They always get their (infor)MAN(ant)



The biggest news around today is the capture of the elusive James "Whitey" Bulger. He's the former big-time crime boss from Boston, MA, who has been on the lamb for about 16 years. This guy was the real deal, but I think the biggest issue with him is that he despised "rats" and dealt with them severely, yet he was the biggest rat of all. Can't wait to see how this all works out.

 If your looking to find out more about Whitey and his notorious Winter Hill Gang, I can recommend Black Mass and BOYOS, as two good novels that are well worth a read.

Watery Grave Invitational: The Winners

The winners have been seleted in Naomi Johnson's Watery Grave Invitational. Big-time congrats to the winner's and everyone who participated.

1st Prize: RUN FOR THE ROSES by Chris La Tray ($50)

2nd Prize: FINGERPRINTS by Eric Beetner ($35)

3rd Prize: A POCKET FULL OF HORSES by Chad Eagleton ($20)

4th Place: HARD TIMES by Ian Ayris (A bye into the next WGI)

5th Place: A tie:
                A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK by Patricia Abbott
                TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG by Nigel Bird
                (Byes into the next WGI)

You can read the top 3 stories over at Noami's place HERE

He's not only a blogger...The dude can write too!

Seems like the Do Some Damage "Noir at the Beach House Challenge" has garnered the interest of a good number of writers. So far, the following have thrown their machete into the ring and I hope some more do as well.

Stephen D. Rogers
Eric Beetner
Keith
Seb Duper
Patti Abbott
David Cranmer
Chris LaTray
Peter Rozovsky
Benoit Lelievre

Peter Rozovsky, he of the excellent Detectives Beyond Borders blog, has already posted his story HERE.  Most impressive is the fact is this is Peter's first foray into crime short writing. Very impressive debut!

Holiday's Were Made For...Working!

Man, has it been hectic lately. Spent the Memorial Day long weekend working and have to do the same Fourth of July. The Man even has us scheduled for next Memorial Day. But hey, I got's to pay he bills, and considering the state of the economy, I ain't gonna complain and I'm glad to have a job. The youth lacrosse season wraps up this weekend, so putting away the coaches hat is going to free up a good chunk of time.

Through it all, I was able to write and submit a 3,400 word short for Naomi Johnson's Watery Grave Invitational. I called it "Renegades of Pain" and I'm really happy with it. BIG TIME thanks to Naomi for hosting it and just as much thanks to Sanda Seamans' blog for tipping me off to it, at the eleveneth hour. I chipped away on this one from 10pm to 1am when I could and loved every minute of it. For whatever reason, I love writing under pressure. I'm always writing down small idea's for stories, or using real life situations to motivate me. For this one I combined two.

- Getting ripped off big time, when I bought my wife a flat iron for Mother's Day.
-That old Charms Lollipop commercial with the kid asking the owl how many licks it takes to get to the center of the pop.

From those two things, somehow, I built a story around them.

If you are looking for a way cool challenge, check out Steve Weddle's post today over at Do Some Damage. Summertime & Crime. I am so all over this as both are two of my fav subjects. Details HERE

Even though I have not been posting lately, I've still been following lots of blogs, reading some great posts and stories, and commenting when I can. There is so much talent out there, it is insane.