"Man Man Moon"

In 2023, when I pitched an inspired-by-Lyle-Lovett anthology to Down and Out Books publisher Eric Campbell, he told me he'd rather see me do a book of stories inspired by Genesis songs. I had by then done six "inspired by" anthologies, and editing them requires me to listen to a lot of the "inspiration" songwriter's or group's music -- and I've really never been a Genesis fan. I knew that my friend Adam Meyer was interested in editing an anthology, though, so I suggested him as a possible editor ... and it turned out that he is a long-time Genesis fan and was happy to take on the assignment.

Sometime in 2024, I was having lunch with Adam, and he mentioned that one of the contributors to his Genesis book had fallen through. I told him I was a little disappointed that, even though I'd basically given him the project, he hadn't asked me for a story. "You told me you didn't like Genesis," he said. "No, I said I didn't like them enough to devote a year of my life to editing a book of stories inspired by their music. But I would certainly have considered writing one story myself."

We both apologized for the miscommunication, and I agreed to take a look at a list of Genesis song titles and see if anything spoke to me ... and something did. Turns out they had a song called "Mad Man Moon," and when I lived in Amsterdam in the late 1970s, early '80s, I had a crazy old man as an upstairs neighbor and a pleasant old woman named Mrs. Moen (pronounced Moon) as a next-door neighbor. Something pretty awful happened to the upstairs neighbor, and simply by giving him Mrs. Moen's last name and otherwise presenting the facts as they occurred, I was able to write a story that justified the title "Mad Man Moen." Adam accepted it, and the book was published on March 31, 2025.

(Note 1: When I received a copy of the book from Down and Out on May 10 and took a look at my story, I saw to my surprise that I'd written it from the point of view of Jack Farmer, the protagonist of my novel Dutch Threat. I'd completely forgotten having done that!)

(Note 2: Eric Campbell ultimately agreed to have me edit a Lyle Lovett anthology, and Cryin' Shame: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Lyle Lovett will be published in October of 2025.)

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