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Free Psycho Billy!
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Monday, May 12, 2008
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Plus: LaSalle Lives On!
Two bits of Crimedog-related news to pass on today. First, it's Psychobilly Monday, the day you all agreed to rush down to Barnes & Noble and buy a copy of Neil Smith's Yellow Medicine. You say you didn't agree to this? I've got your signature right here on this for. No? Sure looks like it to me.
So here's your chance to help Neil stick it to the Man. The proceeds should go a long way towards paying off all those golf balls he's lost in water hazards across America.
In Other News: The late, great Emerson LaSalle has returned to blogging - a neat trick since he died some time ago. But apparently he was never quite comfortable with the latest technology, preferring to write out his blog posts longhand so his assistants could transcribe them. They're now doing their best to get them up there on his blog.
Even better, YOU have the chance to help pick the LaSalle quote for a line of trading cards featuring sci-fi writers. Leave your favorite line from LaSalle in the comments. Fabulous no-prize prizes for all who enter!
Incidentally, I understand a longstanding rumor has finally been debunked. Despite their long-running feud, there is no truth to the rumor that LaSalle was in Ketchum, Idaho, on the night of Hemingway's "suicide".
posted by Graham Powell at 9:37 AM
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Well, This Sucks - Updated
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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So romance author Deborah MacGillivray got all wound up about a mediocre review on Amazon.com, to the point she's encouraging her fans to mark the review as "abusive", ensuring its removal.
Worse, she has apparently dug up some personal information about "Reba", the reviewer. What possible use could she make of this information? You're mystery readers, use your imaginations.
Worst of all, however, was the response when Tess Gerritsen posted a less-than-serious blog entry about the whole mess (there are several follow-up posts, visit her home page to read them all). The comments generally ran to the negative, to the extent that Tess decided to shutter her blog (temporarily, we hope).
Just great.
Tess won't miss the Internet - she has a career and a life. These other people? Getting in Internet pissing matches is what they do. I think I'll miss Tess's opinion more than theirs. Unfortunately, she's going away and they aren't.
Update: First, I forgot to mention where I heard about this.
Second, J.D. Rhoades has a nice post on this subject at Murderati.
Finally, I believe I have found the reason for this behavior (not-safe-for-work language).
posted by Graham Powell at 10:29 AM
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Rita Mae Brown
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
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Here's an interesting article on Rita Mae Brown from Time. While her fiction is not considered cutting edge - cat mysteries get a lot of grief in some quarters - she's apparently fearless in real life. She's never felt a need to hide her homosexuality, and in fact her first book, Ruby Fruit Jungle, was a comic coming-of-age story about a young lesbian. It sold a million copies.
She was also kicked out of NOW by Betty Freidan personally, and later has a high-profile relationship with Martina Navratilova. Now she's Master of the Hounds for a foxhunting club in Virginia. No word on what Sneaky Pie thinks of that.
posted by Graham Powell at 10:47 AM
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Last Call to Do Some Good
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Monday, March 03, 2008
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See that widget over there to the left, showing how much CrimeSpot readers have donated to the United Way? If you were planning on dropping some spare cash, you'd better get to it soon, as it's going away after this weekend. Some will be disappointed that they won't constantly be reminded how cool they are for contributing; others will be relieved that they won't be faced daily with evidence of their own skinflintedness.
Brown's Requiem. Dick Adler has an excellent article on Fredric Brown in the Chicago tribune. Brown's been one of my favorite writers for years, both for his mystery and science-fiction stories. In fact, I titled my Carnival of the Criminal Minds post Carnival of Crime, the title of Brown's "best of" anthology.
Dick asks why Brown never achieved the status of Dashiell Hammett or Jim Thompson, and I think he left out one of the reasons: Brown had a whimsical sense of humor that didn't fit into the hard-boiled world that much of his work would otherwise have been categorized as. I mean you can only set so many murder mysteries at circuses before people begin to wonder if you're serious.
posted by Graham Powell at 8:05 AM
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Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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Friday, February 22, 2008
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Plots With Guns has returned from the dead! There's only two possible outcomes here: A) "The savior of noir has returned!", or B) "BRRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIINNNNSSSSSSSS..."
posted by Graham Powell at 6:53 PM
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Carnival of Crime
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Sunday, February 10, 2008
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Welcome to the Carnival of the Criminal Minds for February, 2008. This month we've got the all-singin', all-dancin', all audio-visual carnival, focusing on mystery podcasts and promotional videos.
You can find January's carnival at Detectives Beyond Borders. March's carnival will be at In Reference To Murder. And a special no-prize prize to the first reader who can identify which writer's "best of" collection had the same title as this post. No Googling!
Podcasts
First up is the granddaddy of mystery podcasts, Behind the Black Mask, run by Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards. They've been on the air for almost two years now, and have interviewed authors such as Max Allan Collins, Jason Starr, Megan Abbott, and moste recently interviewed the "Czar of Noir", Eddie Muller.
Almost as venerable, In For Questioning has been on the air since late 2006. Another interview 'cast, recent victims include Christa Faust and Ken "Pope of Galway Bay" Bruen.
Forward-looking publisher Bleak House Books has developed its own podcast, entitled The Future Is Bleak. Sure, the focus is on Bleak House books and authors, but this is more than just an infomercial. Recent guests include Craig McDonald and Crimedog Neil Smith.
Another type of podcast is dedicated to characters, not authors, and if the name I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere doesn't tip off the character in question, I don't know what to tell you. The most recent episode features Otto Penzler talking about his love of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous creation, and about his collection of Sherlockiana.
Last, we'd be remiss if we didn't include podcast fiction, and Wormwood is just that, a weekly serial featuring the adventures of Dr. Xander Crowe as he investigates the strange goings on in the small town of Wormwood. The story isn't just narrated, either, but like old-time radio, Wormwood features a full cast of characters.
Well, that's enough aural entertainment, let's move on to a treat for the eyes...
Videos
The "vidlet", or promotional book video, started a couple of years ago, but got a real boost with the emergence of YouTube as widely used delivery system.
One of the more ambitious entries is the video for Christa Faust's new novel Money Shot. Directed by Faust herself, this short clip certainly has an impact.
The guys at Out of the Gutter Magazine were intent on getting the word out about their "War" themed issue, so the put together a pretty intense little ad (Warning: images may be disturbing).
These videos work best if you can find the right music, of course, and the anthology Chicago Blues was a natural. Some of the contributors put in appearances, including editor Libby Fischer Hellmann.
Going back a ways, here's a video for Victor Gischler's Suicide Squeeze, which gives a taste of how much fun the book is.
Former editor Jason Pinter put together a teaser for his first novel The Mark, as did Duane Swierczynski for his major-lable debut The Wheelman (featuring a certain Scot as getaway driver Lennon).
If anyone out there knows of any podcasts and/or vidlits that I've missed, send 'em in and I'll run a follow-up.
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds. Be sure to hit next month's installment over at In Reference To Murder. Have a great February, everyone!
posted by Graham Powell at 10:15 AM
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Black Mystery Month
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
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Actually February is Black History Month, so here's a few links to tide you over until I have the Carnival of the Criminal Minds up this weekend.
* Room To Swing is generally considered to be the first novel to feature a realistic black detective, Toussaint Moore. Ed Lynskey profiles author "Ed Lacy" (actually Leonard Zinberg) at MysteryFile.com.
* Brian Lindemuth provides an interesting overview of black crime and mystery fiction over at FantasyBookSpot.
* Let's not forget Kevin Burton Smith's "Beyond Shaft: Black Private Eyes In Fiction" from 2001.
* Last but certainly not least: earlier this week, Slate.com published an appreciation of one of my favorite mystery movies, In The Heat Of The Night. Sidney Poitier was the star, but Rod Steiger had the better role, as bigoted police chief Bill Gillespie.
This movie reminds me of an interview I once heard with Donald Barksdale, the first black NBA All-Star back in the segregated 1950s. When asked about his teammates' reaction to playing with a black man, he responded, "They're athletes. If you can play, they respect you."
The same is true in every profession, and as Gillespie realizes that Poitier's Virgil Tibbs is a good policeman - better, in fact, than he is himself - he is able to overcome his prejudices and eventually offer his hand in friendship.
As the Slate piece notes, the film doesn't sacrifice story for social policy. Over forty (!) years later this remains a taunt thriller as well as a document of why the Good Old Days weren't all that rosy.
posted by Graham Powell at 6:41 PM
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