We Interrupt This Broadcast

Criticism is invaluable to writers. Hell, it's invaluable to us all.

I've tried it in a number of ways, from peer assessment, friends' opinions, family and words from those who actually know what they're talking about.

The ability to accept constructive comment is a definite learning curve in itself. You might go through the 'taking it very personally' phase. You might want to give up. It might occur to you that if you're no good at doing what you love you might as well not make the effort of getting out of bed in the morning.

The phases need to be grown through.

Eventually, we can get to the point of realising that truly well intentioned criticism is our friend. We need to walk with it. Accept it into our homes. Learn to take over the job for ourselves when the time is right (cut out the awful sentence, the back-story, the over-ellaborate, the flowery, even our favourite lines).

If you're new in the writing town, take this advice (and like any criticism, take or leave it once you've given it fair consideration).

Asking friends and family sucks. What are they going to say? They love you already, that should be enough. Sure, if you have a friend of a particular type who's up in the genre you're crafting, maybe, otherwise just no.

Accepting comments from editors or agents is better, but then they might be working through thousands of submissions, may have pet loves and hates or just have seen your work on a bad day.

Peer assessment, so long as it's from a neutral standpoint, is better. Allows you to think things over in a non-threatening way. You can feel safe and helped at the same time. By joining in the process of offering crits yourself, you'll soon become better at analysing your own work and cutting or adding as appropriate.

Chris Rhatigan was up with his 'Dancing With Myself' post yesterday.

He's doing something with a writing group aimed mainly at crime creators. Check out the info at:

http://death-by-killing.blogspot.com/2010/09/writers-group.html

I've decided to go along. First off, it's a great idea. Second, it has Chris' name on it - that'll be enough for me.

Chris, thanks.

Dancing WIth Myself: GERALD SO interviews GERALD SO

Gerald So is a writer and editor who has a lot to offer. Here's what he has to say. Don't forget to check out the links at the bottom of the page if they're places you haven't been to before - poems on crime have a wee mention of one David Thompson.

I know a lot of you knew David, so if you have it in you (and who knows if this works online) a minute's silence or a minute's applause might not go amiss before you move on.

Thanks.

Ladies and gents, GERALD SO.

1) Why does crime writing appeal to you?

I like its sense of purpose. The action is driven by the crimes committed, and watching those crimes unfold, regardless whether they are solved, reveals what drives the characters.

2) Most people know you as fiction editor for The Thrilling Detective Web Site or co-editor of The Lineup: Poems on Crime. What do you enjoy about editing?

I enjoy motivating writers beyond what they think they can write to what I know they can write. I enjoy finding the most powerful ways to deliver the emotional impact the writer wants.

3) You've known you wanted to write fiction since you were thirteen, but came to poetry much later. Which do you prefer?

I have no preference. I respect both fiction and poetry for what they can do. Each affects readers in ways the other can't. Poetry is more condensed, but it lets me zero in on intense moments and emotions that might be diluted over the course of a story or novel. By the same token, a story or novel lets me stay with the characters longer and play out the effects of that most intense moment.

4) When do you find time to write?

Obscenely early in the morning, most often four to seven A.M.

5) You've moderated online discussion lists for eleven years, from your own DetecToday to two years as president of The Short Mystery Fiction Society. What do you take away from the experience?

I've come to see my favorite writers more objectively. It has helped me approach them as people, not idols, to analyze their work, which informs my own.

6) Is there any experience or emotion that colors your writing in general?

Disappointment. I'm very familiar with planning and hoping for something, being let down, and figuring out what to do next. It happens to any number of characters in fiction. Of course, in noir fiction, they never quite get back up.

7) You also review movies and television? Who are some of your favorite movie or TV characters?

Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly), Michael Westen (Burn Notice), The Middleman.

8) What's your dream writing project?

A novel about my 1930s pilot-for-hire C.J. Stone, who so far has shown up for seven short stories. Then again, I wouldn't mind a collection of two dozen stories, either.

9) And whom would you love to see submit to The Lineup?

Off the top of my head: Lee Child, Christa Faust, Al Guthrie, Joe R. Lansdale, Dennis Lehane, S.J. Rozan, Marcus Sakey...

10) Any last words?

I have not yet begun to fight. Thanks for the interview, Nigel.


Thrilling Detective - http://www.thrillingdetective.com

The Lineup - http://poemsoncrime.blogspot.com
DetecToday - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DetecToday
Short Mystery Fiction Society - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortmystery

Dancing With Myself: CHRIS RHATIGAN interviews CHRIS RHATIGAN

A quick note about who's added their weight to the 'Dancing With Myself' series. Jason Michel of Pulp Metal, Brian Wiprud and Gar Anthony Haywood are in. It's getting hotter in here by the minute.

I'm also going to be juggling a little over the week ahead. On Thursday come and say hi to Gerald So, Friday/Saturday to Steve 'Needle' Weddle and on Monday Man Booker shortlisted Emma Donoghue.

And so to today.Chris Rhatigan is doing a great service for the writers of short fiction.

He's reviewing the short form, from flash to novella, planting signposts to where we should be headed and who to check out. Thank goodness he's out there - we'll hear a lot more from him in the near future, I'm sure.

You have a blog about short crime fiction. Why?

Well, I saw Nasty, Brutish, Short, which was the only place dedicated to short crime fiction reviews. They do an excellent job, but I thought there was room for one more, so I fired up Death by Killing.

And I was reading a lot of really kickass fiction (mostly online, though some in print) and wanted a place to talk about it, recommend stuff I like. Sometimes I’ll go all professor on your ass and talk craft—an area where I clearly have no idea what I’m talking about.

How did you get into crime fiction?

When I was in middle school, I was reading Robert B. Parker and the thrillers of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy. Later I started reading a lot of literary fiction, but that business got boring. I mean, John Updike can only write about disaffected, suburban men who cheat on their wives so many times before I start hitting the snooze button.

Sorry, John Updike, you suck.

Which is why I picked up a Parker novel again a couple of years ago, followed it up with Raymond Chandler and Harlan Coben, and it was a downhill slide from there.

Whose work are you enjoying most right now?

I really am amazed (and, when I submit work, saddened) by how much quality shit is out there.

If I had to pick one author right now, it would be Christopher Grant. The Greta stories are badass, Bus Stop is a tight, perfectly constructed piece of flash, and Ashley is the best lesbian crime story I’ve read.

There are so many goddamned writers out there with their fancy Mac laptops and their pretend poverty and their armchair philosophy and their community gardens. Why the fuck do you think you could possibly have anything to say that hasn’t already been said in exactly the same way . . . you arrogant, fascist prick?

I have no idea.

I guess I write for myself. I love the problem-solving aspect of working on a story. A finished product makes me feel good.

And because I keep reading quality, original stuff, so I figure there’s always more out there to be discovered.

What are you working on right now? Anything hitting the virtual stands soon?

I’m working on some short horror and revising other work.

In the fall, I’ll have a short story, “Double Bounce,” coming out in Mysterical-E. I also have a short-short about a retail worker at the end of his rope coming out in the Yellow Mama December issue.

And I’m up for 623 words at entry #623 at ATON. I have an idea for it but, as of yet, no execution.

I see you live in Iowa City. Are you involved with that Writer’s Workshop thing at all?

No. I graduated from SUNY Purchase, then worked as a newspaper reporter for four years. Now I’m back in school, studying to be a high school social studies teacher.

http://death-by-killing.blogspot.com/

Dancing With Myself: CHRIS F HOLM interviews CHRIS F HOLM

Here's a guy that's oozing talent. I'm proud to say that I'm in the same issue of Needle as he is. If you haven't been Needled yet, go and give it a try ( http://needlemag.wordpress.com/ ). Sure, it's addictive, but it's cleaner and cheaper than smoking (unless you intend feeding it into a hookah and setting alight).

What follows is a fine example of skill - two sides of one brain that have completely different characters (now how the hell did he pull that off?).

Live and learn.

Dancing With Myself: CHRIS F. HOLM

For those who may not be familiar with you and your work, could you describe yourself in three adjectives, a preposition, and a noun?

Tall. Skinny. Fond of pie.

That’s not terribly descriptive.

Well, what do you expect – you didn’t even allow me any verbs! I’m not at all convinced you know what you’re doing.

Nor I you. To be frank, I’ve read a fair bit of your work in preparation for this interview, and I must say, I didn’t care for it. It’s quite violent. For someone whose writing often takes place in small towns, you’ve nary a sleuthing feline or nosy philatelist to be found. Instead you seem to favor nasty, small-minded people doing terrible things to one another. Why is that? Why do you suppose you have a predilection for such unsavory subject matter?

I wouldn’t say I have a predilection for it – quite the opposite, in fact. I think my writing reflects my own worst fears, about myself and the world both. Oftentimes what I write is darker than what I’m comfortable reading.

That said, I think you may have – unintentionally, I’m sure – hit on one of the themes I’m interested in exploring in my work. Now, I’m not one to beat up on cozies or those who write them; light mysteries are no less vital to the genre than is the bleakest noir. But having grown up in the decaying backwaters of upstate New York, I learned a long time ago that not all small-town crimes are cozy. Small towns are rife with violence, drugs, abuse, and murder – more so, per capita, than are cities. And because small towns are often insular communities, those crimes have a habit of taking on a generational aspect. One youthful transgression can mark a family for decades, and cycles of abuse unchecked mean aggressors were often once victims themselves. Yet crime fiction, like America itself, too often clings to the pervasive myth of “small-town values” – a lovely falsehood, as far as it goes, but no less false for it.

But not all your stories mine this vein, correct?

No, not at all! In fact, my short story “Action”, which appeared in the May issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, was a comedic caper intended as an homage to the late, great Donald Westlake. And I recently collaborated with David Cranmer, editor of Beat to a Pulp, on a time-travel adventure serial called “A Rip Through Time.” Neither of those are all that dark, and truth be told, I think they’re two of the best stories I’ve ever written.

Actually, I was referring to your Elizabethan frottage confessionals, written pseudonymously as Lady Nigella Winterbottom.

You bastard – you said you wouldn’t bring those up!

I lied.

[At this point the interviewee kicks over the table, spewing profanities, and is only mollified by the promise of a Zagnut bar.]

Ahem. Where were we? Ah, yes. Given your somewhat inexplicable success in the realm of short fiction, have you considered one day trying your hand at writing a novel?

I thought you said you researched for this interview!

I did! I mean, I tried. But there was a Twin Peaks marathon on cable…

Ah. I see. Well, actually, I’ve already written two novels, both of which are currently out on submission. One, THE ANGELS’ SHARE, is about a young girl who’s murdered in a small town on the coast of Maine on the eve of a contentious local election. The other is a fantasy/noir crossover called DEAD HARVEST, which recasts the battle between heaven and hell as a Golden Era crime pulp.

So, like, demons running gin joints, and angels driving Crown Vics and the like?

Exactly.

Actually, that doesn’t sound half bad.

Thanks!

Don’t let it go to your head. Anyways, I believe that concludes our interview –

Wait – I thought I got ten questions!

Was it ten? That seems like kind of a lot for a guy nobody’s heard of.

Yeah, I thought so, too, but that’s what Nigel said.

Oh, fine – I’ll give you one more. [A riffling of papers.] What did the others ask? Something this dolt will be able to answer…and preferably nothing actually about him. Oh! Perfect! Whose short fiction do you most admire?

All time? I think Tim Powers writes short fiction richer and more textured than most novels. And Chandler’s Black Mask output has never, in my opinion, been topped.
As far as folks making the scene today, I think Hilary Davidson is a master of short fiction; really – it’s obnoxious. Patrick Shawn Bagley’s another favorite of mine; he’s been quiet of late, but maybe this will serve as a kick in the ass for him to get something new out there. Nobody, but nobody, writes rural noir like Patrick. Stephen Blackmoore’s been on a tear these past few years. And just the other day, I read a fantastic little punk-rock tale called “Beat on the Brat” by one Mr. Nigel Bird.


http://www.beattoapulp.com/stor/2010/0905_cfh_ARipThroughTime1.cfm

http://www.chrisfholm.com/index/home.html

Dancing With Myself: ERIC BEETNER interviews ERIC BEETNER

Can't beat Beetner.

One Too Many Blows To The Head ranks amongst the top titles around. And that cover? Shines out like a gold bar. Here's Eric Beetner.

Be inspired. Be very inspired:

1. Were you born in the right era?

Not by about 50 years. I’m not one of those people who thinks they should have been around during Jane Austen times but I know it’s not any less silly to wish like hell I’d been around for the golden age of Hollywood and the birth of crime fiction as we know it today. If I’d have been around in the 1940s I could live in the same house I’m in now which at the time was about a half mile away from Hal Roach studios and the David Selznick lot and about 3/4 of a mile from MGM.
I could be writing for movies right as they were getting all Noir and telling the kind of stories I like to tell and then I could write for the pulps and knock out short fiction on the old Underwood. Only trouble is I don’t smoke and I don’t drink and I don’t care for hats. I guess I’d have to adapt.

2. How do you do all the things you do and why aren’t you rich yet?

I have a full time job as a TV editor and producer. I have written TV scripts (only a few and all bad) and feature screenplays (quite a few and some very good but none that made it into production). I have written and directed my own film which even won awards, I have been a musician and released two real albums and three other self-released albums. I have sold paintings of mine and now I have a novel out, another on the way, three more in the can and enough short stories out there to choke a pig.
I am the quintessential jack of all trades, master of none. But damn it feels good to make a life and a living, such as it is, out of being creative. College counsellors and ex-hippie parents always give the advice of, “Do what you love and then figure out a way to get paid for it.” I actually have. Not a bad gig.



3. How is writing with a co-author different from solo writing?

My novel One Too Many Blows To The Head and the upcoming sequel Borrowed Trouble were co-written with author JB Kohl. The fascinating thing is that she and I live on opposite coasts and have never met in person. Never even spoken on the phone.
We have devised a way of working that really isn’t much different than writing solo. We write on our own, send chapters across the wires and then give minor notes. We outline back and forth until we like the result and then just set in and write it. Things change, we adapt. It’s been an absolute pleasure and a great learning experience. And I’ve said this before but the best part is that you get to both write a novel and read it at the same time because her half comes in and I know the basics but I’m always surprised and compelled by what she has come up with. I love it and I hope we can keep doing it for a long time.
I’m also very focused on my solo writing, which she is as well. If I can start to get those novels published and have the best of both worlds it would be a dream come true.


4. How do you not get discouraged?

I get discouraged every damn day. I get very down on my own skills or lack thereof. After all I’ve attempted in my life I am completely used to failure or worse, indifference.
If you have no patience for rejection, alienation, frustration, ego crushing bouts of self-doubt and depression then you should not try to be a writer. If you keep writing despite this and the fact that you will more than likely never make a dime at it, you not only should be a writer – you already are.


5. Why does everyone think writing a novel is so hard?

I have no idea. Working in Hollywood I am surrounded by a million waiters and valet guys with a screenplay in their pocket or, worse yet, an idea that they are “working on.” Most novels never make it from concept to completion and it is those novels that get talked about the most by their “authors”. You want to write a book? Write it. Don’t tell me you’re going to write it. Don’t tell me you have an outline. Don’t tell me you have an idea. Write the damn book. Then write another one. If no one cares, write another one. If that one sucks, write another.
When I was writing my first novel (which isn’t all that good and sits on my hard drive alone and gathering digital cobwebs) I didn’t tell anyone. What if I never finished? I didn’t want to be that guy. The guys who is writing a novel like it’s all important. The guy who talks about it but never finishes anything. When I finished I confirmed I was not that guy. I still didn’t tell many people though. Only now that I have a book out there in the world do I even mention it to anyone. I still hesitate to call myself a writer. A writer has a bodd of work. Talk to me in five years.
So, in short, writing a novel takes time and discipline but it’s not hard. Brain surgery is hard. Rocket science is hard. Doing 25 to life in prison is hard. If writing is hard, you’re not doing it right.


6. Tell some stories about the back biting and jealousy in the writing community.
Wish I could but the truth is everyone I’ve met is so welcoming, so kind, so encouraging that it kind of freaks me out. Authors, and crime authors in particular, should be misanthropic, anti-social misfits, and they are, but they’re also the nicest bunch of people I’ve ever met. Again, coming from a Hollywood screenwriting background I was used to my colleagues outwardly wishing for my failure because every script of mine that advanced meant one of theirs languished. It was miserable. I expected the same of publishing because there is only so much space on the shelf for books. I assumed it would be one big scrum of flying elbows and spit in the eye as people jockeyed for readers attention. Was I ever wrong.
I’m small potatoes on a small publisher and I have had long conversations with writers I really admire, writers I read, and they instantly treated me as an equal. It still shocks me every time I am exposed to it and I hope it always does.



7. Why don’t you write a series and get rich that way?

I should. Readers seem to love a series. Publishers sure do. I have just never been a series guy. It’s such a commitment. And I’m always late to the party. Who has time to catch up? And do they ever stay consistently great? Not that there aren’t some great books. I’ve been reading more lately just because they are books by people I know and admire. I’m thinking of Rebecca Cantrell’s Hannah Vogel series. But I caught that from the start. Same with Kelli Stanley’s Miranda Corbie books and Stephen Jay Schwartz Hayden Glass books. I will almost always reach for a standalone though. Marcus Sakey, Victor Gischler, Duane Sweirczynski. I love Joe R. Lansdale but haven’t read all the Hap and Leonard books. I love Steve Brewer but haven’t read the Bubba Mabry books (yet, I just got all 7 from Steve himself so now I’m committed).
I read my first Ross MacDonald not too long ago. It was silly that I’d never read him. I loved it. Will I go back and read all of them? Doubt it.
So, at the risk of being a hypocrite since I just finished a sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head, I find stand-alones more fun to read and write. Anything can happen. Anyone can get killed off. I’m always trying to think of a series character but my brain just doesn’t work that way. Stupid brain.



8. Do you follow the old adage ‘write what you know’?

Dumbest writing advice ever. Sure use what’s at your disposal, but if all I wrote was what I know I’d have fewer readers than I do now and, even more tragic, I’d bore myself silly as I wrote. I read to be transported. I write for the same reason.
I say write what you want to know about. Even if that is as simple as, “I want to know what happens at the end of this story.” If it’s enough to compel you to write your way to the end, it will be compelling enough for a reader to get there in 1/10th the time.




9. What about the new stuff?

As I mentioned JB Kohl and I have completed the sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head. It is called Borrowed Trouble. It takes place in 1941 Hollywood at the dawn of the porn industry. That’s simplifying it too much but there are some blue movies, a missing girl, some really bad men and two former enemies joining forces to solve the case.
I have some of my solo work out to agents now and I have my fingers crossed for that. I really like the solo books so I hope they get a chance to see the light of day eventually. Until the stigma of self-publishing goes away I’ll sit on them until I can find someone who wants to put them out, big or small it doesn’t matter. I still rely on a publisher to weed out the crap from the worthy. I read enough stuff on big imprints that I think is crap so I shudder to think what is still in the slush pile. I trust most publishers to tell me if my stuff is unworthy of publishing too. Better for you if it stays locked up.


What’s your goal in publishing?

Just to be a part of the conversation. I don’t thrive on praise, just inclusion. I don’t have to sell a ton of books, I have a day job I love, but just to be on the shelves with authors I love is so amazing. To be able to throw my hat in the ring and not get laughed out of town is pretty damn cool. Having just one reader who is not a family member or friend is enough to keep me writing on to the next thing.

Bio:
Eric Beetner is the co-author of One Too Many Blows To The Head, a noir novel set amid the crooked boxing word of 1939 Kansas City. He has written dozens of short stories that hide out in various webzines across the internet. His story Ditch (published in Thuglit) was chosen third place in the Storysouth Million Writers awards for best short of 2009 and he recently took the top spot in Jason Duke's Red Hot Writing challenge. Be prepared because he's going to be around for a while.

http://ericbeetner.blogspot.com/

for 'My Asshole Brother' (winner of Jason Duke's competition) look out for Issue 6 of Crime Factory:

http://www.crimefactoryzine.com/main/HOME.html

and to buy ONE TOO MANY BLOWS TO THE HEAD:

http://tinyurl.com/39adp7b

or on UK kindle:

http://tinyurl.com/34cdy94

Dancing With Myself: CHRISTOPHER GRANT interviews CHRISTOPHER GRANT

Before I let Christopher take it away (and he really does), I've a couple of extrs contributors to announce.

Added to the list are: Vicki Delany, Angela Choi, Tom Llewellyn, Zoe Sharp and SJ Rozan. Joe R Lansdale is too busy right now for any extra load, but he's up for it in principle and asked that I get back to him in a month or so (fingers tightly crossed).

I'd like to take the opportunity of thanking all the contributors to date - they've given me a huge amount of pleasure and information and I'm grateful to them all for taking the time to take part.

Look out for a couple of top interviews this weekend, when Eric Beetner and Chris Holm will be here.

And now, a man who has to be one of the most prolific and widely respected publishers of short stories in the business. When he took a couple of my stories I was purring for weeks afterwards. Here he is, worthy of a Friday special...

Self-interview with Christopher Grant, Editor/Publisher of A Twist Of Noir by Christopher Grant, Editor/Publisher of A Twist Of Noir

1. A Twist Of Noir. I'm not so much interested in the name as where the interest for noir came from. There was a time when you thought of yourself as primarily an SF writer. When and why did this change occur?

A. If this interview happened sixteen years ago, when I was sixteen, I don't think I'd be able appreciate noir fiction or even film noir.

Remember, you threw James Ellroy's THE BIG NOWHERE in the garbage after the first five pages, not being able to understand what the fuck it was all about. Granted it was the second book of a quartet and you were only about thirteen but you threw the thing away.

I guess the switch probably started with not having the ability for one reason or another to pull off a convincing SF story, at least in my mind, and looking elsewhere for something to write. I mean, I could probably do an SF story today if I wanted to but it would still read like noir or crime, just with androids and hover cars and DNA splitting and nanotech. In other words, very much Phillip K. Dick.

2. Wait, wait. You threw THE BIG NOWHERE in the trash?

A. No, that was you, remember? The story just wasn't working for me.

Danny Upshaw and his story bored the shit out of that thirteen year-old me.

So, with the story just hanging there, doing nothing for me, neither good or bad, I had you toss it in the trash.

If I had thought about it, I could have gotten my six bucks back by
returning it but you just tossed it.

Something like five years later, we regretted doing that and we had to track down a copy and then it had all those typos, remember? And so we had to order it from the local B&N.

3. Sure, blame me for everything.

So the change occurred after you couldn't write a convincing SF story. And that was about twenty-five, twenty-six, somewhere around there, right?

A. Yeah. But I was writing a lot of stuff back then. I was writing
commentary for a politics website and SF for the drawer and poetry (not all that great, either) and a couple of other things. I was of the impression at that point that you write as much as you possibly can, in as many different genres as you can, so you don't get pigeonholed or burn out in one area. Diversify.

I'm don't believe that any longer. I think you can write the same genre as long as you want to, as long as it interests you.

I'm still very much of the impression that the audience is the audience and will either love it or hate it and there's not a whole lot you can do about it, except not put shit up on that stage.

But I don't think you can ever burn out on something like noir or crime. We live in that world and there are two zillion stories to be told.

Just this morning (as of this writing, that is), I was put into the mind for another story by something I witnessed happening at five in the morning. Two guys, with a trash bag in each hand, came running down the street, highstepping it to a Dumpster outside of a school. A couple minutes later, they came walking back.

The writer in me immediately started asking questions. The obvious one was what was in the bags and then why couldn't they put those bags in their own trash can? Why run with the bags in the first place? Where's the fucking rush? I didn't ask them, of course. At five in the morning, that last thing I want to do is spend a couple hours in the emergency room if it turns out that I shouldn't be asking those questions aloud.

But if you can't tell a noir or crime story with that opening hook, I don't know what your problem is.

4. Let's talk about A Twist Of Noir and what it's like to be
editor/publisher. What's a typical day or week like?

A. There's no such thing. The guidelines say that I will put stories up every day. Anyone that's come to the site knows that's not true. And it's not true because sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes I get ten stories, sometimes I get two. When I get two, they probably go up right away unless I have something more pressing to get to. When I get ten, there are times I will separate out some and save the rest for the Friday Story Drop.

Whenever I do put a story up, regardless of whether it's on a regular day or on a Friday, I read the story, looking for errors along the way, correcting it along the way, put it up in the Blogger field and fix everything up (if the errors are minor) and then publish it.

If the errors are not minor, I run them by the writer of the piece and wait for them to get back to me to see what they think about the changes I think are necessary. I don't believe in screwing around with anyone's story just so I can get it up at the site.

I think the writer deserves respect and I think the site should be
respected. And you can't have either if you put up something that's not coherent or that doesn't hang together and make sense or you decide to screw around with that person's story just to get it on the site.

After a story goes up, I inform the writer and I put out the word on
Facebook.

And that's a typical day at ATON. Come back next week when we'll be doing arts and crafts. Until then, I'm Martha Stewart saying, Pop a cap in that ass.

5. Recently you announced that A Twist Of Noir would be changing its
maximum word count. Why the change?

A. There are over five hundred stories at ATON right now, we're rapidly closing in on six hundred. When I started the site, the count was actually only 2,000 words or less (if I remember correctly). At some point, I decided that I wanted to open it up a bit and raised it to 5,000 words or less and it's been there for quite a while (over a year anyway).

Part of the reason for the change in word count is what I've seen people like Paul Brazill and Michael Solender and Des Nnochiri and now R.S. Bohn and Kelly Whitley and Phil Beloin Jr. and Tom Larsen be able to do with a modicum of words.

I've been saying for a couple weeks now to various people: you don't need a novel's worth of words unless, of course, you're writing a novel.

Look at Jim Harrington's latest on ATON for a prime example of that new maxim. One paragraph and that's the story.

I have no problem with people that like to let the story go as long as it takes to tell the story. I used to be an advocate for that back before I was writing crime. But, at the same time, there's a lot to be said for self-editing and tightening up the narrative. And I really think that crime benefits from doing this. The sharper the hit, the more hardboiled the story, the better the experience for the reader.

6. Along with the new max word count, you also announced that you were shutting down the site for a while, at least such as it's run right now, for what you're calling The 600 to 700 Challenge. What is it and why now?

A. The 600 to 700 Challenge was actually supposed to be the 500 to 600 Challenge. A couple months back, I had a moment where I was feeling burned out by the job of editing and trying to brainstorm how to keep the site going without shutting it down for a time and then coming back rejuvenated.

But I didn't want to shut down the site to alleviate the burn out so I came up with the 500 to 600 Challenge.

I based the concept off of Jimmy Callaway's concept to write the century mark stories, which the man has been churning out since the site hit 200 (and he even went back and wrote the 100 century mark story). In each, he uses only the number of words for that century mark. So 100 has only one hundred words, 200 only two hundred and so on.

And I thought, "Why not do this for every story between 500 and 600?"

So I ran it up the flagpole to various people. Michael Solender and Jimmy Callaway and Richard Godwin and others. Keith Rawson asked some important questions, like how I was going to be able to insure that the thing could be pulled off in the first place and he suggested that, instead of going 500 to 600, that I should go from 600 to 700.

Which, of course, was the right decision. At the time, ATON was at least halfway through the 500s and rapidly approaching 600 and I needed time to figure out how this would work and to gauge reaction. Keith has been a great sounding board for me and I can't thank him enough.

I think this is as good a time as any to have a visible separation between the old era A Twist Of Noir and the new era to come.

7. The new era to come?

A. Yeah. The new max word count starts immediately after the Challenge ends. And there will be more features, such as reviews and interviews (which I did back when the site was just finding its feet), and I will be enlisting the help of others to carry these changes off. This will mark the first time that something other than the stories will be written by someone other than me. Damn, that sentence doesn't sound like it's worded right. Shut up time, Mr. Editor. Just let it stand on its own.

8. And what about your own writing? Will we be seeing more of that?

A. Of course. Hopefully in bigger amounts. Constantly, writers that write for ATON are asking when they're going to see more of what I write and that I should take off the editor's hat more often. The compliments are much appreciated. And with the changes that I'm planning for ATON, I think I will be able to take off that editor's hat a bit more.

9. What about the future of noir and crime writing? How do you see that?

A. Bright. Extremely so.

If you look at what I said earlier about this being a world in which noir or crime is just next door or even in your family, then the stories are right
there, too.

I think testament to this fact is the number of writers that have written not just for ATON but for Powder Burn Flash, Yellow Mama,Thuglit. Thrillers, Killers 'N Chillers, Crime Factory and Flash Fiction Offensive (just to name a few).

Interest just keeps growing and so does the pool of writers.

10. What about the future of A Twist Of Noir?

A. Also extremely bright. I wouldn't give this up for anything in the world. I want to see how far, with the help of the writers, I can take this thing.


http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/

Posted with much respect.

Dancing With Myself: PATRICIA ARLENE ABBOTT interviews PATRICIA ARLENE ABBOTT

Here's a lady who has her fingers in lots of pies and every one of them's delicious. Come and take a bite. Patti Abbott.

Why would we be interested in the facts of your life?

I certainly wondered about that myself and had, in fact, considered using the facts of someone else’s life to rouse more interest. I had Mary Robert Rinehart picked out since we were both born in Pennsylvania and she seemed obscure enough that anyone reading this might mistake her life for mine. Would you have bought that I created the “Had I But Known” narrative? But since I’ve never read a book by Ms, Rinehart I felt it would be too difficult to pull off. I had also chosen her because I liked Oscar Wilde’s quote—that she put her art into her lifestyle rather than her books. What writer of dozens of books wouldn’t be flattered by that statement?

No, seriously, why would we be interested in the facts of your life?

Seriously? Okay, my greatest achievement before quite recently (other than quitting smoking) was producing two amazing children and marrying an amazing man. For years I thought it was quite enough that I had done such a thing. Especially after my mother leaned into the car about to speed us away from our wedding reception and said, “I give it six months.” How many can choose well at nineteen and birth well at 22 and 23. So I basked in these accomplishments until two of those accomplishments were gone. There was no more strutting around at PTA meetings, baseball games and awards nights after that. I went back to a few the next year and frankly people stared at me and asked if my children hadn’t graduated. After acquiring a prescription for xanax, I thought maybe I should do more than make quilts and bake bread. Unless I could find a sixties commune and I couldn’t. It was 1994 by then.

Why do you waste so much time blogging and reading blogs?

Didn’t you read the above? I quit smoking, and with no cigarette break, what’s a girl to do? I go read a blog or the comments on mine when I need a break. Unfortunately I used to smoke a lot so those breaks come often. I like blogging. My kids always said I could ask more questions in five minutes than any talk show host and my blog is mostly about asking questions. When I get really antsy I go ask questions on facebook.

Why no novel?

Why the hell does everyone ask me that? I especially resent being asked that here. Actually I’ve written two novels, both proclaimed brilliant by my husband and close friends. So far no agent has agreed to rep them although I give up rather easily. Ten tries on the first one and I ditched it. In the long run, I feel I write stories between 2500 and 4000 words best. I have little to say so why keep on saying it? And it doesn’t help that both novels fall uneasily between crime fiction and mainstream novels such as they wrote in the sixties.

What do you read?

I spend an awful lot of time reading magazines. My husband and I are addicted to getting things in the mail and there are not a lot of letter writers out there. Magazines are so desperate for subscribers now, they practically give them away. Getting magazines written chiefly for the people in various cities is quite enjoyable. I really love reading reviews of plays in places like St. Paul and Portland. And I am quite up to date on restaurants in Albuquerque and Burlington. We easily get 20 magazines a month—four cooking ones alone (that’s my husband, not me). Aside from magazines, I read online zines and lots of novels and anthologies.

Why did you start Fridays Forgotten Books?

Because there are so many forgotten books. There are more forgotten books than remembered ones by 100-1. Bringing those books to light could keep me busy for a while. I’ve talked about this in other places but here’s a good opportunity to thank those people who have contributed pieces to this project. Blogging can be like doing a “Sally Draper.” (Does anyone get that reference?) So I was looking for a way to slap that hand away.

Do you really think you are competent to write movie reviews?

Not at all, but the sheer number of movies we see impressed Jeremy Lynch on Crimespree Cinema. He couldn’t imagine getting anyone else to see 1-3 movies a week. People are always asking me how do you make the time to see so many movies? And my response is that four hours a week does not seem like a lot of time. Plus the only good popcorn is at movie theaters. You may settle for that microwave crap, but give me the 800 calorie version at most movie theaters. I almost never watch movies on DVD or TV. It is too easy to pick up a book or go check my email.

Where do you envision yourself ten years down the road?

Dead.

How did you start writing?

Good question. I was well into my thirty-year degree B.A. program by then and a course I had signed up for on the American Indian looked too damned hard. It had like eight books and three papers—a new professor had come from Yale with visions of making our school a little Yale of the Midwest. So I dropped that class and the only class fitting into my schedule was on poetry. I didn’t realize it was a class on writing poetry and not reading it until the third week or so. I thought other students were just obligingly supplying the instructor with some text until our books came in. And suddenly it was my turn and I found out how easy it was to write bad poetry that semester. But some wise person said, “Hey you know, your poems might make good stories.” So I tried that and here I am.

For those here because I am Megan’s mother—Did you always know she would be a writer?

We have a cassette of Megan saying she’d be a writer at age seven. Amusingly, she blamed her lack of success at age seven on the fact we had not bought her a typewriter.
Actually, I thought she’d be an artist. She drew constantly as a child. I have boxes and boxes of her drawings. But when I look at those pictures now, they always have narratives to them. They even have words a lot of the time. Captions above, or you can follow the story from frame to frame. I just didn’t see the words for the pictures until later. My son also said he wanted to be a lawyer at around that age. I was the only one who drifted through life ambitionless. But enough about me.

http://www.facebook.com/l/bae6a;pattinase.blogspot.com

Enough about you? I don't know about anybody else, but I could certainly go another couple of slices.