The Youngstown Tune-up

My short story "The Youngstown Tune-up" is now available in the February issue of Mystery Weekly. Back in 1959, when this story is set, the tune-up was slang for a car bomb, so you can imagine what happens.

Daredevil Dogs

How the dog should be dressed         photo by Arnold Gatileo

My friend Ron and I continue on our quest to find the best Chicago-style hot dog in Columbus. To that end, today we tried out Daredevil Dogs in the OSU campus district. This very tiny restaurant must do a resounding business in carryout and delivery to the bar next door, because there isn't enough seating to pay for the operation. It makes Dirty Franks downtown look cavernous.

Our conclusion? The all-beef hot dogs themselves were very meaty, large and tasty. The bun, a challah type, was a bit sweet for my taste and not authentic to the Chicago style. The pickle wedges were smaller than you might see elsewhere, and diced tomatoes substituted for the wedges that are typical. The lack of neon relish was noticeable, but the missing sport peppers really changed the flavor of the sandwich.

Nonetheless, if one puts aside expectations, the hot dog as presented was tasty enough. The price point of $5.50 was above market for Columbus. Ron gave his a B-, and I might agree, but I'd downgrade them slightly to a C for the bus-station ambiance.

Coherence and Incoherence

In my continuing search for the best low-budget sci-fi films I watched 2013's Coherence. It was entertaining if imperfect, with a talented cast and a story line that would amuse those of us who enjoy films such as Memento, Mulholland Drive and Inception.
This and other genre films made on a pauper's budget show what can happen with a good story, as opposed to films that rely heavily on special effects (I'm thinking Pacific Rim and the Transformers series, among others). People are interested mostly in people, rather than machinery, which accounts for the failure of movies such as Prometheus, Alien without that most essential ingredient, Ripley.
The story of Coherence begins with the hypothesis that from every decision two or more realities are born, and investigates the question, what if people in these separate streams were able to cross over? As you can imagine, entertaining conflict can and does ensue.
The picture has its flaws. The first 15 minutes is full of banal conversations, the characters are annoyingly self-involved, and the science part of the premise is not so much developed as presented, and quickly issued off-stage. Nonetheless, it is a more entertaining film than many made on a much greater budget.

Am I Cheating?

I recently had a conversation with young-adult fiction author Suzanne Goldsmith ("Washashore") about finding actions for characters that suggest emotions, to avoid the need to directly name the emotion a character is feeling and thereby fall into the trap of telling rather than showing. Too often, I resort to a few physical manifestations; drumming fingers for nervousness, pinched eyebrows for suspicion, dodging eye contact for deceit. Over the years, I've tried to expand my collection of such physical cues to avoid repetition. Now I've come across the book The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a whole volume filled with physical cues for a variety of emotions.

It should feel like a gift from above. Now I need only define the emotion the character is experiencing and refer to the book, choosing from among dozens of possible actions to suggest the emotion. But it doesn't feel like a gift. I feel guilt (averting your gaze, blushing, sweating, lip biting, repetitive swallowing), as though I had cribbed a doctoral thesis. Perhaps I'll get over it; after all, I have no problem referring to a traditional thesaurus, and I certainly accept ideas from my writing group.

Perhaps you feel differently. Either way, the book has value in illuminating all the ways a deft writer can develop character without resorting to telling.

Even Steven

My story "Even Steven" is now available on Expound Magazine, Issue 3. It's a bit of magical realism exploring the healing of old family wounds. And it's free!

Expound's mission is to bridge the gap between writing from the African continent and the rest of the world. Accordingly, my story is surrounded by some very exciting content.

The handsome magazine is formatted as a PDF download.

Rejection Blues

Daniel Lobo

Are you a fiction writer or poet? Do you submit your work? Then, if you're like most of us, you receive rejections. Do you sometimes wonder if the polite note you receive is the magazine's boilerplate or something that indicates a higher level of rejection? Then there's a wiki you might find fascinating, the Rejection Wiki. It shows the standard rejections text and higher-level rejections text from hundreds of journals.

Don't let those rejections get you down; rejection is part of the life of a writer. I average placing a story for every 11 submissions. Some do better, some worse. The difference between a published and unpublished author is often perseverance, not talent.

The Last Policeman, a Mystery Novel

Alphadesigner

Occasionally I'll run across a story concept that I unabashedly envy and wish I'd conceived. Such is the conceit behind the novel The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters. This mystery, winner of an Edgar Award a few years ago, is set almost in present time, but in an America that has just learned that a planet-killing asteroid is on a collision course with Earth within the year.

Against the backdrop of societal anger and resignation, of the decay of essential services, the main character attempts to solve what he believes to be a murder in Concord, New Hampshire. Having just achieved his long-held ambition to be a police detective, he puts aside thoughts of his imminent death and pursues his first and probably last real case.

The main character is nicely wrought, sympathetic and competent, although some episodes of self-doubt might have been edited out without hurting the story. Support characters are well done, as well. The plot is workmanlike, nicely capturing the zeitgeist of the time. There is a secondary plot line that is left unsatisfyingly open, a obvious invitation to read the sequel.

The writing style doesn't get in the way of the plot, but serves the purpose well. If you're looking for a quick read that will raise more than a few "What if" questions, you might enjoy this book.