Saturday I had the
pleasure of listening to eight impressive authors read their own work at DCs
Wonderland Ballroom. This was my fifth Noir at the Bar event, hosted as always
by E.A. Aymar, and this was surely the best yet.
The bar is always full
for these readings and the audience is tasked with choosing whose story and
reading were the best. The shot at bragging rights seems to attract the cream
of local talent.
James Grady opened the
evening with a reading from his first novel, Six Days of the Condor, the bestseller
that was adapted into a film starring Robert Redford. Screenplays, articles and
a dozen or so novels followed, but the prose in the first book seemed as fresh
as anything written this year.
David Swinson’s tale of
undercover police surveillance was a gritty slice of reality taken from his 16
years of experience as a DC cop. When he reads you can feel the streets as if
you’re there right then.
Alan Orloff’s chilling
story of a man dealing with bizarre nightmares had the kind of twist ending
that one does not quickly forget. No surprise. Having won a Derringer Award and
being nominated for another and placing a story in the Best American Mystery
Stories of 2018, I knew he was a master of the short story form.
Art Taylor’s exceptional
story, “Premonition” closed the show, and plunged us into silence. Art has won
just about every award there is for short fiction and with this story he proved
why.
We also heard truly great
stories from Erica Wright (whose point of view character was a fox), John Copenhaver who reminded us how scary clowns are) and Kathleen Barber (whose “Follow
Me made us want to.) But…
The night’s audience
favorite was Cheryl Head, whose story of a drug mule’s journey was gripping and
terrifying, while making you feel the POV character’s pain and sorrow while
accepting her fate. It’s no surprise that her first novel, Long Way Home, was a
finalist both in Historical and African American literature in the Next
Generation Indie Book Awards. I went home with a copy of Cheryl’s latest triumph, JudgeMe When I’m Wrong. You should too. Like, today!
Every one of these great
writers is worth searching out for your future reading pleasure. And I can’t
wait for the next Noir at the Bar experience.