David Cranmer's Blog, page 86

The Night of the Killer

A gorgeous, dark-haired woman is walking toward me along a canal in Europe. On the other side of the tapered road is a line of two-hundred year old homes. I’m in modern times but the lady walking toward me seems to be from the not-so-distant past. Her high heels are dropping soft footfall clicks on the cobblestone. Her shadow looms large, enveloping the area. I recognize the curvy shape and the attitude in the stroll, even though her face is still unclear. It’s the actress, Ava Gardner.

I’m eager to meet this Hollywood star, even if I’m just dreaming. She’s been a favorite of mine since having seen THE KILLERS, THE NIGHT OF THE IGANUA, ON THE BEACH, and THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN. Lately, I’ve been reading The Secret Conversations. But how do you talk to a legend? It comes to me … I’ll start with saying that my wife and I named our daughter after her.

I thumb my fedora up. I relax my hand off Jack Laramie’s Colt that I brought along. I’m feeling Alan Ladd-ish cool, but my enthusiasm and ease are short lived. Out of the shadows I see the well-known face for only a second before she morphs into a zombie. She smiles a wicked I’m-going-to-kill-you grin.

I’m petrified but can’t run. I know the end has arrived.

She lunges.

Fade Out.

Hilary's Fair Warning

It's always a pleasure when Hilary Davidson, one of the first-string players at BEAT to a PULP, stops by with a new story. Her first tale for BTAP, "Insatiable," won a Spinetingler Award, and her contribution to ROUND TWO, "A Special Kind of Hell," was a finalist for a Derringer. She makes us look damn good. Thanks, Hilary. Here's her latest, "Fair Warning."

BLADE OF DISHONOR

So back in July 2011, I had a germ of an idea for a new character (probably after watching too many Toshiro Mifune films) named Reeves who's in possession of a priceless sword that is stolen. Cliché, right? Well, Tom Pluck also grew up on the same ninja and samurai films that I did (let’s hear it for The Challenge!), and, having a much sharper idea, came up with BLADE OF DISHONOR.

Taught to fight by his war hero grandfather, Reeves comes home to find Grandpa Butch embroiled in a centuries-old battle over a treasured Japanese sword. Together they team up with Tara the hot-rodding ambulance driver and a secretive member of a samurai warrior brotherhood to take on a powerful clan of ninja and yakuza bent on sparking a third world war.

From the heroics of the Devil’s Brigade in World War II and the brutal underground fight scene of Tokyo to the American heartland, BLADE OF DISHONOR pits battle-hardened cage fighters against cunning shadow warriors in a thrilling adventure story that’s part Kurosawa and part Tarantino … with a ton of Pluck!

Tom will be at Bouchercon in Albany and will have copies of BLADE OF DISHONOR available at a store in the dealer’s room. Since I’ll be in the area, I’m planning on crashing the party and hope to see you there. But if you can’t make it, you can get the BLADE OF DISHONOR omnibus now from Amazon.

Customer Service

For Assistance, Go F* Yourself!
Sign at hotel where I stayed recently.

Swamp Things

We went to Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina, located along the Ashley River directly across from North Charleston. It's one of the oldest plantations in the country, dating back to 1676 when Thomas and Ann Drayton built their house and garden. The plantation has been in the family ever since. 15 generations!

The magnificent Magnolia Plantation house.
That's a little food above his right eye but this African Spurred Tortoise at the petting zoo didn't seem to mind.  Of course, I'm sure everyone thought of The Spider Tribe like I did.
The duckweed in the water encircling the trees made for a beautiful picture but don't jump in ...
... because he's in charge of this part of the plantation ... 
 ...  and has many friends lurking around out there ...
... in the dark depths, like this ... thing ...  SWAMP THING! Of all the interesting history I learned throughout the afternoon, the comic book lover in me was most impressed with hearing that the 1982 Swamp Thing movie starring Adrienne Barbeau was filmed here. 

Free For All: Guns, Pulp, & Celebrations

At BEAT to a PULP this week are three poems from Kyle J. Knapp's Celebrations in the Ossuary and Other Poems. Take a look and then follow the Amazon link to grab your own Kindle eBook for free in celebration of what would have been his twenty-fourth birthday today. Along with Ossuary, BEAT to a PULP: Round Two and The Guns of Vedauwoo featuring Cash Laramie are included in the Labor Day $0.00 holiday special.

Under The Bridge

The Ravenel Bridge, an impressive cable-stayed bridge, spans the Cooper River east of Charleston, South Carolina. Running underneath along the east end of the bridge is a hidden gem of a park with historical markers and a war heroes monument, a children's playground that Ava approves of, a snack shop and gift store, and a long pier where I snapped this picture of my charmers today.

At Do Some Damage

Many thanks to Steve Weddle and the Do Some Damage crew for inviting me to be today's guest blogger. Please stop by when you get a chance.

Introduction to Celebrations in the Ossuary

Today I'm featuring Philip Tate, English Professor, who not only was an inspiration to my nephew Kyle Knapp but he was kind enough to write this perceptive introduction to Kyle's posthumous poetry collection, Celebrations in the Ossuary:

Near the beginning of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land the speaker says, “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” And quite a fear it is, appearing in the opening section “The Burial of the Dead,” and evoking the biblical reminder of our ultimate return to the earth. A similar reminder appears in the title of this work, Celebrations in the Ossuary. An ossuary is a place for bones of the dead, oftentimes many dead. But where Eliot gives us fear, Kyle Knapp offers a celebration. In the ossuary! And what sort of celebration might we expect in a storage container for bones? Paradoxically, it is a celebration of life.

In “Camping” we see the joy of nights in the woods, so pleasant that for the rest of the year “nothing at all seemed to matter.” Or it is a perfect day composed of simple pleasures and ending with “her laughter.” Even when “Writing Letters Alone in the Light of the Alcove” it is a celebration of “... three men / Drunk and dancing on the ocean floor.”

But it is an ossuary, and these poems capture the loss, the regret, the acknowledgement of ultimate doom. There is an edge to the celebration, the clear sense that much of what brings pleasure brings pain as well. While Eliot gives us fear, Kyle Knapp reminds us that life is worth celebrating, even though “Every bone / dust.”

Celebrations in the Ossuary by Kyle J. Knapp is now available through Amazon and CreateSpace, and it will be available as a Kindle ebook soon. If you would like a review copy, please leave a comment with your email in the comments and specify print or ebook. Or write me directly at paladin-1@hotmail.com.

Profits from sales of Kyle's collection will go to his family and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

242 Choruses

*Click to enlarge!