Uh, yeah, that’s me ( I guess)

Damn if I know what I’m doing here, exactly, but thanks, Sarah, for the kind words.

For those who don’t know who I am, that’s okay — I probably haven’t heard of you either. But please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of neither wealth nor taste. Though more than a few people have accused me of being the Anti-Christ, come to think of it. Seems I’ve been known to express opinions that not everyone agrees with.

Now, to me, that doesn’t seem that unusual (it would be a boring world if we all thought the same), but the level of hatred and pure vitriol tossed my way is quite staggering at times.

Evidently some people seem to think free speech should only be permitted for themselves and a handful of their like-thinking buddies (As in “We’re here to bring you democracy, and we’ll start by closing down your newspapers.”) and that the rest of us should just shut up. Let’s hope idiots like that never get together and elect some dimwit leader who feels the same way. Be it countries or discussion groups.

But I digress…

So, yeah, I do a little cyber squiggle called the Thrilling Detective Web Site (new issue up at http://www.thrillingdetective.com), and I do columns for Mystery Scene and Crime Spree (or at least I think I still do — everyone seems to have received their latest copies except me). I also do reviews (and occasional articles, essays and interviews) for Mystery Scene and January Magazine (http://www.januarymagazine.com). I also do reviews for January’s newsletter, The Rap Sheet.

Oh, and I’m Canadian, and damn proud of it.

And why not? It’s a free and open society with a pretty high average standard of living and low infant mortality rate, a nation that values such things as tolerance and peace and getting along with and helping each other — and with all the other kids in the playground. We believe in health care and debate and discussion and diplomacy and fighting for what’s right; not what’s profitable. You know — all those ideas so out of fashion in some circles right now…

But hey, the day is long, and it’s going to be a busy one for me… I’ll be blogging all day here, and polishing off a chapter of my work-in-progress for my writing group later tonight, critiquing some of the stories in my workshop group (oh, what fun!), checking my e-mail (lose wait; gain inches; die, scumbag, die — the usual) and probably working on a few web sites. Fortunately, I’m not working today at my job job, so I get to spend most of the day at my iBook (Macs rule!).

What I intend to do here is just rant a bit about what excites me in crime fiction and all that. I’ll be checking in every few hours from my bunker in the High Desert of California’s Antelope Valley. Right now the coyotes are whining like soiled children (before I moved down here I thought they’d howl like movie wolves) and out there somewhere red neck neandrathals in overgrown pick-up trucks and illiterate gangbangers in low-slung ricers wander lonely avenues and empty streets in the night looking for something to kill — or at least toss their empty beer cans at.

But right now, it’s about 1:30 AM, and the lovely and eerily talented D.L. Browne, AKA Diana Killian, AKA the Girl Detective (http://www.girl-detective.net) is upstairs sleeping. In a few minutes I’ll turn off the lights, lock up and join her.

This blog thing? I keep thinking Sarah will pop up and ask for the keys back… I’m still not sure what to talk about. So feel free to drop me a line if you want, to let me know how I’m doing or suggest a topic…

See you in a few hours.