My Very First Panel

Will happen at Thrillerfest

The Avengers

Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am

Private eyes see that justice is done when cops fail.

P.J. Parrish, Panel Master




Timothy Hallinan
Harry Hunsicker
Tim Maleeny
Dave White

The Story

Back in High School, Brian, Ryan and I started... The Story...

It was an oral tradition and involved super powers, space travel, rubles and Moonstar... it was whacked and eventually moved into email. Occasionally we have started new stories.

We are starting it again... A serialized story we will write through email and then post on the blog. If you are interested, you can follow it here. Expect inside jokes, expect whackiness... expect the unexpected.

Oh, and possibly expect it to end unexpectedly...

Stay Tuned for Part One, by Ryan.

And Part Two, by Me

The New York Yankees

In 1995, Major League Baseball came off of the maligned strike. The New York Yankees, then managed by straight laced Buck Showalter were expected to run away with the division and capture it's first American League title since 1981.

However, the team scuffled early on. Power hitter Danny Tartabull struggled. Don Mattingly was dropped to sixth or seventh in the lineup. Jack MacDowell flipped off the crowd. Their closer, John Wetteland caused everyone to bite their nails. The Boston Red Sox ran away with the division. Mo Vaughn rode a horse (poor horse). The Yankees--at one point--slipped into last place.

But, this was the first year of the wild card. And with young pitchers, Andy Pettite and Mariano Rivera (sometimes a starter, some a reliever). The Yankees started to win some games. Don Mattingly hit three home runs (I think--it may have been two) on cap day and caps showered down from the stands.

A former New York superstar came back to town from KC... David Cone. Danny Tartabull was traded for Ruben Sierra. The Yankees made a run and won the wild card. Don Mattingly touched the dirt.

This year the Yankees have been terrible. They are tied for last place. A Rod's hit some home runs. Jeter and Posada have been, well, Jeter and Posada. But the pitching's been off... Andy Pettite--he's pitched well but the offense hasn't picked him up. Mike Mussina's struggled. (though he hasn't flipped off the crowd yet.) The hitting isn't there. Mariano Rivera has been making us bite our nails for the first time ever. Bobby Abreu is doing a Danny Tartabull impression.

But a former New York superstar is coming back... Rawger.

And it appears there is some young pitching on the horizon... Hughes

Can this team pick itself up and make a run at the wild card?

No.

I don't think they can. They look beaten. They look resigned.

One always hopes, but I don't think the 2007 Yankees are anything like the 1995 team.

OH, and I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't annouced that the 2007 Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball team won the BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP and are a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Go Knights!

If you guys are LOST fans, just... wow

I'm speechless and psyched about seeing what happens next (in January)... if you are too, have at it in the comments section (Mark your spoilers) and I'll join you...

Wow.

Official Back Cover Copy

THIS IS WHAT CAN HAPPEN ...

A hit and run. Simple as that. And suddenly harmless old Gerry Figuroa is lying dead on the asphalt. New Jersey cop turned private investigator Jackson Donne sure as hell doesn’t want to investigate his drinking buddy’s death, but he’s made a promise that leaves him no choice.

And before long, he's drawing uncomfortably close to a murderer.

Meanwhile, an apparently routine divorce case takes a dangerous turn, and sinister connections to Gerry's death start to emerge. Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, Donne learns that a bitter old enemy is mixed up in the whole mess. Bill Martin, his ex-Narcotics Department partner, has secrets to expose that could re-open the still-aching wounds of Donne's past. Permanently.

Donne would like nothing better than to crawl back into a bottle and forget he ever heard Gerry Figuroa’s name, but it’s too late for that. Now he’s in way too deep, tangled up in a plot whose tendrils reach deep into his town’s past—and his own.

... WHEN ONE MAN DIES

The Sopranos: Episode 7

Tony buys and sends Carmella an engraved watch. Meanwhile, AJ is depressed after being involved in the beating last week. He is questioning his family's greed with all the hell and damnation going on in the world. It appears that instead of becoming more like Tony after his experiences, he is becoming less like him, worrying more about the world than the life. It appears that in fact, AJ "gets it," not Tony And it's driving him deeper into depression, leading him to drop out of school. And eventually attempt suicide. He can't even do that right. Eventually Tony saves him (with a perfect line "AJ, what the f--- did you do?" And then treating him like a child. His son). They put him in the psyche ward. Hm. And Carmella shows what truly clueless parents they've been, saying "He was always so happy." I don't think AJ has ever been happy.

Tony is still feeling the effects of Christopher's death and his experience with peyote. Trying to talk to the boys about it, but he can't bring himself to own up to what happened completely. Tony is still focused on business, not reforming his life. Yet, he's still talking to the Feds about the Arabs who frequented the Bing.

Tony goes to Phil about the asebestos problem. Phil refuses to allow Tony to negotiate. Tony reacts by pulling the jobs and therefore sending no money to NYC, which--of course--doesn't make New York happy.

The episode spirals into Tony's dealing with the fallout of AJ's attempt. It appears that Tony is losing the ones he's considered sons. Chris is killed by Tony's hand, and AJ attempts suicide. Tony's life is poison, we've always known that, but now we're seeing the fallout of it on those he's considered his heirs. Meanwhile Carmella blames Tony for the fallout.

Until Meadow is threatened by a New Yorker. When Meadow tells Tony, you can see the rage behind his eyes, while he tries to treat it with a smile. This plot thread surprised me more than AJ's attempted suicide. The Sopranos family is starting to constrict under the crime and violence around them. The forward motion of violence on the other members of the Soprano family is something we haven't seen before.

Tony takes it directly to NYC, beating the crap out of the man who propositioned Meadow. The scene is bracketed nicely with Tony dealing with AJ in therapy. Tony finding a tooth in his pants cuff was hilarious.

Meadow early in the episode points out that AJ will always be the son, cared about the most. But it appears that isn't true. Tony considers AJ an idiot and weak. But the affront at Meadow might be enough to cause war with New York. I'd almost believe that if AJ were attack, Tony would think it'd toughen him up.

"Why me?" Tony says to Melfi.

"Why not you?"

"Because I'm a good guy. Basically."

This is what Tony believes. At the same time, the viewer knows it's not true.

No truce is made with New York. It appears once and for all, a war is on the horizon. Phil is fed up, the mercy kill of Tony B, Christopher dying and Phil not having a hand in it, Tony's assault on one of his own without permission. Phil tells him to go back to Jersey.

The beaten look on Tony's face when he goes to see AJ shows it all. He knows the end is near, and there is nothing he can do to stop it.

So far, this season has been terrific.

Dave White does the Illadelph

Marvel Comics Old Series

What if Lincoln lived?

Double Post

Also posted at Ed's blog...



Whenever I sit down and I read a really good book, I think I want to be someone else. There are days where I want to be Duane, Ray Banks, Al Guthrie, or Laura Lippman (all right let’s be honest, I want to write like Laura… but don’t have the guts to go through all the operations to actually become Laura).

I envy these writers a lot of times because each one does things differently and they do them all well. They write their way. And I want to write like them. But I can’t. I don’t write that way. It wouldn’t come out of me well. And then I get mad. Why not? I ask. Why can’t I write like them?

And that’s when I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that as a writer, I don’t want to be Duane or Ray or Al or Laura. And I shouldn’t. They are entities unto themselves.

So I should want to be Dave White.

And that’s what I think a lot of the best writers do (and I know this is opening up a whole can of worms… NO I DO NOT THINK I AM ONE OF THE BEST WRITERS. BUT I AM STRIVING….) I think they find their own voice.

Yeah, they imitated those they liked when they first started (Parker imitated Chandler, Leonard-Hemingway) but they moved on from that. They moved away and found their own voice.

So my goal is not to be the next so and so… it’s to be the first Dave White…

Unless you count the Dave White who reviews movies.

Or the Dave White who was in Bewitched…

or…

(this is just a way to say BUY THE BOOKS that I just mentioned! They're great!)

I Sound Like a Broken Record

but check out Ed Champion's Return of the Reluctant.

Whoa... where'd I go?

I'm still guest blogging over on Ed's blog. Check me out.

Because I'm lazy, and want to get a reaction

I've re-posted my grammar post over at Ed Champion's Return of the Reluctant where I'll be guest blogging on and off over the next two weeks.

The Sopranos: Episode 6 (Spoilers... big time Spoilers)

Christopher Moltisanti is dead. After a car accident, with Tony, Christopher, wheezing in the front seat tells Tony he wouldn't pass a drug test and asks for help. Tony--apparently fearful that he couldn't trust Chris, covers Chris's face and kills his own nephew. The moment is incredibly powerful. One of the most powerful (and shocking) of the show. Chris's own weakness combined with Tony's weakness kills him. Only ten minutes into the episode no less. (Notice how the scene was eerily reminscent of Tony's accident with Adriana before she was killed.)

We see that Tony continues to isolate himself, taking greater and more violent steps, despite the guilt he feels--or the guilt he says he doesn't feel. A great dichotomy. He refuses to admit guilt, letting it surface in other ways, such as other people whom Tony doesn't think deserves it getting all the sympathetic attention.

Meanwhile, New York and New Jersey have an argument about garbage and asbestos. Leotardo doesn't want to make a deal with Tony because of Chris's death. He feels his revenge has been taken from him again, just like when Tony killed Tony B.

And Paulie's "mother" Nucci dies of natural causes. Few show at her wake, upsetting Paulie. Again, even in death, Paulie is upstaged by Christopher.

At Chris's wake, AJ's friends treat AJ like his father is treated at wakes, offering thin advice and giving hugs, but showing plenty of respect. After beating up another student, it is becoming clear that AJ is turning into his father and Chris. But later in a scene with his psychiatrist, we see that AJ is not Tony or Chris and the violence affects him, even making him cry.

Tony travels to Vegas to "chill out." He uses Chris's Vegas girlfriend for sex and peyote after telling her that Christopher is dead. She tells Tony that he reminds her of Chris--liking to party. Tony clearly doesn't want to talk about Christopher and at the same time does. He doesn't want to remember the bad about Chris, but does want to talk about how Chris's good shines on Tony as well.

With Christopher dying so early in the episode, we see how Tony reacts to the death. Another episode where we see another side of Tony, and as he sits in the desert--stoned and watching the sunset--he stands up and yells "I get it!" What he gets, I'm not sure. Are these the stoned ramblings of an addict or soemthing bigger?
Peyote was a drug of choice of Native Americans. Could Tony finally understand the Ojibwa saying left on his bulletin board when he was shot? Or was the adjustment of the light in the bathroom and the sun in the desert a reflection of the beacon Tony saw while he was in the coma?

Just a brilliant, tense episode. One of the best episodes ever. This has been a strong season so far.

How important is Grammar?

There's a conversation going on on Crimespace about pet peeves of incorrect grammar. Everybody has one. Mine is people saying "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less." But I have another argument as well.

Grammar is not important.

Well, I'll back off of that... simple grammar is something everyone should learn young and grasp. But after that, who really cares?

What is important, and what I stress when I teach, is meaning. A student has to be able to put together an argument or a storyline or a sentence that has meaning. They have to learn how to put together a logical progression and THEN you can go back and fix grammar.

Hell, look at a lot of writing in books these days. People break grammar rules all the time, whether to sound colloquial or to create effect. I understand that you have to understand grammar to break the rules, but grammar should still not be the end all be all of writing.

It should be the least important thing.

National tests these days do not grade on grammar and spelling. They let most errors go as long as it does not affect meaning. Hence, meaning is where we should focus. That's what I work on.

If a story starts:

"Me and you went to the store. Your a giraffe and heads spilld across the road."

I am not going to sit there and help fix the "me and you" and the correct "your" first. I'm going to ask why is there a giraffe in this story, why were there head's spilling across the road, and what does that have to do with the store you went to.

I want to get to the point where someone will write "Me and you went to the store. You bought skittles and I bought a soda."

Then we can go back and fix grammar.

I think people worry about grammar because it's easy to fix. You can--when you edit someone's piece--say well this is wrong and this is wrong and it's easier than saying, but there's a plot hole here on page 202 and I don't know how you can fix it. That involves a back and forth and a conversation.

I'm always willing to talk about writing, be it with students or with other writers. I'm always willing to brainstorm plot ideas and why a paragraph works as a thought. But folks, what it comes down to is this: Whether you are in 8th grade or writing for ten years, most grammatical errors can be fixed by just reading your sentence out loud.

Meaning, however, takes work.

What do you think?

FOR THE RECORD: This is in no way an attempt to trash teachers. I am a teacher and I believe in teachers. All teachers want to make students smarter and more well rounded young men and woman.

However, I think there is an old fashioned thinking vs. a new type of thinking among all citizens of the United States on whether or not grammar should be the key to good writing.

Oh, George

You're an idiot.

Fox News interviewed George Lucas and here's the funniest part:

Lucas told me he has seen all the summer movies since his company, Industrial Light and Magic, does most of the special effects. The only one they didn't work on was "Spider-Man 3." What did he think of it?

"It's silly. It's a silly movie," he said. "There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?"

Well, it's not "Star Wars."

"People thought 'Star Wars' was silly, too," he added, with a wink. "But it wasn't."

Hello, pot? This is Kettle, you're black!

Every Step You Take, Every Move You Make, I'll Be Missin' You... Oh Wait...

In case you haven't heard... in honor of Flashing in the Gutters, Bryon has created a new site called Flash Pan Alley.

Check it out and you can read my story, entitled: "The First."

The Sopranos: Episode 5

Another solid episode. When Paulie tries to boost some saws from Christopher's father-in-law's hardware store, tension brews between the two. Meanwhile, we see the fallout of AJ's break-up.

It appeared that Christopher had found a balance in his life and dealing with his alcoholism. But as the tension between Paulie and Chris builds, Chris feels himself being pulled back into the life. When problems arise, Chris tries to go to Tony, but Tony blows him off. What's interesting here is we see Chris has a violent side whether he drinks or he doesn't, as he pushes Paulie Jr out the window. But it appears alcohol completely pushes Chris over the edge. As he and Paulie apologize to each other, and Chris gets made fun of, he snaps and goes to the screen writer, JT, for help. When JT refuses to help, Chris shoots him.

Meanwhile, Tony feels the only solution to AJ's depression is to have him hang out at frat parties and get drunk. It seems to work, but when two of AJ's friends go to collect on an unpaid bet, then beat the shit out of someone, we see AJ really does love his father's life.

Chris and AJ are like their fathers, we see. Prone to the same problems (violence, alcoholism, and depression) that their relatives were as well.

But the most intersting development seems to be Tony willing to cut some kind of deal with the Feds. He figures talking to the FBI about possible terrorism will cut him some sort of deal if he gets arrested. It seems to give Tony satisfaction to talk to the Feds, but isn't he doing the same as Pussy and just like everyone else Tony has sent to an early grave?

What do you think?

Killin' it

I have a new blog post up at Killer Year, so check it out if you get a chance.

Like Gary Cooper on His Horse, Here He Comes to Help

In one of the more fun and surprising things I've ever seen in a baseball game:

Roger Clemens announced to the crowd of Yankees Stadium that he is going to return as a New York Yankee.

Review: Spider-man 3 (HERE THERE BE SPOILERS)

I'm not going to lie. I'm a complete nerd. I've been looking forward to this movie all year, probably since the first trailer came out.

So, with that I begged and pleaded, and got all excited to go see it on opening night. I dragged Saint Christina (nickname given by my mother after I told her about taking Christina to Spider-man 3 on opening night) with me.

The movie disappoints. The movie does not disappoint.

Those are basically my thoughts on it. Sam Raimi still gets the character perfectly and he puts him in perfect moments too.

We all know the storyline if you've seen the previews... Peter's life turns to suck again after getting overconfident, a black costume makes him a bad guy. He fights a lot of bad guys. Mary Jane sings. Twice.

The big complaint of the movie? There's too much. Too many bad guys, too many characters, too much to wrap up.

But, God, does Raimi almost do it. It's like he's dragging a rock that's too big for him up the mountain and every time you think he's going to get to the top, it slips from him just a bit. But eventually he does get there.

There are the wonderful moments: Sandman putting himself together, struggling in silence to become a man again. All the action sequences. The bell sequence. Bruce Campbell. J. Jonah Jameson.

The WHAT? moments, that I loved: Parker becomes an evil version of himself and acts like he's in Saturday Night Fever. The moments are played for pure, odd comic slapstick, and I'm sure someone is going to hate those moments, but for some reason I loved them.

The WHAT? moments I didn't like: The randomness of the butler who knows every thing. The news crew.

And the bad moments: Mary Jane sings. A British news woman narrates the final battle.

But overall I had fun. It's what I wanted to see.

(For the record, Saint Christina liked it too.)

Book Reviews

I don't do this very often, but I am in such a good stretch of reading right now that I had to share. Most of these books are upcoming, but when they show up, track them down.

THE CLEANER, Brett Battles: A fun James Bond/Jason Bourne type spy thriller. Jonathan Quinn travels the world trying to figure out why people around him are dying only to find it's connected to his own past. The book does a wonderful thing, actually creating an inexperienced sidekick for Quinn that I actually like.

THE DARKNESS INSIDE, John Rickards: A dark, dark book. Alex Rouke talks to a serial killer he tracked down when he was a Fed only to find out one of the victims is still alive. The 2nd half of the book is action, packed, fast paced and a wonderful ride. The final twist is gut wrenching.

CIVIL WAR, Marvel Comics: It's been a while since I've read a comic book, but the premise of this was enough to draw me in. And gad dum it, I really enjoyed it. The story was fast paced and focused enough on the characters I used to love to keep me in the loop. Good stuff.

SEVERANCE PACKAGE, Duane Swierczynski: HOLY CRAP! I don't know that I can talk this book up enough. Duane has topped himself once again. The book rockets along like a bullet, dragging the reader along with it. I don't want to give away the plot, because it would be awful for you to know anything beforehand, but let me say this: Not only is this Duane's best book, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Mark it down.

PS: I forgot to mention a quick thank you to Dave Montogomery over at Mystery Ink. The DEMOLITION site Bryon and I run was given a Gumshoe award for best mystery website.