My Writing 2020: Award Eligibility Post

So one of the things writers are supposed to do is publicize their work, and one of the ways to do that is to put a year-end roundup of published work on their website or blog.

I had two pieces of work published in 2020. The first, in January, appeared in online UK horror magazine DREAM OF SHADOWS. "Voices, In A Cedar-Scented Darkness" (short story, 1030 words) was available online for six months. DoS takes a year of stories published online between June and May and makes them available in a printed/ebook collection. The Dream of Shadows Monthly Stories for 2019-2020, including "Voices, In A Cedar-Scented Darkness", is available on Amazon; 99¢ for ebook, $3.99 for print.

My second published work for 2020 was "The Child-Eating Forest Speaks Its Mind", a long poem published in Liminality Magazine, Issue #26, Winter 2020-2021, just out a few days ago. I rarely take a stab at poetry, but this one worked out pretty well, I felt. I'm curious to see what kind of reaction it gets, so go ahead and take a look. (I've liked a good deal of the other poetry Liminality has published, too.)

Are either of these award quality? I'm prejudiced, but editors thought enough of them to purchase and publish them. Anything further depends on how many people actually read the story and poem, and what they think of them. (There usually isn't much feedback on short fiction or poetry, and even less when it gets published in small press venues. Good thing the main motivation for my writing is to satisfy myself.)

Review in Brief: MURDER IN THE NAVY by Ed McBain

I just finished reading an early (1955) Ed McBain novel (written as Richard Marsten), MURDER IN THE NAVY. Some nice noir elements (the naval officer hero drinks too much, has a cynical worldview, and has his quest complicated by superiors who want to sweep a murder under the rug).

But the main female character continuously places herself into risky or dangerous situations with a combination of naivete, foolishness, and just plain outright stupidity.

Add in the stereotype of Navy sailors who not only blatantly troll for sex, but succeed more often than not, and I was left rolling my eyes and feeling more than a little uncomfortable for reading the book.

Sadly (since I've enjoyed a number of McBain's 87th Precinct books), not recommended.

The "Hollywood" Ending, and a profound uneasiness

Having watched the "Hollywood" mini-series from Netflix, I came away being both very impressed by many aspects, but uncomfortable --very uncomfortable-- with how the series was concluded.

[MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD]

I watched "Hollywood" without having heard much about it. Caught a trailer, looked good, and How-Hollywood-Sausage-Gets-Made is one of my own interests, so went into it fairly cold, almost like catching a sneak preview of a film.

"Hollywood" is set in Post-WW2 Hollywood...but not quite. My first impression was that it was a story overlaying fictional characters, set in a fictional studio, onto actual Hollywood history. But then real people from Hollywood history (Rock Hudson and his agent Henry Wilson, in particular) entered the story line as prominent characters...

...and the story became an alternate history of Hollywood, rather than a fictional overlay. Or an uncomfortable mashup of both. (In real life, Hudson was first signed as a contract player by Universal, not the fictional Ace Studios depicted here.) Or something. I wasn't certain where the plot was heading.

[AGAIN, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS! DETAILS! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!]