“Hammered – an Ode to Mickey Spillane” Story Event: Official Support Thread

[ElectricBlue]

Question: Does this have to be a complete story with a begining middle and end, or can it be a chapter or two a longer story?

Thanks.

I think the spirit is stand alone, coz it's an anthology.

But what's to stop you setting up the premise for a sequel? A sequel not being the next chapter, if you get my drift.

 

[PoisonPen33]

I couldn't figure out the third act/climax to my story, so I handed it off to my friend to review. I like the story and the characters, and I want to make sure it has a proper ending!

 

[rosebudliquor]

Keep in mind it doesn't have to feature Mike Hammer or a character who's just like him. There are plenty of other authors who've written novels with similar kinds of characters (often, but not always, detectives), plots, and style.

Raymond Chandler is one of the earliest practitioners of the style, and his novel The Big Sleep is one of the very best. He's more "literary" than Spillane, and a bit more subtle, but the style shares a lot of features.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain is a good noir book, combining sex and violence in generous portions.

Dashielle Hammet's The Maltese Falcon is a good example, and the movie is great.

A great more contemporary film take on noir is the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, which pretty much has it all -- sex, violence, cheating, murder, plus the Coen Brothers' quirky style.

Raymond Chandler would (and did) pitch a hissy fit to be lumped with Cain and Spillane. Still, when I write my entry, it is going to be a horny homage to Marlowe and Spade, as much as Hammer.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hey its so great to see so many people writing stories for this one. They'll start going live from 1 September, so only a month and a half to go....

Which tells me I better start writing mine

 

[LAHomedog]

OK -- Here's one for group discussion:

I wanted to add a scene where my PI gets coldcocked by a a gun butt to the back of his head, he waked up in a different spaces and the room is swimming and he realized that when he was knocked out the bad guys shot him up with some kind of drug. Probably smack or something like that. He's lost time, and his mental awareness and physical coordination.

It's not sexual or promoting drug use and it is something we have read and seen all the time from detective stories to Indiana Jones. Hell, they drugged up Arnold in "True Lies." What do you think? Will that be accepted and OK for publication, or rejected?

 

[ElectricBlue]

OK -- Here's one for group discussion:

I wanted to add a scene where my PI gets coldcocked by a a gun butt to the back of his head, he waked up in a different spaces and the room is swimming and he realized that when he was knocked out the bad guys shot him up with some kind of drug. Probably smack or something like that. He's lost time, and his mental awareness and physical coordination.

It's not sexual or promoting drug use and it is something we have read and seen all the time from detective stories to Indiana Jones. Hell, they drugged up Arnold in "True Lies." What do you think? Will that be accepted and OK for publication, or rejected?

There's no prohibition on drug use in Lit stories.

Heaps of stories have drug use - with non-con and mind control you might need to watch your Ps and Qs, but in this scenario or in any recreational drug use scenario, no issues. No different to alcohol, really.

 

[LAHomedog]

How is everybody doing on their story?

I'm asking because I am having a challenging time in balancing the detective/PI/crime story, and the Noir dialogue with the idea that this is an erotic story. I keep getting sucked into the my detective investigating the murder mystery.

Rare for me, but the sex keeps taking 2nd place.

I think I'm living my Robert B. Parker/Spencer writer's fantasy

So, how ya'll doing?

 

[ElectricBlue]

How is everybody doing on their story?

I have a page of notes (which for me is unheard of), a plot and a set of characters, an opening and closing line and...

... a deadline which is coming on faster than the Southern California Express. Look at that, I just got me a train, gotta have a scene on a train.

As for words, my lead character tells me he's a man of few words, so... not many words.

 

[yowser]

Noir New Zealand style


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5eGW_VXoAIgosx?format=jpg&name=medium]
New Zealand Noir by Bizarro

 

[LAHomedog]

Gonna hang up my Fedora, and put the gun under the pillow for a few days on this one and trade my PI badge in for some swim trunks and jump into summer since that deadline is first.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Gonna hang up my Fedora, and put the gun under the pillow for a few days on this one and trade my PI badge in for some swim trunks and jump into summer since that deadline is first.

Here’s an idea…

 

[MelissaBaby]

I was enthused about participating in this challenge. It really seemed like it would be a lot of fun.I had a pretty good idea for a plot and some interesting character concepts.

Then I started writing. And it got really dark, really fast. It started dredging up old feelings that I had not felt in years.

I'm going to have to bow out, but I am looking forward to reading what everyone else comes up with.

Best to all!

 

[drscar]

Just finished

I've gotten mine done, but I know that I'll be going back and tweaking incessantly before the due date. I really like this one, actually. I started writing back when it was announced, and finally put the finishing touches on this past weekend.

Roll on Oct. 1.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Just started

Whoa! Just started, 1100 words in, first scene and set-up done. No pressure here. This is not like me!

 

[drscar]

Process?

So this will be my first contest entry (even though I've written here on Lit for many years).

After you submit the entry, what happens? I mean, how does the judging work? Is there something expected from me (or rather, the author)?

Not sure what the etiquette is, given it's my first time at a contest.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So this will be my first contest entry (even though I've written here on Lit for many years).

After you submit the entry, what happens? I mean, how does the judging work? Is there something expected from me (or rather, the author)?

Not sure what the etiquette is, given it's my first time at a contest.

It's an anthology, not a contest. No judging, no winners, no prizes. Just a bunch of stories with a common theme.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It's an anthology, not a contest. No judging, no winners, no prizes. Just a bunch of stories with a common theme.

But it's the stuff that dreams are made of.

 

[LAHomedog]

But it's the stuff that dreams are made of.

Nice reference

 

[ElectricBlue]

Nice reference

I've already got in, "Walk me out, and whistle me a cab. You can whistle, can't you, Dan?"

 

[HeyAll]

To clarify:

The story can be posted at any time in September and will go at the top of the List.

But it's October 1st that there will be a special page listing all the stories.

Or will all stories be posted on October 1st?

 

[MillieDynamite]

To clarify:

The story can be posted at any time in September and will go at the top of the List.

But it's October 1st that there will be a special page listing all the stories.

Or will all stories be posted on October 1st?

I've been thinking about publishing a story about a female "dick" in the forties my father and I have written together but never published anywhere. Might have to change her name, as pops has the character in other stories he published already.

"Names are for tombstones, baby!"

 

[LAHomedog]

I've already got in, "Walk me out, and whistle me a cab. You can whistle, can't you, Dan?"

I dropped in one of my own in describing "the doll" in my story, "She was hotter than a pawnshop Rolex."

 

[MillieDynamite]

I dropped in one of my own in describing "the doll" in my story, "She was hotter than a pawnshop Rolex."

I've always liked the, "Hotter than a whorehouse on quarter night." A term from the 1870s. I supose for the 40s it would be hotter than a whorehouse on dollar night.

 

[LAHomedog]

I've always liked the, "Hotter than a whorehouse on quarter night." A term from the 1870s. I supose for the 40s it would be hotter than a whorehouse on dollar night.

Yeah, I like that one too. My wife is from Kentucky, so our house is filled with similes like that. I've used "sweating like a whore in church" in a story. Also "harder than a whore's heart" in a couple.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yeah, I like that one too. My wife is from Kentucky, so our house is filled with similes like that. I've used "sweating like a whore in church" in a story. Also "harder than a whore's heart" in a couple.

I like a saying ascribed to President Lincoln, I'm as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.