Gold Teeth and a Curse For This Town

Took some time away from all things writing for a couple weeks, due to school vacation, Easter, and trying get my lacrosse team whipped into shape.  The funny thing about writing is the insane amount of self-imposed pressure we put on ourselves, at least I do. So, it was good to take a little break, although I couldn't resist following my fav blogs here and there. Like others, I like to dabble in poetry / lyrics. This one pretty much describes my mindset the last couple weeks. I heard the Shins "New Slang" a couple days ago, and it snapped my out of the funk. The power of music struck again!

                                        Golden Gate Moment

My internal seismograph registered

 The swell miles out to sea

 A familiar unseen force

Gaining momentum and strength

Despair and hopelessness

Rapidly melting candle wax

                                                

Approaching the shoreline

Destroying music’s enjoyment

Exorcizing hopes and dreams

Crashing down and enveloped

Pleading internally for sanity

Cold rail of the suspension bridge

A ray of sunlight breaks

On the serene horizon

Signifying recovery

Bright warming light

Transforms gray landscapes

Into vivid Technicolors

Cloudless skies inducing

Megalomaniac confidence

Swathed in possibilities

Paradise surrounds me

Admiration and gratefulness

For one more day

I'm In Like Flynn & The Beat On The Street

- Over at Absolutely * Kate's blog At The Bijou, she's been hosting The Rat Pack Review. The star of the event has been crime writing machine Robert Randisi, who's latest venture is crime novels featuring those ultra-cool, swinging cats of the infamous Rat Pack.  There's a great lineup of writer's who chose members or associates of the pack and wrote stories in their persona. I'm very proud to say I was included (as Errol Flynn) along with A*K, Anthony Venutolo, Kevin Michaels, Julie Morrigan, Paul Brazill, Eric Beetner, and of course Mr. Randisi. You can check out my story "Bung Ho!" as well as all the others HERE

- Speaking of Kevin Michaels, I am in the middle of his debut novel "Lost Exit" and it is very good. I'll be posting a review when done, but you can check it out HERE

- "She's no Agatha Christie". That's how an excellent feature story on Julie Morrigan (wink, wink) Lewthwaite's "Gone Bad" collection stars out in the Newcastle Journal HERE

- One of my fav crime writers, who's style I love, John McFetridge, has landed a TV gig and I could not be happier for him. Find out more HERE

- Another crime writer, I really dig for both story and style is Allan Guthrie. He's got a cool new blog focusing on ebooks HERE

-Finally, Glenna has another great review and excerpt up at her blog. This time it is Adrian McKinty's latest "Falling Glass". To be honest, I didn't  read it because I am waiting for my copy to arrive and hate to find out any details of a novel that I am so looking forward to read. If you have not read any of Adrian's crime novels, you don't know what you are missing out on. He's also got a great BLOG and actually interacts with his followers, which I find is not very common with other big-time writers, who love to post about themselves, yet never take the time to interact with fans.  Check out Glenna's review HERE

Forget Charlie Sheen's Goddesses'...Here's A Pair You Can Win!

It is a good week to be crime fiction fan. Here's a few items that may be of interest.

- Over at Declan Burke's Crime Always Pays, he's offering up a free copy of the "Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries 8" all you need to to is post your fav short story of all time in the comments section of his blog by Thursday high noon HERE

- Unless you live under a rock, you most likely heard that Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan are the editors of a forthcoming collection of crime stories by writers, who to me, are the varsity lineup that I aspire to join someday. Seems they had copyright issues with the original title, so over at Chris R's blog you can submit your "Pulp" themed title and maybe win a copy of  "Mammoth Book of Best British Crime" HERE

REVIEW: GONE BAD by Julie Morrigan

A large, seemingly never ending work project and running a youth lacrosse program have kept me really busy lately. Been able to keep track of my fav blogs, but commenting, and posting on mine has been tough. So, I figured I would get things back on track with a review of Julie Morrigan's "Gone Bad" story collection.

Back in Sept 2010, thanks to Paul Brazill's blog, I found out about one of my favorite crime writers, Julie Lewthwaite ( Morgan, Morrigan) and had the following to say HERE  Since that post I have read many more of Julie's stories and others that have not yet been published, or are excepts from larger to be completed works.  Man, can she write hard edged, kick-ass crime stories. It's one thing to write about bad guys and killing people, but to do it with such a well written style takes a real talent. Her latest collection of stories is called "Gone Bad" and it is a winner in so many ways. You can buy it in ebook form for just .99 cents at SMASHWORDS, AMAZON, and AMAZON UK

Here is the on-line review I posted, and for .99 cents, you can't find better entertaiment.

5 Stars
"This was a terrific read. A great mix of flash and short stories make up this hard nosed, no-nonsense collection of crime stories showcasing both the bottom and top rungs of the UK crime world. Believable, authentic dialogue and excellent characters are what really made this work for me. The flash stories all catch you with a great twist and pack a big punch, but it is with the longer short stories that the author does her best work. Flawless writing / editing and excellent formatting made this a very enjoyable read on my nook. Highly recommend to any crime, drama, or thriller fans."