-----Original Message-----
>From: Michael Robison <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Jul 8, 2007 5:43 AM
>To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RARA-AVIS: Blonde Lightning
>
>Mario wrote:
>
>Well, noir isn´t dead.
>
>************
>I wholeheartedly agree. There seems to be an
idea
>floating around that because of the time
spread
>between now and the origins of noir, that
whatever
>comes out now must be some hybrid of original noir.
I
>don't buy that.
>
>Terrill Lankford's Shooters is a good example of
pure
>noir written in contemporary times. It is a
fantastic
>book. Intense with a solid protagonist. It
balances
>depth and entertainment, something that a shallow
guy
>like me might otherwise tend to see as
mutually
>exclusive.
>
Thanks a lot, Miker. But I have to admit that, like Jason and
Vicki, I didn't consciously set out enter the noir derby when
I wrote that book in the early 90s (it was based on a piece
of material I had written in 1985). I was just trying to tell
a story. When my publisher told me that both of my first two
books would be categorized as noir - and that noir was a very
hard sell - I felt I should have done a little market
research before trying to enter the book business. Noir
wasn't fashionable back then. (It seems I'm always either too
early or too late to cash in on a trend. I should probably
get a subscription to PEOPLE magazine.)
>I just finished Blonde Lightning and loved it
too.
>Not quite the same level of desperation as
in
>Shooters, but sharp and intelligent and witty
(laugh
>out loud funny without descending to stupid
like
>Hiaasen). It is a fine book. The description of
the
>mechanics of Hollywood low-budget movies was
great.
>My only regret is that I didn't read
Earthquake
>Weather first. I've got it but didn't realize
until
>too late that Blonde Lightning comes after
it.
>
Again, thanks much. You are a very tough critic, so I'm glad
that book passed muster with you. I hope you can still read
Earthquake Weather despite the fact that you now know some of
the characters' fates. (But there is a whole different group
of miscreants in that one as well. Many of the characters
don't overlap the two books.)
And thanks to everyone else who posted about Blonde Lightning
today. I, myself, enjoy a pat on the back once in a while.
Lets me know that the work wasn't a complete waste of
time.
Blonde Lightning might serve as a good example of how the
public and the marketing departments have adopted and mutated
the word "noir." Entertainment Weekly called it a "zippy
noir" in their otherwise very nice review. What the hell is a
"zippy noir"? (No "Zippy the Pinhead" jokes, please.) And if
noir is so fashionable now and if BL is noir, why oh why, did
it not sell better? How can a man continue to write zippy
noirs if the public doesn't support them? (I think I'm
beginning to channel Eli Roth now.)
>And Terrill, I'm dying to know who Scott Hewitt
was
>modelled on. Can you tell without going to court
over
>the answer?
>
>miker
Scott Hewitt was based on my experiences with late Larry
Tierny. There are some creative additions to his character,
but most of the events and even a lot of his dialogue
actually happened in real life. I probably should have given
him a co-credit on the book. He was quite an interesting
person.
I know our buddy, Kevin Smith, has lodged many complaints
about writers who use variations of real events in their
books, but for me, if I can't relate sections of what I'm
writing to events I have experienced or heard about from
others' experiences, then I wonder what book or movie my
eroding brain is lifting it from. I usually only use these
events as a starting point to build on, but in the case of
Larry/Scott, his stuff just wrote itself. Shameless of me, I
know, but I really enjoyed "writing" those scenes.
TL
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 08 Jul 2007 EDT