More people are saying “My thought process is…” when “I think” would suffice. Meanwhile, “provided a permission structure” has replaced “allowed.” It’s like the world’s most annoying faculty member is ghostwriting everyday speech.
Frank Vatel
@frankvatel312.bsky.social
Writer of noir fiction, designer of book covers. Derringer Award finalist. Published by Punk Noir, All Due Respect, Bristol Noir, Revolution John, and Reckon Review.
CARTOON OF THE DAY (if you know who made this let us know)
Ever hear a contemporary pop singer live—with no gimmicks or accompaniment—and realize she’s overqualified for her job? #sarabareilles
“I’m a staunch evangelical who believes hell awaits people who defy Christ’s message. In my spare time, I place laugh emojis under clips of ICE dragging disabled women from their cars.”
Stanley Kubrick might've been a genius, but he wasn't above ripping off writer Jim Thompson. Be careful of them Bronx born boys. @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social @glennkenny.bsky.social
Michael A. Gonzales@magonzales.bsky.social · 5d agoSinners, Saints and Screenplays: On Jim Thompson and Stanley Kubrick --an essay about the making of a nor classic by Michael A. Gonzales crimereads.com/kubrick-jim-...
Spoke with a woman who works at a concert venue. The longest lines for women’s restrooms occur at Taylor Swift shows. The shortest? Rush. 🤣
William Conrad appreciation post: His breakout role as the gunman wanting the big dinner in The Killers (’46), Conrad played the ultimate sidekick in supporting roles like Body and Soul (’47), Tension (’49), The Racket (’51), and Cry Danger (’51). #filmnoir Your favorite?
NEXT WED, #TheNoirCollective and #TCMParty – in an unprecedented feat of derring-do – join forces for a MAN HUNT (1941). I’ll be hosting this proto-noir classic – directed by Fritz Lang – which airs on TCM in our usual slot. And for those without TCM, we’ll be posting a link to watch, as always. 😊
“Each family woke up in their own homes, in their own beds, and understood in their own time that their own boy was missing.” Maybe I'm forgetting someone, but I doubt if anyone is writing better suspense fiction at the moment. Here is @marythor.bsky.social's latest:
Mary Thorson@marythor.bsky.social · last wk.New short story in @gonelawn.bsky.social about the Yuba County 5. gonelawn.net/journal/issu...
Truly amazed by FILTH, a grisly, mind-bending noir narrated by a sociopathic cop and his tapeworm. Irvine Welsh’s antihero is the spiritual descendant of Jim Thompson’s chaos-agent sheriffs, updated with a Scottish brogue and a longer list of vices. Filthy, yes. But masterful.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a college football team’s most obnoxious supporters never attended college there. Except for the Michigan Wolverines, whose worst fans scream at the housekeeper for leaving the wall-mounted, gallery-lit diploma slightly askew.
New short story in @gonelawn.bsky.social about the Yuba County 5. gonelawn.net/journal/issu...
Gone Lawn 66 : Mary Thorson
gonelawn.net
It stands at less than four-hundred words, but I defy anyone to tell me there isn’t a tequila-soaked adventure novel in this story.
Andrew Careaga (writer)@andrewcareaga.bsky.social · last wk.I have a flash piece up in the new little mag Sunday Morning published—when else?—this Sunday morning. Proud to be the first contributor to this project! #writingcommunity sundaymorningmag.neocities.org/stories/pancho
Today at the St**k, we go behind the story with @andrewcareaga.bsky.social, , author of “The Doctor’s Version,” inspired by Zevon’s “Charlie’s Medicine.” He discusses writing a narrator who sees himself as a savior, even as the truth tells a far darker story. open.substack.com/pub/literary...
Behind The Story
Get to know Andrew Careaga
open.substack.com
The coolest thing I’ve learned this year? There’s something in mathematics called a “RUTH-AARON pair.” The definition: two consecutive integers for which the sums of the prime factors of each integer are equal. e.g., 714 and 715
Thoughtful post about relationships with fellow writers. Written by @jimthomsen.bsky.social. jimthomsen.substack.com/p/which-come...
Which Comes First: the Writing, or the Writing Friendship?
Have you ever been put in the position of feeling compelled by friendship to promote a book you feel isn't all that good? A look through the other end of the literary-friendship lens.
jimthomsen.substack.com
Love this year’s #NoirCity theme. Titled “Face the Music,” the 2026 edition presents two-dozen crime films involving musicians. Just bought my pass for the Chicago run, Sept 4-10. Eddie Muller will host the opening weekend, as always. Anticipating some fun discoveries—and old favorites...
We’ve got your weekend dinner plans sorted, with murder recipes and noir cocktails. Stop by and get the recipes, now til 7 PM
Phillip Lopate on Godard’s À BOUT DE SOUFFLE / BREATHLESS. From a piece published in the NYT in 2000. #FilmSky
Hasn't aged a day. Makes CGI look like Claymation. Oh yeah, and it’s actually *about* something.
@stuwolfie.bsky.social · 2w agoIncredible as it seems a 1st time watch for me, amazing how technology has changed here we have film cameras and landline phones and EFXs better than today's CGI youtube.com/watch?v=dSpQ...
I always post this quote from John Huston whenever an Elisha Cook, Jr. film is on #TCM, and it always gets a great response. I think a lot of us dream of Mr. Cook's kind of life. #TheKilling #TCMParty #SummerOfDarkness
CT Million@ctmillion.bsky.social · 2mo agoHuston: "Elisha Cook, Jr. lived alone up in the High Sierra, tied flies and caught golden trout between films. When he was wanted in Hollywood, they sent word up to his mountain cabin by courier. He would come down, do a picture and then withdraw again to his retreat." #TheMalteseFalcon #TCMParty
Skip the Matt Dillon/Sean Young remake.
JacquiWine@jacquiwine.bsky.social · 2w agoA KISS BEFORE DYING (Gerd Oswald, 1956). Robert Wagner plays a murderous snake in a suit in this immersive Technicolor noir, largely powered by selfishness & greed. Virginia Leith is particularly good here, stealing the film’s second half, but Wagner is horribly smarmy throughout. #FilmSky
TCM’s Summer of Darkness won’t get more “A-picture” than SUNSET BOULEVARD, tonight’s leadoff film. But stay tuned, afterward, for one of the great under-appreciated noirs. A bleak tale of adultery and murder, THE PROWLER pulls no punches and avoids cop-out endings. #TCMParty
Delighted to get my contributors copy of BAD INTENTIONS, the new anthology of stories drawn from the music of Warren Zevon. A great lineup of crime fiction! Thanks to editor @kmwriter01.bsky.social and @literarygarage.bsky.social and cover artist @frankvatel312.bsky.social
You can identify a libertarian before he opens his mouth. His energy and general appearance say: “I’m a white guy who smokes loads of weed but somehow I’m still angry.”