Les Edgerton's Blog, page 36

GUEST POST AT KRISTEN LAMB'S BLOG ON DIALOG

Hi folks, Below, I'm posting a guest blogpost I just did over at Kristen Lamb's blog. This is Part I and Part II comes out tomorrow. Hope it helps! 
You can read the original post and comments on Kristen's blog HERE. If you're not visiting Kristen regularly, I'd urge you to do so. She has the most amazing and helpful info out there for writers.Also, I'll be teaching a class for Kristen's educational system via WANA in the near future on story beginnings. I'll post details when I get 'em.
Thanks for having me over, Kristen. I love what you’ve done with the drapes! And this is the first time I’ve been served my favorite coffee, Community Blend Dark French Roast with chicory—thank you!Les was far too street smart to fall for the Free Candy van. But fortunately, he could be bribed with caffeine :D. Since many of you requested a post to teach you how to write great dialogue, I unsuccessfully kidnapped recruited one of the Masters. Les Edgerton is a multi-published award-winning author and his craft books are a MUST HAVE. ALL OF THEM. Take it away, Les!DIALOGUEDialogue is one of the most crucial elements of good fiction writing. For many of us, it’s also one of the toughest skills to master. Some writers have an instinct for writing great dialogue, but for others it takes hard work to achieve believable and interesting dialogue. But, no matter if it comes naturally to you or if you have to work long and hard to be able to create convincing dialogue, it can be achieved by almost everyone.Because of space limitations, I won’t be able to cover everything necessary to achieve mastery, but will cover many of the main facets.What Good Dialogue Isn’t—It Ain’t a Q&AThe worst form that a dialogue exchange can take is in the form of a Q&A. That: “Hi, how are you?”“Fine, how are you?”“Good. How was your day?”“It was great. I went shopping and bought a new pair of shoes. What’d you do”“Oh, I watched TV and took a nap in the afternoon.”And so on, ad nauseum. On-the-nose dialogue. One of the worst forms it can take. Dialogue becomes even worse when it becomes an info dump. Try always to avoid direct question and answer responses. It’s one of the biggest killers of effective dialogue.White Space---SubtextDialogue is one of the elements in fiction that require lots of “white space” to work well. White space in this discussion refers to what is not on the page. The most important component in great dialogue isn’t so much what’s on the page but what isn’t.The very best dialogue consists of the subtext. Successful screenwriters realize this probably better than anyone. In fact, one of the chief reasons screenplays get a pass instead of a consider is that the dialogue is couched in Q&A format.One of the requirements of good dialogue is that it gives the appearance of real speech, not that it imitates it. Real speech is full of ers and ums and hesitations and going off on tangents and dozens of other elements that, if included would destroy its effectiveness.Listen to a court reporter’s transcript of a trial or better, listen to the taping of criminals when they don’t know they’re being recorded. It’s almost impossible to sort through all of the extraneous baggage real speech carries. Fiction dialogue has to be much, much better than real speech and the aim is only to give the illusion of real speech, not to transcribe it the way actual speech is delivered.Look at how two people who know each other well converse. It’s chockfull of subtext. Not to mention body language and facial expressions and other physical clues that inform the speech that can’t be delivered on the written page, at least not without coming across as cluttered at best.Notice how people “talk around” things—especially those topics that are emotional landmines. They’ll say everything but what’s really on their mind. The proverbial “elephant in the room.” That’s subtext. Perhaps the best way to illustrate what subtext is is to provide an exercise I give my classes on that very thing (tomorrow). Writing teachers might find it useful in teaching dialogue.Other Dos and Don’ts of Good Dialogue1. Actor’s BusinessDon’t give your characters what they call in the stage play arena, “actor’s business.” Don’t have your characters rubbing their noses, lighting up cigarettes, raising their eyebrows, wiping perspiration off their brows… unless it contributes to the scene and represents something other than just giving them something to do with their hands.Basically, don’t just write things in just to vary the narrative. It’s obvious, it’s amateurish, and it does nothing but make the reader aware someone is writing the story, thereby interrupting the fictive dream.2. Info DumpsDon’t use dialog to provide info dumps. In other words, don’t have characters telling each other things they both already know. Real people don’t do that and neither should your characters. Find other ways to deliver necessary info and not via dialog. Also, it just sounds plain dumb… kind of like one moron talking to another moron.3. Use “Said” for Your Dialogue Tag Verbs, 99.9% of the TimeThis is very important. The word “said” has been used so often over the millennia, that it’s no longer seen as a word by readers, but almost as a form of nonintrusive punctuation. As a word it’s become invisible.Using said for just about all of your tags allows the dialogue to work unimpeded and won’t make the reader aware that a writer is at work, which they’ll realize when they start seeing synonyms for said. Using other synonyms is a red flag to editors who realize they’re reading the work of an amateur and one who hasn’t kept up on the conventions of contemporary fiction.Those synonyms also include verbs like asked, replied, answered and the like. The reader sees clearly that it’s a question or in reply to a question by the punctuation used and/or from the content or context of the dialogue. About the only exceptions to the word said are verbs such as whispered, shouted, yelled and the like.And whatever you do, don’t use dialogue tag verbs that are physically impossible! Don’t have your speaker chortling words, for instance. Try to chortle a sentence out loud and you’ll see what I mean.And don’t feel you have to use dialogue tags for every speaker, every time. Use emotional clues, physical clues, the context of the speech to identify the speaker as much as possible. But, do be sure the speaker’s identity is clear. There’s nothing worse than a reader in the midst of a longish exchange who suddenly doesn’t know who spoke the last line and has to stop and backtrack to figure out who’s speaking!4. Use Contractions in Your Character’s SpeechNobody speaks with perfect speech, not even Princeton professors. We all use contractions in speech. Nothing sounds more wooden than perfect speech. The only exception is when you intend to portray the character as a pedant, but I’d be careful even there. Such a character will quickly become boring.5. Don’t Phoneticize Regional or Cultural or Racial Dialects.The days are long gone from when Mark Twain phoneticized Jim’s speech. Not done these days. Today, we use an occasional idiomatic word or occasional particular syntax to convey a particular dialect. A word or two used judiciously is all that’s needed. The reader will fill in the blanks in their minds.6. Don’t Include Housekeeping Details and Minutia in Your DialogueIn phone conversations, for example, only include the one or two sentences that are important to the story. Don’t include the character dialing, or answering or hanging up the phone. Just end the conversation and only include the truly important dialogue and summarize the rest.We just don’t need to see the “hellos” and “goodbyes” or the mundane social chatter some calls include. And then end the conversation with a bit of important speech. Don’t show them hanging up. As readers and people who talk on phones often, we kind of know they hung up the phone…7. Read Authors Who are Renowned for Their DialogueRead those writers who are acclaimed for their superlative dialogue. Folks like Elmore Leonard.There’s a reason they have these reputations. Study what they do that makes their dialogue come alive and incorporate those techniques into your own efforts.There are many other techniques to creating great dialogue, but space restricts how many I can cover here. See you tomorrow for Part Two!Hope these help!And, thanks, Kristen, for letting me visit. It was a gas!Blue skies,Les EdgertonThanks, Les! And we will see you again tomorrow for Part TWO. I love hearing from you guys, so please ask questions or give us your thoughts. Maybe some suggestions for other authors who have amazing dialogue or just a quick THANK YOU to Les for stopping by to help.ALSO, stay posted because Les is an instructor for WANA International and will soon be offering classes about how to begin your novel--HOOK them in and NEVER LET GO. I will announce when his class is open for registration.Les Edgerton is the author of HOOKED, THE RAPIST, THE BITCH and others.

BOOKED PODCAST -Review of The Rapist

Hi folks,

Livius Nedin and Robb Olson, who create the podcast BOOKED have just reviewed THE RAPIST and I'm stoked!

You can listen to it HERE.

Thanks, Livius and Robb.

Blue skies,
Les

Review of THE RAPIST by Renee Miller for On Fiction Writing

Hi folks,
The reviews are piling up!
I’m delighted to share a new review of THE RAPIST just posted on the On Fiction Writing site, by Canadian reviewer/writer Renee Miller. It’s especially gratifying in that she first decided to read it with a bit of a negative frame of mind and confessed that after the read she’d changed her mind 180 degrees. Plus, she commented that the “voice” in it was, “quite simply, breathtaking.” That makes me feel extremely good, considering that voice is one of my biggest concerns as a writer.
Here’s what she had to say:


The RapistBy: Les Edgerton   Reviewed by OFW chief editor:   RenéeMiller
Published: March 29, 2013
From the cover:The Rapist introduces us to Truman Ferris Pinter, an amoral man occupying a prison cell for a heinous crime committed years earlier. Master storyteller Les Edgerton guides us on a haunting journey inside the criminal mind to show that no matter how depraved a person appears to be, there might still exist a spark of humanity.
It is these lines (Well, after the startling title and image that made me read the back cover.) which tempted me into buying “The Rapist.” The quiet dare that hides inside “…no matter how depraved a person appears to be, there might still exist a spark of humanity.”
Pfft, I thought. So he thinks he’s figured out how to make a rapist appear human to me? I’ll take that challenge. In “The Rapist” Les Edgerton takes the reader deep inside the disturbing mind of Truman Pinter. The clincher, or the hook that reels you into this story, is the uncertainty as to whether or not Pinter is responsible for the crime he’s convicted of. In simpler terms: while you may not doubt his guilt, you’re uncertain as to whether he deserves his punishment.
I’m not going to lie, I’m kinda jealous of what Edgerton achieves in this novella. The writing is tight, and what many authors (including myself) would’ve drawn out over 300 pages or so, Edgerton cut in half. He keeps only the things that matter to this character and this story.
And I have to add that I felt the “voice” in this book is, quite simply, breathtaking. Edgerton takes what should be a sordid, creepy read and makes it beautiful. Although I have long believed that without civilization humanity wouldn’t be quite so tame, I would never have guessed I’d read such a vile character and empathize with him.I think the writing style and voice play a part in that. I found myself trying to think up ways that would make what he’s accused of “okay.” I knew it wasn’t, but somehow I wanted it to be because…I liked him. Yes, my skin still crawls at the fact. In the back of my mind, I was always aware of just how amoral he is. The key (I think) to his appeal is in his charmingly brutal honesty. Pinter never denies anything, nor does he really try to explain it away. I respected that.
Aside from his tight grasp of the craft, what really impressed me about Edgerton is that this story took balls to write. The themes and ideas in “The Rapist” are the very things that make the bleeding hearts that are always eager to take offense practically orgasmic in their shit losing. But this story is not about offending people. It’s not about taking a voyeuristic trip inside the mind of a sicko. It’s not about exploiting the crimes he committed. In my opinion “The Rapist” is about making you look inward. It challenges your personal morals and beliefs on many levels, and forces you to acknowledge that while everyone does bad things, some worse than others, we’re all human. We all share feelings, fears, thoughts and biases with even the lowest criminal. That fact is so disturbing and unpleasant that we choose to ignore it. After all, if we embrace such things, we must also concede that it’s possible for such darkness to lurk inside all of us.
I recommend “The Rapist” as a dare to all of you who claim to be open-minded. Offense takers can do whatever you please, because you usually do. The rest of you, I dare you to pick up this book and read the white space. That’s where the true story is. As for Edgerton, I am definitely a fan and have a much longer to-read list because of it.

Well, there you go! Thank you so much, Renee. Hope those who read it enjoy it as well.
Blue skies,Les

REVIEW OF THE RAPIST FROM CRIME FICTION LOVER

Hi folks,

I'm totally stoked! Just got a great review for my novella, THE RAPIST, from one of the most respected crime/noir sites in the world, the venerable Crime Fiction Lover in the UK! Here's what "RoughJustice" had to say. I have to confess I don't know what Rough Justice's real name is, but I've always found his reviews to be spot on and great writing in themselves.





The RapistBy  RoughJustice ⋅ March 27, 2013 ⋅



  Written by Les Edgerton – Les Edgerton has written several acclaimed hardboiled crime novels and instructional books for writers, as well as teaching creative writing at the university level. But it’s inevitably his colourful past that interests me most. Back in his younger days he was a professional criminal who did time for burglary, and his experiences lead a certain authority to his writing.
However, anyone expecting something similar to the books of other famous writers with a criminal past – Edward Bunker, author of The Animal Factory, for instance – is going to be surprised. The crimes here are more extreme and unsavoury than those of Edgerton or Bunker, for sure. But more than that The Rapist is a novel that defies convention in many ways. Leave your preconceptions behind, and you’ll be all the better for it.
The Rapist is narrated by Truman Ferris Pinter who is serving out his last hours on death row before his execution. We learn the circumstances of his crime – the rape and murder of Greta Carlisle. Prior to his crimes, he’d watched her having sex with three men in public while he masturbated, concealed behind a tree. The following day Greta came across him fishing in a secluded spot and after his awkward attempts at communication, she taunted him and revealed that she knew he was watching. According to Truman, she fell on a stone into the river and drowned while he walked off making no attempt to save her.
We learn some contradictory things about his childhood. His mother was overbearing and smothering, and his father was frequently away from the family home, but loving. There are hints, however, that his father was an addict who beat his wife and that Truman may have killed him in his sleep. As the hours pass to bring his execution nearer, Truman confides in us his plans. It seems that he developed the ability to levitate then fly as a child, and though these powers left him as he got older and lost his innocence, they have returned since he was wrongly incarcerated.
Truman truly believes that he didn’t murder Greta, merely let her die, and whilst he admits taking Greta against her will, it cannot be rape when he is so superior to her. His plan is to fly away on the morning of his execution. He will literally and metaphorically rise above the prison, society and their petty laws. He will then return to be executed, and show them how little their punishment really means.
Hopefully this gives you a flavour of this extraordinary book. At times it is nauseating, at others a little bewildering but always ambitious, imaginative and thought provoking. The tone if not the narrative puts me in mind of the disorientating Lew Griffin series by James Sallis, or The Eye of the Beholder by Marc Behm. No-one could pretend this is an easy read – I certainly wouldn’t – but kudos must go to New Pulp Press for publishing this brave and challenging book.
You can see where the author works by clicking here.
New PulpPress
Print/Kindle
Thanks, RoughJustice and Crime Fiction Lover! You made my day!
Blue skies,Les

GORDON RAMSEY'S NOVEL-WRITING INSTRUCTION

  Hi folks,
What? You didn’t realize Chef Gordon Ramsey taught writing? The fact is, he’s one of the best writing teachers in the world.
He disguises it by claiming to reach cooking, but if you understand the code he’s using in his presentations on his show, KITCHEN NIGHTMARES, it’s all about writing.
Actually, it’s about any art form. The rules are pretty much the same, whether it’s in cooking, painting, writing, sculpting or music or anything else in the art world.
Let’s take a look at his shows and see how that works, okay?
First, what’s almost always the chief reason the restaurant he’s called in to help out is failing? While there are a variety of problems, without fail the primary one is that the food the restaurant is serving sucks. Let’s look at that one first and see how it relates to writing.
When he walks into a failing restaurant, the very first thing he does is order a meal. The food he wants to look at and taste is the same as the writing teacher looking at the student’s manuscript. To paraphrase a famous Presidential slogan: “It’s the food, stupid.” Or, in our case as writers: “It’s the writing, stupid.”
The quality of the food is the single biggest obstacle to success for any restaurant. The quality of the writing is the single biggest obstacle to success for any author.
See where we’re going? See how the comparison starts to make sense?
He begins with the food because the truth is, if the food’s good, just about everything else can be wrong and the restaurant still has a chance of succeeding. Conversely, if everything else is perfect—the service, the décor, the location, et al—but the food sucks—all the restaurant owner is going to have is a place that has a great waitstaff, an amazing décor, a prime location… and stands largely empty with those talented waiters and waitresses standing around picking their noses….
It’s the same with writing. The manuscript can be perfectly presented with proper formatting and delivered to the right gatekeepers—agents/publishers—but if the writing sucks, it won’t matter. Two bites into the mss “meal” and if it doesn’t taste good, it’s headed for the circular file, just like the food Ramsey sends back on that initial tasting is headed for the same circular file. What us literary types refer to as being “shitcanned.”
What are the responses of the restaurant owners and chefs when Ramsey tells them their food sucks? It’s predictable. Most are in denial. Most are in way-huge denial. Almost to a person, they feel their food is amazing. They’re convinced that the reasons they’re not rich yet is something else other than the food. The usual response before he delivers his judgment on their menu is that he’ll come in, deliver a few “secrets” that will get them on their way to becoming a four-star establishment. Does this remind you of anything? A new writer in your class or writer’s group, perhaps? Who, before the critique begins is clearly there to glean a few “inside” writing or publishing tips so they can be on their way to the bestseller lists or at least to be signed by an agent or sell their novel?
Look at the responses he gets when he tells them he wouldn’t serve their food to a dog. Many (most?) get angry. It never dawned on them that they couldn’t cook well. In their minds, it was always something else that prevented them from achieving a sold-out restaurant every night. How dare Gordon criticize their work! See any correlation to a writer receiving criticism from a teacher or agent or editor or the writer’s group?
The writer who is also righteously irate, thinks about all those people who told him his writing was “better than Joyce Carol Oates.” Folks like his family, his friends, the friendly faces in his writing group, his English teacher, his workmates. How could they all be wrong and this pretender (teacher/agent/editor) have such a different opinion? Maybe it’s because… this teacher isn’t connected to them emotionally and only judges the product? And has higher standards? A better knowledge of what good writing consists of? And a version of Hemingway’s “built-in bullshit detector?” Maybe…
There’s a supercilious teaching “method” some schools and venues want their writing teachers to adhere to, called by some the “sandwich” method. Start with a piece of praise bread, slip in a bit of criticism, and then finish it off with another piece of praise bread. Does this strike anyone else as perhaps a great example of mollycoddling? Of treating writers less than adults? Schools do this for two reasons. One, they want return customers (students). People who are told bluntly that their work is bad often don’t return. Especially when there are plenty of places who will tell them they’re great. Two, they’ve bought into this New Agey crap where teachers aren’t supposed to let their little charges know that among them are winners and losers. (Kind of like real life…) It’s the mindset that awards “participation trophies” and bullshit like that. Like the school recently in the news that cancelled their annual Honor Days because the ones who didn’t achieve that level would “feel bad.” Well… so frickin’ what… When do you suppose that kids are going to learn that some people are smarter than others, some have gifts others don’t share, some just work harder, and there are even some folks who are smarter, more gifted and also work harder? That just seems more of an USSR attitude than an American one, but I may feel that way just because I’m not up on my Karl Marx reading… And don’t plan to be…
That “sandwich” method of teaching. Two pieces of praise, one piece of criticism. That kind of implies that everybody has two great things they’re doing in writing and only one bad. My experience is that often it’s the reverse ratio and I’ve had more than one beginning writer in class who did nine bad things and only one good one. The “good one” was showing up on time and that was about it. If that’s the case, then I guess the teacher should make up things to praise them about. Wouldn’t that devalue honest praise? I mean, if a person is terrible at writing dialog and you’re out of praiseworthy pieces of bread, should I tell him the only one writing better dialog these days is Elmore Leonard?
Can you imagine Gordon walking into a restaurant and telling them, “Well, the third waitress on the left is doing a great job. The food is atrocious. The bartender served me a perfect Gibson.” Don’t think so. A more likely scenario is that he tells the chef bluntly that his food is terrible and tries to treat him as an adult who can handle the truth. That many can't isn't his lookout. That's kind of their problem. They'll either develop a thick skin or they'll continue to serve bad food and blame others for their lack of success.
Don't believe I've ever seen Ramsey serve a "praise sandwich."
There’s a reason writers don’t have a writer’s union. Well, not one that many people belong to, anyway. It’s because most of us know you succeed by merit and hard work. An organization that’s predicated on the concept of “more money for less work and fewer hours at the expense of others” just isn’t suited for our temperaments as a rule.
Okay. I’m off my soapbox now…
Another correlation Ramsey has with good writing instruction is that he doesn’t differentiate between kinds or even levels of restaurants. He puts as much work into correcting a neighborhood bar and grill in a Midwestern town as he does a pricey French restaurant in NYC. He doesn’t try to make the neighborhood restaurant into the French restaurant or vice versa. No such thing as “literary” restaurants and “genre” restaurants. The only commonality in his mind is that they be the best they can be within their parameters. He knows what constitutes great pub food just as he knows what great Japanese or Italian cuisines requires. Whether it’s a hamburger he’s creating or a soufflé, it’s all about the quality of the individual dish. He thinks like Nabokov who said he didn’t acknowledge any genres other than “good writing and bad writing.”
He also insists the menu be contemporary. That dated dishes, even when prepared well, aren’t going to draw diners. The same thing exists in literature. The writer who insists on creating stories considered archaic or out of fashion, even if written well (within the standards of that day) aren’t going to draw many readers. A writer who absolutely loves the “Dear Reader” style of Victorian literature may write a similar book, but it just isn’t going to sell, any more than an epistolary novel ala Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela” is going to be crowding anyone off the shelves at B&N. Time and again, Gordon encounters these dinosaurs who are trapped in the past and spends days trying to dissuade them of the value of their effort.
Watch his shows and see how often he tells his charges to keep it simple, use fresh ingredients and don’t overcomplicate the recipes. Sounds kind of like Hemingway and Carver, doesn’t it? Or any number of brilliant writers. The first precept I give writers is that one of the biggest keys to becoming a good writer is to pay attention to two things: Make it clear and make it interesting. Kind of what Gordon says about good cooking…
There are no synonyms for the following words in either cooking or in writing:
1. Bad2. Stupid3.Crap4. Dull
They state plainly what they mean. There are words that mean the opposite and if a writer works hard enough and pays attention, they can change those descriptions of their writing to:
1. Good2. Intelligent3. Entertaining4. Brilliant
… but to change those words to the positive ones takes hard work, not unearned, empty words of praise. Just about every writer starts out with the former words as being accurately descriptive of their writing. That’s no sin. What’s a sin is believing when people tell you it’s the latter that describe the work when it doesn’t. When your writing is consistently praised, I’d turn on the b.s. detector and trust it’s in working order.
Watch Gordon Ramsey when he turns around a failing restaurant and imagine he’s instructing you as a writer. The lessons he imparts are exactly the same.
Hope this gives you another source of writing education. It does me.
Blue skies,Les
P.S. If you just cleaned your couch and found a few bucks in change, consider trekking over to Amazon and glomming onto a copy of THE RAPIST. I’d appreciate it!

Audio version of JUST LIKE THAT

Hi folks,

My publisher, StoneGate Publishing, has just released an audio version of my novel JUST LIKE THAT and it's currently on sale for only $1.99. The regular price is $19.95,so I'd glom onto it asap if interesed.

They had previously released an audio version of THE PERFECT CRIME, but I wasn't knocked over by the narrator on that one. They got a new voice actor for Just Like That and it's quite good.

Just click on the photo and it'll take you to the Amazon link.



Sales of THE RAPIST are really doing well and it's getting a bunch of 5-star reviews. Thanks to all who've purchased copies--either paperback or ebook versions--and thanks so much for your wonderful reviews. Seeing as I don't have a 401K or any other form of retirement income other than SS, this is my retirement, so when I say "thanks" I mean THANKS! Keeps me in a better brand of cat food!
Blue skies,Les

BACK FROM ARIZONA!

Hi folks,
Just got back from Carefree, Arizona and what a trip! I’ve been mostly incommunicado from the Internet and had hundreds of emails waiting me when I returned and now have to catch up on all of that, plus my online class, private writing clients, and a bunch of stuff, but I’m re-energized and raring to go!
My best friend, Tom Rough, the owner of the Taglio Salon,  and his gorgeous wife Lisa flew me out for a birthday present and I had a wonderful visit with them and their delightful daughter Nicola who’s a freshman at ASU studying graphic arts. Did all kinds of amazing things. Tom took me to Scottsdale Stadium, the home of the SF Giants (the baseball team I’ve followed and been a huge fan of all my life) for the Giants vs Reds game. They were sold out for the game, but Tom got us passes to the Charro Lodge (plush!) from his friend Thom Brennaman who announces for the Reds along with his father, Marty. One of the best days of my life! I got to meet two Hall of Famers, Gaylord Perry and George Foster and got to watch one of my favorite pitchers, MadBum (Bumgardner) pitch. A day I’ll never forget!
 Meeting Hall of Famer George Foster!
 Knocking back beers at Charro Lodge, Scottsdale Stadium, at the Giants-Reds game!
 Meeting one of my all-time heroes, HOF pitcher, Gaylord Perry!

And, I got to spend six hours with several of the writers in my online novel-writing group at Harold’sCorral and that was awesome! For the first time, I got to meet the brilliant writers I’ve only known online (mostly) in person.  I just wish I could have been there when our star class member, Maegan Beaumont launches her first book, CARVED IN DARKNESS, at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Phoenix on May 8. Maegan wrote this book and another one which is forthcoming, in class. 

The Phoenix/Los Angeles contingent of our online class. That's Kristen, Carson, moi, Susanna, Maegan and Linda. All brilliant writers and the best people ever!
 I get to sign one of my books and that's (L to R) Linda, Kristen, moi... and Susanna's arm...  Still signing the same book (I'm slow...) and that's (L to R) part of Maegan's husband Joe's face, then Maegan and then me.  At our table again (Linda reserved our own room for our meal). L to R, back row, is Kristen, me, and Susanna. In the front are Carson and Susanna's significant other, Jeremy.
This was the week my newest novel, THE RAPIST launched and I was basically incommunicado for most of it, but maybe I should stay away from social media more as it’s doing extremely well—thank you, thank you, thank you all! Lots of interviews and reviews of it that I’ll post in the next few days.
I was supposed to fly back to Ft. Wayne on Monday, but the leg of my flight to Minnesota was delayed because of snow so I had to stay in Arizona an extra day (Yay! Go snow!) and got in last night, exhausted. Getting to stay an extra day was a bonus, but what was even more of a bonus is that I got to meet Lisa’s boss, Chuck, the principal at the school she’s assistant principal at and hang out with Tom, Lisa and Chuck and slam down some beers and great conversation.
I want to move to Arizona!
Just wanted to update y’all and share my amazing birthday present vacation and show you some of the scenes and folks I got to see.
Blue skies,Les
Me, sitting by Tom and Lisa's pool on my "extra" day, trying to brown up my lily-white head... I still had jeans on as I just got back from the airport after learning I had to reschedule, but with 95 degrees, I soon changed into shorts. Just a wonderful, fantastic trip!
 At the Giants-Reds game at Scottsdale Stadium.

 What I came back to after Arizona...
Lisa, Nicola and Tom. Notice THERE'S NO FRIGGIN' SNOW??!! That's what I'm sayin'...

ARIZONA HERE I COME!

Hi folks,
My excitement is building! Tomorrow morning I climb on a plane and go to Scottsdale, Arizona! My best buddy, Tom Rough, surprised me with a birthday gift a few weeks ago. He’s flying me to his home in Carefree, AZ and got us seats at the sold-out Giants-Reds game this Saturday! I’ve been a Giants fan since I was a little kid when the first baseball game I ever got to see was in the Polo Grounds and was also Willie Mays first game when he was called up from Minneapolis. One of Tom’s friends is Thom Brennaman, the son of Marty Brennaman who announces Reds’ games and he got us into the Charro Lodge Pavilion. Sweet! Tom tells me the MLB owners are having a meeting there during the game and will be at the Charro. I’m kind of hoping one of the minority owners of the Dodgers—Magic Johnson—will be there so I can chat with him about how the Giants are going to kick the Dodgers’ butts this year. Maybe…
And, on Friday, I’m meeting with several of my students from my online novel writing class at Harold’sCorral in Cave Creek near where Tom lives. I’m really, really excited about this! This group grew out of the classes I used to teach for Phoenix College who had hired me after appearing at Microburst a few years ago to teach online for them. I resigned from the college after a couple of years and began a private group and a lot of the Phoenix College students have stuck with me and it’s going to be so cool to get to meet with them up close and personal. And, uber-crime/noir writer Keith Rawson says he’ll stop by and maybe even Eric Beetner who’ll be in town. It’s gonna get all Jack Daniels up in there!
They tell me that Harold's Corral is the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers' bar in the Southwest. Now... where did I put my Carolina Panthers' jersey...
My wife Mary is a bit worried about me going. In the past year, I’ve kind of gone a bit downhill, healthwise. Have pretty severe COPD, among other sundry ailments. Had to leave Bouchercon two days early this past fall, which totally sucked. This getting old stuff is kind of crappy! But, I’ll be fine. Hell, Willie Mays is even older than I am and he’ll be there so I can pony up I figure. Although, I don’t know if Willie smokes as much as I do…
Tom is a special, special friend. Not because he’s flying me out there—but because I’ve been close friends with him for more than 30 years. We met when I came back from some adventures in New Orleans and then California and went back to work for awhile at Michael and Friends Hair Design Salon in South Bend. As it turned out, he claims I kind of got up in his wheelhouse and convinced him to spread his wings and leave South Bend and aim higher. I helped him get a job in a toney Chicago salon and he became the manager of the Vidal Sassoon Salon there and then went to New York at Vidal’s request and became the manager there. In 1996, he and his gorgeous wife Lisa moved to Scottsdale and opened the Taglio Salon which is considered the leading salon in the Southwest.
BTW, Tom wouldn’t tell me what “Taglio” meant—he says it’s some Italian word, but I looked it up and found out it’s a Chinese word used often in tattoos which means, literally, “the won-ton is overcooked so serve it to the white-eye—he won’t know the difference.” It amazes me how other languages can contain so much in a single word!
I cannot wait! I’m looking out my window now at the new snow which fell last night. Dreaming about sitting out at Tom’s pool, sipping some Jack and toking on… enjoying conversation with Tom, Lisa and their bright, funny, beautiful daughter Nicola. It’s gonna be fun!
Wish you all could join us!
Blue skies,Les
P.S. I'd like to thank everybody who bought a copy of THE RAPIST. I can't tell you how much that means to me. This is my retirement income so it goes far beyond meaning just a few sales  to me. I'm happy to report that it keeps on building in sales and is getting great reviews. So... thanks to each and everyone of you!

Lisa, Tom and me kicking back at his home in The Boulders, Carefree, AZ when I was out there for Microburst a few years ago and Tom had me stay at their house.

Dead End Follies: Epic Interview with Les Edgerton, Part One

Dead End Follies: Epic Interview with Les Edgerton, Part One: I was very happy when Les Edgerton accepted my interview request, because I had about a thousand questions to ask him about his latest...

Hi folks,

I'm very excited to alert you to this interview I just completed with Benoit Lelievre--he's an interviewer on a par with Richard Godwin and Paul D. Brazill and a couple of others I really respect. This one took a couple of weeks to complete and I suspect it may piss off an individual or two. Oh, well...

Hope you enjoy it.

Blue skies,
Les

P.S. Here's a new review by crime/noir writer Heath Lowrance on his blog, Psychonoir. Check it out!

Paul D. Brazill, Brit Grit Alley... and me! I'm stoked!

Hi folks,
Another interview, this time with the great Paul D. Brazill for his famous Brit Grit Alley. Paul is the Godfather of Noir and besides being a truly brilliant, amazing writer, he continually goes out of his way to help promote his fellow writers. When he asked if he could interview me for THE RAPIST, I didn’t walk, I ran. It’s just a great honor and very humbling.
Check out what we talked about here.
And, thanks, Paul!

UK readers can get it here.
US readers can get it here.  
Hope you enjoy the read!
Blue skies,Les