Ed Gorman's Blog, page 196

Cowboys by Gary Phillips and Brian Hurtt

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This is a review from Spinetingler of an excellent graphic novel.

Cowboys by Gary Phillips & Brian Hurtt – review
Posted on June 24, 2011 by Nerd of Noir

Cowboys, the latest graphic novel from Vertigo Crime, opens with two men in a Mexican standoff. There are blood and brains all around them as a shootout has just taken place. Before we learn who survives the showdown we cut back to five weeks previous, find out that the two men are Federal agent Tim Brady and cop Deke Kotto, both of whom are placed undercover at different ends of a massive criminal conspiracy with neither aware of the other's existence. As their separate investigations heat up and they become recognize of one another merely as their false underworld identities, the reader's need to know the result of their final confrontation becomes fucking unbearable.

As written by Gary Phillips (The Jook) and drawn by Brian Hurtt (The Sixth Gun), Cowboys is truly a no-bullshit western in the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott tradition only set in the modern day. (Oh and if you don't know about the RANOWN westerns directed by Boetticher and starring Scott, fucking netflix that shit immediately.) Deke and Brady are men of no small flaws personally and professionally, but who will ultimately do the right thing in the end, no matter how violent it may be or costly it is on their lives or soul.

for the rest go here: http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2011/0...

Voodoo Moon by Ed Gorman now an e-book

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Voodoo Moon
$2.99

Ed Gorman
A Robert Payne Profiler Mystery

Booklist:

"Twenty-five years ago, in a small Iowa town, an asylum for the criminally insane burned to the ground, killing inmates and employees. The fire was set by Paul Renard, a sexual psychopath who escaped the blaze and disappeared. Today young Ricky Hennessey faces murder charges in the death of his girlfriend. His defense: Paul Renard did it. Legal investigator Robert Payne joins the case at the request of Tandy West, a cable TV psychic and Payne's former lover. She's doing a piece on the Hennessey case for her show but has begun to question her gift and feels the need for Payne's reality-based investigatory skills. With the assistance of the local police chief, Susan Charles, Payne learns that the past has invaded the future in a most unexpected way."

This eBook is available in MOBI (Kindle) EPUB (Sony / Nook / iPad / Kobo) PDF (Adobe) and PRC (Mobipocket) formats. Please choose your preference from the drop-down menu below before proceeding to checkout.

Add to Cart:

Model: EGorman
300 Units in Stock
Published by: Crossroad Press


BOOKLIST-

"Twenty-five years ago, in a small Iowa town, an asylum for the criminally insane burned to the ground, killing inmates and employees. The fire was set by Paul Renard, a sexual psychopath who escaped the blaze and disappeared. Today young Ricky Hennessey faces murder charges in the death of his girlfriend. His defense: Paul Renard did it. Legal investigator Robert Payne joins the case at the request of Tandy West, a cable TV psychic and Payne's former lover. She's doing a piece on the Hennessey case for her show but has begun to question her gift and feels the need for Payne's reality-based investigatory skills. With the assistance of the local police chief, Susan Charles, Payne learns that the past has invaded the future in a most unexpected way. This fourth installment in the Moon series offers an exciting mix of horror and suspense. Another fine novel from the always reliable, underrated Gorman."

CRESCENT BLUES:

The flawed characters...the increasing sense of danger, the secrets that come slowly to light, combine to produce a first class mystery. And, yes, I am going to go back and read the first three -- I liked the protagonist, thinning hair and all."

"Live fast, fight well and have a beautiful ending."

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"Live fast, fight well and have a beautiful ending."

Posted by rhsmith on July 1, 2011

Ed here: Here's another piece from TCM's great Movie Morlocks blog. This brought back a lot of memories to me. I was about a year and a half done with drink and drugs and hitting cineplexes and drive-ins heavily to keep myself busy and clean. I'd watch virtually anything except family fare. I liked Star Wars especially because my then seven year old son loved it. But I saw a lot of the knocks-offs too and thought they were a lot more fun,

rhsmith:

Hitting the shelves of your local department/electronics store this summer is the Roger Corman-produced BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980). The DVD/Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory is timed to mark the 30th anniversary of the film's premiere back in the day when there was only one STAR WARS (1977) sequel. I was nearly 16 in the summer of 1977 and a bit too old for the Skywalker mythos. A generation later, I have little occasion to revisit STAR WARS or its follow-ups but I derive greater enjoyment from the low budget movies that tried, with equal measures of valor and greed, to rip it off. Be it the Kinji Fukasaku's MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978), Howard R. Cohen's SPACE RAIDERS (1983) or Nick Castle's THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984), these lean and hungry space operas often made up with sheer personality what they lacked in budgetary girth. Such is the case with BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, which Corman shot in a disused lumber yard in Venice, California, during the rainy winter of 1979-1980. Corman's most expensive project at that time, BATTLE was entrusted to animator Jimmy T. Murakami, employing a script by future art house director John Sayles, then known primarily for his witty screenplay for Joe Dante's PIRANHA (1978). An unapologetic mash-up of EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE and both Akira Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) and John Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS finds Shad (Richard Thomas, post-WALTONS and pre- his redefinition as a respected stage actor), the bright-eyed emissary of a planet slated for domination by the merciless interstellar despot Sador (John Saxon), heading out into space to recruit mercenaries to help the people of Akir stave off enslavement.

for the rest go here:
http://moviemorlocks.com/2011/07/01/l...

Kris Rusch: You Are Not Alone - the writing business

The Business Rusch: You Are Not Alone
Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Maybe the stars have aligned poorly. Maybe the various impending international debt crises have us on edge. Or maybe it's this season's abundant natural disasters. Or maybe it's as simple as this: I've been blogging so people are writing to me.
But what I've seen this past month from established writers is an abundance of despair. I got a sad phone call from a friend, had a lot of sit-down conversations with writers who were ready to give up their dreams, and a nine-page single-spaced e-mail from a hell of a writer of dozens of published books, wondering whether or not to quit altogether.

Books that would have sold five years ago don't sell now. Series that are growing are getting bounced from their publishers for not growing enough. Agents, unable to sell product, are telling their mystery clients to write romance novels and their romance clients to write thrillers. Other agents are starting backlist e-pub companies and robbing their clients blind. Still other agents are blaming the writers for the fact that nothing is selling well and encouraging them to sign terrible book contracts.

Bookstores don't carry paper books any longer. New York Times bestsellers can't find their backlists in stores. American authors with bestselling novels overseas are being told that foreign countries never pay the promised royalties, only advances.
Traditionally published bestselling writers look at their royalty statements, see that their e-books sell only 30 or 100 or 200 copies in six months, and wonder how the hell upstart self-published writers whose books have ugly covers and whose interiors need copy editing manage to sell tens of thousands of e-books each month.

Editors who once had to tiptoe around their biggest authors are telling those writers to change what they write because their sales have decreased, and clearly, their writing has gotten worse over the years. Writers whose rabid fan base numbers 10 or 20 or 50K get told that their books no longer sell to that fan base even though the writer is constantly getting e-mails from that base and is signing brand new books for that base.

for the rest go here:
http://kriswrites.com/2011/06/29/the-...

Dave Zeltserman & Julius Katz

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Dave Zeltserman:

Are my Julius Katz stories and novel a tribute to the Rex Stout's terrific Nero Wolfe books, or are they a pastiche? To be honest, I'm not sure myself. I love the Nero Wolfe books, and have read all of them, some of them two or more times. When I set off to write 'Julius Katz' for the Black Orchid contest run by Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and the Wolfe Pack, I did so with reverence, first rereading several Nero Wolfe books to make sure I'd get all the elements right that made Nero Wolfe so much fun to read—namely the humor, the relationship between Nero and Archie, the pacing and the structure. With the names that I've given my characters I'm also clearly tipping my cap to Rex Stout. Outside of Julius and Archie, my combative homicide detective is named Mark Cramer, Julius's love interest is named Lily Rosten, the freelance detectives Julius hires are named Tom Durkin, Saul Penzer and Willie Cather, and even a newspaper man named Len Cohen. But just as Julius Katz is clearly a play on Nero Wolfe's name, it's also very different just as cats are different than dogs. Yes, Julius and Nero are both brilliant, eccentric and ultimately, lazy detectives who prefer their own pursuits to working, but there the similarities end. There are the superficial difference, such as Nero preferring beer while Julius collects wine, but Julius really shares a lot more DNA with my Pete Mitchel con man (Money Run) than he does with Nero. He's handsome, athletic, a womanizer (or at least he was before he fell heads over heels for Lily Rosten), and his true passion is gambling. There's also a bit of larceny in Julius's makeup. And while my Archie narrates these stories and has every bit the heart and soul of a hardboiled PI as Archie Goodwin does, he's very different than Goodwin. First off, he's not human.

While 'Julius Katz' didn't win the Black Orchid contest, it was later picked up by Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and ended up winning the Shamus award. Not bad compensation. Readers' reaction to 'Julius Katz' and 'Archie's Been Framed' (Ellery Queen's Readers Choice Winner), as well as my first full-length Julius Katz mystery, Julius Katz and Archie, is that they find these stories and the novel entertaining and a lot of fun. Here's why I think Julius Katz borders more as a tribute than a pastiche—readers unfamiliar with Nero Wolfe enjoy them just as much. Those familiar with Sherlock Holmes find them a fun modernization on those stories, and those unfamiliar with Holmes likewise enjoy them.

I like letting my work speak for itself, so here's a short excerpt from Julius Katz and Archie:

"I thought your dignity and reputation weren't for sale?" I asked.
A wry smile pulled up the edges of Julius's lips. "I don't believe I ever said anything about my reputation being priceless," he said.

"Okay, your dignity then."

More of his wry smile. "Technically, Archie, I don't believe I as much sold my dignity as bartered it away."

It was a clever joke, but I wasn't much up to joking then. More of that excess heat began to burn again in me. "For a lousy bottle of wine! That's what you did it for!"

"I hardly think you can call a '78 Montrachet a lousy bottle of wine." Julius's smile faded as he sat straighter in his chair and rubbed his thumb along the knuckles of his right hand. With others, Julius kept his emotions and thoughts impenetrable, with me he didn't bother. Right now he was showing his annoyance, but I didn't care. "The man is a philistine," Julius continued. "He was going to mix soda water with a '78 Montrachet to make a wine spritzer. It would've been a crime to let that happen."

"So you were just saving humanity from an outrage?"

"Precisely."

"Okay," I said. "I understand. For a bottle of wine, you've agreed to play a stooge."

Julius stopped rubbing his knuckles. He took in a slow breath and with a forced attempt at humor, said, "And of course, twenty-five thousand dollars."

"Of course, we can't forget the twenty-five thousand dollars. So for that money and the Montrachet, you'll be looking like a dunce to the world."

"Again, Archie, things are not always what they appear."

"Yeah, well, as far as the TV and newspaper reporters are going to be concerned, Kenneth J. Kingston will be trumping you at your own game. Should I be ordering you a dunce cap now for the occasion? I might be able to find a good deal."

Julius slowly began rubbing his knuckles again. "Enough of this, Archie."

I should've taken the hint, but I couldn't help myself. "Sure, of course," I said. "I understand. But Boss, should I get a jump on updating your biography to reference that you're no longer Boston's most brilliant detective, but have slipped to the second-most? Or should I wait until after Kingston plays you for a chump? Now that I think of it, after that happens I'm not even sure you could legitimately claim that title since probably every other working private investigator in Boston would be able to prove themselves intellectually superior to Kingston, so by the transitive property that would in effect make you Boston's least brilliant detective. Not as compelling a title for you to hold, but I guess we'll have to deal with it. If you want I can order stationary now to that effect, or I can wait until—"

I pushed him too far. Julius cut me off, saying, "Goodnight, Archie." And blast it! My world went black as he turned me off!

Lee Goldberg's funny & wily REMAINDERED story & film

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Ed here: REMAINDERED is one of the wiliest short stories I've read in many years. Really laughed my ass off when I read it. The short film based on it is equally excellent. Lee Goldberg at his very best.

REMAINDERED


REMAINDERED is about Kevin Dangler, a once-famous author desperate to regain
his lost glory while traveling the back-roads of middle America, selling
remaindered, fifth-editions of his first book out of the trunk of his car.
Along the way, he meets his biggest fan...who could be his salvation...or a
novel way to die.

The story was an *Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine* Readers Choice Award
finalist and has previously appeared in the anthologies "Three Ways to Die"
and "Top Suspense."

The Kindle and
Nookreleases
contains a link to a free, private, streaming video of the
*Remaindered *short film, written & directed by me, and shot late last year
on location in Kentucky, using entirely local talent. The film is currently
playing the festival circuit and has already been screened as an official
selection of the Beaufort International Film Festival, the Big Island Film
Festival, the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival, The Beverly Hills
Shorts Festival, and the Derby City Film Festival, where one of our stars,
Sebrina Siegel was a finalist for Best Actress.

Loving your dog a little too much-yeach

Ed here: Rick Santorum was right. Folliowng Gay Marrriage in NYC....this was bound to happen.

Eugene Hickman, Florida Grandpa, Accused Of Having Sex With Family Dog
Eugene Hickman was alleged found naked on a bed with a dog by his grandson. Cops arrested him for animal cruelty.


A Florida grandfather was charged with animal cruelty after his grandson allegedly found him naked and trying to have sex with a dog.

Walton County Sheriffs arrested Eugene Hickman, 54, of DeFuniak Springs after his family alerted authorities that Hickman's grandson saw him in the buff on top of a pet three-year-old family bulldog, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

The crime report, obtained by AOL Weird News, said that Hickman "by his own admission said he was trying to have sex with the dog, however was unable to insert his penis."

Hickman also allegedly told officers he wouldn't do it again, according to the Daily News.

The pooch was turned over to animal control and was scheduled to be examined by a veterinarian.

Marty Greenberg: Nancy Pickard, Official Obituary

From Nancy Pickard:

Ed, I'm so sad to hear about Marty's passing. I just loved him to pieces. Not that I got to be around him very often or talk to him very much, but I loved him anyway. He was SO GOOD to so many writers, including me. God, the opportunities he gave us! The way he--arm in arm with you--opened up the floodgates to short story publication! It was like a miracle for so many writers.
He just seemed to be the sweetest guy. So kind and courteous, enthusiastic, and full of great ideas. I remember when his little girl was born, and how thrilled he was and we all were for him.

I've thought of you ever since I heard this sad news. What a great team you guys were, and always will be considering how many books you have in print together.

Love,
Nancy

-------------------------------------Marty's official obituary

This comes via Marty's long-time assistant and friend, Larry Segriff.

Dr. Martin H. Greenberg, known throughout the publishing industry for the
scope and scale of the anthologies he produced, passed away on June 25,
2011.
Dr. Greenberg, whose background and training was in political science, and
who worked for many years as a professor at the University of Wisconsin
Green Bay, was a longtime fan of science fiction. He got his start in
publishing when, in the early 1970s, he realized that many great SF stories
demonstrated or dealt with themes, ideas, and issues that correlated to what
he was teaching. In partnership with Pat Warrick, Marty reached out to a
number of authors‹having at the time absolutely no idea how to clear a
permission or what went into the production of an anthology‹and ended up
co-editing his first reprint anthology, Political Science Fiction: An
Introductory Reader (1974).
That anthology became the first of many, and spawned a great career and also
a terrific friendship with Isaac Asimov. As Marty told the story, when
Isaac received his request to reprint ³Evidence² and ³Franchise,² Isaac
responded with a very polite letter saying that he would be happy to allow
the reprint provided that Marty could prove that he was not a certain
individual with a similar name who had a less than savory reputation at the
time. Marty did so, writing back with a letter that began by listing his
genealogy, went through his academic background and how he ended up in Green
Bay, and he signed it, ³Marty the Other.² Isaac responded with a letter
addressed to ³Marty the Other,² and so began both a friendship and a career
that lasted a very long time. Isaac introduced Marty to many aspects of
publishing, and Marty was Isaac¹s best friend for the last twelve years of
Isaac¹s life.
Marty eventually branched out and started creating original anthologies, and
went on to a career that spanned almost four decades and produced over 2,500
books (including nearly a thousand anthologies, many non-fiction works, and
many hundreds of novels in multiple genres). Along the way, he helped
co-found the Sci-Fi Channel and befriended many authors and editors.
It was always a point of personal pride with Marty that, though he never
considered himself a writer, he was always perceived as very author friendly
and he worked hard to give writers the absolute best market he could.
During his career, Marty was awarded lifetime achievement honors in science
fiction, mystery, and horror‹the only person in history to win such awards
in all three genres. Marty won numerous other awards as well, in
essentially every major genre, and was particularly proud of his Guest of
Honor appearances at a number of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery
conventions.
An interviewer once remarked to Marty that he was known in the business as
the ³king of anthologies² and asked Marty how he felt about that. Marty,
true to form, borrowed a line from Mel Brooks and replied, ³It¹s good to be
the king.²
Marty cast a long shadow across the industry, and devoted himself to
establishing and maintaining top quality markets for writers. In the wake
of his departure, his company, Tekno Books, will continue his good work
under the guidance of his wife Rosalind, but there is no doubt that he will
be missed.
Marty was preceded in death by his first wife, Sally. He is survived by his
wife Rosalind, their daughter Madeline, of Seattle, WA, two stepdaughters
from his first wife; Kari Walsh, wife of John Kerkhof, and their daughter
Delenn Kerkhof, of Appleton, WI, and Kate Walsh, wife of Matt Hall, of
Bakersfield, CA.

Martin H. Greenberg has passed

Ed here: Marty died peacefully this afternoon in his sleep at home in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His family was with him.We'll be heading to Green Bay tomorrow for the funeral Monday morning. Here are two e mails I received shortly after I sent out the notice.


-----------------------FROM MAX ALLAN COLLINS

Marty was a fine guy and a great editor, but more than that a real friend.

As Ed knows, I had a disastrous week some years ago -- on the same day, I lost both the DICK TRACY comic strip and had my then-current Nate Heller contract cancelled.

I went to Marty and Ed, and said I needed help. They gave me enough short story assignments to keep me afloat financially for six months, and to just keep me feeling half-way decent about myself as a professional.

That was possibly the nicest thing anybody ever did for me in this business. I owe them both.

Beyond that, Marty was warm, funny and smart. It's always great to work with somebody enthuastic, and Marty always was. I know that Ed has lost a brother, and my condolences go out to him as well as Marty's family.

This business...this world...is suddenly a smaller, shabbier place.

M.A.C.
----------------------FROM RUSSELL DAVIS

There are many people who help us on our journey. Without Marty (and Ed),
I'm not sure mine would have ever gotten started at all. Marty gave so many
people a hand up, a chance, an opportunity. I'm confident that I'm not alone
when I say that he was a genuine prince of a man - and one of the last
remaining princes in the business. I had the honor of giving him one of the
inaugural SFWA Solstice Awards, and he was a dear friend in an industry that
often specializes in grinding people under for a buck.

I know that his passing will impact many people, and his absence will be
felt for many years to come. I miss him already.

Russell

So long Peter Falk

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Ed here: Peter Falk was one of those actors who improved everything he was in. Columbo was almost always a hoot. He also did dozens of other tv and film roles I'll always remember. So long.

From Galleycat:

Peter Falk, actor, author and star of Columbo, has passed away. His cigar-smoking TV detective was immortalized in a series of books.

In 2007, the actor published the memoir, Just One More Thing: Stories from my Life. Follow this link to read a free sample of the book. This GalleyCat editor recommends watching Wings of Desire tonight–this gorgeous movie about fallen angels was one of Falk's most literary films.

Here's more about his memoir: "Starting in Hartford, where he worked as a management analyst for the Connecticut State Budget Bureau, Falk was no more successful than at an earlier attempt to work with the CIA. He then turned to an old college interest: acting. Falk came to prominence in 1956 in the successful Off-Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh. Although he worked continuously for the next three years, a theatrical agent advised him not to expect much work in motion pictures because of his glass eye. Surgeons had removed his right eye, along with a malignant tumor, when he was three years old. But in 1958, Falk landed his first movie, Murder Incorporated, and was nominated for an Oscar."