Gumshoe/ B-Girl Day

Once upon a time I called it Hard-boiled Guy/B-Girl Day.

Since I put it together, I decided Gumshoe worked better.

Celebrate the cinematic release of the noir classic, The Maltese Falcon.

October 18.

Have a party! Dress and speak the part! Take pictures!

Another Year Another Celebration

Another Year- Another Party

It's time again for Hard Boiled Guy/ B-Girl Day!

October 18 is the day to break out your trench coat and Fedoras, put on your gumshoes, and mingle with this B-Girls. In celebration of the release of the noir cinematic classic The Maltese Falcon, throw a party and talk the talk.

Everyone knows the hard boiled guy. So who is the B-Girl? She could be the femme fatale, She could have a heart of gold. The B-Girl was employed by bars and speakeasies to get hard boiled guys to buy them drinks. It is believed the B in B-Girl stood for Bar Girl.  The best example of a B-Girl is Joan Miller in the Burt Lancaster noir classic CRISS-CROSS.

Joan Miller as the Lush

Percy Helton behind the bar

Burt Lancaster in the door

Send pictures of your parties!

Here's an excellent site for pulp novel slang:
Twists, Slugs, and Roscoes

Hardboiled Guy/BGirl Day

The night was cold but the company warm. Fifth year of celebrating the 1941 release of The Maltese Falcon.

Hard Boiled Guy/ B-Girl Day

It's almost here, see?
A day to talk like the Gildas and Gum Shoes  of the golden age of pulp.
Hard Boiled Guy/ B-Girl Day is October 18, a day to celebrate the golden age of pulp on the 73rd anniversary of the cinematic release of The Maltese Falcon.
So throw a party for the swell of it!

Here's a great link for slang to toss around:

https://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html

Diminutive Musings: THE FEVER

BOOK REVIEW:

A couple of weeks ago I attended a book party at a local Barnes and Noble. It was for the release of Megan Abbott's latest tale of teenage girls gone bad. THE FEVER is based on real life events from a small community in upstate New York. In January of 2012, twelve girls started exhibiting mysterious symptoms of tics and outbursts. Abbott uses this as a back drop for a noirish tale of revenge and battered ego in a small knit group of high school friends. She explained at the reading/talk back that she'd always been fascinated by the Salem witch trials and was trying to find a new way of telling a familiar and similar story. She succeeds. I found the dialogue incredibly real and compelling. Abbott's characters have always popped off the page to the point I feel like someone in the room listening in. The  scene of panicked parents and school officials with a hidden agenda is so real it reminded me of similar meetings I've experienced in my twenty-five years as an educator and a parent. I wanted to run but was compelled to stay. Five out of five.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Drag Noir has hit a bit of a snag. Still hoping for a late summer release of the anthology. 

DRABBLES:

Some quick reads are up over a t Flash Jab.  Click here to read: FLASH JAB

CHANNEL WRITES: Thoughts of TV Crime Shows

TRUE DETECTIVE: (HBO) All eight episodes have already aired. It's dark. Really dark. But Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are great in their roles in the 'partners with baggage' trope.

LUTHER: (BBCAmerica) Idris Elba as a dirty cop with a heart of fool's gold. First season is longer and riveting. Second season builds off of it well. Available on Netflix.

THORNE MYSTERIES: (BBC America On Demand Comcast) You know him as the Governor. I remember him as The Next Doctor. But in between Dr. Who and The Walking Dead he played troubled Inspector Thom Thorne. There were two short seasons: Scaredycat and Sleepyhead. Sleepyhead is the better of the two. Aiden Gillen, aka Littlefinger on GAME of THRONES, is complicit in many of the questionable decisions Thorne makes. GIllen plays the CSI. 

These are my suggestions for binge watching.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: The February Drabbles are up! Give them a read: Flash Jab Fiction  

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER II: The Serpent Beneath the Flower has been nominated for a Derringer Short Fiction Award in the Novelette category. It was the third part of a trilogy in the Harry Landers PI series. You can check it out here: Nominee

Micro Interview: Gina DiPeppe

Gina DiPeppe

Discovery Investigation has become one of my favorite 'go-to' channels when I'm stuck between writer's block and ennui. In late winter of 2013, DI premiered a half hour, reality based, re-enactment program called Deadly Sins. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview actress Gina DiPeppe who appeared in the episode, Small Town Massacre. 

HARD NOSED SLEUTH: Gina, thanks for taking the time for this interview.

GINA DiPEPPE: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

HNS: Shows like Deadly Sins remind me of what I consider the granddaddy of all reality re-enactment shows: Unsolved Mysteries. Deadly Sins seems to have taken it a step further. Your scenes are particularly brutal to watch. Talk a little about how you prepared for your scene. Was there any research into the person's life? Did you have discussions with the director or the actor who played the killer?

GD: The show's process is very quick so there aren't any rehearsals or anything like that. You get a basic story line and character profile and I did research the actual story and my character. Before each scene the director walked us through what they were looking for and let us run with it-- they prefer the natural reaction aspect so we just did what came natural at the time. It works really well for this type of shoot.

HNS: There's no doubt crime dramas and shows command large audiences. What's your favorite that you would most like to appear on some day?

GD: I think all I watch is crime drama-- lol!!! Working on Deadly Sins was a great experience. I hope I can work on the show again. Criminal Minds and Law and Order SVU are my favorite shows. I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to appear on either and I hope I have the opportunity.

HNS: I usually ask this of writers, but I'll mix it up for you. When did you know you wanted to act?

GD: Wow, I can't remember a time that I didn't want to act. I'd put on little dinner time shows for my family ever since I can remember. I was about three or four when my dad taught me the song, 'Me and My Shadow' and we made up this dance number and performed it at dinner for my mom and grandmother. I loved it and never wanted it to stop!

HNS: Thanks again for the interview!

Gina DiPeppe's current bio can be found on IMDB.com 

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: The first installment in a possible YA series has been released by Untreed Reads. Running Red tells the story of a teenage girl on her own after a fungus known for creating zombie ants makes the jumps to humans. As humanity collapses, Robin Willette sets out to find her sister and niece. Along the way she confronts a changing world. Currently, it is 30% off at the Untreed Reads store. 

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION FAR CORNER: Yellow Mama is running my supernatural western, Cavendish Returns. Go give it a read: IT'S FREE! Click here. 

Oz Choreographer Leslie Kay

The following Microview is more for the readers and writers of steampunk and horror but I'm sure the crime writers among us will enjoy the interview as well. It probably came as no surprise that Oz the Great and Powerful had a smash opening and has been enjoying a successful run at the box office. Big name stars, a familiar story, and incredible production values. This month, choreographer Leslie Kay agreed to take part in a micro interview.

HARD-NOSED SLEUTH: You were tasked with creating a cinematic moment with one of the most iconic groups to ever appear in a movie. Talk a little about creating a new chapter in Munchkin lore.

LESLIE KAY: When I was first asked to recreate one of the most iconic scenes in movie history, The Munchkin Dance, by director Sam Raimi, I was a bit overwhelmed. We began with a few dance routines that Sam didn't think were big enough. I thought to myself, "How do you make little people big!?" It was then I decided to bring on the stunt crew and make it a stunt wire, acrobatic, high flying routine!

HNS: Writers sweat and struggle mentally putting words together to create story. Did you look at using choreography as a way to add to the story or were you more concerned with mood and characterization?

LK:  Movie choreography is very different from dance choreography, what I'm typically used to. The definition of choreography in Oz included not only dancing but blocking, marching and staging. There is a lot that can be told through body language and blocking. It definitely helps to convey the "feel" of a scene and helps to tell the story.

HNS:  Last question. I usually conclude by asking people when they knew they wanted to be writers. What was the moment for you about dance?

LK: I'm often asked at what age I decided to be a choreographer. Most dancers start off very young and grow into the instruction/choreography side of things in adulthood. I can honestly say, as much as I love to perform, I've always enjoyed creating the piece and leading the classroom. I recently found a school project from Kindergarden asking "What do you want to be when you grow up?" At age 5, I said choreographer. I didn't spell the word right but I knew that was what I wanted to do! Dreams can come true, if you have a goal and stick to it!

THANKS!!!!!

HNS: Thank you, Leslie!

Lesley Kay has been teaching dance for over 20 years. She is the Head Choreographer on Walt Disney Picture’s “Oz The Great and Powerful” out next Spring. Lesley is the director of The Detroit Dolls, former member of the Detroit Lion’s On Field Promotions Team and currently choreographs their nationally televised Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show. She specializes in Large Productions, Hip Hop, Jazz Technique and Musical Theatre. A former member of the Detroit Piston’s Dance Team, instructor at the prestigious Juliana’s Academy of Dance and has choreographed commercials in L.A. and Las Vegas for Little Caesars. She is currently on staff at Oakland University and teaches all over the Metro Detroit area. Her performance credits include Jay Sean, Gladys Knight, Enrique Iglasis, Jon Bon Jovi and Boyz II Men. Many of her student’s achievements include; So You Think You Can Dance/Top 3, Miss America Talent Award, NBA, NFL, Nutcracker Detroit Opera House, Julliard School NYC and The Virginia School of Arts.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Untreed Reads has released my YA, dystopian horror, novel Running Red.  You can check it out by clicking on the title. Right now it is on sale! 30% off!

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER II: Mysterical-e is running my short story, The Mayor and the Murder.  This one is free!

CHANNEL WRITES: RIPPER STREET

RIPPER STREET Saturdays 9 pm on BBCAM 

This is everything I wanted COPPER to be. Something about that series always seemed to be just a bit off. I liked the setting, the time period, the idea. It should have meshed but it never really did for me.

Then along came RIPPER STREET. Equally as dark, essentially the same archetypes but now something is clicking. The stories are semi episodic with just enough of a thread tying subplots together to help flesh out the characters.

Matthew Macfayden leads the cast as D.I. Edward Reid. Without giving any spoilers, his back story revolves around his inability to capture the Ripper. He is tormented by an estranged wife and the loss of his young daughter. I first saw Macfayden in the original Death at a Funeral where is his droll, stoic characterization of Daniel proved his comedic chops. Then I saw him in a miniseries called Any Human Heart where his dramatic side overtook the series from Jim Broadbent interpretation of the same character. This talent has carried him through grueling scripts this season as he’s tackled copycats, socialists, and murderous characters.

Jerome Flynn plays his troubled partner Sgt. Drake struggling to stay loyal to the force and his superior. Flynn does double duty of Game of Thrones as Bronn. Where Bronn is cool in his battles, Drake is a brute. Most often he is used to ‘interrogate’ suspects. Well, Reid asks the questions while Drake uses his fists to get the answers. But there’s more to Drake then brawn.

The final figure in this trio is rogue Pinkerton agent and early coroner Captain Homer Jackson, an expatriate from America. He and the Madame he bunks with have a history that has driven from one country into the other. Adam Rotheberg plays the wily and mysterious Jackson. A quick look at IMDB.com shows he’s had character roles in a large array of dramas since 1999. He seems to have found a niche as Jackson.

Bottom line: The stories are goo, the acting is solid, and the production values are high. Give it a watch if you haven’t. BBCAM tends to give its shows a short shelf life. It cancelled The Hour after only two seasons. I haven’t seen any mention of The Fades this year. And where the heck is Dr. Who???????

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Yellow Mama will publish my western short, Cavendish Rides next month. King’s River Life will run my soft boiled short, At the Rainbow’s End next week for St. Patrick’s Day. Finally, eFiction Horror will post The Water Tower, a steampunk horror tale of two boys and what they find in a water tower. 

Micro Interview: Gerald So

I’m starting the New Year with a return of the Micro Interview. This month I’m featuring writer Gerald So.  Gerald is editor of The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly and vice president of The Short Mystery Fiction Society. From 2001 to 2009, he edited the original fiction section of Kevin Burton Smith's Thrilling Detective Web Site.

HARD NOSED SLEUTH:  Talk a bit about the 5-2 and why you decided to operate it.

 GERALD SO: The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly website grew out of The Lineup: Poems on Crime series of annual chapbooks I co-edited with Patrick Shawn Bagley, Reed Farrel Coleman, Sarah Cortez, Richie Narvaez, and Anthony Rainone. When The Lineup succumbed to high printing costs in 2011, I decided I still wanted to publish crime poetry, and developed a format that would eliminate these costs and take advantage of the Web's capacity for audio and video to keep poetry on people's minds year-round.

 HS:  You've been active in the Short Mystery Fiction Society and its Derringer Awards for a while. What do you see as the benefits of organizations like this?

 GS: There are so many worthy causes out there that need groups like the SMFS to keep them in the public eye. As someone who loves short mystery fiction as a form, I'm glad to turn more people on to it. I feel I have to do my part to see that it receives as much recognition as possible.

 HS: I ask this of everyone I interview: When did you know you were a writer?

 GS: I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was 13, and my school library published a classmate's book. Somehow, that gave me an urge to write that I knew wouldn't subside.

 Thanks for the opportunity.

 HS: My pleasure! Thanks for your time!

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Mind Wings Audio Books has released the third installment in my northern/western series about the frontier town of Sorrow, Michigan. Justice Comes to Sorrow is a dark ride into the pit of mans soul. Check it out at Mind Wings Audio. 

CHANNEL WRITES: Elementary

Been a while, I know. Day job, line edits, audio tracks, and I've been hanging with some steampunkers. Of course, none of this has stopped me from checking out the latest in fall television.

CBS has opened the doors for yet another updated version of Conan-Doyle's hero. The procedural aspect of it is pretty standard, although it feels like Aidan Quinn has finally found a niche for his hardened NYC detective in Captain Gregson. I don't see much difference from Lieutenant Kevin Sweeney in last year’s short lived NBC offering of a Prime Suspect remake. And the return of Jon Michael Hill, formerly of ABC’s DETROIT 187, is a plus.

The real chemistry of Elementary is between John Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. Here the update of the Holmes and Watson characters develop a new, fresh layer in the canon of Holmesian knock-offs. It allows Watson to go from making casual observations about Holmes as Conan-Doyles’ pair did to allowing an insightful exploration of the centerpiece character, but maybe not as much as Martin Freeman’s Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes in the excellent BBC Sherlock.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Signed the contracts today on my first picture book. It’s got a holiday theme and this is November so I imagine the rlease date will be about ten months from now.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER ACROSS THE PAGE: Trouble Comes to Sorrow, the second in the three part series of northern  Michigan sheriff Cal Haskell has been released. You can listen to a snippet of it here: Mind Wings

Copper

It’s been a busy few weeks even though it hasn't seemed like it. Pennant Fever is sweeping through Detroit right now as the Tigers continue their way to a World Series appearance. Next up are the New York Yankees. I’m just hoping it’s a Detroit-San Fran series. Nothing ageist the Cardinals because those guys make up a hell of a team. It’s just that Detroit has faced St. Louis nine times already in post season play. The last time was in 2006 and the Cards went up 5-4 in World Series wins over the Tigers.

 But enough about baseball.

 For now.

 I wanted to like BBC America’s Copper. Just like I did with Brussel sprouts, I gave it three chances. It had everything going for it: period drama, gritty characters, corrupt police force. You couldn't help but think of Gangs of New York, especially since it made so many references to the Five Points in early New York. It was supposed to be a game changer.

 But it wasn't.

 I don’t know where the disconnection occurred for me. I’d be interested in knowing if any of you gave it a try and what you thought.

 BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Untreed Reads will release my dystopian, YA novel Running Red sometime in early 2013. A young woman searches for her missing family while fending off the end of civilization and mutating zombies. 

New Story Up @ Flash Jab

Way back in June, I posted a challenge to the members of an online writing group of which I am a member. I'd watched a series of noir films on TMC and was taking notice of the great performances put in my the ancillary character actors. The idea occurred to me to take one of these background plot-advancers and move him or her to the front.

So I created Mildred Morning, a sixty-something spinster with a somewhat nefarious past. I tried to keep her as simple as possible so anyone who wanted to contribute could add to Miss Morning's development. The basic idea was Miss Marple meets Sam Spade.

Fellow collaborator Kaye George took a stab at it. Below is her contribution. Give it a read. I think you'll enjoy! Here's the link: http://flashjab.blogspot.com/

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: The Lily Dair three parts series is complete and available at smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=jack+bates). These are a new breed of electronic entertainment from Grit City Publications. Graphic artists are used to create computer imagery that enhances the mood of the story. For a better explanation, check out Grit City Books (http://gritcitypublications.com/Grit_City_Publications/GCPHome.html).

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER TWO: The latest story in the life of Detroit's slacker PI Harry Landers has been released by Mind Wings Audio. MEATBALLS and MURDER puts Harry in the middle of a deadly restaurant feud in Detroit's Little Italy, which is a fictional location. Don't try to visit it.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: About four years ago I started pushing Hard Boiled Guy/ B-Girl Day where everyone dresses like a noir movie character and talks in slang. I figured if it could be done for pirates, it could be done for pulp characters. Here's a website for slang: http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html. The date to celebrate is October 18.

Finally, I apologize for not responding quicker to your responses. I've been trying to send these emails about once a month and that's about how often I check this email. If you ever have a story you'd like considered for Flash Jab, shoot it to me at jacktheauthor@gmail.com. I prefer something in the 500-750 range. Thanks!

On Dangerous Ground

I like to stink myself up.

So says the platinum blonde getting the third degree from Robert Ryan. On Dangerous Ground premiered in 1951. It's as gritty and pulpy as some of the great hard boiled features of an era of tough talk and over the top acting. Over the top by today's standards.

Robert Ryan plays detective Jimmy Wilson, a cop with anger issues. When a two bit thug challenges him in a very submissive way, Wilson smacks the crap out him. The beating is apparently so bad, the con goes into the police station with a jacket over his face. Later, Wilson is confronted with a civil suit for rupturing the guy's bladder. Wilson's chief gives him a good old days speech and tells him to lighten up. Not even an hour later he's back to roughing up the bad guys.

When one of partners tells him he's out of control, Wilson gets sent to investigate a murder where he meets a blind gal played by the great Issue Lupino. Is this his last chance for redemption?

This is classic Noir. Ryan and Lupino are great together. Ed Begley and Ward Bond help round out a solid supporting cast.

4 out of 5 slugs.

MICRO INTERVIEW: Wayne Zurl

Fate of a Floozy

My guest this week is fellow Mind Wings author, Wayne Zurl.

Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.

Fourteen (14) of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been produced as audio books and simultaneously published as eBooks. Ten (10) of these novelettes are now available in print under the titles A MURDER IN KNOXVILLE and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries and REENACTING A MURDER and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries. Zurl’s first full-length novel, A NEW PROSPECT, was named best mystery at the 2011 Indie Book Awards, chosen as 1st Runner-Up from all Commercial Fiction at the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, and was nominated for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. His second novel, A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT, is available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle. HEROES & LOVERS is scheduled for release later this year.

HARD NOSED SLEUTH:  What drew you to Mind Wings?

WAYNE ZURL: Back in 2006 I finished my first novel, A NEW PROSPECT, and started querying agents. As the rejection letters trickled in, I began writing shorter pieces—novelettes—for practice. I based them on cases I investigated, supervised, or just knew a lot about from my time in the police Department. I ended up with a half-dozen stories around 10,000 words each.

I liked the finished products, so I sent one to mainstream mystery magazines like Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and Strand. I got no takers, but one acquisitions editor had the courtesy to explain the reason for my rejection.

 “We only publish one novelette a year and everybody writes them,” he said. “I got a stack on my desk. James Patterson sent one. Who do you think I’m gonna pick, him or you?”

 Enough said. I put my manuscripts back on the shelf and looked for new places to peddle them.

Then somewhere, I can’t remember where, I found Mind Wings Audio looking for stories between 7,800 and 11,000 words, to produce as 55 to 70 minute “commuter” audio books. “Eureka,” I said, and submitted a thing called A LABOR DAY MURDER. The publisher, Mary Gould, liked it and sent me a contract. So far, I’ve been lucky. Mind Wings just accepted my 14th—GYPSIES, TRAMPS & THIEVES, a story about a crew of Romani grifters operating in East Tennessee.

HNS:  Talk a little bit about Chief Sam Jenkins and how he and the Smoky Mountain mysteries came about. 

WZ: Sam is easy to talk about because we share a few similarities. Basically, we’re middle-aged, retired New York cops living in East Tennessee. But it goes beyond that and you’d have to read a few Smoky Mountain mysteries to see what I mean.

Knowing Sam intimately made it easy to write his dialogue. We’ve lived through the same experiences, so if I’d say something in any given situation, Sam does. But now he’s a police chief and I’m his Doctor Watson.

Actually, I borrowed the idea of a big town detective becoming a small town chief from the late Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series. But that’s as far as my thievery went. Sam and Jesse are very different and Paradise, Massachusetts is world’s away from Prospect, Tennessee.

In my naiveté, I thought if Parker can do it, so can I. I was a cop and he wasn’t. I’d just transplant my New York stories toTennessee. Easy, huh?

It took me four years to get my first novel traditionally published. The first Sam Jenkins Audio/eBook novelette debuted in 2009.

HNS:  I ask everyone this but when did you know you were a writer?

WZ: I’ve been writing my entire adult life, from after-action reports in the Army, to the reams of narrative reports I filed in the police department. But even after getting paid for a bunch of non-fiction magazine articles and seeing a few pieces of fiction published, I was reluctant to introduce myself as a writer.

I guess it was after A NEW PROSPECT won the “Indie” that my ideas changed. In retrospect, I should have had those business cards printed a lot sooner.

The day I was inducted into the Army, people called me a soldier. Yet I had never fired a shot to defend the Constitution. When I graduated from the police academy, I hadn't arrested anyone, saved anyone’s life, or delivered a baby. Nonetheless, I was getting paid as a cop. So, although I've not seen my name on the New York Times bestseller list (yet) I’m going to say Zurl’s a mystery writer.

Thanks, Jack, for inviting me to your blog and allowing me to chat with your fans and followers. Best of luck to you with your books and I hope I've made a few new friends.

 HNS: Thank you, Wayne.

 For more information on Wayne’s Sam Jenkins mystery series see www.waynezurlbooks.net. You can read excerpts, reviews and endorsements, interviews, coming events, and see photos of the area where the stories take place.

http://amazon.com/author/waynezurl

http://barnesandnoble.com/s/wayne-zurl

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Mark July 1 on your calendar. The first of a three part series with Grit City Publications, an emotobook publisher, will premiere. It will introduce Lily Dair, a young archeologist with a penchant for danger. What is an emotobokk? Check out the media page:http://gritcitypublications.com/Grit_City_Publications/Lily_Dair.html

The Sheriff of Sorrow

Looks like the first of the three part series has been released by Smashwords. 

I must be a true pulp writer. In addition to the crime, science fiction, and horror I've had posted or published over the last five years, I can now add westerns.

The Sheriff of Sorrow series will tell the story of a greenhorn sheriff named Cal Haskell. Young Cal takes a job in an industrialized, northern Michigan town as a favor to a friend of his father's. On the first night he arrives in Sorrow, he becomes embroiled in old town politics and corruption as he watches the temporary sheriff get gunned down in the street by the son of a local industrialist. Money and history turn out to be two very obstinate obstacles for Cal. Many men might have ridden away but Cal feels obligated to help those who called him to their town. 

You can download the readable copy now at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/165336.

An audio version read by award winning narrator Joe Barrett will be released soon by Mind Wings Audio. 

New Release

Coming soon.

Watch for it.

Flash Fiction Challenge

It's April so it's time for another challenge.

Here are the protocols:
1) Use the photo on the site: http://flashjab.blogspot.com/
2) 750 words or less
3) Please don't plagiarize
4) Get it back to me within the next two weeks or sooner
5) With the authors' permission, stories get posted at Flash Jab Fiction
6) This is a writer's exercise done for fun; no fees, no pay. You get a byline and you keep the all rights. (Please notify me if you sell it so I can yank it from the blog.)
7) Embed the story in an email and shoot it to me at jacktheauthor@gmail.com (Bloody Knuckles reserves the right to post or not to post a story.)

Flash Jab Fiction, Bloody Knuckles, and The Hard Nosed Sleuth reserve the right not to post submissions. This is an adult fiction site but there are limitations to what I can run. No bigotry, pornography, or anything featuring the exploitation of children will be considered.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Gerald So is running my crime poem 'Suspect has a History' this week to celebrate National Poetry Month. Click The 5-2 Crime Blog to read or listen to it.

BLATANTLY SELF PROMOTING IN ANOTHER CORNER: The first issue of GRIFT Magazine has hit the virtual stands. It includes an amazing line up of Lawrence Block, Ken Bruen, and me.

CHANNEL WRITES: AWAKE

I used to say my dad had an uncanny knack for picking the next short lived TV series. Looking at the reviews I’ve done so far, I’d say latching on to television’s next big bombs are in my DNA. I raved about the Charlie’s Angels reboot- gone. Gave high praise to Mario Bello in Prime Suspect- kaput. I was a huge fan of Detroit 187- remember that one? Naturally, I am hesitant to say anything about NBC’s midseason replacement, Awake.

Jason Isaacs plays a bad ass cop named Michael Britten who has a slight case of a sleeping disorder. In one world he dreams of his dead wife, in the other, his dead son. Which is reality? How do clues in one world how solve cases in the other? I thought the writers were about to botch it all up a week ago when we got a couple of story lines that did not come from Britten’s point of view. They recovered nicely in the alternate therapy sessions. Acclaimed actors Cherry Jones (Broadway), B.D. Wong (Law and Order: SVU), Steve Harris (The Practice), and Wilmer Valderrama (That ‘70s Show) make a solid supporting cast.

Isaacs is a stand out actor most of us here in the states recognize as Lucius Malfoy, the father to Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. Last fall Masterpiece Mystery on PBS ran a three episode series called Case Histories where Isaac played ex-cop turned PI Jackson Brodie. Isaacs plays his characters with an edge, tough and hard when he needs to be but also with a little compassion. Think Mike Hammer meets Columbo.

Catch it while you can. Awake is on my Favorites List. That can’t be good.

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION: I am excited and proud to say I have a story in the premiere issue of GRIFT Magazine. I’ll be appearing alongside the likes of Ken Bruen, Craig McDonald, and Lawrence Block! Check out my story 'A Hell of a Hat' here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-kenyon/grift-no-1/paperback/product-20005345.html Huzzah!