Month: August 2026

Circuitous Roots

The opening paragraph for a short story originally published in the online journal Pidgeonholes

“Boredom rests between apathy and relaxation on Csikszentmihalyi’s flow model. I imagine it to be one proton away like lead and gold. Whereas alchemy is the study of turning lead into gold, I haven’t quite figured out the process of turning boredom into relaxation. I could attempt to force relaxation as one would break a horse or train a bird of prey. However, in certain instances, hawks will starve themselves to death rather than succumb to the commands of a master. Drastic training methods have included: tethering the hawk to one’s gloved forearm and only eating when the bird does; water consumption is OK since birds of prey don’t need water. In Black Snake Moan, Christina Ricci was tethered to Samuel L. Jackson with a thirty-foot chain to break her of nymphomania. It was the follow-up film to Hustle and Flow, by Craig Brewer, in which 3-6-Mafia won an academy award for best song. Peter O’Toole was nominated eight times for an academy award without winning. His roles consisted of two kings, a teacher, a paranoid schizophrenic who becomes nobility, two actors (one suffering from prostate cancer, another based on Errol Flynn), a sadistic film director, and T.E. Lawrence. 3-6-Mafia won their award for “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp.” Though O’Toole was recognized by the academy, I don’t count the Honorary Oscar; the Eastman Kodak company has one of those. It’s incredible to think, in this analogy, Peter O’Toole represents the failed attempts to attain relaxation.”

Nifty Package

This was an essay I wrote that was published in the online journal “The Daily Drunk”:

Ultimately, it was a missed opportunity. 

In 1989, Manuel Noriega, the leader of Panama, to avoid capture or death during the US invasion of Panama, sought sanctuary and papal protection at The Apostolic Nunciature. As a result, The United States began “Operation Nifty Package”; Psychological warfare to initiate his surrender.

After a period of failed negotiation, The US military played “I fought the law” by The Clash, “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, and “Too Old to Rock and Roll: Too Young to Die” by Jethro Tull at deafening volumes.

Would it have been too on the nose to play “Panama” by Van Halen? Also, why not play Metallica? The song “One” seems like it would have made sense. “Darkness imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.” Or, how about “Raining Blood” by Slayer? “Trapped in Purgatory, a lifeless object, alive. Awaiting reprisal; death will be acquiescence.”

Again, would that have been too on the nose? In psychological warfare, does irony play a more important role? In that case, they could have played “Push The Little Daisies,” by Ween.

It is interesting to note this is the second time Jethro Tull was selected instead of Metallica. That same year, Jethro Tull won the inaugural Grammy award for “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” for their album “Crest of a Knave.” This beat “…And Justice for All” by Metallica, “Nothing’s Shocking” by Jane’s Addiction, “Blow up Your Video” by AC/DC, and “Cold Metal” by Iggy Pop. I wonder if this would have been a great marketing opportunity for Jethro Tull, or any of the other bands to suggest that their music was excellent in the use of psychological warfare? They did manage to cash in, however, as Tull’s record label took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine of a flute (Jethro Tull’s lead singer Ian Anderson played the flute in the majority of their songs) in a pile of rebar with the tag “The flute IS a heavy metal instrument.” Metallica also included a sticker on subsequent releases of “…And Justice For All,” which read Grammy Award LOSERS.

Concerning Noriega, ultimately, it was The Archbishop who convinced him to surrender to the United States.

In the end, perhaps it was better for most of these bands to simply use the warning advisory sticker provided by The Parents Music Resource Center. 

The Balance

Every so often, I’ll check Amazon or Goodreads to see if anyone has left a review. This is an excerpt of the most recent which was about “Six Bullets: Less One,” the second installment in a Western series:

“Andrew Davie has sneakily become one of my favorite writers over the last few years. His McGill & Grouper 5 novella series is my favorite, almost on par with Hap and Leonard or Matt Scudder crime novels, but just about everything he’s written has been fun and affordable.”

Sometimes, it’s the opposite of that:

“I’m not one who likes to be the keyboard warrior..but, would comment that this novella was not one that I enjoyed. Gratuitous violence from start to finish, very two dimensional lead characters who were barely believable. The plot was not convincing and had it been any more than the 60 odd pages, I’d probably have abandoned it… My view obviously and I’m sure many might have other opinions, but at least it was only a couple of lost hours!”

The second review was for “Pavement.” Regardless of whether people enjoy my writing it’s one of the few times I have confirmation that people outside of my friends and family are reading what I’ve written. As you might imagine, it can be very seductive to check to see if there are new reviews.

Over time, I have tried to become more aware. I continue to check, but I focus more on enjoying the creation of these stories, and sharing them with my first reader. Once I send it to the publisher, that’s when it’s time to let it go. At the beginning, it was tempting to buy ads or spend time creating trailers to put on YouTube, but the more I can find enjoyment in the writing, editing, etc. the more satisfying it will be. I will continue to check for reviews, but I’ll be able to put it in perspective.

For example, it’s enjoyable to reminisce about the fact the lead character, Albert Binax, was named after Abbott Binax laboratories who manufacture COVID tests that my Uncle John would bring when he’d visit my mother after her ALS diagnosis.

Pavement

Pavement: the book that started it all.

I believe it was 2017, but I’m not sure. I had read “You Were Never Really Here,” By Jonathan Ames, who had mostly written comedic autobiographical stories, but this one was his foray into crime fiction. The book was only 90 pages long, and it inspired me to give crime fiction a shot.

Until then, I had only published short stories.

I had an idea inspired by the documentary film Cocaine Cowboys, and I thought the formula used in the Nero Wolfe would make for a great framework for crime fiction.

I wrote Pavement, which was published by All Due Respect Books and later by Next Chapter.

Recently, I learned that Pavement has become popular in the United Kingdom and has sold a little over 2000 ebooks.

I wouldn’t be able to explain it, but it’s been a very nice turn of events. Thank you, everyone in the UK who has decided to check out the first book in the McGill/Gropper series. This is just the beginning!