Happy
New Year! To celebrate the occasion some of the regular mob here
decided to offer a resolution for you to ponder. Feel free to
contribute your own in the comments.
It
has been an interesting year at SleuthSayers and we hope it has been one
for you as well. We wish you a prosperous and criminous 2019.
Steve Hockensmith. My new year's resolution is to write the kind of book that I
would really enjoy reading but which will also have a decent chance of finding
an enthusiastic publisher...which might be the equivalent of resolving to lose
30 pounds by only eating your favorite pizza.
Eve Fisher. Mine is to break my addiction to distracting myself on the
internet.
John M. Floyd.
1.
Read more new authors.
2.
Write more in different genres.
3.
Let my manuscripts “cool off” longer before sending them in.
4.
Read more classics.
5.
Search out some new markets.
6.
Cut back on semicolons.
7.
Go to more conferences.
8.
Go to more writers’ meetings.
9.
Get a Twitter account.
10.
Try submitting to a contest now and then. This one’s low on my list—I
avoid contests like I avoid blue cheese—but I probably should give it a try.
(Contests, not blue cheese.)
Paul D. Marks. I
resolve to watch fewer murder shows on Discovery ID and murder more people on
paper.
Barb Goffman. My new year's resolution is to finish all my
projects early. Anyone who knows me is likely rolling with laughter now because
finishing on time is usually a push for me. Heck I'm often writing my
SleuthSayers column right before the deadline, and I'm probably sending in this
resolution later than desired too. But at least I'm consistent!
Janice Law. I resolve to start reading a lot of books- and
only finish the good ones.
Stephen Ross. My New Year resolution is to FINALLY finish a science
fiction short story I started two years ago, but have yet to think of a decent
ending!
Steve Liskow.
I love short stories but find them very difficult to write.
I've resolved that I will write and submit four new short stories in
2019. My other resolution is to lose 15 pounds. That will be
tricky since I don't know an English bookie...
Art Taylor. My
resolutions are pretty regular—by which I mean not just ordinary but recurrent;
for example, I’m redoubling my resolution to write first and to finish
projects—keeping on track with some stories and a novel currently in the works.
I fell short on my big reading resolution of 2018 (reading aloud the complete
Continental Op stories—still working on it!) but I did keep up with reading a
list of novels, stories, and essays set in boarding schools (related to my
novel-in-progress) and that’s a resolution that’s continuing into 2019 as well,
with several books recently added to the list, including The Night of
the Twelfth by Michael Gilbert and A Question of Proof by Nicholas
Blake. I know these might seem more like “things to do” than “resolutions” but
that’s how I plan, I guess! For a real resolution, how about this one? Be nicer
to our cats. (They’re demanding.)
Robert Lopresti. Back
in 2012 I won the Black Orchid Novella Award for a story about a beat
poet named Delgardo, set in October 1958. I am currently editing his
next adventure, which takes place in November 1958. In 2019 I want to
write "Christmas Dinner," which will be set in... oh, you guessed.
Melodie Campbell. This
fall, we found out my husband has widespread cancer. He isn't yet
retirement age, so this has been a shocking plot twist. In the book of
our lives together, we have entered a new chapter.
That metaphor has become my new resolution, in that it is a new way of looking at
life in all its beauty and sorrow. I am a writer. I have come to
view my life as a book. There are many chapters...growing up, meeting
one's mate, raising children, seeing them fly the nest. Even the
different careers I've tried have become chapters in this continuing
book. Some chapters are wonderful, like the last five years of my
life. We don't want them to end. Others are more difficult, but
even those will lead to new chapters, hopefully brighter ones.
May
your book be filled with many chapters, and the comforting knowledge that many
more are to come.
Leigh Lundin. Each year my resolution is to make no resolutions. A logical fallacy probably is involved.
R.T. Lawton. I tend not to make New Year’s resolutions
anymore. Why? So as to not disappoint myself. At my age, there are fewer things
I feel driven to change, and for those circumstances I do feel driven about, I
make that decision and attempt regardless of the time of year.
For instance, there is the ongoing weight
concern, but I hate dieting or restricting myself from temptation. Other than
working out, my idea of a dieting program these days is not using Coke in my
evening cocktails. Instead, I’ll merely sip the Jack Daniels or Vanilla Crown Royal
straight or on the rocks. Not many calories in ice. On the days I gain a pound
(weigh-ins every morning), I can usually guess why. On the days I lose weight,
I have no idea why. My best weight loss (usually five pounds at a crack),
mostly comes from some health problem I did not anticipate and which involved
minimal eating for a few days. Naturally, I’m eating well these days, so we’re
back to the temptation thing.
As for any writing and getting published
resolutions, that’s a constantly renewable action, however, I can only control
the writing and submitting part. The getting published part is up to other
people and beyond my control, except for e-publishing.
For those of you making New Year’s
resolutions, I wish you much success and hope you meet your goal. And, to spur
you on with your commitment, let me know in June how well you did.
Since my post falls on Christmas Day this year, I thought I should do something Christmassy. I thought I might preach but that would get preachy. I thought I could make snowballs, but I don’t have any snow, though we do get it here sometimes. So instead I thought I’d make a list of Christmas or holiday movies that I like. You probably have your own, which I hope you’ll add in the comments. And then, with Janet Rudolph’s kind permission, after the movies is a list of Christmas mysteries. So, even though by the time you read this the actual holiday will be half over, the season is good at least until the first week of the New Year, so catch up on some good movies or good mysteries and have a very HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND NEW YEAR!(Oh, and if you want to get a last minute gift for yourself or someone you’re a little late with…Broken Windows deals with things in the news this past week, immigration, and no one gets off unscathed.)
So, here we go:
Bishop's Wife, The Black Christmas… Christmas Carol, A (Reginald Owen version)
Christmas Carole, A (Alistair Sim version) – This is probably the best version. A paranormal Christmas, along the lines of The Blair Witch Project (well, not really). Amy’s (the wife) favorite Christmas movie. Every year she wants to watch it. Every year I balk. And every year I end up enjoying it. One year, in the days of VHS, I bought her tapes of every version of A Christmas Carole that I could find, including Mr. Magoo’s version, the Muppets and everything and anything else.
Christmas Holiday – With Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly
Christmas in Connecticut – Barbara Stanwyck, SZ Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Sydney Greenstreet and Robert Shayne, who played Inspector Henderson on Superman – how can you go wrong? Oh, and the premise is funny, too.
Christmas Story, A – Gotta watch this at least once each year. But sometimes we just put on Turner when they’re running it 24 hours and catch bits and pieces here and there.
Comfort and Joy Cover Up Die Hard – There’s an argument as to whether or not this is actually a Christmas movie, but since they play Let It Snow that’s good enough for me.
Four Christmases Holiday Affair – Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh.
Holiday Inn – The movie that introduced White Christmas. That’s enough.
Holiday, The
Home Alone It Happened on Fifth Avenue It’s a Wonderful Life – It’s got Gloria Grahame, if no other reason that would get it included. But it’s good on all those other levels too.
LA Confidential – You know, Bloody Christmas, thus a Christmas movie.
Lady in the Lake Love Actually – I figured I’d get shot if I didn’t include this. But, hey, I do like it.
Meet Me in St. Louis Miracle on 34th Street – The original, of course. My favorite Christmas movie because it proves that Santa Claus is for real. What more do you want?
Remember the Night – Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray pre their Double Indemnity teaming. Hard not to like anything with Stanwyck. And written by the great Preston Sturges. I really like this one.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians – Amy has fond memories of this from when she was a kid. Go figure kids’ tastes... If you like cheesy sleazy with terrific production values (is my nose growing?) this is the movie for you. And let’s not forget it was Pia Zadora’s debut as Girmar.
Scrooged Shop Around the Corner, The – A charming, wonderful movie. I even like the remake, You’ve Got Mail, but not so much the musical version, In the Good Old Summertime.
White Christmas
And every Hallmark holiday movie ever made… ;-) (Actually, I’ve never seen any, but I understand they’re very popular.)
And here’s Janet Rudolph’s lists of Christmas Crime Fiction:
Kristin Centorcelli, Criminal Element: "Although it’s set in 1994, it’s eerie how timely this story is. There’s an undeniable feeling of unease that threads through the narrative, which virtually oozes with the grit, glitz, and attitude of L.A. in the ‘90s. I’m an ecstatic new fan of Duke’s."
"Duke and company practically beg for their own TV show."
John Dwaine McKenna, Mysterious Book Report: "This electrifying novel will jolt your sensibilities, stir your conscience and give every reader plenty of ammunition for the next mixed group where the I [immigration] -word is spoken!"
Ladies and gents, we are delighted to introduce our newest SleuthSayer. Lawrence Maddox will be appearing every third Friday, and we are delighted. I met Lawrence at Bouchercon in Long Beach years ago and we hit it off. His gripping and eccentric stories have appeared in 44 Caliber FunkandOrange County
Noir. He scripted the Hong Kong kickboxing flick RAW TARGET andthe indie musical OPEN HOUSE (and how often have you read about those two genres in the same sentence?). PUBLISHERS WEEKLY called his FAST BANG BOOZE (published earlier this year by Shotgun Honey),"offbeat noir." I called it "a wild ride."Please give Larry a warm SleuthSayers welcome! - Robert Lopresti
FLESHING OUT THE PAST
by Lawrence Maddox
Ian Fleming once surprised a Polynesian dancer by reaching out and
touching her while she was performing. It’s not noted where, exactly,
he touched her. As for why: he was doing research. Through travel,
research, and first-hand knowledge, Fleming loaded his Bond novels with
sumptuous detail. He was one of the first authors to use actual product
names in his fiction. Fleming was a master at describing the world he
lived in, but what are the tools an author uses to flesh out the past
when, unlike Fleming’s dancer, it’s no longer there for one to touch? I
asked crime fiction authors Christa Faust, Robert Lopresti and Paul D.
Marks how they brought the once-was into the right-now.
Before New York’s Times Square was cleaned up in the 1990s, it was a
sleazy and dangerous place. Travis Bickle’s “All the animals come out
at night” monologue from Taxi Driver sums it up. Christa Faust, Gary
Phillips (and artist Andrea Camerini) faithfully recreate Times Square,
circa 1986, in their thrilling graphic crime comic Peepland (Titan
Comics, collected as a paperback, 2017). Roxy Bell is a Times Square
peepshow worker, performing one-woman sex shows behind a glass window.
Powerful forces will stop at nothing to retrieve a criminally incriminating VHS tape that has
fallen into her hands.
“Peepland is based on my own lived experience as a kid growing up in
Hell's Kitchen and as a young woman working in the Times Square peep
booths,” Christa says. I consider the rich and authentic rendering of
Times Square, and ask Christa if she needed to do any research for
Peepland. “No research was necessary, just memories.” In an interview
with Crime Fiction Lover, Christa explained that “all of the characters
are based on real people I met while working in the peep booths. The
central main character Roxy Bell is definitely semi-autobiographical.”
In the same interview, Christa succinctly said why memories of Times
Square were all she needed to create Peepland: “It’s in my blood.”
Roughly two miles away and two decades earlier, Greenwich Village was
the epicenter of American folk music, a movement in sound that put
political dissent on the airwaves. In Robert Lopresti’s evocative
murder mystery Such a Killing Crime (Kearney Street Books, 2005),
coffeehouse manager and war vet Joe Talley sifts through the many
characters circling the folk revival scene in search of the murderer of
his friend, an up-and-coming folk singer. Robert gives a sightseeing
tour down MacDougal Street, detailing the people and points of interest
along the way. Folksinger Tom Paxton, who makes a cameo, said of
Robert’s writing, “If I'd known he was watching us all so carefully,
I'd have behaved much better.”
I ask Robert how he brought 1963 Greenwich Village back to life. “Since
I’m a librarian the obvious answer was research. That was more
challenging than I expected because all the New York City newspapers
were on strike that spring. The Village Voice was the main source of
information.” Robert says he also spent hours at the Lincoln Center
branch of the New York Public Library scouring the main folk rags of
‘63, Sing Out! and Broadside. Robert was after more than just facts in
his research. “I got to interview several people I knew who lived in
that time and place. That was partly to get facts but mostly to get
feelings. What was it like? What did they remember the most vividly
about that time? Then there was the matter of trying to think like an
early sixties person. Women were ‘girls,’ whatever their age.
Smoking in a hospital was perfectly normal.” I ask Robert if his
research forced him to rethink past assumptions. “I was well into
editing before an article in a recent newspaper pointed out that back
in 1963 women were not allowed to drink in most bars in the city!
After confirming that with a woman I know who went to school there I
had to rewrite a whole lot of scenes. But part of the fun of the book
is showing you this strange and distant culture.”
Paul D. Marks explores early 1990s Los Angeles in his two Duke Rogers
private eye novels White Heat (Down & Out Books, re-issued 2018)
and Broken Windows (Down & Out Books, 2018). In White Heat, Duke
finds himself in the heart of the 1992 LA riots while investigating the
death of an actress. Broken Windows, occurring two years later, has the
Prop 187 battle over illegal immigration as the backdrop. Marks grew up
in Los Angeles, and his Duke Rogers books explore how myth and memory
are at odds with the often violent, seedy and corrupt LA that Duke
encounters while plying his trade.
“The Internet, as well as memory, comes into play to try to get the
reality of that time, but even with a good memory it’s wise to verify
with multiple sources.” I ask him if there were any challenges
recreating the not-so distant past. "In some ways it’s
almost harder to
write that than something set in the more distant past.” Earlier in the
20th century “there were no cell phones, personal computers, answering
machines or televisions at home. But all of that stuff existed in the
’90s, but in very different form than we have today. So, while someone
might have had a cell phone it looked different and worked differently
– some of the early ones were as big as walkie-talkies. Same with
computers. So you have to be careful if you lived through that era not
to transpose modern versions of the technology onto the tech of that
day.”
I had similar issues with my novel Fast Bang Booze (Shotgun Honey,
2018), which takes place in the early 1990s as well. I had to rethink a
lot of what I thought I remembered about cell phones from that period.
A fun cell phone fact: the first commercially available handheld cell
phone (made by Motorola) was nicknamed “The Brick,” and cell phones
pretty much kept that design until smaller flip phones came along in
the mid-nineties.
Paul D. Marks and I are both native multigenerational Angelenos, and we’ve
had that “Do you remember” conversation a few times. LA, as well as
being a sprawl, is also the kind of city that lets a legendary place
like Schwab’s get torn down and be replaced by a Crunch Gym, so
sometimes the landscape of our memories doesn’t overlap. When I’ve met
fellow Angelenos and we realize that we’ve both been to the same
forgotten dive bar or long-gone taco truck, there’s a bond. We belong
to a dwindling club, and when the last of us shuffles off, it will be
like a point in time and place has been wiped off the map.
When I
wrote Fast Bang Booze, I wanted to impart what it felt like to be
young, barhopping, and maybe a little out of control in the early ‘90s
in LA. I just couldn’t do it all from memory, because my protagonist (a
grungy twenty-something with a fantastically souped-up nervous system)
is a fictional construct, and my tale is pure pulp. I had to do my
research, which included buying old issues of LA Weekly and re-reading
old diaries. Like Robert Lopresti, I even interviewed people. I wanted
the facts and the feel.
I drove to Salt Lake City some years ago for a job. When I unlocked the
door to my hotel room and stepped in, I was hit with the odor of
cigarettes and Glade air freshener. It struck me in a way I still
marvel at today. I would walk to my Grandmother’s house everyday from
elementary school, and that was exactly how her place smelled. I swear
for a moment I could picture all the objects in her living room, down
to the glass fish statuette with the green tint. However briefly, I
could feel the past. A piece of writing that can accomplish what Glade and cigarettes did
for me, bringing the past alive, is powerful indeed.
Some people I know only watch a movie once. Once they know how it ends they have no interest in seeing it again. Other people like to watch movies over and over. I fit in the latter category. If there’s a movie I like I can watch it over and over and over. Sometimes I get new things from it. Sometimes I just enjoy the ride. This list just touches the very tip of the iceberg for me and is also heavily weighted towards classics from the 30s and 40s, with only a handful of more “recent” movies and little or nothing from the last few years, ‘cause I have to wait and see what sticks. There are more esoteric movies that I like, but this is a list of movies that I like to watch over and over and can pretty much do so from any point in the picture. So, here’s some movies I’ve seen multiple times: Sui Genris:
Casablanca – my favorite movie, bar none. What more can I say, except, I’m shocked. Shocked. Film Noir: I don’t have the time or space to put them all in here, but almost all classic film noirs would be on this list.
Double Indemnity – The ultimate film noir imho. Covers all the bases.
—Walter Neff: How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?
—Walter Neff: Suddenly it came over me that everything would go wrong. It sounds crazy, Keyes, but it’s true, so help me. I couldn’t hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man.
Big Heat, The
Big Sleep, The
Blue Dahlia, The
Born to Kill – One of my favorites and has one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. It’s not said by either of the main characters, but by Walter Slezak, a sleazy private eye:
—Delivery Boy: My, that coffee smells good. Ain’t it funny how coffee never tastes as good as it smells.
—Arnett (Slezak): As you grow older, you’ll discover that life is very much like coffee: the aroma is always better than the actuality. May that be your thought for the day.
Criss Cross
D.O.A. (original) – The ultimate high-concept flick…for my money
Dark Corner, The – Bradford Galt: There goes my last lead. I feel all dead inside. I’m backed up in a dark corner, and I don’t know who’s hitting me.
Dead Reckoning
Detour – Al Roberts: That’s life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.
Fear in the Night
His Kind of Woman
In a Lonely Place – Tied for my second fave movie in any genre (with Ghost World, yes, I love Ghost World):
—Dixon Steele: I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.
Kiss Me, Deadly – Much better than the book
Lady from Shanghai, The – Mirrors, what else can I say but mirrors?
Maltese Falcon, The – The schtuff dreams are made of.
Murder, My Sweet
Narrow Margin, The
Nightmare Alley
Out of the Past
Postman Always Rings Twice, The (original)
Scarlet Street
Somewhere in the Night
To Have and Have Not (which may or may not technically be noir)
Touch of Evil
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Woman in the Window, The
Thrillers and Neo Noir
Clockwork Orange, A
Devil in a Blue Dress
Die Hard
Final Analysis – Doesn’t get a great rating on IMDB, but I like it.
Fracture – So clever, so good.
Kill Me Again
Last Seduction, The
Malice
Pacific Heights – Creepy.
Pelican Brief
Red Rock West
Sudden Impact – My favorite Dirty Harry movie.
Taxi Driver
Vertigo (and most Hitchcock movies)
Quirky (for lack of a better term)
And Now My Love (Toute Une Vie) – Though I’ve heard horrible things about the DVD version, which I have, but can’t bring myself to watch,
Art School Confidential
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Ghost World – I can’t get enough of this movie.
Lilies of the Field
Sideways – Can’t get enough of this one either.
Soldier in the Rain – Based on the book by the late, great William Goldman.
Tender Mercies
Newer Classics
Chinatown
Godfather Movies – All 3, the third one’s not as bad as it seems initially and if someone besides Sofia Coppola had played that part it would “read” much better.
LA Confidential
Holiday Movies
Christmas Story, A
Miracle on 34th Street
Shop Around the Corner
(since I’m posting on Christmas Day, more holiday movies then)
Where Does This Fit?
Born Losers (John Floyd) – The movie that introduced Billy Jack, before he got too preachy. This one’s just a biker movie. How Billy got his start. When I was younger, I loved going to all the biker movies. That’s how I got introduced to Jack Nicholson before his breakout role in Easy Rider
Screwball/Classic Comedy
Awful Truth, The
Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, The
Bringing Up Baby
His Girl Friday – Classic and hilarious
Holiday
Libeled Lady – This and Love Crazy below, both with William Powell and Myrna Loy are terrific.
Love Crazy
Monkey Business (Marx Brothers)
My Favorite Wife
My Man Godfrey
Philadelphia Story, The
Sullivan’s Travels
Thin Man series
To Be or Not to Be (original) – Proves you can laugh at Nazis, even at the time they were in power.
—Colonel Ehrhardt: They named a brandy after Napoleon, they made a herring out of Bismarck, and the Fuhrer is going to end up as a piece of cheese!
Westerns
Monte Walsh (both versions)
Shootist, The – I put The Shootist out of alphabetical order because I see it as a pair with Monte Walsh, both about people who’ve outlived their time, a theme I like to explore in my own writing.
El Dorado
Shane – If I had to show one western to a Martian to show them what the genre is it would be this.
Science Fiction/Horror – Not a big science fiction or horror guy these days. Liked them more as a kid.
Dracula (Lugosi)
Forbidden Planet
Haunting, The (original)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original)
The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Help! – Help me if you can I’m feeling down…
Let It Be
Newer Comedy
After Hours
Can’t Buy Me Love – Even though it’s named after a Beatles song, which is played at the end, it’s got nothing to do with the Beatles, but it’s still fun.
In-Laws, The (original)
Manhattan
My Cousin Vinnie – One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen and no matter how many times I watch it I always laugh
Reuben Reuben – A treasure!
Sting, The
Musicals/Music:
Ramones: It’s Alive – Okay, maybe it’s not a musical per se, but it is music and ya gotta love The Ramones: “One, two, three, four…”
Singin’ in the Rain
Wizard of Oz, The
***
I could go on forever, but I gotta stop at some point. So:
What about you? What movies do you like to watch over and over again?
~.~.~
And now for the usual BSP:
I'm thrilled by the great reviews that Broken Windows has been receiving. Here’s a small sampling:
Kristin Centorcelli, Criminal Element: "Although it’s set in 1994, it’s eerie how timely this story is. There’s an undeniable feeling of unease that threads through the narrative, which virtually oozes with the grit, glitz, and attitude of L.A. in the ‘90s. I’m an ecstatic new fan of Duke’s."
"Duke and company practically beg for their own TV show."
John Dwaine McKenna, Mysterious Book Report: "This electrifying novel will jolt your sensibilities, stir your conscience and give every reader plenty of ammunition for the next mixed group where the I [immigration] -word is spoken!"
***
I’m also honored and thrilled – more than I can say – that my story Windward appears in The Best American Mystery Stories of 2018, edited by Louise Penny and Otto Penzler. I wrote a blog on that on SleuthSayers if you want to check it out: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/10/the-impossible-dream.html .
I’m doubly thrilled to say that Windward won the Macavity Award at Bouchercon a few weeks ago. Wow! And thank you to everyone who voted for it.
I cannot tell a lie, this piece has been published before in a couple of different places. Nonetheless, it has a lot of personal meaning for me, as well the larger societal context. My novel White Heat was partly inspired by the Rodney King riots and both that and the Watts Riots have helped to shape L.A. as it is today.
* * *
When people think of Watts they think of the Watts Towers—and the Watts Riots of August, 1965. That year, while the Beatles sang about Yesterday, another chant went up in South Central Los Angeles.
* * *
1965: "Burn, baby, burn!" is the anthem that many remember the Watts Riots by. It is the chant shouted by people as the city burns. The spark that sets off the riots is a black man being stopped for a traffic ticket. Long-simmering frustration boils over and the city ignites. Thirty-four people are killed, a thousand-plus are wounded and almost four thousand arrested. Tensions in Los Angeles are as high as the smoke rising from the smoldering city streets.
Los Angeles is burning.
* * *
1991: Another motorist is stopped for speeding and evading the police. His beatdown is caught on video:
1992: The cops accused of beating Rodney King are acquitted. People pour into the streets. Looting.
Assault. Arson. Murder. Fifty-three dead. Twenty-three hundred injured and sixteen-hundred buildings damaged or destroyed.
Los Angeles is burning.
* * *
I was in Los Angeles in both ’65 and ’92. I remember the smoke, the fear permeating every quarter of the city.
During the Watts Riots, we were lucky to be able to watch it on TV and not be in the middle of it. My then-girlfriend's cousin was a National Guardsman assigned to patrol Watts during the riots and what he saw was so horrible he would never talk about it.
But I have a different memory of Watts. It isn't of the riots, but occurred during another hot summer, not long after.
I met a boy named Walter in class. Unlike everyone else in the class and just about everyone in the school, he was black. And he wasn't a local, but was on some kind of student exchange program from Jordan High in Watts.
I'm sure we were as much a curiosity to him as he was to us. After all, we were the privileged white kids and he was the angry young black man. Only he didn't seem angry. He seemed like just another nice guy with glasses. He invited a group of us to come down and see where he lived: Watts. A word that sent shivers down a lot of Angelinos' spines in those days.
We were a little apprehensive about going down there, especially as Walter had told us to come in the crappiest cars we had. No shiny new cars. There were six or eight teenaged boys and girls in our little caravan of two crappy cars. But crappy in our neighborhood meant something different than it did in Walter's.
Our caravan weaved its way through the Los Angeles streets until we were just about the only white faces to be seen. We finally came to Will Rogers Park (known today as Ted Watkins Park). Mind you, this is not the Will Rogers Park on Sunset where the polo ponies play on Sundays. This park is in the heart of South Central and I can say that all of our hearts were beating faster than normal.
Watts Riots - 1965
We parked nearby and walked as a unit to the park, as if we were a military outfit. People looked at us—we didn't look at them. But maybe because we looked like hippies and we were young nobody bothered us.
We met Walter in Will Rogers Park in South Central Los Angeles and sat under a shady tree, a bunch
of white kids and one black guy. We sat, just rapping—in the vernacular of the time—talking about music and houses and politics. We stood out like the proverbial sore thumb and people started coming over. Big dudes, little dudes. Cool dudes. Girls. No one seemed to resent our being there. In fact, they seemed glad to have us. Glad to be able to share with us and have us share with them. There was no sense of rancor or resentment. Just curiosity—a curiosity that went both ways. This was a time when people wanted to come together, not be separated. None of them knew Walter and they certainly didn't know us. But they joined our group and we rapped on.
After a while we got up and played a game of pickup basketball—try doing that in a pair of cowboy boots.
Then Walter said, "You want to see where I live?"
Jordan Downs Housing Project
Of course we did. So he took us to the projects—Jordan Downs. We drove past burned out buildings and vacant lots that not so long ago had had buildings on them. And we saw how the other half lived.
"It's not the best place in the world to live," Walter said. "But it could be a whole lot worse."
Watts Towers
Our last stop was a trip to the Watts Towers, those soaring spires of glass, steel and concrete built by Simon Rodia. They are a monument to what anyone can do if they put their mind to it.
We finally returned to our cars and, to our relief, they hadn't been stolen. And, corny as it might sound, I think we all learned that we're more alike than different, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears.
That day was one of the most memorable experiences of my life—one that I wouldn't trade for anything. It was a wonderful day and we all went home full of hope for the future. We just wanted to get to know each other. Ultimately I think Rodney King had it right when he said, "Can we all get along?"
From the truth in advertising department: I did this piece a few years ago at a different blog. I think it’s worth repeating. But the main reason I’m doing that is because I’m having major computer issues and it’s hard to work on my computer. I hope we have these issues worked out over the next few days. Believe me, I’m ready to CENSORED.
And I want to say that I hope everyone had a good Veterans Day and that we actually stopped to remember what it was for.
So, how do I react to negative reviews?
I call up my friends in the Mossad and tell them to seek out and destroy all negative reviewers in the shank of a dark and stormy night. Oh wait, no, that’s what a producer said he was going to do to me when we got in an argument about a script.
Take 2:
Some people say never to read reviews and that’s probably good advice, and probably what one should do. But it’s hard not to. Why? Because, I’m sure, we all want to have our egos stroked. And we’re looking for the positive reinforcement that says we haven’t wasted our lives working on something that nobody likes. So our expectation—our hope—is to get good reviews for that and other reasons. When we don’t our egos are shattered. And those who say it doesn’t affect them, well, let’s just say I think they’re most likely doing that stiff upper lip thing.
I’ve been gratified by most reviews, whether by professional reviewers or consumers on Amazon and the like. But every once in a while...
Even big stars like to check their reviews. I was on the Warner Brothers lot (though it may have been called The Burbank Studios at the time, now it’s back to Warner Brothers [long story]) one day and saw Bill Murray leaning against a car reading a review of his version of “The Razor’s Edge” (1984) that had just come out (and based on my tied for favorite book along with The Count of Monte Cristo). It wasn’t getting rave reviews to say the least, but as I say above, we all want to be validated and maybe also get some constructive criticism as to what went wrong. And I remember thinking even Bill Murray, with all his popularity from “Ghostbusters,” etc. still must feel the sting of a bad review like everyone else.
Hell, even Bob Dylan doesn’t like the sting of being booed, as when he first went electric and rock from strictly acoustic folk music. Check out this YouTube clip. It’s less than a minute long:
So let’s focus on Amazon reviews because they’re there, for good or ill. I don’t like reading negative reviews, but how I react depends on the review. Not everybody can like everything. I get that. Of course, one is tempted to remind some reviewers what their mommies told them, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But that isn’t the real world, is it? So for me, it depends on what the reviewer says. Does it seem like they actually read the book? Do they have an axe to grind? Are they offering constructive comments about what worked or didn’t for them or are they just off on some kind of tangent? Did they get what I was trying to say and, if not, is that my fault or theirs?
I got a couple of one star reviews for my short story collection “LA Late @ Night”. And they did piss me off. I had gotten some lukewarm reviews on “White Heat” and lived with them. But these two reviews for “LA Late @ Night” just didn’t make sense to me. These two reviewers, who seemed cut from the same cloth (literally), both hated the book and the stories in it. But their comments made little sense.
One said: “Uninteresting, choppy writing. No plots. I wouldn't waste my time reading this series of books as they are rambling writings.”
Where do I start? With the fact that it’s not a series. Uninteresting, well, that’s your opinion. Choppy, well that’s my style on some things. But each story had previously been published in a magazine or anthology, so somebody found them interesting. No plots, see previous response. Bottom line, I wonder if they even knew what book they were reviewing—But Wait: There’s More. The Kicker is yet to come. But First:
The other crappy review:
“Not that great of stories and the writing is stilted...I didn't even finish them all!”
Oh, where to begin: How ’bout them criticizing my writing as being stilted when their sentence is grammatically incorrect? So maybe someone who doesn’t know proper grammar criticizing my grammar is actually a compliment.
Okay, here it comes. Hold your breath. The Kicker:
Being a glutton for punishment, I of course had to check each person’s profile to see why they hated my book so much. What I saw were reviews for muffin pans, muck boots, kitchen gadgets, children’s books, religious/inspirational books and very few mystery books, and no noir or hardboiled books. So I wondered why they even bought my book…if they really did? Judging from their other reviews I could have told them they wouldn’t like it and would have saved them the time, aggravation and money.
It made no sense to me why they would even read a book like mine. So I had to assume there was an agenda going on. I called this to Amazon’s attention, asking them to remove these reviews, which they wouldn’t. I still think there was some kind of agenda happening here, though I couldn’t say exactly what the motivation is and these are the kind of reviews, totally baseless, that really piss me off. And I know authors are not supposed to say that, we’re not supposed have emotions or respond, but hey, we do.
And here are some other One Star Amazon reviews for your entertainment pleasure, only the names have been removed to protect the guilty.
Reviews from Amazon – yellow highlights and purple comments have been added by me.
Reviews of The Big Sleep:
One Star, boring
By XXX/Reviewer’s Name Removed
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
"The book is a big sleep." (Paul’s comment: Well, some of us who liked this book must just be insomniacs.)
One Star
By XXX/Reviewer’s Name Removed
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
"Dated."
Reviews of Crime and Punishment:
One Star
By Amazon Customer
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
"Very slow & plodding." (Paul’s comment: That damn Raskolnikov, why didn’t he just get it over and confess? On “Law & Order” Briscoe and Curtis would have had him spilling all in 2 minutes flat.)
Too long
By XXX/Reviewer’s Name Removed
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
"Long and pretty boring I don't like the old timely language they use in this book I know it's translated from German or Russian maybe but I was bored to tears and there was never any payoff really just goes on and on."
Reviews of 1984:
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful I love a good dystopian but this was just such a ...
By XXX/Reviewer’s Name Removed
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
"I have always heard about 1984 being the father of all dystopian novels... I love a good dystopian but this was just such a hard book to read because in the entire story, there is no room for hope." (Paul’s comment: Maybe Katniss from “Hunger Games” should show up and rescue Winston and Julia from O’Brien.)
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful ...must be a book only an English teacher would like. I classify this a worse than "Catcher and ...
By XXX/Reviewer’s Name Removed
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
"This must be a book only an English teacher would like. I classify this a worse than 'Catcher and the Rye'" (Paul’s comment: Is that a new book, Catcher and the Rye, or is that something you get at Canter’s Deli (or Katniss’ Deli) – or maybe Canter’s and the Rye, or maybe Ham on Rye – h/t Chinaski.)
~.~.~.
Damn! I’m hungry now.
So, overall, you have to take both the good and the bad with a grain of seasoned salt, a quesadilla and some damn good and spicy hot sauce.
***
And now for the usual BSP:
I’m honored and thrilled – more than I can say – that my story Windward appears in The Best American Mystery Stories of 2018, edited by Louise Penny and Otto Penzler, which just came out this week. I wrote a blog on that on SleuthSayers if you want to check it out: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/10/the-impossible-dream.html .
I’m doubly thrilled to say that Windward won the Macavity Award at Bouchercon a few weeks ago. Wow! And thank you to everyone who voted for it.
And I’m even more thrilled by the great reviews that Broken Windows has been receiving. Here’s a small sampling:
Kristin Centorcelli, Criminal Element: "Although it’s set in 1994, it’s eerie how timely this story is. There’s an undeniable feeling of unease that threads through the narrative, which virtually oozes with the grit, glitz, and attitude of L.A. in the ‘90s. I’m an ecstatic new fan of Duke’s."
"Duke and company practically beg for their own TV show."
John Dwaine McKenna, Mysterious Book Report: "This electrifying novel will jolt your sensibilities, stir your conscience and give every reader plenty of ammunition for the next mixed group where the I [immigration] -word is spoken!"
I have several speaking gigs of one type or another coming up. And I’m looking forward to them. That said, it’s said that one of the greatest fears Americans have is speaking in public. I don’t really get nervous or uptight about speaking. But if I have to read a selection from my works then the palpitations begin. I don’t know why reading causes me so much anxiety, when just speaking doesn’t. I could speak to a group of 500 people and not be nervous, but if I read to a group of ten I would be. You’d think it would be just the opposite since when you’re reading you don’t have to come with answers on the fly. As the saying goes, go figure.
Newhall Library panel: Ellison Cooper, Carlene O'Neill (moderator, standing),
Patty Smiley, Connie di Marco, Paul D. Marks, Paddy Hirsch
I recently did a well-attended panel at the Old Town Newhall Library, that even included a dinner, with a moderator and four author-panelists. The moderator kept things moving, asking questions and everyone on the panel was fun and interesting and didn’t hog time, which sometimes happens. I sold more books than I usually do at these types of things. I was also recently on two panels at Bouchercon. I always feel lucky to get on panels at conventions since everyone is vying for those spots.
Coming up are several different kinds of gigs: One is another library event at the Studio City Library, a trivia night (https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/trivia-night-mystery-lovers-0) where a group of eight authors rotate tables with library patrons and try to answer trivia questions. I did this event last year and it was a lot of fun. Then another library event at the Agua Dulce Library (https://www.friendsacton-aguadulcelibrary.org/ )where I’ll be with one other writer, Connie di Marco. And instead of each of us just getting up and talking about ourselves, giving our this is the “wonder of me” speeches, we’ve decided to talk about each other, ask each other questions, and liven it up a little.
After that is Men of Mystery (https://www.menofmystery.org/ ), which is as their brochure proclaims, “the grandest gathering of gentlemen in the genre,” and which usually gets a huge crowd. Everyone has to stand up and tell a little about themselves. Last time I told about the time I pulled a gun on the LAPD and lived to tell about it. Afterwards a couple of law enforcement officers came up to talk to me about that... I wonder what I can do to top that?
Next up is The Palos Verdes Woman’s Club (http://pvwomansclub.org/home/fundraising-and-events/), which usually gets a few hundred people. I’ll be one of five authors there. I’ll have to speak about myself a little, which is always awkward. Fun, but awk.
And rounding out this bunch of events is a speaking gig at the Southern California Writers Association (http://ocwriter.com/). I’ll be talking about incorporating screenwriting techniques into the writing of short stories and novels.
I’ve also done a bunch of radio interviews lately to help promote the release of Broken Windows. It’s always fun doing these, whether in-studio or on the phone.
Each event is a little different, so the question is, how do I prepare for these events? For some, there really is no preparing, you just have to wing it. But sometimes, since I tend to even forget the names of my characters, I might give a quick glance to some cheat sheets I’ve made up over the years. It’s always embarrassing when someone asks you a question about this or that character or story and you have that deer in the headlights look, trying to figure out who the hell that is and what story they were in—and what it was about. For events where I’m actually giving a talk, I prepare notes on the subject of the talk. I can wing much of it, of course, but it always helps to have a plan and something to help keep you on track.
I always enjoy these events and it’s part of being a writer. A good part in that you get to interact with readers instead of hiding away in our writing caves. And I’m looking forward to all of these upcoming events. Hope to see some of you there.
What are your thoughts on preparing for events?
~.~.~
And now for the usual BSP:
I’m honored and thrilled – more than I can say – that my story Windward appears in The Best American Mystery Stories of 2018, edited by Louise Penny and Otto Penzler, which just came out this week. I wrote a blog on that on SleuthSayers if you want to check it out: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/10/the-impossible-dream.html .
I’m doubly thrilled to say that Windward won the Macavity Award at Bouchercon a few weeks ago. Wow! And thank you to everyone who voted for it.
And I’m even more thrilled by the great reviews that Broken Windows has been receiving. Here’s a small sampling:
"Although it’s set in 1994, it’s eerie how timely this story is. There’s an undeniable feeling of unease that threads through the narrative, which virtually oozes with the grit, glitz, and attitude of L.A. in the ‘90s. I’m an ecstatic new fan of Duke’s."
"Duke and company practically beg for their own TV show."
"This electrifying novel will jolt your sensibilities, stir your conscience and give every reader plenty of ammunition for the next mixed group where the I [immigration] -word is spoken!"
