up all the accolades before everything can go tits up.

Basically, a story of mine that was originally published on the web has been picked up for a reprint anthology. The best part is that I'll get real cash money for it. This will be my first professional fiction sale and that gets me all different kinds of giddy.

When I first got news about the anthology, I assumed it going to be a small press thing like the PWG anthology, but upon further investigation, it will actually be with a major NY house and that means mega distribution. My dream of going into Borders and Barnes and Noble and pull a book off the shelf that doesn't just mention me, but includes one of my actual stories will finally come true.

More on this as it develops...

Rent to Own

2007-03-12T12:02:00.000-04:00

I saw something this morning that made me less than confident in my local emergency support personnel. As I was driving to work an ambulance passed me on the other side of the road with its flashers and siren on and everything. In the passenger's seat, one of the paramedics and a map open and was turning it around trying to find something on it. If I can use Mapquest to find a destination, why can't they? And further more, if these guys are the first to respond to emergenices, shouldn't they kind of...you know...know where the heck they're going???

Last Wednesday I was finally able to do something I'd never been able to accomplish during my time living in New York City. I was able to get $20 seats to RENT in the front row. When Jonathan Larson, the writer and composer of RENT, died, his parents specified that at every showing the first two rows should be set aside for cheap tickets to honor the poor students who make up most of the "Rentheads."

Well in NYC, the tickets for the Broadway production were given out in a lottery format to avoid people camping out on the street. I went to that theater almost every Friday after I got out of work and got in line for the lottery but never won. Finally I went to TKTS and bought seats in the nosebleeds so I could see it, but it wasn't as cool from up there.

Then last week I saw a notice that RENT would be coming to the Masonic Temple Theater in Detroit and that the $20 seats would be first come first serve. So on Wednesday, my regular day off, I went down there and was able to get in line and get the tickets. It was a great experience and there's nothing that can beat front row seat to a bombastic musical.

Along with RENT, I've been spending quit a bit of time downtown Detroit and in the outlying areas because I'm dating a girl who lives about 15 minutes from downtown and grew up in Southwest Detroit. I think this might be why I'm so excited about the new book I'm working on. I get to use the Detroit setting, and of of the neat tidbits I've learned, to the fullest.

Viva, la vi, bohem!

The end before The End

2007-03-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, Dave, you win.

I've given up on the book I was currently working on for several reasons. First, I've been feeling for quite a while that this is not the book I want to follow up THE SCARS WE CARRY. It has plenty of potential, but as a stand alone rather than as a PI novel. While all of this contest stuff was fun and forced me to write faster than I normally would have, I think it distracted me from the book I'd always envisioned as the second book in my series. I've long wanted to write a book about urban exploration.

Since Detroit has the largest collection of abandoned skyscrapers in the country I thought it would be the perfect setting for something like this. I know David Morrell did something with urban exploration in his last novel CREEPERS, but I'd be exploring a different aspect of the whole scene, focusing more on the characters and the community surrounding the urban exploration scene.

So anyway, I'm throwing MURDER BOY in the trunk for a while while I get to work on this new book. I apologize to anyone who had anything riding on this competition, but when you wager on the creative output of an unpublished novelist you've got to expect a flake-out or two.

Reflection on a Project

2007-03-08T13:18:00.000-05:00

Being the introspective, navel-gazing, sort of fella that I am, I think it's time to reflect on the latest Blog Short Story Project. First, the bad news: There weren't as many participants as I had hoped. I had anywhere between 30-40 possible contributors, but only 23 ended up being included. Now, the good news: Of those 23, all but a small handful of the particpants were brand new to the Blog Short Story Project experience. That makes me very happy. And some of these new people were even brand new to the whole experience of writing a short story.

It's amazing to see how far the blogosphere has grown in the year or so since the last BSSP. One of the biggest changes I noticed was the addition of several group blogs, or GROGS. Paul Guyot, a resident of one of the local grogs, suggested the next project be a Grog Short Story Project. That is a great idea and I'm already looking into how to make it work.

Other than that, I was pleased and amazed as always at the level of quality in the stories posted. This always seems like a bit of a lark to me and the fact that busy, talented writers with a ton of stuff on their plate took time out of their schedules to participate and contributed top-notch material. Thanks everyone.

Now that all the team-building crap is over though, expect this blog to return to it's regular narcissistic purpose in life.

Blog Project 3-D

2007-03-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know, I organized the dumb thing and then can't even get my act together on time. But here is my story for the third entry in Dave White and my Blog Short Story Project. You wanna make something of it?

---------
I AM NOT PAUL AVERY
By Bryon Quertermous

One comment, that's it. I bare my soul to the world and truly tap my well of obsession and all I get out of the deal is one friggin' comment. Maybe there would be more later. The computer bloops as I click on the comments link and I immediately recognized the icon on the poster's profile.

This is the Zodiac speaking. Finally someone has realized that though one Zodiac sign is now in the heavens, there has always been two sign at work. The world has been mad aware of one Zodiac, I am here to make you all aware of the remaining Zodiac. Do not think I am a copycat. I know details of the crimes only the real killer would know. And now, you, faithful servant of the people, have a chance to be made famous as I will be made famous. I will include a cipher with my next communication. You will run it on your blog and link it to all of the blogs on your blogroll. My identity will be in that cipher. If you do this, you will be made famous. If you do not. may god have mercy on your soul for the killing will begin again. Zodiac out.

My BS Detector is in full alert after reading that. It sounds phony, and contrived, and doesn't list a single original thought other than the fact that there were two Zodiac killers. Allegedly. It was never an official possibility, and even the thousands of amateur sleuths who'd obsessed over the case since then had failed to make any sort of noise regarding that idea. But it seemed the most obvious answer to me.

I read through the note again and the more I read it, the more it starts to take on a sense of authenticity. Maybe I'm just seeing and hearing what I want to hear in the note because it has been so long since anyone believed me. Finally I close out of the note and put the computer away. I still had a job to go to, one I hadn't lost yet due to my obsession, and I was determined to make this work. I might not be able to prove there were two Zodiac killers, but I could certainly muster up enough authority to confirm whether my clients wanted fries with their orders.

* * *

Two Days Later

The IM pops up on the screen in the middle of my best World of Warcraft session in ages. I'm ready to close it out when I notice the logo again.

IAmAlsoZodiac: You believe in me, don't you?
IAmNot PaulAvery: Where did you get this screenname from?
IAmAlsoZodiac: You did not mention me on your blog.
IAmNotPaulAvery: You haven't given me anything to mention yet.
IAmAlsoZodiac: So you will post my new cipher?
IAmNotPaulAvery: Does it really contain your identity?
IAmAlsoZodiac: Do you think you can solve it?
IAmNotPaulAvery: Nobody was able to solve any of them except the first one.
IAmAlsoZodiac: My partner got too complicated. I wrote the first one.
IAmNotPaulAvery: Well send it along then.
IAmAlsoZodiac: Do you realize how hard it is to be scary over IM? I want to do our famous heavy breathing phone act, but you don't have a phone, do you?
IAmNotPaulAvery: You don't need one these days.
IAmAlsoZodiac: I miss the good old days.

* * *

One hour later

This cipher is much easier. I'm still not able to solve it on my own though so I have a friend over to help me. He used to be a cop and he's looking for his way back onto the force. He lost his job because of his obsession, just like me.

"I think I have it," I say, brushing away the popcorn kernels and caffeine pills. "This is Greek, and it's obviously a T."

"And the O and the M, are from Naval codes, right?"

I nod.

"This one was the hardest though, but I think it's a C. Which would make the rest of the name..."

"What? Tell me? I don't get it."

"Are you sure you want it?" I ask.

"I just want the truth."

I write out the rest of the name and push it across the table to my friend.

"You can't handle the truth," I say.

"This is some risky business now," he says back.

THE END
----------

Now that I have effectively lowered the bar for everyone else. Here are the rest of the stories in the project:

JT Ellison
MikeMaclean
Paul Guyot
Karen Olson
Stephen D. Rogers
Gerald So
Daniel Hatadi
JD Rhoades
Dave White
Anthony Rainone
Pari Noskin Taichert
Patti Abbott
Stephen Allan
Christa Miller
David J. Montgomery
John Rickards
John Dumand
Bill Crider

More links will be added as the day progresses I'm sure.

Calgon, take me away

2007-02-28T16:53:00.000-05:00

So I'm watching the Oscars from my hotel room in Canada, and it dawns on me that I'm supposed to be doing a live blogcast for Ed during the show. My internet access had been sketchy up to that point due to only being on a wired account instead of the wireless that was advertised, so I'd mostly contented myself to just check email a couple of times a day. It turned out to be the most relaxing part of my whole trip.

While I like to travel, I've never been the real touristy sort. I like to relax when I travel and sleep in and lounge around the hotel room and walk around the town willy nilly. There's nothing worse than having an entire day of planned itinerary activities to wear me out and suck the joy out of traveling.

This trip was no different. I slept in late, enjoyed hotel room television, ate at hotel buffets and walked around a lot. I didn't bring back any souvenirs, I didn't conquer any tourist milestones, I mostly just contented myself to be away from work and in a country where my money was worth 12% more than theirs.

Now that I'm back, I'm finding it hard to get back into blogging mode. I haven't checked nearly as many blogs as I normally do and this is my first post since I've been back. I did however get another 1,000 words written on my novel putting me at 59,000 words and about 2k in front of Dave, I think.

If you want touristy pictures from a trip, check out Christin, er, Dave's blog about his trip to DC.

100 Books

2007-02-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

I normally hate these kinds of things on blogs (though that hasn't stopped me from posting a couple of them myself), but this one got me thinking and I think it's a good one that shows how very unread I am and also that I'm quite adamant about not reading several books. Have a look and feel free to comment on my choices, or lack thereof. Thanks to Ed and Jim for this one.

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

~~1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)~~

2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

3. +To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

4. +Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)

6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

8. +Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)

17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)

18. The Stand (Stephen King)

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)

22. +The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

23. +Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. +The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

28. +The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)

31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

~~32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)~~

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

34. 1984 (Orwell)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

~~41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)~~

42. +The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

~~44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)~~

45. +Bible

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

49. +The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

50. +She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

52. +A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

55. +The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

~~58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)~~

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

~~63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)~~

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)

65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

67. +The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

70. *The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

71. +Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

78. +The World According To Garp (John Irving)

79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. +Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

83. +Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

85. +Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

92. +Lord of the Flies (Golding)

93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

96. +The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

98. *A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

99. ~~The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)~~

100. ~~Ulysses (James Joyce)~~

Free at last, free at last

2007-02-19T16:16:00.001-05:00

My days as an indentured slave are over. After doing 90 days as a contract employee and then another month and a half waiting for my permanent papers to come through, I started as a full-time permanent employee and had to go through another 90 day probationary period. That period was up Saturday and now all of my vacation days and benefits kick in.

I celebrated, of course, by spending the entire day Saturday sick in bed.

This weekend though I will have my first full weekend (Fri-Sun) off in almost a year and will be using it to travel to Chicago for some R and R. When I come back I'll celebrate my new-found benefits by getting a long overdue dental cleaning and physical exam. I can feel the adulthood oozing over me. I've got a few other day trips scheduled over the next couple of months for book signings and then of course the biggie will be a week-long trip in NYC in April for the Edgar festivities (and a free dinner on Dave who will still probably be working on his book long after mine--and a story and a play--have been finished).

The bulk of my writing time over the next couple of weeks will be spent polishing my play to a glossy sheen in time for the March 1 contest deadline. I'm very excited to see what comes of this. Even if I don't win the contest, there are several exciting theater opportunities in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area.

I'm positively giddy with optimism (and possibly gas).

People who need PEOPLE

2007-02-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

Where do writers get their ideas? If you asked me recently, I'm more than likely to say PEOPLE magazine. Two of the best stories I think I've written were developed from ideas I got while reading PEOPLE.

My short story MR. SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL was based on an account of a suburban dad who's son stole a friend's dad's gun to buy drugs. When the son was sentenced to a long jail term because the gun was still on the streets, the dad decided to go out on the mean streets and find it. Well I thought that was a great setup and started wondering what would happen if the dad didn't want to go looking for the gun himself but would rather hire a PI? I switched the gun to a vintage piece of rock and roll memorabilia, set the story in Flint, MI and created a new PI. I think the resulting story turned out quite well.

The other story is the one I just completed. During the height of the Lori Hacking murder case, there was a little blip about the cadaver dogs being used to search local dumps for her body. A few of the details about the dogs and their search methods stuck in my head and I started researching cadaver dogs more in depth and found an article about rescue dogs that had been retrained from looking for live survivors to looking for cadavers after 9/11 and I loved the metaphor of that. I started getting a picture of this lonely man who's wife had died and he switched his dogs from rescue dogs to cadaver dogs and spent his days looking for dead bodies.

That vision stuck with me and I've been looking for a way to write a story using all of those elements for a while now but didn't have the final piece needed until recently when HARDLUCK STORIES announced they were taking submissions for a blues themed issue. I thought these sad and lonely characters were perfect for a blues song and wrote the story over about a week. I think it's probably the second or third best story I've ever written.

So if I can find story ideas in magazines that talk about celebrity fashion and Nicole Richie's weight, then ideas are truly everywhere.

Web Snared

2007-02-08T11:33:00.000-05:00

I spent waaaay too much time on the web yesterday at Starbucks. Some of it was useful (completing the new issue of DEMOLITION, for example) and the rest of it fairly useless (like spending 4 hours trying to relearn Flash so I can make a book trailer for a book that doesn't yet exist).

But I was able to accomplish one useful task, and that was the first readthrough my my MURDER BOY play since I completed it a few weeks ago. I'm happy to report that the theater gods have smiled down on me and it's not crap. Perhaps the word fairies that have been visiting Mr. Macbride have swooped through my neck of the woods as well. Now it's not exactly ready for its Broadway premiere, there are still some areas that need to be cleaned up and developed more--like the ends of both acts-- but overall, for my first attempt at a full-length play ever, I'm very very pleased.

Still looking for any stragglers who want to be part of the next Blog Short Story project. This year the theme is flash fiction and the word count will be a max of 1k for those who may think it's too large of a commitment. We've already secured more participants than we had last year which is great. We're particularly looking for bloggers outside of the crime and mystery field to broaden the scope of the project. Contact Dave or myself if you're interested.

Spring, er, winter cleaning

2007-02-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

No, you're not going crazy or doped up on too much Nyquil (or whatever else you're using to get through these hideously cold days), I have changed my template. I think one gets to the heart of what this blog is about, even though I wish there was more blood. So have a look around and let me know if anything doesn't work or looks strange...well, stranger than normal.

Also, Dave and I are putting together a list of interested parties for the third Blog Short Story Project. If you haven't received an email from me and you're interested in participating, contact me at bryon dot quertermous at gmail dot com