Short Fiction by Jordan Harper
Diamonds, blood and excess body weight: A love story. Selected by the Million Writer's Award as a notable online story of 2006. It appears in the second Thug Lit anthology, Sex, Thugs and Rock & Roll. (Originally in Thug Lit #10)
She had an ass like a heart turned upside down and tore in half. And that's what you call foreshadowing, friend. This story was shortlisted for Best American Mysteries 2008 and will appear in the third Thuglit anthology, coming out this June. (Originally in Thug Lit #20)
An old man goes to see a young one on a piece of business. This story was nominated for a Derringer Award and was selected by The Million Writer's Award as a notable online story of 2005. It appears in the Thug Lit anthology Hardcore Hardboiled. (Originally in Thug Lit #2)
"Just Look What the Bitch Made You Do"
You're going to kill that son of a bitch -- but kill him smart. An exercise in second-person homicidal misogyny. Originally appeared in Out of the Gutter #5, where it took first place in the Revenge Fiction Contest (shorter story division).
"Plan C"
Every bank robber needs a backup plan. Maybe two. (Originally in the now defunct Demolition, Fall of 2006)
Shermer looks for new friends on the yard at Huntsville. Previously unpublished. The mixture of a totally loathsome protagonist, the white-power backdrop, and a favoring of style over substance made this story hard to place in a publication. It's also probably the most hardcore thing I've ever written, and I'm awfully fond of it, Nazi-warts and all. This story served as the basis for my Shield spec script, "Initiation," which won me a spot in the Warner Bros. Television Writer's Workshop. (See below).
A Brooklyn crack den is no place to get caught slipping when the Yardies come to visit. Written after reading "The Girl Who Played Dead" in the Dallas Observer. (Originally in Out of the Gutter #3)
"I Wish They Never Named Him Mad Dog"
What's in a name? Sometimes, a whole bunch of blood. (Originally a shorter version of this story appeared in the now defunct Demolition, Winter 2008)
"Initiation" (A spec script of The Shield)
Blood in, blood out. This spec script, which won me my spot in the Warner Bros. Writer's Workshop 2009, is a result of my not being totally happy with "Heart Check" (see above). Telling the story from the cop's perspective, I realized, might be what the tale needed. And what better cops than the ones of the Strike Team?
A short play about a woman, a man and a bloody windshield.