It's the Time of the Season
Discover more from Lawrence Allan Writes.
It's the Time of the Season
I really want to know
Hello, readers, writers and rollers! October is here, the end of the year is nigh and I’m back with another newsletter that has both news and a treat!
News!
Y’all, I’ll be doing a reading with some kick ass writers in Los Angeles!
I've been attending Noir at the Bar for a few years now -- with a pause for that whole pandemic thing -- and I'm jazzed about having an opportunity to read.
So, if you are in the L.A. area (or you want to have a reason to come to the L.A. area) come out and join us. It's free to get in (though the bar would love it if you bought a drink or two) and you just might find your next favorite writer.
A treat…!
Because it’s the season, I’ve uploaded a horror story that I never quite found a home for. So, this is an exclusive short story just for you! It’s a bit of a zombie tale… but not quite the zombies that you were looking for.
Meanwhile, over on LawrenceAllanWrites.com…
That’s right, I also have a website! From time to time, I put stuff over there that I’m not putting in the newsletter — I want to keep this lean and mean.
I put up an article about the whole Pantser vs. Plotter thing and what I think is actually important about the debate.
Check it out HERE.
Book recommendations!
The Low Desert by Tod Goldberg is a collection of short stories set in and around the Palm Springs desert area and are set within Goldberg’s Gangsterland Universe — hey, writers can have universes too.
What I like about these stories is the mix of humor and pathos. I’m a sucker for a deeply felt story that also gets me chuckling. There’s The Royal Californian, a story about a small time thief — and wedding DJ — with a bullet wound in his foot, trying to escape California and gets stuck in a crappy hotel near Palm Springs. InGoon Number Four, a hitman goes back to school to start a new life, only to find that it’s hard to quit being a tough guy when a professor deals with a stalker.
One of the most touching stories is Palm Springs. A lonely woman stuck in the grind of working at a casino can’t let go of the heartbreak of her adopted daughter running away from her, a daughter she so desperately wanted. She begins to wonder if she is even worthy of love.
There are, of course, more and all worthy of a read.
Things don’t work out for a lot of people in these stories and yet, they keep going. For better or for worse.
Check it out and tell me what you think.