The Carcassonne Sandwich

To celebrate “The Carcassonne Dream” turning a year old, here again is the recipe for the legendary sandwich that drives honeymooner Dan to desperate measures. As crisis deepens and he closes in on the final ingredients, he ultimately must choose where his fate lies: with his new bride or his dream sandwich. FULL DISCLOSURE 1: the story isn’t crime like…… Continue reading The Carcassonne Sandwich

Behind: “Sparks to the Bear’s Hide”

JANUARY 2013, CRITIQUE GROUP, NASHVILLE “If there’s one thing I have no business doing,” I told them, “it’s writing a spy story.” It was a sharp winter’s day, and around our pub table the critique group nodded readily. A little too readily. Crimped in my hands was a draft of the spy story I had been…… Continue reading Behind: “Sparks to the Bear’s Hide”

Show Some Love for Effie Perine

Dashiell Hammett earned his place in literary lore many times over, for amazing fiction but also for presenting the quintessential “lady walks in” opener.  The Maltese Falcon kicks off with a scene borrowed into cliché. Secretary Effie Perine leans into PI Sam Spade’s office and says: “There’s a girl out here who wants to see you.” Plot summaries barely mention Effie, and when…… Continue reading Show Some Love for Effie Perine

Behind: “Uprisings at Cap d’Antibes”

There’s nothing like a good, old-school revolution to get a story going. Great or small, a lightning coup or decades in the making, needed change or epic tragedy. Revolution, for better or worse, is essentially human. The idea of a revolution wriggled into my brain some time back. In my fiction usually a form of natural order wins…… Continue reading Behind: “Uprisings at Cap d’Antibes”

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