Les Edgerton's Blog, page 10
April 1, 2018
German reviews of THE RAPIST
Hi folks,
German publisher Pulpmaster is publishing the German language edition of three of my novels--THE RAPIST, THE BITCH, and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, and recently, the publisher, Frank Nowatzke, told me they want the German rights to my memoir, ADRENALINE JUNKIE, as soon as it's released this fall from Down&Out Books. THE RAPIST has been out for awhile and in June, THE BITCH will be released and hopefully the GENUINE KIDNAPPING will come out this fall. It depends on how quickly the translation can be completed.
I thought I'd share a few of the reviews German readers have posted in the German version of Amazon. I've always thought THE RAPIST in particular, would appeal to the German sensibility and that seems to have been borne out. Here they are and if anyone is interested in seeing the German Amazon site, just go here.
Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars From the dead houseFromMafölinoon the 16th of August 2017Format: Paperback |Verified PurchaseTime is running out for Truman Pinter. He is in jail, convicted of rape and murder, awaiting execution. In the last hours of his life, he muses on God and the world. Pinter, he likes to stylize himself Antichrist, nothing else can do. He enjoys that. "I prefer loneliness and this life is made for me," he says. His story is unbearable. The rape is still the self-proclaimed misanthrope and avid fly fishermen. He would not have committed the murder of the young woman after that. Just continued to watch and watched as she drowned after sex. Pinter considers himself a superman, believes he can overcome gravity. On the day of his execution he wants to fly away, the episode is one of the weakest in the novel. The novel from the perspective of the perpetrator is disturbing. The US author Les Edgerton, he is a classic US noir author, leads the reader in the head of the murderer. Everything is evil, really nasty. The harmless secret paths of the author steer directly into the heart of the darkness. The peace of mind of the offender at confession worries. The novel is interesting as a literary experiment. A reading that shakes.
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard readingFromBernd Alexander Schmidton March 30, 2018Format: Kindle EditionGranted, the rapist is reading hard! The reader becomes the quasi-confessor of a psychopath, only that he does not make a confession, but a creed. You do not read this book, you have to endure it.
Truman is a monster. He raped and murdered a young woman, then carelessly thrown her body away. Now he's stuck in the death cell and we, the readers, with him. Chained to the rapist who relishes his own execution. He talks to us nonstop, presumptuous and arrogant. What a fine guy he is. And how little really a genius like him should take care of the laws of the people and in general: the thing with the rape was quite different.
Bad, weird, nauseating and terrible ... but terribly good!
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally original "testament" of a sociopath about the need for revolt, compassion, megalomania & insightFromLord Jickledyon the 9th of January 2017Format: PaperbackThe novel first appeared in March 2013 under the original title "The Rapist" as a 160-page paperback published by New Pulp Press. The German translation from American English was done by Ango Laina and Angelika Müller. She appeared as a paperback volume 40 in the publishing house PULP MASTER in Berlin. This edition contains 157 pages including a seven-page epilogue by Ekkehard Knörer. The novel is preceded by a quotation from the British soldier, aeronautical engineer and philosopher John William Dunne, who was, among others, Aldous Huxley's esteemed founder of a serialism theory of consciousness: "Past, present and future exist simultaneously, as our dreams prove."
What a monster of book! Nobody writes a novel in which a self-centered, arrogant rapist on death row ruses his moral philosophy in twisted words, and thinks people love the novel outright. Catchy and easy is not that, but bulky and infamous. Many will have too little invitation to sympathy and Mitfiebern be present. The originality, which tramples on all stereotypes, will make the average reader boring because: not comparable to others. Les Edgerton easily disassembles any genre assignment, the novel is not a thriller, not a thriller, not even superficially exciting, neither Noir nor Hardboiled. The appropriate frame of reference is more in the direction of high literature à la Dostojewski's "Records from the cellar hole".
"I'm going to tell my story in turn, despite the fact that you're a lot younger than me and undoubtedly attracted to bland food, your attention span will be just over zero and your understanding of everything Written ones below, so I will not make it too complicated, and always one by one, so as not to confuse you. " (P. 8)
The "rapist" is the direct glimpse into the head of sociopath Truman Ferris Pinter, a megalomaniac who situates himself outside the morals of his fellow man, who believes that he is free and free to live his own rules and control everything (which will turn out to be an illusion in the end). Truman: True Man? He, who believes he can live without other people, is more dependent on them than he believes: to express his infamous (or pathetic) philosophy in an empty auditorium meant: to have a meaningless philosophy! He needs spectators, an interface to which he can express his contempt and arrogance. In this respect, he also makes the reader an accomplice with the report, trying to find a sympathizer. As a reader, you have to get along first: Some sentences seem like an inexpressible truth that has always seemed to be self-evident, but some sentences are absolutely terrible if, for example, he declares the rape to be insignificant, because he stands morally, intellectually, and socially above the victim. His report is neither a confession nor a description of the events that brought him on death row, trying not to convince innocence to assert, but is rather a kind of testament of his self, the attempt, the self-deception in the face of his death - And in the truest sense of the word, to keep upright: whoever does not stop talking is not dead. He: a sheherazade of death row; his report: a song of praise to his own perfidious morality and him, the creator of his own world. It states its unassailability. Will end up even apotheosis!
Truman, who claims to be able to use the ability of flying as a child to grow up to escape execution, simply wants to flee, but only for a brief moment to show the law enforcement officer that only his rules and his schedule apply, that he can disappear at his own discretion and then return to die "duly" on the gallows. He will actually experience his blue miracle when he finally encounters his creator in person (or at least in style). Giving these mind games all under one roof is the great strength of the novel. An intellectual fun and a kind of disclaimer for the reader. "The rapist" turns up so soon, beats the strings, swirls present, Past and future - away from "objective" stages of time to "subjective", simultaneously existing levels of consciousness, that one could almost think, a strange science fiction novel around parallel worlds in the hands to hold. A novel also about revolt. Overconfidence and - not least - realization! But also about compassion in a partly stupid, partly heartless world. With a narrative lightness and a literary daring, as I was not allowed to read for a long time, genre boundaries are torn down, a long nose is shown to all acquaintances. An extraordinary tour de force: ambitious, intellectually stimulating and incredibly resourceful. A party! So unlike most of what I have read in the field so far. And nobody says it has to be done!
Blue skies,
Les
German publisher Pulpmaster is publishing the German language edition of three of my novels--THE RAPIST, THE BITCH, and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, and recently, the publisher, Frank Nowatzke, told me they want the German rights to my memoir, ADRENALINE JUNKIE, as soon as it's released this fall from Down&Out Books. THE RAPIST has been out for awhile and in June, THE BITCH will be released and hopefully the GENUINE KIDNAPPING will come out this fall. It depends on how quickly the translation can be completed.
I thought I'd share a few of the reviews German readers have posted in the German version of Amazon. I've always thought THE RAPIST in particular, would appeal to the German sensibility and that seems to have been borne out. Here they are and if anyone is interested in seeing the German Amazon site, just go here.
Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars From the dead houseFromMafölinoon the 16th of August 2017Format: Paperback |Verified PurchaseTime is running out for Truman Pinter. He is in jail, convicted of rape and murder, awaiting execution. In the last hours of his life, he muses on God and the world. Pinter, he likes to stylize himself Antichrist, nothing else can do. He enjoys that. "I prefer loneliness and this life is made for me," he says. His story is unbearable. The rape is still the self-proclaimed misanthrope and avid fly fishermen. He would not have committed the murder of the young woman after that. Just continued to watch and watched as she drowned after sex. Pinter considers himself a superman, believes he can overcome gravity. On the day of his execution he wants to fly away, the episode is one of the weakest in the novel. The novel from the perspective of the perpetrator is disturbing. The US author Les Edgerton, he is a classic US noir author, leads the reader in the head of the murderer. Everything is evil, really nasty. The harmless secret paths of the author steer directly into the heart of the darkness. The peace of mind of the offender at confession worries. The novel is interesting as a literary experiment. A reading that shakes.
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard readingFromBernd Alexander Schmidton March 30, 2018Format: Kindle EditionGranted, the rapist is reading hard! The reader becomes the quasi-confessor of a psychopath, only that he does not make a confession, but a creed. You do not read this book, you have to endure it.
Truman is a monster. He raped and murdered a young woman, then carelessly thrown her body away. Now he's stuck in the death cell and we, the readers, with him. Chained to the rapist who relishes his own execution. He talks to us nonstop, presumptuous and arrogant. What a fine guy he is. And how little really a genius like him should take care of the laws of the people and in general: the thing with the rape was quite different.
Bad, weird, nauseating and terrible ... but terribly good!
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally original "testament" of a sociopath about the need for revolt, compassion, megalomania & insightFromLord Jickledyon the 9th of January 2017Format: PaperbackThe novel first appeared in March 2013 under the original title "The Rapist" as a 160-page paperback published by New Pulp Press. The German translation from American English was done by Ango Laina and Angelika Müller. She appeared as a paperback volume 40 in the publishing house PULP MASTER in Berlin. This edition contains 157 pages including a seven-page epilogue by Ekkehard Knörer. The novel is preceded by a quotation from the British soldier, aeronautical engineer and philosopher John William Dunne, who was, among others, Aldous Huxley's esteemed founder of a serialism theory of consciousness: "Past, present and future exist simultaneously, as our dreams prove."
What a monster of book! Nobody writes a novel in which a self-centered, arrogant rapist on death row ruses his moral philosophy in twisted words, and thinks people love the novel outright. Catchy and easy is not that, but bulky and infamous. Many will have too little invitation to sympathy and Mitfiebern be present. The originality, which tramples on all stereotypes, will make the average reader boring because: not comparable to others. Les Edgerton easily disassembles any genre assignment, the novel is not a thriller, not a thriller, not even superficially exciting, neither Noir nor Hardboiled. The appropriate frame of reference is more in the direction of high literature à la Dostojewski's "Records from the cellar hole".
"I'm going to tell my story in turn, despite the fact that you're a lot younger than me and undoubtedly attracted to bland food, your attention span will be just over zero and your understanding of everything Written ones below, so I will not make it too complicated, and always one by one, so as not to confuse you. " (P. 8)
The "rapist" is the direct glimpse into the head of sociopath Truman Ferris Pinter, a megalomaniac who situates himself outside the morals of his fellow man, who believes that he is free and free to live his own rules and control everything (which will turn out to be an illusion in the end). Truman: True Man? He, who believes he can live without other people, is more dependent on them than he believes: to express his infamous (or pathetic) philosophy in an empty auditorium meant: to have a meaningless philosophy! He needs spectators, an interface to which he can express his contempt and arrogance. In this respect, he also makes the reader an accomplice with the report, trying to find a sympathizer. As a reader, you have to get along first: Some sentences seem like an inexpressible truth that has always seemed to be self-evident, but some sentences are absolutely terrible if, for example, he declares the rape to be insignificant, because he stands morally, intellectually, and socially above the victim. His report is neither a confession nor a description of the events that brought him on death row, trying not to convince innocence to assert, but is rather a kind of testament of his self, the attempt, the self-deception in the face of his death - And in the truest sense of the word, to keep upright: whoever does not stop talking is not dead. He: a sheherazade of death row; his report: a song of praise to his own perfidious morality and him, the creator of his own world. It states its unassailability. Will end up even apotheosis!
Truman, who claims to be able to use the ability of flying as a child to grow up to escape execution, simply wants to flee, but only for a brief moment to show the law enforcement officer that only his rules and his schedule apply, that he can disappear at his own discretion and then return to die "duly" on the gallows. He will actually experience his blue miracle when he finally encounters his creator in person (or at least in style). Giving these mind games all under one roof is the great strength of the novel. An intellectual fun and a kind of disclaimer for the reader. "The rapist" turns up so soon, beats the strings, swirls present, Past and future - away from "objective" stages of time to "subjective", simultaneously existing levels of consciousness, that one could almost think, a strange science fiction novel around parallel worlds in the hands to hold. A novel also about revolt. Overconfidence and - not least - realization! But also about compassion in a partly stupid, partly heartless world. With a narrative lightness and a literary daring, as I was not allowed to read for a long time, genre boundaries are torn down, a long nose is shown to all acquaintances. An extraordinary tour de force: ambitious, intellectually stimulating and incredibly resourceful. A party! So unlike most of what I have read in the field so far. And nobody says it has to be done!
Blue skies,
Les
March 28, 2018
Interview with Will Viharo
Hi folks,
Just completed this interview with Will Viharo on his column, Digital Media Ghost. Click here to see it on the site.
Author of the Week: Les Edgerton
Fiction is easier to categorize than fiction writers, at least much of the time.
Take award-winning, bestselling, universally lauded “crime writer” Les Edgerton. Designating him as such may be promotionally correct, but it doesn’t begin to distill the essence of a man that had led a long, complex, tormented, challenging, and ultimately rewarding life.
To pigeonhole Les Edgerton merely as a “crime writer,” even though he writes “crime fiction,” would indeed be a crime, or at least a misdemeanor, of intellectual laziness.
An author may specialize in writing violent, hardboiled tales of desperate people doing risky things, but that doesn’t mean the author is anything like his or her characters. Most of the time the writers are sharing their own fantasies. The readers themselves take a vicarious walk on the dark side with no danger to themselves. Kind of like a video game. Except reading requires a certain kind of mental concentration that is eluding more and more of us as our multi-media both expands and contracts. I’ve never played a single video game in my life, but I understand the emancipating escapism of creative imagination, especially my own.
For the record, though many of my books can be categorized as some version of “noir,” I’ve never considered myself a crime writer per se. I write mostly from my own experiences, and since I’m not a criminal, at least in the legal sense, I don’t really relate to criminals. My protagonists are often damaged people who read too many crime novels and watch too many crime movies, and then try to act accordingly. And therein lies the conflict of the otherwise unconventional narratives.
But don’t call me a “crime writer.” Unless, of course, you consider my work an affront to society at large. The only rules I break are literary in nature.
Enough about me. Let’s focus on the subject of this interview, which is not the interviewee.
Les Edgerton is a legend. Maybe not in his mind, but in mine and many, many others, whether readers or writers. He comes by this honor not through any intentional ambitions, but incidentally, just by living his life, often taking the hard road instead of cruising down Easy Street. Not that there was often an optional fork in his path, anyway.
Though I’m a “straight,” at least as far as the law goes, I relate a lot to Les both as a person and as a writer, though our backgrounds are quite different. Besides artistic sublimation, we are bonded by a tenacious survival instinct, and a low tolerance for baloney. (In my case, I eschew both the behavioral and the edible iterations).
Les has plenty to say on these and other subjects, so I’ll let him take it from here. Hang on tight: it’s going to be a bumpy, grumpy, but edifying ride…
You’ve sold everything from drugs to life insurance in your colorful life. How do you sell yourself as an author in such a crowded, competitive marketplace?
I don’t think I’m a good one to ask this of! I don’t seem to do that great a job in selling myself. I suspect it’s because social media is fairly foreign to me and I’ve always felt out of place in it. People who pat themselves on the back or seek out praise seem a bit… what’s the un-PC word I’m looking for? Oh, yeah, kind of girlie. Most of it reminds me of “those kids” in high school, running for class president. Working the room pretty much like a… what’s the word I’m looking for?... oh, yeah, like a whore. That’s kind of what social media looks like to me and I’m just uncomfortable in it. And yet, I put more of myself out there than I can ever feel comfortable with. I just have a deep-seated belief that real men and women don’t wear their feelings on their sleeves and that seems to be a main staple of social media. So, in what will probably be an unpopular answer to your question, I’m probably not suited very well to social media so I doubt if I’ll ever do well with it for promotion. Plus, I think it’s maybe a bit overrated—I don’t think it moves that many books. What moves significant numbers of books is being published by a Legacy 5 or a top independent, getting reviews in mainstream papers and mostly by being on the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores. Social media seems to sell to a very small audience, composed of authors in the same genre and their relatively few fans. Compared to the effort expended, I don’t see a commensurate return in sales. I suspect many of us have bought into that advice that we need a “platform” if we want to sell books. And, crank out more and more books, regardless of the quality.
Just not interested in getting votes for Prom King…
You’re been in the military and in prison, so unlike many of your peers in the noir field, you know real violence up close and personal. How does this background inform your work as a crime fiction writer?As an honest and knowledgeable writer. I see all these writers writing criminals and it’s obvious most don’t have the faintest clue how the criminal mind works or how real criminals actually act. It works the same as the straight’s mind, to be honest. Like a straight, they don’t think in terms of good and evil or good and bad. Whatevever they do, it’s usually for the same reasons a straight does things. (I know that the term “straight” today sometimes means a heterosexual, but I use it the way guys in the joint use it—to describe a person who obeys the law, i.e., a “lame.”) The way most bad guys keep getting portrayed is pretty much the way MSNBC portrays criminals in their inside the joint series. Mainly, they show two-three kinds of criminals—the psychotic and the weight-lifters. The gangs. None of those guys are the norm—they’re just the guys they can sensationalize. Most are the outliers, but they’re presented as the average guy. If you could watch an average prison scene, you’d probably focus on the guys bench-pressing Buicks. Those aren’t the bad guys. Half of them are on steroids and half of them couldn’t or wouldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag. It’s mostly all for looks and show and doesn’t scare anyone. They’re selling wolf tickets and the only people who buy those are lames. Or, the gang-bangers. They walk around like they’re breaking bad all the time and the truth is a lot of them are jokes. Or, out and out cowards. They only break bad when they outnumber others. The quiet guy on the corner of the yard, talking with one or two guys is the true badass in the joint. The weightlifters don’t bother him, the gangsters don’t bother him. They walk around this guy and ignore him. That’s because he’s the guy who will take them out in a New York second and they know it. But most writers don’t even know this guy exists. He doesn’t fit their stereotypical ideas of what a convict is or what a truly bad ass looks or acts like.
There are so many books now about meth criminals or guys who are high or drunk and are basically just mesomorphs. Yeah, there are guys like that—more now than ever before—but there are also a substantial number of people involved in criminal activities who don’t look anything like these guys and act nothing like them. A great many criminals never get caught. Look up crime statistics and it’s an eye-opener. Personally, when I finally got caught I’d committed well over four hundred burglaries and many other crimes for which I never got charged. I actually got caught for two crimes. Two. They charged me with 82 burglaries and they didn’t have a clue about any of them other than the two they caught me in the act of. Now, any endeavor you get caught doing two out of over four hundred, you’d kind of have to admit was successful. The only way I got charged with more than those two was that I was with other guys who also got caught and they snitched me out, telling about the jobs they’d been in on with me. The cops got lucky and actually caught me in two actual crimes out of the more than four hundred I got away with. If cops didn’t depend on snitches they’d never catch anyone. For crimes against property that is. For some crimes—like murders and kidnappings—they have a better rate. Although, more than half of all murders go unsolved, so…
I didn’t quit committing crimes when I got out of prison—I just quit getting caught. And that was because I acted alone. I also didn’t drink or do drugs on “the job.”That’s all it takes to be a successful outlaw. I committed over a thousand new crimes after being released and the cops didn’t even sniff what I was doing. I remember times when I left my parole officer’s office and went out and robbed a place. It’s really easy to be a successful criminal. There are so many outlaws who commit crimes constantly and never come close to getting caught. But, straights keep on believing this bullshit that crime doesn’t pay and eventually all criminals get caught. That’s about as true as saying all gamblers eventually end up losing. Yeah…
The other thing lacking in many writer’s work is a sense that they have a clue at all about killing or facing death. Everyone fancies themselves an expert these days and few are. In Hemingway’s day the writers who had never faced death left that stuff to Papa—most would have been embarrassed to portray violent death in their pages—Hemingway might have called them out on it. So they wrote about things like garden parties and had characters named Gatsby. At which they did fine. When they wrote about things they actually knew something about and had some actual talent, they looked like real writers. Today, those kinds of writers are not afraid of being called out and they pretend to know something about facing death and while a few do, a lot don’t. They’ve never been in the service, or a criminal, or a cop or anyone who’s faced dying on an up-close-and-personal level. Sorry, but I can’t suspend my disbelief for a lot of them. They give away their innocence in so many ways. A lot of them should be focusing on garden parties more, the life of insurance salesmen, and sorrowing over the lost babes of their youth…
At some point in your life, in between being a hair stylist, business headhunter, sports writer, and escort service specialist, you were actually homeless, and then you earned a MFA in writing. Do you feel your diverse personal and professional experiences or your formal education are more crucial to your literary success, or are they complementary? Is it different for everyone?
I was homeless more than once, Will. Several times—in New Orleans, in Baltimore, in Orange County. No big deal. Our homeless are far wealthier than the poor of most countries. I never had to miss many meals. Too many bleeding hearts out there for that to happen. And, even if there weren’t, our Dumpsters hold better and more food than most of the shitholes in the world do for their regular citizens. Except maybe the Dumpsters in L.A.—that’s one shithole where it looks like the homeless have completely taken over…
As to your question, formal writing instruction never gave me an ounce of help in writing. Just a colossal waste of money and time. And, I went to one of the best schools in the country—Vermont College, which places in the top five every year in Poets & Writers. I shudder to think what these Johnny-come-lately programs that have sprung up everywhere are like. They’re just cash cows for colleges. The only one I see as being of value any more is Seton Hill. Not even Iowa any more. The vast number of writers are being taught to be one-trick ponies. They just keep writing the same tired-ass story over and over. Show me the difference between Jack Reacher novel #1 and Jack Reacher novel #18. Not ten words worth of difference. And I read and enjoy Reacher novel, and admire Lee Child who doesn’t pretend to be a writer but is an author. Big difference.
I just went through a near-death experience and my entire outlook on life has shifted. I know now what guys like Richard Brautigan felt like. Like we’ve put our entire lives out there and no one noticed, except superfically. Well, screw that.
The real reason I think you asked about MFAs and the like is that you understand that the vast majority of wannabe writers have (rightfully) little faith in their writing ability and are looking for a magic bean that will confer the title of writer upon them. This is the kind of thing they’ve looked for all their lives. Go to school, earn an MBA, make a fortune on Wall Street or in the corporate world. Get a law degree, go to med school, get a teaching degree, a degree in journalism, etc., etc. It’s all about education, about a degree. Biggest load of bullshit ever sold to gullible youth. And, the only route to success they’re aware of. It’s fool’s gold but they don’t know it. They don’t realize the adults in their lives have been sold a crock of shit and all they can do is move it along to the next generation.
Kids, listen to the truly wise among us. Listen to the genius, Flannery O’Connor, who when asked if MFA programs discouraged writers, replied, “Not enough of them.” Truer words were never spoken… A semester studying just one of her stories (preferably without some idiot MFA advisor whispering in their ear their own moronic interpretation of it) will learn infinitely more about writing than sitting through a hundred academic lectures and make-work workshops. Run like the wind from MFA programs if you ever want a chance to learn to write. Where it will help you is to get published in journals run by MFA folks, mostly an experience that feels oddly like incest, probably because it is. It will also get your work read by a certain kind of literary agent who still puts value in these kinds of worthless degrees. They’ll help you become an author. Not a writer. But, I suspect the majority of folks writing today would rather be an author than a writer. At least, a lot of the work I see reflects that mindset.
Will, to fully answer your question, for me neither my life experiences nor any formal education were crucial to my literary ability. To my literary success, my life experiences—particularly the ones outside the norm---were helpful, but as far as literary ability only two things really helped that. First, an extraordinary intelligence (an I.Q. of 163), and second, having read far, far more than anyone I know was the biggest single factor. I firmly believe that you learn to write by reading. And, it’s what I notice about a lot of today’s writers—they don’t seem to have read much of quality. I began by reading Balzac and de Maupassant and the Russians when I was six and seven and eight years old. I see so many writers who say they began reading the Hardy Boys and cannot believe they’ll ever amount to a whole lot in letters. Is that elitist? Sure, but to be a good or great writer is the very definition of elitism. Can you imagine Saul Bellow attending some of today’s writer’s conventions or even being aware of them? Hemingway might show up but only because he had a commercial side and figured out people would buy him drinks. I’m pretty sure Flannery O’Connor wouldn’t even consider something like that. She valued her brain cells more than that… Too much class and pride to work the room like a high school kid trying to get enough votes for class president or prom king.
Reading voraciously and reading a quality list from the age of five or six is the key to becoming anything more than a formulaic or hack writer. Being also a genius doesn’t hurt. I get students who read an average of 5-10 books a year and I know they’re never going to write anything I’d want to read. Their literary heroes are John Gresham, Stephen King and the like. It used to be that anyone who read those kinds of authors would never admit it in public but those days have changed… It says a lot when a “writer” claims that one of his writing heroes is Stephen King. You can pretty well bet this isn’t a writer who can tell the difference between an Ian Fleming novel and The Stranger although he probably would never read the latter.
What are your influences, literary or otherwise?
I’ll list those who’ve written stories I admire and those I’ve learned something from. I always hate doing this as I can’t begin to list them all and after the interview comes out I feel badly about forgetting someone who should be on the list. Please forgive me the omissions.
Here ya go. The Bible. Harry Crews, Camus, Borges, Steve Hamilton, Joe Lansdale, Anthony Smith, Paul Brazill, Ray Banks, David Sedaris, Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, Raymond Carver, Ken Bruen, Christopher Moore, Flannery O’Connor, James Dickey, Faulkner, Nelson Algren, Charles Bukowski, Elaine Ash, Kurt Vonnegut, Jim Murray, Larry Brown, Helen FitzGerald, Barry Hannah, Les Edgerton—yeah, myself—I read my own work often--Celine, Mark Twain, Guillermo O’Joyce, Sherman Alexie, Richard Brautigan, Callie Khouri, Janet Burroway, Linwood Barclay, David Mamet, Cormac McCarthy, Anton Chekhov, Saul Bellow, Pete Dexter, Larry Watson--a lot more I’m forgetting right now. You’ll notice most are older or dead and that’s because I don’t see a lot of competition for great writing these days. I see a lot of work you might call “satisfactory” but little that is actual genius. It’s like a sea of mediocre TV series’ episodes that look a lot alike out there. Name ten books that actually affected you emotionally in the last couple of years. Name five. Hell, name one or two! Name one person writing today who could write a book to match one of Nelson Algren’s. There are a handful but a small handful.
Sorry about the bitterness. I nearly died a few weeks ago and it kind of changed my outlook on life and writing. I’ve come close to death before but prior to this was young enough I didn’t really believe I could die. Now I know it’s always very close. And it made me want to never again lie for the sake of being liked. I’d much rather be respected and even hated for being forthright and honest than for making somebody feel good.
Write a truly great book like The Lock Artist, Trout Fishing in America, The Stranger, A Feast of Snakes, The Rapist, No Country for Old Men, or a short story as brilliant as “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” or “The Fiend” and then you’ll be a writer and not just an author.
What’s next for you?
Well, since I’ve just committed professional suicide with this interview, about all that’s left is to get my affairs in order, then lay down in the casket and cross my hands and await the pallbearers.
In the meantime, I’ll be finalizing my memoir, Adrenaline Junkie, which comes out this fall from Down&Out Books. Maybe it’ll win one of those awards some of my other books should have won. Probably not… Finishing up a novel based on a short story I wrote when I was 12 and that my agent urged me to write, saying it “haunted her” and that if I wrote it well, could be as good as No Country for Old Men.
At any rate, thank you for this opportunity, Will. Hope the haters won’t include you—you just were the gracious host who asked the questions and didn’t realize he was talking to the angry old bastard threatening the kids on his lawn with his .12 gauge…
And, I don’t really hate many of my fellow writers. I just don’t want to have drinks with some of you… and I’m sure the feeling’s mutual. That’s what we call a “big hairy-ass deal”… not… Too many “nice” guys (to one’s face) out there who I wouldn’t turn my back on for a nanosecond. I love the real men and women of literature. I detest the phonies that work the room and can’t do the real work of writing. As we say in Texas, too many writers today are “all hat and no cattle.”
Blue skies,Les
I prefer gray, but…wow. Thanks for one helluva ride.
Links: www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/@HookedOnNoirFB – Les Edgerton, Author
BIO: Les Edgerton is an ex-con, matriculating at Pendleton Reformatory in the sixties for burglary (plea-bargained down from multiple counts of burglary, armed robbery, strong-armed robbery and possession with intent). He was an outlaw for many years and was involved in shootouts, knifings, robberies, high-speed car chases, dealt and used drugs, was a pimp, worked for an escort service, starred in porn movies, was a gambler, served four years in the Navy, and had other misadventures. He’s since taken a vow of poverty (became a writer) with 21 books in print. His memoir, Adrenaline Junkie is currently being edited prior to being published by Down&Out Books in November, 2018. Work of his has been nominated for or won: the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award (short story category), Derringer Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Jesse Jones Book Award, Spinetingler Magazine Award for Best Novel (Legends category), awarded two literary grants from the NEA, and the Violet Crown Book Award, among others. Screenplays of his have placed as a semifinalist in the Nicholl’s and as a finalist in the Best of Austin and Writer’s Guild’s competitions. He holds a B.A. from I.U. and the MFA in Writing from Vermont College. He was the writer-in-residence for three years at the University of Toledo, for one year at Trine University, and taught writing classes for UCLA, St. Francis University, Phoenix College, Writer’s Digest, Vermont College, the New York Writer’s Workshop and other places. He currently teaches a private novel-writing class online. He lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he immigrated to some years ago from the U.S. and is currently learning the language and customs there. He writes because he hates... a lot... and hard. Injustice and bullying and mendacity are what he hates the most. He can be found at www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/
Just completed this interview with Will Viharo on his column, Digital Media Ghost. Click here to see it on the site.
Author of the Week: Les Edgerton
Fiction is easier to categorize than fiction writers, at least much of the time.
Take award-winning, bestselling, universally lauded “crime writer” Les Edgerton. Designating him as such may be promotionally correct, but it doesn’t begin to distill the essence of a man that had led a long, complex, tormented, challenging, and ultimately rewarding life.
To pigeonhole Les Edgerton merely as a “crime writer,” even though he writes “crime fiction,” would indeed be a crime, or at least a misdemeanor, of intellectual laziness.
An author may specialize in writing violent, hardboiled tales of desperate people doing risky things, but that doesn’t mean the author is anything like his or her characters. Most of the time the writers are sharing their own fantasies. The readers themselves take a vicarious walk on the dark side with no danger to themselves. Kind of like a video game. Except reading requires a certain kind of mental concentration that is eluding more and more of us as our multi-media both expands and contracts. I’ve never played a single video game in my life, but I understand the emancipating escapism of creative imagination, especially my own.
For the record, though many of my books can be categorized as some version of “noir,” I’ve never considered myself a crime writer per se. I write mostly from my own experiences, and since I’m not a criminal, at least in the legal sense, I don’t really relate to criminals. My protagonists are often damaged people who read too many crime novels and watch too many crime movies, and then try to act accordingly. And therein lies the conflict of the otherwise unconventional narratives.
But don’t call me a “crime writer.” Unless, of course, you consider my work an affront to society at large. The only rules I break are literary in nature.
Enough about me. Let’s focus on the subject of this interview, which is not the interviewee.
Les Edgerton is a legend. Maybe not in his mind, but in mine and many, many others, whether readers or writers. He comes by this honor not through any intentional ambitions, but incidentally, just by living his life, often taking the hard road instead of cruising down Easy Street. Not that there was often an optional fork in his path, anyway.
Though I’m a “straight,” at least as far as the law goes, I relate a lot to Les both as a person and as a writer, though our backgrounds are quite different. Besides artistic sublimation, we are bonded by a tenacious survival instinct, and a low tolerance for baloney. (In my case, I eschew both the behavioral and the edible iterations).
Les has plenty to say on these and other subjects, so I’ll let him take it from here. Hang on tight: it’s going to be a bumpy, grumpy, but edifying ride…
You’ve sold everything from drugs to life insurance in your colorful life. How do you sell yourself as an author in such a crowded, competitive marketplace?
I don’t think I’m a good one to ask this of! I don’t seem to do that great a job in selling myself. I suspect it’s because social media is fairly foreign to me and I’ve always felt out of place in it. People who pat themselves on the back or seek out praise seem a bit… what’s the un-PC word I’m looking for? Oh, yeah, kind of girlie. Most of it reminds me of “those kids” in high school, running for class president. Working the room pretty much like a… what’s the word I’m looking for?... oh, yeah, like a whore. That’s kind of what social media looks like to me and I’m just uncomfortable in it. And yet, I put more of myself out there than I can ever feel comfortable with. I just have a deep-seated belief that real men and women don’t wear their feelings on their sleeves and that seems to be a main staple of social media. So, in what will probably be an unpopular answer to your question, I’m probably not suited very well to social media so I doubt if I’ll ever do well with it for promotion. Plus, I think it’s maybe a bit overrated—I don’t think it moves that many books. What moves significant numbers of books is being published by a Legacy 5 or a top independent, getting reviews in mainstream papers and mostly by being on the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores. Social media seems to sell to a very small audience, composed of authors in the same genre and their relatively few fans. Compared to the effort expended, I don’t see a commensurate return in sales. I suspect many of us have bought into that advice that we need a “platform” if we want to sell books. And, crank out more and more books, regardless of the quality.
Just not interested in getting votes for Prom King…
You’re been in the military and in prison, so unlike many of your peers in the noir field, you know real violence up close and personal. How does this background inform your work as a crime fiction writer?As an honest and knowledgeable writer. I see all these writers writing criminals and it’s obvious most don’t have the faintest clue how the criminal mind works or how real criminals actually act. It works the same as the straight’s mind, to be honest. Like a straight, they don’t think in terms of good and evil or good and bad. Whatevever they do, it’s usually for the same reasons a straight does things. (I know that the term “straight” today sometimes means a heterosexual, but I use it the way guys in the joint use it—to describe a person who obeys the law, i.e., a “lame.”) The way most bad guys keep getting portrayed is pretty much the way MSNBC portrays criminals in their inside the joint series. Mainly, they show two-three kinds of criminals—the psychotic and the weight-lifters. The gangs. None of those guys are the norm—they’re just the guys they can sensationalize. Most are the outliers, but they’re presented as the average guy. If you could watch an average prison scene, you’d probably focus on the guys bench-pressing Buicks. Those aren’t the bad guys. Half of them are on steroids and half of them couldn’t or wouldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag. It’s mostly all for looks and show and doesn’t scare anyone. They’re selling wolf tickets and the only people who buy those are lames. Or, the gang-bangers. They walk around like they’re breaking bad all the time and the truth is a lot of them are jokes. Or, out and out cowards. They only break bad when they outnumber others. The quiet guy on the corner of the yard, talking with one or two guys is the true badass in the joint. The weightlifters don’t bother him, the gangsters don’t bother him. They walk around this guy and ignore him. That’s because he’s the guy who will take them out in a New York second and they know it. But most writers don’t even know this guy exists. He doesn’t fit their stereotypical ideas of what a convict is or what a truly bad ass looks or acts like.
There are so many books now about meth criminals or guys who are high or drunk and are basically just mesomorphs. Yeah, there are guys like that—more now than ever before—but there are also a substantial number of people involved in criminal activities who don’t look anything like these guys and act nothing like them. A great many criminals never get caught. Look up crime statistics and it’s an eye-opener. Personally, when I finally got caught I’d committed well over four hundred burglaries and many other crimes for which I never got charged. I actually got caught for two crimes. Two. They charged me with 82 burglaries and they didn’t have a clue about any of them other than the two they caught me in the act of. Now, any endeavor you get caught doing two out of over four hundred, you’d kind of have to admit was successful. The only way I got charged with more than those two was that I was with other guys who also got caught and they snitched me out, telling about the jobs they’d been in on with me. The cops got lucky and actually caught me in two actual crimes out of the more than four hundred I got away with. If cops didn’t depend on snitches they’d never catch anyone. For crimes against property that is. For some crimes—like murders and kidnappings—they have a better rate. Although, more than half of all murders go unsolved, so…
I didn’t quit committing crimes when I got out of prison—I just quit getting caught. And that was because I acted alone. I also didn’t drink or do drugs on “the job.”That’s all it takes to be a successful outlaw. I committed over a thousand new crimes after being released and the cops didn’t even sniff what I was doing. I remember times when I left my parole officer’s office and went out and robbed a place. It’s really easy to be a successful criminal. There are so many outlaws who commit crimes constantly and never come close to getting caught. But, straights keep on believing this bullshit that crime doesn’t pay and eventually all criminals get caught. That’s about as true as saying all gamblers eventually end up losing. Yeah…
The other thing lacking in many writer’s work is a sense that they have a clue at all about killing or facing death. Everyone fancies themselves an expert these days and few are. In Hemingway’s day the writers who had never faced death left that stuff to Papa—most would have been embarrassed to portray violent death in their pages—Hemingway might have called them out on it. So they wrote about things like garden parties and had characters named Gatsby. At which they did fine. When they wrote about things they actually knew something about and had some actual talent, they looked like real writers. Today, those kinds of writers are not afraid of being called out and they pretend to know something about facing death and while a few do, a lot don’t. They’ve never been in the service, or a criminal, or a cop or anyone who’s faced dying on an up-close-and-personal level. Sorry, but I can’t suspend my disbelief for a lot of them. They give away their innocence in so many ways. A lot of them should be focusing on garden parties more, the life of insurance salesmen, and sorrowing over the lost babes of their youth…
At some point in your life, in between being a hair stylist, business headhunter, sports writer, and escort service specialist, you were actually homeless, and then you earned a MFA in writing. Do you feel your diverse personal and professional experiences or your formal education are more crucial to your literary success, or are they complementary? Is it different for everyone?
I was homeless more than once, Will. Several times—in New Orleans, in Baltimore, in Orange County. No big deal. Our homeless are far wealthier than the poor of most countries. I never had to miss many meals. Too many bleeding hearts out there for that to happen. And, even if there weren’t, our Dumpsters hold better and more food than most of the shitholes in the world do for their regular citizens. Except maybe the Dumpsters in L.A.—that’s one shithole where it looks like the homeless have completely taken over…
As to your question, formal writing instruction never gave me an ounce of help in writing. Just a colossal waste of money and time. And, I went to one of the best schools in the country—Vermont College, which places in the top five every year in Poets & Writers. I shudder to think what these Johnny-come-lately programs that have sprung up everywhere are like. They’re just cash cows for colleges. The only one I see as being of value any more is Seton Hill. Not even Iowa any more. The vast number of writers are being taught to be one-trick ponies. They just keep writing the same tired-ass story over and over. Show me the difference between Jack Reacher novel #1 and Jack Reacher novel #18. Not ten words worth of difference. And I read and enjoy Reacher novel, and admire Lee Child who doesn’t pretend to be a writer but is an author. Big difference.
I just went through a near-death experience and my entire outlook on life has shifted. I know now what guys like Richard Brautigan felt like. Like we’ve put our entire lives out there and no one noticed, except superfically. Well, screw that.
The real reason I think you asked about MFAs and the like is that you understand that the vast majority of wannabe writers have (rightfully) little faith in their writing ability and are looking for a magic bean that will confer the title of writer upon them. This is the kind of thing they’ve looked for all their lives. Go to school, earn an MBA, make a fortune on Wall Street or in the corporate world. Get a law degree, go to med school, get a teaching degree, a degree in journalism, etc., etc. It’s all about education, about a degree. Biggest load of bullshit ever sold to gullible youth. And, the only route to success they’re aware of. It’s fool’s gold but they don’t know it. They don’t realize the adults in their lives have been sold a crock of shit and all they can do is move it along to the next generation.
Kids, listen to the truly wise among us. Listen to the genius, Flannery O’Connor, who when asked if MFA programs discouraged writers, replied, “Not enough of them.” Truer words were never spoken… A semester studying just one of her stories (preferably without some idiot MFA advisor whispering in their ear their own moronic interpretation of it) will learn infinitely more about writing than sitting through a hundred academic lectures and make-work workshops. Run like the wind from MFA programs if you ever want a chance to learn to write. Where it will help you is to get published in journals run by MFA folks, mostly an experience that feels oddly like incest, probably because it is. It will also get your work read by a certain kind of literary agent who still puts value in these kinds of worthless degrees. They’ll help you become an author. Not a writer. But, I suspect the majority of folks writing today would rather be an author than a writer. At least, a lot of the work I see reflects that mindset.
Will, to fully answer your question, for me neither my life experiences nor any formal education were crucial to my literary ability. To my literary success, my life experiences—particularly the ones outside the norm---were helpful, but as far as literary ability only two things really helped that. First, an extraordinary intelligence (an I.Q. of 163), and second, having read far, far more than anyone I know was the biggest single factor. I firmly believe that you learn to write by reading. And, it’s what I notice about a lot of today’s writers—they don’t seem to have read much of quality. I began by reading Balzac and de Maupassant and the Russians when I was six and seven and eight years old. I see so many writers who say they began reading the Hardy Boys and cannot believe they’ll ever amount to a whole lot in letters. Is that elitist? Sure, but to be a good or great writer is the very definition of elitism. Can you imagine Saul Bellow attending some of today’s writer’s conventions or even being aware of them? Hemingway might show up but only because he had a commercial side and figured out people would buy him drinks. I’m pretty sure Flannery O’Connor wouldn’t even consider something like that. She valued her brain cells more than that… Too much class and pride to work the room like a high school kid trying to get enough votes for class president or prom king.
Reading voraciously and reading a quality list from the age of five or six is the key to becoming anything more than a formulaic or hack writer. Being also a genius doesn’t hurt. I get students who read an average of 5-10 books a year and I know they’re never going to write anything I’d want to read. Their literary heroes are John Gresham, Stephen King and the like. It used to be that anyone who read those kinds of authors would never admit it in public but those days have changed… It says a lot when a “writer” claims that one of his writing heroes is Stephen King. You can pretty well bet this isn’t a writer who can tell the difference between an Ian Fleming novel and The Stranger although he probably would never read the latter.
What are your influences, literary or otherwise?
I’ll list those who’ve written stories I admire and those I’ve learned something from. I always hate doing this as I can’t begin to list them all and after the interview comes out I feel badly about forgetting someone who should be on the list. Please forgive me the omissions.
Here ya go. The Bible. Harry Crews, Camus, Borges, Steve Hamilton, Joe Lansdale, Anthony Smith, Paul Brazill, Ray Banks, David Sedaris, Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, Raymond Carver, Ken Bruen, Christopher Moore, Flannery O’Connor, James Dickey, Faulkner, Nelson Algren, Charles Bukowski, Elaine Ash, Kurt Vonnegut, Jim Murray, Larry Brown, Helen FitzGerald, Barry Hannah, Les Edgerton—yeah, myself—I read my own work often--Celine, Mark Twain, Guillermo O’Joyce, Sherman Alexie, Richard Brautigan, Callie Khouri, Janet Burroway, Linwood Barclay, David Mamet, Cormac McCarthy, Anton Chekhov, Saul Bellow, Pete Dexter, Larry Watson--a lot more I’m forgetting right now. You’ll notice most are older or dead and that’s because I don’t see a lot of competition for great writing these days. I see a lot of work you might call “satisfactory” but little that is actual genius. It’s like a sea of mediocre TV series’ episodes that look a lot alike out there. Name ten books that actually affected you emotionally in the last couple of years. Name five. Hell, name one or two! Name one person writing today who could write a book to match one of Nelson Algren’s. There are a handful but a small handful.
Sorry about the bitterness. I nearly died a few weeks ago and it kind of changed my outlook on life and writing. I’ve come close to death before but prior to this was young enough I didn’t really believe I could die. Now I know it’s always very close. And it made me want to never again lie for the sake of being liked. I’d much rather be respected and even hated for being forthright and honest than for making somebody feel good.
Write a truly great book like The Lock Artist, Trout Fishing in America, The Stranger, A Feast of Snakes, The Rapist, No Country for Old Men, or a short story as brilliant as “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” or “The Fiend” and then you’ll be a writer and not just an author.
What’s next for you?
Well, since I’ve just committed professional suicide with this interview, about all that’s left is to get my affairs in order, then lay down in the casket and cross my hands and await the pallbearers.
In the meantime, I’ll be finalizing my memoir, Adrenaline Junkie, which comes out this fall from Down&Out Books. Maybe it’ll win one of those awards some of my other books should have won. Probably not… Finishing up a novel based on a short story I wrote when I was 12 and that my agent urged me to write, saying it “haunted her” and that if I wrote it well, could be as good as No Country for Old Men.
At any rate, thank you for this opportunity, Will. Hope the haters won’t include you—you just were the gracious host who asked the questions and didn’t realize he was talking to the angry old bastard threatening the kids on his lawn with his .12 gauge…
And, I don’t really hate many of my fellow writers. I just don’t want to have drinks with some of you… and I’m sure the feeling’s mutual. That’s what we call a “big hairy-ass deal”… not… Too many “nice” guys (to one’s face) out there who I wouldn’t turn my back on for a nanosecond. I love the real men and women of literature. I detest the phonies that work the room and can’t do the real work of writing. As we say in Texas, too many writers today are “all hat and no cattle.”
Blue skies,Les
I prefer gray, but…wow. Thanks for one helluva ride.
Links: www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/@HookedOnNoirFB – Les Edgerton, Author
BIO: Les Edgerton is an ex-con, matriculating at Pendleton Reformatory in the sixties for burglary (plea-bargained down from multiple counts of burglary, armed robbery, strong-armed robbery and possession with intent). He was an outlaw for many years and was involved in shootouts, knifings, robberies, high-speed car chases, dealt and used drugs, was a pimp, worked for an escort service, starred in porn movies, was a gambler, served four years in the Navy, and had other misadventures. He’s since taken a vow of poverty (became a writer) with 21 books in print. His memoir, Adrenaline Junkie is currently being edited prior to being published by Down&Out Books in November, 2018. Work of his has been nominated for or won: the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award (short story category), Derringer Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Jesse Jones Book Award, Spinetingler Magazine Award for Best Novel (Legends category), awarded two literary grants from the NEA, and the Violet Crown Book Award, among others. Screenplays of his have placed as a semifinalist in the Nicholl’s and as a finalist in the Best of Austin and Writer’s Guild’s competitions. He holds a B.A. from I.U. and the MFA in Writing from Vermont College. He was the writer-in-residence for three years at the University of Toledo, for one year at Trine University, and taught writing classes for UCLA, St. Francis University, Phoenix College, Writer’s Digest, Vermont College, the New York Writer’s Workshop and other places. He currently teaches a private novel-writing class online. He lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he immigrated to some years ago from the U.S. and is currently learning the language and customs there. He writes because he hates... a lot... and hard. Injustice and bullying and mendacity are what he hates the most. He can be found at www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/
March 17, 2018
Book Recommendation
Hi folks,
I want to draw your attention to a terrific novel that will be on sale this coming Tuesday, March 20 for only $1.99 for one day. Consider getting a copy of Marjorie Brody's psychological thriller, TWISTED. It's one of my all-time favorite thrillers and is just such an intelligent and riveting read that it's found a place in my personal top ten novels.
Do yourself a favor and glom onto a copy. You'll thank me!
Click HERE
Blue skies,Les
I want to draw your attention to a terrific novel that will be on sale this coming Tuesday, March 20 for only $1.99 for one day. Consider getting a copy of Marjorie Brody's psychological thriller, TWISTED. It's one of my all-time favorite thrillers and is just such an intelligent and riveting read that it's found a place in my personal top ten novels.
Do yourself a favor and glom onto a copy. You'll thank me!
Click HERE
Blue skies,Les
February 23, 2018
FLU
Hi folks,
Sorry I’ve been absent the past couple of weeks, but I’ve had the flu and then had a relapse. I don’t know if I was near death but it sure felt like it. I seem to have pulled through and that was totally due to my beautiful wife Mary who was the best nurse I’ve ever had.It all began with a surprise birthday party Mary sprung on me two days before my actual birthday on February 11 at a local Mexican restaurant we like. Somehow she kept the whole thing secret from me and I was knocked out when we walked in and there were dozens of my friends and relatives. I’ve never had a surprise party before, and at age 75 was running out of opportunities. She really created a magical time for me, one I’ll never forget.
But, literally the moment we went back home, the misery began. Almost the instant we walked in the door we were both knocked to our knees. There was no doubt what we had. It hit so hard, I had to cancel our online class and as it was only our second week that took some doing. It ended up I had to cancel a second week and I’ve never had to do that.
We went to the doctor and were quickly diagnosed and put on Tamiflu It worked for Mary—although she went back to work a couple of days too early, but that’s Mary. I just got worse and worse. It was all I could do to get out of bed a few times a day to go to the bathroom and that trip was just debilitating. We took me back to the doctor and he put me on a bunch of other medicines and COPD measures. I truly thought I was going to die. Truth be told, I wantedto die. If this was going to be the way the rest of my life would be, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I couldn’t breathe—it felt like I was continually suffocating; I couldn’t sleep—it was just a constant barrage of coughing,coughing, coughing all night long. The worse was I couldn’t think. A couple of times I went to my computer and tried to focus on a student’s work and just couldn’t make myself read it intelligently. Without being able to work meant we would eventually be homeless—all we have are Mary’s earnings from work and my SS and it’s the class that keeps us afloat. And, I couldn’t even kill myself as neither of us have insurance and don’t have any savings or other resources to be buried. It’s not fun to be old and poor in America. And what was really depressing, it was as I had died and instead of the book sales pouring in to pay Mary royalties, it looked suspiciously like what would really happen and a lifetime of devotion to a writing career now appeared to be a fools’ gold kind of career. I couldn’t even make money by dying. And that’s the kind of feel sorry thoughts I went through.
Never had these kinds of thoughts to this extent before. Not fun.
But, I’ve recovered. Should be able to return to class on Monday. And ask a huge favor. If and when I do die, please consider buying some of my books. It’s the only way I can make some money for my wife and she deserves it. If there’s an afterlife, I’ll be paying attention and thanking you. If there isn’t, well… there’s that…
A couple of things took place while I was will that I wasn’t able to report on then. A blogpost I’d previously been asked to contribute was printed and here it is. Hope you enjoy it. And then, I’d recorded a radio podcast with Dr. Paul Reeves out of Detroit. The broadcast comes out shortly and links are below.
Blue skies,Les
FEBRUARY 14TH, 2018Writers in the storm http://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=33309Using Third Person vs First Person Novel NarrativesBy Guest Blogger Les Edgerton
Hi folks,A source of discussion that always comes up at the beginning of my classes is whether the writer should use first- or third-person. The short answer I usually give, is: “Whatever the material calls for.”Since that doesn’t adequately address the question, I go on to amplify the answer, and that’s what I’ll do here as well.First, I ask the student who wants to employ first-person why they chose that stance. Almost without exception, they’ll state, “Well, it’s just more intimate. Third person is too formal for the character I want to create for the story.”That’s when I proceed to knock holes in that theory.Before I do that, here are a few things I’ve observed. More beginning writers than established writers tend to write in first-person. Far more people who’ve been published are aware that third person is considered the “professional” POV and that first-person is often considered the “amateur” POV.Now, before everybody starts yelling at me that there are tons of excellent books out there written in first-person, let me assure you I’m well aware of that. If I may, I’d like to refer you back to my short answer: “Whatever the material calls for.” There are often times when the material calls for first person. However… not as often as is sometimes realized.Let me explain.The chief reason many agents and editors prefer third person and call it the “professional” POV, is that the overwhelming percentage of successful books and bestsellers are written in third person. This isn’t an accident. There are reasons this is the case.Actually, the overwhelming majority of manuscripts that arrive in a publisher’s or agent’s office are written in first-person. If that’s so (and it is), then why would more third-person efforts become published? Well, because many more manuscripts are submitted by beginners than by pros. By the time one goes from the beginner’s group to the published group, the numbers in the second group have dramatically diminished. That means the second group is going to be predominantly writing in third person. Fewer people by far in that group, but a much higher percentage of publishable manuscripts. Most in third person…This simply goes back to my observation above that more beginning writers employ first-person than do seasoned pros. Editors and agents have also noted this fact. Overwhelmingly so do beginners prefer to write in first- rather than third-person.That means that when a gatekeeper encounters a first-person manuscript, it goes without saying that a little red light goes on (from his/her past experiences) that chances are pretty good this mss came from a… less seasoned writer. And, it’s just a fact of life and the business of writing that the newer the writer, the less likely the mss will be of publishable quality.Does that mean when your first-person opus lands on an editor’s or agent’s desk it is doomed from the start? Of course not. But, a writer should be aware that there’s a bit of a bias already in place against first-person.If it’s a book that should have been written in first rather than third, and it’s written well and is of publishable quality, no problem. Any good editor or agent will be able to tell within a couple of pages if it’s written well or not, no matter what POV stance the author has elected.Why do agents and editors feel this way about first-person? This gets to the heart of the matter. The reason many hold first-person in a negative light is that anyone who’s read many manuscripts knows that a great many first-person novels are thinly-disguised autobiographies, usually espousing some recently-learned political or social philosophy, or, if not that, their imitation of some current (or just-over) line of bestsellers. At present, this includes vampire or zombie opuses, or invincible characters who look suspiciously like Jack Reacher but have different names.Another reason many choose a first-person narrator is that it seems easier to newer writers. Many (many!) first novels are written with characters saying and thinking things the writer him- or herself thinks in their own minds. Novels that are fiction in name only; primarily many are just vehicles to assign the writer’s own thoughts to in a loosely-degenerative plot.Those are all secondary reasons why some writers choose first-person. Overwhelmingly, however, the biggest single reason lots of writers choose first is that they feel it’s a more intimate POV. It seems to make sense. After all, if one is writing “I” from their character’s POV, one can’t get much closer to the character, can they?You saw this coming, didn’t you!Of course there’s a way to achieve the same intimacy with third person as there is with first. And, it’s easy.Simply by employing a close third person, not a formal third. A narrative that uses a close third achieves exactly the same intimacy with the reader as a first person does. The good news is that by using a close third person you get all the positives and none of the negatives of first person.The bad news is… well, there isn’t any bad news. It’s a win-win situation.And, how does one achieve this magical close third that feels like first person with none of the baggage of first? Again, it’s easy. You simply substitute personal pronouns for the character’s name. That’s it. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?Let’s take a look. Examples are the best way to prove a point.I’ll give you a section of narrative in which a formal third is used. Then, I’ll give the same passage in first person. And, finally, I’ll follow that with the same narrative, only this time with personal pronouns in a close third person. I feel confident that as soon as you read them you’ll see and feel the difference.***From my short story, “My Idea of a Nice Thing” first published in Breeze and included in my short story collection, “Monday’s Meal.” (The two people are at an A.A. meeting and it’s about a third through the story.)First, the passage in a formal third person: “My idea of a nice thing,” he said, “would be a world where you could get drunk and it wouldn’t harm you, physically, anyway.” Raye turned and offered her hand. “My name is Raye.” “Hi, Raye. Emory. Like the board.” Raye didn’t quite get it and first and then she did and smiled. “I liked what you said that time, about sorting yourself out.” Again, Raye didn’t get it at first, and then she realized he must have been at the meeting she’d first gotten up and spoken at. “Well, yeah,” Raye said, “It’s kind of like that, but boy did I get in trouble saying that!” “From Jim, right?” ‘You shouldn’t talk about the joys of drink at a meeting or a place where that’s all the people think about?’ That Jim?” He grinned, and Raye saw he had great teeth, even and white, and what was nice was the way he smiled. Like he was unaware of how great his teeth really were, that he was smiling just because he was happy or had thought of something funny. “There’s been talk of replacing ol’ Jim. He gets his meetings mixed up, thinks this is Parents Without Partners.” There must have been something in Raye’s face that made him realize he’d said the wrong thing. “Look, I’m sorry. Let’s get out of here,” he said. “Go get a drink.” They use the same pickup lines here that they do in bars, Raye thought. “I don’t mean a drink with liquor in it,” he said. “I mean a Coke or something, but in a bar. This place feels like a hospital. It’s depressing.” “This is a hospital… Emory,” Raye added his name haltingly, knowing that once she’d said it she was going to leave with him.That’s a formal third. Now, read the same passage as first person. “My idea of a nice thing,” he said, “would be a world where you could get drunk and it wouldn’t harm you, physically, anyway.” “Raye,” I said, turning and offering my hand. “My name is Raye.” “Hi, Raye. Emory. Like the board.” I didn’t quite get it at first and then I did and smiled. “I liked what you said that time, about sorting yourself out.” Again, I didn’t get it at first, and then I realized he must have been at the meeting I’d first gotten up and spoken at. “Well, yeah,” I said, “It’s kind of like that, but boy did I get in trouble saying that!” “From Jim, right?” ‘You shouldn’t talk about the joys of drink at a meeting or a place where that’s all the people think about?’ That Jim?” He grinned, and I saw he had great teeth, even and white, and what was nice was the way he smiled. Like he was unaware of how great his teeth really were, that he was smiling just because he was happy or had thought of something funny. “There’s been talk of replacing ol’ Jim. He gets his meetings mixed up, thinks this is Parents Without Partners.” There must have been something in my face that made him realize he’d said the wrong thing. “Look, I’m sorry. Let’s get out of here,” he said. “Go get a drink.” They use the same pickup lines here that they do in bars, I thought. “I don’t mean a drink with liquor in it,” he said. “I mean a Coke or something, but in a bar. This place feels like a hospital. It’s depressing.” “This is a hospital… Emory,” I added his name haltingly, knowing that once I’d said it I was going to leave with him.And, finally, the same passage as a close third. See if you don’t agree it feels exactly like first person. “My idea of a nice thing,” he said, “would be a world where you could get drunk and it wouldn’t harm you, physically, anyway.” “Raye,” she said, turning and offering her hand. “My name is Raye.” “Hi, Raye. Emory. Like the board.” She didn’t quite get it and first and then she did and smiled. “I liked what you said that time, about sorting yourself out.” Again, she didn’t get it at first, and then she realized he must have been at the meeting she’d first gotten up and spoken at. “Well, yeah,” she said, “It’s kind of like that, but boy did I get in trouble saying that!” “From Jim, right?” ‘You shouldn’t talk about the joys of drink at a meeting or a place where that’s all the people think about?’ That Jim?” He grinned, and she saw he had great teeth, even and white, and what was nice was the way he smiled. Like he was unaware of how great his teeth really were, that he was smiling just because he was happy or had thought of something funny. “There’s been talk of replacing ol’ Jim. He gets his meetings mixed up, thinks this is Parents Without Partners.” There must have been something in her face that made him realize he’d said the wrong thing. “Look, I’m sorry. Let’s get out of here,” he said. “Go get a drink.” They use the same pickup lines here that they do in bars, she thought. “I don’t mean a drink with liquor in it,” he said. “I mean a Coke or something, but in a bar. This place feels like a hospital. It’s depressing.” “This is a hospital… Emory,” she added his name haltingly, knowing that once she’d said it she was going to leave with him.***See how by simply replacing the POV character’s name with personal pronouns instantly transforms it into a read that feels exactly like first person. The same level of intimacy? Kinda neat, isn’t it!How do you know when the “material calls for first or third person?”There’s a handy-dandy litmus test. If you can substitute personal pronouns for all the “I’s” in the narrative and it doesn’t affect the story… then it should be in third. If it does affect the story and in a negative way, then it should be in first. Most of the time I think you’ll find that it works better in third person. A close third person.Personally, I often write in first person. Mostly for short stories. For novels, occasionally I’ll use first person, but mostly I opt for third. A close third.Try it yourself. Take a passage written in a formal third (where the POV character’s name is used often) and rewrite it, taking out all the instances where the name is used and substitute personal pronouns for the POV character’s name. (This is once the character’s name is on the page and the reader knows who the “he” or “she” is.) Then, recast it in first person and compare the close third version with the first person version and see if you don’t agree they feel pretty much the same.Or, take a previously-written passage in first person and substitute personal pronouns for the I’s. If you don’t feel any or very much difference, guess what? It might be a better POV to use.Hope this helps!Blue skies,
Les* * * * * *ABOUT LES [image error] Les Edgerton is an ex-con, matriculating at Pendleton Reformatory in the sixties for burglary. He was an outlaw for many years and was involved in shootouts, knifings, robberies, high-speed car chases, drugs, was a pimp, worked for an escort service, starred in porn movies, was a gambler, served four years in the Navy, and had other misadventures. He’s since taken a vow of poverty (became a writer) with 18 books in print, including Finding Your Voice and HOOKED .Three of his novels have been sold to German publisher, Pulpmaster for the German language rights. His memoir, Adrenaline Junkie is currently being marketed. Work of his has been nominated for or won: the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award (short story category), Derringer Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Jesse Jones Book Award, Spinetingler Magazine Award for Best Novel (Legends category), and the Violet Crown Book Award, among others.Les holds a B.A. from I.U. and the MFA in Writing from Vermont College. He was the writer-in-residence for three years at the University of Toledo, for one year at Trine University, and taught writing classes for UCLA, St. Francis University, Phoenix College, Writer’s Digest, Vermont College, the New York Writer’s Workshop and other places. He currently teaches a private novel-writing class online.He can be found at www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/ .Loading...February 14th, 2018 | Tags: bestselling novels, Les Edgerton, Point of view, Writers in the Storm, writing | Category: Blogging Guests, Craft Terry Odell February 14, 2018 at 5:19 am · ReplyLove close (I call it deep) pov. I did have one character who demanded first, but otherwise, I’m Deep 3rd all the way. Doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one POV character in the book, but I prefer reading 3rd. (And don’t get me started on present tense… ugh.)o [image error] Jenny Hansen February 14, 2018 at 8:05 pm · ReplyI prefer reading third person all the way. It’s got to be a super-likeable funny main character to keep me engaged in first person. And I find present tense so distracting. I have a really hard time reading it, although I have seen it used well in some short stories.· [image error] Laura Drake February 14, 2018 at 5:42 am · ReplyThank you for this clear, well thought out defense of third person, Les. Had a hard time getting past the ‘less than’ of 1st, but I get what you’re saying.One more reason to use third (deep third) – I’m writing a 3 book series. The voice that came to me in the first story was first person, so I wrote it that way. The second story should be third – but my editor told me I’d have to stick with 1st the whole 3 books.Or, I could rewrite the first in third.Um, no thanks.· [image error]Mary BaileyFebruary 14, 2018 at 7:20 am · ReplyDear Les,I read your article with great interest. You are very good at what you do! I am writing a novel in omniscient 3rd POV. Is that the same as close third person?Mary· [image error] Maggie Smith February 14, 2018 at 8:42 am · ReplyI have until tomorrow to submit 50 pages for a workshop in April and I’ve been writing in third person for the first time (my debut novel is in 1st- yup, just like you said above-first time author and all that). Readers have been saying the new story seems too distant. Went through and changed those “names” to the personal pronouns and voila! all the difference. Thanks, Les. Couldn’t have come at a better time. I know there’s a bit more to it (like observations that this character would make in a particular scene that only she would be attuned to to make it seem more “close”) but your quick fix gets me most of the way there,· [image error] Jerry Tabbott February 14, 2018 at 9:04 am · ReplyThough I have to consider myself a beginner, third person is my preference – partly because most of what I personally read is in third, but mostly because I like stories with multiple plot threads. Sharing other character’s POVs to advance their threads. I’m sure you’ll receive much push-back on first person being a tendency for beginners. Also, I’m not so sure the third-person bias you mention is still so true, given the explosion of first person series we are witnessing. Publishers, I’m sure, are still looking for what is popular.· [image error] Jerry Tabbott February 14, 2018 at 9:06 am · ReplyI sincerely wish I could edit my posts here to clean up errors. Oh well.· [image error] mesmer7 February 14, 2018 at 9:20 am · ReplyI use third person where I need multiple POV characters. First person if I only need one POV character· [image error] Gabriella L. Garlock February 14, 2018 at 9:24 am · ReplyHi Les! (I just started reading HOOKED–you can’t ignore that many recommendations, but first time I’ve seen you blog). THANKS for addressing the subject. First as a reader I’m feeling vindicated because I really can’t stand READING books in the first-person. Never quite sure why. Maybe ’cause the MC can’t say anything positive about herself without being stuck up, or point out her own flaws without sounding falsely self-deprecatory–heck, the minute they start to talk about themselves at all, it’s ruined for me.So. I think I write a close 3rd in the heart of scenes–with dialogues, interactions. But surely there’s more to it than replacing pronouns? I pick a POV and mostly stick with it for the scene, using italics for their thoughts if needed. I spend a little more time getting in their heads. I’m not Hemingway.Having said that, Mary had a good question. My “narrator” is at other times more of an omniscient one; I have a definite voice (I’m told, hoping that’s a good thing). If I juxtapose two seemingly unrelated sentences for effect, giving the reader a potential “ah-ha” moment, isn’t that the work of an omnisicent narrator? Or dropping bits of back-story, world-building–there isn’t always a character to attribute those thoughts to.I really don’t know if I’m conflating omniscient and close 3rds in a way that could be disastrous. It feels natural but the POV-police could give me a ticket if they caught me.· [image error] deborahbrasket February 14, 2018 at 9:38 am · ReplyVery interesting. I hadn’t know there was a bias against first person. As it is, I write almost always in deep 3rd. Where I struggle with using only pronouns for the pov character is when there are conversations between two males or two females. Sometimes I find I have to use the POV character’s name instead of the pronoun for clarity. In your example, if Raye had been male, how would you have handled it? Would you simply have used Emory’s name instead of he in every instance, and said “the man” for the first “he’ when Ray doesn’t know his name? It sounds a bit stilted that way, especially in the long paragraph.· [image error] Libby Sommer February 14, 2018 at 1:24 pm · Replyvery interesting article. thanks so much for the info Les. shame you have the same typo repeated three times in the examples [image error]style='word-break:break-word;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing:0px' alt="
January 20, 2018
New Online Class and a Couple of Openings
Hi folks,
Well, we’re just finishing up our final week on the current session of my online novel-writing class, “Les Edgerton’s Bootcamp for Writers,” and find ourselves with a couple of openings. Our next session will begin on Feb 4 and consists of a ten-week session, with the probability of taking a week off sometime during the term to recharge batteries.
This is a call for new class members. Not sure how many openings we’ll have as we offer vacancies first to our auditors.
The basics are the course costs $400 and it’s limited to ten-twelve people. The $400 is nonrefundable, as if a person quits during the session it would be impossible to fill that vacancy. As this is my primary source of income, it would be detrimental for myself and my family. It’s very rare that anyone opts out once begun, however. In over five years, there have only been two.
We’ve had a remarkable history of success. Nearly three dozen writers over the past ten years who have become a part of our class or whom I’ve coached privately have gone on to being legitimately published and/or secured a good literary agent. In fact, that is our only goal—to become legitimately published.
Meagan Beaumont, me, and Linda Thompson, two of our students who've published books, at a meeting in Arizona
L-R Top: George Weir, Reavis Worthen, Scott MontgomeryBottom: Me. At an event at the BookPeople Bookstore in Austin, TX
I try to warn people who are thinking of joining us, how tough the class is, but I know from past experience that even so forewarned, at least some are going to be in for a shock when they see that we really don’t hold hands, pat people on the back for minimum efforts, or overlook writing that doesn’t work. I’m not cruel (at least I don’t think so) nor are any of the oldtimers in class, but most new folks haven’t been exposed to a class like ours. The truth is, most writers who haven’t had a class like ours has been praised in other classes or most likely, has been in classes that use the “sandwich” method of teaching. You know—that deal where the teach applies a bit of praise, then a bit of criticism, and then a bit of praise. Well, that ain’t our shtick. Not even close. The comments we all provide on everyone’s work fit one definition only. They’re honest.
This isn’t to be mean or to act like we’re the only folks around who know what good writing is. Except… we do. I’m not aware of any other class out there with the kind of track record ours enjoys. Virtually every writer who stays the course with us ends up with a top agent and/or a book deal. That doesn’t happen in a single ten-week session. About the earliest anyone has earned an agent or book deal in our class has been about a year. And, that’s reasonable.
The thing is, our writers don’t expect things to be easy.
I figured I’d let some of the class members give you their take on our class. They don’t hold back and they all have tough skins. They will all tell you the same thing. It isn’t a class for sissies or for those who need their hands held or lots of pats on the back. Becoming published is hard, hard work and isn’t an undertaking for sissies. To get there, our students know they have to put on their Big Boy and Big Girl pants and expect to work harder than they ever have in their lives—and to never, ever “settle” their standards of excellence.
From a student several years ago:Hi ________. Since Les opened the floor for comments from the "class veterans" I'm chipping in with my two cents. I have a file cabinet filled with stuff I sent Les and then needed asbestos gloves to take the paper off the printer. When I started this journey, I'd never taken an English class past high school. (I was pre-med in college) I figured I love to read, so how hard can it be? Okay, quit laughing at me. Clearly, when I wrote my first version of my first novel, I had no idea about story structure, POV, any of that. I figured I'm pretty articulate and therefore I can write?
Les quickly set me straight. All of this is to point out that we've all been on the receiving end of Les' brutal honesty. I will find some of the comments he made on my work and post them but phrases like "throwing up in my mouth now" and "bury this so deep in the yard no one ever finds it" are seared into my brain and I don't have to look to find those!!! The point is, I took other classes before I met Les and the teachers were kind and gentle and never told me I sucked. If it weren't for Les, I'd still be churning out awful drivel that makes people want to throw up instead of trying not to throw up while I wait to see if my agent is able to sell my book. I would never have gotten an agent without Les. So hang in there. Listen to everything he says and if it doesn't make sense, ask away.
From another student:The novel that I am currently trying to sell has been a work in progress for several years. The first time Les saw it he sent it back and told me to re-write the WHOLE thing!!! My character was a wimp. She sat back and let things happen to her. I argued a little, rewrote a little and then moved on to another book. After a year, I went back and reread it and saw the truth. It was awful. So I took a deep breath and started over. Page one. First sentence. Re-wrote the entire thing. It took a full year and then I revised it again. It's definitely a process. But once you get the inciting incident and the outline steps down pat, it's a whole lot easier. Trust me!!! And you'll never graduate completely. A few months ago, Les and I went head-to-head on one single passage. I was trying to be lazy and take the easy way out. He called me on it and I resubmitted three or four weeks in a row, revisions on the same passage. I was sure my classmates were so sick of it they were going to stick needles in their eyes rather than read it again! But in the end, the passage rocked!! So hang in there!!!! It'll get better. (Note: This novel sold and the writer is currently working on her fifth novel.)
Class members come from all over the globe. We’ve had students from the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, all parts of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Luxembourg, Malta and many other places. We work with writers in virtually every genre on the bookshelves. Genre is unimportant as we recognize but two genres--good writing and bad writing.
The way class works is that the class is divided into two equal groups. We used to have just one group, but it got to be too much for many students. In the past, everybody in the class was required to read everybody else’s work each week and provide in-depth comments on everyone’s work. That meant they had to read nine other class members’ work and deliver intelligent commentary on each one. We’ve since evolved to a more manageable number where now each class member reads and delivers comments on just four other classmates’ work. I provide comments on everybody’s work and that’s why the class is limited to only ten or twelve. With a dozen or less writers, I can give each person the quality of time and analysis each deserves.
Each week begins on Sunday evening, when people can begin submitting their weekly pages from Sunday until Thursday. If it’s a new writer to the class, they are allowed to submit their first five pages of their novel, plus an outline which consists of five statements and a total of 15-20 words. Oldtimers in class call this “inciting incident hell.” If the outline isn’t working and their beginning doesn’t represent the inciting incident as provided in their outline, they are required to keep submitting each week until it does. Our feeling is if they haven’t thought through their novels sufficiently and provided a publishable novel structure (evidenced by the outline), then they most likely don’t have a novel ready to be written and to simply plunge ahead will almost invariably lead to an unfinished novel. We don’t want that.
Once they’ve been okayed for the beginning, from thereafter they can submit up to eight pages per week, along with the others in class.
Time zones don’t matter. Everybody’s work, including everyone’s comments and my own comments on each person’s work each week is posted on the class site and folks can go to it any time of the day or night. Class members can begin sending back their comments on each others’ in their group from Sunday through the following Sunday, when it begins again. Although, in practicality, most members send in their work each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s like being in an “on-ground” class in that everything said or done in class is seen by everybody.
We do have a chat function and people use it all the time, even though they’re in different time zones. One of the best things about this class is that we have lots of oldtimers who know from their own experience what works in a novel and what doesn’t and more importantly… why it works or doesn’t work. It’s like having a group of seven or eight other professionals helping you with your own novel. Probably at any given time in class, there will be four or five who already have had a novel or several published as a result of being in class, so it’s a really rarified group. And, if you think that you couldn’t operate in a situation like this because you’re a beginner, that simply isn’t the case here at all. Nearly every single person in each class began just the way you did, as a rank beginner. And, they remember and they have complete empathy for your situation, if you’re a beginning writer.
It’s not a situation of simply saying, “This doesn’t work.” Myself and others in class will surely say that, but we then let you know why it didn’t work and give you solid suggestions on how to make it work. We collectively have a nurturing nature and all of us want the newcomer to succeed just about as badly as that writer wants to.
If you are still interested but still feel intimidated, we have a second option. Auditing the class. I think if you simply look at how the class works, you’ll quickly see how you’ll fit in comfortably. The auditor function works the same as it does in a “regular” college class. You’re admitted to class and can view every single thing we’re doing and the entire class session is archived and easy to access. The cost of auditing the class is $50, and auditors always get the first shot at future openings. If interested in this option, just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.netand let me know and I’ll have our class administrator, Holly, get you on board asap.
I know there are no doubt a lot of questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time and ask me anything you’d like.
From past experience, when we’ve had openings like this, they go quickly, so if you are interested, please get in touch via my email above, okay?
For those interested in such things, here are a few of my own qualifications to teach writing.
MFA in Writing from Vermont CollegeTaught writing for the UCLA Writer’s ProgramTaught writing via Skype for the New York Writer’s WorkshopWriter-in-Residence for three years for the University of ToledoWriter-in-Residence for one year for Trine UniversityTaught writing classes for St. Francis UniversityTaught writing classes for Phoenix CollegeTaught writing for Writer’s Digest Online ClassesTaught writing classes for Vermont CollegePublished 20 books, including craft books on writing, novels, sports books, YA novel, historical nonfiction book, humor nonfiction, black comedy novel, noir, thrillers, literary and existential fiction.Dozens of short stories published in such publications as The South Carolina Review, High Plains Literary Review, Aethlon, Flatmancrooked, Murdaland, Best American Mystery Stories and many others.A lot of living… much of it as an outlaw…
Blue skies,Les
Well, we’re just finishing up our final week on the current session of my online novel-writing class, “Les Edgerton’s Bootcamp for Writers,” and find ourselves with a couple of openings. Our next session will begin on Feb 4 and consists of a ten-week session, with the probability of taking a week off sometime during the term to recharge batteries.
This is a call for new class members. Not sure how many openings we’ll have as we offer vacancies first to our auditors.
The basics are the course costs $400 and it’s limited to ten-twelve people. The $400 is nonrefundable, as if a person quits during the session it would be impossible to fill that vacancy. As this is my primary source of income, it would be detrimental for myself and my family. It’s very rare that anyone opts out once begun, however. In over five years, there have only been two.
We’ve had a remarkable history of success. Nearly three dozen writers over the past ten years who have become a part of our class or whom I’ve coached privately have gone on to being legitimately published and/or secured a good literary agent. In fact, that is our only goal—to become legitimately published.
Meagan Beaumont, me, and Linda Thompson, two of our students who've published books, at a meeting in Arizona
L-R Top: George Weir, Reavis Worthen, Scott MontgomeryBottom: Me. At an event at the BookPeople Bookstore in Austin, TXI try to warn people who are thinking of joining us, how tough the class is, but I know from past experience that even so forewarned, at least some are going to be in for a shock when they see that we really don’t hold hands, pat people on the back for minimum efforts, or overlook writing that doesn’t work. I’m not cruel (at least I don’t think so) nor are any of the oldtimers in class, but most new folks haven’t been exposed to a class like ours. The truth is, most writers who haven’t had a class like ours has been praised in other classes or most likely, has been in classes that use the “sandwich” method of teaching. You know—that deal where the teach applies a bit of praise, then a bit of criticism, and then a bit of praise. Well, that ain’t our shtick. Not even close. The comments we all provide on everyone’s work fit one definition only. They’re honest.
This isn’t to be mean or to act like we’re the only folks around who know what good writing is. Except… we do. I’m not aware of any other class out there with the kind of track record ours enjoys. Virtually every writer who stays the course with us ends up with a top agent and/or a book deal. That doesn’t happen in a single ten-week session. About the earliest anyone has earned an agent or book deal in our class has been about a year. And, that’s reasonable.
The thing is, our writers don’t expect things to be easy.
I figured I’d let some of the class members give you their take on our class. They don’t hold back and they all have tough skins. They will all tell you the same thing. It isn’t a class for sissies or for those who need their hands held or lots of pats on the back. Becoming published is hard, hard work and isn’t an undertaking for sissies. To get there, our students know they have to put on their Big Boy and Big Girl pants and expect to work harder than they ever have in their lives—and to never, ever “settle” their standards of excellence.
From a student several years ago:Hi ________. Since Les opened the floor for comments from the "class veterans" I'm chipping in with my two cents. I have a file cabinet filled with stuff I sent Les and then needed asbestos gloves to take the paper off the printer. When I started this journey, I'd never taken an English class past high school. (I was pre-med in college) I figured I love to read, so how hard can it be? Okay, quit laughing at me. Clearly, when I wrote my first version of my first novel, I had no idea about story structure, POV, any of that. I figured I'm pretty articulate and therefore I can write?
Les quickly set me straight. All of this is to point out that we've all been on the receiving end of Les' brutal honesty. I will find some of the comments he made on my work and post them but phrases like "throwing up in my mouth now" and "bury this so deep in the yard no one ever finds it" are seared into my brain and I don't have to look to find those!!! The point is, I took other classes before I met Les and the teachers were kind and gentle and never told me I sucked. If it weren't for Les, I'd still be churning out awful drivel that makes people want to throw up instead of trying not to throw up while I wait to see if my agent is able to sell my book. I would never have gotten an agent without Les. So hang in there. Listen to everything he says and if it doesn't make sense, ask away.
From another student:The novel that I am currently trying to sell has been a work in progress for several years. The first time Les saw it he sent it back and told me to re-write the WHOLE thing!!! My character was a wimp. She sat back and let things happen to her. I argued a little, rewrote a little and then moved on to another book. After a year, I went back and reread it and saw the truth. It was awful. So I took a deep breath and started over. Page one. First sentence. Re-wrote the entire thing. It took a full year and then I revised it again. It's definitely a process. But once you get the inciting incident and the outline steps down pat, it's a whole lot easier. Trust me!!! And you'll never graduate completely. A few months ago, Les and I went head-to-head on one single passage. I was trying to be lazy and take the easy way out. He called me on it and I resubmitted three or four weeks in a row, revisions on the same passage. I was sure my classmates were so sick of it they were going to stick needles in their eyes rather than read it again! But in the end, the passage rocked!! So hang in there!!!! It'll get better. (Note: This novel sold and the writer is currently working on her fifth novel.)
Class members come from all over the globe. We’ve had students from the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, all parts of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Luxembourg, Malta and many other places. We work with writers in virtually every genre on the bookshelves. Genre is unimportant as we recognize but two genres--good writing and bad writing.
The way class works is that the class is divided into two equal groups. We used to have just one group, but it got to be too much for many students. In the past, everybody in the class was required to read everybody else’s work each week and provide in-depth comments on everyone’s work. That meant they had to read nine other class members’ work and deliver intelligent commentary on each one. We’ve since evolved to a more manageable number where now each class member reads and delivers comments on just four other classmates’ work. I provide comments on everybody’s work and that’s why the class is limited to only ten or twelve. With a dozen or less writers, I can give each person the quality of time and analysis each deserves.
Each week begins on Sunday evening, when people can begin submitting their weekly pages from Sunday until Thursday. If it’s a new writer to the class, they are allowed to submit their first five pages of their novel, plus an outline which consists of five statements and a total of 15-20 words. Oldtimers in class call this “inciting incident hell.” If the outline isn’t working and their beginning doesn’t represent the inciting incident as provided in their outline, they are required to keep submitting each week until it does. Our feeling is if they haven’t thought through their novels sufficiently and provided a publishable novel structure (evidenced by the outline), then they most likely don’t have a novel ready to be written and to simply plunge ahead will almost invariably lead to an unfinished novel. We don’t want that.
Once they’ve been okayed for the beginning, from thereafter they can submit up to eight pages per week, along with the others in class.
Time zones don’t matter. Everybody’s work, including everyone’s comments and my own comments on each person’s work each week is posted on the class site and folks can go to it any time of the day or night. Class members can begin sending back their comments on each others’ in their group from Sunday through the following Sunday, when it begins again. Although, in practicality, most members send in their work each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s like being in an “on-ground” class in that everything said or done in class is seen by everybody.
We do have a chat function and people use it all the time, even though they’re in different time zones. One of the best things about this class is that we have lots of oldtimers who know from their own experience what works in a novel and what doesn’t and more importantly… why it works or doesn’t work. It’s like having a group of seven or eight other professionals helping you with your own novel. Probably at any given time in class, there will be four or five who already have had a novel or several published as a result of being in class, so it’s a really rarified group. And, if you think that you couldn’t operate in a situation like this because you’re a beginner, that simply isn’t the case here at all. Nearly every single person in each class began just the way you did, as a rank beginner. And, they remember and they have complete empathy for your situation, if you’re a beginning writer.
It’s not a situation of simply saying, “This doesn’t work.” Myself and others in class will surely say that, but we then let you know why it didn’t work and give you solid suggestions on how to make it work. We collectively have a nurturing nature and all of us want the newcomer to succeed just about as badly as that writer wants to.
If you are still interested but still feel intimidated, we have a second option. Auditing the class. I think if you simply look at how the class works, you’ll quickly see how you’ll fit in comfortably. The auditor function works the same as it does in a “regular” college class. You’re admitted to class and can view every single thing we’re doing and the entire class session is archived and easy to access. The cost of auditing the class is $50, and auditors always get the first shot at future openings. If interested in this option, just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.netand let me know and I’ll have our class administrator, Holly, get you on board asap.
I know there are no doubt a lot of questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time and ask me anything you’d like.
From past experience, when we’ve had openings like this, they go quickly, so if you are interested, please get in touch via my email above, okay?
For those interested in such things, here are a few of my own qualifications to teach writing.
MFA in Writing from Vermont CollegeTaught writing for the UCLA Writer’s ProgramTaught writing via Skype for the New York Writer’s WorkshopWriter-in-Residence for three years for the University of ToledoWriter-in-Residence for one year for Trine UniversityTaught writing classes for St. Francis UniversityTaught writing classes for Phoenix CollegeTaught writing for Writer’s Digest Online ClassesTaught writing classes for Vermont CollegePublished 20 books, including craft books on writing, novels, sports books, YA novel, historical nonfiction book, humor nonfiction, black comedy novel, noir, thrillers, literary and existential fiction.Dozens of short stories published in such publications as The South Carolina Review, High Plains Literary Review, Aethlon, Flatmancrooked, Murdaland, Best American Mystery Stories and many others.A lot of living… much of it as an outlaw…
Blue skies,Les
January 18, 2018
BEST REVIEW EVER!
Hi folks,
I hardly ever do this, but this review just meant so much to me I decided to post it here. This morning when I woke up, I went to my email as I always do. And there was an email from a guy that the writers on here will appreciate. It’s this kind of feedback for our work that keeps us writing. This is the kind of reward that those who work only for money or a pension or material things will never get to experience and why I feel truly sorry for them. And why I feel especially blessed.
This came at the perfect time. I’m really feeling kind of low with a back that isn’t recovering quickly from my spinal surgery, health rendered a blow by my COPD which forces me to lie down for an hour after I’ve been up for an hour, and most of all, the biggest struggle I’ve faced in life as I sweat blood to finish the novel I’ve been working on for over a year. John Talley’s words came at the perfect time in my life.
I will always cherish his generous words. Here’s what I read:
Hi Les,
jesus god
the bitch
what a book.
for some reason i saved it to read, long after i read all the others
so far
and
i wish it was still ahead of me;
it’s downhill now
in my not-up-to-it review on amazon i wrote
that you
run with the literary lions and prowl with the noir alley cats at the same time
and it’s a simple fact that you do so much so well
it’s like reading
the conductor of a fine orchestra leading strings
dragging nasty bows in a crooked line
down straight drum tracks -
every decision dirty down and right.
i guess i’ve read a two thousand novels
you know
all of them
the ones you’re supposed to and the ones you find
when you’re sneaking around the stacks
and never have i ever read a finer, meaner final line
holy macks:
where’s your shank?
in your hand, come give it to me
jesus les, have mercy
but you didn’t have mercy, not
any
the whole way through
on any of them
dude, exile on main street wishes
it rocked so goddamned hard and good.
fucking A.
the balls of The Bitch and The Rapist
the BALLS …
i ain’t ranking your stuff
but
those two novels
are miracles -
one more and the pope makes you a saint
i think.
may you write and paint whatever you want until you’re a hundred and twelve
and
then have fifty more years to count the money
and set it on fire.
you do it as good as anybody ever has, ever will, ever can
it’s just a fact.
jt
Click HERE to purchase.
And then I went to Amazon and read his review (below). While it’s a terrific review and means the world to me, I really wish he’d posted the above as his review. It’s just pure poetry.
Amazon reviewEasy to follow, hard to swallow - Les Edgerton has written another damn near perfect novel that bloodies your nose and grows your heart at the same time. Dude is one of the all-timers and can run hard with literary lions and noir alley-cats at the same time. I am in awe, again, and am gonna read this one over and over for all kinds of reasons - one of which is the best closing scene (and line) I've ever read. Do it, pull the trigger, buy The Bitch NOW.All I can say is, Thank you, John.
Blue skies,
Les
I hardly ever do this, but this review just meant so much to me I decided to post it here. This morning when I woke up, I went to my email as I always do. And there was an email from a guy that the writers on here will appreciate. It’s this kind of feedback for our work that keeps us writing. This is the kind of reward that those who work only for money or a pension or material things will never get to experience and why I feel truly sorry for them. And why I feel especially blessed.
This came at the perfect time. I’m really feeling kind of low with a back that isn’t recovering quickly from my spinal surgery, health rendered a blow by my COPD which forces me to lie down for an hour after I’ve been up for an hour, and most of all, the biggest struggle I’ve faced in life as I sweat blood to finish the novel I’ve been working on for over a year. John Talley’s words came at the perfect time in my life.
I will always cherish his generous words. Here’s what I read:
Hi Les,
jesus god
the bitch
what a book.
for some reason i saved it to read, long after i read all the others
so far
and
i wish it was still ahead of me;
it’s downhill now
in my not-up-to-it review on amazon i wrote
that you
run with the literary lions and prowl with the noir alley cats at the same time
and it’s a simple fact that you do so much so well
it’s like reading
the conductor of a fine orchestra leading strings
dragging nasty bows in a crooked line
down straight drum tracks -
every decision dirty down and right.
i guess i’ve read a two thousand novels
you know
all of them
the ones you’re supposed to and the ones you find
when you’re sneaking around the stacks
and never have i ever read a finer, meaner final line
holy macks:
where’s your shank?
in your hand, come give it to me
jesus les, have mercy
but you didn’t have mercy, not
any
the whole way through
on any of them
dude, exile on main street wishes
it rocked so goddamned hard and good.
fucking A.
the balls of The Bitch and The Rapist
the BALLS …
i ain’t ranking your stuff
but
those two novels
are miracles -
one more and the pope makes you a saint
i think.
may you write and paint whatever you want until you’re a hundred and twelve
and
then have fifty more years to count the money
and set it on fire.
you do it as good as anybody ever has, ever will, ever can
it’s just a fact.
jt
Click HERE to purchase.
And then I went to Amazon and read his review (below). While it’s a terrific review and means the world to me, I really wish he’d posted the above as his review. It’s just pure poetry.
Amazon reviewEasy to follow, hard to swallow - Les Edgerton has written another damn near perfect novel that bloodies your nose and grows your heart at the same time. Dude is one of the all-timers and can run hard with literary lions and noir alley-cats at the same time. I am in awe, again, and am gonna read this one over and over for all kinds of reasons - one of which is the best closing scene (and line) I've ever read. Do it, pull the trigger, buy The Bitch NOW.All I can say is, Thank you, John.
Blue skies,
Les
January 6, 2018
CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
Hi folks,
A few months ago, Anthony Campbell interviewed me for Crimespree Magazine. Anthony asked some of the most intelligent questions I've ever been asked. Here's the interview and if you're interested in glomming onto a copy of the magazine, you can buy the ebook copy on Amazon here.
Not sure when the paperback copy will be available for sale, but when it is I'll post that info here.
Les Edgerton InterviewedBy Anthony CampbellIssue 66 Crimespree Magazine
Les Edgerton isn’t the writer who is here to judge you; over the course of a few emails we traded back and forth, I found him to be one of the most receptive and open individuals I have had the chance to correspond with.With over 19 books ranging from hard-boiled crime novels to business guides under his belt, not to mention the countless short stories he has had published, Edgerton certainly is a busy man with the honest work to show for it. Just this year, he informed he has “at least three more works of fiction coming.” Readers may have heard of him from THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, THE BITCH, THE RAPIST or THE DEATH OF TARPONS.His current short story collection, LAGNIAPPE, is available through Down & Out Books. I was able to discuss two of his prior novels, THE RAPIST and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING as well as history over two months of emails.
Anthony Campbell: Thank you again for taking the time to let me reach out and interview you. I wanted to start with a few questions on your 2013 novel, THE RAPIST. This was your first novel that I read and I found it to be quite the tour-de-force. Where did the idea of the novel come from?
Les Edgerton: The germ of the idea came from reading a Charles Bukowski short story, “The Fiend.” At that point, it was just a glimpse of a potential story, what Blake Snyder calls “the smell of the night on the road at dawn.” What does the term mean? It’s that germ of an idea for a story triggered by any number of stimuli. It can be a glimpse of something—the “smell of the rain on the road at dawn” for instance. Driving home from a night of partying, hung over, you turn onto a country blacktop and see a man hitchhiking in Army fatigues in the fine mist that’s falling. Aha! There’s a story about this guy, you think. You begin to imagine a character who’s passing through town—and you kind of visualize a story about him. If you’re David Morrell, you end up with a story titled, FIRST BLOOD. Or, you hear a story about a man whose mother has just died and the police came to inform him and they’re put off by his seeming lack of emotion about the tragedy and become suspicious. If you’re Albert Camus, perhaps you write a story based on that anecdote you’ll title, THE STRANGER If you’re me, you come up with a story titled THE RAPIST.All of us as writers get ideas triggered like this and any number of other ways. Thinking about the scene or idea makes us feel that there’s a story there. Usually, when we see or conceive of a story idea that way, it elicits a powerful emotion from us. The guy in our vision, standing on the road at dawn in a drizzle, wearing fatigues, triggers a feeling of sadness, say. We have an urge to write this guy’s story so that the reader will feel this same intense feeling of sadness as we do.And so, we break out the Bic, turn on the ‘puter, put a piece of white paper in the Underwood and begin to write. And it fizzles out.Why? As Blake Snyder says, we’ve simply fallen in love with an inspiration. That’s all it is. There’s no story there yet mostly because we haven’t yet come up with a story. All we’ve got is a guy standing in the rain on a blacktop and a feeling that this is a story. It’s gossamer. It’s not a story because we haven’t taken the time to think beyond this image very much.This is what I suggest for those who get that “Smell of the rain…” kind of image and inspiration for a novel. Sit on it for a while. Think about it. Kick the tires. See if it has legs. See if you can see any depth in it. If something else comes up and diverts your attention away from it, that probably means the idea really wasn’t novel-worthy to begin with. But…the idea that won’t go away, that begs to be told, that begins to unfold in your imagination over a period of time of at least a month or two and hopefully even longer—that’s probably an idea that has legs and one you can run that marathon with.And that’s what I did with THE RAPIST. Let it percolate in my brain for about ten years. I won’t go through the entire process, but I kept niggling the original idea around, adding a piece here, a piece there, until I had a bona fide story.
AC: How was constructing the character of Truman Ferris Pinter different than others you have made before? Was it more difficult to fit into his voice than others?
LE: Referring back to the first question, as the story began to take shape in my mind, Truman became clearer and clearer until I had him nailed. Not so much in a superficial way—what he looked like, for instance, but how his mind worked. How his background shaped him. What makes him different from most other rapists. Once I had that, his voice became mine. As Whitman said, “We contain multitudes.” And, we do. What I became was an actor playing a part. The more talent one has as an actor, the better he or she can mimic others. The catalyst came when I realized who he really was. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ whose father, God, played a cruel practical joke on. Oddly enough, this is where most reviewers missed the whole point of the story. Since most see him as an unreliable narrator, they saw the very last line as the absolute proof that Truman was an unreliable narrator. He was…until the very last line, which was the exact moment his eyes were opened and he saw clearly who he was for the first time in his earthly life. That was the illumination and why it had to be the end of his story. Everything that happened to him led to that precise moment when he realizes he’s Christ. And, it’s a true realization, not the “truth” of an insane person—an actual, literal truth. The veil has just been lifted.
AC: Many literary allusions abound and comparisons have been made to Camus’ THE STRANGER. I personally found the shape of this novel to fit in a similar vein as a Kafka story or a Lynch film. Do you find the comparisons by reviewers to be surprising? Have there been any which you had found to be of particular interest?
LE: I understand the Camus comparison but don’t think it’s accurate. I wrote it in a similar tone as THE STRANGER mostly because both Meursault and Truman view their experiences from an amoral standpoint. Also, many reviewers see my book as an existential book and reviewers often believe Camus was an existentialist writer. He fought against that opinion all of his life, at one point getting together with Sarte to run an add stating clearly that they had nothing in common, philosophy-wise. I am often referred to as an existential writer and I feel the same as did Camus. So, in basing that on an inaccurate belief system neither of us claims, it’s an accurate comparison. I think we’re both subject to a wrong take on our philosophies. I can also see you comparing it to a Kafka story. On the surface, it appears that Gregor and Truman are similar. Where I don’t think they are is that Kafka’s character both starts and ends as an unreliable narrator, Truman doesn’t, but to a certain mindset it appears they are the same. The reviewers I thought came closest to what I intended were Cort McMeel and William Joyce.
AC: Although Truman doesn’t seem to particularly care about the judgment society passes against him, by recounting his crime and life, he constructs a testimony for the reader. He places the reader as the judge. Does Truman care about what we, as readers, think of him?
LE: Although he claims he doesn’t, he’s an unreliable narrator which is fairly clear early. Since the way a reader tells the protagonist is an unreliable narrator is to match his actions to what he’s saying, and since he claims he doesn’t care, his action in presenting his story tells us he does care or else he wouldn’t have bothered telling his story.
AC: Still a few weeks after my first reading of this novel, the entire last part and the ending of the novel resonate with me, making me still question not only these parts of the novel, but more importantly, giving way to re-evaluating how I considered some things in society. When you finished writing this novel, did you feel like this was certainly something which readers would take away from? Did you think it would make readers challenge preconceptions and ideas they held?
LE: What I hoped for from readers was based on a belief I possess. That there are thousands and thousands (millions?) of ideas that are floating out there and that many of those ideas are shared with many others. A zeitgeist, if you will, or a kind of race memory. That there’s a field of electricity—kind of an invisible “soup” if you will, that’s everywhere in the atmosphere, where ideas come from individual minds and that enter other minds that are receptive. I think that as people get older they cease being receptive to these ideas for lots of reasons—a religious body of belief for instance, that’s been indoctrinated into their minds and won’t tolerate deviances from the official canon; a physical experience that we experience in childhood that gets sublimated as we grow older and that we learn through ridicule by adults to deny in our hearts; awareness of other dimensions as a child, that awareness trampled over again by seeing those kinds of ideas routinely derided by everyone else as we grow older.For example, I have very clear memories of being able to leave my body and hover in space when I was a child. That memory is one that got ridiculed and attacked any time I mentioned it, so little by little I forced myself to look at the experience as just something I dreamed so I could escape ridicule. And, then, in my twenties I happened on some literature about a group called “Eckanar” which was composed of people who swore they had out of body experiences just as I had and that was the beginning of my belief in a zeitgeist. I believe that, little by little, our existence becomes more and more an artificial one in which others gradually imprison each of us into a world that isn’t actual but is induced by others who are fearful of the actual world or who really don’t know what is real and what isn’t but are afraid of admitting they think differently from those around them for fear of ridicule or worse—worse being locked up in mental wards or in prison, or even killed, or simply shunned by the majority of people in their society as that is the nature of the mob—to reject anyone whose beliefs fall outside what they consider “safe” parameters. In other words, I came to believe that we’ve all been brainwashed, not necessarily by some evil group of people whose aim is to control or enslave people, but by a mindset that to open oneself to ideas and thoughts outside the parameters of their particular society will only lead to anarchy. I don’t see this as any “plot” by a few people, but more as a natural thing for most people who sense that any thinking they don’t share is dangerous. I don’t think this is an inherited way of thinking but more of a learned behavior. That most people are fearful of anyone different and to protect themselves they either invent or adopt stances toward those they see as different. And, so, little by little we lose the insights we had as children and learn to sublimate any ideas outside the main. I think this may be what Jesus was talking about when he said that to enter Heaven, one must become as a “little child.” To go back to that age where we all had original thoughts and didn’t dismiss things out of hand that adults would consider aberrant behavior. I know this is a longwinded reply to your question, but I think the question demands a lengthy answer to be clear. A bumper sticker reply won’t suffice for what I see is a very intelligent question about a complicated issue. I have to say that your questions are a welcome change from many interviewers who often ask idiot questions like “where do you get your ideas” or “what time of day do you write in?” To sum up my answer, I think those readers who still challenge the status quo in their lives upon encountering issues raised in the book will feel a sense of déjà vu in that they’ve also had these same thoughts. To those who shrink from any challenge to their core beliefs, I think they’ll not feel challenged in the least and may even dislike it intensely.
AC: Just a year after this novel, 2014 saw the release of THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLATIC KIDNAPPING. This was a far different story, loosely based on your experiences in New Orleans, offering more of an entertaining than a thought-provoking read. Of all the characters in this novel, Cat is easily the most memorable for me and jumps from page. Reading her dialogue was like witnessing a character reach out of the book and slap me across the face, especially considering how she appears to me as a beacon of hope. Did you intend Cat to be a radiance that cuts through the underbelly of New Orleans in this novel, as a reminder of a way out? Does Cat know you put her in this novel?
LE: The portrait of Cat is very much like the real Cat. I just wanted to remain true to her truly unique character—in almost every sense she is a singular person. And, I doubt if she’ll ever read it—she’s not a reader. Now, if it ever gets made into a movie, I’m in trouble…Cat was sold by her junky mother to the head of the Mafia, Carlos Marcellus, for a hundred bucks when she was nine or ten. He kicked her out when she reached the age of 12—way too old for his tastes. She went down in the Quarters and survived by prostitution and selling drugs and rolling sailors. She just isn’t afraid of anything. Here’s a typical “Cat” story. One Sunday, we were just sitting around our apartment when out of the blue, she asks me if I wanted to go down to the Quarters to roll sailors. Why not, I said, so she called up another call girl friend, Jackie, a black girl who lived in the Ninth Ward and we met her down at the Seaport Café. I was there to provide “protection.” Yeah…Well, they hooked up with this Norwegian sailor and took him back in the little alley that goes to the Dungeon and Jackie gave him a blow job. He wanted Cat to do him next, but the girls demanded payment first. Fuck you, he said, the first thing he’d said in English as he’d been pretending not to speak the language. I was coming toward them to provide that “protection” when Cat said, Well, fuck you too, and she pulled out her switchblade (which I’d given to her for a birthday present) and stuck it in his stomach. He gave a little sigh and went down. I told Cat to check his socks as that’s where I kept my money when I was in the Navy and sure enough, he had wad of bills she grabbed and we beat feet. When we got a couple of blocks away and ducked into a bar, Cat started to divvy up the money but got really pissed off. Except for a twenty, it was all Norwegian money. Fucking funny money she said, and told Jackie to keep it all. We never found out if the guy was dead or not. Lots of things like that never make the paper. If everything like that made the paper, the tourist business would dry up.The next Sunday Cat asked me if I wanted to go back into the Quarters with her and Jackie, and I told her she’d have to go without her “protection.” Fuck that happy shit…
AC: The setting in this novel also really stuck out to me. The descriptions Pete provides to develop the layout and scents of New Orleans stuck me right alongside him in his criminal attempts. How did living in New Orleans stick to you? Did you fall in love with the city in the same way Pete did?
LE: I’ve always loved New Orleans from the time I lived there as a child to when I returned as an adult and lived there many years. It’s a dirty, corrupt, dangerous, gorgeous, bewitching town and so unlike any other city in America. It contains all of the excesses that are interesting. I can’t imagine anyone ever being bored in The Big Sleazy.
AC: The crux of the novel examines the idea you lay out of the abstract and the real in regards to a million dollars or any large sum of money for a kidnapping. Do you find there are other things where the illusion or abstraction doesn’t pan out to what actually happens? This examination of money in such a way I found to also extend to a question of Pete’s status as a privileged ex-baseball player navigating New Orleans in an entirely different realm than those who live in dire poverty and straits. Did you anticipate an economic disparity to grow between characters? The best example of what I’m referring to would be in regards to Pete being broke, but saying he never had to do desperate measures to get food, whereas Cat has been through hell and is still trying to grow as an individual.
LE: First, Pete wasn’t any “privileged ex-ballplayer.” He was stone broke and had been for the last ten years after he’d been drummed out of baseball. But, he’d always been a hustler and if you’re a hustler you’re never going to be truly poor. There’s just too many lames out there to make a buck from. He and Cat were basically the same. She was a call girl and had been a prostitute so she was in the same financial boat as Pete. Both knew how to survive on the street.You very accurately named the crux of the novel. In a period of my life that I’m ashamed of, I sold life insurance. (Don’t like to reveal that as that was one of the few lame periods in my life.) The “million dollars on the kitchen table” was the first thing my boss taught me. When you’re trying to sell a million-dollar policy” to someone, he sees it as an abstract thing. It just isn’t real to him. But, if you lay out an actual million dollars in cash, it immediately becomes a very real thing. And, that’s what my manager did. He’d open a suitcase and dump out a million bucks. Of course, it was just Monopoly money, but seeing that mound of hundred-dollar bills almost always led to a sale. The same thing happens in a kidnapping. Up until the money’s laid out on the kitchen table it’s largely an abstract, meaningless number. The victim is all gung-ho up to that point to get his beloved Gladys back, but once he sees that mound of bills, all of a sudden, he has a change of heart. That’s when he calls the cops, the Fibbies. He claims he loves his honey Gladys, but it’s pretty clear which he loves more…
AC: Finally, is the inclusion of the crazed inmate a sly reference to THE RAPIST? Or just a minor re-examination of a similar element?
LE: Pretty sharp, Anthony! Yep. Same character. He’s based on a guy I met in the New Orleans jail and what he did is what the real guy did. I just like the guy…
AC: Where did you take your inspiration to tell stories from? When you were a younger man, did you find yourself always being the one in a group to entertain others with amusing stories?
LE: My inspiration mostly comes from my own life. I’ve purposely put myself in situations where both good and bad things can happen. A lot of them were bad but those were the ones I gravitated toward the most. Graham Greene said writers have a piece of ice in their hearts. What Greene is referring to is the art of detachment from the emotional to be able to observe an event and describe it accurately and dispassionately. It’s what allows us to write dramatically instead of melodramatically. It is simply the ability to maintain alertness and keep your own emotions at bay when describing events, especially events that carry emotion personally. It’s not “coldness” or “calculating observation” as some would say. It’s simply maintaining the reporter’s stance when writing drama so as to maintain the drama and not tip over into melodrama. Having that piece of ice in our hearts is what allows the good writer to lower the volume instead of raising it. Thereby creating true and deep emotion and not surface emotion, cheaply and easily wrought. That melodramatic writer is who Oscar Wilde was referring to in his famous criticism of that most melodramatic writer of all time, Charles Dickens, when he said, “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.” Indeed.And, yes, I was that guy who took over the conversation. I had (have) a desperate need to hold the floor. Mostly to “play the dozens” which is a disappearing art because of that political correctness bullshit. It’s probably lack of a healthy ego—I find I need constant confirmation that I have value—laughter and grins being the coin of that realm.
AC: Do you believe there is a power books and written word is able to hold other mediums of expression lack?
LE: Certainly! I subscribe to Marshall McLuhan’s theory of hot and cold media. The media is judged by the extent of the audience’s participation. In hot media, the audience is passively consuming what is presented. In cool media, the audience has to actively analyze and interpret what is presented to make sense of what they see and hear.Hot media are those that affect one sense and the participant is required to bring their imaginations and stored knowledge to bear to have a good experience. Examples of hot media are books and radio. Cool media is media that affects two or more senses, leaving less for the participant to bring to the experience. An example of cold media is television. By utilizing more than one sense, much of the work is done for the participant; therefore, one’s participation is minimal. You sit back and let the media do all the heavy lifting.Experiencing a television show requires little from the participant who remains passive. Reading a book is a participatory exercise in which one has to do some of the work. Therefore, reading a book is a more intense experience as the reader has to bring to bear the whole of his imagination, memory and intellect. And, when the participant is required to do some work in order to make full use of the experience, it becomes his or hers and he or she “owns” the interpretation of it. This is precisely what philosophers and educators are referring to when they decry “the dumbing down of America.” That’s because watching television does very little to affect the mind. And that’s the power of books over other mediums.
AC: How do you describe your role as a writer?
LE: I have several duties as a writer. One is to write entertaining stories to the best of my ability. Another is to always write as honestly as I am able to—my mantra is, “If it’s fiction, it has to be true.” That doesn’t mean being detail-true but it means my personal mandate is that fiction be written honestly and not shirking anything in that fiction that intentionally misleads or lies to the reader. My main duty over everything is to write the best fiction I am capable of and to never take short cuts or offer up anything that is in any way less than I am capable of. That is my stock in trade and I hope never to write anything that doesn’t reflect an honest and true heart.
AC: What lessons would you have to impart on younger authors?
LE: I’ll steal this from Jim Harrison, if you want to become a writer read the whole of western literature for the past 400 years. If you live long enough, read the whole of eastern literature for the same period. For, if you don’t know what passed for good in the past, how can you know what’s considered good in the present.
AC: What projects are you currently working on? Which book are you most proud of?
LE: I’m working on about ten projects currently. Working on three short stories for various anthologies I’ve been invited to submit to. Have four novels I’m working on. I’m writing a new craft book. Am preparing notes for appearances at several writing events I’ve been invited to present at. For instance, I’m appearing at Lee Lofland’s Writer’s Police Academy where he’s scheduled me to give at least two talks. I’m preparing notes for those so it will appear that I’m talking extemporaneously. And, the other day he asked me if I’d serve as the auctioneer for an auction they hold, so of course I have to do research so I won’t look too much as a doofus. That means I have to watch episodes of Storage Wars so I can learn how to be an auctioneer. Us writer types have to have many skills…I’m working on two main projects—a new novel titled HARD TIMES based on a short story of that same title. And, my memoir, titled Adrenaline Junkie, which has been a true labor of love and one in which I don’t dodge anything, but include both the best and the worst of my life. It’s the book I’mFans who would like to reach out to Edgerton can email him at butchedgerton@comcast.net . His newest short story collection, LAGNIAPPE, is available through Down & Out Books at https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore....
A few months ago, Anthony Campbell interviewed me for Crimespree Magazine. Anthony asked some of the most intelligent questions I've ever been asked. Here's the interview and if you're interested in glomming onto a copy of the magazine, you can buy the ebook copy on Amazon here.
Not sure when the paperback copy will be available for sale, but when it is I'll post that info here.
Les Edgerton InterviewedBy Anthony CampbellIssue 66 Crimespree Magazine
Les Edgerton isn’t the writer who is here to judge you; over the course of a few emails we traded back and forth, I found him to be one of the most receptive and open individuals I have had the chance to correspond with.With over 19 books ranging from hard-boiled crime novels to business guides under his belt, not to mention the countless short stories he has had published, Edgerton certainly is a busy man with the honest work to show for it. Just this year, he informed he has “at least three more works of fiction coming.” Readers may have heard of him from THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, THE BITCH, THE RAPIST or THE DEATH OF TARPONS.His current short story collection, LAGNIAPPE, is available through Down & Out Books. I was able to discuss two of his prior novels, THE RAPIST and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING as well as history over two months of emails.
Anthony Campbell: Thank you again for taking the time to let me reach out and interview you. I wanted to start with a few questions on your 2013 novel, THE RAPIST. This was your first novel that I read and I found it to be quite the tour-de-force. Where did the idea of the novel come from?
Les Edgerton: The germ of the idea came from reading a Charles Bukowski short story, “The Fiend.” At that point, it was just a glimpse of a potential story, what Blake Snyder calls “the smell of the night on the road at dawn.” What does the term mean? It’s that germ of an idea for a story triggered by any number of stimuli. It can be a glimpse of something—the “smell of the rain on the road at dawn” for instance. Driving home from a night of partying, hung over, you turn onto a country blacktop and see a man hitchhiking in Army fatigues in the fine mist that’s falling. Aha! There’s a story about this guy, you think. You begin to imagine a character who’s passing through town—and you kind of visualize a story about him. If you’re David Morrell, you end up with a story titled, FIRST BLOOD. Or, you hear a story about a man whose mother has just died and the police came to inform him and they’re put off by his seeming lack of emotion about the tragedy and become suspicious. If you’re Albert Camus, perhaps you write a story based on that anecdote you’ll title, THE STRANGER If you’re me, you come up with a story titled THE RAPIST.All of us as writers get ideas triggered like this and any number of other ways. Thinking about the scene or idea makes us feel that there’s a story there. Usually, when we see or conceive of a story idea that way, it elicits a powerful emotion from us. The guy in our vision, standing on the road at dawn in a drizzle, wearing fatigues, triggers a feeling of sadness, say. We have an urge to write this guy’s story so that the reader will feel this same intense feeling of sadness as we do.And so, we break out the Bic, turn on the ‘puter, put a piece of white paper in the Underwood and begin to write. And it fizzles out.Why? As Blake Snyder says, we’ve simply fallen in love with an inspiration. That’s all it is. There’s no story there yet mostly because we haven’t yet come up with a story. All we’ve got is a guy standing in the rain on a blacktop and a feeling that this is a story. It’s gossamer. It’s not a story because we haven’t taken the time to think beyond this image very much.This is what I suggest for those who get that “Smell of the rain…” kind of image and inspiration for a novel. Sit on it for a while. Think about it. Kick the tires. See if it has legs. See if you can see any depth in it. If something else comes up and diverts your attention away from it, that probably means the idea really wasn’t novel-worthy to begin with. But…the idea that won’t go away, that begs to be told, that begins to unfold in your imagination over a period of time of at least a month or two and hopefully even longer—that’s probably an idea that has legs and one you can run that marathon with.And that’s what I did with THE RAPIST. Let it percolate in my brain for about ten years. I won’t go through the entire process, but I kept niggling the original idea around, adding a piece here, a piece there, until I had a bona fide story.
AC: How was constructing the character of Truman Ferris Pinter different than others you have made before? Was it more difficult to fit into his voice than others?
LE: Referring back to the first question, as the story began to take shape in my mind, Truman became clearer and clearer until I had him nailed. Not so much in a superficial way—what he looked like, for instance, but how his mind worked. How his background shaped him. What makes him different from most other rapists. Once I had that, his voice became mine. As Whitman said, “We contain multitudes.” And, we do. What I became was an actor playing a part. The more talent one has as an actor, the better he or she can mimic others. The catalyst came when I realized who he really was. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ whose father, God, played a cruel practical joke on. Oddly enough, this is where most reviewers missed the whole point of the story. Since most see him as an unreliable narrator, they saw the very last line as the absolute proof that Truman was an unreliable narrator. He was…until the very last line, which was the exact moment his eyes were opened and he saw clearly who he was for the first time in his earthly life. That was the illumination and why it had to be the end of his story. Everything that happened to him led to that precise moment when he realizes he’s Christ. And, it’s a true realization, not the “truth” of an insane person—an actual, literal truth. The veil has just been lifted.
AC: Many literary allusions abound and comparisons have been made to Camus’ THE STRANGER. I personally found the shape of this novel to fit in a similar vein as a Kafka story or a Lynch film. Do you find the comparisons by reviewers to be surprising? Have there been any which you had found to be of particular interest?
LE: I understand the Camus comparison but don’t think it’s accurate. I wrote it in a similar tone as THE STRANGER mostly because both Meursault and Truman view their experiences from an amoral standpoint. Also, many reviewers see my book as an existential book and reviewers often believe Camus was an existentialist writer. He fought against that opinion all of his life, at one point getting together with Sarte to run an add stating clearly that they had nothing in common, philosophy-wise. I am often referred to as an existential writer and I feel the same as did Camus. So, in basing that on an inaccurate belief system neither of us claims, it’s an accurate comparison. I think we’re both subject to a wrong take on our philosophies. I can also see you comparing it to a Kafka story. On the surface, it appears that Gregor and Truman are similar. Where I don’t think they are is that Kafka’s character both starts and ends as an unreliable narrator, Truman doesn’t, but to a certain mindset it appears they are the same. The reviewers I thought came closest to what I intended were Cort McMeel and William Joyce.
AC: Although Truman doesn’t seem to particularly care about the judgment society passes against him, by recounting his crime and life, he constructs a testimony for the reader. He places the reader as the judge. Does Truman care about what we, as readers, think of him?
LE: Although he claims he doesn’t, he’s an unreliable narrator which is fairly clear early. Since the way a reader tells the protagonist is an unreliable narrator is to match his actions to what he’s saying, and since he claims he doesn’t care, his action in presenting his story tells us he does care or else he wouldn’t have bothered telling his story.
AC: Still a few weeks after my first reading of this novel, the entire last part and the ending of the novel resonate with me, making me still question not only these parts of the novel, but more importantly, giving way to re-evaluating how I considered some things in society. When you finished writing this novel, did you feel like this was certainly something which readers would take away from? Did you think it would make readers challenge preconceptions and ideas they held?
LE: What I hoped for from readers was based on a belief I possess. That there are thousands and thousands (millions?) of ideas that are floating out there and that many of those ideas are shared with many others. A zeitgeist, if you will, or a kind of race memory. That there’s a field of electricity—kind of an invisible “soup” if you will, that’s everywhere in the atmosphere, where ideas come from individual minds and that enter other minds that are receptive. I think that as people get older they cease being receptive to these ideas for lots of reasons—a religious body of belief for instance, that’s been indoctrinated into their minds and won’t tolerate deviances from the official canon; a physical experience that we experience in childhood that gets sublimated as we grow older and that we learn through ridicule by adults to deny in our hearts; awareness of other dimensions as a child, that awareness trampled over again by seeing those kinds of ideas routinely derided by everyone else as we grow older.For example, I have very clear memories of being able to leave my body and hover in space when I was a child. That memory is one that got ridiculed and attacked any time I mentioned it, so little by little I forced myself to look at the experience as just something I dreamed so I could escape ridicule. And, then, in my twenties I happened on some literature about a group called “Eckanar” which was composed of people who swore they had out of body experiences just as I had and that was the beginning of my belief in a zeitgeist. I believe that, little by little, our existence becomes more and more an artificial one in which others gradually imprison each of us into a world that isn’t actual but is induced by others who are fearful of the actual world or who really don’t know what is real and what isn’t but are afraid of admitting they think differently from those around them for fear of ridicule or worse—worse being locked up in mental wards or in prison, or even killed, or simply shunned by the majority of people in their society as that is the nature of the mob—to reject anyone whose beliefs fall outside what they consider “safe” parameters. In other words, I came to believe that we’ve all been brainwashed, not necessarily by some evil group of people whose aim is to control or enslave people, but by a mindset that to open oneself to ideas and thoughts outside the parameters of their particular society will only lead to anarchy. I don’t see this as any “plot” by a few people, but more as a natural thing for most people who sense that any thinking they don’t share is dangerous. I don’t think this is an inherited way of thinking but more of a learned behavior. That most people are fearful of anyone different and to protect themselves they either invent or adopt stances toward those they see as different. And, so, little by little we lose the insights we had as children and learn to sublimate any ideas outside the main. I think this may be what Jesus was talking about when he said that to enter Heaven, one must become as a “little child.” To go back to that age where we all had original thoughts and didn’t dismiss things out of hand that adults would consider aberrant behavior. I know this is a longwinded reply to your question, but I think the question demands a lengthy answer to be clear. A bumper sticker reply won’t suffice for what I see is a very intelligent question about a complicated issue. I have to say that your questions are a welcome change from many interviewers who often ask idiot questions like “where do you get your ideas” or “what time of day do you write in?” To sum up my answer, I think those readers who still challenge the status quo in their lives upon encountering issues raised in the book will feel a sense of déjà vu in that they’ve also had these same thoughts. To those who shrink from any challenge to their core beliefs, I think they’ll not feel challenged in the least and may even dislike it intensely.
AC: Just a year after this novel, 2014 saw the release of THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLATIC KIDNAPPING. This was a far different story, loosely based on your experiences in New Orleans, offering more of an entertaining than a thought-provoking read. Of all the characters in this novel, Cat is easily the most memorable for me and jumps from page. Reading her dialogue was like witnessing a character reach out of the book and slap me across the face, especially considering how she appears to me as a beacon of hope. Did you intend Cat to be a radiance that cuts through the underbelly of New Orleans in this novel, as a reminder of a way out? Does Cat know you put her in this novel?
LE: The portrait of Cat is very much like the real Cat. I just wanted to remain true to her truly unique character—in almost every sense she is a singular person. And, I doubt if she’ll ever read it—she’s not a reader. Now, if it ever gets made into a movie, I’m in trouble…Cat was sold by her junky mother to the head of the Mafia, Carlos Marcellus, for a hundred bucks when she was nine or ten. He kicked her out when she reached the age of 12—way too old for his tastes. She went down in the Quarters and survived by prostitution and selling drugs and rolling sailors. She just isn’t afraid of anything. Here’s a typical “Cat” story. One Sunday, we were just sitting around our apartment when out of the blue, she asks me if I wanted to go down to the Quarters to roll sailors. Why not, I said, so she called up another call girl friend, Jackie, a black girl who lived in the Ninth Ward and we met her down at the Seaport Café. I was there to provide “protection.” Yeah…Well, they hooked up with this Norwegian sailor and took him back in the little alley that goes to the Dungeon and Jackie gave him a blow job. He wanted Cat to do him next, but the girls demanded payment first. Fuck you, he said, the first thing he’d said in English as he’d been pretending not to speak the language. I was coming toward them to provide that “protection” when Cat said, Well, fuck you too, and she pulled out her switchblade (which I’d given to her for a birthday present) and stuck it in his stomach. He gave a little sigh and went down. I told Cat to check his socks as that’s where I kept my money when I was in the Navy and sure enough, he had wad of bills she grabbed and we beat feet. When we got a couple of blocks away and ducked into a bar, Cat started to divvy up the money but got really pissed off. Except for a twenty, it was all Norwegian money. Fucking funny money she said, and told Jackie to keep it all. We never found out if the guy was dead or not. Lots of things like that never make the paper. If everything like that made the paper, the tourist business would dry up.The next Sunday Cat asked me if I wanted to go back into the Quarters with her and Jackie, and I told her she’d have to go without her “protection.” Fuck that happy shit…
AC: The setting in this novel also really stuck out to me. The descriptions Pete provides to develop the layout and scents of New Orleans stuck me right alongside him in his criminal attempts. How did living in New Orleans stick to you? Did you fall in love with the city in the same way Pete did?
LE: I’ve always loved New Orleans from the time I lived there as a child to when I returned as an adult and lived there many years. It’s a dirty, corrupt, dangerous, gorgeous, bewitching town and so unlike any other city in America. It contains all of the excesses that are interesting. I can’t imagine anyone ever being bored in The Big Sleazy.
AC: The crux of the novel examines the idea you lay out of the abstract and the real in regards to a million dollars or any large sum of money for a kidnapping. Do you find there are other things where the illusion or abstraction doesn’t pan out to what actually happens? This examination of money in such a way I found to also extend to a question of Pete’s status as a privileged ex-baseball player navigating New Orleans in an entirely different realm than those who live in dire poverty and straits. Did you anticipate an economic disparity to grow between characters? The best example of what I’m referring to would be in regards to Pete being broke, but saying he never had to do desperate measures to get food, whereas Cat has been through hell and is still trying to grow as an individual.
LE: First, Pete wasn’t any “privileged ex-ballplayer.” He was stone broke and had been for the last ten years after he’d been drummed out of baseball. But, he’d always been a hustler and if you’re a hustler you’re never going to be truly poor. There’s just too many lames out there to make a buck from. He and Cat were basically the same. She was a call girl and had been a prostitute so she was in the same financial boat as Pete. Both knew how to survive on the street.You very accurately named the crux of the novel. In a period of my life that I’m ashamed of, I sold life insurance. (Don’t like to reveal that as that was one of the few lame periods in my life.) The “million dollars on the kitchen table” was the first thing my boss taught me. When you’re trying to sell a million-dollar policy” to someone, he sees it as an abstract thing. It just isn’t real to him. But, if you lay out an actual million dollars in cash, it immediately becomes a very real thing. And, that’s what my manager did. He’d open a suitcase and dump out a million bucks. Of course, it was just Monopoly money, but seeing that mound of hundred-dollar bills almost always led to a sale. The same thing happens in a kidnapping. Up until the money’s laid out on the kitchen table it’s largely an abstract, meaningless number. The victim is all gung-ho up to that point to get his beloved Gladys back, but once he sees that mound of bills, all of a sudden, he has a change of heart. That’s when he calls the cops, the Fibbies. He claims he loves his honey Gladys, but it’s pretty clear which he loves more…
AC: Finally, is the inclusion of the crazed inmate a sly reference to THE RAPIST? Or just a minor re-examination of a similar element?
LE: Pretty sharp, Anthony! Yep. Same character. He’s based on a guy I met in the New Orleans jail and what he did is what the real guy did. I just like the guy…
AC: Where did you take your inspiration to tell stories from? When you were a younger man, did you find yourself always being the one in a group to entertain others with amusing stories?
LE: My inspiration mostly comes from my own life. I’ve purposely put myself in situations where both good and bad things can happen. A lot of them were bad but those were the ones I gravitated toward the most. Graham Greene said writers have a piece of ice in their hearts. What Greene is referring to is the art of detachment from the emotional to be able to observe an event and describe it accurately and dispassionately. It’s what allows us to write dramatically instead of melodramatically. It is simply the ability to maintain alertness and keep your own emotions at bay when describing events, especially events that carry emotion personally. It’s not “coldness” or “calculating observation” as some would say. It’s simply maintaining the reporter’s stance when writing drama so as to maintain the drama and not tip over into melodrama. Having that piece of ice in our hearts is what allows the good writer to lower the volume instead of raising it. Thereby creating true and deep emotion and not surface emotion, cheaply and easily wrought. That melodramatic writer is who Oscar Wilde was referring to in his famous criticism of that most melodramatic writer of all time, Charles Dickens, when he said, “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.” Indeed.And, yes, I was that guy who took over the conversation. I had (have) a desperate need to hold the floor. Mostly to “play the dozens” which is a disappearing art because of that political correctness bullshit. It’s probably lack of a healthy ego—I find I need constant confirmation that I have value—laughter and grins being the coin of that realm.
AC: Do you believe there is a power books and written word is able to hold other mediums of expression lack?
LE: Certainly! I subscribe to Marshall McLuhan’s theory of hot and cold media. The media is judged by the extent of the audience’s participation. In hot media, the audience is passively consuming what is presented. In cool media, the audience has to actively analyze and interpret what is presented to make sense of what they see and hear.Hot media are those that affect one sense and the participant is required to bring their imaginations and stored knowledge to bear to have a good experience. Examples of hot media are books and radio. Cool media is media that affects two or more senses, leaving less for the participant to bring to the experience. An example of cold media is television. By utilizing more than one sense, much of the work is done for the participant; therefore, one’s participation is minimal. You sit back and let the media do all the heavy lifting.Experiencing a television show requires little from the participant who remains passive. Reading a book is a participatory exercise in which one has to do some of the work. Therefore, reading a book is a more intense experience as the reader has to bring to bear the whole of his imagination, memory and intellect. And, when the participant is required to do some work in order to make full use of the experience, it becomes his or hers and he or she “owns” the interpretation of it. This is precisely what philosophers and educators are referring to when they decry “the dumbing down of America.” That’s because watching television does very little to affect the mind. And that’s the power of books over other mediums.
AC: How do you describe your role as a writer?
LE: I have several duties as a writer. One is to write entertaining stories to the best of my ability. Another is to always write as honestly as I am able to—my mantra is, “If it’s fiction, it has to be true.” That doesn’t mean being detail-true but it means my personal mandate is that fiction be written honestly and not shirking anything in that fiction that intentionally misleads or lies to the reader. My main duty over everything is to write the best fiction I am capable of and to never take short cuts or offer up anything that is in any way less than I am capable of. That is my stock in trade and I hope never to write anything that doesn’t reflect an honest and true heart.
AC: What lessons would you have to impart on younger authors?
LE: I’ll steal this from Jim Harrison, if you want to become a writer read the whole of western literature for the past 400 years. If you live long enough, read the whole of eastern literature for the same period. For, if you don’t know what passed for good in the past, how can you know what’s considered good in the present.
AC: What projects are you currently working on? Which book are you most proud of?
LE: I’m working on about ten projects currently. Working on three short stories for various anthologies I’ve been invited to submit to. Have four novels I’m working on. I’m writing a new craft book. Am preparing notes for appearances at several writing events I’ve been invited to present at. For instance, I’m appearing at Lee Lofland’s Writer’s Police Academy where he’s scheduled me to give at least two talks. I’m preparing notes for those so it will appear that I’m talking extemporaneously. And, the other day he asked me if I’d serve as the auctioneer for an auction they hold, so of course I have to do research so I won’t look too much as a doofus. That means I have to watch episodes of Storage Wars so I can learn how to be an auctioneer. Us writer types have to have many skills…I’m working on two main projects—a new novel titled HARD TIMES based on a short story of that same title. And, my memoir, titled Adrenaline Junkie, which has been a true labor of love and one in which I don’t dodge anything, but include both the best and the worst of my life. It’s the book I’mFans who would like to reach out to Edgerton can email him at butchedgerton@comcast.net . His newest short story collection, LAGNIAPPE, is available through Down & Out Books at https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore....
November 17, 2017
ME AND CHARLIE MANSON...
Hi folks,
I just learned that Charlie Manson has just achieved room temperature. In honor of the occasion, I'm repeating a blogpost I wrote a few years ago about Charlie and me. Hope you get a kick out of it.
Hi folks,
I thought you might be interested in a recent exchange I had with author Richard Godwin. Richard is interviewing me for his blog feature “Chin Wag at the Slaughterhouse.” It’s a fantastic feature, where he interviews authors and asks the most fascinating and “deepest” questions I’ve ever been asked by any interviewer. Richard is interviewing me at the suggestion of noir master, Paul D. Brazill, a mutual friend.
Richard conducts his interviews by posing one question at a time. Once you respond to that question, he sends you another. It’s an exhausting process but when we’re done, it’ll be the most comprehensive interview I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating in. I’ll be sure to let you know when it appears.
I had just sent him my replay to his second question and he sent me the third. When he emailed me, he asked me the question below and I thought you might be interested in the answer, since it’s about an old acquaintance, Charlie Manson, and I know there are people out there who are interested in Manson. (This isn’t the interview question—it’s just a personal question he asked in response to Paul Brazill’s suggestion that he do so.)
Be advised there are a few instances of strong language.
Here’s Richard Godwin’s question and my reply:
Paul (D. Brazill) suggested I ask you about Manson. I do not mean to put you on the spot, this is not part of the interview. My first novel Apostle Rising was mentioned by a few reviewers in the context of the Manson killings, as this review showshttp://www.bookgeeks.co.uk/2011/03/23/apostle-rising-by-richard-godwin/All the bestRichard (Godwin).
Hi Richard,
Well, Charlie and I have a bit of a history.
About ten years ago or so, a professor at the University of Toledo—Dr. Russell Riesling--was writing a book about the drug experiences of famous people during their youth. He had folks like Big Brother of Big Brother and the Holding Company and some other folks. For some weird reason, he had a chapter on me. I’d done drugs but definitely wasn’t famous!
Anyway, Russ interviewed me for his book (which hasn’t been published yet, alas), and we became friends. I sent him a copy of my story collection, Monday’s Meal. About two weeks after I sent it, I got a phone call from him. Seems he’d been out to Corcoran Prison to visit with and interview Charles Manson (who also had a chapter), and during the visit, Charlie spotted the copy of Monday’s Meal that Russ had with him. He asked if he could “borrow it” and Russ loaned it to him. A few days later, he called Russ and was really excited (according to Russ). He said he’d read the book and loved it and that I was “the real deal” meaning a real-life outlaw, ex-con. He asked Russ if he’d ask me if I’d mind if he (Charlie) called me. I told Russ, sure, and thus began a series of phone calls from him to me.
Now, when I was in prison, we weren’t allowed to call folks. At all. One of the many things that have changed. Because of that, I wasn’t aware that all such phone calls are made collect. At the end of the month, after which he called 3-4 times a week, I got the bill and it was astronomical! My wife had a cow and I told Charlie we needed to dial it back a bit. (Pun intended…)
Mostly, Charlie talked and I listened. He’s not hard to figure out. He’s a nutcase, pure and simple. Knew lots of guys like him in the joint who just weren’t as famous. We swapped stories and he may have told me a few things he’d done that he hadn’t been nailed on and I may have returned in kind, but I won’t talk about that. Anyway, I kind of got tired of talking to him—it was same-o, same-o all the time—and was about to disassociate myself, when he told me his cellmate, Roger Smith, really wanted to talk to me. I said okay and thus began a series of phone calls with Roger.
Roger bills himself as the “most-stabbed inmate in U.S. history—and he is. As of that time, he’d been shanked over 300 separate times. The reason he was Charlie’s cellmate was that both were in protective custody as there were hits out on both of them from just about everybody in Corcoran. Over the years, Roger had hired himself out as a hit man for every single gang in the joint and now all of them had a hit out on him. The reason he wanted to connect with me was that he thought I was a “great writer” (his words and they had little effect on me—I’ve been on the receiving end of a shuck job attempt more than once…), and he wanted me to write his life story. According to Roger, he’d had his “come to Jesus” moment and wanted to right all the wrongs in his life. He said he wanted his life story out there to help keep young kids from following in his footsteps. He’d been locked up ever since he was a juvie and all that. Grew up in one joint or another.
I had to laugh when he told me he was “saved.” He sounded contrite… but every other word out of his mouth with “fuck this” or “motherfucker this” and he didn’t sound much like the converts I’d met down at the First Baptist… But, I’ve been inside with a lot of guys who had these jailhouse conversions and he wasn’t unusual.
He told me Charlie was letting him use his personal secretary—some gal who lives in North or South Carolina (forget which) who has all of Charlie’s journals and communications and writings and such and who handles all his commercial business. He can’t profit by books and interviews but he does take checks from the networks and publishers and the proceeds all go to charity. Roger told me he’d kept journals from when he was a little tad tyro outlaw and they were with Charlie’s secretary and he said he’d have her send them to me—from what he said, a LOT of journals(!)--and that he’d answer any questions I asked.
I told him I was just too busy with my own work and really couldn’t do this project, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Called me incessantly, trying to persuade me to write his life history. Finally, one time, he said, “What’s the real reason you don’t want to write it, Les?” I asked him if he wanted the real reason and he said yeah, so I told him. “Roger,” I said, “you’re like a serial killer. In fact, you are a serial killer. Three hundred hits, dude.” “Yeah,” he said. “and why would that prevent you from writing my story?” To which I answered that serial killers just flat-out bored me (and they do). I told him serial killers just keep doing the same exact thing, over and over and over, ad nauseum. After about the third one, they’re just boring. And, I didn’t want to tie up a year of my life on writing about some boring-ass serial killer.
There was a silence and then he exploded. Called me everything but a white man. Sounded kind of like he’d kind of backslid on the “saved” deal. Screamed that if he ever got out of Corcoran my house was the first place he was heading. I listened to him ranting and screaming at me and then said, “Roger?” He got quiet and then said, “Yeah?” I said, “Roger, you’re not ever getting out of there unless there’s a major earthquake and that isn’t likely. But, if somehow you do get out, I’m aware that you prefer using a shank on your hits and if you come to my house to nail me, I won’t have a shank. It’ll be something that makes a louder noise. So, it’s been nice talking to you and have a nice life, loser.”
And that’s the last I’ve talked to either Roger or Charlie. But, for awhile we were all jam.
So that’s the story of me and Charlie Manson, Richard.
Hope you enjoyed this little anecdote, folks. And, if you haven’t read Richard Godwin’s books you really should. They’re fantastic.
Here’s a link to his latest, Mr. Glamour. I highly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Glamour-Richard-Godwin/dp/0956711332/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334507812&sr=1-1
Blue skies,
Les
P.S. If anyone's interested in the interview Richard Godwin and I had (and it did turn out to be the best I've ever taken part in, here's the link: http://www.richardgodwin.net/author-i...
I just learned that Charlie Manson has just achieved room temperature. In honor of the occasion, I'm repeating a blogpost I wrote a few years ago about Charlie and me. Hope you get a kick out of it.
Hi folks,
I thought you might be interested in a recent exchange I had with author Richard Godwin. Richard is interviewing me for his blog feature “Chin Wag at the Slaughterhouse.” It’s a fantastic feature, where he interviews authors and asks the most fascinating and “deepest” questions I’ve ever been asked by any interviewer. Richard is interviewing me at the suggestion of noir master, Paul D. Brazill, a mutual friend.
Richard conducts his interviews by posing one question at a time. Once you respond to that question, he sends you another. It’s an exhausting process but when we’re done, it’ll be the most comprehensive interview I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating in. I’ll be sure to let you know when it appears.
I had just sent him my replay to his second question and he sent me the third. When he emailed me, he asked me the question below and I thought you might be interested in the answer, since it’s about an old acquaintance, Charlie Manson, and I know there are people out there who are interested in Manson. (This isn’t the interview question—it’s just a personal question he asked in response to Paul Brazill’s suggestion that he do so.)
Be advised there are a few instances of strong language.
Here’s Richard Godwin’s question and my reply:
Paul (D. Brazill) suggested I ask you about Manson. I do not mean to put you on the spot, this is not part of the interview. My first novel Apostle Rising was mentioned by a few reviewers in the context of the Manson killings, as this review showshttp://www.bookgeeks.co.uk/2011/03/23/apostle-rising-by-richard-godwin/All the bestRichard (Godwin).
Hi Richard,
Well, Charlie and I have a bit of a history.
About ten years ago or so, a professor at the University of Toledo—Dr. Russell Riesling--was writing a book about the drug experiences of famous people during their youth. He had folks like Big Brother of Big Brother and the Holding Company and some other folks. For some weird reason, he had a chapter on me. I’d done drugs but definitely wasn’t famous!
Anyway, Russ interviewed me for his book (which hasn’t been published yet, alas), and we became friends. I sent him a copy of my story collection, Monday’s Meal. About two weeks after I sent it, I got a phone call from him. Seems he’d been out to Corcoran Prison to visit with and interview Charles Manson (who also had a chapter), and during the visit, Charlie spotted the copy of Monday’s Meal that Russ had with him. He asked if he could “borrow it” and Russ loaned it to him. A few days later, he called Russ and was really excited (according to Russ). He said he’d read the book and loved it and that I was “the real deal” meaning a real-life outlaw, ex-con. He asked Russ if he’d ask me if I’d mind if he (Charlie) called me. I told Russ, sure, and thus began a series of phone calls from him to me.
Now, when I was in prison, we weren’t allowed to call folks. At all. One of the many things that have changed. Because of that, I wasn’t aware that all such phone calls are made collect. At the end of the month, after which he called 3-4 times a week, I got the bill and it was astronomical! My wife had a cow and I told Charlie we needed to dial it back a bit. (Pun intended…)
Mostly, Charlie talked and I listened. He’s not hard to figure out. He’s a nutcase, pure and simple. Knew lots of guys like him in the joint who just weren’t as famous. We swapped stories and he may have told me a few things he’d done that he hadn’t been nailed on and I may have returned in kind, but I won’t talk about that. Anyway, I kind of got tired of talking to him—it was same-o, same-o all the time—and was about to disassociate myself, when he told me his cellmate, Roger Smith, really wanted to talk to me. I said okay and thus began a series of phone calls with Roger.
Roger bills himself as the “most-stabbed inmate in U.S. history—and he is. As of that time, he’d been shanked over 300 separate times. The reason he was Charlie’s cellmate was that both were in protective custody as there were hits out on both of them from just about everybody in Corcoran. Over the years, Roger had hired himself out as a hit man for every single gang in the joint and now all of them had a hit out on him. The reason he wanted to connect with me was that he thought I was a “great writer” (his words and they had little effect on me—I’ve been on the receiving end of a shuck job attempt more than once…), and he wanted me to write his life story. According to Roger, he’d had his “come to Jesus” moment and wanted to right all the wrongs in his life. He said he wanted his life story out there to help keep young kids from following in his footsteps. He’d been locked up ever since he was a juvie and all that. Grew up in one joint or another.
I had to laugh when he told me he was “saved.” He sounded contrite… but every other word out of his mouth with “fuck this” or “motherfucker this” and he didn’t sound much like the converts I’d met down at the First Baptist… But, I’ve been inside with a lot of guys who had these jailhouse conversions and he wasn’t unusual.
He told me Charlie was letting him use his personal secretary—some gal who lives in North or South Carolina (forget which) who has all of Charlie’s journals and communications and writings and such and who handles all his commercial business. He can’t profit by books and interviews but he does take checks from the networks and publishers and the proceeds all go to charity. Roger told me he’d kept journals from when he was a little tad tyro outlaw and they were with Charlie’s secretary and he said he’d have her send them to me—from what he said, a LOT of journals(!)--and that he’d answer any questions I asked.
I told him I was just too busy with my own work and really couldn’t do this project, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Called me incessantly, trying to persuade me to write his life history. Finally, one time, he said, “What’s the real reason you don’t want to write it, Les?” I asked him if he wanted the real reason and he said yeah, so I told him. “Roger,” I said, “you’re like a serial killer. In fact, you are a serial killer. Three hundred hits, dude.” “Yeah,” he said. “and why would that prevent you from writing my story?” To which I answered that serial killers just flat-out bored me (and they do). I told him serial killers just keep doing the same exact thing, over and over and over, ad nauseum. After about the third one, they’re just boring. And, I didn’t want to tie up a year of my life on writing about some boring-ass serial killer.
There was a silence and then he exploded. Called me everything but a white man. Sounded kind of like he’d kind of backslid on the “saved” deal. Screamed that if he ever got out of Corcoran my house was the first place he was heading. I listened to him ranting and screaming at me and then said, “Roger?” He got quiet and then said, “Yeah?” I said, “Roger, you’re not ever getting out of there unless there’s a major earthquake and that isn’t likely. But, if somehow you do get out, I’m aware that you prefer using a shank on your hits and if you come to my house to nail me, I won’t have a shank. It’ll be something that makes a louder noise. So, it’s been nice talking to you and have a nice life, loser.”
And that’s the last I’ve talked to either Roger or Charlie. But, for awhile we were all jam.
So that’s the story of me and Charlie Manson, Richard.
Hope you enjoyed this little anecdote, folks. And, if you haven’t read Richard Godwin’s books you really should. They’re fantastic.
Here’s a link to his latest, Mr. Glamour. I highly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Glamour-Richard-Godwin/dp/0956711332/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334507812&sr=1-1
Blue skies,
Les
P.S. If anyone's interested in the interview Richard Godwin and I had (and it did turn out to be the best I've ever taken part in, here's the link: http://www.richardgodwin.net/author-i...
November 15, 2017
COUPLE OF BLURBS...
Hi folks,
I'm pleased to present a couple of blurbs today--one for a writer I admire very much and another which was given to one of my books.
The first is what I wrote about Earl Javorsky's newest novel, DOWN TO NO GOOD. Here's what I have to say about this terrific book:
ORDER HERE
Blurb for Earl Javorsky’s DOWN TO NO GOOD
Hand me a book with a P.I. who’s been shot in the head and come back from the dead, along with a psychic who solves crimes right and left, along with some other folks who are more than a bit irregular and I’m unplugging the TV, turning off the alarm clock, and hiding my phone under a pillow where I can’t hear it. I just emerged from an all-night sesh with DOWN TO NO GOOD, a volatile mess of pages littered with the madness that Earl Javorsky’s fevered brain manufacturers. I’m going to the nearest mental hospital and turn myself in and hope for some good drugs. It was worth it, though.
Les Edgerton, author of THE RAPIST, THE BITCH, THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, JUST LIKE THAT and others.
And, then I received the following blurb from mega bestselling author Jerry Jenkins. Jerry had asked me to record a video for his writing classes on Hooked and I agreed immediately. We plan to record at least a couple more next year. He sent me the following blurb to be used for HOOKED:
ORDER HERE
Jerry Jenkins blurb for HOOKED
I read every writing book that comes down the pike, and I like a lot of them. But I LOVE Hooked / write fiction that grabs readers at page one and never lets them go! As punchy as Les Edgerton’s hard-hitting fiction, Hooked takes no prisoners. Clear, simple, direct, it offers something fresh in every chapter. I recommend it to all my students and even my colleagues. Your writing library won’t be complete without it.
Jerry JenkinsNovelist & BiographerThe Jerry Jenkins Writers GuildBest-selling author of the Left Behind series and many others
That's all, folks!
Blue skies,Les
I'm pleased to present a couple of blurbs today--one for a writer I admire very much and another which was given to one of my books.
The first is what I wrote about Earl Javorsky's newest novel, DOWN TO NO GOOD. Here's what I have to say about this terrific book:
ORDER HEREBlurb for Earl Javorsky’s DOWN TO NO GOOD
Hand me a book with a P.I. who’s been shot in the head and come back from the dead, along with a psychic who solves crimes right and left, along with some other folks who are more than a bit irregular and I’m unplugging the TV, turning off the alarm clock, and hiding my phone under a pillow where I can’t hear it. I just emerged from an all-night sesh with DOWN TO NO GOOD, a volatile mess of pages littered with the madness that Earl Javorsky’s fevered brain manufacturers. I’m going to the nearest mental hospital and turn myself in and hope for some good drugs. It was worth it, though.
Les Edgerton, author of THE RAPIST, THE BITCH, THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, JUST LIKE THAT and others.
And, then I received the following blurb from mega bestselling author Jerry Jenkins. Jerry had asked me to record a video for his writing classes on Hooked and I agreed immediately. We plan to record at least a couple more next year. He sent me the following blurb to be used for HOOKED:
ORDER HERE
Jerry Jenkins blurb for HOOKED
I read every writing book that comes down the pike, and I like a lot of them. But I LOVE Hooked / write fiction that grabs readers at page one and never lets them go! As punchy as Les Edgerton’s hard-hitting fiction, Hooked takes no prisoners. Clear, simple, direct, it offers something fresh in every chapter. I recommend it to all my students and even my colleagues. Your writing library won’t be complete without it.
Jerry JenkinsNovelist & BiographerThe Jerry Jenkins Writers GuildBest-selling author of the Left Behind series and many others
That's all, folks!
Blue skies,Les
October 30, 2017
JUST LIKE THAT REISSUED!
Hi folks,
Got some news--Down and Out Books has just reissued my novel, JUST LIKE THAT! It has a new cover which I really like. If you haven't read it before you might want to glom onto a copy now. It's about 85% autobiographical and is centered on a road trip I made with a rappie from Pendleton and on my time in the joint.
Assistant Warden Cathy Johns of The Farm (Louisiana state joint at Angola) read it and told me it was "the truest account of the criminal mind" she'd ever read. One thing I promise--you won't see any bullshit about "shivs" or any crap like the myth MSNBC puts out about prisons in it...
Hope you get a copy and hope you enjoy the read. If you like it, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and Goodreads. It's the single best thing you can do for a writer and we appreciate it when you do.
Blue skies,
Les
Got some news--Down and Out Books has just reissued my novel, JUST LIKE THAT! It has a new cover which I really like. If you haven't read it before you might want to glom onto a copy now. It's about 85% autobiographical and is centered on a road trip I made with a rappie from Pendleton and on my time in the joint.
Assistant Warden Cathy Johns of The Farm (Louisiana state joint at Angola) read it and told me it was "the truest account of the criminal mind" she'd ever read. One thing I promise--you won't see any bullshit about "shivs" or any crap like the myth MSNBC puts out about prisons in it...
Hope you get a copy and hope you enjoy the read. If you like it, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and Goodreads. It's the single best thing you can do for a writer and we appreciate it when you do.
Blue skies,
Les
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