TWO HUGE HONORS!

Hi folks,
I had to go back and edit the original post I just placed on here. I had originally talked about being honored by noir god Paul D. Brazill when he picked one of my short stories as on of the best of the year... and, then I stumbled upon another huge honor I wasn't even aware of--Luca Veste had named my new novel, THE BITCH as one his picks for top novels of the year! I don't know how I missed that! Anyway, the write-up is over at Luca's blog at http://www.lucaveste.com/

I am just in seventh heaven! Thank you so, so much, Luca and Paul!


Death by Killing: Five You Can't Miss: Paul D. Brazill: Paul D. Brazill is a funny guy, a great writer, and one of the best promoters in the biz. He's responsible for the Drunk on the Moon series ...

THIS WAS JUST POSTED IN CHRIS RHATIGAN'S BLOG, DEATH BY KILLING.

Hi folks,

I had to sit down when I read this blog and catch my breath. Seriously. In it, Paul D. Brazill names my short story, "Pit Stop" which appeared in Noir Nation, as one of his picks for The Top Five Short Stories of 2011."

From PAUL D. BRAZILL! Those of you who know me know I consider Paul one of the true gods of noir. To have him honor me in this way means more to me than winning just about any award out there. I am totally speechless and beside myself.

Thank you, Mr. Brazill!

Blue skies,
Les

RADIO INTERVIEWS ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Hi folks,

Couple of things going on today you might want to check out.

First, I’d recommended my friend Lisa Lieberman Doctor to Jennifer Wilkov to be interviewed on her radio blog show on WomensRadio and it’s up! To listen to a truly brilliant writer and Hollywood executive who operated at the highest levels of filmland and television delivering useful information for both screenwriters and novelists, listen to her interview at http://www.womensradio.com/episodes/Your-Book-Is-Your-Hook!--Military-Wife-and-Author-Plus-A-Creative-Writing-Coach/10632.html

Second, I’ll be participating in my second interview today at 6 pm EST on Giovanni Gelati’s radio blog show The GZone. This should be like a fart in a skillet, as I suggested to Gio that instead of just interviewing me, he might consider some other folks as well, in a panel setting. So, it’ll be moi, plus Cort McMeel and Eddie Vega, founders of Bare Knuckle Press and Noir Nation Magazine, along with Sandra Ruttan and Brian Lindenmuth of Spinetingler Magazine and Snubnose Press. I’ve got stuff coming out from all of these guys, so it should be kind of interesting. Listen to us at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop. The interview goes live at 6, but if you miss it, it’ll be in the archives and readily available. I’m kind of excited about this and hope lots of you tune in.

Blue skies,

Les

NEW COVERS! YOUR INPUT IS WELCOMED!

Hi folks,

Here is the final cover for THE RAPIST. You gave the editors of Bare Knuckles Press--Cort McMeel and Eddie Vega--great suggestions for it and they listened! We've made note of those who contributed the ideas used and you'll receive a free copy when it's published (Fall, 2011).

Now they're working on the final cover for THE BITCH. We'd like to ask for your input once more on it. There are five possibilities and the end result may be one of those or one combining elements from the others. Please let us know your thoughts and Eddie and Cort are very interested in what you think and will take your suggestions seriously.


First, here's the final cover for THE RAPIST.

And here are the five possibilities for THE BITCH (In order, A - E)

The scene depicted is a pivotal scene, where the protagonist Jake and his ex-cellmate, Spitball, are on their way in the woods to bury a pair of victims.

There is already one change not seen here. The shovel in each of these looked more like a snow shovel than a digging shovel and that's been corrected for future mockups.

Please send us your votes on which you like the best or combinations you might like. For instance, you might like the art in one, but the lettering in another.

Thank you so very much!

And, for those who haven't glommed onto a copy of my two novels that just came out from StoneGate Ink, here are handy links. For those who live outside the U.S. just go to the Amazon or B&N service for your country and type my name into the Kindle or Nook search boxes. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! Also, you might want to check out my short story and the other noir stories in the just-released NOIR NATION (link provided). They have gathered the top noir writers in the world for this and it's a great honor to be included.












































Blue skies,
Les

NOIR NATION NOW AVAILABLE!

Hi folks,

Just want to announce the inaugural issue of the groundbreaking emagazine, NOIR NATION, is now available! This has been a long-awaited event.

Editor-in-Chief
Eddie Vega
Managing Editor, Western Hemisphere
Cortright McMeel
Managing Editor, Eastern Hemisphere
Alan WardThomas
Design Director
Michaela Thomas

http://noirnation.com/












I am pleased and honored to have a story in the inaugural issue, along with many of the "stars" of noir from all over the world. Check out this lineup of contributors! You'll see quite a few of the folks who've graced this humble blog.

No. 1

Art & Illustrations
Danda (Czech Republic) and Hamlet Zurita (Ecuador)

Editorial
Birth of a Nation ~ Eddie Vega (U.S., Cuba)

Fiction
FTW ~ Scott Wolven (U.S.)
Surgeons ~ Tristan Davies (U.S.)
Who Killed Skippy ~  Paul D. Brazill (Poland)
The End of the Trail (Classic Reprint) ~ Bonnie Parker (U.S.)
Gone is Gone ~ Leah Chamberlain  (U.S.)
Pit Stop ~ Les Edgerton (U.S.)
Dog of a Different Breed ~ R.F. Farrell (Canada)
Work ~  Kevin Hardcastle (Canada)
A Love Supreme ~  Jean Charbonneau (Canada)
Trompe L’Oeil ~ Stephen Gibson (U.S.)
Cross ~ Tim Gibson (U.S.)
Lethal Injection ~ Kevin Levites (U.S.)
The Struggle ~ Yewande Omotoso (Nigeria)
Four Pairs of Shoes ~ Gerald Heys (England, Czech Republic)
Jelly Babies ~ JJ Toner (Ireland)
Noir Nano: Four 60-word stories ~ Bianca Bellova (Czech Republic)

Interview
Ten Questions for Scott Wolven ~ Cortright McMeel (U.S.)

Essays
Black Becomes Blacker: The Darkening of Noir ~ J. Madison Davis (U.S.)
Why Noir Now ~ Alan Ward Thomas (U.S., Czech Republic)

Noir Forum
Noir Nation invited writers, editors, and consumers of crime fiction to
address the following question: Must crime fiction have a moral point? These
are their responses.
Don’t Preach Anywhere Near Me ~ Melodie Campbell (Canada)
Crime Must Have Consequences ~ Wendy A. Reynolds (U.S.)
Awareness of Values Does Not Mean You Have to Play Nice ~ Ann Littlewood (U.S.)
It is Not Easy to Know What is Good and Right ~ Ann Cleeves (UK)
Noir heroes don’t uphold moral codes, they are their victims ~ Linton Robinson (U.S.)
Noir is not about morality but about personal codes ~ Joe Trigoboff (U.S.)


Graphic Novel
Fired on Deadline ~ Jon Danko, Writer (U.S.) and Danda, Illustrator (Czech Republic)

Get a copy today! You'll be glad you did.

Blue skies,
Les

NOIR NATION ABOUT TO LAUNCH

Hi folks,

The inaugural issue of NOIR NATION is about ready to launch! This is one of the most exciting developments taking place in literature. I’m extremely proud to have a story included. A couple of my writing buddies have stories in it as well—Paul D. Brazill and J.J. Toner. These stories come from all over the world—for instance, Paul lives in Poland and James in Dublin. And, as most of you know, I live in the international, cosmopolitan city of Fort Hooterville…

The chief editor is Eddie Vega in Brooklyn, and the other editors are Cort McMeel in Denver and Alan Ward Thomas in P:rague.

Click on the link and see their trailer. It kicks butt!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwzLuUWQi5o

Here’s what the folks of NOIR NATION have to say about themselves:

'Noir Nation aims to create a journal of crime fiction supported by an interactive community-building Web site. The Web site will also feature short original works of film noir.

We decided to pursue a digital platform because there are many places in the world with roads that are difficult to travel, which lead sometimes to poorly stocked bookstores and libraries.

Noir Nation: International Journal of Crime Fiction would be delivered electronically anywhere in the world that can receive either cable or wireless communications signals.

The magazine will be professionally edited and designed so that readers can engage immediately with the writing and art and the ideas they convey rather than having to overcome natty typos and badly formatted paragraphs that slow the velocity of their enjoyment.

Why crime noir? There is currently no periodic publication on an international scale satisfying readers' hunger for works of well-wrought literary fiction that explore the dark side of human experience, and that does so while pursuing its own aesthetic ends, rather than the legitimate but sometimes competing interests of the marketing departments of commercial publishing houses.

To accomplish our goals, we will rely on local and internationally based writers and visual artists and graphic designers to create, edit, and lay out the magazine in a format that will be delivered to e-book reading devices, including the Kindle, the iPad, and smartphones. This venture will be supported by a Web site that will invite bloggers and other writers to share information and commentary about developments in the noir and crime writing community. A keen eye and a good rapport with readers and artists will ensure that Noir Nation will have a steady supply of the best crime fiction being written today'.

I took the above from Paul D. Brazill’s blog at http://pdbrazill.blogspot.com/

Writers of, and lovers of, noir and crime fiction should visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/noirnation?sk=info

I’ll let you know the instant the first edition becomes available. Trust me—this will be a magazine you'll want to get your hands on!

These are the same folks who have founded the new press, BARE KNUCKLES PRESS, who are publishing my novella, THE RAPIST. I’ll have a future post about that soon.

Blue skies,

Les

GUMBO YA-YA TAKEN BY SNUBNOSE PRESS

Hi folks,

Well, this is turning into a banner year! Two days ago, I received an offer from Snubnose Press to publish my new short story collection, titled GUMBO YA-YA. This makes the fifth book placed this year. I'm starting to get dizzy...

Snubnose Press is the new ebook press founded by the prestigious Spinetingler Magazine http://www.spinetinglermag.com/  and it’s a distinct and singular honor to be published by them. I was alerted to them by two of my heroes, Paul D. Brazill, one of the top noir writers in the world, and by Jack Getze, Fiction Editor of Spinetingler and author of the Austin Carr series. I met Jack a couple of years ago when we were both appearing at the Writer’s Retreat Workshop in Kentucky and became instant buddies. Turns out we both share a love of good writing—in particular, crime fiction—and Mr. Jack Daniels. I was introduced to Paul by Robin Billings, a terrific writer in her own right. The moment I first read his work, his particular genius was evident and I became a huge fan. If you haven’t yet read either of these guys, I’d recommend you glom onto their work. You can check each out on their blogs—Jack at http://austincarrscrimediary.blogspot.com/ and Paul at http://pdbrazill.blogspot.com/. Tell ‘em I sentcha!

Jack gave me a heads-up on Mr. Lindenmuth’s tastes, saying, “He goes for very edgy, nourish stuff. No happy endings, you know?” Do I know?! Jack just described my twin from whom I was separated at birth! He described my own tastes perfectly and I started feeling good about my chances with him. None of my stories will ever be considered by the Disney folks. Reminds me of something my wife Mary said recently. She said, “Okay. How am I going to recommend my husband’s books to my friends? They’re titled THE BITCH and THE RAPIST!” I answered by saying, “I understand. How about if I change them to ‘The Hardy Boys Visit the Playground Slide' and ‘The Sugar Creek Gang Catches Flies’.” She felt if I did so it would make it somewhat easier for her to recommend them…

I do understand Mary’s concerns. I encourage her to voice her feelings. After all, she only fell in love with me because of that Stockholm Syndrome thingy and we’re trying to work past all that business and ancient history…

It pays to network. However, while knowing prominent people in the business is extremely helpful, it still all comes down to the work. No matter who you might know, if the writing isn’t top quality, your work will get rejected the same as anyone else’s who doesn’t measure up. Thankfully, Brian Lindenmuth, the editor of Snubnose Press and nonfiction editor and awards director at Spinetingler Magazine saw GUMBO YA-YA as a quality work. Brian’s wife, Sandra Ruttan, was the co-founder of Spinetingler Magazine, along with her former husband and along with Jack Getze. Check out Sandra’s books on the website—if you like dark crime, she’s your writer!

I always try to practice due diligence and research any press before I submit. Before I queried Brian, I purchased and read their first published book, Speedloader, a collection of six stories by six different writers. An awesome collection! Not a weak story in the lot! Simply a gathering of six extremely good writers. As soon as I read this collection, I knew this was a press I wanted to be published by.

As of this writing, the collection consists of 14 stories and two essays. I’ll be adding one more story to it as Cort McMeel and Eddie Vega, publishers of NOIR NATION are reading five of my unpublished stories to pick one for the inaugural issue, and as soon as that’s determined, that story will be added. It could easily end up with fewer stories, as my experience with collections is that the editor will most likely delete a story or two from the final version if he feels it might not be as strong as the others. Or, maybe not. I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision as I like all of them—they’re my babies!

I love writing and reading short stories. Collections, as a rule, don’t make publishers or their authors rich. But, I have reason to believe we may do well on this one. My other collection, Monday’s Meal, has sold all but about 100 copies of its print run, and garnered rave reviews, including this one from The New York Times:

The New York Times Book Review

The sad wives, passive or violent husbands, parolees, alcoholics and other failures in Leslie H. Edgerton's short-story collection are pretty miserable people. And yet misery does have its uses. Raymond Carver elevated the mournful complaints of the disenfranchised in his work, and Edgerton makes an admirable attempt to do the same. He brings to this task an unerring ear for dialogue and a sure-handed sense of place (particularly New Orleans, where many of the stories are set). Edgerton has affection for even his most despicable characters—"boring" Robert, who pours scalding water over his sleeping wife in "The Last Fan"; Jake, the musician responsible for his own daughter's death in "The Jazz Player"; and Tommy in 'I Shoulda Seen a Credit Arranger," whose plan to get hold of some money involves severing the arm of a rich socialite—but he never takes the reader past the brink of horrible fascination into a deeper understanding. In the best story, "My Idea of a Nice Thing," a woman named Raye tells us why she drinks: "My job. I'm a hairdresser. See, you take on all of these other people's personalities and troubles and things, 10 or 12 of 'em a day, and when the end of the day comes, you don't know who you are anymore. It takes three drinks just to sort yourself out again." Here Edgerton grants both the reader and Raye the grace of irony, and without his authorial intrusion, we find ourselves caring about her predicament.—Denise Gess. The New York Times Book Review, November 16, 1997

Monday’s Meal also earned a starred review from The Library Journal, along with great reviews from “Studies in Short Fiction,” The School Library Journal, The Port Arthur (TX) News, Texas Monthly and blurbs from such writers as Dr. Francois Camoin, Diane Lefer, Vince Zandri, Melody Henion Stevenson, Carol Anshaw, and Gladys Swan. It was also a Finalist for the Violet Crown Book Award.

And, I think this collection is even better. It ought to be—hopefully, I’ve become a better writer since that book came out!

What’s really cool about Snubnose Press is that because of Spinetingler Magazine’s outstanding reputation as a publisher of top-notch fiction, their books are going to be treated by reviewers, bestselling lists, and awards organizations the same as print books. That’s a huge advantage over many ebook publishers.

This marks the fifth book either my agent Chip MacGregor or I have placed this year—it’s without doubt my best year as a writer! Kind of makes up for the lean times

Hope you find this interesting! And, those who’ve known me for awhile know I’ve had some really, REALLY lean years, so I hope this gives my fellow writers who are undergoing dark times now hope for their own futures. As that great Canadian philosopher, Red Green says: “Keep your stick on the ice. We’re all in this together. I’m pulling for ya!”

Exactly.

Blue skies,

Les

How I came up with the title "GUMBO YA-YA"  is a story in itself. Story collections are supposed to fit into a theme. When my first collection, MONDAY'S MEAL was taken by the University of North Texas Press, the tales in it didn't fit much of a theme. They were kind of all over the place--kind of like me about whom folks say I'm like "a fart in a skillet." While this collection is a bit more focused, theme-wise (all dark), they still cover lots of areas. I came up with "Monday's Meal" as a southern institution that fit the body of work. In the Deep South where I grew up (Texas and Louisiana), Monday was traditionally wash day. That meant the wife not only had to take care of her kids and husband and do the regular chores, she also had to do the weekly wash. There wasn't much time to make a meal, so the traditional meal became gumbo or a stew--something the woman could stick on the stove and, when she had a spare minute or so, run in and throw in an ingredient as it simmered all day. There were a lot of ingredients, that, at first glance, didn't seem to go together, but when it was finished and served her hungry brood, turned out delicious. 

I grew up in a bar and restaurant in East Texas that my grandmother owned, and she had one wood stove in the kitchen that was reserved strictly for gumbo. Nowadays, restaurants serve gumbo by particular names, i.e., "shrimp gumbo," or "chicken gumbo," or "crab gumbo," or whatever. Oldtimers just made... gumbo. It could have any number of ingredients and usually did. (The one ingredient that almost always was in it was okra, and of course, to begin with, "first you make a roue.") For instance, in season, one of the best ingredients would be crab eggs. They're delicious and have a wonderful texture and flavor! She would simmer the pot all day long and when she got a minute, throw something into it. We just called it "gumbo ya-ya" as every day there was a different mixture. Again, often including ingredients that you might not think would go together, when you tasted it, it was wonderful. Ergo... the title GUMBO YA-YA. My hope is that when you read the gumbo assembled in my collection, you'll think it's delicious as well...

MY COVER FOR "THE RAPIST" PUBLISHED BY BARE KNUCKLES PRESS

Hi folks,

By Danda © Bare Knuckles Press

I have some news to share with you. Here is a treatment of the book cover for my existential novella, THE RAPIST to be published by Bare Knuckles Press which will come out this fall (tentative date is October). The managing editor, Eddie Vega, commissioned the cover to the design firm of Butterflies & Hurricanes in Prague. The artist’s name is Danda. There is a full design team in place and the design director Eddie worked with is Kamil Petr. Danda is the same artist Eddie, Cort McMeel and Alan Ward Thomas are working with to create the cover of their forthcoming magazine, Noir Nation, which is getting lots of buzz among the noir community.

The image at this point is just the treatment of a concept and Eddie, Danda, Kamil and the design team will continue to work on it. It’s a copyrighted image, issued to Bare Knuckle Press… which means, in Eddie’s words, “We have the right to give permission to you and your blog readers to copy it and paste and share it any way you like, reblog it wherever. Put it on Facebook, Twitpics, Flickr, wherever, with the rightful credits: by Danda © Bare Knuckles Press. The copyright notice is for the benefit of the legacy publishers--if they try to use it for one of their covers, we are coming after them with bare knuckles.”

Note: The name “Bare Knuckles Press” was chosen to reflect books the publisher and editor feel are “books worth fighting for.”

Generally, as Eddie tells me, book covers are tightly-held secrets in publishing. In his words, “They want to create suspense and surprise. We at Bare Knuckles Press have a different philosophy. We want discussion. And we mean it. We are not talking about false thermostats that give people the false belief that they can control the temperature in their office, when in fact it’s just a box on a wall that is not connected to anything. Because that image is still just a treatment, we would love to see your readers’ feedback. And we will seriously consider their comments as we continue working on the cover.”

Here are some additional notes, Eddie gave me. “The final piece should be in color, perhaps blue monochrome, though still shadowy. It should also be painterly. Currently, it looks like a panel from a graphic novel. The artistic style of the cover should be consistent with the narrative’s high and serious purpose—Crime and Punishment. Other than those, the only adjustment I would like to see made is turning the hand around so we see the fingers more, with an upturned arc, so they suggest a questioning that softens the combativeness of the heaving chest. Right now, it seems the inmate is simply uttering an existential cry. Turning the hand slightly, would very subtly change it into an existential cry for an explanation. Basically, it becomes Job questioning God in prison. Right now the message is more like Martin Luther at the Council of Worms, 'Here I stand. I can do no other.'”

Eddie went on to say: “Danda's talent really shows here--is in the way the inmate's head is given great attention by the background light. Yet the overall feeling is one of confinement. He is surrounded by bars. Another thing I liked very much, and here I think it is very subtle, is the position of the inmate's body to the open cells. It's not really clear which cell is his. Were he closer to the any one of them, then this sense of uncertainty would not be there. However, the uncertainty remains. Yet, here is the genius of the positioning; there are three places he could go. And each one is as bleak as the other.”

As you can determine, by my editor’s careful remarks, Bare Knuckles Press is paying a great deal of attention to the cover. This isn’t something they’re just throwing to some hack artist to whip out in a day or two. They pay the same meticulous attention to the editing of the manuscript, believe me! I am working harder on rewrites for THE RAPIST than I have for any other book I’ve written. It’s an intense labor and I feel I am in the hands of literary geniuses. We, as writers, often decry the lack of a Maxwell Perkins in today’s literary climate, but I feel I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have two brilliant editors in Eddie Vega and Cort McMeel who operate at the same level as Mr. Perkins did in the golden age of literature.

This novel is unlike any I’ve ever written—before or since. It is a brutally honest novel; one with which I shut out the voices of the censors, both without and within, and dug down deep inside to that dark place most of us avoid, and with one goal in mind—to deliver the best truth I was capable of. Early reviews by accomplished authors I respect, seem to offer some proof that I’ve achieved my objective, as it has been compared to work by such writers as Camus, Celine, Faulkner, Poe, and Bukowski. That’s very heady praise and I have to admit it feels good, but the proof will be when it’s finished and “out there” and how the public perceives it.

I do know one thing—it won’t be a book the politically-correct crowd will endorse. And that, to me, is a very good thing. My aim is that it fit the description, Jean Paulhan wrote in the preface to the infamous Story of O, where he said, “Dangerous books are those that restore us to our natural state of danger.”

I’m hoping that readers will relay to us any ideas they might have to improve the cover. As Eddie says, they’ll seriously consider your input.

Hope you like the cover! Your comments are welcomed!

Blue skies,

Les

BASIC PLOT PRINCIPLES

Hi folks,

'

Going back to some basics today--often, it helps to be reminded occasionally of things we already know, but have forgotten...

Thirteen Plot Principles

        

1. Plausible plotting starts with cause and effect. Make sure each step in your plot has a causative event, and one or more effects. Character actions should be caused by motivation, and should have effect on the plot.

2. Your protagonist should save the day (or destroy it). Protagonist is the "first actor,” the character most active in the story. Most importantly, he/she should be the one who resolves the conflict in the climactic scene. No one else should solve the mystery, or discover the secret, or arrive just in time to save the day. The plot should force the protagonist to make choices and take actions, and the course of plot events should change in response to those choices and actions.

3. Give the protagonist a goal, then take it away. The goal-driven protagonist is an active protagonist, but if you just let the protagonist achieve his goal, you'll have a linear or two-dimensional plot.  Have him lose the goal, or sacrifice it, or achieve it and realize he doesn't really want it, and you'll add the complication that makes this a real story.

4. The point of plot is change. The events should cause a change in the protagonist's inner life, to trade her original goal for a more worthy one, to face a personal issue she's ignored before, or to resolve a longstanding internal conflict.

5. Lead readers to the story, but don't drag them. Set up your opening scenes so readers are led to ask story questions like "Who killed the film director?" or "What will happen to John and Sue's  love when Sue learns that John has been lying to her?" The posing of the questions, and the desire to find the answers, keeps readers turning pages. That's called narrative drive. The story question is also an excellent tool to help the writer keep on track.

6. Make the internal come external. Explore your protagonist's internal needs and values, and consider, how will this affect her actions? The external events will cause internal change... and the internal change will cause new external events.

7. Twist a cliché. Do something new with the tried and the true. Use the clichéd plot not as something to reproduce faithfully, but as a classic human drama to explore in a new way.  Show the human depth under the stereotype: the blonde bombshell who walks into the private eye's office is worried because her elderly neighbor won't answer the door.

8. Coincidence kills plausibility. Don't let a one-in-a-million event rescue your protagonist from trouble, or readers will stop believing that this person is truly affecting the course of events.

9. "Exposition is ammunition." Tell the readers what they need to know, but only when they need to know it, and in the most powerful way. Make them beg for it.  An essential question for all plots, but especially mystery/suspense plots, is "What should the readers know, and when should they know it?" Ask that every time you're set to impart some extra information about the characters or events.  Don't tell so much so early that the reader has no reason to keep on reading.

10. Less is more. Don't dilute the power of your story by layering on too many conflicts and motivations, or featuring too many secondary characters and viewpoints. Instead, focus on strengthening what you have.

11. Center each scene. Build it around some irrevocable event that changes the plot, and your pacing problems will vanish; readers won't be able to skip because they'll miss something important.

12. Find the excitement in every scene. Aim for the strongest, most dramatic events that are plausible within the world of your plot and your characters. For example, your protagonist breaking in to an office and reading a file is more dramatic than her just overhearing the same information– but use this only if your protagonist is the sort who would, under these extreme circumstances, break into an office.

13. Always go back to character. The plot should show how these particular people with these particular strengths and values and conflicts react under stress or when pursuing a goal. You'll lose readers as soon as they sense you're forcing your characters to behave in a way that fits the plot instead of their personalities and needs.

Hope this helps remind some of us of basic principles we may have neglected or forgotten!

This has been a busy week! Having just placed three new novels, the hard work is beginning. I've got a tentative release date (in five weeks) for the two novels Stonegate Publishing is publishing--THE PERFECT CRIME and JUST LIKE THAT. Originally, we'd contracted for another novel, THE BITCH, but have replaced it with Stonegate with a road noir novel, JUST LIKE THAT. Portions of this novel have been previously published as short stories, appearing in MURDALAND and FLATMANCROOKED and one was both in HIGH PLAINS LITERARY REVIEW, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize and also included in Houghton-Mifflin's "Best American Mystery Stories, 2001." The other, THE PERFECT CRIME, was originally sold in auction to Random House, and alas, was cut when Bertlesmann purchased RH. Now, it finally gets published! I think readers are going to enjoy both of these, unless they're expecting THE BOBBSEY TWINS--these ain't one of those...

And, I'm deep in edits on the noir novel THE RAPIST, being offered by the new press, BARE KNUCKLES PRESS. I'm  working with the publisher, Cort McMeel and the editor, Eddie Vega, and these guys are fantastic! I've shared early editing notes here from Eddie, and he's a tough one! I'm also getting blurbs for this one already from some real heavyweights. Eddie and Cort and some other folks are also starring up a really exciting magazine, NOIR NATION, and I think I'll have a short story in the first issue. Even if I don't, glom onto a copy, as noir master Paul D. Brazill does have one in it for sure and you don't want to miss anything by this guy!

And, lastly, I've been getting all kinds of emails from those who listened to the radio interview last week with Jennifer Wilkov on her program, Your Book is Your Hook, on WomensRadio. Meeting all kinds of really cool people, mostly writers. Thanks, Jennifer!

Anyway, it's been tres busy! No time for many Jack and waters, alas... In fact, this week we had to forgo our weekly Friday night romantic tryst where I shave my wife Mary's back while we sip Barq's root beer and nibble on Hostess Ho-Hos...

Hope the writers out there who visit here are busy in the same kinds of ways. As that sage philosopher, Red Green, says: "I'm pullin' for ya. We're all in this together. Keep your stick on the ice."

Blue skies,
Les