The old Red Onion...that should be interesting...guess they don't have friends in high enough places to warrant a city buyout.

just finished two paperback mysteries that remind me of your first chapter - Plunder of the Sun by David dodge and The Guns of Heaven by Pete Hamill.

there's a local cat named dave gordon who done wrote a mystery book set in aspen called the Eyes of Aspen that you may or not have heard of for what it's worth.

how bout some blogging on the ol Onion goin down?!

What is it they say about people who live in glass houses? No one's immune. You should see what I can do with pronouns in the objective case...

Cheers,

Notice you haven't bothered to point out misspellings of others who post here. Something personal or was it the topic I was addressing?

1. antidote -noun; A remedy or other agent used to neutralize or counteract the effects of a poison.

2. malapropism [mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm] -noun; an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

3. anecdote, -noun; 1) A short account of an interesting or humorous incident. 2) Secret or hitherto undivulged particulars of history or biography.

Now that I've got that out of the way, let me save Alpha6 the trouble...

ass‧hole  /ˈæsˌhoʊl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[as-hohl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Vulgar.
1. anus.
2. Slang.
a. a stupid, mean, or contemptible person.
b. the worst part of a place or thing.
–adjective
3. Slang. stupid, mean, or contemptible.

Cheers,

Your valliant noble effort to uncover one of Aspen's many dirty little secrets with respect to our sheriff fell short it seems. Or it wasn't really a secret.

The real story that locals were talking about wasn't the sheriff, but the strained relationship between the apd and sherrif department, and the poor public perception of the apd in light of the tasering incident, the lawsuit over the forced entry in the east end.

Now it's time for you to turn your investigative reporting instincts towards the police department and see what you can uncover there. You have been suspiciously silent about the recent events. Specifically the long overdue agreement between the sheriff and the police chief, and the resignation of the 'dick cheney' of the apd. I'm sure you could have a real field day with that one! Great stuff for your book!

Good luck! Go get 'em tiger!

The "vocabulary of nonsense" refers only to the words/sounds people make when they're having sex, not what comes after.

As for the Sheriff, the great irony of this story is that it was written LAST year, way before any of the hubbub extant on Aspen Post about the REAL situation. So it will be really interesting to get people's reaction.

Remember: it's only fiction, after all. Real life couldn't really approach it--or could it?

Best, Michael!

“…the DNA of desire…”

Going for William Blake on that one...

And then there’s, “If it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger.” (Actually, I think it’s “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…”) Cliché? If you’re going for Art Deco or Film Noir, no foul.

My jury’s still out on the sex scene—I’m still synthesizing what it is you are trying to convey about the protagonist’s love interest through this scene. It has to be more than saying she’s “good in tub.” You set up the intimacy of the moment nicely by writing, “We say the words, too, a vocabulary of nonsense that is just a way of saying something when nothing need be said…” How can the dialog that follows, which sets up central elements of the plot, equate to “a vocabulary of nonsense,” especially as that vocabulary is a manifestation of sexual passion? It doesn’t wash—even if you do put it in a bathtub.

You’ve set up a journey quite nicely with Charles Evans’ final utterance: “I think we’ve been there and back.” See the subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” This dovetails with the opening remark, “I’m the guy who could never say no and can’t start now.” Sounds a lot like Bilbo Baggins to me.

I have to wonder where you’re going with this plot, which is the whole purpose of a first chapter, right?

Aspen.

Murder. (“Welcome to Arnold Bagdikian's Aspen and the deaths to come.”)

Law enforcement.

If this doesn’t turn out to be an allegory on Sherriff Braudis’ community service, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.

Looking forward to chapter two...

Cheers,