Kelly Stone Gamble ... James Baldwin … Patti Abbott … Nobody Else But You ... a last winter rant … Hockey … and RIP Alvin Lee …
Amici:
SNHU MFA graduate and all around incredible personality & person, Kelly Stone Gamble, has signed with Svetlana Pironko at Author Rights Agency for her novel, They Call Me Crazy, which I had the pleasure of reading when still in its infancy (one of my favorite reads last year) ... visit Kelly’s website/blog here ... and congrats, Kellinator ...
Go Tell It On The Mountain, James Baldwin … There’s no excuse for my not knowing anything about James Baldwin. I’m still catching up, amici. Then I listened to a Youtube debate between Baldwin and William F. Buckley, Jr., and I immediately wanted to know more … Google got me there and I purchased Go Tell It On The Mountain, then read it in 2 nights. It is a wonderful book that covers a broad scope of topics, including family, religion, politics, race and racism. An undeniable hint of homosexuality also tests the waters of the day (it was published in 1953). It is an autobiographical account of the author’s very tough childhood, and it is told over the course of a religious experience, during which the family history of the protagonist is revealed a generation at a time. A TK highly recommended (for the soul) read.
Home Invasion ... author Patti Abbott has penned a collection of dark stories for Snub Nose Press that link together under the title Home Invasion. The stories are a collective condemnation and explanation of ignorance and its corollary effects when passed from one generation to another. The mother-daughter team starts the collection in 1961. Kate, the mom, is cleverly portrayed as a woman in dire need of self-esteem, disregarding her daughter for the sake of her new husband. Billie, the daughter, seeks her birth father in 1963 and finds him a reformed drunk in the grips of a charlatan. Nothing good follows Billie’s journey and in 1964, she runs off with a grifter, Dannis Batch, who shamelessly tries to shakedown Kate for Billie’s virginity.
We next find Billie in 1977, a drunk herself, but also a mother married to the grifter she ran off with several years earlier. By 1985 she’s wondering about leaving her jailed husband and is as neglectful of her own kids as her mother was of her. After one son is killed overseas on an Army base, another follows in the family line of grifting and becomes sexually involved with another kid with his own set of issues. In 1988 there’s kid-snatching that propels the collection to its uplifting end. There are no spoilers here, but TK felt there’s a sequel novel that should start with what happens from 2005 on, a series of twists and turns that feature some of the author’s best writing.
Home Invasion features the darker side of a life that has become all too familiar in modern day America. Amidst the poverty and ignorance of families spinning out of control, a ray of hope flickers on the last best hope of a young child snatched from one bad situation to the next; a child given a fighting chance by a pair of men committed to family.
Nobody Else But You ... A French version of what might’ve happened to Marilyn Monroe … with a twist. A crime writer seeking his James Ellroy masterpiece accidentally drives alongside the site of a suicide … or was it a suicide? He’s got writer’s block (and apparently women block), but things humorously happen, one after another, and before you know it, he’s hot on the trail (at the request of a policeman who suspects the suicide isn’t quite a suicide). A fun movie.
A Quick Rant … I was going to do a rant at the start of the week because of a video and an article I saw earlier in the week. First there’s this one compliments of Don Kirdendall. Check it out and take the time to watch the entire video. It’ll blow your mind.
Frankly, I’m too tired of politics and ranting about it. TK readers know where I stand. Neither party gives a flying fuck about the poor and middle classes (which, let’s face it, are one in the same these days). Workers have given both major parties, Democratic and Republican, more than enough chances to get it right.
How’s that saying go: The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over, and then expecting different results.
Reagan I, Reagan II, GHW Bush (Reagan III), Clinton I, Clinton II, W Bush, W Bush II, Obama I (W Bush III), Obama II (W Bush IV) ... when does it end?
I’m just sayin’ …
Maybe it’s time for a little green?
Hockey ... First off, I’m still pretty naive about all things hockey. I don’t have a clue about most of the teams (their names or where the hell they’re from), nor do I know the names of many of the players ... or several of the rules ... and lord knows I couldn’t spell the names of some of the players with a gun to my head. I count on co-worker Sue Bennett and friend and fellow author Dana King to educate me.
I started watching the playoffs last year and was hooked pretty quick. The first time I went to a hockey game, I was about ten years old and an altar boy (imagine?). Father Scavo took the altar boys to the old Madison Square Garden for a St. Louis Blues-Rangers game. I have no idea who won or what the hell was going on, but the franks and sodas were cheap enough so we didn’t need a corporate expense account to buy them ... and I suspect we had a great time because Father Scavo was soooooooooo cool.
I’m a football fan first and foremost, but that can definitely change. I’m a long suffering football fan since my original team, the New York Jets became the Moonachie Green Team (a.k.a., the Y-E-T-S, Yets, Yets, Yets) ... back when I had to give up my season tickets (a few rows from the roof behind the home plate end zone at Shea Stadium). I was told I’d have to pay New Jersey tolls to see them in the future.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Casa Stella remained a New York football supporter ... my beloved New York State Buffalo Bills. The other teams that USED to be New York teams forever became, respectfully, Moonachie Blue and Moonachie Green.
Casa Stella has since moved to New Jersey, but Buffalo remains in New York (even if the morons running the organization up there insist on giving up home field advantage once a year to play in a dome in another country). The drought between the end of one football season and the start of a new one was nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment (i.e., torture) ... until last year.
The NBA just doesn't do it for me. Watching an NBA game when there’s about 5 minutes remaining in a game seven of the finals I can deal with, but anything short of that is pretty much pointless.
Baseball ... well, since they changed the rules and shortened the fences and juiced the balls and the players, and then added interleague play to the abomination of having designated hitters, well ... MLB, for lack of a better way to put this, can blow me.
Even the announcing is better in the NHL. Mike "the Doc" Emrick rocks.
Since last year hockey has spared me the NFL drought. I missed the NHL during the strike, but now watch it nearly nightly (the Devils or Islanders usually play on nights when the Rangers are off, and every Wednesday NBC’s Sports channel showcases a Rivalry of the Week ... and Wednesday night’s game (Blackhawks vs. Avalanche) was an incredible battle with the Hawks about to keep the streak alive with a simple tie, then won the game outright with less than a minute left to play.
The other thing about hockey I love is the lack of prima donna assholes. The players are much more selfless in the NHL than they are in the NFL, NBA and MLB combined. Ryan Callahan, Rick Nash and Dan Girardi for the Ranges play team hockey first. Lead-by-example captain, Ryan Callahan, is the Pete Rose (minus the gambling and arrogance) of the NHL. I’ve never seen any team leader play with anything near this kid’s self sacrifice, determination and/or 100 MPH hustle. As for Nash, this big boy has super skills that make all his minutes (check me out using hockey terms) exciting for Ranger fans ... and nobody is more clutch (i.e., see the last 4 games ... hell, see last night!). Dan Girardi might as well be a second goalie for all the diving in front of pucks he does to block slap shots. Absolutely selfless, Girardi is.
What you don’t see in the NHL is the prima donna attitude so prevalent in the NFL ... the “me, me, me!” attitude of too many assholes—Desean Jackson immediately comes to mind (in any word association with “asshole”) ... but he’s not nearly the only one. The clowns who point at the back of their jerseys (their names) after making one play qualify along with shirt-tearing Superman antics, etc. Over in the NBA, the cancer that Dwight Howard is to any team will probably get another coach fired (so long Mike D) ... and Carmelo Anthony’s walk off the other night is more typical than the aberration it should be regarded as ... and baseball is front loaded with superstars who refuse to run out a ground ball (Robinson Cano).
TK says: Fuck them ... all of them.
Casa Stella now hearts hockey ... and the Principessa Ann Marie now cracks hockey jokes at my expense and says she’ll buy me a Rangers jersey for Christmas ... one can only hope they come in 5X’s ...
Ann Marie’s new brand of humor ...
I came home from visiting Momma Stella the other night and turned on the Ranger game when it was tied 1-1 ...
Annie said: “How’d your mother like the gravy you made?”
I said: “She said it needed salt.”
Annie said, “It does need salt.”
The Flyers score immediately after that.
I said, “Jesus Christ, the Rangers are losing, my mother wants more salt and now you’re breaking my balls, too.”
Annie smiled and said: “A hat trick.”
—Knucks
RIP Alvin Lee ... I saw him at the Garden with Ten Years After way back in the day ... 1972, I think ... 41 years ago! ... Redbone opened for them ... am I friggin’ old or what?
“This taut, compulsively readable tale of mob life in and around New York City, Stella’s first novel since 2012’s Rough Riders, has the smack of authenticity on every page … Stella serves up a tasty goombah stew with a splash of Guinness, and no one can make this recipe simmer better than he does.” —Publishers Weekly
As usual Stella’s ear for dialogue is amazingly authentic and accurate, which not only lends credibility to each of his characters but also adds to the headlong pace of the narrative. These themes and the way they influence almost every character elevates the novel from a simple story of murder and revenge. At the same time they demonstrate Stella’s familiarity with present-day criminals and cops, and his mastery at presenting tales that illustrate their world and inner emotions. For those who have yet to discover the joy of Stella’s work, TOMMY RED is a good a place start as any. —Alan Cranis (Bookgasm) “Holy crap. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why the hell isn't Stella on every mystery lover's must-read list. . . . This taut, tightly presented story of misplaced loyalties and retribution is nicely tied up in a fast-paced tale that, once you get used to the rhythm of the dialogue, just begs you to turn the next page.” —MenReadingBooks
“Stella was often compared to George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard at the beginning of his career, but now the world of East Coast gangster fiction is all his.” —Mysterious Bookshop
“Tommy Red by Charlie Stella. Mob hit man gets into a snafu. This novel is only 165 pages long. Since this is a Stella novel you can bet it's 165 pages of greatness.”—Lake Mills Library
“Tommy Red builds to an explosive climax that should satisfy readers looking for action, while at the same time offering complex characterisation and thematic complexity that is beyond the reach of most crime novels.” —Crime Fiction Lover
“Stella reminds the reader of some recent episodes that the police would probably like for us to forget, most prominently the Eric Garner incident. Even the mob guys think it makes the cops look bad. There's a lot going on in Tommy Red, and big props to Stella for wrapping it all up in about 150 trade paperback pages. Good stuff and highly recommended.” —Bill Crider
“There are few writers (except possibly Elmore Leonard and George V. Higgins), who can write mob dialogue as well as Charlie Stella … Charlie makes navigating my way though the plot fun. And funny. How can you not laugh at this line. It was a little after one o'clock in the morning when he was thinking he'd like to bite the ass of that Mother of Dragons broad about to take a bath. (Game of Thrones).”—Patti Abbott
“No one writes better dialog, nor allows it to carry the story more than Stella, nor pulls it off better. Tommy Red could deteriorate into a series of scenes of guys bullshitting, but every sentence is an insight into a character’s mind, and one never knows when a prime plot point will emerge from a discussion about the merits of hockey versus football … Tommy Red a riveting tale told in an engaging manner. You know, just as you’d expect from Charlie Stella.” —Dana King (One Bite at a Time)
Stella’s capers are populated with criminals who are more clever than smart and lawmen who get stymied by clever but eventually prevail with smarts. A delight.— Booklist (Wes Lukowsky)
Along the way the reader is treated to some of the finest characterization it’s humanly possible to capture on paper… Stella’s always dark, often violent, occasionally humorous Rough Riders more than stands on its own, and is more than worth your time. — Book Reviews By Elizabeth A. White Sort of like Goodfellas meets Fargo. Check out Eddie’s World and start right in on Rough Riders. You’ll love the ride … Then read everything else he’s done.—East Coast Don (Men Reading Books) Mr Stella makes his story supremely compelling and has certainly made me a believer. I very much look forward to reading his next book – in the meantime, chase this one down, it works like a beaut. —Tipping My Fedora
Let me say right here that I loved this book. Though complex, the plotlines are deftly managed and everything dovetails towards its satisfying conclusion. Stella has a great ear for dialogue, with the New Yorkers clearly speaking a different vernacular to the Dakotans. —Crime Fiction Lover
Stella writes about criminals and cops, killers and cons, as if he knows the territory. This is one of those books that you rip through, eager to see who'll be the last man standing, as you never know who'll get the next bullet. Big, grim, boisterous, funny, and frightening all at once. Check it out.— Bill Crider
Stella’s characters’ voices sound authentic: no macho posturing — just their brutal, hard world. This is one of the leaner crime novels currently out there. For those wanting a serious character piece where the payoffs deliver, reach for ROUGH RIDERS. —Bookasm, Bruce Grossman
Rough Riders has a plethora of characters, many of whom you won't want to like but just might. What seems like true dialogue spews from mouths, FBI and locals alike. I found it very hard to put this book down, even to eat a meal. Author Charlie Stella has a way with words that makes him a master at his craft. Don't miss this one. —Bookloons Reviews (Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth)
This is a fast and furious thriller that brings back the antagonists in Eddie’s World in a good, the bad and the ugly storyline. Rotating between the northern Great Plains and the New York area, fans will enjoy this action-packed noir although the Feds are too scandalously uncaring about collateral damage or simply deadly avarice. –Genre Go Round Reviews (Harriett Klausner)
Johnn Porno Reviews ...
“Mr. Stella is a natural. As soon as I finished Johnny Porno I gave the book to my son so we could both be wiser-guys. Now I’m going to find all his other novels. He’s a true master.”—Dow Mossman, The Stones of Summer
“... Elmore Leonard fans are going to love Stella’s entirely original contribution to the slice-of-criminal-life genre, down-and-dirty division ... This is the seventh novel from Stella (Mafiya, 2008), who has made the underside of the New York underworld his home.”—Elliott Swanson (Booklist)
“Set in New York City in 1973, Stella’s vibrant seventh crime novel catches the cadence and daily grind of organized crime grunts … Stella tosses an eclectic cast of characters into the mix … admirers of Elmore Leonard and George V. Higgins will be happy.”—Publishers Weekly
“Johnny Porno is in many ways a master’s class on how to write a novel ... The dialog flows so smooth you’d swear you were over hearing someone’s conversation... He drops you in the middle and lets the reveals of the narrative come naturally through the dialog... Bottom line is that Johnny Porno is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.”>—Brian Lindenmuth (Spinetingler Magazine)
“Stella has fun with DEEP THROAT throughout the book, including the idea to sell fake autographed panties ... the book is so well-crafted and well-paced that it’s going to make more than a few best-of lists when the time comes. Stella never goes for the cheap outs, letting these characters develop over the course of his story ... Not only is it a throwback to the 1970s generation, but one that blows away most set in the present day.”—Bruce Grossman (Bookgasm)
“Based on my experience with Johnny Porno — I haven't read his other books but plan to remedy that soon (Charlie Opera is $2.00 on Smashwords) — I must say that Charlie Stella is one of the best writers the crime genre currently has to offer. He's a natural wordsmith, putting down the way people really talk in a way that still reads smoothly — not an easy task. The fact that Stark House Press, who previously focused on reprinting "lost" pulp novels, chose Stella as their first original author — after author Ed Gorman recommended him upon reading the manuscript — says a lot about his peers' respect for him.”— Craig Clarke (Somebody Dies)
“Psycho cops, bent cops, straight cops, Feds, wiseguys, good women, bad women,really bad women, guys on the make, gamblers, dumbasses, good guys, bad guys. This book's got 'em all (and more), and all so well-drawn that they seem like real people. There are also three or four plots going in, and they all converge in the final pages. I don't know how Stella managed to keep all the balls in the air, but he doesn't drop a one. Stark House's first original is a winner.”—Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodess series and several other novels
“Stella is of the George V. Higgins school and tells the story through compelling dialogue ... Like Higgins, Stella isn’t afraid to let action occur offstage, to be described by the principals after the fact. In Stella’s hands, this adds to the suspense, as he understands every overt climax lessens tension at its conclusion, while covert climaxes continue to ratchet it up.”>—Dana King, (New Mystery Reader)
“Charlie Stella has a gift for nailing the colorful characters in this seedy little corner of New York. The dialog couldn’t be more authentic, and from page one I was transported to a hot, gritty landscape full of guys who say ‘yous’ and women who are used to being used ... I relished how the focus was on the guys at the bottom of the totem pole, and I got to see what happens to the drivers, runners, and climbers who associate with organized crime. It ain’t pretty.”> —Rebecca Baumann, (Dirty Sexy Books)
A plot whose pacing is as fast as a pack of greyhounds and at the same time, miraculously, as crazily and craftily constructed as a Marx Brothers movie or a Rube Goldberg machine. A hungry menagerie of good guys and bad guys at feeding time. A writing style that’s top-shelf. Some side-orders of Suspense. Romance. Black Humor. All seasoned liberally with Sex, Violence, Drugs, and Rock and Roll. What else will readers find in JOHNNY PORNO? A novel that shouldn’t be this much fun or pleasurable. That’s Charlie Stella’s real crime.—Lynn Kostoff, Author of Late Rain (Tyrus Books 2010), A Choice Of Nightmares (New Pulp Press 2010), The Long Fall (Carroll and Graf 2003)
“This is a hell of a novel. Epic, yet human scale... It s wonderfully fresh and alive.”—Craig McDonald, author of Head Games, Toros and Torsos and Print The Legend
Johnny Porno is a terrific Nixon Era crime caper reminiscent of Elmore Leonard. The story line is fast-paced, filled with action and violence, and stars a seemingly hapless chump struggling to survive in a cesspool. With the fun look at pop culture in circa 1973 enhancing the plot, readers, especially boomers, will enjoy Johnny Porno’s New York joy ride.—Harriet Klausner (The Mystery Gazette)
“... this has all the trappings of classic Stella – decent guys, wise guys of various standing in the mob, good/dirty cops, but most importantly, dialogue that makes you want to stand up and beg for more. Through Stella, you can practically smell the garlic on the breath of the wiseguys trying to intimidate, strain to hear cops jerking each other around through hot dog stuffed faces, wince at the lunacy of an ex-wife going off the deep end, and nod approvingly when someone does a decent thing for Johnny. Why Stella’s books aren’t flying off the main table at the front door of Barnes/Noble and Borders is, in itself, a crime.”—East Coast Don (Men Reading Books)
“Charlie Stella's JOHNNY PORNO: absolutely excellent. Guy does dialogue like no one else.”— Russel D. McLean, Author of The Good Son and The Lost Sister(From an Interview with CRIME SCENE NI (Northern Ireland))
“Johnny Porno is exactly that – a hard man chasing the tail that won’t pay for the tears. By first reminding us of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and then translating its rhetorical question into the vernacular of our romantically challenged times, Stella’s way with words does the near impossible; it finds a way from pornography to romance in the paradox of power and impotence peculiar to all of us: ‘Fuck’s in a name?’”— Len Wanner, University of Edinburgh.
Charlie delivered papers, unloaded watermelons, cooked at McDonalds, cleaned dishes at a catering hall, worked in a cardboard factory, rolled posters, worked in his father’s head shop, was a bouncer, worked security, buffed hallways, cleaned apartments, humped sheetrock, was a ten year union window cleaner atop Manhattan’s skyscrapers, was a word processing operator-supervisor-manager and director, coached football, has had novels published here, Russia, Italy, Poland, Mexico and the UK, and did that knockaround stuff for 18 years before meeting his wife, the woman who straightened him out (in a good way). He earned his MFA degree from Southern New Hampshire University at age 57. He continues to write crime novels and has expanded his horizons to include ghostwriting non-fiction—Dogfella: How an Abandoned Dog Named Bruno Turned This Mobster's Life Around--A Memoir will be published in May of 2015.
