When I learned the proposed title/idea for the SleuthSayers' anthology was
“Two crooks walk into a bar…” – I chuckled. Felt like another school homework assignment because I don't go to bars, haven't been in one for a drink since the mid-70s and those were discos where I danced more than drank. Wouldn't be familiar turf, more like writing about two guys walking across the Gobi desert. It was a challenge I became eager to take.Some may ask how can I be a New Orleanian and not frequent bars. Well, I don't like jazz music either. I've been a rock-and-roll fan since the last 50s.
OK, I did enter bars when I was a cop, searching for suspects or witnesses to crimes, seeking help from bartenders and barmaids, which brought me to the plot of my story in MURDER, NEAT. I decided to write a simple story and came up with "Flesh Wounds."
It took longer to write than I thought but I like its simplicity.
The set-up – a man staggers from a rainstorm into a bar. There's a lone barmaid inside. There's blood.
I just followed along …
Hope the anthology does well. Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman did a great job in editing and the stories are so well done.
So y'all indulge, take a drink and see what's going on where people get liquored up and sometimes die.
That's all for now,
www.oneildenoux.com
O’Neil, I’ll forgive your not liking jazz and read your story when my copy finally arrives. New Orleans is my favorite city. Is Coop’s Place still there?
ReplyDeleteEdward Lodi
I've only read the first two stories in Murder, Neat so far & they are absolutely top notch.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great anthology, and as I read my way through I am more and more impressed. Wow. Proud to be part of it.
ReplyDeleteWhere, oh where, can I find this anthology? I'm excited to read it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Murder-Neat-SleuthSayers-Michael-Bracken-ebook/dp/B0CSV1RPN9
Deletehttps://bookshop.org/p/books/murder-neat-a-sleuthsayers-anthology-michael-bracken/21021040?ean=9781685125660
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