Dana King signs with Stark House ... this is a beautiful
thing. Dana King has signed with Stark
House Press. Check out the link above
but ignore the very gracious words he says about me ... if anything, both of us
owe GIGANTIC debts of gratitude to Ed Gorman. Dana’s work speaks for itself ... recommending
my publisher read him was a no brainer. Stark
House Press taking him proves he’s got the talent plus some. He’s my favorite mob writer around, that’s
for sure. So here’s one for the little
guys! Dana King’s Grind Joint will be published in 2014 by Stark House Press. How cool is that?
Girlchild, by Tupelo Hassman … a coming of age story of life
in a trailer park for a very bright young girl haunted by her genetic
misfortune (as she defines it). Not for
the faint of heart. The young
protagonist Rory Dawn Hendrix has four brothers she rarely gets to see
(Hendrix, Hendrix, Hendrix and Hendrix—the 4H club). Her mom started having them VERY young (Rory
came during her sixteenth year) and life hasn’t been a bowl of cherries by any
means. Grandma (who maintains faith in
Rory) has a gambling problem. Rory’s Mom
(Johanna) wants nothing more than to break the spell the women of her family
seem to suffer. She calls Rory Girlchild
and although she’s protective and as well meaning as any other mom, she has her
own issues (drinking/men) that too often get in the way. Life in the Calle de Las Flores trailer park
is tough enough without the extra burdens of pedophiles like the Hardware Man
(the father of a friend of Rory’s). The
Girlchild’s exceptional intellect (she’s a reader like her mom and a spelling
bee maven) makes her uncomfortable enough to hold back when she can almost
break free. As comfortable as she seems
in this dark world of have-nots, things will get darker. Sometimes even a girl scout handbook doesn’t
hold the answers. No spoilers here … a
good read that encompasses breaking all the rules of the traditional novel
(i.e., pages of redacted text where Rory seems to tell us about the Hardware
Man, etc.) …
Ms. Hassman is an MFA graduate from Columbia University and
she’s obviously off and running … Kirkus Reviews says: With a compelling (if harrowing) story and a wise-child narrator,
Hassman’s debut gives voice—and soul—to a world so often reduced to cliché.
Blackie Noir has an e-story out and it is more than worth
the small investment. Who Mourns for Maggie is a raw, powerful
and poignant tale of those left behind; a homeless woman in the desperate
throes of her addiction(s) spots a potential score as one of her brethren teeters
in a train yard. Aside from the drink
he’s holding, what he may have in his pockets could mean another night or two
(or a dozen) of what has become salvation.
He’s lying across the tracks when a train can be heard and then seen
around the bend … what does Maggie do?
She’ll tell us in her own words … the follow-up story is one of justice
born of wartime camaraderie. Sometimes
survival requires peering into the deepest dark. This one is a winner start to finish. Check it out.
Charlie & Charlotte … my hell of a writer brother from
another mother over in Oklahoma (Daniel Mitchell) raises goats the way I gain
weight. These two I got to name when
they were just littlins … are they adorable or what?
—the birthday boyeeeeeeeee
