RISK OF RUIN Now Available at Amazon

My novel, Risk of Ruin, is now available at Amazon. It’s the story of a blackjack player/biker/tattoo artist who becomes obsessed with a stripper who thinks she’s God.

If you live in Las Vegas, you can also pick up a copy at the Gambler’s Book Club at 5473 S. Eastern or at the offices of Huntington Press/Las Vegas Advisor at 3665 Procyon Street.

I’ll be talking about the book with Bob Dancer and Mike Shackleford today (Thursday, Nov. 8) at 7 p.m. in Las Vegas on their “Gambling With An Edge” radio show. Last time I was on they had to bleep me. Details:

Live Air-Time is: 7 PM Thursday nights on KLAV Talk-Radio 1230am in Las Vegas. You can listen live at http://www.klav1230am.com/. They take callers and give away weekly prizes, but if you can’t listen to the live show they archive all shows.

To CALL in LIVE during the show the Numbers are: (702) 731-1230 & 1-(866) 820-5528

Don’t Vote! Make Me Prez!

Only Apathy Can Solve Our Nation’s Problems

Once again, I find myself running for president of this country on the Apathy ticket. And, according to Apathy Party bylaws, any eligible voter who does not vote will count as a vote for me.

Needless to say, the polls show me winning by a landslide. But first, let’s look at the issues. Continue reading Don’t Vote! Make Me Prez!

Hack Writing 201: Dynamite Openings

Reading fiction manuscripts from a slush pile has gotten me thinking about opening lines. A dynamite opening is what separates the royalty checks from the rejection slips. Hemingway knew this. Fitzgerald knew this. All the greats knew this. Now, I’m revealing this insider’s secret to you. Simply stated, you want a few lines, right off the top, that will grab the reader and not let go. For example, here are the opening lines of an (unpublished) novel a friend worked on for years: Continue reading Hack Writing 201: Dynamite Openings

Frank & Rudy Camping Out – A Short Story

by Arnold Snyder

For his tenth birthday, Rudy got an A-frame tent. He started begging Mom to let us sleep out in the yard. He wasn’t getting along well with her at that period in his life. His fault. He argued with her about everything, drove her up the wall. The last day of school, he comes home with straight A’s. How could she deny him? Continue reading Frank & Rudy Camping Out – A Short Story

Thy Neighbor’s Wife (a short story)

by Arnold Snyder

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession. I disobeyed my parents twice last week. I talked back at my mother yesterday and didn’t clean my room when she told me to. I stole fifty cents from my father last summer. And I committed adultery… a whole lot of times. I’m sorry for these and all the sins of my past life, especially for the sin of adultery.” Continue reading Thy Neighbor’s Wife (a short story)

Sheep in the Slaughterhouse (a short-short story)

by Arnold Snyder

Rudy picked me up at McCarran in his new white Thunderbird convertible, and after a twenty-minute drive in an afternoon sun that could melt brass, we left his car with the valet and stepped into the cool lobby of the Desert Inn. We headed straight for the casino. Rudy was a professional blackjack player and he’d convinced me to come to Vegas to join his team. Continue reading Sheep in the Slaughterhouse (a short-short story)

Excerpt from RISK OF RUIN, a new novel by Arnold Snyder

Chapter Ten

It was in the parking lot of a Raley’s supermarket in Reno. He was giving her a ride home from work and they’d stopped for a quart of milk and a Hershey bar. It was a sticky summer day. Leaning up against a side wall of the store, gulping down a few swallows of the icy milk, he saw her photo on the milk carton. He looked at the photo, looked at Stacy, looked hard at the photo again. It was definitely her. No doubt. He read the bad news …

Have You Seen Me?
Julia Gwendolyn Thomas
Age: 15
Height: 5’6″
Weight: 112 lbs.
Hair: Auburn
Eyes: Green
Last seen: Milpitas, California
Call: 1-888-FINDERS

She was licking chocolate off her fingers.

“Julia?”

She looked up, responding to her name, then—in a split second—he saw a chill run through her. “Why did you call me that?” Continue reading Excerpt from RISK OF RUIN, a new novel by Arnold Snyder

Above the Saints & Angels
A Short Story

by Arnold Snyder

Detroit had three burlesque theaters in the 1960s, all of them downtown—the National, the Stone, and the Empress. Rudy and I had been watching their ads on the movie guide page of the Detroit News for as many years as we could remember. We discussed what we thought might go on in these places. The only thing we knew for sure was that there were women who would take their clothes off. Exactly how much they took off was a topic of endless speculation. Continue reading Above the Saints & Angels
A Short Story

How to Overcome Writer’s Block: Advice from a Write-aholic

I’m a write-aholic. I get writer’s block about as often as an alcoholic has a day where he just can’t force himself to drink. It doesn’t happen too often. So, maybe I’m not the best one to give advice on how to overcome writer’s block. Then again, maybe I am…

If I take my car in for an oil change and I have to sit around for half an hour in a Honda dealership waiting room, where the accommodations include weak coffee and back issues of People magazine, I write. I always carry a pen and notepad. I’m always writing something in my head, even when driving, walking, eating. I get it down on paper as soon as I’m able. I pull over to the side of the road if necessary. If I take myself out to breakfast, someplace where the coffee’s good and the refills keep coming, I write. As I write these words you’re reading now, I’m sitting under a tree in Red Rock Canyon while my dogs are frolicking in the creek. I get quite a bit of writing done on my daily dog walks.
Continue reading How to Overcome Writer’s Block: Advice from a Write-aholic

Not Exactly Winter Wonderland (a short story)

by Arnold Snyder

We almost didn’t go to the Ice Capades in 1960. Every year Dad took us, the big Family Night. Geezus, it was miserable. But on my thirteenth birthday, Rudy and I got into a fight, a physical fight. My lip was swollen. Worse yet, his tooth got chipped on the dresser when he lost his balance. Mom and Dad were upset. They threatened to cancel going to the Ice Capades the following week. It was supposed to be part of my birthday present.

Continue reading Not Exactly Winter Wonderland (a short story)