Hammered – an Ode to Mickey Spillane” - the 2023 Story Event Official Support Thread

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks for sharing. If I get mine through the Lit publishing hurdles, I hope it looks better than frames mashed by a truck!
!View attachment 2228977

You did well with this one, far better proportioned than many and a good skin tone (but still looks like plastic). From an artistic point of view, a photograph would probably take less time, and it's obviously not a painting.

It's an evolving art form, that's for sure - but like the AI generated word content we're seeing at the moment, it's got no soul.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

If you got no soul, how you gonna save anything?

 

[WifeWatchman]

Well, I just had an 'epiphany' of what to write for the challenge. I'm combining a story I was writing that was inspired by true-life events of some friends of mine with the gritty exploits of my P.I. character Russ Ferrament. So just to clarify... the stories will be published between July 15 and 30th, and the list goes up the 31st? TIA

 

[dmallord]

My eyes are blurry and my wrist and finger is numb for drumming some 16,000 words on my Hammer-like story. The attempts to figure out AI images on a 'no-cost budget' has been frustrating - to be expected - as one wades into murky waters without any training or background. Along the way, I discovered I could copy and past lines from my story into the various AI generators I visited and got some good, some bad, and some really funny images.

For instance, "Mary Jane’s face lit up like a Happy Valentine’s Day box of chocolates sent with a dozen red roses."
Showed this image. It took a few moments of staring to connect the dots ... cannabis/maryjane happyvalentine'sday/stpatrick'sday ... lord only knows where the chocolates and red roses are residing.


And for another story line, "Bill suggested, “... and as for a woman, well, after six years, you need to find one. But certainly not one as pure as the driven snow like your sister. You want one more like the fifty-dollar girls standing on the corner around midnight,” his dad joked."

The last one seemed more apropos, don't you think?

 

[ChloeTzang]

OMG. My story for Hammered is up to 150k words and I still have a lot to write..... it just grew on me. Grew and grew and grew and I love it. My heroine is Mallory Kwon, PI, and, well....I'll save the rest

 

[dmallord]

OMG. My story for Hammered is up to 150k words and I still have a lot to write..... it just grew on me. Grew and grew and grew and I love it. My heroine is Mallory Kwon, PI, and, well....I'll save the rest.

Chloe, Lit sent me feedback about using AI-generated work in my Hammer story. Not acceptable, and rejected it because of the graphic elements - not the text content. I mention this in another thread—just FYI. I saw your reply that you post this elsewhere and not with the text. These look great. And look, I don't know if I will be around to read your 150k-plus-word story! Holy smokes, that is a lot of pages, girl! At my age, I place priorities on bite-sized stories first. Can I get a citing for the Reader's Digest version?

 

[MajorRewrite]

OMG. My story for Hammered is up to 150k words and I still have a lot to write..... it just grew on me. Grew and grew and grew and I love it. My heroine is Mallory Kwon, PI, and, well....I'll save the rest

Great pics. Lots of atmosphere.

 

[UniquelyYours]

I just thought I'd jump on here that, after a while of lurking around, I've finally decided to join Lit and, having seen this thread and the challenge, give writing something along these lines a go. Something about this theme has really captured my imagination. Thank you for chatting about this so far, and helping to light that fire!

Anyway, on with the writing...

 

[yowser]

The TLS did a review of Mr. Spillane's recent biography (Him the Jury by Oliver Harris) although he was usually considered a low-brow writer (at least by his contemporary crime/mystery authors.) Like the saying goes, he laughed all the way to the bank.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Well, I just had an 'epiphany' of what to write for the challenge. I'm combining a story I was writing that was inspired by true-life events of some friends of mine with the gritty exploits of my P.I. character Russ Ferrament. So just to clarify... the stories will be published between July 15 and 30th, and the list goes up the 31st? TIA

Submission deadline: July 15th-30th (stories submitted & posted)
Event date: final anthology list posted on Monday July 31st 2023

That was what I had with Laurel - you can submit before July 15th if you like, but I'd asked if we could spread posting the stories and do them as they're submitted over the 2 weeks so we don't get a big hit all at once. That way we won't overload any one category with new stories all on the same day. I hope.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I just thought I'd jump on here that, after a while of lurking around, I've finally decided to join Lit and, having seen this thread and the challenge, give writing something along these lines a go. Something about this theme has really captured my imagination. Thank you for chatting about this so far, and helping to light that fire!

Anyway, on with the writing...

Hey, great, and welcome. Really happy this event inspired you. That was one of the goals, to encourage new writers in a non-competitive setting, so you just made my day

 

[ChloeTzang]

The TLS did a review of Mr. Spillane's recent biography (Him the Jury by Oliver Harris) although he was usually considered a low-brow writer (at least by his contemporary crime/mystery authors.) Like the saying goes, he laughed all the way to the bank.

That always reminds me of this quote from Mickey Spillane.....

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

That always reminds me of this quote from Mickey Spillane.....

I like Spillane's books, but I prefer the work of Hammett, Chandler, Gardner. On Gardner, not just his Perry Mason books, but for Nior more so the Cool & Lam or Lam and Cool, depending on the individual tale, stories.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I like Spillane's books, but I prefer the work of Hammett, Chandler, Gardner. On Gardner, not just his Perry Mason books, but for Nior more so the Cool & Lam or Lam and Cool, depending on the individual tale, stories.

Raymond Chandler I like - I had all his books way before I read any of Spillane's.

 

[dmallord]

It's done. After the Lit rejection for AI-included illustrations, I stripped those out, reviewed and hit the submit button again. Now my Hammer theme is in Laurel's hands. I tagged it. Put a note in the admin field with the posting dates yesterday.

Hurry, you procrastinators!

Now, I'm on to other procrastinating matters of my own.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Hurry, you procrastinators!

Now, I'm on to other procrastinating matters of my own.

I'm not procrastinating. I'm working full time. It's a total muse killer and a wonder that I even get any writing done at all.

 

[EurasianBlackLove]

The members may find this interesting (or not).

I asked ChatGPT to give me an example of Mickey Spillane's writing, with some parameters of my own. And here is what it came up with:

She walked into my office, a gorgeous vision that could make a saint trade his halo for a taste of sin. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes carried the secrets of a thousand late nights, and her porcelain skin held a hint of mystery. She had the kind of beauty that made you forget your own name.

Her figure was as dangerous as a loaded gun. A form-fitting skirt hugged her hips, showing off curves that could make a man lose his balance. Those long legs, encased in leather boots, had the power to bring a city to its knees. She was a walking contradiction, half-Asian and half-white, with an exotic allure that left you hungry for more.

Her presence was like a lightning bolt in the stormy night, electrifying the air and charging every nerve in my body. She had a grace that defied gravity, a confidence that dared the world to challenge her. As she spoke, her voice held a sultry melody, weaving through the air like smoke.

I couldn't help but feel a mixture of danger and desire as I looked into her eyes. It was a lethal combination, one that I knew could lead me down a treacherous path. But when you're a black detective in the modern era, navigating the shadows and uncovering the truth, you learn to embrace danger in all its forms.

And so, with a heart pounding like a drumbeat, I braced myself for the storm she promised to unleash. In her presence, I knew the rules would bend, and the line between right and wrong would blur. But damn it, I couldn't resist. Not when she stood before me, a femme fatale in a skirt and boots, tempting fate and challenging destiny.

~~~​

Now, I'm curious about ChatGPT writing something with the voice of Ian Fleming...lol

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

ChatGPT Hammered it, didn't it?

 

[EurasianBlackLove]

ChatGPT Hammered it, didn't it?

lol....indeed.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Interesting. I tried ChatGPT on parts of my little story and there was the odd bit that was useful, but I think I did Mickey Spillane better than ChatGPT. LOL. Going to keep playing with it to see what else it throws up.

 

[WifeWatchman]

Interesting. I tried ChatGPT on parts of my little story and there was the odd bit that was useful, but I think I did Mickey Spillane better than ChatGPT. LOL. Going to keep playing with it to see what else it throws up.

I'm leaving ChatGPT alone for now. It's more fun doing the writing myself. Besides, it's the artwork I need...

 

[LX666]

I followed the previous Hammered events with interest, lots of great hardboiled stories! Thanks for initiating this, ChloeTzang. This year I plan to participate myself. I'm working on a mafia-themed rescue mission turning into a sexual encounter.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I was going to post a story, but found the ending of the mystery was a mystery to me.

 

[MillieDynamite]

OMG. My story for Hammered is up to 150k words and I still have a lot to write..... it just grew on me. Grew and grew and grew and I love it. My heroine is Mallory Kwon, PI, and, well....I'll save the rest

The pictures seem to be gone, sigh.

 

[ChloeTzang]

The pictures seem to be gone, sigh.