Uncategorized – Page 5 – Mark Bruce, Writer

Nashville bound

Once again, my friends, I have placed in the finals in the Killer Nashville Claymore Awards, an unpublished manuscript competition. Once again, it is in the Comedy category–my unpublished book “The Return of Edsel Eddie,” a rock and roll fable, garnered the honors. This year I am going to Music City to be a partContinue reading “Nashville bound”

Dirty Fingernails

I am, by trade, an attorney. You know, attorney. We dress nice. We have perfectly coiffed hair. We are well built and shapely so that the stray client conceives an indescribable passion for us and pulls us into bed. So the lawyer novels would tell you. One thing for sure, lawyers have clean fingernails. WhatContinue reading “Dirty Fingernails”

The Nanny Car

Last week as I was tooling along Interstate 10 on my way to work, the Little Black Pony started to overheat. She’d had some trouble the night before idling roughly and I am no longer such a fool as to ignore a little thing like my Kia Rio losing its temper. I pulled over andContinue reading “The Nanny Car”

The Lowest of the Low

I am part of the Sisters In Crime book club, in which we try different novels to see what they’re like. I’ve written about this before, weren’t you paying attention? This month’s work was a novel written by a former cop in which the protagonist, a former street cop who liked to engage in violence,Continue reading “The Lowest of the Low”

Ghost Trippin’

I was in my little Pied a’ Tierre in Loma Linda two weeks ago headed toward the bedroom door when suddenly my feet went out from under me. I stumbled, grabbed at the wall to try to steady myself, but the wall would not cooperate. I grabbed at the doorsill but it ignored me rudely.Continue reading “Ghost Trippin’”

All The Racists

The pretty young lady pictured above is a relatively obscure songwriter, now in her 30s, who recently put out a new album called “The Tortured Poets Department.” I’m sure she’s happy to get the boost in sales that a mention in this blog will get her. In one of her songs, “Nostalgia,” she mentions thatContinue reading “All The Racists”

Interview With The Master

I have written three short stories specifically for Dandelion Revolution Press, a wonderful small press outfit run by a group of smart and literate young women. They love Minerva and, I might say, Minerva has great respect and admiration for them. They have recently joined the 21st century and will be publishing mostly online–their priorContinue reading “Interview With The Master”

Bustin’ It With Ernie H.

Late on a Sunday night and I am writing in my journal at the kitchen table. I have just finished “The Sun Also Rises,” the debut novel by Ernest Hemingway which caused such a stir back in 1926. But I was not imressed. A bearded, ghostly presence is at my shoulder. And he is notContinue reading “Bustin’ It With Ernie H.”

A Cautionary Tale

As part of my Sisters In Crime membership, I take part in a book club once per month. This month we were to read a novel which is about the 20th in the series. I am not going to name the novel, as I don’t have good things to say about it, and why startContinue reading “A Cautionary Tale”

Had it.

I’ve spent the last two months revising a novel I wrote about eight years ago. For being the product of my young and impressionable mind (I was sixty), it’s pretty good. Except. Well, I have this quirk. I use the word “had” a lot. I mean, a lot. I mean at least three times aContinue reading “Had it.”