by Travis Mateer
I’m just going to embrace the bitterness that erupts like bile in my throat when I see the same “reporter” who congratulated herself and the Missoulian for noticing the death of Sean Stevenson get some ink in the New York Times for her retail fiction, fiction that includes the following plot line (last emphasis mine):
Gwen Florio is one of those writers who regularly publish series and stand-alones that leave a lasting impression — like her latest, THE LEAST AMONG US (Crooked Lane, 293 pp., $29.99), the second book featuring the Duck Creek public defender Julia Geary, up to her neck in trouble.
Consider what she’s contending with: a relationship that’s on the rocks thanks to her boyfriend’s child custody issues; a loathsome intern who’s been foisted upon her; and the imminent need to find a new place to live when her mother-in-law, widowed like Julia, announces her husband-to-be is moving in.
Then there’s her new client, Ray Belmar, whom she’s defending on a public indecency charge. (He interrupted Duck Creek’s raucous St. Patrick’s Day parade wearing just a sock, which wasn’t on his foot.) When Ray is inexplicably charged in the death of a homeless man, Julia knows he’s not guilty. But she’s on the case for all of a few hours before her boss summarily removes her from it, making vague excuses.
Gwen Florio is smart, financially speaking, to use her words for a fictional play land. Putting the ACTUAL HOMELESS PEOPLE dying in Missoula into a more understandable context is NOT a smart financial decision, I am learning. I’m even getting turned down by podcasters who previously put me on their shows.
I won’t be deterred by all these little hiccups on the road to the truth of what is happening here. Tomorrow, get ready for a look at the movie REAL GENIUS and all the fun entangled in this “fictional” film from 1985.
As always, the about page is where you can donate, and the end of the post is where I say thank you.