The five hundred dollars changed Danny’s financial condition from desperate to temporarily mysterious.
He paid what he owed at the rooming house, bought two shirts, had his shoes repaired, and put the rest in his pocket. Continue reading
Nobody contacted Danny for three days. That bothered him more than if somebody had. Continue reading
The address Tony Spada had given Danny belonged to a funeral parlor. Danny stood across the street looking at it. “That figures,” he said softly to himself.
It was a narrow three-story building wedged between a bakery and a store that sold religious articles. The sign over the door read:
ANGELOTTI & SONS
FUNERAL DIRECTORS Continue reading
Danny Marino learned something important about organized crime on a Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading
Danny Marino had never been shot at before, and to tell you the truth, he discovered immediately that he didn’t care for it. Continue reading
Danny had been followed before, but never by a car nicer than his apartment.
The black Cadillac was half a block behind him when he turned onto Atlantic Avenue. He saw it in the Buick’s rearview mirror: big, polished, patient.
He turned right.
The Cadillac turned right. Continue reading
There’s a wonderful vocabulary available: made man, wiseguy, associate, capo, crew, sit-down, the books, getting made, on record, tribute, kick upstairs, envelope, no-show job, shylock, vig, numbers, bookmaking, fence, hijacking, score, piece of the action, straighten out, connected, stand-up guy, rat, beef, button man. Some terms vary by period and place, which itself gives us something to teach: don’t put a 1990s mob expression into a 1957 character’s mouth. Continue reading
Writing a good story isn’t just plopping people into a plot. If I’m going to write a mystery and it involves the historical figures of the five major crime families in New York City, I’d better do my homework:
The important thing about the Five Families in 1950s–60s New York is that they did not have clean geographical jurisdictions like police precincts. Several families could operate in the same borough—even the same neighborhood. Their territories were often defined more by crews, unions, industries, docks, markets, gambling operations, and particular blocks or establishments. Continue reading
I’ve noticed something interesting happening now on YouTube. There are people showing their wares without apparently selling anything. No prices. No sales pitch. No breathless announcement that TODAY ONLY you can have this magnificent object for $29.95. Often there’s just music.
The camera moves around the room. There are paintings, jewelry, clothing, collectibles, handmade objects, whatever the person happens to deal in. The objects are simply there.
But of course, they are being seen.
This suggests a very different approach to selling. Continue reading
Negativity has one enormous advantage: you’re usually asleep when it starts.
Something happens. The machinery reacts. The body tightens, the mind starts talking, and suddenly you’re living inside irritation, fear, resentment or despair.
That’s where the waking songs come in. Continue reading