Anyway, enough of the trivia. Happy Easter, everybody! Hope your day is filled with joy.

And when you get your new Kindle app, go here to download my new short story, The Session. I mean, it’s only 99¢. There’s, like, no downside. Not only that, it’s a great story. Once you’ve read it and left a brief review on Amazon, then you can go here and download the first novel of my Key West Nocturnes series, Setup On Front Street. It’s a novel, so it’ll take you a little longer to read, but again, time well spent. Following that indoctrination, you then might be tempted to go for the second novel in that series, a little opus called The Ghosts Of Havana. That one can be found here.

The rest of my books await you, all sterling examples of the cream of noir fiction. You just have to get that free Kindle app. Do it now.

A close look at this poster reveals a guy named Phil Phillips billed last. That would date the event to 1959, when Phillips’ first record, Sea Of Love, was beginning its climb on the charts. The song has since been cut many times, often by big name artists, but none have captured the magic of Phillips’ version, recorded in a tiny studio in south Louisiana. The irony of Phillips’ bottom billing, beneath many other bigger, more popular artists whose tunes have been lost to the mists of history, was not lost on me.

Born John Phillip Baptiste in Lake Charles, LA, he desperately wanted to impress a local girl so that she would go out with him. He wrote Sea Of Love, thinking she might realize he could take her to a peaceful place where they would…oh, you get the idea. Anyway, someone heard him practicing the song one day and suggested he record it. He did, and I am 100% certain that when all the principals got together in the studio that day, there was no way they could have known they were about to make musical history.

Baptiste brought some friends with him for moral support and to sing backup vocals. They didn’t know the song, so he taught it to them right there in the studio. Those prominent backup vocals, along with Katie Webster’s relentless 1-3-5-octave scales on the piano, provided the highly unique backdrop. Baptiste’s soaring vocals of his haunting melody lay perfectly on top of it all to make one of the most identifiable records of the 20th century. The alluring sound of that record has never been duplicated.

The studio’s owner, George Khoury, liked what he heard and decided to release it as a local record on his “Khoury’s” label. He told Baptiste to adopt the stage name of Phil Phillips, which he did. The record scored locally, and pretty soon, Mercury Records got wind of it and leased the master from Khoury, putting it out nationally, where it became a #1 hit. Of course, Phillips’ version was revived in 1989 as the title song in the Al Pacino-Ellen Barkin movie.

You never know where inspiration comes from, or what’s going to come of it. But on that day in 1959 in south Louisiana, they caught lightning in a bottle in that little studio. What went down on that tape was magic in every sense of the word. Phillips, now in his 80s, never made much money from it, and he never had another hit, but he was no ordinary one-hit wonder. He walks the earth today knowing he wrote that song and knowing his name is on a recording that might well resonate for hundreds of years.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a good concept, so I gave it a go. I put up my choices for the best movie about each state (and the District Of Columbia) and got several interesting responses from readers. So I’m revisiting the list and making a few revisions based on my oh, so fickle nature. For instance, I added Cry Vengeance to Alaska’s listing, a taut little film noir shot in Ketchikan. I eliminated Chicago from Illinois. I saw it again not long ago and it didn’t hold up.

In addition, I gave New York City a separate listing apart from New York State. The city is such an iconic place, and so many movies were filmed or set there, the rest of the state often gets shut out, so I split the city off.

I must add that these films were not necessarily shot in their respective states, but for the most part each film is set there, or it has a strong organic link to that state. Arkansas, for instance, gets A Face In The Crowd. Only the opening scenes are set in Arkansas, then the film swiftly moves on to Memphis and New York, but the central character, played by Andy Griffith (in a blistering debut performance), is an Arkansan through and through. His persona drips with Arkansas throughout the movie.

Some films, which I consider to be masterpieces, like The Wild Bunch or Citizen Kane, are not really associated with any particular state in a meaningful way, so they don’t make the list.

Also, a few of the states have had many great movies connected to them, so they get multiple entries. It’s just too difficult to pick out one great Florida movie, for example, so I listed four. In those cases, the multiple listings are arranged chronologically.

All set? Here we go. And I expect complete agreement.

Alabama: THE PHENIX CITY STORY (1955), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)

Alaska: CRY VENGEANCE (1954), THE FAR COUNTRY (1955)

Arizona: THE BARON OF ARIZONA (1950), 3:10 TO YUMA (1957)

Arkansas: A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)

California: A STAR IS BORN (1954), BULLITT (1968), FAT CITY (1972), THE PLAYER (1992), LA CONFIDENTIAL (1997)

Colorado: MISERY (1990)

Connecticut: HOLIDAY INN (1942), CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945), THE ICE STORM (1997)

Delaware: TRIGGER MAN (2007)

District Of Columbia: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), JFK (1991), ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

Florida: KEY LARGO (1948), BODY HEAT (1981), SCARFACE (1983), THE BOYNTON BEACH CLUB (2006)

Georgia: GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), DELIVERANCE (1972)

Hawaii: BIG JIM McLAIN (1952), FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)

Idaho: DUCHESS OF IDAHO (1950)

Illinois: HALLOWEEN (1978), THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)

Indiana: A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983), HOOSIERS (1986)

Iowa: THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995)

Kansas: THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), IN COLD BLOOD (1967)

Kentucky: COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER (1980), THE INSIDER (1999)

Louisiana: ALL THE KING’S MEN (1949), KING CREOLE (1958), THE CINCINNATI KID (1965)

Maine: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

Maryland: HAIRSPRAY (1988), AVALON (1990)

Massachusetts: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), THE TOWN (2010)

Michigan: ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)

Minnesota: FARGO (1996)

Mississippi: THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958), MISSISSIPPI BURNING (1988)

Missouri: WINTER’S BONE (2010)

Montana: THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (1941)

Nebraska: ELECTION (1999)

Nevada: OCEAN’S 11 (1960), THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), THE SHOOTIST (1976), CASINO (1995), HARD EIGHT (1996)

New Hampshire: TO DIE FOR (1995)

New Jersey: ATLANTIC CITY (1980),THE WRESTLER (2008)

New Mexico: THE BIG CARNIVAL (1951), THEM! (1954)

New York State: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), NIAGARA (1954)

New York City: THE HUSTLER (1961), THE GODFATHER (1972), ACROSS 110th STREET (1972), SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)

North Carolina: CAPE FEAR (1962)

North Dakota: NORTHERN LIGHTS (1979)

Ohio: MAJOR LEAGUE (1989)

Oklahoma: THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), OKLAHOMA! (1955)

Oregon: MR HOLLAND’S OPUS (1995)

Pennsylvania: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), ROCKY (1976), THE DEER HUNTER (1978), GROUNDHOG DAY (1993)

Rhode Island: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (1990)

South Carolina: THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE (1983)

South Dakota: BADLANDS (1973), DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)

Tennessee: MYSTERY TRAIN (1989)

Texas: THE ALAMO (1960), THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971)

Utah: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)

Vermont: BABY BOOM (1987)

Virginia: REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000)

Washington: HOUSE OF GAMES (1987), THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989)

West Virginia: MATEWAN (1987)

Wisconsin: OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES (1945)

Wyoming: SHANE (1953)

They’re too big. They’re impersonal. They’re aiming for a monopoly of the book business. They’ve emasculated the sacred world of New York publishing and agenting. And their worst crime of all, they force indie bookstores to close their doors.

Well, I’m going to use this space today to give a little love to Amazon, the Great Corporate Satan of 21st-century America.

Back in 1994, they put up a lot of money to start and grow their business. They didn’t even go online till a year later, when they sold their first book:  Douglas Hofstadter‘s Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. Not exactly a rip-snorter, but on the day it sold, it was ranked number one, at least for a little while (ironically, it was first released as an e-book, and is currently ranked #213,493). Of course, Amazon went on to become the world’s largest book retailer.

Then in 2007, they launched the Kindle, betting they could get people to read ebooks instead of “real” books. Again, a costly endeavor. And again, it paid off. They sold 1,000,000 Kindles a week in the months leading up to Christmas, 2011, and in doing so, cemented the role of e-readers in the fabric of our lives.

Basically, what they did was find a need and fill it. The very bedrock principle of the free enterprise system. I for one applaud them.

But I can hear the grumbling now. “What about all those indie bookstores they forced to close?”

Well, the fact is, nobody forced anybody to do anything. Some of those stores probably deserved to close, due to lack of selection, poor management, or some other shortcoming. I would guess, though, that most of the now-defunct stores found themselves completely outplayed by Amazon in the competitive marketplace. Remember, Amazon invested big money in their chancy concept, that people would stop going to bookstores and order from the comfort of their home. In order for that to happen, however, Amazon had to offer their books at a lower price and be able to deliver them to their customers’ doorsteps quickly. If those criteria weren’t met, it’s quite likely Amazon would’ve been the ones to go under and the indie bookstores would be cackling to this day.

Let’s not forget, too, that the undoing of the indies didn’t begin in 1995 when Amazon sold that “Fluid Concepts” book. It started long before that with the rise of Barnes & Noble and Borders and all the other big chain operations, who merely sold the same books at a way lower price. Amazon just took that model and added home delivery to the equation.

Not all indie bookstores wilted in the face of the Amazon juggernaut, however. Books & Books in Miami, long secure as one of the premier indies in the nation, refused to lie down. They added a coffee shop, a full bar, upped their number of in-store events, along with many other innovations, and as a result, they have thrived in the past few years. Their deep, dark secret: bring people into the store any way we can.

Now, it turns out that Amazon itself is opening a brick & mortar store in Seattle. Who knows what it will look like, but it’s a pretty safe bet that the Kindle line will be prominently featured. Once again, they’re risking a huge amount of money on one of their ideas. It’s ironic that they’re doing this, but hey, it’s their money. If they fail, they lose it. If they succeed, more power to them.

There’s a lot of hand-wringing going on in the writer community these days concerning the closing of beloved indie bookstores versus the undeniable convenience Amazon provides. Many people are claiming to feel great guilt for sitting at home ordering stuff on Amazon when their little neighborhood bookstore has closed. My opinion: no one should feel “guilty” for buying items on Amazon. They’re providing you the products you want at a very competitive price, all without having to leave your home, gas up your car, and go stand in line at a big-box store to be checked out by a 21-year-old for whom “customer service” is a foreign phrase.

And this is not even to mention the boundless opportunities they have provided authors by opening up the world of publishing to people like me, who were long snubbed by New York agents and publishers who couldn’t be bothered.

In any case, I hope she likes the book.

Rock on, Ileana!

If you look carefully over my right shoulder, you can spot another Ileana, although this one is spelled Yleana, also a Cubana. My lady, Yleana Vural. She’s in a white dress and she appears to be checking out another woman’s shoes. Two Yleanas in one photo! The room is spinning!

Rock on, Yleana!

It doesn’t get better than that.

When a woman is murdered at his nightclub, Robbie makes it his mission to find out who and why– he’s a bit of a shady character himself, but a feeling of responsibility drives him on. Teaming with the victim’s reporter sister, he finds himself caught up in the dark, sinister underworld of Key West, and uncovers a mind-boggling conspiracy that dates back decades. Robbie is no stranger to violence, but now it seems he may have bitten off more than he can chew…

The Ghosts Of Havana is a relentlessly fast-paced conspiracy thriller, the sort of book that keeps you reading all through the night. I devoured it in two sittings, on the edge of my seat the whole time to see what unexpected turn of events would occur next. Mike Dennis does a terrific job of revealing the seamy side of Key West, with the sort of intimate touches that only a native of that place would be capable of. And his protagonist, Robbie, moves through this dark world as if he’s right at home. 

And the secret behind the conspiracy, once it’s revealed, will blow your mind. Top-notch suspense here.

Heath has written a game-changing novel, The Bastard Hand, as well as a short story in the horror-western-noir genre, That Damned Coyote Hill. He’s also got a short story collection that’s well worth your attention called Dig Ten Graves, along with various other stories and an upcoming novel. Yes, he is productive, and I’m very pleased that he did this review of my novel while he’s on his way up, and still has the time.