Les Edgerton's Blog, page 18

Help out Craig and his family!

Hi folks,A fellow writer and editor has recently fallen upon hard times and I'd like to ask those who can to help him and his family out. Craig McNeely and his family are homeless in New Orleans. I've been homeless there, but with a difference--I was by myself. I can't begin to imagine how it would have been if my family had also been there and in that situation.

Last Tuesday they lost their home and Craig and his two little girls and wife headed to New Orleans. He's there now and homeless and needs our help.
Craig has been a friend to me and to many, many writers over the years. He is truly one of the "good guys" in writing and really needs our help.
If you can, please visit the GoFundMe site and give what you can.

https://www.gofundme.com/mcneelyfamily
Below is Craig's message on GoFundMe.Hello,

My name is Craig McNeely. With my wife Emily, I publish the quarterly pulp mag Dark Corners and run the small press Double Life Press. You can see us up there with our two incredible kids.

In July of last year, the bottom dropped out on our financial situation. We were looking at losing our car and eviction after Emily's ex-husband skipped out on child support, and in the same month, the federal government decided that I was making too much money, even though I'm permanently disabled, now that I'm married, and dropped my SSI from $710 to $230. That's $1,100 we lost in a single month.

The following month, we lost our car and our cell phones, had our water and gas shut off, and were nearly evicted, if not for the assistance of a local church to keep a roof over our kids' heads. Still, we recovered. OCSE got involved and child support was reinstated, and we were able to get food stamp assistance. It's not easy for a family of four, including two small children and a husband in a wheelchair, in a rural town in America, but we were making it okay.

However, things have become far more complicated this year. In July of this year, I suffered significant health-related setbacks because of my Spina Bifida, leading to several visits with doctors, and I'm now largely wheelchair bound. Since we live in such a rural area, medical specialists can sometimes be very far away, making it essentially impossible if you do not have access to transportation.

In addition, government regulations changed again, as they do, and we lost food assistance.

So, we are looking for help. Specifically, we want assistance toward getting a car. This will help me when I require medical attention, as is so often the case when you live with something like Spina Bifida. Transportation means opportunity. It means physical therapy for myself. It means not walking or wheeling to the grocery store and only being able to buy what we can carry back home.

Anything that doesn't go toward getting transportation will provide food and clothing for our children, and mobility and therapy aides (like a fitness wheelchair or orthopedic shoes).

Early on, I mentioned our magazine and press. Yes, Emily and I are book people. I suspect that's how many of you know us. Well, we are putting together a benefit anthology full of great and fun stories by many of the best writers I've ever known: James Reasoner, Stephen Mertz, Les Edgerton, Will Viharo. Ryan Sayles, Eric Beetner and more, with cover art by Chuck Regan.

Every contributor to this campaign will receive a digital copy of the anthology at the beginning of October. Also, if you would rather just purchase a paperback of the anthology, you can wait for its release and support us that way. Either way, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and generosity.

If books or cash donations are not your thing, Emily runs a small Etsy store  with handcrafted textile art pieces with a geeky twist. Head over there, check it out, and any purchases you make will also go toward our campaign.

Once again, thank you for all of your help. Craig McNeely


Us writers are among the most generous of any group--I know we're going to come together and help out our brother! Thank you one and all for your humanity. 
Blue skies,Les

BOUCHERCON REDUX

Hi folks,
Well, here it is… time to post my after-Bouchercon notes.
I’m fairly rested now after returning home to face over 600 emails waiting… When I’m at a convention like this the same thing always happens. I just can’t find the time to sit at the computer and go through emails. And, the first day I had trouble connecting with the hotel wi-fi, so lost time there. My roommate and best buddy, Jack Getze finally had to show me how to use a ‘puter… not the first time Jack’s come to my assistance.
My buddy, Jack Getze! Also, my hero!


I brought my remote-control fart machine to plague him and it worked well. I didn’t realize it would go off intermittently and I found out the next day that it kept going off all night and I slept like a baby, not knowing Jack was searching everywhere for it. He said he intended to bash it to pieces, but he finally found it and discovered there was a turn-off switch and kindly used it rather than destroying it.
The first night, Jack and our friend Kate Laity (known as Absolute Kate and she is… absolute…) had dinner at the next-door Greek restaurant and I kept setting it off whenever the waitress happened by him. She just averted her eyes while Jack’s blood pressure rose—at least, I think that’s what made his face turn red.




Me, Jack, and the indomitable Absolute Kate!
Jack, me, and Christy Campbell, the wife of one of my publishers, Eric Campbell.


We found out we’d made a mistake by getting our room at the Holiday Inn, thinking it was close by the convention, but as it turned out, it was eight blocks away, so we single-handedly brought the taxi industry out of the depression and made a lot of cabbies rich. And, ourselves poor… It turns out they have these rickshaws and Jack took one of those back to our hotel one night. I had to let him know how lame that was—the rich gaijin being towed around by the starving… well, you get the picture… Our room was fine except for the bathroom, which was smaller than my cell back in Pendleton. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a john that tiny. My feet had to stick out halfway into the hall to fit on the stool… But, the view was gorgeous. We were on the 19th floor, just one floor short of the top which was where the bar and restaurant were. Easy enough to get there! They’re getting better with B-Cons—in Albany, it was a disaster, mostly because there wasn’t a bar at the convention center. Didn’t they know we were writers and not evangelicals or the annual meeting of the Carrie Nation Society? We need BOOZE! It’s where all the business takes place. Next year, it’ll be in New Orleans and I don’t foresee any problems at all. Except, I don’t know if I can go. I’m going to have to check to make sure there are no outstanding warrants…
I’m just going to go over the highlights (for me) and that way I won’t feel obligated to name all the many great writers I got to chat and/or drink with. I hate doing that because I always forget somebody I should have mentioned and then I feel terrible. I’ll name a lot but not nearly all. There was a bunch of highlights and only one lowlight—I didn’t get to see the Notre Dame-Navy ballgame! (But, they won!) Hard to imagine since I wasn’t on hand to cheer them through the tough spots, but somehow they did it without my usual assistance.
The first day I got to participate in a panel and that was just a terrific experience. It was titled “Rough, tough tales for tough readers” or something inane like that. Our moderator, Eric Beetner, confessed he felt the same as most of us did—that we didn’t have a clue what that meant and so we’d just yak about anything at all… which is pretty much what we did. A great crew and we ended up having a great time and the audience told us the same thing they told every other panel they visited—that we were the best! We think so, too. Just a bunch of truly fantastic writers. Besides Eric, we had Trey Barker, Tom Young, Chris Pavone and moi.
Here we are... a bunch of gangstas...

We're just talking about blood and guts and Mom's apple pie...




That evening Jack and I were to be interviewed by Tom Pitts on the radio show, Authors on the Air, and the hostess of that show, Pam Stack, even came up from Florida to be on the set and to make sure we didn’t steal the equipment. As it happened, it was more than just us. About fifteen other writers crowded into the room and it was a blast! I don’t know how Tom Pitts does it, but he knows how to keep a bunch of balls in the air at the same time. Meeting the host of the series, Pam Stack, was a highlight of my trip. If you didn’t get a chance to hear it, click on this to do so: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair/2015/10/10/live-from-bouchercon-skid-row-chatter-with-tom-pitts-and-the-noir-writers
Tom Pitts who emceed our radio show and is also one of my publishers. Look for BOMB! coming out soon from Gutter Books.
A room full of writers!

I get a question and I'm armed... if you don't believe me, look--I've got my cigarettes and my Jack... That's Pam sitting behind me and you can't see her shepherd's crook she uses to yank us from the stage...




One of the highlights of the convention for me was getting the opportunity to sit and chat with Allan Guthrie for a long time. He was being honored at Bouchercon as the International Guest of Honor. Al had approached me about a month ago about participating in a project (which I can’t talk about as of yet), and we got a chance to firm up our discussion on it and begin to move forward. Probably the most valuable time I spent! Plus, he’s just a really terrific guy. For a superstar of international acclaim, he’s just like your buddy down at the bar on a Saturday night. Your buddy who drinks tea...

Had breakfast on Saturday with Ro Cuzon, who's not only one of my favorite writers, but favorite pals. We have similar backgrounds so our conversations are full of shortcuts for things you might have to explain to straights. (BTW, "straights" is what outlaws refer to regular citizens...) He brought me up to date on current New Orleans and I told him stories about the old days there. Great time! The morning before, Jack and I ate breakfast with Patti Abbott and her husband, Phil and that was really cool.

Later, at the bar, I hung out with Mike McCrary who introduced me to Bruce DeSilva, of whom I'm a big fan. All through the convention, I got to schmooze with Kate Laity who always makes me laugh.
The next night, I was privileged to participate in the Noir @ the Bar that Eryk Pruitt organized and hosted at Common 414, a great bar next to the Marriott. I’ve taken part in some truly great Noir@Bar venues before with Jed Ayres and C.J. Edwards, but this was the gala event of all. Got to hear and meet some of the best noir writers on the planet!
All of these folks--Jed Ayres, Eric Beetner, Joe Clifford, Jen Conley, Christa Faust, Ed Kurtz, Steve Lauden, Tom PItts, Tom Pluck, and Johnny Shaw are, to me, the creme de la crme of noir writers. Very honored to get to participate.

I didn't know they attended, but wish I had known that David Hale Smith, Bryon Quartermous and some others were there as I really wanted to meet them.

Here we all are for the group shot. Lotta warrants out for this bunch...

I'm up!

Got to see and renew friendships with Travis Richardson, Scott Alderberg, Rob Brunet, John Gilstrap, Reavis Worthan, Dana and Corky King, Nik Korpon, Steve Weddle, Mike Dennis, Chris Irvin, Con Lehane, Terrennce and Rita McCauley, Jenny Milchman, Brian Panowich, Peter Rozovsky, Charles Salzberg, Scotty Montgomery and a bunch of others--sorry if I missed naming you!

And, I did it again. Acted like Doofus Fanboy. Saw Joe Finder (I'm a HUGE fan!), and went over and briefly introduced myself. That was it. Didn't do anything memorable like pick his pocket or fart loudly, which I now regret... He'll never remember me now... Wanted to meet in person Bill Crider, Reed Farrel Coleman, Libby Fisher Hellmann, Tom Franklin, and Steve Hamilton (who wrote one of my three all-time favorite books, The Lock Artist.

One night, Jack and I closed down the Holiday Inn bar and while there met a fantastic writer who was just sitting quietly by himself, working on his next book, and now I've got another new friend--Jonathan Moore, who lives in Hawaii and wasn't impressed with the North Carolina weather. Wonder why not?

Met a fellow Texan who grew up close to me in Freeport, Texas in Brazoria--Ricky Bush. Lots of us Texans there! Missed seeing my friend Robert Lewis--bummer!



On Sunday morning, I dragged myself over to see my buddy Jack Getze moderate a panel and I’m glad I did. It was a primo panel and I got to meet a few more of my heroes I only knew from their books. Plus, Jack is a whiz at this emceeing stuff! Come to think of it, Jack’s a whiz at just about everything… including whizzing… He can write his name in the snow in fourteen languages…

I got lucky going to the airport, getting to share the shuttle with Jack Bludis, who I've been reading forever. Had a great conversation with him. 
I’d like to name every person I met, talked to, drank with, all those things, but that list would take forever to compile and I know I’d leave someone out. So, if any of you people read this, please don’t feel bad that I didn’t throw your name out—just know that I value our friendship, new or old, and that I’m so glad we got to spend some time together. I'll just show some photos and a lot of you will be in those.
Can’t wait until next year in New Orleans!
Blue skies,Les
And, here are some random shots...
Pam Stack, Joe Clifford, Tom Pitts and me in the background.

This was a great surprise! My buddy, Robin Deffendall, who runs the library at Fayetteville, N.C. who had me in to do workshops and yak last spring, showed up to experience B-Con. She's holding up (holding up is just a saying...) her list of five banned books for Banned Books Week... and my novel The Bitch made the list! Better than the National Book Award!

D.B. Corey and me at the bar...

Eric Campbell, me and J.L. Abrama, one of my favorite writers!


Uh-oh... that's not  blood on my cheek... might be better if it was... The moderator at Noir at the Bar, Tracy Coppedge, drew a heart in lipstick on me and this is how it ended up...


Toasting Debi Chowdhury at the Marriott bar...


Me and Tracy Coppedge, the MC at Eryk Pruitt's Noir at the Bar.

Tracy and me after I read...

And, nothing to do with B-Con but just a birthday gift from my friend Michelle McCarthy that I really liked!




And, then, I got to come home to my gorgeous wife, Mary! Best part of the trip!


Blue skies, Les

BOUCHERCON SCHEDULE

Hi folks,
Well, Bouchercon is right around the corner and I’m climbing on a plane on Thursday to fly to Raleigh, NC. As I have the past few B-Cons, I’m sharing a room with my buddy, Jack Getze, at the Holiday Inn. My purpose there is to drive him nuts… I’m bringing my whoopee cushion and some other things to help achieve that goal…
If any of you attend, I hope you’ll come up and introduce yourselves—I’d love to meet you in person if I haven’t already. You can find me in the bar… which bar?... all of ‘em… not at once, probably, but eventually…
So far, I have three big events scheduled. Two of them, you’ll need to be in attendance to see, but the third is a radio interview that you can listen to wherever you are.
1. I’m reading in Eryk Pruitt’s “Noir at the Bar” event on Thursday night at 7 pm ET at Common 414 (that’s a bar next to the Sheraton)... https://www.facebook.com/events/451937294990532/
2. Tom Pitts is going to do a live radio interview on Authors on the Air with myself and Jack Getze. Pam Stack, who runs this show, tells me they usually get about 250,000 (that’s a quarter of a million! Damn!) listeners for each episode and she feels this will be their biggest of the year. Check it out live at 8:30 pm ET/ 5:30 pm PT Friday evening at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair/2015/10/10/skid-row-meets-bouchercon-tom-pitts-is-live-with-les-edgerton-jack-getzeYou can call in and bug us if you like, but remember… payback is a… I hope you’ll listen in! Trust me—it’s gonna get wild. I’m pretty sure that Jack, Tom and me are going to set radio back about a thousand years…
3. I’m on a great panel, moderated by Eric Beetner, along with fellow panelists Chris Pavone, Trey Barker, and Tom Young, titled “Rough, Tough Tales for Tough Readers.” Hmm… I think I’ll need to be packing… Check out the entire panel schedule here: http://bouchercon2015.org/schedule/
And, nothing to do with Bouchercon, but I have a guest post on Jenny Hansen’s blog Writers in the Storm, which goes live at 7 am ET on Wednesday. Check it out here: http://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=21523 
It’s gonna be a busy week!
Blue skies,Les

BOUCHERCON AND INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND OTHER STUFF

Hi folks,
Well, Bouchercon is just around the corner and I’ll be heading to Raleigh… dang! I can never remember if that's in South Carolina or North Carolina… anyway, it’s one or the other. I’ll be rooming again with my buddy Jack Getze who keeps me laughing the whole time.

 Jack with another of his always clever headbands and one of his fantastic novels!
Lots of stuff happening there! I’ll be reading some of my stuff at the Noir at the Bar event, organized by a great writer—Eryk Pruitt, author of HASHTAG and some other terrific stuff—and it kicks off at 7 pm Thursday, Oct. 8 a… you guessed it!... a bar! Looks like a special one—a bunch of old friends and a couple of soon-to-be-new-ones. If you’re in the right Raleigh, stop in for a great time!


The next day, I’m on a panel they’re calling “Rough, tough tales for tough readers” and it’s emceed by Eric Beetner and the panelists are myself, Chris Pavone, Tom Young and Trey Barker. This one’s gonna be really cool!
Sometime in the afternoon after my panel, Jack Getze and I are going to be interviewed by Tom Pitts for the world-wide show Authors on the Air. Rumor is that the lovely hostess of this series, Pam Stack, is coming up from Florida to see if Jack and I live up to our billing as “The World’s Most Handsome Writer and His Faithful Sidekick, Jack"… This is a big, big deal for us. Tom recently did an on-air chat with Benjamin Whitmer that got a quarter of a million hits! What we Texans call “high cotton.”
 Tom Pitts... being cool and bringing attitude...

After I get back, I’ll head on down to Naptown in December to do a booksigning with a bunch of Indiana writers, including an old friend, Michael Martone and a bunch of others. If you’re in town, stop on by!


My German publisher, Frank Nowatzke just let me know that The Rapist is going to be released very soon. I can't wait to hold it in my hot little hand!

Got some big news that should be coming any day now. One’s a supersecret project I’ve been asked to take part in and I’m sworn to secrecy but will let you know the minute I’m allowed to. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever been privileged to take part in and I’m dying to let everyone know what’s going on, but… soon!
Blue skies,Les

BURN THE BOATS!

BURN THE BOATS!
Hi folks,
This is going to be a post that some will like—most likely a minority—and some will dismiss or even hate—most likely a majority. Which suits me just fine. I’m a contrarian and I like being in the minority.
I’m a lifelong Notre Dame football fan. I’m relishing the Showtime series currently playing each week, focusing on Irish football. This week really registered with me big-time. As is his custom, Coach Brian Kelly brought in a motivational speaker, this week that person being Joe Plumeri, the CEO of City Group for 32 years. What he had to say gave me chills. It spoke directly to my own personal philosophy that I’ve lived under almost my entire life.
(If you want to watch it, here’s the link.) http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/A-Season-With-Notre-Dame-Football/6837476258415459112/526228035751/A-Season-With-Notre-Dame-Football/videos

Since I was five years old, I’ve been committed to being a writer. Not for a second have I ever envisioned any other calling. Never under the worst circumstances I found myself in have I ever wavered from the goal of being a writer.
I didn’t know there was a rallying cry for this mindset—this philosophy. Now I do.
BURN THE BOATS!
This was the message Mr. Plumeri delivered to the football team.
When he began talking to the team, he asked them: Are you  willing to do whatever you gotta do to win a national championship?” In unison, they all nodded emphatically that they were. He then said, “You nod your heads—it’s easy.” He then asked if they knew who the Vikings were and then related their philosophy. “The Vikings were the conquerors from the north. When the Vikings landed, the very first thing they did was they burned their boats. Why do you think they burned their boats? They can’t get home. They burned their boats because they were committed to win. To win.
“They didn’t say, ‘well, we landed. We’ll win.. well, maybe we’ll win.’ That’s not commitment. You gotta ask each other today—are we compelling enough to burn the boats? That’s commitment.”
That instantly became the team’s rallying cry and team and individual philosophy. As probable All-American Sheldon Day said, later on, “Burn the boats is so important to us. It means to do anything and everything we can to get a win.” One of the team captains, Joe Schmidt, reiterated the same sentiment: “That full commitment and burning the boats is something we’re going to lean on all year.”
And, in looking back on my own life, that’s always been my own committment as far as writing is concerned. I burned the boats a long, long time ago and I continue to burn them.
I’ve walked away from good jobs more than once, simply because it was taking up too much of my writing time and/or it was changing my goals into more material ones than writing goals. I’ve left relationships with terrific women for the same reasons. Married to a person who resented the time I spent writing. It’s what William Faulkner meant when he said, “An Ode On a Grecian Urn is worth any number of old ladies.” It’s the mindset I’ve always, always had. Writing comes first. Always. I’ve never allowed anything to threaten that nor will I ever.
And, much of society rejects such a philosophy. That’s all right. I’ve never trusted anything a majority of people are for. Almost always, it’s a compromise. And, if you want to be a writer, compromise is your enemy.
Has it cost me? Absolutely. But, whatever the cost was in each particular instance, it was simply worth that cost to achieve my goal.
Several years ago, I had a man with whom I’d been working with on his novel, announce to me that he was quitting his very lucrative job as the manager of a large hotel, to pursue his writing full-time. He told me his wife was probably going to divorce him as a result of that decision. At first, I wanted to grab him and tell him the common wisdom—“Don’t quit your day job, dude! Not until you’re making a secure income from writing. The odds are against you, man.” I almost did just that… but I didn’t. I could tell he felt the same as I did and who was I to deter him from following his own dream? How could I, who’d done exactly the same thing—several times—as he was proposing to do, tell him not to do so? I couldn’t. That wasn’t my place nor my job to do so. I’ve lost track of him and I don’t know if he ever realized his dream, but it doesn’t matter. For at least one shining moment in his life, he was a Viking. And, people like that are my heroes. I know what has to be given up and it’s considerable. So, even if he didn’t make it as a writer, it doesn’t matter. He knows that he stood tall, at least one time in his life, and that’s something that wealth or even the love of another person can never take away. I expect heated response and arguments on that statement and that’s fine. But, all the arguments in the world won’t sway my own beliefs in what’s best for me.
The vast majority of those who want to be writers won’t achieve their dream. I think in at least some cases, it’s because they weren’t willing to burn the boats. I suspect it’s because a lot of folks want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to keep their job, concede to their wives’ or husbands' demands to employ less time behind the computer, bow to other demands… and yet, to somehow crank out a publishable novel and gain riches and fame. To be fair, there are a great many writers who don’t burn their boats (or bridges) who do just fine. They sell tons of books, have lots of fans, win all kinds of awards. And, that’s great. In fact, that’s ideal. But, for me, if I’d followed that path, I don’t think I’d have become the writer I am. I would probably have become an author, but that isn’t the same as becoming a writer. Not the kind of writer I wanted to be and the kind I am. All in.
There’s a reason the term “starving artist” is a well-known term that has roots in antiquity. I’ve more than once been that guy. And, may be again. So be it. I’ve burned my boats and since I don’t know how to build one, that avenue is not possible. That’s by choice. There have been many people who have burned their boats and it didn’t work out as they wanted or even expected it to. That’s all right. They made a choice and they stuck by it. Even if they didn’t make it, they know what it feels like to go out on that ledge by themselves and without a net, and you can’t put a dollar value on that. It’s a priceless feeling. It’s freedom. It’s living with your own rules and not those of others. When you do away with the possibility of compromise, you’re free. You either learn to survive on your own, or you don’t. It’s that simple.
This won’t be seen as the smartest philosophy in the world by most people. And, I simply don’t care. It’s mine and I own it.
I was a presenter at a writer’s conference in Indianapolis many years ago with a woman writer. At the end of our presentations, we held a Q&A, and the first question we got was, “What if your husband doesn’t support your writing?” To which we both spoke in precise unison and without even looking at each other: “I’d divorce him.” It was just the feeling we both had. We both felt the same—husbands (and wives, and boyfriends/girlfriends) are fairly easy to get. A book—a good book—is hard to get. Especially if you’ve got an enemy of that book in the same room with you. Actually, I’ve achieved Nirvana. I’ve been in several relationships that interfered with my writing and I severed them. My wife now is the most supportive person I’ve ever known and I’m a very, very lucky guy. There aren’t many like her. Probably why we’ve been together for over a quarter of a century. Trust me—there aren’t very many out there like her.
I don’t expect many to understand how I feel and that’s fine. A person that intensely dedicated to something in life is difficult to stomach for many people who don’t have anything that compelling in their own lives. I suspect it’s a threatening idea to many.
So be it. As for me, I say only:
BURN THE BOATS!
Blue skies,Les
P.S. I just know this is going to piss someone off and who will want to take me to task...  That's fine--I'll be here all week--remember to tip your waiter or waitress.
Here's a guy who burned his boats to follow his dream as a writer, for sure! One of my heroes, the Honorable Charles Bukowski...

Thoughts on Lumet's Rubber Ducky...

Hi folks,

You might want to head over to UK writer/teacher Virginia MacGregor's blog where I have a guest post today, talking about Sydney Lumet and Paddy Chayevsky's "Rubber ducky theory" in writing.

Would love to hear your feedback on the principles I chat about...

Blue skies,
Les

NEWS--Beat to a Pulp, anthology LAST WORD, and an appearance in Naptown

Hi folks,
A few news items… I’m privileged to have a story in the just-released anthology, LAST WORD, edited by Liam Sweeny. All proceeds will go to the Nation Insideorganization, a coordinating organization that unites national efforts to pass prison reform measures. I am proud to say that it was my own ugly self who recommended this group to Liam when he was casting about for a worthwhile charity to devote the proceeds to. So, for both a great read of stories from a truly all-star lineup of crime writers and to support a worthy cause, glom onto a copy today. Just click on the cover image.



And then yesterday… one of my personal favorite stories was published in the Beat to a Pulp webzine. I wrote “The Best of Friends” years ago and it appeared first in the prestigious High Plains Literary Review, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and nominated for Houghton-Mifflin’s “Best American Mystery Stories” series. It was also included in my first short story collection, Monday’s Meal, published by the University of North Texas Press and nominated for the Violet Crown Book Award.
So, swing over to David Cranmer’s superb pulp fiction site, Beat to a Pulp, and check it out.
Just got notified by the Indiana Historical Society that I’ve been selected to be one of the authors appearing at the 13th Annual Holiday Author Fair at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis, on Saturday, December 5. The address is the Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. If you’re in town, it will be a free admission day and I’ll be signing books from noon until 5 pm. After that, just look for the closest bar. I'll probably be there, unwinding...
Blue skies,Les

BOUCHERCON PANEL ASSIGNMENT AND A REVEALING PHOTO...

Hi folks,

Well, got my Bouchercon panel assignment for this coming October in Raleigh, N.C., and in my humble opinion, it's the single best one for the conference. If you attend, please plan to check our gang out.

When: October 9     1 pm (50 minutes)

Where: Marriott Hotel, Stateroom C

Title: ROUGH, TOUGH TALES FOR TOUGH READERS

Who: Eric Beetner (moderator); Panelists, Tom Young, Chris Pavone, Les Edgerton, Trey R. Barker.

Followed by a book signing from these participants at the Sheraton Hotel Hannover Ballroom

It's gonna get all crazy up in here! I really hope to see a lot of friends here. I'll be on another presentation with a group of writers who appeared in Tom Pluck's anthology, time and place still to be determined.

For the complete schedule of all the panels, click here.

I'm rooming again with my buddy Jack Getze and he's the moderator for another panel a couple of days after mine. If you're looking for Jack and me, just look in the bar. What bar? Well, ALL the bars... Stay there long enough and we'll run into each other.

And in addition... I just received a singular honor. My book THE RAPIST was just officially licked by uber-reviewer Becky Franklin. This is an honor that ranks with winning the Pulitzer or National Book Award or the Oscar. Of course, that's just my opinion, but it's the only one I have...

(Hide your eyes if you're under 21...) You can read her developing review here.

This means I've now hit the trifecta! Here are the two previous "licks"...


And, here's me and Becky when we first met in Oklahoma City...

I'm sending her a gift bottle of water so she doesn't get dehydrated...

That's all, folks!

Blue skies,
Les

On protagonists and trouble...

Hi folks,

A fellow writer just posted an article on protagonists and used my material for her article. Check out Virginia MacGregor's blog on writing workshops. Just click on the link!

Blue skies,
Les

Interviewed by Steve Lauden

Hi folks,

Just had a new interview posted over on Steve Lauden's blog. Click on the link to check it out at:


Blue skies,
Les