The Skinny!

You see that name up there? At the top of the screen? Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer? Well, that's me. So you'd think this was my website or something. Yeah, I know it's stevehockensmith.com, but still. There it is, big as life. My name.

But it's that Hockensmith feller who's really in charge around here. Mostly because I don't know what "HTML" is. Hitmill? Hutemil? Damn, I don't even know how to pronounce it. And apparently you've got to understand it to run one of these "blog" thingies.

So I just pop in here whenever Hockensmith puts out the call for me, really. And today I got the message: "I haven't posted anything in over a week, Big Red, and I still don't have anything to say. Could you throw something on the blog? I'm going over the first pass pages for the next book and I really don't have time to mess with the website right now. Thanks!"

Alright. Here I am, though I've got no idea what "first pass pages" are and I'm kind of busy myself writing the next next book and I don't think I've got anything to say, either. I don't know...maybe y'all would appreciate some updates? On my current doin's and such?

Well, I'm just gonna hope you do, cuz that's all I've got to fall back on. Here's the skinny.

The next book is called The Crack in the Lens. It takes place in San Marcos, Texas. In it, Old Red and I address some unfinished business from my brother's past. If you read The Black Dove, you should be able to guess what that business is. (If you haven't read The Black Dove, it comes out in paperback May 12 -- and you oughta be ashamed of yourself!) Crack' ll hit stores July 21.

The next next book is called (at the moment) World's Greatest Sleuth!. And yeah -- that extra exclamation point there ain't just me messin' up the Hitmill. It's actually part of the title of the book. I've always wanted to write something with an exclamation point in the name (hey, it worked for SYLS!), and this seemed like the time to do it. Sleuth! is set at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and it should come out...well, sometime in 2010. July, most likely.

Boy, can you believe there's a year coming up called "2010"? Sounds like something out of Jules Verne, don't it?

Anyway, after Sleuth!...alright, I don't rightly now. Hopefully, I'll move on to the next next next book, which'll be about I don't know what and be set I don't know where and should come out I don't know when. 

Ask for it by name.

Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer
March 18, 1893

Comments

[Bill Crider]

Sherlock Holmes was at the World's Columbian Exposition. Check out my story in SHERLOCK HOLMES IN AMERICA.

[Big Red]

Thanks for the heads up, Bill! If memory serves, Hockensmith's got him a Holmes tale in that self-same book. Hopefully, he'll pop back in soon with The Skinny on his story....

-Big Red

[Matthew Szewczyk]

Very cool! I am currently reading Devil in the White City so this is good news!

[Steve]

Oh, no! Now you'll be perfectly primed to catch all my mistakes. Here's hoping you forget a lot of the details between now and July....

-Steve

[Marge]

Bravo, Big Red! Bout time we heard more from you, and such great news, too.

[Niehaus]

Sweet! A drop date. I'll be sure to watch out for that one.

[Jonathan Turner]

Chicago, eh? Could it be that we might encounter ... Abe Slaney, "the most dangerous crook in Chicago"? Or perhaps James Winter, alias Morecroft, alias Killer Evans? "Native of Chicago. Known to have shot three men in the States. Escaped from penitentiary through political influence. Came to London in 1893." Yes ... 1893! Coincidence?

[Big Red]

Actually, my brother and I won't be meeting either Mr. Slaney or Mr. Winter/Morecroft/Evans in the Chicago book. Sounds like we were lucky to miss 'em, too -- those are the kinda gents you don't want to meet in a dark alley, and Lord knows Chicago's got plenty of those. We do encounter a few notable folks, though. A certain Mr. Pinkerton, a certain Miss Oakley, a certain Mr. H-....

But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I gotta finish writing the thing first!

-Big Red

[Lee]

I pre-ordered "Crack in the Lens" back in January and am looking for it to "tentpole" my summer reading.

I loved "Devil in the White City", so I'm really looking forward Red's next endeavors.

Any news on whether you'll be touring for "Crack in the Lens"? Haven't had a "Steve" fix in awhile.

[Steve]

I'm finding that having read and thoroughly enjoyed "Devil in the White City" (as well as a few other books about the Columbian Exposition) is almost as much a curse as a blessing. The Exposition was so enormous, so jam-packed with odd and interesting exhibits and people, it's hard to get that scale across in the midst of a (hopefully) fast-paced, plot-driven mystery. There are times it feels like the setting overwhelms the story: I'm trying to write a breathless action sequence, yet how can I not slow down to describe the incredible sights and sounds all around? Oh, well. I'll work out the right balance sooner or later. That's what rewrites are for, right?

As for the "Crack" tour, it's definitely in the works, though it remains to be seen where exactly it'll take me. But I'm thinking I can't pass up L.A., so you'll probably see me down that way come late July or early August. Stay tuned!

-Steve

[Lee]

I'll keep an eye on the calendar. Your visits are always entertaining.

[Susan Hajek]

Hi Steve, I am at the bloody Crystal Lake, IL Barnes & Noble and I ask the shop keeper where they keep your books and they tell me they have no copies. How is this possible and who did you anger at the B&N?Amazon, here I come! Your fan from Illinois Susan Hajek shajek@wheels.com

[Steve]

No wonder B&N is in so much financial trouble. I mean, if they don't know enough to keep a hot author like *me* on the shelves, they're in the wrong business!

But in all seriousness, I'm betting my books would be a challenge to find just about anywhere right now: It's been over a year since my last novel came out, and I'm usually not on the shelves more than a few months in the major chains. Just wait, though -- with THE BLACK DOVE coming out in paperback next month and THE CRACK IN THE LENS in hardcover in July, I'll start popping up at a lot more stores before you know it.

Thanks for keeping an eye out for me!

-Steve

[Jim Fleming]

Hold on, Big Red! Sherlock Holmes is going to be at the Columbia Exposition? Stop pulling my leg. Everybody knows Mr. Holmes died back in '91. It wouldn't surprise me if we don't get an official report by the end of the year.

Jim Fleming
April 20, 1893

[Big Red]

You're right, Jim -- the way we hear it, Doc Watson'll be putting out his official story on Mr. H's demise by the end of the year. (The year being 1893, of course. Nice of you to join us here!) But my brother's a mite skeptical. Maybe it was that switcheroo with the body in our first big adventure, I don't know, but he's got it in his head that The Man might not really be dead. So you never know....

Speaking of which, Old Red's not the only one to have this thought, apparently. Saddle Pal Bill Crider wrote up a story about Holmesian shenanigans at the Exposition for the new anthology "Sherlock Holmes in America." Course, if I'd known he was going to do so, I would've told him we had dibs, but whachagonnado? The rub of it is now I can't read Bill's tale for a right long spell, cuz I don't want someone else's story messing with my head as I'm trying to finish up mine. So by the time I get to enjoy Bill's take on things, it'll probably be 1894!

-Big Red