Bibliohohlic's Bookshelf: Pennies On Her Eyes Sixties Horror

Mary Linn Roby penned a number of novels and short stories as well including some that were adapted for Rod Serling's Night Gallery in the seventies. This one's from 1969. Read an interview with her on Phil Jason's blog.

This is a book that's been with me a while. I'm not sure where I acquired it now. It bears the rubber stamp from a used book store I never visited. That's a sure sign of biblioholism. You often turn up with a book you can't quite remember acquiring.

Trailer Tuesday: The Silent Girl By Tess Gerritsen

I became a fan of the Tess Gerritsen thrillers with The Sinner and backtracked then moved forward from there to keep up with the adventures of Rizzoli and Isles before the TNT series rolled around.

Here's the trailer for the all new novel from Tess Gerritsen. Looks exciting.

Sunday Author Interview: Aliya Anjum - Travel, History and Information You Might Not Know

Recently I did an interview with Robert Lory that seemed popular, so I thought I would do some more interviews, at least on an occasional basis.

I put the call out  on the Kindle Boards, Twitter and a couple of other places for authors with a couple of books.

One of the first writers to touch base with me was Aliya Anjum, author of several recently-released e-books.

It was a real pleasure to learn of Aliya's work.  I was once a religion reporter, so some of her topics took me back to some of my interviews from those days, meeting and chatting with people of many faiths and creeds.

If you read to the end you'll also discover what she has planned next makes her a particularly appropriate interview for my little web corner here on another literary front.


The synopsis on some of your books, and even some of the subtitles note that you are Pakistani, but tell us a little about yourself and your writing background. You write of history and Hollywood and many diverse topics. What prepared you for that.

First of all, thank you for this interview. Coming to your question, briefly, I am a Pakistani author and free lance journalist as well as part time MBA faculty at a business school. I hold a BBA/MBA from The Institute of Business Administration, Karachi and an MS from Philadelphia University, US. I have also worked at a French and a British Bank in Karachi, before going to grad school in US. After my return, I worked for the government of Pakistan and prior to that had a very short stint as a Live TV Show host for a current affairs program.

I have been an avid reader, all my life. After studying in US in the post 9/11 environment, my interest in geo-politics, globalization and history deepened. I started to read up on Islamic history and geo-politics, beginning from Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilisztions". As I read up on history, I got hooked. Even though my studies in US were in Fashion Apparel Management, however, I am not even remotely linked to it.

As for Hollywood, I think most Americans do not realize the global reach of Hollywood. Even prior to cable TV, which is available the world over now, Hollywood movies have been watched on TV and Cinema, everywhere. In many countries including Pakistan, unfortunately, pirated CDs hit the market, simultaneously with its US release. Hollywood is everywhere, in the cinemas, on TV, at CD shops and even on the internet now.

I will also tell you a surprising thing about Hollywood. Contrary to popular belief, Hollywood is US's biggest goodwill ambassador and the US is admired in many ways because of it.

Two weeks of solo travel in Greece: a Pakistani Girl's Diary is called on Amazon a “look at Greece through the eyes of a solo Muslim female traveler.” Tell us a little about the focus of the book.

This book is based on my trip to Greece in October-November 2010. Of late I have been traveling to historically blessed destinations. In 2009, I went to Spain and Turkey to see Muslim history (Spain was under Muslim rule from 751 to 1492. This was Spain's glorious age, in the European dark ages). Coming back to my travels, I visited Greece to see the scientific, philosophical and cultural foundation of the western world. Greece is blessed with natural beauty and a amazing people. My book reflects all of that. It also hints at globalization. The book however, has its feminine moments too, and thus it's a solo female traveler's account.

You have illustrations tied to the book. Tell us a little about some of the images and some of your photography.

I have three slide shows links from the site Tripadvisor wow with about 185 pictures, covering almost everything I mentioned in my book. So if you read my book, and see the pictures, you can visually follow the narrative. The pictures are taken from my Sony Cybershot camera, and I would leave it for my readers to decide upon the quality of the visuals. I am only an amatuer photographer, but I thoroughly enjoyed being click-happy in Greece, which was a sensory overload.

You have looked into Muslim history in a couple of your titles. In Muslim Inventions in the Islamic Golden Age 750-1500 AD you explore some discoveries and scientific information that’s been lost or misinterpreted over the years. Can you give us a little overview of what the book addresses.

This manuscript was awarded a Commendation Certificate by the National Book Foundation, Pakistan.

Islam is unfortunately greatly misunderstood in the US. Political Islam has overtaken and even maligned the scripture and Muslism. Islam is an Abrahamic religion and during the middle ages, the Islamic civilization, was a glorious civilization, which gave impetus to the European Renaissance. Muslims empires ruled over parts of Africa, Asia and even Europe, and the sciences and arts reached new heights in this era.

To elaborate, Bayt-ul-Himkah (House of Wisdom) was a scientific research institution in Baghdad, Iraq where Muslims collected the knowledge of all ancient cultures including Greek works. It was here that Arab Muslims and Jews worked together to greatly build upon existing sciences and created new sciences such as Algebra. Chemistry is also an Arab Muslim invention. Muslim and Jewish Arab surgeons and physicians such as Al-Zahrawi (Albucasis) and Moses Maimonides performed even cosmetic surgeries and treated complicated illnesses. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) created the first medical encyclopedia and his book the Canon, was standard medical text in European universities for 500 years. Muslims also mastered urban planning and wrote literary masterpieces such as the One thousand and one Nights, penned circa 800 AD. Islamic knowledge began to spread to Europe during the Crusades (1099-1192). Otherwise, after the ancient Greeks, the last of whom existed circa 150 AD, there was over a mellinium of the European dark ages.


The Islamic civilization is the bridge that connects ancient Greeks to Renaissance Europe. However, much of this has been lost to history due to colonialism. Interestingly, these facts are being re-discovered and brought to light in European universities and institutions. Science is the collective heritage of humanity.



And in Muhammad’s Wives you look at the 11 wives of Muhammad. That’s an area Westerners and possibly many others don’t know much about. Tell us a little about the book and the wives, and what the information reflects about contemporary life.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) in unfortunately also greatly misunderstood on account of Political Islam. He is often portrayed as a militant misogynist. The widespread poverty and economic backwardness of Muslim countries, also strengthens this negative image.

Muhammad's life is a road map for all Muslims and his role as a husband is thus very important. It would be surprising to note that the book would be equally educational for Muslims as it would be for non-Muslims to know many surprising facts about the wives. Take for example that Ayesha (the infamous child bride, which is something open to debate) is the greatest knowledge bearer of Islam. Her youth and intelligence, served Islam for 38 years after Muhammad passed away. This is iconoclastic for an Abrahamic Religion, when a woman was trusted as such. Then there is Hafsa, who was trusted with the safekeeping of the Quranic (scriptural) text. It was her text that was compiled in the current format of the Quran that you see today. Finally Muhammad, never indulged in physical or psychological abuse and he married widows and divorcees.

The book is a condensed 20 page e-book available for 99 cents, and I would urge people to read it.

What are you working on now? What’s next on the horizon.

All three of my e-books were launched in June 2011. I am currently involved in establishing myself as an author by marketing my books. Interviews such as this one, are a great help. I am at present, completely consumed in this effort, which is labyrinthine, due to the breadth and scope of Social Media. It is especially, hard for a foreign, non-fiction, indie author to create readership. Being so far away, I can't manage any coffesshop or bookshop appearances or a speaking session etc. And then my books are not in the hot selling romance genre either. The internet is my sole medium, but it is a powerful medium.

My next project is going to be a collection of horror short stories, which was actually the first book I penned down. It participated in the National Book Foundation's annual competition, where it was featured in the annual new book selection, a booklet aimed at publishers. It would be my fiction debut and I am looking forward to it.

Thank You!

Thanks to Aliya for dropping by. Check out her books by clicking the links above, or learn more here:

Aliya's titles on Smashwords
Aliya's blog

The Big Thrill Interview

If you missed it from my tweeting it, another new interview with me is out. This one is on The Big Thrill, website of the International Thriller Writers association.

It was conducted by Gary Kriss, a former newspaper man like me, and author of the upcoming novel The Zodiac Deception.
 

It was an interesting interview to do. Gary asked some great questions about books, thrillers and a lot more.
Check it out.

Damballa - All New African American '30s Pulp Hero

Saw this mentioned on another blog the other day, and noticed I had news about it in my in-box from Cornerstone Books and Airshop 27. They're billing Damballa as "pulpdom’s first ever 1930s African-American pulp hero as created by the acclaimed author, Charles Saunders."

Synopsis
From the heart of Africa to the streets of Harlem, a new hero is born sworn to support and protect Americans of all races and creeds; he is Damballa and he strikes from the shadows. When the reigning black heavy weight boxing champion of the world agrees to defend his crown against a German fighter representing Hitler’s Nazis regime, the ring becomes the stage for a greater political contest. The Nazis’ agenda is to humble the American champion and prove the superiority of their pure-blood Aryan heritage. To achieve this end, they employ an unscrupulous scientist capable of transforming their warrior into a superhuman killing machine.

Can the mysterious Damballa unravel their insidious plot before it is too late to save a brave and noble man?

Seems to blend a lot of pulp elements.

“Racism and sexism were a few of the ugly aspects of the pulps we’d all like to forget,” according to Editor Ron Fortier in the Cornerstone release. “Minority groups based on race, sex and religion were ostracized and either ignored completely or denigrated in their outlandish portrayals. Since its creation, Airship 27 Productions has made it a goal to address these wrongs and help correct them within the context of providing top-notch action fiction to our readers. Damballa is a major step in that direction and we are truly excited about its release.”

Interesting on many fronts. It's available for order here.

Biblioholic's Bookshelf: Drum Beat - Mariane Sixties Private Eye Fiction

I bought this at a store called the Pea Picker, though based on the rubber stamp inside the front cover, it passed through a shop called the Book-A-Teria as well.

It bears a 1968 copyright and stars globe-hopping private eye  Chester Drum in the last of his adventures by Stephen Marlowe, a pseudonym of Milton Lesser.

Drum appeared in a crossover with Richard Prather's Shell Scott once upon a time. It was called Double In Trouble.

Trailer Tuesday: Ryne Douglas Pearson's Confessions

I thought an occasional book trailer might be an interesting offering here. I know we did Joe Finder's new book last Monday, but Trailer Tuesday is alliterative. Here's the book trailer for Knowing screenwriter Ryne Douglas Pearson's "Confessions," a literary mystery thriller.

Booksprung Interview

I did a phone interview a while back with Chris Walters from Booksprung ebook news website. We talked about Midnight Eyes but also about adventures in e-book reading and much more.

He titled it How Sidney Williams escaped midlist oblivion.

Stop over and check it out if you get a chance. There are a few "you knows" since it was an actual, live, talking interview.

It was actually fun to do and to contemplate some of the queries about ebook reading and the new reading landscape.

Biblioholic's Bookshelf: MacMorgan No. 1 - Key West Connection '80s ActionI

I picked this one up off a drug store rack. Kind of reminded me of the Travis McGee series. The Dusky MacMorgan series seems to have run for about seven installments, each with a similarly colorful and arresting cover.

Turns out Randy Striker is an early pseudonym of Randy Wayne White, author of the Doc Ford thrillers.

Buried Secrets Goes on Sale

I'm not usually an on-the-spot news reporter, but when I pick up something helpful, I try to pass it along.

Joseph Finder's second Nate Heller adventure, Buried Secrets, went on sale today.

This time around Nate's involved in the search for the kidnapped daughter of a hedge fund manager.

She's, in fact, been buried alive, and Nick's thrown into an investigation that sounds ripped from the headlines.

It promises to be a suspenseful, nail-biting thriller. Check out the trailer below.



Read more and pick up extras here

International Thriller Writer's Roundtable - The Elements of Thriller Stories

I'm participating in the Thriller Roundtable at the International Thriller Writer's Big Thrill website this week. Other participants include Thomas Kaufman, Reece Hirsch and CE Lawrence.

The question posed is interesting, dealing with the purest elements of story.

The late John Gardner suggested that all stories boil down to either, someone went on a journey or a stranger comes to town. Do you agree? At their very core, how do you view your thrillers?

So far, Ms. Lawrence and I have weighed in with opening shots. Drop by and see how it goes if you have a second. 

Biblioholic's Bookshelf: Search For A Dead Nympho - Sixties Noir

Paul W. Fairman was the founding editor of If magazine but left after only four issues, if Wikipedia is to be believed, anyway. This is a noir novel copyrighted 1967, about 10 years before his death. (I believe it's bound to be the same Paul W. Fairman, anyway.)

 It's published by Lancer Books, obviously, if you glance down a bit. That's an early imprint from the late Walter Zacharius, who went on to found Kensington Books. It was under Kensington's Pinnacle imprint that my novels originally appeared. Six degrees, I guess. I don't know that I knew that when I bought this years back. 

Further reading
Dead City, an earlier tale from Mr. Fairman and basis for the film Target Earth, now at Project Gutenberg 

The Death of Sweet Mister - Disturbing Noir

When I taught a creative writing class a while back, I showed a number of magazines as examples of good reading. One was a double issue of Tin House, which offered stories of hope in one half and stories of dread when flipped over.

"I bet I know which side you liked best," someone chimed in.

It may have had something to do with the tone of some of the assigned reading.

I do tend to lean a little toward darker fiction, falling back on the Kafka admonition that we should read novels that stab us.

I think I'm still bleeding from Daniel Woodrell's  The Death of Sweet Mister, a rural noir excursion that pre-dates Winter's Bone. It rivals Jim Thompson or James M. Cain for dark brilliance, overlaid with a bit of Faulkner.

The Sweet Mister of the title is Morris Akins, known as Shuggie. He's the only son of Glenda, a sultry dark-haired beauty, who's wed to a violent petty criminal named Red.

Perceptive
Shuggie is a perceptive and resourceful 13-year-old, wise beyond his years but trapped by Red's brutality and Glenda's dependence on him.

He and his mother live in a house in a cemetery where Glenda and Shuggie serve essentially as grounds keepers while Red and a slightly more compassionate friend, Basil, spend most of their time devising small time schemes to garner money or drugs including prescription pain pills.

Shuggie's roped into several criminal efforts and complies passively, while shouldering more than a 13-year-old's share of responsibilities with Glenda.

Shuggie's dark, shattering character arc is the core of the novel and Woodrell unfolds it with occasional hints and a progression of illustrative events including one humiliating birthday experience for Glenda that rounds out a depiction of Red's character as well.

The title and subject matter suggest tragedy, but Woodrell twists the story in unexpected directions as Glenda begins an affair with a suave chef a a local spot who has aspirations toward returning to better restaurants.

When the book reaches its ending, all of the pieces fit perfectly, and all of the motivations are clear, prepared for and compelling.

It's indeed a novel that drives its cold blade deep, and it would definitely skew in the direction of dread.

What writer's should look for:
Woodrell's careful preparation for the ending through a mixture of character and events. This is a compelling read that employs the very best elements of genre fiction and character-driven literary fiction.

Biblioholic's Bookshelf: New People TV-Tie-In Noveliazation

Long before Lost, ABC dropped another set of survivors onto an island. The series, from Aaron Spelling and Rod Serling, was called The New People. It would appear it ran 17 episodes in 1969 and had a hip and trendy style based on the tone of the back cover description.

I've read Damon Lindelof once said if he'd known about the show, he would have named Charlie Pace's band in "Lost" The New People instead of Driveshaft.

I learned about this series in one old TV book or another and picked up the novelization while browsing a used bookstore once upon a time. It's harder and harder to find lost gems like this just kicking around nowadays, though almost everything's available somewhere on the web, as evidenced by the TV promo below.

BBC World Service Val McDermid Program Airs

The BBC World Service interview with thriller-writer Val McDermid on her novel, A Place of Execution, is now available for online listening or download, and it features my question.

Happily my little query was worthwhile enough to prompt some interesting discussion.

I asked about the development of theme. I believe Ms. McDermid's answer is of interest to writers and perhaps readers as well.


How the posing of my question came about via Twitter is discussed in this blog post.

You can listen to the entire interview on the BBC website.

Writing Contemplations: Justifying the Impossible Or the Unlikely In Fiction

Note: When I do book reviews or appreciations, I've started to note points of interest to writers. I thought I'd also do  occasional posts with thoughts about the writing lessons found in books and film. Here's the first. 

In the recent Blue Bloods season finale Jamie Regan (Will Estes), youngest cop in the show's featured family of New York cops, reveals to dad Frank Regan (Tom Selleck) that he's been quietly conducting his own investigation into the death of his brother Joe.

"Why didn't you come to me?" asks Frank, voicing the viewer's question as well. Why would the youngest and greenest member of the family not turn information over to his father, the police commissioner, and older brother, a seasoned investigator?

The question is the kind writers for the screen, tube and page deal with every day. The real answer of course, is that there'd have been no story, or a different story, if he'd made a different decision. 

Often the easy answer is not the one the writer or the story wants, nor is it the one the reader wants. When people turn to fiction, they don't want a newspaper account of  a worried neighbor who phones the authorities. They're looking for an extraordinary story of extraordinary individuals. 

Sure, the amateur sleuth could just phone the police and wait for them to handle the mystery of who poisoned the headmaster's breakfast, but if the story's about the bookish spinster who solves murders that just won't do. 

Jamie explains in Blue Bloods he felt his brother had left him information about a rogue band of cops as a passing of a torch, and in pursuing the truth alone he was honoring his brother. It fits his character, established over a season's worth of episodes. He's a Harvard grad who decided to eschew law practice to enter the family business, law enforcement, that's steeped in tradition and a sense of duty and honor. 

What reason could the bookish spinster have? Well, maybe like with Joe, something personal could drive matters. Maybe the murdered headmaster's the lover who broke her heart when she was a young school teacher. Maybe that's why she's a bookish spinster and maybe there's a strong sense of need to find out the headmaster's secrets. Maybe some of the reasons years ago that spurred him to break her heart without explanation have contributed to the cause of his murder. 

Say, that sounds intriguing. A little finesse and  layering of ideas can justify a lot in a story and make it richer and more interesting in the process. 

Victims of circumstance
Circumstances as well can force characters along the desired course. A few years ago a friend saw the movie Cellular before I did. It's the story of a woman trapped by kidnappers. Her damaged cell phone makes a connection with a young man who has to stay on the line or risk losing her call. Fortunately he's not an AT&T customer.

"How'd they explain him not going to the police?" I asked, because I always think about the writer at the keyboard behind a story.

Police after all, would be able to trace calls and end the story in a hurry.

"He did go to the police," my friend said. "But there was gang riot and..."

And the young man couldn't risk losing the connection, so as distracting hordes of prisoners were hauled into the police station he had to move on and handle things on his own. Is that how things might really unfold? Meh.

That point in the story did introduce William H. Macy as a dedicated desk sergeant, representing authority and  ultimately helping out. But the gang riot kept the story from being hijacked and  becoming  one of the FBI and vast technological resources being called in.

It's a contrivance, but it's a polished one with great presentation. It also serves as one of those rocks writers are supposed to throw at heroes.

Back to the amateur sleuth
So what could plague our bookish spinster? Even with her personal ties to the murder, she'd likely grow discouraged, hit a few speed bumps, discover some clues out of reach.

What might keep her going against those rocks we're tossing her way?

Suppose the police detective assigned to the case doesn't have a gang riot on his hands? Say she's in a small town, a quiet spot where murders might not roll around every day. The detective might not have the experience of a seasoned homicide investigator.

Suppose the bookish spinster's chief suspect is from a rich and influential family? When she turns in what she's found,  the local cop might not be inclined to tackle the firestorm and go the extra mile to build up the evidence.

Even though she'd like to get back to that copy of Infinite Jest, the sleuth's got to see justice done for her former lover, and clues may not be enough. She's got to find a way to...

And with a few layers, she'll be believable.

New cover for New Year's Evil - young adult supernatural suspense novel

Here's the new cover art for the e-book edition of New Year's Evil, one of three young adult novels I wrote under the name Michael August. It will be coming out soon from Crossroad in most ebook formats. 

The book's available at the Crossroad Press site and coming soon to Amazon and other vendors.

Addendum

• It's now up at Smashwords.
• Now available for Nook

A few of my favorite movie songs

A lot of great songs come out of movies, and a lot of others get used in movies. Johnny Cash's fab "The Man Comes Around" has been in more movies than some movie stars.

You Tube's made reliving the musical moments from old films possible since soundtracks are sometimes hard to come by. Below are a few of my melodic favorites.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
"Tomorrow is the Song I Sing" from Richard Gillis is one of several tunes that punctuate the offbeat Sam Peckinpa Western The Ballad of Cable Hogue. It's catchy an infinitely hummable. It, happily, is available from iTunes as part of the Gillis album Blow the Gates of Heaven.



Reachin' to the sky
Folk genius Leonard Cohen's melancholy "The Stranger Song" opens another offbeat Western, Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller. It really is a perfect tone-setter for the Warren Beatty outing. It's also found on The Essential Leonard Cohen.



I can almost see that old Bandera Highway...
Barry De Vorzon's "San Antone" is actually on a couple of movie soundtracks that I know of, both of which he served on as musical director.  He's best known for Nadia's Theme.

The tune is the homecoming song that opens the revenge flick Rolling Thunder. It's more wonderfully moody and nostalgic in contrast to the opening scenes of William Peter Blatty's The Ninth Configuration, aka Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane. Sadly it doesn't seem to be available for purchase in a pristine MP3.



Over the hills and far away
The television adaptations of Bernard Cromwell's swashbuckling Sharpe novels adopted a John Tams rendition of the 17th century British song "Over the Hills and Far Away."

 It's catchy and a wonderful mesh for the excellent films with Sean Bean. I don't think it's on iTunes, but The Music of Sharpe CD is available in the U.S. on Amazon.




I could go on, but that's a pretty good playlist for a blog post. I'll forego the theme from Kelly's Heros and The Osmonds?! performing "Chilly Winds" on the risque Rock Hudson/Angie Dickinson thriller Pretty Mains All in a Row from Gene, but I kind of like both of those too.

Indiana, Indiana and The Lovely Secrets

(Contains Some Spoilers)
Indiana, Indiana (the dark and lovely portions of the night) from Coffee House, 2003, is one of two novels by Laird Hunt that I read for school last year, and it's stayed with me.

It's a novel with a very basic through story. It is given the heft and richness of a book-length work by the author’s stylistic, poetic approach in exploring his central character’s thoughts and soul.

To say Indiana, Indiana is a simple story, however,  is to do it disservice. It is brief with only a few characters, and most of the tale unfolds from the protagonist’s pouring over mementos from his life.

Yet it is a complex exploration of the simple-minded man and his rural life. His reflections on his past and longing for his institutionalized wife, Opal, open up the narrative to incidents and intrigue.

Hunt’s approach is meditative, yet as he delves into the mind of Noah Summers and dissects his reflections, he offers a certain objectivity. We are often allowed to interpret Noah’s reality from within Noah’s perspective, with some revelations withheld for narrative impact.

We see Noah Summers lacks something. He’s capable of serving as a postman, yet incapable of the discernment that it’s inappropriate for a civil servant to sit down with people he happens on at mealtime.

Simple gifts
Noah has other gifts that stand in for what he lacks. Psychic abilities allow him to help the local sheriff with unsolved crimes, and he’s wise enough to bargain with his abilities and eventually to imitate Opal’s behavior in an attempt to be institutionalized with her.

Since the book unfolds through Noah’s memories, stimulated by mementos, Hunt offers additional narrative touches that further enhance and open up the story. Sprinkled throughout the chapters are letters from Opal, for example. These hint at her sensitivity and perhaps some delusion, yet the spirit of what makes Noah miss her so much is evident.

“Yesterday, I got out of the bath. While I was in there, all of the leaves had fallen off the trees. I was sad when I saw they had already raked all the pretty leaves up.”

In another letter, she observes:

“I had hoped I would see humming birds at the new feeder but none came. Least ways not while I was watching. … They’re so tiny—like pretty thoughts.”

Another interesting addition to the narrative is an outline of the entire work found at the opening of each chapter, with that chapter’s events or letters highlighted and others grayed.

In the box
The lines feel at first almost like a 19th century novel approach, but they are appropriate, since the narrative is an amalgamation of memories and mementos. The outline is like the box of memories through which Noah sifts, reliving his life, and it helps organize and unify the meditation.

Indiana, Indiana is a moving portrait of the type of a man not often given fictional scrutiny. To delve into it and to gain entry into Noah’s world is a fascinating and emotionally haunting journey, a little like Noah’s contemplative evening with his memories.

Giveaway 1 Is Over

Thanks for everyone who followed or even visited during Giveaway 1.

It's now officially over, and a winner has been randomly selected from all followers and those who commented on the review of Steven Sidor's Pitch Dark.

I wrote all the names on a pad, cut the sheet up and drew from my Fund for Animals mug.

I've sent a private message to the winner and will post a notice when I get a confirmation.

Cool Stuff To Watch Instantly: The Cry of the Owl

Patricia Highsmith is noted for a grim and unique outlook. Her recurring series character was not a detective hero but sociopathic killer Tom Ripley brought to life with dark charm by Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley. She's also famous for Hitcockian treatment in her queen-mother-of-misunderstandings tale, Strangers on a Train.

The Cry of the Owl, a 2009 film is based on a lesser-known Highsmith novel, but it's a great example as well of her dark perspective. It's available on Netflix Watch Instantly by way of Starz, which means it won't be streaming forever, so catch it while you can.

It's as twisty as it is dark, and it's wonderfully unusual. You haven't seen this before in quite this way.

The story focuses on Robert Forrester (Paddy Considine), who's going through a horrible divorce. He's left New York for a small town in presumably Pennsylvania where he works as a designer in an aeronautics firm.

In a chance glimpse, he catches the seemingly blissful Jenny Thierlof (Julia Styles) doing dishes. What he perceives as her happiness is comforting, so he returns to watch her, innocently and chastely from afar. Things like that never go well. Soon he's caught the attention of her boyfriend, Greg, and then of Jenny herself, who surprisingly invites him into her home.

Jenny believes in fate, romance and harbingers. Soon she's broken up with Greg and is pursuing connection with Robert, even as he struggles to disentangle him from his wife, a witch of twisty dimensions played wonderfully by Caroline Dhavernas. She comes into one arbitration meeting saying she's changed her mind and wants to make up before a "Just kidding."

Before long, a jealous Greg attacks Robert then disappears, and Robert's run of bad luck so far has been mild for what's ahead. Confusion, misunderstanding and terror ensue.

Adapted and directed by Jamie Thraves, the film is relentless in its realization of that Highsmith sensibility. It's not about crime and detection but about situations that spiral around strange characters.

It's very dark, but engrossing and a must for Highsmith fans.

See also
Earlier adaptation: Le cri du hibou

Giveaway One

Sometimes I get cool stuff from various corners of the blogosphere, and I have items from my backlist of books and comics as well. I thought it might be fun to give some away, so watch for occasional contests.

I'll probably tweet any giveaways also, so you can follow me on Twitter, @Sidney_Williams

Giveaway 1

Here's an ARC of the recently-reviewed Pitch Dark by Steven Sidor, a new release that blends horror and crime-thriller elements. 

All you have to do is follow the blog using the button at the right, and we'll do a drawing one week from today. Or you can comment on this post or the review of Pitch Dark below. Maybe you'll be the lucky winner.

I'll post the winner on the blog, and we'll arrange a drop of the swag at that point.

If you can't wait to read the book, of course, it's now available in stores and online shops everywhere:

Check Amazon here.

Midnight Eyes - Cover For My Thriller

Here's the cover art for my first new book in a while. It's propagating on the usual sites such as Amazonnow, and it's on the Crossroad Press website. Crossroad will issue a paper edition as well in the future.

It's the story of Wayland Hood, a former FBI behavioral science unit agent who's called back to his home town to help his father, the sheriff in a small Louisiana city, deal with a brutal series of murders.

Wayland is scarred emotionally by his family history and his relationship with his father. The two have to put differences aside to get to the heart of the case, which has buried secrets that stretch back many years.

Check it out if you get a chance. A sample's here. Or here.

Also on: 

• Smashwords- multiple formats
• Barnes and Noble for Nook

New Fiction: Pitch Dark by Steven Sidor

A Chicago Tribune review heralding Steven Sidor's previous novel notes: "Crime fiction and horror fans alike will find The Mirror's Edge a dark, disturbing gem."

That line is applicable to Sidor's new outing, Pitch Dark, as well. A definite crime thriller feel permeates the set-up, while the plot revolves around a Lovecraftian McGuffin and builds to a supernatural-fueled climax. Think Elmore Leonard crossed with dark magic.

Much of the action occurs in a snowy Midwestern motel run by Opal and Wyatt Larkin, survivors of a shooting spree in the diner where Opal worked years earlier. Wyatt, then a police officer, helped stop the incident but took a bullet. Opal, then pregnant, almost perished.

As the story begins, Opal is experiencing mysterious visions, believed to be residual effects of the shooting, of which unanswered questions remain. Wyatt has long believed a second shooter was involved. The truth and much more will be revealed as their snowy Christmas Eve progresses.

Trouble has found them and more is on the way.

Max Caul, a writer of pulp novels and screenplays occupies one of the Larkin's rooms, carefully marking doors with protective symbols while holding up with his Irish Setter, Ann Margaret.

Vera Coffy is on the run and seeking refuge, having snatched a mysterious stone from her boyfriend, a thief hired to extricate it from a coven.

Max has a long history with the Pitch, the same mysterious figure Vera is fleeing. When Vera arrives at the Larkin's hotel at the same time their son, Adam, returns from college, fires, explosions and siege follow.

The novel's strongest element is its central villain. To describe too much about the Pitch would be spoiling, and Sidor has many twists it would be unfair to reveal. Some of the apocalyptic tropes are familiar, but there's freshness to the rendering.

Of those on the side of goodness, Max is the most intriguing. Elderly but alert, the Mountain Dew swilling writer lives and breathes. Vera, Wyatt and Opal, aren't quite as engaging, to me, though they serve the story and its action as it builds to frenzied chaos.

I might quibble also with the quickness of the conclusion, but in general Pitch Dark is a brisk excursion with distinct flourishes.

What writer's should watch for:
The subtle re-mixing of genre elements that breaks or at least pushes the sides of the horror box.

Further Reading

St. Martin's at the moment has a free short story for Kindle related to Pitch Dark's events: A Chunk of Hell

Interview: Robert Lory Author of The Dracula Horror Series

In the mid-1970s, the book rack at the local Eckerd's provided me a great deal of reading material.

Along with Doc Savage, Lew Archer and thrillers of the day sat a series of titles which brought Dracula, the prince of darkness, into the modern era.

A great deal of attention was focused on Dracula at that time. Magazines featured articles about the newly discovered tie between Vlad the Impaler and the Bram Stoker creation. Both the Christopher Lee Dracula films and Universal Films were also spotlighted frequently in Monster Times and Famous Monsters of Filmland, and the Aurora monster model kits were still on sale.

The Dracula Horror Series fit perfectly into that period, a blend of horror, science fiction and action adventure. In the tales, Damien Harmon, a paralyzed criminologist with telekinetic ability implanted a device with a tiny sliver of a stake near Dracula's heart. Controlled by the professor's thoughts, the device allowed him to harness Dracula's power for the forces of goodness. If Drac failed to comply with Dr. Harmon's wishes, the stake could be activated, sending him back into oblivion. With Harmon's bald, martial-arts-expert assistant Cameron Sanchez and Dracula's shape shifting friend Ktara, they were off to face super villains, lost worlds and much more.


Those titles were penned by Robert Lory, and I was thrilled to connect with him online a few years ago.

I've decided to do occasional interviews here on the blog, and he was the first person to whom I wanted to pose a few questions since those tales stimulated my imagination when I read them in junior high.  It was a lot of fun to learn details about not just the Dracula series but more of Mr. Lory's work at a very exciting time in science fiction, fantasy and horror publishing.


When I was first reading the Dracula novels, I discovered a copy of If with one of your stories among my cousin’s books. Tell us a little about your earliest writing, what first drew you to science fiction and writing for the digest magazines?

I started writing for dollars when in college in the late 1950s. Since my major was history/social sciences, I was heavily into research. I was drawn to science fiction because logically--at least to my mind--the future can't be researched. Similar case with fantasy: just make the stuff up.

You wrote some science fiction novels and horror novels as well. What was it like writing for Ace in the sixties and seventies? Did you work with one editor or more? Any interesting experiences?

Don Wolheim was my first editor at Ace, and he was terrific. Case in point: Because I came to novel writing from the short story scene, I’d learned to write "tight and terse." The result was a first novel (The Eyes of Bolsk) that turned out to be 10,000 words too short. Since I didn't have the stomach for adding a bunch of non-essential scenic views or conversations that went nowhere, I added a secondary plot line. Don liked it, but gave me some serious advice which boiled down to: Look, I like the multiple plot lines but, if you keep writing like this, you'll burn out after four, maybe five, novels. Relax and loosen up.  One of the best writing suggestions I ever got. Too bad I couldn't follow it.

My history with Fred Pohl began in the mid-60s when he was editing Galaxy and If magazines. He editorialized that he would never--repeat, never--buy a story that had astrology as a base. I took it as a challenge and wrote and sent him "The Star Party" with his editorial attached. The check he sent me had a transmittal note that said something like I shouldn't try pulling his chain a second time. I didn't rub it in when Ace Books republished the story in its Worlds Best SF anthology for 1965.

When Fred was at Ace in 1974, I sent him the first 40 pages of The Thirteen Bracelets, saying I had no idea where the story was going, but would he like to see it when done.  He said yes, but would I include two things: an underground battle scene and an insane computer. I had no problem with either, and am convinced they made the book stronger.

After you started having novels published, where did you first see one of your books on sale?

I honestly can't remember, but here's a related incident I remember well. In the late '70s I was on a flight to Hong Kong, which had to refuel on Guam. The airport passenger facilities at that time consisted of two Quonset huts, one of which was a jam-packed general store. I had three free-standing swivel racks of paperbacks. When I got back to the States, I couldn't wait to tell a writer friend of mine the "good news": he had two books on those racks. Then I told him the "better news": I had four.   

Do you have a favorite among the science fiction and stand-alone novels you wrote?

In science fiction it would have to be The Thirteen Bracelets, because in it I attacked every sacred cow I deemed worth attacking. A close second would be Master of the Etrax, a sort of sword and sorcery romp that ridiculed, among other things, bureaucratic decision-making. I laughed out loud writing both books, which makes me think that, in those days, I might not have been the most empathetic knife in the drawer.





The Dracula Horror Series was written with the book producer Lyle Kenyon Engle, right? How did you come to work on the Dracula series?

Lyle had read one of my Sham Odell SF novels and called me to work on a series which became John Eagle: the Expeditor. (The publisher wanted the books faster than the first writer could supply them.) I wrote the third and fourth in the series and then alternated books up to when the series ended at the eleventh entry.

When Dracula came up, he asked me if I'd do it. I was delighted to say yes.

Did you have an interest in Dracula before the series? Did you do special research for the series?

I'd read Stoker, of course, but had no really special interest in vampires per se.  My research was fairly skimpy--a few vampire stories as well as the classic In Search of Dracula by McNally and Florescu. I never did get into the Anne Rice thing.

Some of the promotional blurbs for the Dracula novels have different character names. I’ve always assumed those were from the original outlines and that the books morphed in the creative process. Am I right?

There really were no original outlines, just a few very rough ideas. One was for the Professor to tell the stories in the first person, and that was killed from the moment I signed on. There was no way that he could know all the details of Dracula’s history.

British edition of No. 4

 in the Dracula series.

What was that process like with Engle and how much freedom did you have in developing the stories? 

I had pretty much total freedom.  Lyle and I had a long dinner in New York where we covered several scenarios and some specific problems--like how do you control the beast now that you’ve got him? Back home in Houston, it took me about a week to develop Harmon and Sanchez (the prof would need a younger man to do the heavy lifting) and the cat-morphing Ktara--as well as a very sketchy back-story that began some time in the Age of Myth.

I outlined the first book, and it was a go. I also did outlines for the next two in the series, but when Lyle and the publisher saw that I never bothered to follow them, they told me not to bother producing them.

I always thought both Professor Harmon and Cameron Sanchez were great characters. How did they take shape?

I wanted brains (Harmon) and brawn (Sanchez), both of whom were fire-eaters on a mission and were hard-pressed to pull it off the way they originally intended (as badged public servants). Sprinkled in their psyches are some of my own traits. Harmon detests telephones; I only bought a cell when my wife had hip surgery (it now sits in my car, uncharged).  Cam hates airplanes; I avoid them whenever possible.

Did you have a favorite of the Dracula series?

Actually, I best-liked whatever one I was working on. As a writer/reader, I too was learning more about these characters as the type showed up on the page.

Would there have been any more in the series?

Probably--if the sales had held up. The Atlantis/Old Gods back-story could have been mined for at least another two or three books, but it was not to be. However, a series of nine isn’t all that shabby.

You did the second Boris Karloff Tales of the Frightened anthology. Any challenges in working in that somewhat brief form?

It was a great deal of fun. It not only took me back to the short story medium, which I realized I missed, but I also got to do a pretty good imitation of Karloff’s voice as I read my stuff aloud during the editing process.

Tell us a little about the Horrorscope series. Was that an interesting project also?

Initially, I didn’t think of it as a book series. What I proposed was a collection of short stories, each based on a Zodiac sign, so I started the book-length project with more than a little reluctance. As the products appeared in print, some of my friends allowed as how I “didn’t seem to be having much fun” with them. They were right, and I think the writing proved the point. In any case, when Pinnacle dropped that project (and others of its ilk), I felt very relieved.

Can you tell us a little about what you’re up to now?

Nine years ago, I retired early from my corporate (PR and advertising) job--and immediately started a consulting company, which I retired from about four years ago. These days I enjoy day-trading the financial markets. I’m also working on improving my tennis game. To date, Rafa Nadal has expressed no concern.

The Dracula books now sell at collectible prices. Any thoughts about having any of your work brought out on for Kindle in this burgeoning digital era?

I could hardly believe it when I first discovered my stuff was still being read and reviewed on several Web sites. I’ve gotten “thank-you” emails from people that were toddlers when my books were written. So, from an ego-feel-good perspective, the “digital era” has made my day many times over. Anything more is gravy.

Additional reading

• My Monster Memories: Dracula Returns Again...In Book Form!

Val McDermid BBC World Book Club

I can't always report top news here, but I have a bit of information that may be of interest to those in the UK.  On May 4, thriller writer Val McDermid will be visiting BBC World Services World Book Club, a radio show and podcast.

The program, recorded at Bush House, home of the BBC, spotlights an author discussing, reading from and answering questions about a single book. Past guests have included James Ellroy, Carlos Ruiz Zafron, Uberto Eco and many others. I subscribed a while back and have enjoyed the installments I've listened to. They're great discussions for writers to hear.

Wires and Execution
Ms. McDermid, who also authored the books on which the Wire in the Blood series was based, will be discussing her novel A Place of Execution. It's a multi-layered mystery thriller focusing on a present day television journalist who's at work on a documentary about a 1963 murder case. Of course, all is not what it seems with the case or the hero detective who handled the investigation. Or with the heroine for that matter.

Her pursuit of the truth leads to revelations that affect her on many levels.

I recently watched the Masterpiece Contemporary/ITV adaptation of the novel, which originally aired in the U.S. in 2009. It's a great mini-series, exciting and compelling with a stellar cast including Lee Ingleby and Juliet Stevenson.

I Tweeted that I was watching, which brought a message and invite from World Book Club's Twitter account.

If I were going to be in London, I could go to the recording of the episode, but since I can't make it, I've been asked to submit a question about the novel to be posed at the session. I'm trying to come up with something meaningful now. I'm leaning toward asking a character question about the journalist, Catherine Heathcote.

That should be fun. What a wonderful new world of communication we have these days. I'll let you know what my question is when I get it formulated and how things turn out.

You can submit a question too via WBC's twitter feed, @BBCWBC or by e-mail worldbookclub(at)bbc(dot)co(dot)uk.

Further reading

Mystery Fanfare: Val McDermid Place of Execution Interview

Variety review of Place of Execution mini-series

Addendum

The program airs blog post

Listen to the BBC broadcast which includes my question. 

Finally Seeing Red

A friend used to scan the new movie trailers on Apple's site regularly. One day he mentioned an upcoming flick called Red.

I realized he was talking about a Jack Ketchum adaptation. "I don't know if I have the stones for that," I said, because I knew it was the tale of a confrontation between an old man and the teens who'd killed his dog. (My vision, incorrectly, was of a hermit stalking unsympathetic but focal teen characters.)

I read Off Season when I was a kid without flinching, but like most viewers I do flinch if animals die on screen. I've almost recovered from Old Yeller, but it took a while.

 I kind of  avoided Red until it popped up recently as a Netflix watch instantly option. David Naill Wilson had mentioned Jack Ketchum's Crossroad Press titles, and I rather liked Red director Lucky McKee's ghost story The Woods.

So, bracing myself, I selected it and watched the credits roll. It's an impressive span of credits including Amanda Plumer and Freddy himself, Robert Englund.

A film not a flick
I can't really say a flick about a man's murdered dog was a pleasant surprise, but the film is, well, a film and not just a flick.

Starring Brian Cox who's tackled many tough roles and character turns, Red is a well realized achievement that does not take an easy path.

Cox is  Avery Ludlow a small town store owner, who's still mourning the brutal loss of his wife. Red, his dog, was her gift to him on his 50th birthday and all he has left of her.

While fishing, Avery encounters three young jerks led by Danny (Noel Fisher), a particularly nasty and violent rich kid. Danny and friends shoot Red out of spite, mercifully in an almost off-camera moment.

This is no, pardon me, rabid revenge film, though. Avery sets out to seek legal remedies for the wrong and to perhaps see Danny's spiraling course corrected.

Instead Danny's wealthy father played by Tom Sizemore backs his son and twists legal arms to thwart
prosecution. Kim Dickens as a reporter is on hand to note how often animal cruelty is lightly prosecuted.

Things go badly, with Cox maintaining a subdued demeanor as every attempt he makes for justice falls apart.

Things get violent, but never in an exploitive way as the conclusion arrives.

Red is not for all tastes, but if you are in the right place, it's an excellent watch instantly selection and an excellent realization of Jack Ketchum's dark vision.

Further Reading

The Woman  by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee, soon to be another major motion picture.

(Full disclosure: Crossroad Press has also brought out my e-book titles.)

The Girl in The Trunk - Pulp Covers and How Bish's Beat can be dangerous

I now own a copy of the book above, The Girl in the Trunk, an early seventies pulp-noir mystery from Ace by Bruce Cassiday. It's the tale of a Honolulu cop who has to investigate, well, I think you get the idea from the cover.

I was browsing the fabulous Bish's Beat blog one day and caught sight of it in his vintage covers gallery.

They're snapshots of the Fawcett Gold Medal era though not limited to Gold Medals of course. Dell and many smaller publisher's get display, and you know how it is with covers. Once you glance at them, you wonder what the story's about.

I dutifully check the usual suspect spots when one's particularly intriguing. Sometimes those checks pay off. Mr. Bishop posted  Night Squad from David Goodis, author of such classics as Dark Passage and one-time litigant over the origins of The Fugitive, and it seems some of his books have crept into public domain and are readily available for e-readers.

Many other paperbacks are not available in any current form, sadly. That means seeking them out used. I got The Girl in the Trunk for probably a buck plus postage. Bye to some of my royalties from my e-book sales.

I'll let you know how it reads.

As you know, I'm Sid, and I'm a biblioholic.

Further reading

The Fugitive and David Goodis

More vintage covers

New Who

I've been so busy of late, I haven't had time to be excited about the new season of Doctor Who. It's kind of interesting how the phenomena has transformed. 

Took a year for Season 1 to air in the U.S. I can remember visiting the official site one day to discover the TARDIS materializing on White House lawn. 

Now we get the Christmas specials on Christmas night, and a new season is here almost as quickly as it airs in the UK. That's the force of demand and technology, I suppose. 

The lack of anticipation almost makes U.S. viewers take it for granted. 

Seeing the first U.S.-lensed scenes evidenced in the trailer helps with my excitement. Let the countdown begin.

Addendum
And what should arrive in my RSS feed this afternoon but an interview with lead writer Steven Moffat on the evolution of the series. Read it

New Who Wallpaper

Tweaking the Synopsis - Midnight Eyes

I'm in what I find to be an awkward phase. It's time to write the jacket copy for Midnight Eyes, a thriller I just turned in to Crossroad Press for copy editing. Summing up 100,000 words in a few paragraphs that capture the relevant points isn't as challenging as, I don't know, math, but it's not just dashing off a few lines either.

I thought I'd toss out the first pass here.

A little background
The first version of Midnight Eyes was written several years ago, around a time when I seemed to have agents lining up to flame out for me, so the manuscript wound up going into the trunk for a while. I moved on to write other things.

As we recently began rolling out my horror novels as e-books, it seemed time to re-visit ME, and it seemed I had the juice to do it, if you will.

It's a non-supernatural tale set more or less in the universe of my previous books. It was written not long after I'd stopped being a reporter. I wondered how the police in a smaller city might cope when a persistent and hard-to-understand serial killer arrived. It started out, in one early draft, from the perspective of journalists, and one remains. But it eventually developed into a different story.

I think of the tale as more than a serial killer novel with several plot strands that weave together, but it all revolves around investigation and attempts to end a spree.

I've spent the last few months revising and updating it, changing the main character's job a bit and modifying situations to reflect the world we live in today. I gave some people cell phones, that is. Cells have definitely changed a few thriller tropes over the last few years, though based on the coverage I get with my iPhones, they've also created new and realistic challenges.

The summary of the story so far
Men are being lured to agonizing deaths in the small Louisiana city of Aimsley. Brutalized bodies are displayed on the riverbank and in little-travelled bayou country, and a mysterious dark-eyed beauty may be connected. It’s a case with tremendous human suffering and a challenging political labyrinth for Sheriff Ty Hood. It means calling on the last person he wants to for help—his son.


Former FBI agent Wayland Hood is a brilliant criminologist and writer. He’s immersed in a project to unravel the mysteries inside the minds of four of America’s most heinous serial killers. Only unresolved issues with his father can draw him into the dark quest for buried secrets that fuel modern bloodshed in his hometown. As father and son clash with each other and with canny reporter Jemy Reardon, who has her own goals and theories, the body count increases. Only a terrifying excursion into the darkest heart of midnight can hope to bring the nightmare to an end. 

Call for feedback
If you have any thoughts or reactions, feel free to leave them in the comments. I'm told a couple of synopsis variations for different seller sites might be in order, so tweaking will occur.