 W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-paced life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realized babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline. Since then she honed her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted with her life and that was to write mystery novels. Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter always on the hunt for the next Pulitzer and won't let anyone stop him, supposedly. |
| Book giveaway! Wendy will be giving away a copy of A Case of Hometown Blues to a commentor on her blogsite for the Mystery We Write blog tour. To leave a comment go to http://twitter.com/wsgager |
Noir is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings.
According to this definition, my Mitch Malone Mystery Series books could be described as noir but when I think of noir I picture trench coats, the light interrupted from a revolving ceiling fan and being called “doll” by a Humphrey Bogart lookalike.
I’ve asked my beta readers if noir fits and they say both yes and no. Not a definitive answer. Mitch is very cynical and questions everything as a reporter should.
Mitch is a bit gruff like the old hard-nosed detective. He’s the kind of guy that opens doors for a woman but never asks them out for a date. He would never wear a trench coat but has his own style in jeans and a leather bomber jacket. Think Humphrey Bogart with sandy hair and 30s look about him.
He doesn’t have many friends and doesn’t take time for chitchat or getting to know his coworkers. He’s not rude, just focused and intent on his job. He wants to win a Pulitzer Price for his reporting to prove to the world he is the best. Following the clues leads Mitch into some seedy places. In A CASE OF ACCIDENTAL INTERSECTION he uses a hooker to help him get some information and spends several nights at a seedy bar watching a suspect so that fits the definition.
In the newest book, A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES, the opening few pages finds Mitch drowning his sorrows in a beer at a bar in his hometown that he never wanted to return to.
Hmmm. Maybe the Mitch Malone Mysteries are more noir than I thought. What do you think? Noir or not? Leave a comment and you will be entered to win a copy of a Mitch Malone Mysteries from comments on my blog and at my guest blogs.
10 comments:
I'd say the Mitch Malone series is post-modern noir.
Whatever it is, I like it.
I like that description, Mike. I was going to say nouveau noir, but that sounds a little elegant for Mitch. Post-modern has a harder edge to it.
Noir or not (that has a nice ring to it!), I like Mitch, his sensibilities--good and bad. I'm going with Mike, post-modern.
Madeline
Mitch is a fun character--he's one that I feel like I know.
Marilyn
I'd say it's noir.
I'm going to read the book before I decide whether it's noir. I once knew a fellow reporter like Mitch (or sounds like Mitch) so it should be a fun read.
Love the description of Mitch Malone, Wendy! Great post.
Mike: I like post-modern noir. That will be appearing in descriptions. You may have created a whole new genre.
Tess: I think you are right about nouveau noir. Thanks for stopping by.
Madeline and Marilyn: Thanks or weighing in.
Sandy: You are entered in teh drawing for the book. Thanks for stopping by.
Jean & Alice: Thanks for taking the time to pop in. Really appreciate it!
To see more of Mitch's flavor, he is interviewing characters on my blog at http://wsgager.blogspot.com
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing
nice post love reading it
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