Collected Miscellany

I think we’re all aware of the state of the thriller. Cartoon characters save the world from other cartoon characters; there’s sex, but not too much. Weapons systems, jargon, the future of mankind at stake; the dialogue typically forces the reader to the dark side, rooting for the villain.

Chris Dickey’s novel THE SLEEPER is a serious setback to this downward spiral. This is a page-turner with style, force and genuine passion.

The novel’s catalytic event is the destruction of the World Trade Center. Yes, 9-11, 2001. Kurt Kurtovic lives in Westfield Kansas with his wife and daughter. Like a lot of people he saw the cataclysm unfold on television. Unlike most of us Kurt thinks he knows who’s responsible; not in a general sense, but in a very personal one.

Kurt is an ex-army ranger and a former mujad fighter in Bosnia. Despite his blond hair, blue eyes and Midwestern roots, Kurt is a Muslim, albeit not in current standing. The destruction in New York and DC propels him into action. It becomes apparent quickly that the FBI and CIA are well aware of his background. With his family at risk, Kurt undertakes a preemptive journey through the looking glass of international terror.

Continue reading →

I feel like I am in a bit of an intellectual funk these days. I just can’t seem to get excited about all of the books I have lined up to read. I have started half a dozen in the last week or so and can’t seem to get any momentum no matter what I pick up. History, politics, philosophy, novels, short stories, nothing seems to generate interest or zip. I surf the net aimlessly and yet find nothing particularly deep or interesting to say. I continue to write about the election and Ohio but can’t seem to post anything here. I think the combination of football season and the election has just been to big a distraction.

Question for the audience: what do you do when you are burned out on books? Is there a particular genre or type of book (or even a specific book) you turn to when this happens? Or do you just do something else for a while assuming that the reading thing will come back after some distractions? Do you even find yourself burnt out on books? Is it just me?

Feedback appreciated.

Terence is an author from the heartland whose work appears frequently in Ellery Queen magazine. His Hollywood historical KILL ME AGAIN is one I recommend to noir fans.

Tell us about your background.

I’m a former technical writer who traded writing computer manuals for crime fiction in 1991 when my first book, DEADSTICK, was nominated for an Edgar. I’ve published seven amateur sleuth books and three private eye novels. One of those, COME BACK DEAD, won the Shamus Award in 1998.

Bring our readers up to date on the Scott Elliott series.

The Elliott books are Hollywood historicals. He’s a former actor who drifted into private security work after serving in World War II. The company he works for, Hollywood Security, specializes in discreetly cleaning up after the movie studios’ spoiled stars. Each of the stories incorporates an ill-fated movie project. In the first, KILL ME AGAIN, set in 1947, the movie is a sequel to a CASABLANCA-type wartime hit. In COME BACK DEAD, set in 1955, the film is a comeback attempt by a faded boy genius, based loosely on Orson Wells. In the third novel, RAISE THE DEVIL, the movie is a 1962 rip-off of the epic CLEOPATRA.

The Elliotts were originally published by Simon & Schuster and St. Martin’s. They’re being reissued in trade paperback by The Mystery Company.

You’re a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen magazine; how do short stories differ from longer works in terms of preparation?

The biggest difference is the idea that gets things going. With a book, I’m
looking for an intriguing premise. With a short story, I want a single twist
that will make the ending of the story effective. You might say with a book
I’m looking for a beginning and with a short story I’m after an ending.
Another difference is that I outline my books pretty extensively. I might
write a 6,000 word plot summary for what will end up being a 80,000 word book. With the short stories, I may make notes in my journal to get a sense of the story, but I don’t bother with an outline. After that, it’s really a matter of scale. You still have to do research for a short story, for example, but usually not that much. One of the attractive things about the short story for me is how quickly you can turn one out and send it off. One of the hardest things about writing books (besides having to promote them) is the months and months of slogging along with no feedback.

Continue reading →

Terence is an author from the heartland whose work appears frequently in Ellery Queen magazine. His Hollywood historical KILL ME AGAIN is one I recommend to noir fans.

Tell us about your background.

I’m a former technical writer who traded writing computer manuals for crime fiction in 1991 when my first book, DEADSTICK, was nominated for an Edgar. I’ve published seven amateur sleuth books and three private eye novels. One of those, COME BACK DEAD, won the Shamus Award in 1998.

Bring our readers up to date on the Scott Elliott series.

The Elliott books are Hollywood historicals. He’s a former actor who drifted into private security work after serving in World War II. The company he works for, Hollywood Security, specializes in discreetly cleaning up after the movie studios’ spoiled stars. Each of the stories incorporates an ill-fated movie project. In the first, KILL ME AGAIN, set in 1947, the movie is a sequel to a CASABLANCA-type wartime hit. In COME BACK DEAD, set in 1955, the film is a comeback attempt by a faded boy genius, based loosely on Orson Wells. In the third novel, RAISE THE DEVIL, the movie is a 1962 rip-off of the epic CLEOPATRA.

The Elliotts were originally published by Simon & Schuster and St. Martin’s. They’re being reissued in trade paperback by The Mystery Company.

You’re a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen magazine; how do short stories differ from longer works in terms of preparation?

The biggest difference is the idea that gets things going. With a book, I’m
looking for an intriguing premise. With a short story, I want a single twist
that will make the ending of the story effective. You might say with a book
I’m looking for a beginning and with a short story I’m after an ending.
Another difference is that I outline my books pretty extensively. I might
write a 6,000 word plot summary for what will end up being a 80,000 word book. With the short stories, I may make notes in my journal to get a sense of the story, but I don’t bother with an outline. After that, it’s really a matter of scale. You still have to do research for a short story, for example, but usually not that much. One of the attractive things about the short story for me is how quickly you can turn one out and send it off. One of the hardest things about writing books (besides having to promote them) is the months and months of slogging along with no feedback.

Continue reading →

Seeking some light reading a while back I once again found myself reading young adult fantasy. Having read, and enjoyed, the first book in Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Amulet of Samarkand, I was intrigued by the second, The Golem’s Eye. Although a little dismayed at its Harry Potter like size (562 pages), I thought it would be a relaxing change of pace from the barrage of information on the election and war in Iraq. It proved to be an interesting sequel but somehow less satisfying than the first book in the series. Ultimately it tells an interesting story but the material that accounts for its length fails to add much significance. Perhaps this is the pitfall of young adult literature.

Continue reading →

I had a brief career as an insurance investigator. My excuses for this career choice are: I was nineteen. The job included a company car. A lot of the work was outdoors. It was better than being a non-union hod carrier; that job entailed unloading bundles of rebar from union trucks and hauling the stuff from the curb to the job site where union hod carriers cut the bundles with wire cutters.

Two hundred Toyotas had been stolen from a dock over in Jersey; I mean all at once, not over an extended period of time. My boss gave me the assignment and added, ‘go ahead, take the car.’

He never gave up the car. It was a puke green Ford Fairlane dented in so many places that the body shop wouldn’t work on it anymore. They said it was depressing.

I drove over to Jersey and found the dock. Detectives from Port Newark let me onto the site after laughing at my car, my tie, and my zeal in crime solving. Who coulda done it? They laughed and winked.

The crime scene was deserted, a long expanse of asphalt where the Toyotas graze after being off-loaded for import. A seagull or two lurked on the periphery; I was escorted by two guys who wore enough sharkskin to make you wonder if sharks were an endangered species. They expessed their utter dismay and astonishment at the sudden disappearance of all those cars.

I asked them who was in charge. That’s a lot of cars. They said I should talk to Phil; he was busy doing the Times crossword.

After an hour cooling my heels near the guard shack, even I knew that I was the only person there who didn’t know what had happened. Phil emerged from the guard shack with the stub of a cigar jammed in his mouth; he poked me in the chest and asked, ‘what’s the capital of Portugal?’

They all panicked when I got the camera out of the car. “It’s for the insurance,” I said. The Newark cops called my boss. Then they took my camera away and told me to get lost. One of the cops thought maybe Madrid was the capital of Portugal; Phil studied his crossword. I pulled up in the Fairlane while the sharks went to open the gate.

“Try Lisbon,” I said.

Phil winked. “Hey, thanks, crime fighter. Call me when that check is cut.”