Bouchercon 2010: Yeah, I Feel Lucky, Punk

Early tomorrow morning I'm headed off to Bouchercon 2010, which this year is being held in the lovely city of San Francisco. Very happy to be seeing old degenerate friends, as well as meeting new degenerate friends. I might file a blog entry here and there... but no promises. If you want that vicarious Bouchercon feeling, your best bet is follow my Twitter posts (I'll do my best to update as much as possible) as well as the #bcon2010 hashtag. Drink while you read, and it'll be like you're there, swear to God.

And if you're going to be attending Bouchercon, don't be shy. Say hello! I'll most likely react by buying you a drink.

Noir Town, USA

Faithful Secret Dead Blog readers will know that I traveled cross-country with my family this summer. There are some more details from that trip in a short essay I wrote for Mulholland Books.

Ann-Margret vs. Sqweegel

Okay, those are four words I didn't think I'd be typing.

But it's true: Sqweegel -- or at least, a black-clad version of him -- will be making a special crossover appearance on this week's CSI (airing Thursday night at 9 p.m.)

Sqweegel, for those who are new to this blog, is the main villain from Level 26: Dark Origins, the novel I co-wrote with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker. The next Level 26 novel, Dark Prophecy, is out in hardcover this Thursday, and Anthony came up with the mad genius idea to have Sqweegel, a forensic-proof killer, duke it out with Nick Stokes, Catherine Willows and the rest of gang in this release-day episode.

The guest star is Ann-Margret, people. This means Sqweegel has two degrees of separation from Elvis.

I've been a longtime CSI fan, ever since the Bride turned me on to the show back in... geez, 2003? We'd gorge on the box sets, which were perfect for watching between diaper changes and feedings (our son Parker was barely a year old then). I know this sounds like retro-brown-nosing, but really: I've been hooked on CSI long before I spoke word one to my eventual collaborator. I'm not sure Anthony believes this, but it's true.

So to have a character I worked on make his TV debut is more than a little exciting. When the episode airs, I'll be at Bouchercon in San Francisco. I'm hoping to find a bar that will play the episode so I can watch while I hoist a celebratory cocktail. I hope you guys will have a chance to check it out, too. While I haven't seen the episode, my editor has -- and tells me it is scary as shit.

You can check out a preview right here.

And if you're a Level 26 fan, you should definitely order a copy rightthisminute. (The first novel is just out in paperback from Signet.)

(Photo courtesy CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

My Bouchercon Schedule

Headed to Bouchercon in San Francisco this week? Have no idea what you're going to do with your Friday? Allow me to humbly suggest two panels, one first thing in the morning, and one in the afternoon. Let's start with the eye-opener:

8:30 a.m.: The Hard Breed: Beyond Novels. Author who write more than just novels. Moderated by Jeremy Lynch. Panel: Gregg Hurwitz, Duane Swierczynski, Robert Ward, Lou Berney, Hal Ackerman. Room: Bayview A.

I think I speak for all of my co-panelists when I say that attendees with bloody mary mix will be especially welcome.

3 p.m.: Murder By Proxy: Mulholland Books Presents. Moderated by John Schoenfelder and Miriam Parker. Panel: Mark Billingham, Marcia Clark, Duane Swierczynski, Daniel Woodrell, Sebastian Rotella. Room: Grand Ballroom C.

Wow, our official coming out party.

Also, at 12:30 p.m., I'll be signing books and hanging out with Jon and Ruth Jordan at the Bouchercon 2011 table.  Jen Forbus has the complete rundown right here.

Hope you can drop by one of these three events. If not, please don't be shy about introducing yourself. I'm usually in one of two places: the book room or the hotel bar. (If they served scotch in the book room, I'd probably stay there the whole time.)

Secret Dead Blog Recommends: Following the Detectives

Place is important to me, as a writer and a reader. As much as I love Ed McBain's books, I've always had a problem with the 87th Precinct series, because I know that "Isola" is just an inverted Manhattan, and I end up trying to do the math in my head. (Wait... is this supposed to be Greenwich Village? Ah, damnit...) See, I want pieces of the real Manhattan in my crime novels, just like I want pieces of real L.A., real New York City, and real San Francisco in my film noir. There's nothing like seeing a place through the eyes of its crime writers and screenwriters.

Which is why Following the Detectives: Real Locations in Crime Fiction (New Holland Publishers), edited by Maxim Jakubowski, is such a pure delight. Jakubowski has gathered a crack team of contributors (Sarah Weinman, Barry Forshaw, Declan Burke, Martin Edwards, J. Kingston Pierce, and Philly's own Peter Rozovsky, among others) to examine 21 locales through the prism of crime fiction. You've got Ian Rankin's Edinburgh; Lawrence Block's New York City; John Harvey's Nottingham; George Pelecanos's D.C., Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco, Arthur Conan Doyle's London... as well as maps, sidebars, and photos galore. Hell, I feel like I've been to Nottingham, after Harvey's candid and revealing essay.

Sure, you could quibble about what you wish might have been included -- personally, I was hoping for Laura Lippman's Baltimore and David Goodis's Philadelphia. But a.) you've gotta draw the line somewhere, and b.) you've gotta save something for the sequel.

And here's hoping there will be a sequel, because I scarfed this baby down in one night.

This is a UK book; I found my copy via Book Depository. But you can also your local indie bookstore to order a copy for you.

New Novella: "Speed Trap"

Every so often I'll write a novella -- something longer than a short story, yet far shorter than a novel -- and they usually end up in weird places. My sequel to The Blonde, a novella called "Redhead," was found in the back of the paperback edition, as well as available by request as a free PDF. (Offer still good, by the way. Just e-mail me and let me know that you've read The Blonde, and I'll send you back a "Redhead.")

My two interactive mysteries for Quirk (The Crimes of Dr. Watson, Batman: Murder at Wayne Manor) are also technically novellas, neither of them topping 20,000 words.

Over the summer I wrote a novella for IDW's G.I. Joe series called "Speed Trap," which will be included in a G.I. Joe: Cobra Wars anthology (edited by Max Brooks) next spring. But you can read the whole thing -- all 16,000 words of it -- right now, because the "Speed Trap" was included as a bonus feature in G.I. Cobra Special #2, available in finer comic book shops everywhere.

I'm proud of "Speed Trap" because I wrote it while traveling cross-country, and I tried to make use of what I saw on the road. I also tried to fit a novel's worth of plot into 16,000 words, gleefully tossing out anything that didn't keep the story moving, moving, moving. And I'm really happy to see that it's earned some kind words over at CBR.com today.

I'm still in the process of revising "Speed Trap" for the anthology, so Swierczy collectors (all three of you) might want to scoop up this issue, if you'd like to compare an early draft with the finished version.

And you don't have to be a die-hard G.I. Joe-head to appreciate the story; you learn all you need to know along the way. Hope you have a chance to check it out.

Here's Looking At You

Black Widow #6, my first issue on the series, is now available in finer comic shops everywhere.

The Poetry of Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (Vol. 1)

When I wrote the script for Rocky, I wanted passion music. I wanted a symphony of powerful men...

... of lonely women.

... of thick-necked losers.

... of human ships that crash in the night.

... of love.

... of courage.

... of dignity cast in bronze.

--from Mr. Stallone's liner notes to Bill Conti's Rocky soundtrack (30th anniversary edition)

Frank Castle: Homeless!

Here's a reference photo I took a few years ago for the artists working on both Punisher: Six Hours to Kill and Werewolf By Night: In the Blood. I needed a Philly-area torture complex for the Punisher, and I also needed a place where Jack Russell could keep his giant werewolf-proof panic room. Feeling a little whimsical, I decided to use the same building -- the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, down by the mighty Delaware River -- for both. Just imagine: Frank and Jack, crossing paths under a moonlit Philly night! (Below: Michel Lacombe's original art, showing the Punisher leaving the building.)

So I was sad to read today that they're tearing down the William Cramp & Sons building to make way for a bunch of I-95 exit ramps (via Philly Brownstoner). If anybody sees a pissed-off werewolf or a psychotic vigilante, you may refer them to the mayor's office.

David Thompson, 1971-2010

I heard the news this morning and thought it was a joke. Or some other David Thompson. I clicked through and saw that it was real. David was really gone.

I'm finding it difficult to write this, because I'm experiencing a surge of emotion that doesn't seem to want to be confined to words. So many memories; so much love for him. I'm sitting in my basement office, the same room where David stayed when he was here in Philly for the first NoirCon in 2007. I remember him talking about cars with my son Parker. Watching a goofy children's show with my daughter Sarah, making jokes in that wonderful, slow-motion Texas accent of his. (Sometimes I felt like we were the same record player, only set on different speeds: me on 78, David on 33.) I remember David reading an arc of Scott Sigler's Infected while he was here... see, I always paid close attention to what David was reading or recommending, because his recommendations were pure gold.

I remember taking the above photo at NoirCon -- the gag, of course, being the menopause reference, because we'd collaborated on Damn Near Dead (one of his first titles at Busted Flush Press). For a while there, we were the kings of a very specific sub-subgenre of mystery fiction: hardboiled geezer.

I remember the half-dozen times I stayed with David and McKenna at their place in Houston, and how they treated me like family, staying up late talking books and drinking beer and generally being silly.

I remember driving with David across scorching Texas, road tripping from Houston to Austin so that we could be at ConMisterio to promote Damn Near Dead, happily talking books and writers the whole way.

I remember the first time I spoke to David on the phone, thinking he was a 50-year-old man... why, he had to be, to treat an absolute nobody with such generosity and enthusiasm, inviting me to do a signing with the big boys (Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Allan Guthrie, J.D. Rhoades). It was my first appearance as a novelist; nothing will ever top it.

I remember the 7th (or 8th?) beer we were knocking back later that night when David first pitched me his idea for Damn Near Dead.

I remember thinking: This guy must be crazy. I'm nobody! And he wants me to edit an anthology for him?

I remember all of this and more about David, and I'm heartbroken that I won't be hearing his voice again, or talking books with him again.

But the thing I remember most, right now, at this very moment...

I was on a panel last fall at Bouchercon in Indianapolis. At one point, I joked about Twittering a photo of the audience, and snapped one on my cell phone. The photo is below. Right there in the front row, in the middle, wearing his trademark untucked shirt and jeans, arms folded, is my friend David. Beaming. Laughing at our stupid jokes. Proud of all of us.

Philadelphia After Midnight

One of my favorite images of one of my favorite buildings in Philadelphia. One hundred and six years old this month. Site of the infamous Legionnaires Disease outbreak in '76. Still an awesome place to knock back a highball.

(From the Brightbill Postcard Collection, courtesy the Free Library of Philadelphia.)

Philly Flips Out

Check out this short film (sans audio, alas) featuring a model of downtown Philly that somehow calls to mind both Inception and Transformers.

(Hat tip to Field Notes Philly and Philly Brownstoner for originally posting this gem.)