Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "hit-man"

Front cover art for Ask the Dice




I used that anecdote to title my new crime noir Ask the Dice. Marilyn asked the question to John Huston, the director, while playing at the craps table in Reno. Marilyn and John were both part of the film noirs. Marilyn plays the girlfriend in The Asphalt Jungle and steals the show for my money.

Ask the Dice is about a hit man who writes poetry and loves jazz, but more than anything yearns to get out of the business. Then his crime boss frames him for murder, so the retirement plans have to go on hold for a while.

If you liked my stand alone Lake Charles, you'll probably find good stuff in Ask the Dice.

It's such a handy curse word--F*CK--to grab while speaking or writing. As a writer of noir and hardboiled fiction, I'm as guilty as anybody for using the F-bomb. For the past couple of weeks, though, I've been working on my second cozy mystery (hey, the first was one of my bestselling titles). Now cozies, as a rule, don't use swear words. So, I cleaned up my fictional prose. Here's the thing I've noticed: I haven't missed my old F-friend, at all. I'm not sure what this means except to say it's been a challenge has been to create suspense and emphasis without resorting to the F-word. I just realized it this morning when I began to work and thought I'd blog a few words about it here with you.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)



The Zinc Zoo (Newest P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery)

Those historical junctures hit us with such powerful emotions so as to embed themselves forever in our minds. The biggest recent occasion might be 9/11 (9/11/01). I've read different accounts of what people were doing then. One lady was nursing her baby. Most of us on EST were probably getting ready for work or our day. I was sitting at my PC writing (what else?) when my wife told me to come to the TV. Her voice used a gruff edge so I knew something big was up.

No doubt Hurricane Katrina (8/29/05) slamming The Big Easy was also a monumental event. The death of Bin Laden (5/2/11) might also count as one. The moon landing lies within my memory (7/21/69) as well as the JFK assassination (11/22/63). I recall my grandparents telling about what they were doing the day World War Two ended. That event has to be larger than anything I'll ever experience in my lifetime.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)



The Zinc Zoo (Newest P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery)

I'm finding it to be an increasing challenge to carve out the time blocks to do my reading for leisure and fun. Maybe my flagging energy stems from writing my own novels. I had four novels published in 2011 -- more books than any previous year's output. Usually more writing begets more reading for me. It could be just a phase with the shorter daylight. That's what I hope is the case. Right now I'm still working my way through Jo Nesbø's creditable The Snowman which runs to almost 400 pages. But I'm on the home stretch, so the events are unfolding briskly. The good thing is there are more titles in the series.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)



The Zinc Zoo (Newest P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery)

Ron Brown at Crime Fiction Lover:
http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2011...

Ricky Ward at Ric's Reviews:
http://ricsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)

Sure, why not? We used to stick around while the movie credits rolled to pick up the name of a familiar face in the picture. Of course now we can google it later. If there's a large crowd, we'll also let them clear out before making our own exit from the theater. Remember the risque but funny out-takes of Burgess Meredith in GRUMPY OLD MEN?

Which segues to a related topic. Is it just us, or have you noticed a lack of quality first-run movies of late? The last flick at the cinema we saw was the disappointing TOWER HEIST with Eddie Murphy. A few lines of dialogue struck the funny bone, but overall it wasn't worth the money we shelled out for the ticket prices.

A recent story on the TV news was about a local theater owner shutting his doors for keeps. He cited one reason was the crummy movies that don't lure out the paying patrons as much. But hey, let's just it's a dry period.

Meanwhile I've been watching some film noirs. Check out GUN CRAZY, released back in 1951 right about this time of year, too. Here's a good book on the cult favorite. My buddy David Rachel gives it high marks, too.

Gun Crazy

Happy viewing and reading!

Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey

Ask the Dice (Newest Stand Alone Washington, D.C. Crime Noir)