I'll preface this with Mark Twain's more famous quotes that amazingly, has rarely been attributed to him-
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
So I had this article in mind for a story.
My take on it was going to be that he had pics and lustful footage of a woman that had left him on that phone, and that the stuff on the cell phone was all that he had to remember her by. Then I thought, even if actually happened, most of the readers of that story would complain that it rang a little hollow or seemed fake.
Regardless, I really didn't have enough passion for the story to overcome the flatness of the vérité.
Coming soon? Some time in early July, a story on Powder Burn Flash!
8 comments:
I think this one has some interesting possibilities depending on how you twist it around.
I noticed you read Walter Mosley's. Have you read his latest? I'm still ruminating over Diablerie
I can understand why the story would have attracted your attention and also why you would feel your writing passions cooled by it.
For starters, this guy is an idiot, plain and simple. No one wants to write about an idiot crook unless you can make it really funy and this boob is as funny as a bad case of the crabs.
Secondly, he proves himself an idiot, not only by the wanton crimes of murder he has commited, but also by the fact that he owns several sawed-off rifles. A sawed-off shotgun I can understand as you are making a much larger pattern to strike you target even if you are sacrificing distance in the process. To shorten a rifle means that the cartridge doesn't have enough time to burn all of the gun powder behind it which robs it of it's potency and it's accuracy. The only reason that someone would shorten a rifle was if they had plans to try and conceal it in a long coat. This is the work of the mind of a boob.
I am an expert on nothing and I am the first to admit that, but in times past I have made a comment on the weapons that have appeared in your stories. I know a little bit about firearms, perhaps more than your average Joe walking the street, but by no means an expert.
If I say too much on the topic, it is because I am a fan. Not of firearms, but of your writing. I have eagerly gobbled up anything of yours that you have written as you have a true knack for what you do. You have taken an oft neglected genre of writing and mastered it to the nth degree. I'm certain that you could cite many authors that you have drawn from and lay some of the credit for your wonderful stories at their door but I don't buy that. You have been enough of a careful student to learn from the masters, but your stories are uniquely your own, and that is something that no one can ever take away from you, even at gun-point. I'll read whatever you write and if you are keeping tabs on your fans, add another.
If my firearms comments are of any help in your writing, you are welcome to them. Should they prove a distraction, disregard them totally, as your writing needs nothing I might add. The story tells itself.
Doc
Corey,
I'd have to leave the murder out and, go with attempted murder at worst or the dark humor would be lost.
Rosaria,
"Blonde Faith" was the last Moseley I've read. I have read a short story that had his newest detective in it and it wasn't bad, but I'm more of a fan of Easy and Paris Minton. I've read none of his sci-fi or his regular fiction.
Doc,
"For starters, this guy is an idiot, plain and simple. No one wants to write about an idiot crook unless you can make it really funy and this boob is as funny as a bad case of the crabs."
I'd have to some sanitizing similar to "Murder She Wrote."
"To shorten a rifle means that the cartridge doesn't have enough time to burn all of the gun powder behind it which robs it of it's potency and it's accuracy. The only reason that someone would shorten a rifle was if they had plans to try and conceal it in a long coat. This is the work of the mind of a boob."
I've always wondered about that and it makes perfect sense why only shotguns are sawed off.
"If my firearms comments are of any help in your writing, you are welcome to them."
No, they do help and I hate it when I get things wrong like I did with the .45 with "A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing." I appreciate the offer, I've asked Bubs a couple of firearms-related questions, though I will will have to email you a few down the line.
Oh, but the article is just a jumping off point. Suppose his only crime was having the pix etc on the phone. Suppose he accidentally left the phone in a bar. And the bartender is the woman's brother or husband or perhaps he's the cousin of her husband, or perhaps he's just a stranger who wants to sell the pix to a porn oufit and the buyer is her husband/brother or the guy who lost the phone. C'mon, Cormac, if this article opens up all these possiblities to a non-writer, you have to take a shot at it!
Corey,
Those are some excellent suggestions...
"or perhaps he's just a stranger who wants to sell the pix to a porn oufit and the buyer is her husband/brother or the guy who lost the phone."
I kind of covered that one before and I try not to cover something twice, unless I can do the same premise three times better.
Part of my problem is that I've been nailed to a tree by a deadline, so I can't see the forest at all.
I love me a good dumb criminal story. Saturday night on "Cops" included a guy robbing a bank and leaving behind his wallet (containing all of his IDs) and checkbook. Needless to say they didn't have much trouble solving that crime.
Creepy,
The only reason Darwinism doesn't work with humans is because we can buy our food and shelter, plus we're at the top of the food chain. Can you imagine that putz as an animal at a watering hole?
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