About Me

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"We need to make books cool again. If you go home with someone & they don't have books, don't fuck 'em."--John Waters

I'm the author of more than twenty novels including SHADOW SEASON, THE COLD SPOT, THE COLDEST MILE, THE MIDNIGHT ROAD, THE DEAD LETTERS, and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN. Look for my next one THE LAST KIND WORDS due out May '12 from Bantam Books. Contact: PicSelf1@aol.com

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Dead Mower Dreams


My new column "Dead Mower Dreams and the Weeds of Boo Radley" is now up at the Mulholland Books site: http://ow.ly/2rPIt

It's my take on life during the recession, battling a mid-life crisis (and losing), and trying to navigate through the ever-changing world of publishing and willful illiteracy.

3 comments:

Rusty James said...

Hey Tom.

You may (or may not) remember from that horror message board, that I was stoked to read A Choir, but, turns out I never got around to it.

Trying to find my 'way' so to speak: Do I want to be a horror writer or a hard-boiled kick-in the-nuts?

Turns out I'm the latter. And I'm super-stoked that I found you in The Cold Spot.

Great novel, man.

Best success.

Taking The Coldest Mile with me on vacation to Mexico where I hope to have sex.

Matt.

Tom Piccirilli said...

Reading The Coldest Mile in Mexico will definitely get you laid. Mark my words.

Enjoy.

Mike Dennis said...

(I posted this comment on the Mulholland site, but I'm not sure it connected)

"I want to read about men pushed to the edge, corrupted by the world, destroyed by their own vices, who face down the worst part of themselves every hour. Sometimes they win against their own baseness and frustrations. Sometimes they are consumed."

And usually, they are consumed.

That’s NOIR, baby!!

We’re drinking the same water. Oh, yes.

Crime is really just a backdrop for noir stories, in the same manner as pool was a just a backdrop for THE HUSTLER. These men (and women) we read about and write about are "pushed to the edge", not because they’re inherently evil or stupid, but because they’re inherently average. Anyone can find themselves in over their heads because of their own unfortunate choices, and in my books, anyway, they usually do.

It’s the eternal tale of the human condition, and people will never tire hearing about it, because they know it can happen to them.

Outstanding, Pic.