[Note from Steve: I’ve decided to title this series of short stories suggested by musical pieces as above, so don’t be surprised to see a short story collection later on that sports this title.  For now, you can read them for free and find it, along with the others, in “Steve’s Shorts.”  This one is inspired by the Second Movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G.  If you think that dude is an impressionist/jazz composer, think again.  This music is about as romantic as you can get.  Enjoy.]

The Tightrope Walker, Part Three of Three

Copyright 2015, Steven M. Moore

“We have a shell casing with a partial,” said the CSI.

“You’re kidding.  Where did you find it?”

“You told us to go over the center ring again where Yuri was practicing.  We were a bit more thorough this time, that’s all.  Or luckier.  It was wedged into a seam in the ring’s border with moist sawdust.”

“By someone?”

“Probably not.  Probably just kicked there.  Everyone practices in that main ring.  The only ring.  It’s a small circus.”

I nodded.  “OK, so who’s the partial belong to?”

“You’re not going to believe this,” said the CSI with a smile.

“Try me.”

“Cynthia Brock.”  Thought a moment; then I jumped up.  “Where are you going, Detective?”

“I need to see if Cynthia was in the circus that night watching the practice,” I said.

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[Note from Steve: This week’s featured movies were both directed by women.  That’s probably a good thing.  Men tend to make high testosterone action flicks; women more pensive flicks about social situations.  Which is better?  Dunno, but maybe the day will come when we turn these stereotypes on their heads.  These films are comfortable both comfortable fits—you won’t be dropping your box of popcorn.]

Learning to Drive.  Isabel Coixet, dir.  Ben Kingsley does well in every movie he’s in, even as a fake terrorist in Iron Man.  He seems to delight in playing exotic characters, too.  Here he’s a Sikh cab driver by night and driving instructor by day in the most polyglot of cities, New York.  Patricia Clarkson plays a woman who’s an emotional wreck because her husband of many years leaves her for a younger woman.  Kingsley is spot on, Clarkson overacts.  Cultural contrasts play a starring role.  There are some comedic moments and some dramatic ones.  Sikhs are often misunderstood and wrongly persecuted in this country.  Kingsley’s character was even persecuted in India along with his family.  Lots of visual tidbits to watch for here—discrimination against the Sikh’s arranged bride by a black store clerk, for example.  Worth seeing, and B+ (PG-13, but G except for one scene).

The Intern.  Nancy Myers, dir.  Robert De Niro saves this movie like Kingsley saves the last one.  He plays a seventy-year-old intern, applying for the job because he’s bored with retirement.  As an ex-VP, his character understands corporate dynamics a lot more than the internet startup’s owner, played by Anne Hathaway.  De Niro’s character thinks she’s fit for the job; you probably won’t.  The worst character is her philandering husband, although you can’t blame the guy completely—Hathaway’s character is immersed in her business, to say the least.  The plot was weak.  The highlight, about the middle of the movie, wasn’t enough to save it.  De Niro did.  A pleasant piece of fluff, I suppose, so I’ll give it a B-; it’s worth going to in order to see a master at work (completely G, although your kids wouldn’t understand any of it).

CSI: the Final Episode.  Not exactly a movie, but movie-length, last Sunday’s final episode of the 15-year-old show was a bit nostalgic, weird as always, and irregular.  Many regulars returned, including Grissom.  Heather, the S&M lady turned therapist, is also back.  The case is weird because it involves her and her clients.  It’s also a bit sappy at the end.  The bombs never looked real to me (some were).  They never explained who the crispy critter in the burned car was.  But if you grew to like this forensics-art show and get past the bad science (immediate turn-around on DNA tests, for example), this show was steady entertainment from a well-aged franchise.  It was the original and always the best of the CSI spinoffs.  TV drama as it used to be—not HBO, Netflix, or other cable lightweights; this one rates an B+ (in spite of all the blood, gore, and sexual innuendoes and situations, it’s still PG-13).  If you missed it, catch it any way you can.

In elibris libertas….

Stereotypes can be misleading.  They’re often originally based in some truth.  NYC used to have a lot of Irish cops, for example—maybe not so much anymore.  Maybe blonds do have more fun, but with both sexes dying their hair all the colors of the rainbow, who can say that this is still true?  Oxymorons can mislead too.  Intelligent politician, ethical businessperson, fair media, and so forth can be a lot of fun, but whether they’re true isn’t often so obvious.

I guess a stereotypical oxymoron is doubly questionable.  Honest lawyer, for example, might bring to mind ambulance chasers, defenders of MLB drug users, and sleazy legal departments at polluting corporations, but undoubtedly malign many lawyers out there who strive to make people’s encounters with the law as painless as possible, often taking cases pro bono because either the persons can’t pay up front or they’re overwhelmed by life’s tragedies.

An author has to be careful with both.  Both can be used, especially in dialog.  People often use stereotypes in ordinary speech; they often use oxymorons without realizing it too.  One can spice up speech that way by using them.  One can have one character correct their use by another character.  But an author has to be careful.  If s/he wants to show a character’s a bigot, have him use a bigoted stereotype, but a misuse can spell disaster.

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[Note from Steve: I’ve decided to title this series of short stories suggested by musical pieces as above, so don’t be surprised to see a short story collection later on that sports this title.  For now, you can read them for free and find it, along with the others, in “Steve’s Shorts.”  This one is inspired by the Second Movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G.  If you think that dude is an impressionist/jazz composer, think again.  This music is about as romantic as you can get.  Enjoy.]

The Tightrope Walker, Part Two of Three

Copyright 2015, Steven M. Moore

Cynthia had become involved in theater in college.  I began snooping around in that world and discovered a nexus with Yuri through Arthur Hill.  While Hill clearly didn’t have time now to spend the summer at a convent in a theater group, he had acted while in college.  Before becoming engrossed in his work, he had also acted in a local theater with Cynthia.

“Hill played Romeo and Cynthia Juliet in one production,” said the director of that thespian group.  “I’ll have to say they both gave it their all.  Our local rag said something like ‘lust over love in the new Romeo and Juliet production,” if I recall.  It was quite the success, at least on our level.”

“Was Yuri Ledovskoy present at any of the rehearsals or functions?” I said.

“Can’t help you there.  I don’t know the fellow, and I pay no attention to who’s in the audience.  The theater’s dark anyway.  I do recall both Cynthia and Arthur saying they practiced their lines with someone.  Maybe that was Ledovskoy?  No, I take it back.  It was a woman.  Maybe one of Cynthia’s friends.  God knows, it was so long ago.”

I handed him my card.  “If you happen to remember the woman’s name, call me.  Did Cynthia and Arthur seem close outside the production?”

“Not really.  There was just a lot of chemistry on stage.  I didn’t see much off.”

“Did Cynthia ever mention a boyfriend or someone she wanted to be with?”

“My dear, I think Cynthia pursued many males.  She even pursued me and was furious when she found out I’m gay.”  He shrugged.  “Not much I could do about that, right?”

“I guess not.”  I could commiserate with Cynthia’s disappointment.  The director was a good-looking hunk.

***

Two days before Cynthia was due back from her summer theater sojourn, I had developed quite a background file on the case.  My lieutenant was getting antsy as the pile of caseloads on my desk grew.  And we seemed to have much more to do because the uniforms spent more time on the street now.  “Integrating with the community,” the Commish called it.  Or, was that the mayor?  Having once been in uniform, I know for a fact that uniforms were a great help to detectives, offloading a lot of grunt work in solving crimes.  I missed that now as a detective.

“No leads yet?” he said.

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Let’s give the old guy credit: he was received in the U.S. like a rock star and showed more resilience and stamina than men half his age.  Moreover, he’s speaking out on progressive issues.  On the plane en route to the U.S. from Cuba, a reporter asked if he was a leftist.  He replied something to the effect that everything he does is commensurate with the gospels.  Translation: Christ was a progressive revolutionary AND a religious man.  The two went hand and hand, no matter what conservative wonks think (some are right-wing Catholics, of course).

He’s painted environmental concerns as a moral issue that transcends all religions.  Climate change is a pressing concern for every human being on this planet, not to mention Gaia’s flora and fauna.  It’s the moral imperative of this generation to protect Gaia and all her creatures, according to the pope.  Of course, I didn’t need his encyclical to realize that.  Many people didn’t.  And a few are either too greedy and/or stupid, that they’ll resist that idea until they die, which might be sooner than later if we don’t deal with the pressing environmental problems.

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The more the merrier.  Born Lew Alcindor, NYC native Kareem Abdul-Jabbar certainly doesn’t have to worry about name recognition.  The 2.18 m (7’2”) NBA legend said in the Sydney Morning Herald (9/19): “…writing has basically been what I wanted to do the whole time.” Meaning?  He had a day-job (day-and-night-job?) that distracted him because he had to put food on the family table?  At any rate, we have something in common.  By the way, his new book, Mycroft Holmes, is #10!  I think they all are written with a co-author, this one with Anna Waterhouse (I couldn’t find much on her).  Anyone read this ebook?  I won’t be reading it soon.  It’s currently priced at $10.69 (Amazon Kindle), far above my $5 threshold.

Is the hype over?  I guess people came to their senses when they discovered that the MC in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was a Southern bigot and that the “new book” was just the original MS of Mockingbird rejected by the original editor.  Thankfully, the hype has settled down.  Maybe questions still linger?  Did Ms. Lee really want this failed MS released?  Did a greedy publisher take advantage of her?  Did the lawyer handling her affairs screw up?  We’ll probably never know.  I never liked Mockingbird, so I’m sure I wouldn’t like Go Set a Watchman.  I’m not even curious.  Correction: I’m curious to know the answers to those questions.

Jackie Collins.  Never liked her work.  She was the epitome of a schlock-meister with her steamy romances.  It’s hard to speak badly of the dead when she fought breast cancer, though.  The big C is one of the grim reaper’s most gruesome tools, no matter the form it takes.  And it seems to have incredible staying power in spite of the decades of research done.  Here’s to Jackie and all cancer fighters across our land and the world.  Maybe the 21^st century will see this often lethal weapon taken from the grim reaper’s hands.

An interesting discussion.  As an avid reader, you’ve probably noticed a new trend in ebooks—the $0.99 short story.  That’s right—one short story for $0.99.  Similarly, even traditional publishers are releasing excerpts from novels—two or three chapters designed “to hook the reader.”  In a Goodreads discussion thread, I objected to these practices.  I can’t say comments were overwhelmingly pro or con about these new wrinkles designed to capture readers’ attentions.  What’s your take?

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Design your campaign to your book.  Determine the audience for your book.  Use social media.  Give away freebies.  Start a book blog.  Accumulate hundreds of reviews.  Turn your website into a sales engine.  These are platitudes book PR reps and marketers throw at authors everyday.  And not just at indie authors.  Traditionally published authors who aren’t the prize stallions in traditional publishing’s stables—in other words, authors without the brand names (and formulaic output) of Baldacci, Child, Deaver, Grafton, Higgins-Clark, King, Koontz, and so forth—often have to create their own PR and marketing campaigns, while traditional publishing spams readers with full-page ads and TV promos for the afore-mentioned cash cows (yeah, I know, stallions and cash cows make for an amusing mixed metaphor—I just need the cowboys to have a Chisholm Trail).

Book PR reps and marketers give a lot of sophistic advice that’s often worthless, although they make promises like “Do it my way, and your book will make you rich.”  DIY and how-to books, ditto.  So-called marketing gurus running discussions on LinkedIn and elsewhere, ditto.  Always the SOS, and to be nice, let’s say that means “Same Old Sophisms” (I know—I’ve reviewed a few of these books and read the gurus “sage advice” on LinkedIn and elsewhere, and I’ve concluded that Sturgeon’s Law applies well here).  Most of these people don’t care what they say as long as what the platitudes they spew sound good enough to attract unsuspecting authors into forking over lots of money.  The X-files advice rings true here: trust no one!

Not all PR reps and marketers are jerks, but Sturgeon’s Law does apply to most and their advice.  You can gamble big and you can gamble small (they prefer big, of course), but beware the guru who says, “X is a bestselling author and s/he did Y; if you use Y, you’ll do well too.”  Sophism or platitude is a polite name for that.  X wrote a book that unpredictable readers loved.  Ask those readers if they read X’s book because of Y, and you’ll be surprised at the answers.  As a corollary to Sturgeon’s law, I’d be surprised if 90+% didn’t buy the book because someone told them about it—friends, family, or on social media (but not ads).  Readers see most self-promotion via ads and so forth as spam; authors see it as spamming.

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(Katherine Hayton, Breathe and Release, Hayton, 2015, ISBN 978-0473330545)

I don’t know whether to call this mystery or horror or psychological thriller.  It has elements of all three, a deliciously evil blend that might remind some of The Silence of the Lambs (a book actually mentioned in this novel).  Be prepared.  Harris’ novel was simple in comparison to this one!

Elisabet was in a terrible accident; she’s now an amnesiac.  Lillian is a prisoner, locked in a basement cell without food and water.  Graeme is Elisabet’s ex; their divorce hasn’t been finalized, so he takes his amnesiac wife “home” to abuse her.  Kristen is Elisabet’s step-daughter; she hates her second mum and loves Daddy.  These interesting characters drive this story of violence, jealousy, and revenge.

The author cleverly takes her readers and these characters along a road of discovery, a road filled with twists and turns, multiple detours in space and time, and shifting points of view.  I can’t say much more in order to avoid spoilers, but I will state that things aren’t what they seem.  I began to figure out what’s really happening about halfway through in one of the flashbacks, but even then there were many surprises left.

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[Note from Steve: Today it’s a doubleheader.  Here you have part one of a short story.  Next you have a book review of a very intense and weird book, but in a good way.  The short story is a new one in my continuing series of stories inspired by music.  I’ve decided to title this series of short stories as above, so don’t be surprised to see a short story collection later on that sports this title.  For now, you can read them for free and find it, along with the others, in “Steve’s Shorts.”  This one is inspired by the Second Movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G.  If you think that dude is an impressionist/jazz “classical” composer, think again.  This music is about as romantic as you can get.  Enjoy.  And don’t forget the review.]

The Tightrope Walker, Part One of Three

Copyright 2015, Steven M. Moore

Yuri Ledovskoy was the son of immigrants.  His father had been a doctor; his mother a pianist and prof in a local music school.  I accepted the tea she offered.  Didn’t like it much, although I’ve heard it’s an Irish staple, but some people even in the U.S. think it’s the civilized thing to offer.  Couldn’t much turn it down.  I was on duty, but tea didn’t qualify as an alcoholic beverage that would impair my on-the-job performance.

I’d introduced myself to Mrs. Ledovskoy at the ME’s when she came to identify her son’s body.  She immediately went from Sgt. Myra O’Connell, NYPD Homicide, to just plain Myra.  Made me think she was a good music teacher, at least in making her students comfortable.  The situation was worse for her than me.

Not exactly pleasant circumstances; her life would start and end badly.  Both she and her husband had been in Nazi camps as very young children.  They weren’t Jews, but the SS had also put suspected commies in the camps after Stalin joined up with Churchill and later Roosevelt to defeat the Nazis.  We’d agreed to meet at her house because I had some more background questions.

The ME had declared the case a homicide.  It was an unusual one.  The son was practicing his circus tightrope walk when he fell.  He broke many things when he landed, but the ME said he was already dead.  Someone had shot him from below—a gun with a silencer, no doubt, because there was a small audience even for a rehearsal—the bullet had entered the base of the neck and out the top of his head, so he was shot on the wire.  Every member in the circus was under suspicion.

“If you’ll pardon me saying so, didn’t your son have an unusual profession for someone who has such accomplished parents?”

Evgeniya Ledovskoy eyed me over the brim of her cup.  “You don’t have children, I take it?”

As a detective, a person answering a question with another question is problematic.  In this case, it was also personal.  I eyed the elderly woman a moment.  She was pale and wrinkled, but her blue eyes beamed intelligence and good humor.

“Not yet,” I said with a smile.  My mother had five by my age.  I wasn’t that good of a Catholic.  You say Hail Mary and I first think of a last minute pass in a football game, a la Doug Flutie.  “Maybe someday.”

“We only had Yuri, but that’s irrelevant.  Parents should let their children seek their own futures.  We can guide them, educate them, and offer them different opportunities, but they must make their own choices.  We have the freedom to do that in this country.  It’s an important one.  Parents shouldn’t push their children into bad choices.  It only can breed resentment in future years.”

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Item. A thank you.  If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re a reader of my blog.  I thank you for reading.  I’m now averaging about 15K visitors per month to my website; I thank all of you—everyone’s welcome.  Blog readers probably make up a good portion of those visitors—I estimate at least 9K—so hopefully you’re having as much fun reading my posts as I do writing them.

I can’t say that number of visits translates into ebook sales, though.  I realize some of you borrow ebooks (Prime, Unlimited, Oyster, and Scribd, for example); I don’t have stats on you.  I just see book sales on Amazon and Smashwords.  Of course, I also thank you if you’re a book reader, even if you don’t read my books.  Did you know we’re an endangered species?

You all know my philosophy: If I can entertain just one person with an ebook, that ebook is a success.  If I can entertain and/or inform just one person with a blog post, that post is a success.  If just one person makes an informed buying decision with each book or movie review, that review is a success.  If just one author is helped by one of my posts on writing, that post is a success.  I don’t set my bars high.  I don’t have to.

Item. A second thank you.  Janella Fila wrote a good review of Muddlin’ Through on Readers’ Favorite.  I don’t have many reviews, but many of them show the reviewer enjoyed a good tale.  I like to read a good story; I try to write them.  In some cases when I get in the zone and everything clicks, the story turns out surprisingly well, and I ask myself, “Who was that guy who wrote that?  Why can’t I be him all the time?”  But my goal is always to be entertaining and thoughtful.

Janella wrote an excellent summary of Muddlin’ Through and found ex-USN Master-at-Arms Mary Jo Melendez an interesting and complex female protagonist.  She also figured out what I was trying to do with the story.  Kudos to her and all my reviewers who understand what I try to accomplish in my ebooks.  You all deserve my thanks.  Sometimes it’s scary; you understand me better than I do!

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