Ron Earl Phillips, Writer - Latest Comments

Re: Frank Bill giveaway

Jedidiah Ayres — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:33:45 -0000

Russell Banks is fantastic... And Barry Hannah was

Re: Frank Bill giveaway

Brian Beatty — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:57:55 -0000

Can I have my double-tailed quarter back now?

Re: Review: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

Paul von Stoetzel — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:39:05 -0000

Man, I'm not sure what the hell to compare it to reading like, but both the book and film of Winter's Bone had a similar, sincere vibe like Frank has. Real grit and dirt and sweat. Actually, the comic book series "Scalped" gets down with the extreme violence and dirt and shit like Frank Bill's work does. But besides anything relevant to Donnybrook I have to say Jedidiah Ayres new novel FIERCE BITCHES is goddamn amazing and needs to be read, digested, poked at, and pondered. It's an incredible read.

Re: Review: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

Brian Beatty — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:09:04 -0000

Barry Hannah's Faulknerian final novel Yonder Stands Your Orphan is bleaker and bolder than anything he ever published when he was courting literary celebrity as the Jimi Hendrix of Esquire short fiction writers. Set in a secluded resort community populated by complicated Southern folks experiencing a wide variety of emotional and psychic hurts, Yonder chronicles the dangerous comings and goings of Man Mortimer, a smalltime pimp and car rental tycoon whose descent into madness visits treachery upon an entire town. Each of the book's remaining characters (and there are many) exists in relation to Mortimer, but suffers a terrible secret or past, too. Wretched, startling lives are revealed every time Hannah's characters open their mouths to speak their hearts in hopes of conquering all that haunts them. With age and ailment against him, Hannah continued reinventing his song and dance, proving what life experience almost always has over youth, ambition and/or envy. This, coincidentally, is the realization that evades Man Mortimer, though not the fortunate survivors found in Hannah's most vividly imagined fiction in more than a decade.

Re: Review: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

Seth Harwood — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:05:51 -0000

I'll refer you to Trailer Park by Russell Banks. He's a great writer, but/and Trailer Park shows his skill for linking together the stories of a rag tag bunch living in, well... a trailer park in southern New Hampshire. Women and men, sadness and slight happiness, this is a great book. One of my favorite collections of stories and a stellar example of the a collection where the stories are fully linked. if you've never read Banks, you have to. If you have, read this one asap!
Seth
PS: I'd love a copy of Donnybrook!

Re: Review: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

Erik Arneson — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:22:48 -0000

If you haven't read LAST CALL FOR THE LIVING by Peter Farris, add it to your list. A brief summary that doesn't give away too much: A bank robbery ends with the taking of a hostage, an escape to rural Georgia, and the inevitable police investigation. That, of course, leaves out all the really good stuff (snake handling!)... The characters are wonderfully crafted (if often despicable), and the setting is as much a character as any of the people in the book.

Re: Review: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

Ryan Sayles — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:42:39 -0000

Well, Ron. I know this guy named Ryan who has a book out called "The Subtle Art Of Brutality." reading the Donnybrook quote up above reminds me of something I read in that book. Let's see, what was it...oh. Here it is. "If you’ve never tasted a man’s grey matter tinged with gun powder and revenge you have an inexperienced palette.”

So the plot is this: a girl has gone missing and people wouldn't care--hell, that's all she does, really--but for some reason people are looking for her. And they're killing whoever they find. Burning down everything in her life. Her surrogate father hires Richard Dean Buckner to find her. RDB, a former homicide detective turned private after a hit attempt left him "unserviceable," does what he does. And those people looking for the girl, they find out just how small they are when a new shark arrives.

Re: .44 Candles

David Cranmer — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:47:00 -0000

We are of the same generation, Ron. I watched Eastwood in the 70s and 80s. And Parker's Spenser hurtled me down the road of detective/hardboiled fiction. He was the conduit to Macdonald, Chandler, and Dash.
Quite an honor to kickoff the debut of The Big Adios, sir. Thanks for asking.

Re: .44 Candles

Dyer Wilk — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:10:21 -0000

Ron, you've given so many people so much just by being who you are––a lover of good crime fiction. Shotgun Honey (and now The Big Adios) gives folks a place to submit their work without fear of cold form rejections and long months awaiting an SASE in the mail. You gave me my first acceptance and I'm always keeping that 700-word cap in mind when writing, in the hopes I might have something else to send your way.

Like you, I grew up watching Clint Eastwood, and his tough guy stoicism did more than a little to inform my world view. Watching him all these years later (sans empty chair), I still admire that sense of wisdom and self-sufficiency in the face of danger and hardship. The real world has a tendency to beat us down in less cinematic ways (often disturbingly anti-climactic), but Eastwood reminds us that nothing happens unless we make it happen.

Still, sometimes (as exemplified by the scene in "A Fistful of Dollars" where the Man with No Name is recovering from his injuries in the abandoned mine and the old man is bringing him food and tending to him) we need someone to lend us a helping hand.

Whether you're riding alone or with a posse, I wish you the best for 2013, Ron.

Re: Yippee Ki Yay, or lets talk The Big Adios?

David Cranmer — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:23:37 -0000

I will have a story for you, sir.

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

GiantsFanSince52 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:19:36 -0000

I loved this post, Heath! Been the victim myself of these "reviewers." Here's one from someone named "EileenS" who gave my novel JUST LIKE THAT a 1-star. Her review was titled: Language is in the gutter--not my cup of tea. She says: "I tried to read this book, got through about 8 chapters and just gave up. If you took out the vulgar language there was nothing left (no ending punctuation). Well, EileenS, it's clearly marked as a road trip/prison novel so you might have gotten a clue that there'd be a fuck or two in it...

That aroused my curiosity so I looked up her other reviews. She'd posted seven. Three one-stars, two two-stars, and two three-stars. Not much seems to tickle her fancy...

In reviewing another book, she said, in part: "I thoroughly enjoyed the books theme, but found the lack of editing and english check thoroughly distracting, for that reason alone, I give it a
3 star, otherwise it would have been a 5. I thought a 7 year old could
have done a better job of editing. At first I thought it might have
been a bad translation, but decided it was just an awful editing job.
My congratulations to the first time author, but a word of caution, have
someone with at least an idea of editing check your next e book.

Excuse me, EileenS, but if you're criticizing a writer for their lack of editing and "english" you may want to check your own prose. Here's your review after editing...

I thoroughly enjoyed the books (book's) theme, but found the lack of editing and english (English) check thoroughly (might want to find another word since you just used this one) distracting, (Comma splice) for that reason alone I give it a 3 star (three stars or a 3-star), otherwise it would have been a 5. I thought a 7 year old (seven-year-old) could have done a better job of editing. At first (no comma) I thought it might have been a bad translation, but decided it was just an awful editing job. My congratulations to the first time (first-time) author, but a word of caution, (Comma splice) have someone with at least an idea of editing check your next e book (e-book).

Maybe EileenS should offer her considerable talents as an editor to the author she just trashed... I also wonder how a reader enjoys a book's "theme." That's basically the TV Guide logline... Kind of an odd thing to "enjoy..."

It's instructive sometimes to take a look at the other reviews these folks are posting. Whoever the fuck they are...

Re: F3, Cycle 104: Ain’t No Friend of Mime

Brandy — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:46:51 -0000

Mimes are THE WORST! This was great, I liked the beginning with the bizarre crime scene but that it all boiled down to a jilted lover in the end.

Re: F3, Cycle 104: Ain’t No Friend of Mime

SCBeachBum — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:57:01 -0000

LOL!!! I agree with Zac, it was divinely absurd and very well written.
(Beach Bum)

Re: F3, Cycle 104: Ain’t No Friend of Mime

J. F. Juzwik — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:37:15 -0000

Delightfully twisted. The inclusion of 'Angela Lansbury' pushed this over the top into bizarre, and bizarre is always a treat!

Re: F3, Cycle 104: Ain’t No Friend of Mime

Rose Green — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 08:30:19 -0000

Pretty good for a 'rough stab'! Nice pace. Love Angela Lansbury the 'writer'!

Re: F3, Cycle 104: Ain’t No Friend of Mime

zachariah t baer — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:34:18 -0000

Divinely absurd.

Re: They have you covered, Adam!

Andrez Bergen — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:06:27 -0000

Yep, I love Adam's covers. The Age Atomic one looks neat-o.

Re: Everybody’s Not Kung Fu Fighting

Ryan Sayles — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:05:33 -0000

Ron, I am the exception to this rule. All I do is Kung Fu fight. Even getting out of the shower and finding my enemies have broken into the bathroom, I throw down. Just me with a little bit of Selsun Blue left in my hair, fifteen bad guys and a can of Barbasol. I win. But I like reading your stuff. You have good advice.

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

thatmeanredhead — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:24:16 -0000

Where these reviews written by professional critics or just assholes with opinions? If some actually paid them for their reviews...they should be terminated immediately! That being said, there is no word in the English language (that I know of) more descriptive than "FUCK". It's uses are endless! If I'm not mistaken, I believe it also has Med-Evil origins (1400's). What I want to know is how is it possible to write an adult novel and NOT use the word FUCK?

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

Paul Greenberg — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:51:43 -0000

If I don't hit a fuckin f bomb or 2 in the first few fuckin pages of a fuckin book then i dont read the fuckin thing

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

John DuMond — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:51:42 -0000

“Did they even HAVE the f-word in those days?”

They did, but apparently they didn't use it back then the way it's used today:

http://nymag.com/nymetro/ne...

That being said, using more contemporary speech patterns can make a story more accessible to modern audiences. DEADWOOD's Al Swearengen wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining if he called everyone who pissed him off a "corksnapper."

As for giving a book a bad review because you don't like the language in it, that's akin to giving a thumbs down to a book because it's in a genre/subgenre you don't like. If a book's not your bag, set it down and move on. You don't give a book a bad review unless you believe it was genuinely poorly written.

But that's just my fucking opinion.

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

Dani Amore — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:48:55 -0000

A-fucking-men, brother!

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

Bettie Mavity — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:31:49 -0000

As an ordinary person who loves to read, I gotta tell you that I fuckin loved the City Of Heretics. Fuckin good story.

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

Chris Leek — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:24:15 -0000

I don't get why people have such a problem with this, unless you live in a convent the F word is just part of everyday life. And just so as you know City of Heretics fucking rocks.

Re: The What?! You Say? Dropping the F-Bomb with Heath Lowrance

Chad Eagleton — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:18:14 -0000

Right there with you, Heath. I find it
just stunning. First, I want to know where these people are living that they
don’t hear a curse word during the course of their day. Secondly, I think there’s
something utterly fucked up about the individual who has no problem reading
books with murder and violence but gets upset when they come across a swear
word.

But you know, film is the same way. Look at MPAA ratings. One film can
have nonstop violence and get a PG or PG-13, while another film without a
single bit of violence can earn an R for more than four fucks—if the word is used as an expletive and
not to refer to sex. I think it’s a residual Puritanical strain still flowing
through the American psyche.

About Dani Amore’s western, which I
liked a lot too, I think the problem is that Westerns are such a niche market,
and the bulk of the audience are still men who still think it’s 1950 and appropriate
dialogue should read like a John Wayne script, “Well, aw shucks, partner!”