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

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.

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.

So, I posted the first chapter to my suspense novel LAKE CHARLES on Goodreads soon to be up on Amazon. LAKE CHARLES is set in the Great Smoky Mountains during the pre-cell phone 1970s.

Read the first chapter to LAKE CHARLES here!

Thanks for your interest.

Love him or hate him. Me? I fall in the former camp. Let me tell you why. Today my mother told me that my late grandfather enjoyed reading Mr. Spillane back when they were both young men just after the Second World War. I did not know that about my grandfather. Cool. So, that's a jake enough reason by me. (Is using "jake by me" considered slang today?) Look, when I take up popular fiction, I just hope to be entertained. That's it. Plus, I know of no other American writer who used a finer two final lines to cap a novel than Mr. Spillane did in his debut PI Mike Hammer title, I, THE JURY. I won't repeat the lines here. You can google them easily enough. Or better yet, read the entire PI tale. I picked up a newer title by Mr. Spillane at the library for reading later this week. And I'll know what I'm getting. It's like a T-bone steak dinner during an otherwise crappy work week.

My guest post about my new suspense novel Lake Charles appears on Paul D. Brazill's fine YOU WOULD SAY THAT, WOULDN'T YOU? weblog.

Why is my main character Brendan Fishback such a troubled young man?

Click here to read all about Brendan.

Two early reviews of my new thriller Lake Charles arrived this week:

“This riveting noir sucks the reader into its murky depths till goose bumps form—even interspersed with the sultry and sticky description of the southern locale. The taste of corruption is sure to whet the appetite of suspense and thriller aficionados, and the local vernacular is right on target.”
-Nancy Carty Lepri, New York Journal of Books

"Lynskey gives his character redemption even as his experience matures him and develops character that can’t be taught in school. LAKE CHARLES is chilling and addictive.”
-Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review

Click here to pre-order Lake Charles and lock in at 33% off.

Michael Hacker at Horror World did a great write up of my upcoming Appalachian noir Lake Charles. Thank you, Michael. For his comments, go here:

http://tiny.cc/kzbhf

Bill Crider, has posted a favorable review of my new thriller, Lake Charles, at his weblog, Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine. Bill is a top-notch writer in the western and crime fiction genres, including the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. His thumbs up means a lot to me. You can read all about it right here:

http://tiny.cc/jnngp

Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey