Litpair.com
An investigation into the lives and careers of
ANNE ARGULA & DARRYL PONICSAN
I intended this to be a site to honor Anne Argula alone, but very quickly I discovered that her life and career were closely entwined with Ponicsan. He has been a life long friend and mentor to the younger author. Though one may talk about Ponicsan alone, and details on him are much easier to come by, one cannot follow the path of Anne Argula without encountering the other author.
Knowing that I am a fan of off-beat mysteries, a friend suggested in early 2006 that I read a novel called HOMICIDE MY OWN by Anne Argula, a first-time writer. “What’s the premise?” I asked. “A cop attempts to solve his own murder from a previous life,” he told me. Well, I was hooked.
I ordered the book from the publisher, Pleasure Boat Studio, a small literary press out of New York. This was the first mystery this publisher had ever published. (They have since established a separate mystery imprint, Caravel.) I was quite taken with the book and believed I had discovered a new talent. The novel was even more enjoyable upon a second reading. The narrator is a cop named Quinn. One name only, a gender non-specific name. She speaks using words and expressions I’ve never heard before, in literature or in life. I’ve since learned that her idiomatic language is common to the coal regions of Northeast Pennsylvania.
My own opinions of HOMICIDE MY OWN were confirmed by the Mystery Writers of America when they nominated the book for an Edgar Allen Poe Award for best paperback original of the year. It was then I decided to host a web site for Anne Argula, before others could beat me to the punch.
Desirous of her cooperation and sure of her appreciation of my efforts, I set out to meet the lady. I had no idea I would be dealing with a most reclusive author. After a good deal of searching, I managed to attain her email address. argula@sbcglobal.net. I immediately sent her a message outlining my plans. She responded with a curt three-word reply: “Get a life.”
