The Ruby Files Volume One

If you're are in need of a hard boiled, pulp, private eye fix, look no further than The Ruby Files Volume One, published by Airship 27, the top drawer printer and purveyor of all things New Pulp.

The Ruby Files Volume One showcases stories about the rugged shoofly Rick Ruby. Now, if you are like me, you'll automatically use Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer as a reference point-- or, maybe Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Although, you wouldn't be far off the mark, those two examples are among quite a few influences. As one of the authors of a Ruby story pointed out, the series  also draws heavily on Blake Edwards's  Peter Gunn.

I would back that assertion up by saying there's a celluloid cool about the gumshoe and he makes a seedy den of smoky, sultry jazz his home. Along with that, Ruby is also one sardonic shamus who is always cracking wise; as opposed to  a PI  like Mike Hammer, who broods and has an ultra violent temper.

Being the true slewfoot he is, Ruby never resorts to vengeance or vigilantism, which would also separate him from Hammer and pull him closer to Marlowe or Spade. But like Hammer, he is very much on the side of right and has a keen affection for his lady friends; that includes a fierce loyalty to Edie, his voluptious, but, very religious receptionist -- not unlike the famous Velda who is the one that keeps Mike Hammer grounded.

What I  also like about this collection of stories is that while the setting is the pitiless streets of 1930's New York, and there is some blood and gore, the mood is breezy and the dialogue droll. Again, very much like Blake Edwards. 

The style of prose ranges from purple and dramatic, to very spare. Hard boiled slang abounds and that is fine by this afficionado of the "roughie". With that said, the creators employed the leathery pidgin with a deft hand and light touch.

"Every story a gem..."  is what the tagline reads--and you will find much truth in that shibboleth. The Ruby Files Volume One can be purchased at www.amazon.com.

What makes a poet edgy

It's been a long time since I have written a poem-- at least a year. These days I am so caught up in pulp fiction that poetry has taken a back seat. Yesterday, a long time friend posed the question, "What makes a poet edgy?" I'm not sure I have a definate answer to that question and I am not sure he was looking for one.

All I can talk about is what I have learned about poetry through writing it. In order to be a good poet you have to be obsessed with something in life.  All your poems should be about that very thing, whether it is a question, feeling or thought.  For instance, if you are writing about a barn, the images could be metaphors about love or the loss of love and as a result, you will have created a very unique and lasting picture of that barn.

Also, as put to me by another great writer, your poems should be about watercolor moments. Or, if you are edgy, they might want to be tacky velvet art moments.

When I was younger I used to think a poem did not have to have simile, symbolism or metaphor. But I have learned that poems without those elements, while well written, are like cotton candy. They are good for the moment and satisfy your immediate sweet tooth, but disolve very quickly and leave you in the same place you started.

Poems with all the poetic conventions are like biting into a medium rare filet mignon; so much richer and so much more flavor.

Update on Scandalous Silence

I am nearing the end of the first draft of my latest Huey Dusk story titled Scandalous Silence. This is the closest to being a Mickey Spillane piece because it features a vengeful Huey Dusk. In it he, like Hammer, maims the bad guys and does his best to take a stand for goodness. But, unlike Spillane, the lines are blurred and we are not sure if what Huey is fighting for is worth it; noir in a nutshell--and I will be bold and say this is the David Goodis strain of noir.

Retro Musings

As I have just recently put the finishing touches on The Doomsday Gizmo, I feel this is one of my favorite stories and am going to have good time writing subsequent yarns about this detective agency.( I'd reveal the name, but every time I think about the story, the time period it is in, I am filled with paranoia)

Again, this series of novelletes will be in a fictitious local that resembles the desert in Nevada just outside of Las Vegas. Except, that there will be no Vegas instead there will be a city quite similar to it and most likely more over the top in the kitsch of its 50's and 60's heyday. I like fictitious places and alternate time lines because you can fudge a little bit when it comes to retro pieces. In this story, my fifties is essentially the Hardy Boys, Homer Price and Tom Swift on steroids. It is full of pulpy thrills and dastardly villains and just a dollop of noir but not too much.

Again, I have found another sweet spot in the same way I found Huey Dusk. I think I have plenty of stories left in me about the protagonist of this series(name withheld because in the spirit of the story I am too paranoid).

I am also just grooving on the prose style. It is a perfection of my cinematic, purple hardboiled prose that is a perfect fit for this tale.

More About Scandalous Silence

Just thought I would check in. I am having a blast writing this latest Huey story. It is morphing into something that is bigger than I imagined. This one is a little different than the others because it deals with the effects your actions have on other people and in this case children. It is very appropriate since Huey in his own way is a champion of children. Only in this case, he finds himself not only being the savior of a child, but also one of the root causes of that child's predicament.

Yet More About The Golden Age Of Pulp

Back when I was a movie geek, there was  a distinction between low budget and I guess schlock. Alot of people would confuse the two. I was a fan of schlock and was well schooled in the purveyors of such cinema.

I am finding that there  is the same confusion in writing about pulp. And maybe it is because over time many variations of the genre have been created.

Since I have gone back to the source, I have come to the conclusion that the only true pulp is that of the Golden Age. The era of G Men, Masked Avengers, Space Opera, Far East Adventures and Yellow Peril. To me right now there is no substitute.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the other stuff, like Goodis and Thompson. But that is literature compared to the earlier pulps. I would even lump Spillane in with that class.

Real Pulp's mission is to entertain in a fantastic way. As a result, the plots should be very over the top, and in some cases ridiculous. There should be good and evil on display and the distinctions between the two should be crystal clear. So, not a whole lot of noir. The prose should be dramatic and to use one of my favorite terms, very "purple".   As expressed by Lester Dent, you need to capture the sounds, smells and scenery in vivid detail.  But, while you are doing that, you have to keep things fairly clean.

I am enjoying my stay in Pulp Land and plan to be here awhile.

Scandalous Silence

As I said yesterday, this is the title of my new Huey story. I have to say I 'm a dog with a bone... and it's a cotton candy flavored one. Why would I not think I would have a blast writing about Huey again? The words flow and they taste like honey fresh from the hive. I am just loving the language of this piece. It's an aural pleasure. You know have a great story when you wile away the hours reading what you have written, over and over again.