Read 2020 - 55 - Caught by Harlan Coben

She tried to hold the crazy back.

But it was like holding back an ocean with your bare hands. 

I am a big fan of Harlan Coben - I may have said this before. I especially love the Myron Bolitar books and it is apt to mention them here. Windsor Horne Lockwood III appears in Caught three times, and because of my previous association with him (from the Bolitar books), I found his presence a little distracting from the storyline. Also a little convenient.

This is a book about forgiveness. A teenager is missing, a suspected pedophile has escaped justice, and a group of ex-college buddies are being blackmailed. There are many haunting secrets in this twisting and turning story, multiple threads wearing a complicated tapestry.

I enjoyed and never thought I'd say this - it could do with less Win.

Read 2020 - 10 - Harlan Coben and Words

Feels like I'm flying-along with my reading this year. Then 10th book/magazine/read removed from my shelf is Harlan Coben's Seconds Away. Harlan Coben is one of my favourite authors - in fact, I believe I say so on my bio page. Despite that, I haven't read one of his books in about four or five years.

I don't know what happened either.

Seconds Away sat on my shelf for about five years and survived one house move. It's a Micky Bolitar mystery, which means its YA. Although it's the second in the series, you don't need to have read the first to catch up with events. It's a little-bit of a lighter read than the Myron Bolitar books - which I love, love, love - but definitely worth a read.

*

On the writing front, I've been a little lost. I've had one rejection for a story that was sent to a different magazine than the one the editor rejected it for - sigh!

 

I started one novel (that I've been making notes for since November), then decided I hated it* (I can be very melodramatic), declared I've been fooling myself for forever (seriously, melodramatic), then started something else. Apparently, I never learn.

 

*I will go back to it

 

Currently eating Quavers.



A Hole in One (groan!)

Here's an unusual new magazine for you. Erik Smetana is putting together a magazine with the excellent title, Stymie.

Now don't let the golf theme put you off, in fact let it inspire you. Here are the fiction guidelines:

We want fiction, we crave it. We want mystery, lit fic, noir, humor, spec fic, whatever -- just so long as it (your submission) somehow involves golf. We have a penchant for flash fiction and would prefer nothing over 3000 words.

You can read an interview with Erik over at A J Brown's blog.

Oh, and talking of things golf related, and to get you in the golfing mood (I think someone mixed lawn feed with my morning cereal,) check out Back Spin by the fantabulous Harlan Coben. Despite being a horror writer, my favourite author writes thrillers. I'm sure there's a rule against that somewhere, but rules were made to broken.

Oh, and as a side note: Erik designed the above 'The Poisoned Apple' banner... The one I had before was, well... Crap!