Tag Archives: Sunday

September 21, 2014 · 5:44 pm

Book review: John D. MacDonald Before Travis McGee

Book Review: John D. MacDonald Before Travis McGee – WSJ.

There’s a special kind of poignancy—amounting at times to pure excruciation—in seeing a great writer get famous for his worst books. When people bring up John D. MacDonald, they are almost always thinking of the dopey series of adventure stories he wrote about a Florida beach bum named Travis McGee. Ignored and forgotten are his early novels, 40 of them, which he poured out in one decadelong creative rush in the 1950s—thrillers, crime dramas, social melodramas, even science fiction—that taken together make him one of the secret masters of American pop fiction.

John D. MacDonald

There is some hope that the situation may be about to change. Random House is engaged in a major effort to make almost all of MacDonald’s work available again. Inevitably, pride of place is being given to the McGee series, now reissued in spiffy trade paperbacks—all 21 of them, written between the early 1960s and MacDonald’s death in 1986, identifiable by their cutesy color-coded titles (“Darker Than Amber,” “Dress Her In Indigo,” “Pale Gray for Guilt”) as though they were a noir-inflected line of designer paint chips.

They were meant to be commercial products, and their main appeal today is nostalgia. They’re a kind of mausoleum of postwar American machismo. McGee is the classic wish-fulfillment daydream: an idler on a permanent vacation, who lives on a houseboat on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. He is tanned, ruggedly handsome and muscular; irresistible to women (something about his rueful romantic melancholy and his preference for athletic, commitment-free sex); and intimidating to men (in the late and feeble “Free Fall in Crimson,” where McGee should by rights be filling out membership forms for AARP, his superior masculinity awes and humbles a motorcycle gang).

In novel after novel, nobody ever bests McGee, nobody ever seriously challenges him—though the bad guys do sneak up behind him and knock him unconscious so many times you wonder if he needs a neurologist on speed dial. Meanwhile, the action keeps grinding to a halt so McGee can vent his opinions on contemporary life: the best power tools, the perfect cocktail, the proper way to set up stereo speakers, the menace of air conditioning in grocery stores. These opinions are notable mainly for their unconscious philistinism—as when the perfect dinner menu proves to be this staccato bark: “medium rare, butter on the baked, Italian dressing.” No real man in those days ever ate anything but steak, potato and salad.

But then there’s the rest of MacDonald’s oeuvre. Random House is issuing these in a jumble of paperback reprints and e-book exclusives, but at least they’re there, and no longer need be scrounged out at ruinous prices from the secondhand market. These are the books MacDonald did before he invented McGee, when he was trying out every conceivable pop genre of the postwar market, from soft-core sex comedies to psychological horror.

Article continues at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323324904579040672688388630

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Tagged as American pop fiction, book review, comedy, crime fiction, detective fiction, John D. MacDonald, psychological horror, Random House, sex, Sunday, Travis McGee, Wall Street Journal

September 7, 2014 · 7:49 pm

The Sexiest Hard Case Crime Book Covers (PHOTOS)

The Sexiest Hard Case Crime Book Covers (PHOTOS).The Sexiest Hard Case Crime Book Covers (PHOTOS).

Old pulp paperbacks fetch a handsome price on the antique market. It’s no wonder why; they feature artwork that incorporates everything good and pure about American culture—namely saucy dames, square-jawed men, brutal violence and raunchy sex. Even if you can’t throw down the cake for a vintage copy of Faulkner’s The Sanctuary, you can get the latest releases from Hard Case Crime, a retro fiction imprint with books you can judge by their covers. Check out some of our favorites on the following pages.

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Tagged as book art, Hard Case Crime, retro, sex, Stephen King, Sunday, violence

August 24, 2014 · 7:35 pm

The midnight swim of Grace

Recently, in my hometown of Knoxville, TN, a 23-year-old woman by the name of Evelyn Grace Radford, supposedly fortified by wine and fit of limb and wind, swam not the English Channel, but the more modest Fort Loudoun Lake (sometimes referred to as Fort Loudoun Embayment. Named for an Englishman of noble lineage who never saw it and probably cared not a whit about it).

To add daring to her do, she did so in the dark of night and in no more than her bra and panties. If you do not believe me, you can read the article below or follow the link for the full story, assuming you are not stopped by some pay wall. She successfully swam the Lake, Embayment (sometimes also called the Tennessee River because this were the River starts), but was greeted by police and rescue squad personnel who had been called to the scene for fear that she had fallen in and might be drowning.

The event inspired the following modest poetic verse:

There once was a lady named Grace /
Who did the breast stroke all out-of-place. /
She swam the river with flair /
Scantily in her underwear. /
Alas, the newspaper showed only her face.

Grace’s mug shot

KNOXVILLE — A 23-year-old Knoxville woman told police late Monday night she “just wanted to swim” after making her way across Fort Loudoun Lake wearing only a bra and panties.

Evelyn Grace Radford’s near-midnight jump into the water at Volunteer Landing, however, prompted calls of a drowning to authorities who launched boats to rescue the scantily clad woman.

Her actions also prompted charges of disorderly conduct and public intoxication, records show.

Authorities were alerted at 11:54 p.m. that an intoxicated woman had stripped down to her basic clothing and jumped into the water and was swimming to the south shore, according to Knoxville Police Department Sgt. Scott Coffey.

“She left her clothing with her boyfriend at Volunteer Landing and he abruptly left the area,” Coffey said. “The witnesses indicated they believed the couple were in an argument prior to her jumping in the water.”

For the rest of the story: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/watchful-eye/midnight-swim-nets-charges-against-scantily-clad-woman_69968857

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Tagged as bra, Evelyn Grace Radford, Fort Loudoun Lake, humor, Knoxville, limerick, panties, poem, poetry, Sunday, swim, TN

August 10, 2014 · 8:30 pm

2014 Contest | Knoxville Writers’ Guild

2014 Contest | Knoxville Writers' Guild.

Still time to enter. Deadline has been extended to August 15th.

Categories include Creative Nonfiction, Crime/Mystery. Science Fiction/Fantasy, Novel Except, One Act Play, Short Story, Poetry, Romance, Screenwriting, Young Writer’s Fiction Prize, and Young Writer’s Poetry Prize.

Details located at: http://www.knoxvillewritersguild.org/contest

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Tagged as contest, Knoxville Writers' Guild, Sunday, writing contest, writing tip

August 10, 2014 · 6:05 pm

New words to live by: “law of the inverse square”

It is the second weekend of the month and time again for a new word to live. This is a word or phrase not currently in use in the U.S. English lexicon, but might need to be considered. Other words, such as obsurd, crumpify, subsus, flib, congressed, and others, can be found by clicking on the tags below. This month’s New Word is related to aging and being a parent: law of the inverse square.

Inverse-square law

Inverse-square law = In physics, this means the further you stand from an electromagnetic source (For example, light), the less radiation you will receive? That depends on how far from the source you stand. If you stand two feet further back from where you were, you will receive ¼ th the amount. If you stand six feet back, you will receive 1/36th the amount.

An expression that could elicit “the look.”

Law of the inverse square = the further you get from your childhood in terms of age and maturity (at least to some degree), the more you will start sounding like at least one of your parents. This can be in tone of voice, mannerisms, phrases, and temperament. In this case, the further away in time you travel, the more pronounced these things become. You become the “square” (parent) you promised yourself you wouldn’t be when you grew up, particularly the stern side of your parents. The law giver

For example, as your child grows up and asks the 20th time why something has to be done, you snap back with the same tone and inflection as your father, “Because I said so.”

Or, if you’re a mother, you give your child “the look,” which was the same look your mother gave you.

Training is not required. It happens, in an eerie, secretive, delayed genetic development sort of way.

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Tagged as inverse square, Inverse-square law, law, new word, new words, physics, Sunday

July 27, 2014 · 1:37 pm

Big Publishing is the Problem | Hugh Howey

Big Publishing is the Problem | Hugh Howey.

A few weeks ago, I speculated that Hachette might be fighting Amazon for the power to price e-books where they saw fit, or what is known as Agency pricing. That speculation was confirmed this week in a slide from Hachette’s presentation to investors:

So, no more need to speculate over what this kerfuffle is about. Hachette is strong-arming Amazon and harming its authors because they want to dictate price to a retailer, something not done practically anywhere else in the goods market. It’s something US publishers don’t even do to brick and mortar booksellers. It’s just something they want to be able to do to Amazon.

The biggest problem with Hachette’s strategy is that Hachette knows absolutely nothing about retail pricing. That’s not their job. It’s not their area of expertise. They don’t sell enough product direct to consumers to understand what price will maximize their earnings. Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Apple have that data, not Hachette.

Beyond their ignorance of pricing strategy, Hachette also has a strong bias toward print books. Their existing relationships with major brick and mortar retailers gets in the way of their e-book pricing. This has been confirmed by my own publishers, who have admitted privately that they would like to experiment with digital pricing but don’t want to upset print book retailers. This puts their pricing strategy at odds with their investors’ needs, their authors’ needs, even their own profitability. In sum, they are making irrational decisions with their pricing philosophy. Hachette is making the same mistake that many publishers make, which is to think that harming Amazon somehow helps themselves.

The same presentation by Hachette to investors stressed the importance of DRM and

The rest of the article at: http://www.hughhowey.com/big-publishing-is-the-problem/

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Tagged as Amazon, book publishing, e-book, Hachette, Hugh Howey, profits, publisher, Sunday, writer

July 27, 2014 · 12:01 am

The blathering idiot and the Pro-Accordion Party returns

The blathering idiot opened his front door. On the other side was Lydia and … and the consultant. The consultant was in front.

“May we come in?” the consultant asked, but was inside before he finished the question.

Lydia followed him in.

“Is your child home today?” the consultant asked.

“Child?”

“Your daughter?”

“I don’t have a daughter.”

“Xenia,” Lydia said.

“She is not my daughter,” the blathering idiot said. “It would be nice if she were, but she is my ex-girlfriend’s daughter.”

Pro-Accordion Party strikes again.

The on-again, off-again relationship with Zoey was off again. Maybe for good this time. There was some thick-glasses looking guy hanging around her these days. She said he was just a friend.

“Oh … that’s most unfortunate,” the consultant said.

“I agree,” the blathering idiot said. He missed Xenia very much. Maybe even more than his ex-girlfriend.

“Can you get another?”

“Another?”

“Daughter.”

“I guess. But I might have to get another girlfriend first. That might take some time.” The blathering idiot had not had a date in … he couldn’t remember. It had been even longer since he had had any intimacy.

“We don’t have time.” The consultant’s high forehead was covered in sweat.

The blathering idiot wondered if it had started raining. He glanced up at his ceiling: no leak.

“Let me try,” Lydia said, stepping forward.

They were all still standing inside the blathering idiot’s front door.

Lydia was as blond and as pretty as the blathering idiot remembered.

“It’s like this,” Lydia said. “The Pro-Accordion Party is gearing up for another run at the highest office in the land. We realized from the last time that one of our biggest mistakes was not starting early enough. My friend here did some polling and he found that a candidate with a daughter polled better than one without a daughter. So we were hoping you would still be interested in running and that your ex-girlfriend’s daughter would be interested in accompanying you.”

“You have a daughter,” the blathering idiot said.

“Yes she does,” the consultant said. “And she could loan her to you for the campaign.”

“My daughter is not fodder for this campaign!” Lydia said.

“We all must make sacrifices,” the consultant said.

“I sacrifice enough for Pro-Accordion Party.”

“My wife told me it was either my career or my marriage … and here I am.” He threw his arms open wide.

“Not my daughter,” Lydia said again. A tear trickled down her cheek.

The consultant put his arm around her. “We’ll talk.” He looked over at the blathering idiot. “If, you’ll excuse us for now.”

The blathering idiot opened the front door and they left.

As they walked down the steps from his porch, the blathering idiot signed and hoped it meant he would see Lydia again. Maybe even for a date.

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Tagged as blathering idiot, humor, Lydia, political humor, political satire, Pro-Accordion Party, satire, Sunday, the consultant

July 20, 2014 · 9:46 pm

Charleston Daily Mail | Old friends reunite over “Star Trek” fan films

[Editor’s note: You could call this finding old friends through fictional characters. It’s interesting what storytelling can achieve.]

Charleston Daily Mail | Old friends reunite over “Star Trek” fan films.

Dale Morton was 43 years old when his childhood fantasy came true.

He walked through the red turbolift doors and found himself standing on the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

The screens were all lit up, the lights were all blinking and it was all Morton could do to keep his welling emotions under control.

There, in the middle, room was the command chair where Captain Kirk recorded so many of his famous captain’s logs.

“I’m standing in the place where Kirk usually stands. I’m standing in his point of view,” Morton said.

To his right was the station where Commander Spock dutifully monitored the spaceship’s shields.

A few steps over was the panel, where engineer Montgomery Scott would crank the ship’s engines until he was “giving her all she’s got, Captain.”

Morton wasn’t really aboard the Enterprise, obviously, but it was the closest possible thing.

– See more at: http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20140717/DM06/140719379/1420

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Tagged as fan film, friendship, new friends, old friends, Star Trek, Sunday

July 20, 2014 · 3:18 pm

Star Trek Data & Trek Helped Fan Feel More Comfortable in Her Own Skin

Star Trek Data & Trek Helped Fan Feel More Comfortable in Her Own Skin.

[Editor’s note: This article is an example of how a fictional character can help someone in real life.]

by Samantha Bell

All my life, I’ve had trouble relating to people. Social skills never came easily to me (and still don’t). As one could probably guess, this was frustrating, and left me many times in a state of helplessness – or worse yet, hopelessness. By my doctors, teachers, coaches and especially my peers, my differences were always perceived as something negative, something to be ashamed of, an ailment I needed to overcome before I could start my “real” life. For a while, they had me convinced. I was mad at myself and the world, and in my moments of despair, I was left wondering what I should, or even could, do.

Turns out, it was not a matter of what to do, but who could help. Despite all my efforts to fit in, I found myself drawn to Star Trek, which set me apart even more. I never imagined it would end up giving me the encouragement I needed to change my life. Star Trek is inspirational for many reasons: a utopian future, the advancement of science. But in my case, it was a single character who really moved me – everyone’s favorite android, Data.

At first, I saw him as just another alien life-form that I would watch,

Read the rest at: http://www.startrek.com/article/data-trek-helped-fan-feel-more-comfortable-in-her-own-skin