The Return of Hard Case Crime

The future of Charles Ardai's popular line of classic and new pulp novels was in doubt earlier this year when Dorchester went digital. Today, Ardai announces Hard Case Crime's new home, U.K.-based Titan:

We've got some big news to announce today: After a year's hiatus, Hard Case Crime will be returning to bookstores with new titles in 2011, thanks to a deal we just signed with UK-based Titan Publishing.

Titan is a publisher both of fiction and of gorgeous art books focusing on pop culture such as movie poster art, pin-ups, newspaper comic strips, and Golden Age comic books, and has worked with filmmakers such as J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, and George Lucas. Titan has been around for 30 years, has more than 200 employees, and in addition to publishing books also has a magazine division, a retail division (Titan owns the famous Forbidden Planet bookstore in London, and until recently co-owned the Murder One mystery bookstore with Maxim Jakubowski), and a merchandise division that produces items such as t-shirts, sculptures, and accessories. We look forward to exploring ways we might develop some cool Hard Case Crime products with them!

But first things first: books.

Hard Case Crime will relaunch in September/October 2011 with four new books, including CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust (sequel to her Edgar Award-nominated MONEY SHOT), QUARRY'S EX by Max Allan Collins (the latest in the popular series of hit man novels by the author of "Road to Perdition"), and two never-before-published novels by MWA Grand Masters (names to be announced shortly).

Additionally, Titan Publishing plans to acquire all existing stock of Hard Case Crime's backlist from Dorchester Publishing and to resume shipping these titles to booksellers immediately.

New books will be published in paperback (possibly some in hardcover as well!); ebook editions will also be released across multiple platforms. Titan is distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Random House.

We're very excited about working with Titan (indeed, we had offers from five publishers and chose Titan over several that were much larger and better-known) -- they love pulp fiction as much as we do and appreciate that in books like ours the visual dimension is just as important as the storytelling. It's hard to imagine a better home for Hard Case Crime.

Many thanks in advance for helping us to get the word out that Hard Case Crime is coming back!

E-mails (Blogs, Tweets, Etc.) Are Letters, Too.

Today on Murderati, Tess Gerritsen ponders an apparent rise in disgruntled readers and how writers ought to respond.

I commented:

I think we're seeing more of one another's raw emotion because, as others have commented, it's easier to send an e-mail or post a blog entry than to write a letter. As a result, senders don't respect e-mail much as a form, nor do they respect its recipients. As you say, Tess, letter writing used to require people to ensure their arguments were logical and persuasive.

As a writer, I'm always mindful that--be it by letter, e-mail, blog, or speech--I'm communicating with people who deserve as much respect as I'd like to receive. That said, if I receive angry messages founded on faulty logic, I'm within my rights not to respond. Some angry senders don't care who/what's right; they only care that they get under your skin.

DISCOUNT NOIR on sale Friday

Conceived as a blog flash fiction challenge last year, the eBook Discount Noir goes on sale Friday, October 22nd, from Untreed Reads—forty-two stories in all, including my tale of a man lured to the Seasonal section of a superstore on the promise of sexual stimulation, "Need a Hand?"

This is a slight delay from the original sale date, today. In any case, my thanks again to Patti Abbott, Steve Weddle, and Stacia Decker.

Get your copy for $4.49, a 25% discount, through October 31.

THE GRADUATE by Charles Webb

The last few books I've read (or tried to read) have dragged on for months, so yesterday I picked something off the shelf on a whim and dived in. I finished The Graduate this morning, not just because it's dialogue-heavy and bare of description, but also because the characters act without a show of reasoning. When Ben Braddock and, later, Elaine Robinson are asked to explain themselves, they can't. I had to read and see what they did, then speculate why they did it.

This was a refreshing change from the bulk of books that delve into characters' thoughts. I appreciate that style, but it's good to remember I don't need characters' actions explained. Not employing the usual reflection, Webb allows readers to make what they will of what takes place—much the way a play doesn't lean heavily on stage direction, allowing a director and actors' interpretation.

The one drawback was, in lieu of detailed descriptions, my mind filled in Dustin Hoffman, William Daniels, Anne Bancroft, etc. in their movie roles. I wanted to see the characters as Webb saw them before the movie was made.

Thrilling Detective Web Site Update

From Editor-in-Chief Kevin Burton Smith:

Okay, so welcome to the site (again).

To those of you who've followed The Thrilling Detective Web Site through the years, and to those of you who just wandered in off a Google search, welcome to this special transitional issue.

Unfortunately, due to severe time constraints, part of our previous concept (or was it conceit?) of semi-regular "issues" featuring a handful of original stories and selected excerpts, has -- after a lot of personal soul-searching and hand-wringing -- been abandoned. Temporarily or forever, I'm not sure, but currently I just don't have the dime or the time to devote to the fiction side of this site. Or at least in any sort of way that will ensure the quality you've come to expect.

I will, however, continue to try to keep -- with renewed energy, I hope -- the reference portion of the site going. That, in fact, was the original idea for the site: a big P.I. reference site. And actually, it's always been the less glamorous but major portion of this site -- and plenty time-consuming in its own right. But I intend to keep it going for as long as I can. Or until the wheels inevitably fall off.

To keep this site current and moving along -- and to make sure I don't slack off -- I intend to maintain a short list (see below) detailing happenings in the P.I. world. They'll be short, mostly snappy blasts (I hope), with appropriate links, that will direct you to -- or give you my take on -- some of the things that have caught my eye lately and that may be of interest to you.

For those of you who despair that you'll never read fiction in these pages again, please note that, like Sean Connery, I never said "never".

At this point, I'd like once again to thank current fiction editor Gerald So and my original co-editor Victoria Shea-Esposito for all their hard work over the years. My decision to ditch fiction in no way reflects upon Gerald's tireless work for so many years.

And I would like to thank Victoria Esposito-Shea, all the authors I worked with, and most of all, Kevin, who believed before I did that I could do the job and whose demanding eye made me a better editor.

Bouchercon 2010

I can't attend this year, but as a past president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, I want to bring attention to the short story panel "In Case of Madness", Friday, 4:30-5:30 PM in Grand Ballroom A, after which there will be a plaque presentation to the 2010 SMFS Derringer Award winners.

I've heard that, as of October 5, none of the winners is attending the con. I would still urge any SFMS members in attendance to take in the panel as a show of support. The Derringer presentations of the past two years, owed largely to the work of my vice president Jim Doherty, have helped raise the profiles of the SMFS and, more importantly, the short mystery form.

Doing Some Damage

Live today is my chat with Jay Stringer and Russel McLean of Do Some Damage. Recorded from a Skype call, topics include The Lineup: Poems on Crime and the novels of Reed Farrel Coleman.

F___in' Language

Earlier this week, author Karen E. Olson blogged about getting flak from readers over one protagonist's use of profanity. Partly in response, her second series protag doesn't use profanity at all. And yet Karen has still seen a content warning as part of a review and surprising editorial suggestions.

Summing up her blog post, she writes, "Are you easily offended by language in a book? Or do you take it all in context?"

I commented:

Language only bothers me when it sounds "off" for the character or the situation. Profanity seldom bothers me because a lot of people use it. Writers have a responsibility to reflect reality to an extent.

I was bothered recently reading a book in which the protag used the word "perhaps" far too often, making her sound overly mannered, not fitting my image of her otherwise.

Several crime novelists have pointed out that some readers are more offended by language than by depictions of violence and murder. Yes, violence and murder are givens in crime fiction, but no writer intends readers become desensitized to them. They are at heart the vehicles by which crime fiction comments on reality.

Neither should anyone become desensitized to language. Writers want readers to feel characters' anger, fear, anxiety, shock when they use profanity.

62

I happen to be up in the wee hours of my birthday. Above is one way to express my age. Four hours after I was born, I stopped breathing. Fortunately, I started again four minutes later. Every second since has been a bonus never lost on me.

Stephen J. Cannell Dies

Stephen J. Cannell, writer-producer of many of my favorite TV shows (The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Hunter, Booker...), died last night of complications from melanoma. He was 69. Since the late 1990s, he had become known as a novelist, most notably for the Shane Scully novels. He frequently guest-starred on Castle as himself. I've often tweeted my admiration for him, and I hope he saw some of those posts. I will always remember his enthusiasm and encouraging words.

Serenity 2?

In a special double-issue of SFX Magazine, Joss Whedon addresses the possibility of a sequel to the Firefly movie Serenity, which has become something of a hit on DVD and Blu-ray:

As far as Firefly is concerned, that will always be unfinished business. Serenity was a Band-Aid on a sucking flesh wound. I think every day about the scenes that I’ll never get to shoot and how badass they were. It’s nice to know that people still care about Firefly but it’s actual grief that I feel. It’s not something you get over, it’s just something you learn to live with.

While I understand Whedon's grief, I wouldn't let it prevent me from working on a sequel if a studio put up the money. Yes, there will always be an unfinished feeling to Firefly, but as dramatic as Joss's quote sounds, he has worked on Serenity comic books since the movie. If he thinks about unfilmed scenes as often as he says, you'd think he'd jump at the chance to film some of them.

As much as I'd like to see a sequel, I have to accept the possibility that Joss's heart isn't in it.

My View of Private Eye Fiction

Today on Do Some Damage, P.I. novelist Dave White brings up the currently popular slacker P.I., saying the P.I. has changed, not died as critics claim from time to time.

As a longtime reader and editor of P.I. fiction, I commented:

The P.I. novel and protagonist are flexible by nature. Because the investigation is private as opposed to official, a character in any walk of life can do it. The only quality needed is the determination to stay on the job (or go back and finish the job after licking one's wounds).

There have always been and will always be characters looking into things as a favor to others. That's the private eye in essence. Only someone who has a narrow view of the P.I. to begin with (usually Chandler's model) would say the P.I. is dead.

Quick TV Takes

Here are the new shows I've watched midway through this first week of the broadcast TV season:

Monday 10PM - "Hawaii Five-0" - I'm still a "Castle" fan, but I was curious about this re-imagining from the writers of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. The original Five-0 was too by-the-book for me despite its exotic setting. I like this version despite a far-fetched slam-bang opening gambit. See my full review here.

Wednesday 10PM - "The Defenders" - I'd rather watch Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell in Vegas than Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney wherever "The Whole Truth" is set. Reviews are mixed, but I think this show has the potential to deliver the feel of a Paul Levine novel, and you know I'm there for that.

Tonight's "S@#! My Dad Says" looks meh, but I may blink at it between "The Big Bang Theory" and "Bones". I'm a fan of Shatner and Nicole Sullivan, but I think the concept has the life expectancy of that show about the GEICO Cavemen.

Morality in Fiction (and Reality, For That Matter)

Yesterday on Do Some Damage, Steve Weddle asked whether characters have to be moral/have morals.

I don't think anyone, real or fictional, can live by a man-made code (as opposed to genetic predisposition). All man-made codes get broken now and then, so why define them? I prefer to find out about a character as I read, by the way he reacts to what's thrown in his path. Characters/people can say (or codify) whatever they want. What they do when the chips are down defines them.

If a character is around for enough stories or books, his range of behavior gets defined anyway. No person will take any conceivable action anytime. A specific person is limited to a set of actions based on what he wants or values most in life. The trick for writers is to make each situation feel new so audiences can't be sure exactly what characters will do in response.

I do want to believe in heroes, but an act is most heroic when one doesn't have a code dictating action. In the thick of things, people often don't reason out the consequences. They just act based on everything they've been taught or experienced, and what happens happens.

You may have heard how Mark Harmon saved two people from a burning car near his house some years ago. Harmon said his wife, Pam Dawber, called for help and he just reacted. He has said if the car had exploded and he died, the story would have been about how he rushed in with little thought and get himself killed.

"Allow myself to introduce...myself."

With a line from Austin Powers, I direct you to my self-interview on Nigel Bird's blog. Thanks again, Nigel.

"And we sang dirges in the dark..."

Inclined to grieve in private, I sometimes forget my words can help others grieve. In that spirit, I offer the following poems:

"Limbo"
"Mickey Spillane"
"My father's last breath"
"More Than Anything"

R.I.P. David Thompson of Murder By The Book

Houston's Murder By The Book has confirmed Assistant Manager David Thompson died suddenly yesterday. David was the first bookseller to take a chance on The Lineup: Poems on Crime, and we had been in talks for his Busted Flush Press to help The Lineup gain greater distribution. My condolences to David's wife McKenna, David's friends, and family.

The Week Between

This is the week when most summer shows go on hiatus, about the only week I'm not reviewing an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Burn Notice, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, or Psych.

You can still get my take on Season 1 of NCIS: LA on DVD at Crimespree Cinema, and this Thursday I interview myself on Nigel Bird's blog, answering such questions as "When do you find time to write?"

September 11

I consider myself lucky to have been miles away from the World Trade Center nine years ago today, but I felt and still feel the utter helplessness of having been attacked without warning. We can't let this fear paralyze us. The noblest thing we can do in the face of it is help each other, like the passengers of Flight 93. We all have the ability to look past what divides us, and 9/11, along with so many other experiences, has taught me we never have the time we think we do. Start today.

TIED IN edited by Lee Goldberg

Though they weren't the first tie-ins I read, my interest in the business and craft of tie-in novels took off with Lee Goldberg's Monk series. At the time, Goldberg was already known as the writer of Diagnosis: Murder novels based on the Dick Van Dyke TV series he produced. Goldberg has since co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, whose members contribute to Tied In, a book of informative essays and interviews.

The book will appeal most to fans of tie-ins and those looking to get into the business, but it's also worth a look to anyone with an open mind about tie-ins. I especially enjoyed the essays by Lee's brother Tod, a journalist and literary writer who jumped at the chance to write Burn Notice novels; Jeff Mariotte, delving into the vast array of trivia a working tie-in writer must know; and Burl Barer, explaining how novelists create deeper motivation for characters whose lives are only partially shown onscreen.