Paige Hawthorne: Blog

Public Service Announcement: Another Winter Jennings story has been posted. There's still time to flee the site before you accidentally click on "Winter's Secret".

As usual, it's been mishandled by three editors - Thorny, Steve, and Mike. I enjoy twitting them in public, but have told them not to confuse fondness with respect.

As an experiment, I will wait until the fourth chapter is posted to turn on the reader voting mechanism. Not that I pay the slightest attention to my scores.

Proceed at your own risk.

Paige

I'm posting another story - "Winter's Secret" - starting tomorrow. Many of you will do anything possible, everything possible, to avoid being exposed to it. (I apologize to SOL for those readers who resign their memberships to evade accidental cross-contamination.)

Now, a warning wrapped in a warning.

"Secret" touches on American politics. The third rail for many readers. I tried to keep the subject in context, but no matter how it's broached, it will annoy a healthy percentage of you.

Unfortunately, I'm not a talented enough writer to present a thoughtful, evenhanded analysis of the current national scene. But even if I were, I wouldn't because it would slow the story down to the point of yawning.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Paige

The reader scores - not that I pay the slightest attention to them - plunged on one story. "Winter's Dilemma" had a final chapter that chronicled abuse of homeless people in a rogue California lab.

My motley crew - Thorny and Steve (was Mike involved back then?) - wanted me to cut out most of the nasty stuff. I toned it down, but, according to reader reactions, not enough.

This brings up a larger question. Do I write from my gut? Or chase reader scores that I don't even notice? Easy. I'll continue to listen to my muse. Harvey? You there? Harvey?

Paige

P. S. Gratuitous sex seems to be fine in here. Interesting, that's the opposite of movie and TV parental guidance warnings. Go figure.

For the handful of you Winter sleigh riders still aboard … here's an update on my current stab at writing decent fiction - "Winter's Secret". I set an improbable task for myself. Good intentions, but you know what they say about paving that road.

I decided to model 'Secret' after four of my faves:

Robert B. Parker for his terse prose. Spenser.

Alexander McCall Smith for his philosophical musings. Isabel Dalhousie.

Ross Thomas for his storytelling. "Chinaman's Chance".

Robert Crais for his smartass detective. Elvis Cole.

Result? A conflicted mishmash of gibberish. And over 40,000 words deleted.

Action plan? Set the Unattainable Bar even higher:

Elmore Leonard - "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."

Good night and good luck.

Paige

Perhaps there is nothing to worry about. Still there is some concern … understandable concern. My three "Winter" editors - Thorny, Steve, and Mike - have gone missing.

Now let's dispense, immediately, with the popular conspiracy theory that their Winter-involvement has put them in harm's way. Bosh. If not tosh.

Yet.

Their continued radio silence is worrisome. Some readers are speculating it has something to do with the notorious Clitorides Awards. Where one of their authors is, apparently, falling behind in the voting.

Not that I care about ephemera such as awards, reader scores, etc. Certainly not when we're talking about human safety. So let it go forth, from this day forward, that I am posting a reward for information leading to safe return of the three MIAs.

The cash value is equal to the annual remuneration I pay each editor.

Let us prey,

Paige