Recently, I related a story about my penchant for (and the dangers of) going on too long, and the vaudeville hook. So, I’ll try to keep this brief!

In early drafts, I tend to over-write. Brevity for its own sake is not the goal of good prose, but over-writing, as I do, projects a lack of confidence, the inability to let the work stand on its own. When I edit my drafts, the first thing I go after are the superfluous words and the sentences and scenes that may go on too long. The goal is to keep the reader engaged, after all.

I will be reading at Oxford Bar in Oxford, PA, on November 7th. Readings are delightful for many reasons–meeting readers, other writers, and testing out material. They are very useful for new material.

I have found that doing a public reading of a work-in-progress that has been through a few self-edits can be an excellent means of identifying things I was blind to. Keeping an eye on the audience while reading, you can get a sense of what’s working, or that something goes on too long. The audience starts to shift, or–stab to the heart!–someone glances at their watch. You feel the long hook begin to encircle you.

To the vaudeville hook, I’d like to add the “Chuck-bin.” Charles R. Johnson (author of Oxherding Tale and Middle Passage–for which he won the National Book Award in 1990), was chair of the creative writing department at the University of Washington where I got my MFA, and I took every class he offered. One of the things he told us that has stuck with me, when talking about the need for the story to hold attention, was that we should imagine that the reader is standing over a garbage can while reading our work, and we mustn’t give them any reason to drop it in the trash.

I’ve taken this image so much to heart that as I do my readings, when I sense that the audience might be losing interest, I can hear the pages falling with a clunk into the wastebasket. It’s a high wire act 🙂 After the reading, I often sit with the passage I worked on and begin cutting.

Come see me and twelve other authors on Thurs., November 7th in Oxford, PA for Noir at a Bar. The festivities begin at 6:30. Proceeds benefit the Oxford Public Library Tickets are $25, includes a buffet dinner!

More info on presenting authors here: http://www.noiratabar.com/

# # #

James McCrone is the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network , and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His novel-in-progress is called Witness Tree, about a conspiracy set in Oregon’s wine country, a (pinot) noir tale of murder and corruption.

All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon. eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.

He’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He lives in Philadelphia. James has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle.

For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And follow this blog!

You can also keep up with James and his work on social media:
Mastodon: @JMcCrone
Bluesky: @jmccrone.bsky.social
Facebook: James McCrone author (@FaithlessElector)
and Instagram/Threads “@james.mccrone”