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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d.
@lilyslabo.bsky.social
56 followers 87 following 220 posts
i draw pictures and watch movies and read books.

she/they 🏳️‍🌈 | my partner everywhere @alissadmc.bsky.social

our richard stark’s parker site: toughbusiness.neocities.org
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · Oct 9
We have another exciting and exclusive interview up on Tough Business— this time with acclaimed director Shane Black! @alissadmc.bsky.social and I sat down to chat with him about Play Dirty and his thoughts on Westlake’s work.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...
"We don't compromise Parker's code" - An Exclusive Interview with Shane Black A week after the highly-anticipated release of Play Dirty, Tough Business had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat on all things Parker with acclaimed director Shane Black. Best known for neo-noir hits like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, Shane spoke about his new film, his thoughts on Parker and Grofield's dynamic, and a glimpse behind-the-scenes of this latest Richard Stark adaptation. TB: You've talked about discovering Parker at a young age, but what drew you to the books? Do they still hold the same appeal years later? SB: That's a good question. Thave encountered Parker at various points in my life, and also not just him but the Dortmunder books as well - and the standalones. Westlake tended to be a writer of comic caper novels. My first introduction was The Hot Rock, and then I moved on to Parker. Like I said, I went through the years with him, and the novels don't lose anything at all. They have this sort of readability about them, and the fact that they're each sort of little gems; they're not huge novels, even Butcher's Moon slides past. The prose holds up, the attitude holds up. These evolved over the years - the first one was written when there were rotary telephones and the last was written when there were handheld Samsungs - so along the way, he managed to proceed with this character without compromising even an iota of the punch and the style and the grace of the books. I refer to Westlake as the mystery writers' mystery writer. It seems to me that if you would ask any of the ones in the business who sold more books than him, they'd say, “yeah, well, he's still the guy that takes you to school, he's still the guy that I go back to when I want the real stuff."
Reposted by shay d.
alissadmc.bsky.social
Deeply saddened to hear the news about Robert Duvall. To us Richard Stark fans, he'll certainly be best remembered for his turn as Parker/Earl Macklin in John Flynn's The Outfit (1973) -- a tightrope walker's performance, balanced between cold determination and heartbreaking humanity.
February 16, 2026 at 9:07 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
happy valentine’s day!!!!! 💖😊
lilyslabo.bsky.social shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · Feb 8
parker and grofield valentines for the love of your life and partner everywhere
February 14, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by shay d.
alissadmc.bsky.social
thinking about this again.
February 12, 2026 at 11:56 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
We just posted our review of Slayground by Richard Stark on Tough Business! Check out our thoughts on the novel’s rarely-discussed themes at the link below, as well as our cover gallery of international editions!

toughbusiness.neocities.org/slayground
In 1969, Richard Stark wrote The Blackbird, a twist-filled novel of international spy intrigue, told from the viewpoint of Parker's frequent partner in crime, Alan Grofield. Two years later, out of The Blackbird came Slayground, the 17th novel in the series. The two share a first chapter: a job goes wrong, one man ends up dead, and our two protagonists are separated. Slayground lays out the other side of the story: Parker ends up trapped in an amusement park with the Outfit trying to track him down. Like the majority of Parker novels, Slayground deals most heavily in subtext. Stark's output had always had an undercurrent of experimentation, the books remain so tight and exciting to this very day for this exact reason, but the nature of his literary experiments had changed over time. The early half of the series tends towards genre changes (The Jugger features Parker trying to solve a mystery, The Seventh is a revenge thriller, The Handle plays with notions of James Bond-esque espionage), while the latter half constructs a relatively simple premise around one central theme (The Green Eagle Score is about psychology, The Sour Lemon Score explores identity, and so on). Slayground's central theme is aging, and the passing of time. The narrative is punctuated by deep melancholy notes of nostalgia, unlike its less claustrophobic companion The Blackbird or the other Parker stories Stark had previously written. If anything, it's not Hammett's unsentimental approach that comes to mind but the solitude and sadness of Raymond Chandler's work - as much as Westlake had repeatedly denied any influence on Parker from the latter author. This characteristic comes into play right away in the second chapter, when were treated to the classic Stark rewind as Parker recalls buying the heist plan from Dent, a retired old man who'd once been in this line of work.
February 10, 2026 at 10:46 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
one quiet evening in 1975
February 5, 2026 at 3:34 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
since everyone’s talking about westerns i would like to suggest gunman’s walk be part of the conversation
February 5, 2026 at 3:08 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
the big knife is required viewing for being a reader of tough business by the way
February 4, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by shay d.
screenmedia.bsky.social
“THE BIG KNIFE” (1955) dir. Robert Aldrich

Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane

🎬 United Artists
February 4, 2026 at 9:54 AM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
whenever i’m drawing shoes i feel like someone wants me to die and go to hell
February 4, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by shay d.
alissadmc.bsky.social
the little quiet moment at the end of slayground is one of my favorite moments in the entire series
February 4, 2026 at 1:54 AM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
Our first interview of the year is up on Tough Business— this time featuring Eisner-winning comic writer Ed Brubaker!

This one’s a companion piece to last year’s interview with @seanphillips.bsky.social, and we’re so excited about it!

Read it here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/edbrubakerin...
"I feel such admiration for Westlake and Darwyn's work" - An Exclusive Interview with Ed Brubaker For our first interview of the year, the team at Tough Business had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Eisner Award-winning comic book writer Ed Brubaker about crime fiction, his friendship with Darwyn Cooke, and all things Parker. We spoke to Ed's frequent collaborator, Sean Phillips, a while back about their Alan Grofield story appearing in Richard Stark's Parker: The Martini Edition - Last Call — and Ed kindly filled in some of the blanks for us. Check out the full interview below for a look behind the scenes of the first original Parker story, as well as a hint at what's in store in Five Gears in Reverse, the latest installment of the acclaimed Criminal comic book series. 1) How were you first introduced to Richard Stark's Parker novels? Was the Grofield solo series a later discovery? My dad had some of the Parker books when I was a kid. He collected a lot of different kinds of books including old pulp paperbacks, mostly detective or spy fiction but he also had a few Parkers. I think I loved the covers and they were very easy to read, and Parker is such a fun character. But other than when Point Blank came out on video and people finally wrote about that movie and how amazing it is, I hadn't really thought about the books until I was doing Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke. Darwyn was really into them, among other old books and movies and comics we talked about all the time. After that I started hunting them all down and got addicted. I even managed to find a hardback of Butcher's Moon.
February 1, 2026 at 11:03 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
i’ve been reading slayground with the wife and i had a thought that may or may not make it into our eventual review so i wanted to share it here.
January 27, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by shay d.
priscillapage.bsky.social
happy 93rd birthday to John Boorman
priscillapage.bsky.social priscilla page @priscillapage.bsky.social · Apr 15
this particular anecdote from Boorman's Adventures of a Suburban Boy about Lee Marvin getting belligerently drunk at Jack's on the Beach never fails to make me laugh
"He was staggering, drunk. I begged him to let me drive. 'Fuck you.' He drew back a fist. He had a whole repertoire of violent gestures, many of them cribbed from his hero, Toshiro Mifune. I tried to grab the keys, but he slashed me with his imaginary samurai sword. These were movie blows. They stopped an inch short of your neck or chin. I snatched the keys and got into the driver's seat, the women in the back. 'Get in, Lee.' Another battle of wills. How could he meekly submit, this warrior, this conqueror? We pleaded with him. He stalked and staggered around the car, raining blows on it. Finally he found a way of saving face. He climbed up and crouched on the roof rack. Despite our entreaties, he would not come down. I decided to drive slowly down the length of the pier, hoping that the cool ocean air might sober him up. I stopped as we got to the public road. I got out. He snarled at me, would not get down. I was at my wits' end. The streets were deserted. I drove slowly down the Pacific Coast Highway towards Malibu. Flashing lights in my rear-view mirror - sirens. I pulled over. The patrolman approached the car, warily loosening his revolver holster. He looked up, then at me. 'Do you know you have Lee Marvin on your roof?’"
January 18, 2026 at 1:10 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
We just posted some highlights from the Point Blank press book on Tough Business… featuring Lee Marvin as a romantic lead? Take a look at some interesting promotional materials and marketing tactics used back in the day here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/pointblankpr...
Point Blank (1967) has certainly found its place in film history in the decades since its release. These days, it's looked at as one of the earliest neo-noirs in Hollywood, as quite possibly the best-known adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker novels, and as something of a star-making turn for both Lee Marvin and director John Boorman - so, it's almost hard to believe that there was ever a time when a big-name studio like MGM didn't quite know how to handle it. The film takes a lot of cues from the French New Wave style of filmmaking, both visually and in terms of narrative flow. For audiences raised on the Bogie-and-Bacall variety of noir, it would have been downright avant garde. On top of that, the film's protagonist is cold, traumatized, increasingly disconnected from society and human emotion; he's a criminal, and an outsider. It's a revenge story, and any hint of romance or redemption is quickly derailed in favor of obsession and greed. It's no wonder the studio couldn't quite figure it, but looking at Point Blank's promotional campaign from a modern perspective can be downright startling. Fashion shoots on Alcatraz, partnerships with local discotheques, and fan contests are certainly not the first words that come to mind when one thinks of John Boorman's thriller. In the weeks leading up to Point Blank's release, the press books presented here were distributed to theaters in order to provide materials for marketing the film to audiences, from print ads to radio ads and contests, to name a few. Theaters ordered promotional materials through the National Screen Service — materials that are still valuable, as they were unable to be purchased by anyone but the theaters. These press books also contained a wealth of information about the film, including quotes from the actors involved and behind-the-scenes looks at production.
January 17, 2026 at 2:07 AM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
the year of sugar cubes made him think of horses
January 16, 2026 at 7:46 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
criterion point blank release in april? welcome to the year of parker everyone
January 16, 2026 at 7:45 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
i’m always saying that
January 15, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by shay d.
maybejed.bsky.social
January 15, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by shay d.
alissadmc.bsky.social
The Point Blank press book & I seem to have very different ideas of what the movie is about.
January 15, 2026 at 12:12 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
this factually wrong info from the allison & busby edition is killing me
Donald Westlake, under the pen-name Richard Stark, has written fourteen novels featuring his coldly methodical anti-hero Parker. Peter Coyote is the fourth to take the role in a major film - Slayground. Lee Marvin played him in the classic Point Blank, Laszlo Szabo in Godard's Made in USA and Jim Brown in The Split. The fourteen Parker novels, all to be published by Allison and Busby, are:
January 9, 2026 at 8:19 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
friday afternoon reading material
January 9, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by shay d.
alissadmc.bsky.social
Looks like Back Issue #164 is now out! My comps just got here and I couldn't be more delighted to be a part of this nifty little space-themed extravaganza, interviewing DC super stars like Paul Levitz and David Michelinie. Go pick it up wherever comics are sold!
January 9, 2026 at 5:59 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
rereading my wife’s parker gay subtext essay and being blown away even though i’ve read it a dozen times before and it’s published in our zine and all over the internet because i love her and she’s the best writer ever
January 8, 2026 at 9:52 PM
lilyslabo.bsky.social
it’s the most exciting thing in the world that people are engaging with tough business. we feel like proud mothers
January 6, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by shay d.
nedraggett.bsky.social
All Richard Stark/Donald Westlake fans should be checking out this site, BTW, as I've idly mentioned before. Following the good folks behind it also is a fine idea, as I've just done. (The other being @alissadmc.bsky.social )
lilyslabo.bsky.social shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · Jan 5
Happy 2026! It’s been about a year since we started Tough Business, so we made a little retrospective post about our accomplishments on the site and our favorite things we’ve done this year. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us!

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/happynewyear
Happy New Year! It's almost hard to believe it's been a year since Tough Business was born, and we're proud to say we've already accomplished so much and connected with so many amazing individuals - if you've been a part of our journey, whether as reader or contributor, we can't thank you enough for giving us a chance! Our original motivation behind the site was to offer a different perspective on Parker. At the heart of Donald Westlake's writing has always been a dedication to diversity exemplified in a body of work uniquely concerned with the daring and the different. All his protagonists are outsiders, and we've set out to prove that people like us still find themselves in his timeless novels. Our other priority was to approach a subject that's been talked about in a legitimate capacity even less than Mr. Westlake's social themes: Alan J. Grofield.
January 6, 2026 at 10:07 PM