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They like me! They really like me!!

Vic Sage Aug 04 2006 07:40 AM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Sep 09 2008 12:54 PM

As you may recall (see http://cranepoolforum.qwknetllc.com/php ... php?t=3318), my short story, "Emmett, Joey & The Beelz", was published in April by Abyss & Apex Webzine http://www.abyssandapex.com/200604-Emmett.html Well, it just got a glowing review from the Tangent Short Fiction Review: "...In "Emmett, Joey & The Beelz" by [Vic Sage], Joey is an addict with a problem: Emmett. Emmett is a sometime private eye, sometime thug who has a problem: Joey. Together they both have a problem: The Beelz. The doctor who they made a deal with—that neither can quite remember the details of—is back and he's come to collect...something. [Vic Sage] guides us into this grimy, violent world with a wonderful turn of phrase and a bravura approach to structure. Combining conversations, first person narrative, and excerpts from texts, he weaves the story together through Emmett and Joey's very different perspectives. It's a real high wire act and one which could sink the story at any time, but [Sage] manages it wonderfully. The two men speak completely differently, and the tone of their sections is both recognizable and unique. That tone is maintained in the parts they share, and [Sage] has an ear for easygoing banter and hard-boiled dialogue. The rhythm of the piece is perfect here, bouncing the reader along and building momentum as it goes. Combining elements of fantasy with hard bitten crime, the end result sits somewhere between Neil Gaiman and the late, great Mickey Spillane. The payoff is no disappointment either as [Sage] subverts the reader's expectations in a highly entertaining way. The end result is both funny, compassionate and a thousand miles away from where you expect it to be. And it's all done with absolute confidence and authority. Laconic, witty, and unique, [Sage] works some of the same themes as [Tidhar] but filters them through the conventions of hard-boiled crime and film noir. The end result is blackly funny and hugely entertaining, one of the standouts in an extremely strong group of stories..." http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php? ... Itemid=267 and a positive, if somewhat generic, review from the Internet Review of Science Fiction: "...This one starts out as if it were going to be a deal-with-the-devil story, told in several voices. Emmett and Joey are a pair of lowlifes, alcoholics and drug addicts with pasts in the darkest shades of gray, and it seems that an even more shady character they call Beelz is looking for them. This name tends to brings Beelzebub to mind, and readers may get the impression that he has come to collect Emmett's soul. Certainly Emmett seems to think so. The Beelz bought me once, I sorta remember. The price wasn't that high and he paid it, and then he owned me. Still does, I guess. I'm not really sure anymore about the details. And if he's looking for me, my life has just gotten nastier. Hell, I been shot, stabbed, worked over with a tire iron, and run over by a Cadillac doing 80 through my living room, and I ain't dead yet. But Beelz. Keee-riest. The truth, however, turns out to be stranger. [Sage] does a nice job spinning off this story from the original legend. Recommended http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10293#abyss yippee!

SteveJRogers Aug 04 2006 07:51 AM

Congrats!

Benjamin Grimm Aug 04 2006 07:59 AM

Very nice, Vic.

Edgy DC Aug 04 2006 07:59 AM

Great for you. Pad that writing résumé, Sevush. I wonder if anybody ever called Spillane "great" in his day.

seawolf17 Aug 04 2006 08:08 AM

Great work, Vic!

Elster88 Aug 04 2006 08:13 AM

Excellent stuff.

Johnny Dickshot Aug 04 2006 08:21 AM

Wow!

Rockin' Doc Aug 04 2006 09:09 AM

Sometimes I am amazed at the talent of the CPF members. We may not have a large quantity of members, but there is great quality amid our ranks. Congratulations Vic, on your literary achievement. I wish you continued success in the future.

metirish Aug 04 2006 09:40 AM

WOW,great for you,not a bad way to start a Friday.

Benjamin Grimm Aug 04 2006 09:47 AM

[quote="Rockin' Doc":hu5oq1no]We may not have a large quantity of members, but there is great quality amid our ranks.[/quote:hu5oq1no] I agree. And I don't think that's a coincidence either. If we were swamped with quantity, the quality would get diluted.

MFS62 Aug 04 2006 10:09 AM

Congrats, Vic. When we read it we knew it was something special. Thanks for sharing. Later

Elster88 Aug 04 2006 10:24 AM

[quote="Rockin' Doc":2rux637s]Sometimes I am amazed at the talent of the CPF members.[/quote:2rux637s] Me too. I am especially blown away with the skill so many CPFers have in writing.

Kong76 Aug 04 2006 11:08 AM

Nice job, Biggus Ralphus

Willets Point Aug 04 2006 11:49 AM

We should start a CPF 'zine to publish all the original works of CPF writers.

TheOldMole Aug 06 2006 12:19 PM

Congrats. And deserved.

RealityChuck Aug 07 2006 07:29 AM

Great news.

MFS62 Aug 07 2006 12:06 PM

Vic, is your stage name Sally Field? Later

Vic Sage Nov 29 2006 11:52 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 12 2007 10:16 AM

Another good review just popped up... http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=read&gr ... rtnum=3719 webnews.sff.net By Richard R. Horton Summary: Abyss & Apex, 2006 Abyss & Apex is an e-zine available at www.abyssandapex.com. They have been publishing on a regular quarterly schedule the past two years (having published more frequently, but with some wobbles, in previous years). Carol Burrell is the Publisher. They published a total of 23 stories this year. The total word count was about 95,000. Two novelettes, the rest short stories, five of them being "short-shorts". I should note that they publish quite a lot of poetry as well, some of it quite good. Two stories in particular stood out for me this year, [Vic Sage's]s "Emmet, Joey, and the Beelz", a novelette from the Second Quarter issue, and Will McIntosh's "New Spectacles" from the 3rd Quarter issue. [Sage's] story is a fine version of the Golem tale, amusingly set among the criminal element in contemporary New York, and making the Golem a Mets fan. ...

Edgy DC Nov 29 2006 11:56 AM

One more reason to see Stranger Than Fiction is that there's a golem reference.

Vic Sage Nov 29 2006 03:51 PM

i'm seeing it next sunday

Vic Sage Sep 29 2008 01:40 PM

The story has finally been published on actual paper, by a sf/fantasy zine called KALIEDOTROPE. http://www.kaleidotrope.net/

themetfairy Sep 29 2008 02:13 PM

Very cool! Congrats :)

Centerfield Oct 01 2008 07:53 AM

Really great stuff Vic. Congrats.

dgwphotography Oct 01 2008 11:54 AM

That's great, Vic - it's nice to know that others will see what we already see here. Congratulations!