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

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.

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.

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.

I've decided to write my blogs now on Mondays and Fridays. This one comes out a little early. After all, I should be spending my time working on my books to lick them into the best shape that I can. Readers deserve that respect. QUIET ANCHORAGE, my first title in the cozy series, is in for edits at my publisher. I've finished a draft of a second cozy title, BERMUDA CANARD, that waits for my revisions. I let my novel drafts sit for months in fallow before I ever go back to do any edits on them. During the interval, I stay busy on other projects. Such as my work-in-progress, a literate noir titled ASK THE DICE. Finally, the PI Frank Johnson mystery series title, THE ZINC ZOO, is still on target for a release at late spring. Got all that? LOL. Okay, now back to it. Have a Happy Sunday to you and yours.

The final cover art of my LAKE CHARLES thriller due out in June 2011 has arrived. Please give it a peek by clicking through the link given below.

Cover for LAKE CHARLES by Ed Lynskey

This post will cover for this Friday's blog for me. I'll be eyeball deep in doing the proofs on LAKE CHARLES.

LAKE CHARLES is set during the 1970s (yes, the pre-cell phone days, remember?) in the Great Smoky Mountains, if there are any other fans of that picturesque region. A young man goes on a fishing trip with his sister and best friend. She ends up being kidnapped, and he runs into a double buzz saw when he strikes out to find her.

There's romance, too, good and bad, so there's something for everybody.

Have a great weekend.