Richard,
Voice is everything in fiction. The older I get the more I
use my "voice." If you seriously study your favorite books
and authors, I think you'll realize it was always the voice
that got to you. Of course, by "voice" we mean much more than
the words: we mean the attitude, the particular choice of
metaphor, the way we look at the world, the personal "tics."
That is why Daniel Woodrell is my contemporary favorite
writer---that voice of his.
Thanks for reading NIGHT OF THE TOADS, it has always been a
favorite. In fact, you might say it is my first "real" Dan
Fortune novel.
I chose first person for the Fortune books because a PI is by
nature an observer, commentator, and narrator. And I wanted
the sense that Danny himself was writing the books, a style I
developed much farther in the last seven books. (If you check
all my Slot-Machine stories when Crippen publishes them, I
think you'll find that the last Slot's are also first
person.)
I also used first person for my Paul Shaw novels. It's
natural for a PI voice.
For Kane Jackson I wanted more distance, more detachment,
more noirish so used close third. It seemed right for a more
cynical, more professional man who essentially does the job,
and leaves an entirely different personal life totally
divorced from his "work."
Dennis-Michael
----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Moore" <
moorich2@aol.com> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Saturday, May 14,
2005 5:33 PM Subject: RARA-AVIS: Fortune/First person
> One of the best things about the programmed aspects
of this list is
> that it prompts people to try authors new to them or
return to old
> favorites. I've admired and enjoyed Dennis Lynds'
fiction under its
> various guises for more than forty years. But time
has passed since
> my last foray and having Dennis as a guest here
prompted me to pick
> up a Dan Fortune novel that I had missed before:
NIGHT OF THE
> TOADS. What a nice read!! The older I get the more
importance I
> place on "voice." It provides comfort to the reader,
especially in a
> series. It is what builds a following. Favorite
series become like
> comfort food--something that starts with an
advantage of familiarity
> without limiting too much what may
follow.
>
> Here's a question for Dennis: how did you decide on
First Person for
> the Dan Fortune stories? Slot-Machine Kelly was in
third person as
> were the Mike Shayne novelettes ghosted at the same
time under the
> Brett Halliday name. Given that much you were
writing was in the
> third person, what made you turn to first
person?
>
> My opinion is that first person works very well for
Dan Fortune. The
> series fits into the PI tradition very comfortably
and I don't think
> it would have been the same in third
person.
>
> I've known people who would not even bother to read
third person PI
> novels. Despite my fondness for the first person, I
have never gone
> that far. But it is one of the crucial decisons that
every author
> has to make. Hence my question to Dennis.
>
> Richard Moore
>
>
>
>
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
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