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7/29/2010 3:44:05 AM
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topic:
From the Editor's Desk: AHMM, July 26, 2010
Yoshinori Todo
Posts 216
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Well, I am a slow reader to begin with, but I’ve found that, the more I enjoy a novel or a story, the slower I (force myself to) read. One reason may be that I don’t want the story to end soon, but another is that I want to immerse myself as fully as I possibly can in the fictional world, take in every word, every detail, every scene of the story, see for myself what the writer did to make the reading experience so enjoyable and vivid. I want to be able to imagine everything that’s happening in my head, see a movie played out on the dark screen of my mind, as it were. That’s especially true with—you guessed it!—Agatha Christie. But I have to say that, when I first read her novels, I had to read as fast as I could, simply because I had to know what happened next. So I’m thinking that "slow reading" thing might—at least with certain writers or stories—only be possible on second and all subsequent readings.
Oh, I am a slow reader, but not when it comes to tweets, texts, and blogs. But I don’t consider these to be true reading materials, anyway.
edited by Yoshinori Todo on 7/29/2010
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7/28/2010 2:53:06 PM
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topic:
Mystery Flash Fiction
Yoshinori Todo
Posts 216
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Congratulations!! 
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7/28/2010 11:32:01 AM
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topic:
Humor Issue
aw!tte
Posts 9
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I remember that Alfred Hitchcock has an annual "Humor Issue" (I think it was Alfred Hitchcock, though it could have been Ellery Queen)-- my question is: does anyone know the month for that issue and if a person writing for that issue in particular should address their submission differently than any other?
Many thanks!
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7/27/2010 10:15:28 AM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack, part 2
Robert Lopresti
Posts 60
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Oh boy... too early in the morning. EQMM ot WQMM. And tinfoil in his HAT not his HEAD. Sorry.
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7/27/2010 10:14:37 AM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack, part 2
Robert Lopresti
Posts 60
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Alphonse's good fortune i fiding the short story he was looking for (see the Magazines section of this forum) has inspired me to try again to find one of my favorite stories. I don't think it appeared in AHMM or WQMM so I put this in the general section.
I had thought the story was by Lawrence Block, but i can't find it in his collections. I have to be careful what I sawy so as ot to give away the plot twists, but here goes...
The story is about a paranoid man. We see him in the morning putting tinfoil in his head to keep out radio waves, the whole nine yards. He goes for a walk past a large building and gets into an argument with a security guard. There is a tragic outcome. Then we see the event from the viewpoint of people inside the building and it changes everything.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Cheers,
Rob
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7/27/2010 10:10:18 AM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack
Robert Lopresti
Posts 60
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I think you will really enjoy the Block book. And I love Jack Ritchie. Alphonse, you have inspired me. I will put another thread here trying to find a story I read years ago and have similarly lost track of.
Rob
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7/26/2010 7:41:35 PM
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topic:
From the Editor's Desk: AHMM, July 26, 2010
AHMM Editorial
Posts 40
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Slow Reading
I’ve always been a rather slow reader, so when I heard about Slow Reading, the movement, I was a ready believer.
Slow Reading is a response and an antidote to the fast and furious way in which we are bombarded with information, misinformation, and that snarkiness that masquerades as wit these days. Ironically, I’ve come to this conversation about reading online, where I first read an article about it in The Guardian, and clicked through the hyperlinks with a growing sense of affinity.
Slow Reading is not radically different from what we’ve been doing (or at least, what I’ve been doing). But in an age when frenetic, breezy infotainment substitutes for news and tweets, texts, and blog posts invite us to skim quickly, a conscious effort to read critically and contemplatively may be something we have to remind ourselves to do.
What we’re losing, I think, is the experience of engagement: the sensuousness of reading, the meeting of minds, the cultivation of empathy with the voice of the text. That’s a big generalization, but for me, that’s the subjective difference of reading online as opposed to holding a book or a magazine in my hands.
Slow Reading, moreover, is just what’s required for short stories. They demand and reward that degree and close attention. Often I’ll read a short story twice, back to back: once to take in the plot, and a second time to take in the story. Short stories require the reader to be more alert to subtle shifts in tone, fine character details, and the dance between imagery and metaphor, the little hints that something is going on beneath the surface.
I endorse the advice Slow Reading proponents give for recapturing the experience of reading fully, and I think it is especially applicable to short stories: Read the story aloud to hear the music of the language; Read slowly to build a rapport with the author; Read the same story more than once.
I’ll also add: Talk about the story you’ve just read with someone else. Continue the dialogue that the author set in motion. Encourage others to read it or to share their thoughts about a recently read short story.
Perhaps the next “movement” will be Slow Submitting. To writers eager to see their bylines in print, I’d say, Before you seal up the story in the envelope, reread it, read it aloud, and rewrite if necessary. Then reread, read it aloud, fine tune, and seal the envelope.
What do you think? Have I made any converts to the Slow Reading movement?
Linda Landrigan
Editor, AHMM
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7/26/2010 4:05:51 PM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack
alphonse
Posts 4
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I have ordered a Lawrence Block collection, called Rope's End from Amazon. It includes "The Ehrengraf Riposte". When I finish that, I'll start in on Ritchie. I have to say, this Post fellow sounds interesting, too. I think the number of items in my reading list in inversely proportional to my time left on earth!
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7/25/2010 11:57:34 AM
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topic:
Free Online Novel Writing Software
dottertrotter
Posts 2
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I just recently finished creating version 1.0 of an online novel writing software application I call LitLift and I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to give it a test while working on their next story.
To create an account and access the system simply goto litlift.heroku.com
Any thoughts, criticisms or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brad
edited by dottertrotter on 7/25/2010
edited by dottertrotter on 7/25/2010
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7/24/2010 7:56:26 PM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack
Jeff Baker
Posts 119
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Ohhhh, Ehrengraf! I should have known! I think there was a collection of the Ehrengraf stories quite a while back (maybe not!) Glad to introduce you to Jack Ritchie who is spoken of here like the devout speak of a favorite saint. Perhaps related to Block's uh, criminal lawyer is Mellville Davisson Post's Randolph Mason, who dates back over a century.
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7/24/2010 4:34:37 AM
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topic:
From the Editor's Desk: AHMM, July 13, 2010
Yoshinori Todo
Posts 216
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aw!tte wrote:
I could be too wrapped up in the school shooting aspect of bullying, but Stephen King's story "Rage" is also an interesting look at teen frustration and anxiety gone amok.
Yes. Some people even claimed that Rage might have been partly responsible for a school shooting incident, as a copy of it was discovered in one of the perpetrator's possessions. Anyway, when he learned that, Stephen King decided to let the book fall out of print.
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7/24/2010 4:26:02 AM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack
Yoshinori Todo
Posts 216
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I think it's amazing--amazing and wonderful--that some people (me included) sometimes want to reread a story years, or even decades, after they had first read it. . . .
edited by Yoshinori Todo on 7/25/2010
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7/23/2010 11:09:52 PM
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topic:
Needle in a Haystack
alphonse
Posts 4
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Found it!
I read the story in EQ #421 December 1978. It turns out to be by Lawrence Block and was entitled "The Ehrengraf Riposte". Martin Ehrengraf, I have learned, was a recurring character of Block's, a defense lawyer. His trademark was that his clients rarely went to trial.
In the process, I have gotten interested in Jack Ritchie, so I have Jeff to thank for introducing me to something new.
For the record, I remembered bits of a conversation in the story and searched in Google Books on the words "mischief connotation child's prank". From there it was a short reach to the exact issue, and when I saw an image of the cover I recognized it at once.
You just gotta love the Internet and Google.
edited by alphonse on 7/23/2010
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7/23/2010 6:40:26 PM
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topic:
Seeking opinions on Protag/Antag match ups
Tog
Posts 140
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It's from new e-publishing company out of Canada called MuseIt up. One of the first books they plan to release was written by a person on the critique site I use, so I checked it out. They take most genres and have one called "Dark Sleuth" with is specifically for "vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural entities that help the police in solving cases." They also take works from 3000 words and up. Most of what I write tends to come out novella length, which doesn't leave me a lot of markets.
The only vampire story I will ever write won't be appreciated by 99.9% of the fans of vampire stories, so I wanted to come up with something more original and see how far I could take it. I had a huge breakthrough in the overall story last night, so I think I might finally have a direction to go with it now.
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7/23/2010 5:51:44 PM
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topic:
Team Sephiroth
aw!tte
Posts 9
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No villain voiced by former N'Sync-ster LANCE BASS will "always win" anything except the hearts of tween-aged girls and a well-deserved punch in the nose.
edited by aw!tte on 7/23/2010
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7/23/2010 4:34:38 PM
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topic:
From the Editor's Desk: AHMM, July 13, 2010
aw!tte
Posts 9
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Yoshinori Todo wrote:
AHMM Editorial wrote: What other stories does “The Lottery” make you think of? Do you know any stories that deal with bullying?
Stephen King's Carrie comes immediately to mind. Also, because it's still on my mind, "The Edge" by Agatha Christie is also about bullying, in a way.
I could be too wrapped up in the school shooting aspect of bullying, but Stephen King's story "Rage" is also an interesting look at teen frustration and anxiety gone amok.
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7/23/2010 4:33:18 PM
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topic:
From the Editor's Desk: AHMM, July 13, 2010
aw!tte
Posts 9
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Seems like Columbine set in motion the impulse for lots of folks to write about the effects of bullying on a victim who sort of snaps under the pressure and reacts violently. Jodi Picoult wrote a book called Nineteen Minutes that deals with that, kind of. Not exactly the same thing that you were talking about, but still...
There is an excellent book called Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre about the friend of someone who had committed a school shooting, and the aftermath he suffered when the media descends on his town and him.
Finally, though it turns out to have very little to do with bullying, I would totally endorse the book Columbine by David Cullen-- the non-fiction account published last year. So good and so interesting and so not the story we were sold on TV. Totally worth a read... though it has nothing to do with the original question.
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7/23/2010 4:16:13 PM
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topic:
Seeking opinions on Protag/Antag match ups
aw!tte
Posts 9
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Now I'm totally intrigued: what is the market that you are looking at that asks specifically for beings with supernatural powers to help the police? Such an interesting perspective-- I'd love to take a look!
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7/22/2010 4:40:36 PM
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topic:
Seeking opinions on Protag/Antag match ups
Allan Kalupar
Posts 27
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Many comic book heroes go up against regular criminals with their own ideas of world domination etc and tend to do quite well. I don't think that whether or not both sides have equal supernatural powers will matter as much as how the story is told. The comic superheroes centre a large part of their character development on how they became super (such as bitten by a spider). If your characters are well developed and the powers suit them you could have a winner!
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7/22/2010 3:29:46 AM
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topic:
Seeking opinions on Protag/Antag match ups
Tog
Posts 140
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Oh, I've got a market in mind for it. They have a sections specifically for "supernatural beings that help the police". That was what started me down this road. I did a short novella based on a superhero that found herself in a cozy one time, and the two people to actually give me feedback both said that while are not generally mystery fans, the story hooked them. The superpowers came into play twice. Once to hover over the ground to look at footprints without leaving any, and once to put out a fire on the other side of the room with a blast of ice, then to relight the fire after removing the papers that were being destroyed.
For this one, I've got a few ideas kicking around, but I'm not sure how long they will all be. The comment about the contrast between science and magic is funny in a way (in the context of the character). I'm actually creating a very precise set of rules as to how his magic works, and I'm trying to come up with a semi-scientific explanation of it all. Particularly, how auras work and why different cultures use different symbols and the like. It's almost science-magic.
I mentioned Holmes as example of the main character's capabilities. Like Nero Wolfe, he has an assistant for the dirty work, but like Holmes, he's not afraid to get into the thick of things, and he's a competent fighter should the need arise. I'm just concerned that if his only magic power was to change the color of ink in a disposable pen from blue to a slightly darker shade of blue, the fact that he's "magic" would require a "magic" antagonist.
I ran this by a co-worker who said that yes, a magic hero needs a magic threat. I ran it by a critique group, and four of four said that a sufficiently dangerous human would still be a threat, especially if the magic character was not that powerful.
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