Sunday, August 29, 2010

Mad Men, then writing on Murder on Tiki Island

It's been a long couple of weeks, and I haven't had much time to work on my newest book, Murder on Tiki Island. This weekend was my wife's birthday also, so I spent a lot of it with her...which meant no time to write over the weekend. (Not that I'm complaining, it was a fun weekend!). It's now Sunday night and her birthday weekend has officially come to an end, so I intend to watch MAD MEN (a favorite of mine for obvious reasons) then get back to writing the final chapters of Murder on Tiki Island.

For those who aren't familiar with my new book (I've been talking it up on my Facebook Pages, Murder Behind the Closet Door and The Retro Tiki Lounge) this story is a lot like the old 1950's pulp Noir detective stories that so many of us enjoy. Sort of a Mike Hammer meets Les Baxter sort of thing. It takes place in 1956, and mixes a bit of real history with a fictional resort island in the Florida Keys and a taste of the paranormal. Detective Riggins (from Murder Behind the Closet Door) is featured in his youth as he gets himself mixed up in murder and the occult while trying to vacation in the Keys. Beautiful women, sandy beaches, a multi-million dollar Tiki themed resort and enough tropical drinks to drown a whale combine with fierce Atlantic hurricanes and the phantoms of a lurid past to bring you Murder on Tiki Island.

I hope to have this new book available in time for the Christmas Season. In the mean time, be sure to check out Murder Behind the Closet Door at Amazon.com

-Christopher Pinto, StarDust Mysteries

Thursday, August 26, 2010

1950’s Car Commercials…The Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

1950’s Car Commercials…The Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

Living in the past - vintage ads

As Creative Director for a national automotive advertising agency, I always find advertisements from our past to be both interesting and a source of inspiration. Car ads from the 1930s through the 1960s show a level of sophistication...even Chevrolet talked about luxury, as Cadillac set it's automobiles on pillars high above the competition. The ads were very wordy - they talked to the consumer, persuaded them to read or listen to how wonderful, exciting and new their products were. You don't see much of that today...today's audience wants excitement and facts. They'll decide which product is best.

I've got several examples of excellent TV and print advertisements at my Retro Blog, Tiki Lounge Talk. Check them out when you have a chance.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

For Those Who Love Noir & Vintage Stories

Chris Pinto playing sax as Detective Bernie in "Who Shot The Piano Player!?",
StarDust Productions Mystery theater ran from 1999 to 2010. Our main focus was to bring a taste of comedy, mystery and music from days gone by to our audiences. All of our shows (written by yours truly, Christopher Pinto) incorporated jazz and swing standards, and borrowed heavily from the old time comedians including Jack Benny, Milton Berle and Sid Ceasar. We also took a lot of cues from Sinatra and Dean Martin in style, timing and personality. Every show opened with a sight gag; every performance ended with Star Dust by Artie Shaw.

I put the same spirit into Murder Behind The Closet Door. Set in 1979 with flashbacks to 1938 and the 1950s, MBTCD opens a window into times past through the use of music, characters and atmosphere. From the green shag carpeting in Heather's apartment to the dilapidated remains of Slate's house, the descriptive tone will pull you deep into the times and places of this book's world.

To read some excerpts from book, go to StarDust Mysteries and click on "What's Behind The Closet Door". Or visit Amazon.com to view the first and last few pages of the actual book.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Murder Behind the Closet Door at Amazon.com

So far the response on my new novel, "Murder Behind the Closet Door" has been fantastic. Five star reviews on Amazon.com, lots of great comments on the MBTCD Facebook Fan Page!

I'm very excited about the opportunities that online publishing has opened up for authors like myself. For years the only way to get a publisher to look at your work was through an agent, and the only way to get an agent to look at your work was if you were already published. This limited new authors to either having a friend in the industry, or taking the academic route and publishing through college resources. Well, no more of that. Now, with social media and inexpensive online publishing aspiring authors can submit their work to the world and let the audience decide on whether it's good enough to read. And once a work is established as being commercially profitable, it will be a lot easier to convince traditional agents and publishers to take a look.

At least that's the plan. It's also a lot of work, a lot more work than writing the book itself. But I'll try. And as long as people keep buying Murder Behind The Closet Door and giving good reviews I'll keep on trying to get it published mainstream!

Thank you to everyone who has purchased and read MBTCD. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

-Chris Pinto