Short Thoughts on Short Fiction Vol. 10: Vacation Edition

Greetings from beautiful San Diego, California, ladies (yeah, like any woman would be caught dead reading a dork fest publication like BSCReview), geeks, and circus freaks. I’m here in one of the most beautiful cities on the Left coast enjoying a much needed vacation from the day job with the Rawson clan, but since I just started this whole review gig last week, I didn’t think it would be that cool for me to skip out on my duties after a single column, so here I am taking a few minutes away from my precious family fun time to review some pulp.

But before I get to the reviews, I thought I’d pass along some cool links to a couple of contests that have popped up over the last few weeks that all you writer types might be interested in participating in.

First up is the Watery Grave short story invitational over at Cory Wilde’s review blog, the Drowning Machine. What makes the contest so unique is that you actually have to apply in order to participate in the competition. There is a cash prize involved, so it’s needless to say that the cream of internet pulp writers are throwing their hats into the ring. Plus, the judges of the contest are just as impressive as the prize; along with Wilde, the mystery dawg, Aldo Calcagno, and critically acclaimed novelist Dave Zeltserman will be reading and scoring the accepted entries. If you want to participate, click HERE for all the vitals. The deadline for this one is approaching fast, so if you want in on it, you better hurry.

Now on to contest #2

This one comes from short story writer/film maker/all around Renaissance man extraordinaire, Eric Beetner. It’s a theme-based flash fiction contest celebrating the release of Eric and his writing partner JB Kohl’s first novel, One Too Many Blows to the Head. It should be a fun competition all around, so make sure to check it out right HERE.

And here’s a quick link to the newest issue of perennial crime/noir webzine, the Back Alley. I’ve just started reading through this entry, but so far it’s a good one. New stories by Abbott, Hayden, Mack, Fry, Barnett, Kazimer, and classic crime by Frank Norris. Make sure to check it out if you haven’t already.

     
Okay, now the reviews:

The Enumerator by J.R. Lindermuth, published by A Twist of Noir

Lindermuth’s story focuses on a U.S. census taker attempting to poll a husband and wife living the great American white trash dream, and when our pollster doesn’t get the results he’s looking for from his at-home visit, he takes his frustration out on the couple. As you can guess, this one falls into the cold-blooded psycho category, and in lesser hands the story might have fallen flat on its face, but instead Lindermuth crafts a highly readable piece of flash.

Three stars

     
First Night in a New Town by Libby Cudmore, published by a Twist of Noir

All right, folks, just to let you know, there are certain unwritten rules that I set for myself when I decided to take over Short Thoughts, and one of them is to not review more than one story from a publication per column, but I’m already breaking that rule and with good reason. If you haven’t noticed, Libby Cudmore has been all over the place lately, and the stories she’s been producing have been nothing short of extraordinary; First Night in a New Town is no exception. The story is about an evangelical preacher named Gregory who is new to the town of Crimson City. He’s staying in a run-down flea bag when he hears a knock on the door, and a young prostitute pushes her way into his room to offer her services; Gregory turns her down and then attempts to convert her. The reason I liked this story so much is because it’s exactly the kind of story that I like to both read and write:  a story that straddles genre and makes no apologies for it. A solid, stylistic read.

Three and ½ stars

     
A Living by Gavin Bell, published by Thrillers, Killers, ‘n’, Chillers

In crime fiction, hitman stories are a dime a dozen, and the major issue I have with most hired-killer stories is that the assassin is always a creepy, cold-blooded bastard without an inkling of empathy, so I’ll usually steer clear of any story that features a hitman as its focus. But saying that I more or less walked into A Living blind to the subject matter, I was surprised at how well Bell handled the tried and true device. The story is simple enough:  said killer waits in a hotel bathroom for his mark to return, and as he quietly sits, he thinks about the twists and turns his life has taken since he was a teenager. A Living is quick and quiet; not exactly ground breaking, but fun all the same.

Two and ½ stars

     
Okay, folks, last but not least, I wanted to point out a solid piece of writing you may have missed over the summer, and, to be honest with you, this isn’t so much a review as a nod of the head in the direction of a piece that impressed me.

The piece is Confessions of a Casino Bandit by Michael Condiff; it is CrimeWav.com’s 40th podcast, and what makes it truly unique is that not only is it an original, first-run recording, but also that every word Mr. Condiff is reading is 100% true. Casino Bandit is probably one of the most effective and haunting podcasts CrimeWaV has ever run, so if you’re a fan of writers like Ed Bunker or Jean Genet, make sure to check it out.

Anyway, gang, back to the beach and wish me luck that no one mistakes me for a whale and tries to roll me back into the surf.