When characters surprise you

The first time a character did something I wasn't suspecting, it kind of scared me. It wasn't quite on a par with a divine message to put on a suit of armor and go save France but it was freaky nonetheless. It's happened enough now that it's not quite a complete surprise but it can still be unnerving.

Take this week's episode of NoHo Noir. In this episode, homophobic cop Ethan's girlfriend gives birth to his baby after she takes a bad fall. I had a story all worked out where Ethan, who is contemptuous of a particular neighbor, finds out that he's gay after he saves the baby and the mother's life. And he may still find that out about the character, who is currently named "Guy from 108." As I was typing, though, Ethan decided to do something different and the story has a very different outcome.

So for the record, if you read the story and HATE what happens, blame Ethan. I was just the one at the keyboard. Read the story here. The illustration is by Mark Satchwill.

Win a copy of The Devotion of Suspect X

Janet Reid, literary agent, query shark and blogger, is holding another of her 100-word stories over the weekend. The prize this time is a copy of the upcoming novel by Keigo Higashino. This book is getting a lot of advance heat, so if you win, you'll be the first on your block to have a chance to read it. See the details at Janet's site here.

Janet's contests--I call her Janet instead of Ms. Reid because we follow each other's tweets--does these contests frequently and they're great micro-fiction challenges. I've never come close to impressing her with my entries but I persevere nevertheless. Her advice on novel queries is not to be missed. (You get 250 words to get her attention.)

A Decent Man by Keiran Shea

Call it "western noir." New fiction from Keiran Shea is always welcome. Check out his new story at the Flash Fiction Offensive.

A novel novel-writing contest

AuthorStand has just announced their "first annual" novel contest. The contest is free to enter and open to works of more than 50,000 words in any genre. The contest ends July 31st and judging will run until the end of November.

For more information, check out the details here.

Cross My Heart, Hope to Die...

Stick a needle in my eye.

Remember that scene in Star Wars where Darth Vader menaces Princess Leia with the high-tech needle in her eye? If you're like me, you thought, "Okay, I'm brave but I'll tell you pretty much everything to keep you from sticking that needle in my eye."

So imagine my surprise that all thee years later, I'm the willing recipient of monthly eye injections as part of a three-year study to see how well a certain drug performs. (It's a double-blind study but I know I didn't get the placebo because from the first injection, my eyesight was much better.) The first time I was injected I was a wreck. "They're going to stick a needle in my eye!" I announced to everyone who would listen and without exception, everyone responded with a shudder. (I have "eye issues" anyway. To this day I can't look at that eye-slitting scene in Andalusian Dog.)

Now, though, the most stressful thing about my trips to the Retina-Vitreous Clinic is the day-long process. Since my eyes are dilated, I can't read. So mostly I listen. Every person has a story and when you sit next to them while they're waiting for someone to stick a needle in their eye too, you eventually hear their stories. It's a win/win situation. I'm not going blind and I'm getting a lot of "material." And if you ever see a story with needles or eyes, you'll know where I got my inspiration.

New NoHo Noir: The Inheritance

It's Sunday and this episode of NoHo Noir showcases Anna Lee, whose mother died in a car crash in the second episode of the series. For those following the story, Anna and her mother did not get along and now that her mother is dead, she misses her terribly. In this episode, Anna gets news that could change her life.

The story introduces a new character, attorney Ryland Bailey, who will be pivotal in the conclusion of the story introduced last week, "The Good Samaritan."

The illustration is by Mark Satchwill and used actor Scott Wilson as a reference. As always, Mark's illustration provide inspiration for me. In this case, he'd finished the illo before I'd actually finished the story (which happens most weeks) and seeing his interpretation of my vague notions really helps me put the story together.

The theme of this story is, "Money Talks, Bullshit Walks" but I couldn't use that title because my column is PG-rated. (And while the title is "The Inheritance," I keep calling it "The Legacy."

Check out the story here.

Thanks to my good friend Connie Johnson, who just visited from the Windy City where she works for the Queen of All Media, I now have a KINDLE!!! Yes, I can now read ebooks on a DEVICE instead of in PDF copies. I am so jazzed. I'll have to buy a copy of my own book to check it out. (Yes, a shameless self-promotion moment is coming up.) Just Another Day in Paradise is available in the Kindle Store. It's just $3.99.

A new collection of my stories will be published this summer (imaginatively titled Just Another Day in Paradise 2), so you might want to catch up before you fall behind.