Maggie Moor creator of psychological crime noir Skinless (Book 1) — Charmay New York Noir Series. This is the Substack series.
A Soul at Stake in the City's Shadows.
Skinless: Inside the Story
In the 1999 Lower East Side—Skinless pulls you into street poetry rhythm; a fever dream where the vibrant energy of the city masks a haunting, darkly comic underworld. Chanel shops to Gentleman’s clubs, Tribeca lofts to underground jazz, a cast of grifters, suits, and family snipers blur the line between ambition and illusion. In this atmospheric noir, childhood echoes collide with a surreal present, in a visceral evocation of the 21st century in America: the times we live in and the forces we live by—a world gone off its orbit.
SUBSTACK is where Maggie Moor shares the world behind Skinless and the Charmay: New York Noir series—story, song, and the real‑life reflections that inspired them. For readers and listeners who connect to raw, beat‑poetic New York.
Substack “Inside the Story“: 9 + Episodes bring you inside the world of Skinless: The Story of a Female Survivor and beyond into Book 2. (Free Content)
“A deeply moving, deliciously weighty work of fiction… poetic, stream-of-consciousness prose. [Moor’s] gifts for introspection and observation make her the perfect lynchpin for the author’s subversion.”
EPISODE DOSSIER
“In each of us there is another whom we do not know” – Carl G. Jung.
1999 Lower East Side, survival’s rhythm—
Episode #2: The DOSSIER & THE DESCENT.
“A guy told me recently, “’If you knew all the parts of someone, you would love them.'”- Charmay, SKINLESS
Episode #3: THE SPLINTERED SELF; Meet Charmay (and the Ghost of Cindy)
Charmay isn’t just a singer—she’s an “Orphan Misfit Survivor” navigating a dangerous triangle of sex, drugs, and power.
EPISODE #4: THE MASK & THE MIRROR; CHARMAY VS. CINDY, the Double Life
A singer-songwriter battles a raw vulnerability she calls ‘skinless’ as her alter ego invites a deadly betrayal.
EPISODE #5: BULLET LINE OR BEDSHEETS? Intimacy as Weapon.
By the final chorus, Skinless becomes a visceral evocation of turn‑of‑the‑century America—the times we live in and the forces we live by.
EPISODE #6: THE PLAYERS & THE PIECES; The Dossier, Locations, & Official Trailer.
Sam Black, Eddie Cruise, Rex Raven, & Jesse Boy— the world’s collide. Official Skinless Trailer (40s)
LINK TO EPISODE #6
Episode #7: THE JAZZ CUT; Non-linear Noir & The Rhythmic Swerve.
From Charmay: “‘Cheyenne elder told me once, camping Colorado Rockies: “’Past, present, and future happen at once inside us.'”
Episode #8: THE AMERICAN DREAM (With the Skin Torn Off) Race, Class, and Family Sniper
The American Illusion: “Trash Girl” vs. Chanel Suit.
Episode #9: Bonus Episode: THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS; Skinless: Songs from the Book
The songs are the arc of the story. A track‑by‑track guide to 8 songs and 1 single, with chapter excerpts.
EPISODE #10: THE EVOLUTION OF NY NOIR; SKINLESS, The Global Buzz, & the Shadow of Book 2
SUBSTACK 2- Just Begun — CHARMAY: NEW YORK NOIR BOOK 2
EPISODE #1: THE EVOLUTION; CHARMAY AFTER 9/11; New York, London, Africa. The Surveillance State.
Exclusive flashlight into the future.
