Some words on Jughandles II
I am still working on the follow up to 'Lying by Water', so I left it out of the Kindle version, for now. To be frank, it's pretty dark and I've been stalling on it for awhile.
The new stories in 'Jughandles II' are 'Papa', Signal Trouble on the F' , 'In the Van', 'Pipes', and 'Accounts Payable'.
'Papa' features some of my impressions of Inwood in upper Manhattan, where I lived for many years; the Port Authority in New York, interaction with the unhoused people there, and a well known character to some.
'Signal Trouble on the F' was sparked by a real incident that happened to me on the F train, and I worked in the character Mei based on several bias crimes that have been occuring in New York City. The story is as ugly as the anti-Asian bias incidents that have been increasing lately.
'In the Van' is based on an actual trip I took on Thanksgiving. I tried to write interesting back stories for the people I met on that trip. Some of the unintentional misunderstandings between different classes of people are featured there. I feel like the van is a microcosm of Manhattan to a certain extent. And certainly there is a whole other life going on in certain parts of the city at night that most people do not see. The people visited by the van could be said to exist in a parallel universe, effectively, and are only noticed by some.
'Pipes' features a real life condemned house that used to stand in Washington Heights before it was razed to the ground. I came across it one day and after walking around exploring and taking pictures, I had an unaccountable revulsion when nearing the bricked up basement door. I found out the story later, and it's included in the young woman's speech at the end.
'Accounts Payable' is a little longer and I drew on some real life experiences here as well. I've been thinking of it for awhile, having worked for some Russian 'business owners' in Brooklyn more than a decade ago. It is a little spy story with a unusual tiny ghost that appears towards the end of the story.
Some notes: SPOILERS
Confused by 'Papa'? Simply put, Papa recycles.
People with a background in Russian literature and those that have familiarity with the culture will recognize some references in "Accounts Payable'. Of course we have the great Tolstoy ('Death of Ivan Ilyich' imagery surfaces a few times, starting when the human embodiment of a cancer enters the scene), Dostoyevsky (it is his quote at the end), the beloved animated film character Hedgehog, and the Russian fairytale 'Tsarevich Ivan, the Firebird and the Grey Wolf'. The wildly popular 2000 movie 'Brat 2' was an inspiration for several scenes (Danila in the movie is always getting ripped off by fellow Russians, from cassette tapes to cars). There is some Russian mob history thrown in, taken from years of reading the local papers, and gossip at my former workplaces (Brooklyn loves discussing mob history, and there's quite a lot). I am currently starting a follow up short called 'Assets and Liabilities'.
By the way, the National club, a reputed Russian mafia hotspot in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, is now a mall. Lol.
The song list is 'Human Behavior' by Bjork, 'I left My Heart in San Francisco' by Tony Bennett, 'Sugaree' by the Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead, and lastly 'A Forest' by the Cure, covered by Clan of Xymox whose version I prefer. The ghost is the pigeon that Roxanne tries to save at the beginning of the story, and references the Firebird in the Russian fairy tale mentioned above.
I have a tiny short that I am also working on called 'Sunshine', I might add this when finished, depending on my mood.
Cheers! I hope you are entertained, disgusted, freaked out, scared, intrigued, amused, annoyed by, or sympathize with some of my characters and small tales. Thanks for reading, dark one. Keep the lights on.