Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Crime Bible

This is my crime bible.


Within it, secrets will be exposed, motives will be explored, poked, prodded and examined, looking for holes within the whole. For every action, there will be an equal, but not always, opposite reaction. Damn the laws of physics!


What lessons will go into the crime bible? The answer is simple...everything. I plan to read, watch, listen and experience everything related to crime over the next 365 days. (Okay, maybe experience is going a bit beyond...I have no plans to commit crime, nor do I wish any to be committed against my person).


Will it be entertaining? To myself, most certainly. I will enjoy every second of this journey. Many of these books and movies starring back at me are old friends, itching to tell there stories once again over a bottle. They never tire of hearing themselves, and luckily, I'm a willing listener.


But what about you, invisible, silent, and most likely imaginary reader? Will the ramblings of a noir junkie mean a damn to you? Hopefully so. Come back from time to time and be introduced to something new, some dime store novel that fell through the cracks or an unwatched gem. I've got the power of the internet at my fingertips! Beware its power to unearth things you and I have never heard of.


So why am I doing this, other than to listen to the sound of my own voice as I rat-a-tat type away on my computer. (Yes, I often say what I am writing as I type. Is that equivalent to moving your lips while reading silently?)


I'm doing this because I lack discipline when it comes to writing. I fall in love with a project, go at it like hell for a short time, and then move along to the new bright and shiny without ever finishing what I started. Very rarely does a project of mine see it's way to completion. That's going to change this year. Every damn day I'm going to sit at this damn computer and come hell or massive snow fall, type out a few paragraphs. Will they all be massive odes to Robert Mitchum or Lawrence Block? No. Some days I might be so sick of myself that I'll type out a three word review of a movie and call it good. Let's hope those days are few and far between.


But hopefully I'll develop discipline. Then that 250 page novel in my office will finally get completed. It's been in my head for years. It needs to find its way out.


With tomorrows post comes some structure. Besides the writing, there are a few things I might actually want to read or watch for fun.