TROUBLE IN MIND; OTS, THE MOVIE

Over at the Medicine Show blog of the sublime Megan Abbott and Sara Gran, I have a guest essay/review of the 25th anniversary DVD release of the lost neo-noir cult classic, Trouble In Mind, set in a pre-Starbucks Seattle and starring Kris Kristofferson, Divine and Keith Carradine, among others. (I also participated in the Abbott/Gran Q&A, which can be found here.)

At My Book, the Movie, I take a turn at casting a film adaptation of ONE TRUE SENTENCE.

Wrapping up today's ONE TRUE SENTENCE news, tonight we played a new round of ONE TRUE SENTENCE the game.

Some quick background: Every night, I start a True Sentence on Twitter (@HectorLassiter, hash tag #1TS), and all brave takers finish that sentence.

Each Sunday, I pick the best sentence of the week and award the winner with a signed book (this week we're playing for ROGUE MALES).

In the world of Hector Lassiter, the game was one the author created and played, chiefly with Ernest Hemingway, but sometimes with others, and, sometimes, for unthinkable stakes.

Here's a sampling of results from our latest round (my apologies to those that got by me because no hash tag was used).

Madame Zira peered at his palm and said…

@APMonkey "Didn't your mother tell you you'd get hairy palms if you didn't stop that?"

@bkfaerie “You should wash your hand more often.”

@ BlackIrishBlarn “Swedish Fish?”

@scarletncream “The truest parts of yourself are hidden so deeply that you will die of untapped potential.”

@scarletncream "Death would be too kind a punishment for your sins so the cosmos will allow you to live.”

@jenforbus “How's the bucket list going?”

@jenforbus "Here, Palmolive, soak in it.”

@romyk "You need a tree surgeon, not a fortune teller."

@vpkeenan “Too late."

@LolosLetters "This lifeline would look much better attached to a body...”

@brianlindenmuth "So this is the guy who called me a damn dirty ape?"

@matthewjmcbride said nothing, her expression blank as fresh paper; the hand was detached, he was already dead.

@wampusreynolds “Behind you, left shoulder, is a thug with a baseball bat so your other hand better have something in it.”

@xesands “Oh honey, that's gonna cost you an extra twenty..."

@BlackIrishBlarn "You pulled the nail out all by yourself did you?"

@nj713 "So it's true what they say about hair on your palms."

THIS WEEK'S WINNER IN THE ONE TRUE SENTENCE CONTEST & MORE...

We've wrapped up week two of playing ONE TRUE SENTENCE — the game modeled on the one that Hector Lassiter and Ernest Hemingway play in my novels: one starts a sentence; the other finishes it, short and pithy.

The winner of this week's round was Judy Bobalik: "If slaying Chet was a sin, how come it didn't feel good?" Judy wins the ultra-rare TOROS & TORSOS limited edition (the novel in which Hem and Hec most frequently play the game).

Oscar night, we kicked off Week Three of the ONE TRUE SENTENCE challenge. This coming Sunday, the winner who produces the week's best ONE TRUE SENTENCE will receive a signed copy of my Macavity-nominated second collection of author interviews, ROGUE MALES, with their true sentence inscribed inside.

Before hitting the Sunday night recap of the Oscar edition of ONE TRUE SENTENCE, a note that I'll be guest blogging on Monday at Megan Abbot and Sara Gran's site here.

Over the past week, I logged mucho miles, hitting Murder by The Book in Houston, Book People in Austin, and, in a special event with James Sallis, Poisoned Pen in Arizona. If you're looking for signed copies of ONE TRUE SENTENCE, any of those fine stores can see to your needs. Speaking of that latter event, an-after-event shot of Mr. Sallis signing books with me:



A last reminder that GoodReads is offering a chance to win one of eight copies of ONE TRUE SENTENCE. Details here.

Okay, our recap of the Oscar/Sunday night round of ONE TRUE SENTENCE (you can play Monday by checking in here.)

Sue and Ken had a shotgun wedding; when it came time to divorce…

@vpkeenan knives would suffice.

@WarZoneCameron Sue wanted everything, including his prized Superpro comics.

@JudyJB a wood-chipper came in handy.

@scottchasebooks she decided to use it again.

@cavalieresq he wished he'd saved a slug.

@RuroRemy he felt that the Academy Award on the fireplace mantel was enough.

@ RuroRemy it was time to dig up the hatchet.

@KD_James Sue's daddy made sure that this time the shotgun was loaded.

@xesands Ken licked his wounds and Sue...well Sue simply reloaded.

@jennsbookshelf it was a full blown armory.

@picky_girl the shotgun came back out.

@jenforbus they pulled the pins from their grenades.

@jasummerell they were still fighting over the color of the tiny casket.

@...brianlindenmuth it was a Saturday night special.

@ JHammons they employed an ax.

@le0pard13 their first proceeding involved knives.

@bkfaerie they both had to shell out...

@APMonkey Ken used a stake through the heart to be sure.

@hilarydavidson the only question was who'd reach for the gun first.

@nelizadrew neither could remember the lock code, so Sue used it as a bludgeon.

@djgerg it was atomic all the way.

@matthewjmcbride the dissolution was confirmed by the razor sharp teeth of a chainsaw.

@dboshea it was no more pump, no more side-by-side.

@scubagirl7 the bloodshed looked like a scene from Texas chainsaw massacre.

@dboshea he opted for the no-longer-my-dear slug.

@dboshea he saved the second barrel for her lawyer.

@matthewjmcbride Sue laid down the terms with rounds of severe uncompromising gunfire.

@dboshea Sue and Ken had a shotgun wedding; when it came time to divorce, she gave him full custody of both barrels.

@SebDuper one of them got sawed-off.