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

I've been writing the first draft of the next Frank Johnson mystery for curious minds who want to know such things. Right now the working title is AFTER THE BIG NOISE. Frank, Gerald, and all the old gang are back again. It seems Frank has tamed his ways at least until Gerald gets into the mix.

Stay tuned. More to come, I hope...

I'm about 2/3 finished the first draft of the next PI Frank Johnson Mystery, AFTER THE BIG NOISE. Coming into the homestretch always torques me up: the wheels might fall off, and the new book skids into a wreck. It's happened. But hey, it's Christmas when everybody's Muse is in a generous spirit. May your Muse be kind to you, as well.

Last Night I was reading Dashiell Hammett's THE THIN MAN. Well-done humor is a difficult feat for me. What I find to be funny, you might just groan at or see as cute and silly. Hammett uses a dry wit and snappy dialogue to create his laugh spots. The old flick of Nick and Nora Charles is gas to watch, too. A small bit of humor goes a long way in my current writing projects.

Several fellow readers have shared their very positive experiences with their Kindle gizmos. They do sound cool as beans. Imagine carrying a mini-library in the palm of your hand. Amazing stuff of Star Trek. From an author's standpoint, I know I don't care how my books might be read, just grateful they are. Still, I can't view myself completely giving up the paper sort of books. Maybe next year Santa will leave one under the tree.

I read on a messageboard that Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigators mysteries is out of print. Maybe they're available as e-books. As a kid, I got a big kick out of reading them. I thought it was cool for a trio of pals to have their own secret meeting place hidden in the middle of a junkyard. Before TTI came the Hardy Boys. I always liked their dad's name, Fenton. Did anybody else ever read The Happy Hollisters? They ring a dim bell in me. About the same time, I also discovered Zane Grey, but he wrote in a different genre, the Western.

Theres a hefty bio. of Mickey Mantle out now. Welcome news for avid baseball fans like me. I never got to see him play, a bummer. But I remember after 9/11 how watching the horsehide sport was a succor and diversion. Yeah, we need baseball. Earlier this year, Ron Menchine passed away. He was the unadorned radio voice of the Washington Senators (before they schlepped off to Texas and became the Rangers), and his broadcasts of their games was a lifeline to a gawky kid like me living out in the sticks. I love the Web for keeping me abreast of what's all the latest in baseball. The Washington Nationals stay bookmarked on my browser. Bring on the boys of summer. Until then, I'll read the Mickster's biography.

It's almost finished, my next Frank Johnson mystery. I'll draw within the last few thousand words by the day's end, I hope. The first draft, such as it is, will be complete. Relief is my main emotion though I'm also a bit leery. For some reason, the first draft looks different during the subsequent revisions, usually not in a good way.

So, does the Muse also inspire during the editing phase, as well? I'll find out pretty soon.

AFTER THE BIG NOISE, the next P.I. Frank Johnson mystery is done. Now take a deep breath of relief and move on to the real work of revision.

Several readers have been kind to tell me how they like reading my reviews posted here. They're more like off-the-cuff comments to me. At any rate, I try to keep them brief. I don't do negative reviews since I don't finish any book I don't like reading. Life is short. As a writer, I also know how much bad reviews sting. But the main deal, for me at least, is the sheer delight I get from reading a book and then sharing my joy with like-minded souls out there.

Happy holidays and good reads to the readers and writers, alike.

There's been some discussion on how fast a reader can plow through a novel (nonfiction is a different animal). Some readers are slower than others. Wasn't there someone named Evelyn Wood who advertised to give speed reading classes? I saw her ads on TV at some time. Anyway, my sense is you read as quickly and efficiently as you can while still enjoying the written tale. If a writer's prose style clicks with you, you can pick up the pace a little more. For instance, I read a lot of private eye/noir books, so I know the genre's quirks, slang, and "voice". Not always, but I don't get hung up on the prose, and I can get on with, and enjoy, the story at hand. Of course, good, old skimming and skipping also works if you reach a boring stretch.