Candace Wiggins, Short and Sweet

And if I have any left over

2005-05-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

7 May 2005

I'm happy I have a decidedly decent job. This way, I can buy even more books. Like that quote said, "I buy books and if I have any money left over, I buy food and clothes."

Solidly in the middle of TRANSGRESSIONS. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I thought it was something else. Not that it's not good, it's just -- offcenter, I guess is the word I am looking for. I am enjoying it, yet something's not quite -- whatever. Then again, it is Transgressions -- "Keller's Adjustment" by Block was good, poignant actually in a place or two with the hit man still able to turn on a dime to show his innate sociopathic nature. And the character of Dot can make me laugh out loud.

I have got to stop reading, reading, reading and get on the stick with writing, writing, writing -- oh yeah, and editing, editing, editing. Managed to read the whole of LONDON BRIDGES by James Patterson in three nights. I really like the Alex Cross series. Easy going yet never manages to lose that threat that everything could go to hell in a handbag -- and frequently does. I have a friend that talks about Patterson's sellout commercialism, but -- then, he doesn't read Stevie King, either. I told him when he goes thru THAT set THEN we will sit down and talk about it.

What writer isn't into selling his or her work? More power to them. Just be sure and give me a good story instead of drivel. (WHERE IS BOB TINSLEY WHEN WE NEED HIM?)

The Corn Maiden - Joyce Carol Oates

2005-04-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

29 April

TRANSGRESSIONS arrived Wednesday and I sat up LATE... I put the story by Donald Westlake aside and opted instead to read J.C. Oates' novella, THE CORN MAIDEN. You know the children's rhyme. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice.

Not the little girls in Oates's universe. It is complexly written yet I never lost track of what was going on. I've not read her in a while and actually have read some earlier novels that didn't grab me. I find now her shorter stories are just riveting. Then again, maybe it wasn't her after all. Mmmmm, ya think?

Also reading Mosley's novella in it as well as Block's this week. Then I have to get SERIOUS about a SHORT STORY I am (supposed to be) WRITING!!!

Announcements, and Then Some

2005-04-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

25 April '05

Hi Gang.
Finally made it back to the Land of Blog. Work and personal crap do go on, don't they?

A little BSP here. My essay, "Cold Hard Facts", is on the Apollos Lyre website (April issue) at http://www.apolloslyre.com/ and I'm evidently going to be a regular contributor there. As I have an opinion about everything whether I know anything about it or not, I'm just the gal for the job.

BTW, Apollos Lyre just received kudos at Writer's Digest in the "Best 101 Websites for Writers" announced in the May issue. I think co-editor Lea Schizas almost ran off the road over it. Thankfully she came to her senses before she crashed.
She and Bret, Patty and Nancy (is that right?) have done a bangup job with this site. Check it out.

TRANSGRESSIONS, a big ass short story collection, is on its way to my house as I type. I should have it by Wednesday and will then be reporting more or less regularly on the contents -- with the exception of the Stephen King novella.

Am into the front end of WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE by Reed Farrell Coleman. Man! I love that Moe Praeger. Also, just finished a short story collection entitled "I Once Had A Master" by the late John Preston. His novel, "Mr. Benson", is a mystery set in the leather community and is fairly decent. Preston wrote not so much about the gay scene and the leather S&M community as he did about the human heart and the human (and occasionally INHUMAN) condition. They're good and as the saying goes, "Some Like It Hot".

Am setting up an interview with children's author Malinda Long, whose very popular illustrated book, "How I Became A Pirate", has been so well received, it's being made into a movie. Talk about driving off the road! She taught middle school with my sister and still teaches. Lots of fodder among the prepubescents, no doubt, as she has a second book out -- "When Papa Snores".

If you haven't checked out Hardluck Stories' latest and greatest, what the fuck is wrong with you??? There's even a comic in there this time around. Pat's graphics are great as always. The stories are cool AND hot. It's hard to say which is my favorite...

Oh, yeah, it's DAVE's story, of course!

Have a good one.

The Devil You Know

2005-03-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

31 March

On that other blog I dither around on http://candacewigginshomeworld.blogspot.com/ I have a review of James Patterson's "Honeymoon" -- excuse me, Patterson and Howard Roughan's "Honeymoon". It's not just politics that make strange bedfellows...

Mo Hayder's "Birdman" kept me up past my bedtime last night (as if I have one). And I am happy to say "The Treatment" is threatening to do the same tonight. Speaking of Mo Hayder, I went to her website and was I ever surprised to see what a bird she herself is. Looks like a Blonde Post Mod version of Emma Peel. Okay, maybe she'd pick a Harley rather than a Vespa... but thanks to her writings, I had this image of a big-boned broad, a brunette with red lips, smoking a fag, a gun in her pocket. What I get is a petite and fair beauty. But -- There I go, being prejudicial again.

As the Greek Freak would say, "Prejudice is why we are alive." More on *that* later.
So, now I have "The Devil in Nanking" (think I have that right) waiting for me rather impatiently on the nightstand. And thanks to Aldo, realize I have to read "Tokyo" as well.

I have two short stories to write and submit -- one by tomorrow and one by April 14. And here I am, whistling in the dark, thanks to Mo Hayder.

The Birdman/The Treatment

2005-03-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am having to catch up and read all of Mo Hayder's novels before I can get a life this weekend. What I can tell you is, both bookstores in proximity to me are out of everything that even smacks of Mo Hayder. When Karin Slaughter spoke at the Georgia Center for Books last fall, she talked about Hayder's work in glowing terms. Then I had someone whose judgment I completely trust tell me I would be doing myself a disservice if I did not read Hayder's novels.

So, here I am waiting for my order to come in and finishing up Allan Guthrie's wrenching "KISS HER GOODBYE". What a ride he's taking me on! Al has the unique ability to pull one into the story with a "you are there" guerilla style writing. (Christ, I hope I'm NOT ever there with Cooper and Joe. And that is indeed a compliment.)

Ordered early copy of TRANSGRESSIONS, edited by McBain. More on that later.

Short and Sweet Announcements

2005-03-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

16 March 2005

Shred of Evidence's Megan Powell has announced the Readers' Choice Awards for 2004.

1st Place (tie): "Game On" by Iain Rowan
1st Place (tie): "Officer Down" by Stephen D. Rogers
3rd Place (tie): "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Murder" by Tim Wohlforth
3rd Place (tie): "A Little Trouble" by Gerald So
3rd Place (tie): "Seductive Barry" by Ray Banks

(I know. Where is second? Mmm. Interesting. Maybe I have mistyped but I don't think so.)

"Seductive Barry" by the inestimable Ray Banks is especially good and of course, the others more than hold their own. As for "Officer Down", you can't find a better one by Stephen D. Rogers but of course, I say that every time I come upon one of his stories.

I read one of Stephen's works when I was just learning my way around these mystery and suspense ezines and was blown away, not only by his craftsmanship but by the fact that the man is breeding short stories like pups! Prolific? We need another word for him.

Congrats to all the winners. And what? No girls?! But I digress --

CSI: and Picket Fences/ SPOILER

2005-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

24 Feb

Okay, tonight saw the Greek Freak and me going "Oh shit, no, they ain't." But yeah, they did. On CSI (The Original and Best), set in Las Vegas, a fat woman at a convention for Big Beautiful People (I can't recall the actual convention's name) is suspected of and confesses to murdering her chubby-chasing Romeo; but it turns out that she passed out from her drink reacting to her diabetes medication thus, killing him accidentally. Smothered him. She'd rather be accused of murder than "be a punchline in some comedian's joke."

Uh... we saw this same subplot on PICKET FENCES back some years ago. The actress was also the mother in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". She accidentally smothers her husband and is in jail suspected of killing him which is where she'd rather be, rather than people know she accidentally killed him. She was so fat, she couldn't/didn't feel him struggle beneath her after she rolled over on top of him.

Things like this both intrigue and aggravate me. I know there are only supposedly four stories in the world -- so they say --

Okay. Later...

Off Till 1 March 2005

2005-02-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

23 Feb '05

Deeper into the final round of Edits for the mystery anthology "Precious Metal". I won't be blogging again until 1 March. There are over a dozen writers with stories tied in by a single theme/object. This of course has been done before, only not by us. Therefore, everything old is new again.

Till then.

Short Review of Block's New Book

2005-02-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

21 February

ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING by Lawrence Block ; ISBN: 0060198311
Feb. 2005

This is getting rave and mixed reviews (who was it who said, mixed means good and lousy? Harold Ross?). I can understand why on both counts. "ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING" is the 16th Matt Scudder novel by Lawrence Block and while he is as always at the top of his form, I felt oddly as if the story had not totally played out. The book is 284 pages. Chapters between Matt and the killer are staggered and work well enough for me. I am not a reader who is easily lost, for Dog's sake.

But the brevity of the story bothers me when weighed against all the hype of it being the 'most complex' of the Scudder adventures. I am also a reader who doesn't believe complexity necessarily means long. So it's not the length that bothers me as much as the subsequent storytelling. Nothing to complain about. It is in-depth, it's just not enough. At points, it seems a bit rushed (to me, anyway). We do see Matt and Elaine are indeed getting older. He's still on the wagon, still working. Elaine, his wife of 12 years, is still doing her thing at her arts & antique shop. TJ is still the same street-smart wiseass kid he always has been.

But, this is the post 9/11 New York and that, plus inevitable deaths due to age and disease, are beginning to dog the Scudder novels. "FLOWERS" is a great, an interesting read. Scudder isn't frozen in time nor is he a fly in aspic but like the English language, he is a living and evolving character. We may not like some of these changes; but if it ain't evolving, as Darwin taught, its days are numbered.

As "ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING" begins, a man is awaiting execution for a string of torture-sex murders of three young boys, murders he insists he did not do, despite all evidence to the contrary. He is visited during his last days and at his execution by a very sympathetic, conscientious psychologist who also has Matt and Elaine under an even darker surveillance. Elaine's best friend is viciously murdered by a killer who has absolutely no conscience, no remorse, no soul. Elaine knows she's the next target, knows she sold him the murder weapon. And, worse, Matt knows she's right. And the killer knows they're on to him, but not why he's after them.

This has a wham of a plot, a hell of an ending. Block makes it work. I just wish he'd given us more of it to enjoy.

Barbara Burnett Smith

2005-02-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

21 February '05

DorothyL first reported on this ironic and sad death. Barbara Burnett Smith, author of several mystery novels (The Purple Sage novels and the latest, BEAD ON TROUBLE) died this past weekend. She was in San Antonio to rescue a dog at the popular bookshop Remember the Alibi. The dog ran out into the street, and Ms. Smith chased after it. She was hit by a car and died in the hospital from her injuries.

ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING

2005-02-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

20 Feb
Had a great birthday all day long, and am solidly in the front of Lawrence Block's "ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING". More later on that and a look at the newly re-printed "Grifter's Game" by Block. For now, I have to do some quick work this weekend on the anthology I am editing as well as visit Claud, one of my staunchest supporters and fellow bikers.

Happy President's Day to you all tomorrow. I'm not working. Hope none of you Out There are.

Valentine's with Raymond

2005-02-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

14 February

Just when I think I'm missing out on some highly desirable reads, a true friend drops something on me I have forgotten or have not had the pleasure to read.

It's hard to say when I first read Raymond Chandler. I think I was in h.s. and I confused him -- don't ask how -- with Raymond Carver, a great writer "his own self" as J.R. Lansdale would say. Then I discovered there were movies of some of the Chandler books, "The Big Sleep" probably the best-known. These silver screen renditions are never as satisfying. When you READ Chandler, it's a whole new ballgame.

Reading "The Little Sister" by Raymond Chandler is just great. It's putting me in touch with the bastardization of the good guy despite himself. The P.I. who's got plenty of lip and the gun to follow it up, trying to do his job and maintain some dignity not only for himself but the people who need him, -- the victims, the desperate and the abandoned, disappointed in the hand dealt them but playing it the best they can.

Ah. The Golden Age of Noir. Better than chocolates, whatever the date is.

Catching Up is Hard to Do

2005-02-11T23:44:00.000-08:00

12 February

Hi gang,
So anyway, am enjoying MEDIUM. Haven't seen the last couple of episodes of TILT, however. I look at these type shows, esp with their particular story arcs, as filmed short stories. But, who am I kidding? Short and sweet, the printed version is almost always preferable to me. I do love film, visual arts. Eye candy will never go out of style. But the whole experience of reading the stories will always be my drug of choice.

I have really enjoyed FAST LANE by Dave Zeltserman. Am now plowing through Coben's GONE FOR GOOD. Like FAST LANE, this is a novel and jumps around POV to POV at a dizzying pace. It's interesting and the plot thickens bit by bit. But I had to wrap my brain around the 90 degree turns at times. Now that I know what to expect from his writing -- first person to third, in this case -- I'm quite all right with Coben's style. I was simply unprepared.

Sometimes, in one of my writers' groups, I get really aggravated because instead of reading ALL THE WAY THROUGH, a couple of members immediately start their slash and burn routine. Maybe it's just me (an anal-retentive proofreading fool, if ever there was one), but I always read burnt offerings twice. Once to read them through for content and style, secondly to then and only then critique the story AS A WHOLE.

It just makes more sense plus one at least looks like she knows what she's doing. This is done to everyone else in the group, too, not just me. They've never been in a writers' group before, so it's like watching monkeys trying to type out Shakespeare. These two gals bored with their ladies who lunch routine and decided they would just be writers. (This is an actual quote from one of them.)

And this is just how they deal with short stories.

Have been lamenting the demise of BOOK magazine. Found PAGES. Pretty good. Similar. They have a healthy appreciation of short stories and anthologies. Speaking of which, I need to upload all the "FINAL" crits of the anthology begun slowly but surely a year ago. This has been a slower process than anyone would want but I have certainly learned a lot from it.

Going motorcycling tomorrow. Back here 13 Sunday with a review of a short story collection I happened to pick up today at Borders.

MEDIUM: 3rd Time Out/Grifter's Game

2005-01-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

20 January
MEDIUM has passed the 3 viewings test for me. And that's all that counts, right? Actually, it's doing pretty good in the ratings. The stories have all been crisply written with believable dialog and characters, with a good ensemble cast.

For one thing, MEDIUM doesn't fall into total formula, not for a cop show and not for a metaphysical one, either. The characters are three-dimensional and have their human flaws as well as their better than good attributes.

This past week we saw Alison DuBois (Patricia Arquette) working with a detective who is, shall we say, less than a believer in the Unknown. Because of this and other matters he comes off like a real asshole to her. She stands her ground with him and gets off a couple of shots (so to speak) of her own, thank you. He's been tracking what he believes to be a serial killer. The department thinks he's just in denial as the first victims (all couples married less than one year, nearing their anniversaries) included his sister. The department thinks these acts of violence are all murder suicides.

Turns out, Alison agrees with him because his sister (dead, remember?) told her. Also someone else actually puts two and two together about this crime although it is Alison who is having the weird ass dreams. So she doesn't even 'solve' it, in the manner in which we view solving a crime.

I never know where this show is going to take me. We never saw the perp in this show until the end and guess what else? One of the husbands -- well, never mind. Let's just say his admission of guilt proved his innocence and helped with the investigation. The "Social Science Experiment" came off a little more gruesome than anyone could have guessed.

Still a solid story, good acting (especially in the subplot involving her "surprise" birthday party), and I was pleased to see Jeff Beal does the music which is quite jarring and creepy. ("Monk" and "Pollock" are two of his better known soundtracks. I mean the original "Monk" score we still hear on occasion and not that obnoxious Randy Newman song.)

I'm reading "Grifter's Game" by Lawrence Block. I'll report on that in the next day or so.

LIKE A CHARM

2005-01-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

18 January

LIKE A CHARM: A Novel in Voices, ed. Karin Slaughter, ISBN 0060583304, $21.95.

I first met Karin Slaughter WAAAY back when she was just a kid, not even started on her present career as a topnotch novelist. Re-connecting was funny as we kind of sort of remembered each other from a co-worker situation years earlier, but what was even funnier was neither of us knew the other actually read and wrote the type fiction we are interested in.

Best known for her Grant County series, set in a very Deep South Georgia, in LIKE A CHARM, Slaughter proves herself an astute editor as well as an admirable short story contributor.

This collection of short stories by crime fiction writers is bound by a common theme, that of a charm bracelet first forged in 19th century Blood Mountain, Georgia. From there we are taken on a journey involving this bracelet (even when it has no more than a cameo appearance) throughout time and places near and far to us all by such luminaries as Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Lynda La Plante, Denise Mina, Peter Moore Smith, and others.

There's not a single bad story here. Some may be deemed better than others, simply because of the subject matter divulged in the particular story but all are darkly sparkling jewels, set tight in a noose that binds the reader to the book in a combined whole. While all are crime fiction, a couple of these potential standalones, such as "The Inkpot Monkey" by the incomparable John Connolly, have more than a hint of supernatural powers to them.

This could be because of the attached curse. Then again, it could be because of Slaughter and Company, each of them writing like a charm.

Mice and Men

2005-01-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

17 January
This has been a weird month. I am getting a lot done yet every thing that can go wrong, can and HAS... jeez. My life has started imitating art -- mystery and horror, with my reviewing every move I've made. "What'd I fuck up this time?"

Anyway, the elbow is on the mend. I just had a call that the 'puter needs serious upgrading but that it is up and running so I can go get the baby and take it back home and that if I act nice, MAYBE this baby won't turn into a viper in the bosom. Yessir, things are looking up.

So, my review of Karin Slaughter's short story collection, "LIKE A CHARM", will be up Tuesday A.M. instead of today. Sorry but it's the best I can do right now. I did see "Man On Fire" which I liked better than I thought I would except for the camera work and the creepy and ubiquitous Dakota Fanning. (We will discuss all that later.) and I saw "The Incredibles" and "In Good Company".

Will report tomorrow on the third episode of "MEDIUM" which I like a helluva lot despite my concern and belief it would be nothing more than another big steaming pile from H'wood, trying to ride the CSI gravy train.

Best.

TILT Review

2005-01-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

14 Jan 2005

TILT debuted on ESPN Thursday, 13 January with a good cast and a fair to middling set up. Short and sweet, Michael Madsen ("Reservoir Dogs") plays The Matador, a heavyweight cardsharp who is always in a game and is always being challenged by the newbies and wannabes that are in Vegas. The Matador's got a good gig going and you know he's cool because he wears a black leather jacket and cutting edge shades.

Tough talkers abound, not the least of which are a trio of challengers who have been set on The Matador by Seymour (Kenneth Welsh) , who has his own personal agenda to bring The Matador down. We were treated to the tough-talking blonde babe named "Miami" -- who was a cardplaying whiz at the age of 12 -- scoping out Matador's game while the two guys in the Pyramid of Players hustled games underneath the city's 'Unfriendly Bar' involving a bunch of homeboys with 'tudes and guns. (I know they're out there, but gee, could we have another more obnoxious stereotype next time around??) A subplot involving a rube deputy whose fingers are in a game with The Matador for his agenda also proved interesting enough but nothing to write home about. My opinion

Is this a good show? Too soon to tell but I'm betting on it. A pilot show always moves slow and takes its time setting the story and loading the dice, especially in Vegas where the stakes are already high. Lawrence Block is executive story editor and that alone warrants giving TILT a chance.
-CW

Upcoming Reviews

2005-01-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

13 January

Hi kids,
Happy to report I will be watching and reporting on TILT. That's the new miniseries debuting Thursday Jan 13 on ESPN that Lawrence Block has a hand in. He's exec producer (I think) and is one of the staff writers and seems to be enjoying it, if one can believe his newsletter. And why wouldn't we? Block pulls no punches in his fiction or his interviews.

Sunday, I am reviewing LIKE A CHARM, edited by Karin Slaughter who also has 2 stories in this themed short-story collection. Other authors include Denise Mina, John Connolly, Laura Lippman, and others. There's not a bad story in the bunch and there's actually not one I don't like which is highly unusual. Some I like a helluva LOT. But they're all good representatives of the authors who wrote 'em and I suggest you give this collection a looksee. Had a sort of quiet debut from what I remember, but now that folks seem to be not as willing to give up on the short story form, maybe the next splash will be bigger. I know there are probably some sites out there w/ this review on it, but this will be a simple thumbnail sketch for those who missed out on it the first time around.

Am getting ready to give another ezine a try with a short story. Sent one off last week, have emailed an anthology as well. Let's cross our fingers, shall we?

Best regards to all.

Short and Not So Sweet

2005-01-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

6 January

Just found out Plots With Guns is going to cease and desist after five years. WAAHHH... But it was a very very good show. I'd recently discovered it and just found it full of wonderful bits and pieces of everything that makes Me slightly more human...

http://www.plotswithguns.com

Enjoy while you can. I know I did. They did a great job and five years is nothing to sneeze at. Wish I'd known about this gang much much sooner.

Candace

Note of Interest

2005-01-06T05:49:00.000-08:00

6 Jan '05

Transgressions is a 900 page collection of never-before-published short stories put out by Forge, a compilation by Ed McBain. McBain's attachment to the book is exciting enough; but the rest of the party seems like a Cecil B. Demille production, you know, the cast of a thousand stars.

Block, Farris, Deaver, Oates, Mosley (I may be wrong, but I think this collection introduces the guy he mentioned on his Atlanta stop last year, Archibald Lawless), among others.

The book is a handsome fellow, with a red cover, the title splashed across the front in big letters, thelist of authors down the cover on the righthand side.

Comes out, supposedly, in May of this year. No editor's name linked with this tome but if I find out otherwise, I'll let you know. I hope to God it's not Stephen King. Yah, I bet 450 pp of the book is his story alone... HA.

Going to see "White Noise" this weekend. Will review it here. It looks good. But the concept is not new. Dead people speaking to the living through the wire -- or technology, anyway.

Later.

Medium: Well-Done Pilot

2005-01-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

4 January 2005

As a person who grew up in the shadow of the mountain called the Boob Tube, I have been disappointed many times with the retreads and downright embarrassments TV has given us in the past several years.

Everyone talks about TV's Golden Age. You know, Rod Serling, Your Show of Shows, Edward Murrow, Uncle Miltie, Lucy, "This Is Your Life", "The Loretta Young Show", Alcoa Theater (LIVE) etc.

I grant you these are good -- or were.

But I also wonder about shows like "Queen For A Day". Anyone remember that one? Whoever told the saddest sob story was given a prize like a washer/dryer; a vacuum cleaner and furniture polish for life; a refrigerator and/or freezer. And don't forget the tiara and the little red velvet stole trimmed in mink that the host draped over the lady's shoulder. As the Queen for that day was led to a throne, majestically tinny music swelled in the background over the credits. And yes, this was a real show.

Look, you can't make this stuff up.

People look at the MTM (Mary Tyler Moore) years as a new era for TV sitcoms.

Now, in the present age, we have criminal shows. No, no. They are not so bad as to be criminal. You know what I mean.

"Law & Order" (before they began taking story ideas from actual news events); "NYPD" -- which I've never liked, sorry; "The Shield"; "CSI:Crime Scene Investigations" -- and okay, the spinoffs are adequate but the original is still the best. "Without A Trace". "Cold Case". And of course, the REAL shows, about real crimes, solved and unsolved on A&E, Court TV, TLC, whathaveyou. Those are my real favorites.

And now a new show with a new spin. "Medium" with Patricia Arquette. This show is based on a real person in Arizona named Allison DuBois, a psychic who helps solve crimes. She has visits from the dead, premonitory dreams, 'feelings' and a real family. You know, a husband (Jake Weber from "Kingdom Hospital" and "American Gothic") who has a job; they get on all right, while still having the occasional spat; they have three small kids who are simply three small kids in the background of a show which is about adults. Remember when life was about adults?

I thought "Pilot Episode" was fairly well done. The overall calibre of the show is better than most pilots, and even some tried and true but now very tired retreads; and you can't sneeze at the cast. Arliss Howard as the disbelieving sheriff, who needs Allison's help but doesn't really want it, upped the ante of this show for me. He is simply one of the best character actors around. The music, credit graphics and overall execution of the show was of a higher quality than most of the stuff we've been forcefed into accepting as good entertainment.

The dialog was fairly crisp and spot on; and the verbal volleyball between Arquette and Howard actually worked more than not. It never slipped into the typical breezy banter or the hateful bickering one sees everywhere on so many shows -- drama or comedy.

The actual case, a 17 year old pedophile who knows where a certain body is buried, moved a bit stiffly (pun unintended) at times; and there were two other subplots that circled back to bite DuBois in the ass in the last five minutes of the show. Just so you get that she CANNOT HELP HERSELF. Being psychic and all that.

There is another episode for Thursday 6 January and one for Monday, 10 January, both trailers of which looked good enough to check out. Shows have to step up three times to the plate, so to speak, before I make any real decision as to whether I will keep watching.

It will be interesting to see how this show does. I think the primary demographic is ready for another version of the same ballgame. Look at "Lost". It's doing well enough in ratings. ((And what really is up with that show? Is that island real? Are the people dead? Are they in some type of karmic limbo? ))

Whatever, both are holding my attention for now. Of course, I enjoy reading the same "Goodnight Moon" shit to my 3 year old niece every time I see her, too...

Later.
CW

Seriously, Folks

2005-01-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

3 January 2005

This is going to be more of the same only short and sweet esp where the novels and shorts are concerned. The writer's life for me. Hey diddle de de...

On my other site, Homeworld (the title of a five-book series T and I began... lo, these many years ago), I do ramble on about the writing aspect of my life to an extent. But this is going to be more of a progression on my own writings, shorts, novels, etc by others as well.

Weekly, I hope to pop in what I am working on, what's happening, rejection slips and of course acceptance letters. I also plan on weekly reviews of shorts, novels, etc.

This week I am sending off a short story for an anthology. It's 4K and received an honorable mention in the First Annual Dark Dixie Contest. (Now defunct as a contest, antho, whatever.)
It has been rejected outright, then tastes changed and people have almost taken it, have made a couple of notes, have told me to keep trying altho they don't want this one. Mmmm... back to the drawing board.

I am at work on a story called "Bottled Spirits". No it's not noir although someone thought the title sounded like what an alkie detective would be going on and on and round about.

We'll see. Also, a review will be coming up.
Stay tuned.
Best wishes for a bearable week.
CW