For Appearances' Sake

After a long time slackin' off, I finally have some reading/signing-type things on the horizon.

This Sunday, October 21, I'll be at Author Fest in downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA, along with fellow Philadelphian William Lashner, the kick-ass Stephen Hunter, and Paul Giamatti sound-a-like Dave White, among others. Tickets are $16, but you get a $5 coupon off a book, snacks and drinks, and merriment all around. If you live anywhere near Northeast Pennsylvania, I hope you can stop by.

On Saturday, November 3, I'll be pulling a double-header. First, at 3 p.m., I'll be honored to introduce Jamie Malanowski at a reading of his new novel, The Coup. (The tagline: "Godwin Pope is Vice Presisdent of the United States. He wants to move up.") Malanowski—a former SPY staffer and current Playboy editor—is a longtime journalism hero of mine, and not just because he kept his Polish surname. Catch him at Robin's Bookstore, 108 S. 13th Street in downtown Philly.

A few hours later, I'll be putting on a tux (and the Bride, a dress) and headed to the Free Library of Philadelphia's Borrowers' Ball. This is a private event, unless you want to a.) donate a lot of money to the Free Library, and b.) put on a tux or gown. I'm there as a local author guest, and yes, my tux will be a rental. But this will be our third Borrowers' Ball, and every year is a blast. It's kind of like prom for book nerds.

Further out... it looks like we'll be throwing a Blonde/Crimes of Dr. Watson launch party at the Port Richmond Bookstore on November 18 at 2 p.m. (That is, if the neighborhood will have me.) More details to come, but I'm sure it will involve books, good food, beer and wine. And yes, you are invited.

Finally, on December 1 I'll be flying out to Murder By the Book in Houston, Texas to blab about "Redhead," The Crimes of Dr. Watson, and maybe even my Moon Knight one-shot, "Date Night," which will be out by then.

Hope to you see you in one/some/all of these places...

Dead Men Rise Again!

I know what you've been thinking. You been thinking, You know, I'd really like to get my mitts on a copy of Swierczy's first novel, but it's like, only available as a way-pricey ($31.95!) hardcover, or an almost as pricey trade paperback. And that's a print-on-demand style paperback. Which annoys a lot of people.

Well, friend, the wait is over. Because Point Blank Press has relaunched a few select titles in a brand new, affordable ($12.95!), way groovy offset edition, and Secret Dead Men is among those titles.

SDM will always be the red-headed stepchild of my oeuvre. It's doesn't quite fit into the Swierczy-verse (that so far includes The Wheelman, The Blonde, Severance Package, Redhead, and yes, even The Crimes of Dr. Watson). It's a genre-bender. It takes place in the 1970s. And it's very much a first novel, not unlike a first sexual experience: memorable, yet more than a little shaky in places.

Still, I'm very proud of the book, and I think you'd have a good time with it. So I'm very happy there's a new edition for all to enjoy. Ask your favorite independent bookseller or comic shop to order a copy or two through Diamond Comics. Or, if you're into instant gratification, there are discounted copies ($10.36!) for the taking over at Amazon.com.

First Look: The Crimes of Dr. Watson

Could this be the cover of the Sherlock Holmes novella I've been blabbing about? Why yes, I believe it could be. If you think this is cool (and I do), wait until you see the rest of the book. The art folks at Quirk Books are going all out for this one. They even nailed the waterstain on a 110-year-old envelope. What's really fun is that I have two wildly different books appearing this November: The Crimes of Dr. Watson, which is Victorian-era whodunnit, and Severance Package, a modern-day thriller. And yet, both feature dismemberment. Go figure.

Me Again

It's been a crazy run for interviews hasn't it? Okay, I promise, here's the last one for a while. Today I'm a guest at Writer Unboxed, a cool group blog that studies the craft of genre fiction. Part One is up now; Kathleen Bolton has promised to unleash Part Two next Friday. Enjoy, and while you're there, check out the rich pool of interview subjects past, including Jason Starr and P.J. Tracy.

(I'm very happy Kathleen used the photo I supplied, instead of fishing one off the interwebs that makes me look like a serial killer who just watched his Airedale get creamed by a speeding Lexus. Ahem.)

Update: Part two is now online!

An Evening With CHUD

This has to be the quickest turnaround of an interview, like, ever. Earlier this evening, I had a fun chat via IM with Cameron Hughes of CHUD.com. Now, just a few hours later, the complete interview is already up. CHUD doesn't screw around, folks. Check out the interview if you have a few minutes to kill (it's presented in its raw, original IM form), then check out the rest of CHUD while you're there, including the interviews with directors Zack Snyder (300) and Bong Joon-Ho (The Host). This crazy joint has quickly become one of my favorites. And not just because of the cool green sewer motif. Though that's a plus.

Your Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up

John Kenyon over at Things I'd Rather Be Doing has this cool Monday Interview series, and today he features your favorite Polish crime writer. (That is, your favorite Polish crime writer from Philadelphia. Okay, okay, from the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia. Geez, you're so picky.)

Anyway, check it out to learn a bit more about Severance Package, why Hollywood is like a high school sophomore, and my grand career scheme. Which I didn't even know I had until Mr. Kenyon mentioned it.

Phawkin' Cool

Two new Blonde reviews popped up recently. According to Ain't It Cool News's Frank Bascombe, I'm "harder than a coffin nail" and I know "how to streamline a story, keep the pace break neck, sucking all the oxygen out of the room." (Anyone who's attended a party with me knows that last bit is true.) He also called the book a "hell of a wild ride"; read the whole kick-ass review right here.

Phawker.com, which is kind of Philly's own Gawker.com (minus 14 pounds of snark), took a gander at The Blonde yesterday, and reviewer Mavis Linnemann says that "Swierczynski knows how to keep his readers hooked: the twisted-pretzel plot turns and a palpable sense of time accelerating into a race to the apocalypse made it nearly impossible to put down." Okay, it's official: I'm no longer sore about all the times we lost the Artfag Kung-Fu Cover War.