An Uneasy Evening

A great memory from Eddie Muller: An Uneasy Evening with the Noir Legend.

Scorched Noir

The Border … an alkaline limbo between two worlds, where desperation and violence loom like the ever-present sun.

Lucky #7

                               Drifter Detective #7. This time from yours truly.

                               Amazon eBook | print

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On God, the French, and Orson: Jake Hinkson Interview

As far as many are concerned Jake Hinkson is the finest noir writer of his generation. From his searing debut, Hell on Church Street, to scorchers like The Posthumous Man and The Big Ugly. Lou Boxer (co-founder of NoirCon) stated, "Keep an eye on Jake Hinkson. He's taking the notion of the sacred and the profane to an entirely new level in noir."

David Cranmer: Is there anything you've ever wanted to be besides a writer?

Jake Hinkson: Not really. I have no other skill. I come from a line of people who either work with their hands or preach (or, sometimes, both). I did construction, and I sucked at it. So maybe I'd be a preacher. If I wasn't a heathen, I probably would have made a pretty fair preacher.

But, no, I never actively wanted to do anything else. I started writing stories as a kid, and I just never stopped.

DC: As a heathen (Merriam Webster defines in part, "not belonging to a widely held religion") do you leave open the door that we may have been dropped off by aliens--some celestial helping hand--or is it straightforward The Big Bang Theory?

JH: To paraphrase what God told Job: who knows?

DC: Have you matured as a writer since your debut, Hell on Church Street?

JH: Oh man. That's for other people to say, I guess. One of the truest things I ever heard about writing is that the more you write the harder it gets. Maybe it doesn't work that way for other people, but it's worked that way for me. You learn from your mistakes, but you also see more mistakes. I've written entire books that will never see the light of day. Those are costly mistakes to learn from.

DC: What was your impression of France?

JH: France was amazing. I can't speak highly enough of the people I met and the incredibly warm reception I got when I was there. We did a seven city book tour, and everyone was so kind to me. I met hundreds of people. It was crazy. They seemed to really love Hell on Church Street and were eager to read The Posthumous Man. It's downright bizarre to be far more well known in France than I am in America-than I am in my home state of Arkansas-but there you are. For some reason, my work has caught on overseas. Who the hell would have ever predicted that?

DC: France has a history of seeing talent we Americans overlook or take for granted. Phillip K. Dick was a good example of our occasional myopic deficiencies. Could you see yourself locating there if that enthusiasm considers to soar?

JH: To your point, the French were the ones who looked at our dimestore pulp novels and our cheapie B movies and said, "This is something unique called noir." Their ideas about noir, in turn, had huge influence on us here. So noir, at least originally, was the result of a French interpretation of an American phenomenon. And I have to tell you, I was shocked at how big noir is in France. Noir stuff there is what SciFi/Fantasy/ Superhero stuff is here. First off, reading is the national pastime in France, so there are bookstores everywhere. (Bookselling is so big there that people go to college to study to become booksellers. Selling books is a career in France, not just a job.) And when you walk into a bookstore half the store is crime stuff. HALF. There are two kinds of books there: noir and blanc. Noir is crime stuff. Blanc is everything else. So, in short, France is like heaven for a crime writer.

Would I move there? I don't know. I absolutely had the time of my life there, and I can't wait to go back when we release the French version of The Posthumous Man. I can tell you, though, that I never felt more American than when I was in France, which, funny enough, only made me love France all the more. So I don't know. There's been some vague talk of maybe going over at some point to do a residency at a college or something. I wouldn't rule out, but it would be a pretty big move. I'm not sure how long I could go without an America-sized cup of coffee.

DC: Michael Kronenberg has done an exceptional makeover to The Posthumous Man cover. Where did you first meet this gifted graphic designer and artist?

JH: Oh man, who is better than Kronenberg? I first became aware of Michael through his work as the designer for Eddie Muller's magazine Noir City. I write articles for them, and Michael's layouts for my pieces were just fantastic. We met and became fast friends. He's now designed covers for three of my books: The Big Ugly, No Tomorrow, and, now, the revamp of The Posthumous Man. Kronenberg is the best.

DC: Here's a wild card last question: like me, you are an aficionado of Orson Welles. Which one of his films do you like best and why?

JH: Welles is my great obsession. Maybe for that reason, it's hard for me to pick just one of his movies and call it my favorite. Citizen Kane is a movie unto itself, of course. There's nothing else like it. Falstaff is his most beautiful, most virtuosic, most moving film. I think it's probably his masterpiece. But to answer your question, let me pick a dark horse, a movie that not enough people talk about: The Trial. It's not for every taste-it's sort of film noir meets European art house with the heart of a dark absurdist comedy--but I love it. It's the Welles film that I've returned to over and over again the last few years. I love the world he creates in that film. It's its own closed universe.

The Stranger

Back in high school did you have to read THE STRANGER by Camus? Over at Macmillan's Criminal Element I take a fresh look at this classic.

Torn And Frayed

Went to edit my latest and found out my daughter was already working on it.

A Fistful of Beetner by CT McNeely

Eric Beetner gets a glowing review by CT McNeely from Dark Corners ...

Eric Beetner is a good old-fashioned pulpster. He spins a rip-roaring yarn like nobody's business and this year is one of the best years to introduce yourself to his work if you're not already on Team Beetner. I am going to talk to you about two of the things Mr. Beetner has coming this year: Rumrunners and The Year I Died Seven Times.

If you have your hand on the pulse of pulp, you know what an amazing operation David Cranmer is running over there at Beat to a Pulp. If so, you may be aware of The Year I Died Seven Times already when it was released in serialized installments. Regardless if you've read it serialized or not, this is your chance to see the whole funny, sordid, wild tale in one volume.

The Year I Died Seven Times tells the story of poor, unfortunate Ridley as he, well, it's pretty much in the title. What isn't in the title is all of the times that Beetner will make you cringe, laugh, cry, and all the sleep that you will lose staying up to read this one to its thrilling conclusion.

Also coming this year is Rumrunners. Rumrunners is Dukes of Hazzard meets Fargo, pissed off and mad about it. It's an alcohol fueled rollercoaster ride of backcountry badassery.

Rumrunners, like all the best backcountry crime tales, focuses on a family. In this case, the McGraws. You need only look to the title to see how they get by. That is, until now, when Tucker McGraw decides to go straight. Of course, it's not that simple. These things never are.

Rumrunners is every bit as good as you want these books to be. It succeeds in pulp revelry where so many other great works of Southern crime fiction fall flat. It is one damn fun book and you'll find yourself returning to it like a favorite movie over and over.

The same can be said, of course, for everything Beetner has ever written. This will be a year of good fortune for Beetner, with many new releases, and that means it will be a great time for all you crazy fiends out there in Pulpsville. Get ready with them wallets, folks. The Year of the Beetner has arrived.

Film Noir Foundation

I regrettably wasn’t able to attend The 13^th Annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival but was much honored that BEAT to a PULP was a sponsor. Just look at these beautiful souvenir programs that Promotional Director Daryl Sparks sent my way. Thank you, Daryl! And a big thanks to Michael Kronenberg (talent behind Jake Hinkson’s The Big Ugly cover) for designing our ad. And, of course, the one and only Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller. Here’s a link to their indispensable Film Noir Foundation.

A Further Nod

What a nice way to end the year! Ron Scheer takes a look at my Further Adventures.

Remembering John Dall

Link: Let’s Not Forget Film Noir's John Dall

A Dynamite Girl’s Film Noir

Alexis Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a versatile, Canadian-born actress who was equally at home playing in Hollywood Westerns, comedies, and noirs or just about any genre Tinseltown tossed her way. She played opposite many of the biggest Silver Screen draws including Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Errol Flynn, and Cary Grant. The publicity machine of the era dubbed her the Dynamite Girl—casting her most often in the role of “The Other Woman”—and after two decades, she met her ultimate critical acclaim for 1959’s The Young Philadelphians opposite Paul Newman. Later, she turned to Broadway where she won a Tony Award in 1972 and in the very early 1990s was nominated for an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on an episode of Cheers. For nearly fifty years she was married to Peter Gunn’s Craig Stevens.

The rest of my article can be found at Macmillan's Criminal Element. 

Listen for Cash

So a few months back, Erik Arneson approached me and asked if I had a story he could use for his topmost Word Crimes Podcast. I was just completing Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles and thought “Merciless” would be a perfect fit, and thanks to Erik and the vocal talents of Scott Detrow it turns out to be something special indeed. This is a first for me, hearing my characters come alive, so to speak, in another medium.

“Merciless” features former lawman Cash Laramie—The Outlaw Marshal—at seventy-nine-years-old. His glory days far behind him, he’s traded his horse in for a car and sits most evenings in a Cheyenne bar conversing with the bartender. Another patron, a young loudmouth named Roberts, sets in motion a series of events that leads to a poignant, tragic ending.

I feel this one turned out pretty darn good, with special thanks going to my buddy Chuck Tyrell who had considerable input (and to whom I dedicate my latest collection). “Merciless” originally appeared in Pulp Modern Issue #4, edited by Alec Cizak.

And, of course, big thanks to Erik and Scott. What a nice, early Christmas present. Guaranteed I'll listen another two dozen times at least.

Just When I Thought No One Was Listening...

I wrote an article on Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark and originally received one lone comment. Didn't think much about it but assumed it wasn't well received. Well the good folks at Criminal Element posted it on reddit where it snared 20,000 page views and, so far, garnered 155 comments. What else can I say but... Wow!

At Kevin's Corner...

I'm always appreciative when someone takes the time to read a book I've worked on and even more pleased when they take the time out of their busy week to review. In this case, Kevin Tipple was kind enough to write a few words on my Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles. Thanks, Kevin!

Laughter in the Dark

“Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster.”

That succinct paragraph opens Laughter in the Dark before Vladimir Nabokov dutifully unfolds the spiraling downward fall of middle-aged art critic Albert Albinus and his gripping obsession with the 16-year-old Margot Peters. The novel was first published in Russian in 1932 under the far more captivating title Camera Obscura, and twenty-three years later Nabokov would tackle a similar theme of an older man with a young girl in the groundbreaking Lolita. But, whereas the famed nymphet of the 1950s gains a certain amount of pity for her situation, Margot comes across for what she is: a spoiled, conniving, and ultimately quite cruel femme fatale.

Read the rest of my article at Criminal Element.

FREE eBook: The Big Ugly by Jake Hinkson

The Big Ugly is now available through BEAT to a PULP books and will be offered as a free download for two days. But I recommend the beautifully bound paperback with cover design by Michael Kronenberg—a nice addition to any noir book lover's shelf.

Ellie Bennett is an ex-corrections officer who has just served a year inside Eastgate Penitentiary for assaulting a prisoner. She’s only been out for a day when she accepts a strange job offer from the head of a Christian political advocacy group. He wants her to track down a missing ex-con named Alexis. Although no one knows where Alexis has gone, it seems like everyone in Arkansas is looking for her—from a rich televangelist running for Congress to the governor’s dirty tricks man. When Bennett finds the troubled young woman, she has to decide whether to hand her over to the highest bidder or help her escape from the most powerful men in the state.

Here's what others have said about The Big Ugly:

“Keep an eye on Jake Hinkson. He's taking the notion of the sacred and the profane to an entirely new level in noir.” —Lou Boxer co-founder of NoirCon

“The Big Ugly is a jolt to complacency, a spur to the psyche -- a novel that starts simply enough, but expands and suddenly consumes the reader. Jake Hinkson is a master at creating, not characters, but people -- and then putting them through Hell.” —Steve Weddle, author of Country Hardball

“Jake Hinkson is a thunderhead on the horizon of crime fiction, and you can take The Big Ugly as confirmation that this storm isn't going to blow over any time soon. Batten down the hatches, take shelter and prepare for nasty weather. My favorite kind.” —Jedidiah Ayres, author of Peckerwood

Free eBooks!

Two Jack Laramie, The Drifter Detective, novellas are free for the Kindle over the next several days: The Girls of Bunker Pines by Garnett Elliott and Wide Spot in the Road by Wayne D. Dundee.

Ray Bradbury Writes Noir

Have you ever read a Ray Bradbury noir? Honestly, I didn't know he had written any until very recently and then enjoyed the hell out of the one I discovered. I'm at Criminal Element talking Ray Bradbury Writes Noir: Death Is a Lonely Business.

What I'm Working On...

My first collection of Cash & Miles short stories in three years. Almost done.

Vladimir Nabokov’s Hidden Noir: Despair

 

Vladimir Nabokov’s Hidden Noir: Despair. A review by Edward A. Grainger (yours truly) is live at Criminal Element. Please stop by and leave a comment when you get a chance.