Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 55
August 16, 2011
Where my book ideas come from: Bad Thoughts
Back in 1996 I was working with an agent who was trying to sell Fast Lane, and he gave me this plot he wanted me write. It was kind of a knockoff of Silence of the Lambs that involved an FBI profiler whose parents were killed years earlier by some nasty serial killer, and she's now hunting down this same killer. I didn't want to do this, and instead reworked the plot significantly to be Bad Thoughts. At the time I was very much into trying to induce an out of body experience and astral voyages, taking Boston Adult Education classes in it, reading books, doing exercises to induce one, etc. and so that whole subject plays heavily in Bad Thoughts. Also, some beyond terrible stuff happened that put me in a really bad state of mind when I wrote it, and that's probably why it turned out to be my bleakest and grimmest book.
August 15, 2011
Where my book ideas come from: Fast Lane
I'm going to borrow from Patti Abbott's blogpost from yesterday, and each day over the next two weeks write about where the idea for one of my books came from, and I'm going to do this in the order in which I wrote these books. So first up is Fast Lane.
Back sometime before 1990 I was listening to the Jerry Williams show (a Boston area radio talk show) where he had a PI on as a guest, and the PI was talking about a young girl who had been adopted and who hired him to find her biological parents, and how things did not turn out well when he found the girl's biological father.
That was what sparked the idea for Fast Lane, which would be my first novel. At the time I was reading a lot of Ross Macdonald, and my first attempts at Fast Lane were to have a Lew Archer-like PI uncover the sordidness and coverup of a fellow PI, but it just wasn't working well. Then I discovered Jim Thompson and saw a completely different way to write this.
What also plays heavily in Fast Lane was at the time that I wrote it (1992) I was kind of annoyed at the direction popular PI novels were heading in, with what I considered these more cartoonish white knight-like PIs who'd carry out their own vigilante brand of justice to the scum they were dealing with, and I wanted to show this type of behavior could also be pointing out a psychotic personality, and this pushed Fast Lane to being both psychotic noir and somewhat a deconstruction of the hardboiled PI genre.
Fast Lane was first self-published in 2002 under the title In His Shadow, and later a slightly altered version was published by Point Blank Press with the Fast Lane title. It was also published in Italy by Meridiano Zero.
Back sometime before 1990 I was listening to the Jerry Williams show (a Boston area radio talk show) where he had a PI on as a guest, and the PI was talking about a young girl who had been adopted and who hired him to find her biological parents, and how things did not turn out well when he found the girl's biological father.
That was what sparked the idea for Fast Lane, which would be my first novel. At the time I was reading a lot of Ross Macdonald, and my first attempts at Fast Lane were to have a Lew Archer-like PI uncover the sordidness and coverup of a fellow PI, but it just wasn't working well. Then I discovered Jim Thompson and saw a completely different way to write this.
What also plays heavily in Fast Lane was at the time that I wrote it (1992) I was kind of annoyed at the direction popular PI novels were heading in, with what I considered these more cartoonish white knight-like PIs who'd carry out their own vigilante brand of justice to the scum they were dealing with, and I wanted to show this type of behavior could also be pointing out a psychotic personality, and this pushed Fast Lane to being both psychotic noir and somewhat a deconstruction of the hardboiled PI genre.
Fast Lane was first self-published in 2002 under the title In His Shadow, and later a slightly altered version was published by Point Blank Press with the Fast Lane title. It was also published in Italy by Meridiano Zero.
August 6, 2011
The Trend Continues
The Trend continues for The Caretaker of Lorne Field (which will be available Sept. 27th as a trade paperback) as it gets yet another very nice recommendation.
August 3, 2011
Another Glowing Review for Julius Katz and Archie
Julius Katz and Archie is a wonderful mix of old school and new. It's old school in that the mystery is presented in a slight variation on the classic British drawing room setup (the suspects are all gathered together, though not in a secluded location), the violence is minimal and offstage, with the investigator solving the crime through intelligence and deduction instead of car chases, fist fights and shootouts. New school, on the other hand, is well represented by Archie's very high tech presence (he's constantly hacking into various databases to gather information) and hard-boiled personality. Indeed, in Julius Katz and Archie author Dave Zeltserman has packaged the best of both crime fiction worlds into one delightfully charming read.
To read Elizabeth White's review click here.
August 1, 2011
July 28, 2011
July 23, 2011
A short (800 word) story
Hope You're Having Yourself an Especially Grand Time
by
Dave Zeltserman
(originally published in Discount Noir)
Hank Tilson welcomed the man with the angry eyes to MegloMart. When this man stared at the rattlesnake in hell tattoo on the inside of Hank's right forearm and then told Hank to have an especially grand time himself, it gave Hank the shivers. Partly it was the way this man's expression changed when he saw Hank's tattoo, and partly it was the sound of this man's voice. But it was also those words.
Now I hope you're having yourself an especially grand time…
Those words were familiar to Hank, and lurked somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind. He couldn't quite pull out where those words were from, but he knew they meant something special, just like he couldn't quite pull out from his memory why this man seemed so damn familiar. It was two months ago when Hank took this job as a MegloMart greeter. Three weeks ago this man showed up for the first time and instantly started giving Hank the dead eye. Everyday afterwards this man would show up to glare angrily at Hank and stare at his right arm. Hank had broken his arm four months earlier and had a cast covering his tattoo. It wasn't until last night that he had the cast removed. This was the first time this man had seen his tattoo.
Hank realized then where he knew this man from. It was over twenty years ago, but as he thought more about this man he could see the resemblance and he remembered it all. Back then the man would've been thirty, Hank would've been close to the same age. At that time Hank was a full-blown meth addict and he supported his habit by stealing whatever he could, sometimes beating up and mugging the elderly, sometimes through home invasions. This was where Hank had first seen this man: during one of his home invasions. Hank was pretty sure this wasn't in Muncie, Indiana where this MegloMart was. He was pretty sure also it wasn't in Indiana, but he couldn't remember where it had taken place.
That night Hank was just going to rob them. He had gloves and a mask on, and he had no intention early on of doing what he did. But the man's wife was such a tiny pretty little thing, and it pissed Hank off realizing that he'd never have a tiny pretty little thing of his own, at least not of their free will. So he changed his plans. He had brought a .38 revolver with him, and he used that to force the wife to tie up her husband, and then he did terrible things to her as he made the husband watch. After he was through with her, he choked her to death. Then he told the husband that he hoped he was having himself an especially grand time. He should've killed the husband also, but in his meanness he wanted this man alive and remembering what happened to his pretty little thing. This wasn't the only murder Hank ever committed, but when he eventually got arrested it was for check kiting, and not for any of the beatings or home invasions or murders that he did. He ended up serving seven years at the Shawnee Correctional Center, and when he got out he supported himself with low-level cons and odd jobs.
His heart started palpitating wildly in his chest over the thought that that man had recognized him. But he had a mask on that day, and back then he was as thin as a weed, and by the time he had left Shawnee his body had thickened and changed. These damn MegloMart uniforms with the short sleeves and vests! If he were allowed to wear a long sleeve shirt, the man never would've seen his tattoo. But still, how could this man be sure from just one tattoo? Hank wanted to flee, but if he did the man would certainly be sure then.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Hank turned and saw the man whose pretty little thing from long ago he had tortured and butchered.
"Aren't you going to ask if I found everything I was looking for?" the man said.
Hank was sweating badly now. He nodded, croaked out, "Sure."
"Yep, sure did." The man took a hunting knife out of his bag and showed it to Hank. "I was told it could cut through bone as easy as paper."
With that the man plunged the knife into Hank's chest. At first everything went black. Then Hank could see again, although it was hazy with flames everywhere. Standing in front of him was a dour looking demon who gave Hank a forced tired smile and welcomed him to hell.
The End
by
Dave Zeltserman
(originally published in Discount Noir)
Hank Tilson welcomed the man with the angry eyes to MegloMart. When this man stared at the rattlesnake in hell tattoo on the inside of Hank's right forearm and then told Hank to have an especially grand time himself, it gave Hank the shivers. Partly it was the way this man's expression changed when he saw Hank's tattoo, and partly it was the sound of this man's voice. But it was also those words.
Now I hope you're having yourself an especially grand time…
Those words were familiar to Hank, and lurked somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind. He couldn't quite pull out where those words were from, but he knew they meant something special, just like he couldn't quite pull out from his memory why this man seemed so damn familiar. It was two months ago when Hank took this job as a MegloMart greeter. Three weeks ago this man showed up for the first time and instantly started giving Hank the dead eye. Everyday afterwards this man would show up to glare angrily at Hank and stare at his right arm. Hank had broken his arm four months earlier and had a cast covering his tattoo. It wasn't until last night that he had the cast removed. This was the first time this man had seen his tattoo.
Hank realized then where he knew this man from. It was over twenty years ago, but as he thought more about this man he could see the resemblance and he remembered it all. Back then the man would've been thirty, Hank would've been close to the same age. At that time Hank was a full-blown meth addict and he supported his habit by stealing whatever he could, sometimes beating up and mugging the elderly, sometimes through home invasions. This was where Hank had first seen this man: during one of his home invasions. Hank was pretty sure this wasn't in Muncie, Indiana where this MegloMart was. He was pretty sure also it wasn't in Indiana, but he couldn't remember where it had taken place.
That night Hank was just going to rob them. He had gloves and a mask on, and he had no intention early on of doing what he did. But the man's wife was such a tiny pretty little thing, and it pissed Hank off realizing that he'd never have a tiny pretty little thing of his own, at least not of their free will. So he changed his plans. He had brought a .38 revolver with him, and he used that to force the wife to tie up her husband, and then he did terrible things to her as he made the husband watch. After he was through with her, he choked her to death. Then he told the husband that he hoped he was having himself an especially grand time. He should've killed the husband also, but in his meanness he wanted this man alive and remembering what happened to his pretty little thing. This wasn't the only murder Hank ever committed, but when he eventually got arrested it was for check kiting, and not for any of the beatings or home invasions or murders that he did. He ended up serving seven years at the Shawnee Correctional Center, and when he got out he supported himself with low-level cons and odd jobs.
His heart started palpitating wildly in his chest over the thought that that man had recognized him. But he had a mask on that day, and back then he was as thin as a weed, and by the time he had left Shawnee his body had thickened and changed. These damn MegloMart uniforms with the short sleeves and vests! If he were allowed to wear a long sleeve shirt, the man never would've seen his tattoo. But still, how could this man be sure from just one tattoo? Hank wanted to flee, but if he did the man would certainly be sure then.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Hank turned and saw the man whose pretty little thing from long ago he had tortured and butchered.
"Aren't you going to ask if I found everything I was looking for?" the man said.
Hank was sweating badly now. He nodded, croaked out, "Sure."
"Yep, sure did." The man took a hunting knife out of his bag and showed it to Hank. "I was told it could cut through bone as easy as paper."
With that the man plunged the knife into Hank's chest. At first everything went black. Then Hank could see again, although it was hazy with flames everywhere. Standing in front of him was a dour looking demon who gave Hank a forced tired smile and welcomed him to hell.
The End
July 21, 2011
"modern masterpieces of neo-noir writing"
"These three books, "Small Crimes", "Pariah", and "Killer", are modern masterpieces of neo-noir writing. They may serve as a primer on the ongoing power and possibilities inherent in the genre." - Steve Shadow Schwartz, Poisoned Fiction Review
July 20, 2011
Booklist review for A Killer's Essence
Zeltserman is garnering quite a reputation for innovation in crime fiction, and his latest book shows why. Beginning with all the customary trappings of a world-weary cop yarn, the novel smoothly transitions into Zeltserman's subtle, edgy brand of horror. Homicide detective Stan Green thinks his one lead to the identity of a serial killer just went south when Zachary Lynch, the only eyewitness, claims he only sees people's souls, not their faces. As Green gradually learns more than he really wants to know about Lynch and the bizarre ability he claims to possess, the novel becomes a character-rich study of conflict between preconception and perception. Mix in a serial killer making his debut, and the tension just keeps coming. Zeltserman's new work retains the honed-razor psychological insight of his award-winning The Caretaker of Lorne Field (2010). A scary, keep-you-guessing thriller not to be missed. — Elliott Swanson
July 18, 2011
More on Julius Katz and Archie
James Reasoner was kind enough to read and review Julius Katz and Archie, saying in part:
This is a well-plotted novel, but the real appeal of this book is the relationship between the two title characters and the funny, engaging voice in which Archie narrates the story. Also, in these days when mystery fiction has become increasingly divided into numerous sub-genres, it's nice to read a traditional mystery the likes of which once dominated the field. JULIUS KATZ AND ARCHIE is available as an inexpensive e-book, and it gets a very high recommendation from me.
You can read James' review here.
