My monthly Storytellers Unplugged essay went live this morning: Write for the audience; write for yourself.
I finished Savages by Don Winslow yesterday. Loved 95% of the book and hated the ending. Really hated it. Started I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman on my Kindle. It’s about a woman, married, with two teenage kids, who was kidnapped and raped “the summer she was fifteen” (that’s the euphemism she and her husband use to refer to the event when the kids might be listening). Her attacker, who was convicted of killing two other girls and is suspected of many other murders, is about to be executed and, for the first time, he reached out to her, sending her a letter. The story alternates between now and the summer of ’84. I have no idea where it’s going, but I’m enjoying it so far.
Level Best Books has done a great job of getting Thin Ice into the hands of reviewers. It’s terrific to see so much coverage and so many nice things written both about the book and my story. This review in Manchester Examiner discusses the book generally, saying, “It isn’t often that I get a chance to read a book of short stories from a collection of authors with so much talent, and even less often that I get to review such a book. Thin Ice, Crime Stories by New England Writers is an anthology of twenty-five of the most cleverly written and thought-provoking crime stories ever assembled in one collection, from some of New England’s best and brightest award-winning authors!”
And then there’s this beauty from the Cape Ann Beacon that singles out a few stories and has this to say about mine:
“The Bank Job” by Bev Vincent is another of the collection’s standouts. Frankie, a ne’er-do-well who has real problems staying out of trouble, finds he must pay back an outstanding debt with staggering interest post haste. He and his kindly buddies come up with a scheme. These are good guys who’d rather sit around, drink and play pool than rob banks. Readers are seduced by their camaraderie and the hilarity that ensues. Frankie is alive on the page — rare for short mystery stories where so much plot work needs to be done in less than 5,000 words, in this case. Frankie is the master of witty observation. More of this man, please. It’s the first piece in the book and a must-read.
Was it just me or did it see that Jeff Probst meddled in the tribal council more than usual on this week’s Survivor? It was pretty much a done deal and then he started goading the three players who weren’t in the strong alliance to reconsider their positions and perhaps gang up on someone. I can’t recall him ever being so involved before. Not that it changed anything.
I liked the first three quarters of Criminal Minds this week. Kyle Secor from Homicide: Life on the Street was the guest maybe-villain. It all went to hell at the end with the stagey confrontation with the real villain. Blech.
I missed the two-fer of Burn Notice episodes last night so I’ll have to catch up on them this weekend. I’m treating myself to an afternoon off today to catch up on work that has been piling up.
