D.R. Martin's Blog, page 10

A Walk In the Country

It’s nice to get out of town on a beautiful summer afternoon.

Happy 100th, Leica! – Part 2

In March I did a blog post on the centennial of the Leica camera, the original 35mm camera. I wrote about my own love affair with the Leica, and the M3 camera I’ve owned since I was in high school.

I’m back on the topic because I stumbled across a lovely little BBC video tribute to Leica by photojournalist Tom Stoddart. In it he talks about Alfred Eisenstadt’s iconic image of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square, and about Cartier-Bresson stalking subjects in the streets of Paris. Just click here for a look.

To check out some of my own old street photography–much of it shot on my M3–go to my gallery at Mnartists.org.

Yike! Vike Bike!

Saturday afternoon Sue and I were sipping coffee and tea with our friend Jeri, at Dunn Bros. on Lake Street in Minneapolis. It’s right by West River Parkway on the Mississippi, one of the most popular biking routes in one of the country’s most bike-intensive towns. Saturday alone, hundreds of bicyclists rolled by our perch in the front of the coffee shop.

Anyway, I looked out on Lake Street, when this apparition of bicyclistic inspiration appeared on the opposite side of the street. It kind of floated majestically across Lake Street, came up on the sidewalk, and parked near Longfellow Grill (a popular eatery).

It was a tricycle inside a little canoe, pedaled by a guy in a Viking helmet. In lieu of a dragon head ornament, the Vike Bike’s captain–who built this vessel–had welded bicycle sprockets on both ends.

After I took a few shots, I walked away, wondering what it might have been like, to see a fleet of these things descending on some Saxon village in 900 A.D. Imagine Hallvard the Hideous, pedaling madly, waving his axe. Coming to pillage and plunder. But in an environmentally friendly way.

 

Zombie Truck!

Sue and I are scouting out possible locations to toast Travis McGee’s 50th anniversary with some big martinis. We want to find a spot near a body of water. After all, Trav lived at a marina.

A couple days ago we had lunch at Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge, right on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Clearly an old supper club repurposed as a latterday, ironic Tiki Lounge. If you like those fruity but potent drinks of yore like a Mai Tai or Zombie, Suzi’s is your spot. Also, Suzi has great burgers and pizza. (Suzi’s was featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.)

On the way out of the joint we encountered this blood-curdling warning on the side of a food truck.

Undead Frank’s apparently spreads zombie culinary terror to mobile locations around the Twin Cities.

We escaped with our lives, back into the parking lot, where this sign presides.

If it ever warms up, and we are able to dodge the undead, this looks like a good place to toast Travis, Meyer, and the Busted Flush.

 

A New Cover for Mary MacDougall

Though I was reasonably satisfied with the cover I concocted for my first Mary MacDougall mystery novella, I knew that a pro could do a lot better. So I decided to splurge and put Steve Thomas on the job. Here’s what he came up with.

All that I did was provide him with some samples of cover looks that I liked, and a disk of public domain art from Dover and Atheneum. He did all the rest, and I’m delighted with it. Steve is also an artist who does terrific retro style poster art; the same style he used for both Johnny Graphic covers. Check out his stuff here.

Anyway, thanks for the great work, Steve.

Adios, Fiver

Of the books I’ve written, perhaps my favorite is The Karma of King Harald, which recounts the misadventures of a crime-sniffing canine and his human. If I could get one series really rolling, this would be it. It’s also my favorite cover from among the seven titles we’ve published so far. And it’s such a fun cover, because of a dog called Fiver–our model for King Harald.

I got the distinct impression Fiver didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight. The dog was positively camera shy. He had all sorts of moves to get out of the frame. It wasn’t as though he was mad or anything. It was just more apologetic and a little hang-dog: Nothing personal, but I really, really wish you’d stop following me around snapping that thing.

But if you take a few hundred shots of a good-natured but shy dog, you’re still apt to get some that work. And I was able to. Here’s one of Fiver from our last photo shoot in October.

Sadly, Fiver passed away a couple weeks ago at the age of 15. It is certainly a tough transition for our friend Kelly–who shared that big, beautiful house with Fiver for many years. Any time a beloved animal friend leaves us, it leaves a hole in our heart that’s tough to fill.

Sue and I are so grateful that we got to meet Fiver and make him a cover boy.

 

Smoking Ruin on Sale for 99 cents

This is just to give a heads up that my first-person PI mystery, Smoking Ruin, is on sale for only 99 cents at various e-book outlets. Here’s the link to the promotion via eBookSoda, a new site that offers special deals on e-books. I plan on leaving the cost at 99 cents for the next few weeks, even if eBookSoda notes that the deal has expired.

Ebelskivers!

Not too far from where I live, overlooking the west bank of the Mississippi, is the Danish American Center–where Danish heritage is celebrated. (Though happily not celebrated in the manner seen in the country’s most famous export, The Killing.)  On one Sunday morning a month, through the cold seasons, the center puts on a Danish breakfast featuring ebelskivers. Think church pancake breakfast without the church.

What in the world are ebelskivers? you ask.

Well, ebelskivers are simply Danish spherical pancakes, as you can see on my breakfast plate this morning. They’re fried in special pans and take a little bit of skillful touch to make.

The very friendly volunteer waitpeople at the Danish center will keep bringing  your ebelskivers and eggs and sausage until you whimper “Uncle” or your stomach bursts. Are they better than plain old pancakes? Not really, but they still taste darned good and the $8.50 all-you-can-eat breakfast is a pretty fine deal. You betcha. You can track down the ebelskiver schedule at http://www.dac.mn/.

So why a post on ebelskivers? I’ve got a soft spot for them, since they figure importantly in my canine cozy mystery, The Karma of King Harald. It’s by hunting down a legendary ebelskiver recipe that my hero Andy Skyberg  identifies the serial killer haunting Beaver Tail county.

On the way out of the Danish American Center, Sue and I also happened across a caterer who was selling those scrumptious little Danish sandwiches, aka smørrebrød. Well, we couldn’t resist.

 

 

 

What I’m Reading…

My primary blog these past few years has been Travis McGee & Me, devoted largely to the adventures of that timeless Florida tough guy. One of the great regrets of McGee fans, though, is that the author’s estate is dead set against reviving the franchise. Happily, not all literary estates feel the same way.

Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee stories were not only page-turning whodunits, but wonderfully written. IMO, they capture the cultural, social, ethical, and religious qualities of the Navajo people wonderfully. They vividly depict the geography, geology, and meteorology of the Four Corners region. I can think of few other mystery series where the environment and landscape are always such key characters.

The good news is that the Hillerman estate didn’t like the idea of permanently silencing Lt. Leaphorn, Officer Chee, and Officer Manuelito. So, Anne Hillerman has taken up the challenge of reviving her father’s franchise with Spider Woman’s Daughter.

The novel revolves around the attempted murder of Joe Leaphorn, now retired but consulting with a local museum of Anasazi art. The primary POV is that of Bernie Manuelito, now married to Chee. She is the daughter of Spider Woman, a character out of Navajo mythology. To figure out who shot Leaphorn and why–an assault to which she was the only witness–Bernie needs to dig into the legendary lieutenant’s history and the arcane but passionate field of the study of ancient Anasazi pottery. In the end, she and Chee barely escape with their lives.

It’s perhaps unreasonable to think that any new writer can perfectly capture the voice of a beloved author who is gone. But I think in this case, Anne Hillerman comes close. She does justice to her father’s characters and fictional world, promising a bright future for this significant mystery series. I know that I’ll certainly want to read more.

Daylight

It’s funny how, descending into winter, a temperature of 40 degrees at the beginning of November is dismally depressing…but 40 degrees on the 9th of March, after a long brutal siege of snow + ice + many subzeros is joyous and liberating and uplifting. Guess it’s always more fun seeing daylight at the end of the tunnel, than dark at the beginning. Anyway, here’s a summer shot from the Harriet Rose Garden in Minneapolis, from a garden book  I did photos for a few years ago. Summer is coming!