Friday, August 20, 2010

Sheeter Git Off the Pot

One of my favorite things about getting pieces published in anthologies, magazines and online journals are all the virtual shoulders I rub up against, some are my heroes, some are my evil nemesis and many are complete strangers. As the pile of publications grows, some of the names become familiar. With the publication of Beat to a Pulp: Round One, I find some of those names turning up again.

BTAP will be the fourth time I’ve been published alongside Mike Sheeter. I know he publishes online, but frankly I don’t get to do a lot of reading on line, certainly not casual browsing type reading, so last night, I sat down and re-read his previous three contributions to print publications we’ve shared space in.

First was his story Unstable from Out of the Gutter, the Revenge issue, (#5). It’s a quick story about the disasterous breakdown of a love triangle between a man, a woman and a horse. One cold MuthaFlicka.

Second was his story Violated from Sex, Thugs and Rock & Roll, about a parole officer dealing with a paroled pedophile. This one was great. Straight forward tone and treatment of the subject matter, with some genuine tension running right through the heart of it. Would love to see a novel like this.

Third was his non-fiction piece Thinking Pink With Larry Flynt from OOTG’s Sexploitation issue (#6), chronicling his time as an editor at Flynt’s flagship publication, Hustler magazine in the late 70s. It’s more anecdotal than biographical with Flynt and his antics in the foreground. My favorite piece from that issue, for sheer entertainment value, worth more than Milos Foreman’s movie.

So, I haven’t locked down Sheeter’s voice from these three pieces, each was quite a departure from the others, but based on their strength, I ‘m really anticipating his The All-Weather Phantom in BTAP.

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At Ransom NotesI’m confessing my geeky anticipation of artistic mash-ups – like William Faulkner adapting Raymond Chandler, (it happened, you know?). The current one I’ve got my eye on is Peter Craig adapting Chuck Hogan. Low stakes? Maybe, but I like looking at that kind of thing.

1 comment:

David Cranmer said...

I've never been disappointed by Mike's work. He looks at the world with a refreshing slant.