Introducing noir55

noir55 is a new, “hidden” category of Semantic Argument that combines two things I like: hardboiled crime fiction (private detectives, crime, murder, Hammett, Chandler, Black Mask, etc.) and extremely short stories. The idea came to me after I realized an inordinate number of my entries into the New Times 55 Fiction contest fit this theme.

I’ll post things I’ve written as well as anything relevant that I can get another author’s permission to publish. As it has almost no relevance to the rest of Semantic Argument, the posts won’t show up on the homepage, but will always be accessible from the category dropdown on the right. Eventually it could be its own blog, but that seemed like a bit too much trouble at this point.

Two formats that seemed easy to tackle are the 55 Fiction format and Twitter‘s 140 character limitation. Each story will be posted with title and either “(55)” or “(140)” to indicate which format’s been followed. A new Twitter account, @noir55, has been set up for the shorter stories.

Send me a story and I’ll post it here.