Because we could all stand to smile today

Here’s a picture of my (late great) dog Duke, with a hat and a bone in his mouth.

I just thought we needed something to smile about.

(Thanks to Nate for the photo.)

Awkward conversations

Here’s a transcript of an awkward conversation for a thriller writer. Leave it to my son Mark to recognize an aspect of my novels that no reviewer has ever asked about.

Bonus points for the kid throwing in a Game of Thrones reference.

And no, Mark doesn’t actually have an evil twin in the attic.

The Shadow Tracer: Library Journal reviews

Library Journal gets my Friday off to a great start:

“Single mother Sarah Keller makes a living by tracking down folks on the run from, say, debt or prison. But maybe she’s on the run herself; after her five-year-old, Zoe, is in a school bus accident, tests show that she’s not the daughter of Sarah but of Sarah’s sister Beth, who was murdered. Now Sarah has a lot to prove. A standalone from the Edgar Award winner that should not be missed.”

And even better, LJ includes the novel on its list for “A Suspenseful Summer: Ten Thrillers for the Hot Months Ahead.”

Yes, you may picture me jumping around like a dork. Thanks for letting me brag on the good news for my novel. As you were.

Geoguessr

Google Street View is an amazing tool for writers. If you want to get a sense of a faraway place you can’t visit, you can use Street View and feel as though you’re walking around the locale — whether that’s Tokyo, San Francisco, Rio, or the Australian outback.

Geoguessr is a game to warm a thriller writer’s — or geography geek’s — heart. It drops you at a random unnamed spot on the globe, and you have to guess where you are. Try it. I dare you to stop playing.

Mwahahaha.

In the comments: I offer hints on how I’ve been playing the game.

A few writery links, just for you

Here, have some links to entertaining articles about writers and writing.

First, Kate sends this link to the TV Tropes entry on Chekhov’s Gun.

“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”
—Trope Namer Anton Chekhov (From S. Shchukin, Memoirs. 1911.)

Chekhov’s Gun is a literary technique whereby an unimportant element introduced early in the story becomes significant later on…. Many people consider the phrase “Chekhov’s gun” synonymous with foreshadowing (and they are related), but statements the author made about the Gun can be more properly interpreted as “do not include any unnecessary elements in a story.”

Recently I used Checkhov’s Gun to explain why a movie some friends and I had just watched felt disastrously disappointing. The film was about two men repainting lines on country roads in Texas after a wildfire in the 1980s. It opened with a written introduction that said: The fire was arson. The perpetrator has never been caught.

Cut to: two guys having coffee over an open flame before they get to work in the fire zone. Hmm.

But no. The movie was just about two guys painting lines on country roads.

TV Tropes’ list of items stocked in “Checkhov’s Gun Depot” is entertaining. Kate particularly likes “Checkhov’s Volcano.” As do I.

Second, check out these pages from the official 1967 Star Trek writers’ guide.

THE STAR TREK SCRIPT FORMAT.

THE TEASER.

We open with action, always establishing a strong jeopardy, need, or other “hook.”  It is not necessary to establish all the back story in the teaser. Instead, we tantalize the audience with a promise of excitement to come. For example, it can be as simple as everyone tense on the bridge, hunting down a marauding enemy ship… then a tale-telling blip is sighted on the screen and the Captain orders “ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS.” Fade out, that’s enough.

Fantastic stuff, says she who has only once worn a Starfleet Captain’s shirt to a Star Trek exhibition. Honest.

Finally, 30 Pieces of Wisdom from Stephen King Novels.

It’s a great list of pithy quotes. Such as this one, from Wizard and Glass:

Fools are the only folk on the earth who can absolutely count on getting what they deserve.

There’s also a quiz. Enjoy.

What movies and books have you skipped?

It’s confession time. What famous movies have you never seen? What classic books have you never read?

I’ll go first.

I’ve never seen Citizen Kane. Or The Bodyguard.

I’ve never read Harry Potter. Or Catcher in the Rye.

I know. It’s shameful. In fact, a couple of years ago my children were so horrified to learn of the modern classics I’d never read that they bought me a bunch of them for my birthday. One of those was Salinger’s iconic book. And today it’s on my office bookshelf, 5,000 miles away, waiting. Kids, don’t kill me.

Anybody else?

Street scenes: Austin

Because everything rocks in Austin, attorneys should too.

And here are a few legal cases in the news. Maybe one of these people could use a rockin’ lawyer.

8 Charged in $45 million High-Tech Heist. And two of the guys posed for a photo with $40,000 of the cash the authorities say they were laundering.

Florida Man Escapes Police, Is Mauled by Alligator.

And finally, courtesy of the mighty Kitsap Sun: Man angry at neighbors goes on bulldozer rampage in Washington State.