Jackie's Mad and I Have a New Story Available

Jackie was in a bit of a snit a couple of days ago. For a week or so she had been checking the stores for shoes but couldn't find any she liked. Then she came across two pairs that suited her and she bought both.

When she arrived home she was more than a little happy about her good luck. She showed them to me and I made all the appropriate comments that men keep stored away in their minds for such occasions.

Next Jackie decided to slip on a pair and make the rounds of the building seeking compliments. She stopped at the apartment of a friend and received the hoped-for reaction: "Oh, those are cute shoes."

This pleased Jackie no end, of course. Then the friend added, "They look like bowling shoes."
Another example of not knowing enough to quit while you're ahead.

* * *

"Panic On Portage Path" is the title of a story of mine in the January/February issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. It's a double issue, thus the two months named on the cover. The story is about a kidnapping on Akron's most prestigious street, the one where the rubber barons used to live. Among them was Frank Seiberling, the founder of Goodyear as well as another tire company bearing his name. The palatial home, Stan Hywet Hall, is now a popular tourist attraction.

The fictitious kidnapping down the street from the Seiberling residence seemed to be the perfect crime until private eye Jack Eddy entered the case. He solved it, naturally, but only after a little gunfire in the night.

If that isn't enough to make you rush out and buy it, there's a true account about tie-in writing on the pages just ahead of "Panic." If you've ever wondered about those books that appear shortly after a movie or TV series, this will tell you how it's done. The recognized King of the Tie-In Writers is Al (Max Allan) Collins, a fellow I know through the Private Eye Writers of America. Like most professional writers, he's a workaholic. Proof of that is the number of books he has listed for sale. Now he's preparing to direct a movie. That's a challenge because he lives in Muscatine, Iowa. To make his life a little easier, the film will be shot in Muscatine.

I like to work, too, and am usually at it seven days a week, but I can't imagine how Al Collins accomplishes as much as he does. Could it be because he doesn't write a blog?

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