NOTE: The interview and excerpt from Gayle Bartos-Pool's short story "Method Actor" is now posted.
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| Los Angeles writer Michael Connelly |
If Michael Connelly introduces a book, you know it has to be
worth a look. This time he focuses on a journey through Los Angeles, its dark
alleys and places tourists never go. Who inhabits these locals? People who come
from out of town looking for fame, fortune, excitement, or maybe just a place
to bury a body. L.A. is like a drug. It can cure and it can kill. Read on.
“Eggs Over Dead” by Wendall Thomas shows us that waitressing might be a dead
end job when you came to L.A. to be a writer, especially when your one break
turns sour, but sometimes when the meal’s finished, the just desserts can be
delicious.
“The Ride of Your Life” by Laurie Stevens begins with a carjacking. Los Angeles put them on the map. But you never know who might be in that car.
“Method Actor” by G.B. Pool tells the story of a New York actor who is offered a part in a Hollywood movie by a producer with one condition: the actor has to kill the producer’s wife with a smile on his face. Our young thespian practices his craft across country and tops it off in L.A. before the cameras roll.
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| Available at Amazon |
L.H. Dillman weighs nature vs. nurture in “Lead Us Not Into Temptation.” When a street punk from Chicago comes to Los Angeles to be nurtured by his very caring aunt who works as a housekeeper for a wayward “parachute kid” in a mansion on the expensive side of town, he learns a valuable lesson. But L.A. can play havoc with your schooling.
“Highland Park Hit” by Gay Degani lets us know family is family. But when you come from Louisiana to help your cousin with his daughter and find a dead body in the living room, you might need more than Gorilla Glue to fix the problem… like maybe a good dose of Law & Order…Lennie Briscoe style.
“Independence Day” by Avril Adams tells the story of Ava who’s just out of prison on the 4th of July. This gal is looking for her own kind of fireworks like finding the guy who killed the wrong people and got away with it. Let the fireworks begin.
Lynn Bronstein’s “Mimo” is a poignant tale of a tiny woman heading for a dead end… her way.
“Today’s the Day” by Mae Woods features a spurious psychic who had a pretty good operation going in prison, but when she tries to ply her craft on the outside she finds out con artists sometimes can’t read the handwriting on the wall.
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| Figueroa Street in Highland Park |
“Little Egypt” by Georgia Jeffries lets you know it’s hard to bury your past especially when there’s always somebody around who will dig it up for you. But some memories can be buried for good… or maybe for bad.
“Thump Bump and Dump” by Wrona Gall is a study. When you think your lifestyle needs a makeover, why not move to L.A. and fix somebody else’s problem. It just might make a new man of you…
“Hired Lives” by Cyndra Gernet takes a trip back to a quieter time in Los Angeles where you meet an older couple who only want a few simple things out of life, so they put an ad in the paper for a couple who can provide just what they want. Ask for references…
Sarah M. Chen’s “Nut Job” introduces us to Hector, a guy with friends who have a great idea to make big money. With that money he would make his girlfriend happy. She wouldn’t dump him. What could go wrong?
Stephen Buehler’s “Seth’s Big Move” shows us that you can have bad days… and then you can have the Titanic. Seth is a wannabe actor from Indiana who can’t catch a break in Hollywood. Then he meets Emily and he’s going to move into a new apartment and share his life with her. And he has a small inheritance. Things are looking up, but than he looks at his bank account… Can things get any worse?
Last Resort is the latest anthology from Sisters-in-Crime/Los Angeles, edited by Matt Coyle, Mary Marks, and Patricia Smiley.
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