"What's Been Going On, Pic?" Well, Since You Asked...

Let's hope he doesn't fall off the roof while reviewing THE COLDEST MILE. Our favorite librarian from the L.D. Fargo public library in Lake Mills, WI is out of the basement and up on the roof battling his air conditioning unit while telling the world on YouTube to check out TCM.

New interview up with the nicest writer of haunting crime novels you're likely to find, the inimitable Ed Gorman. Check out what he has to say about his latest THE MIDNIGHT ROOM over at The Big Adios.

A new blurb for SHADOW SEASON is in from one of the very best in the biz. If you haven't already checked out Bill Pronzini's novels, you're doing a disservice to yourself. His Nameless Detective series continues to rock hard after 40 years, and his standalone novels are just as good.

"Reading SHADOW SEASON is like being put through an emotional wringer. Visceral. Savage. Intense. Powerful. Finn is a fascinating character, the most complex of all Pic's noir protagonists; I can't think of another in recent memory with such a multi-faceted personality or more compelling mix of gut-level feelings. Flawless portrayal of his blindness and his ways of dealing with it, particularly in crisis situations. For my money, Pic's best novel to date."--Bill Pronzini, MWA Grandmaster

Books you should be reading:

Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman's dynamic & twisted collaboration TOWER.

Lester Dent's lost crime novel HONEY IN HIS MOUTH written back in '56 by the man who brought you most of the Doc Savage pulps. Sharp & engaging noir.

HOGDOGGIN' by Anthony Neil Smith, a riotous hardboiled biker novel. Sequel to his YELLOW MEDICINE.

Megan Abbott's superb historical noir BURY ME DEEP, based on the true story of the "Trunk Murderess."

PARIAH by Dave Zeltserman, brutally dark follow-up to his first novel SMALL CRIMES.

Charlie Williams' uber-funky crime-horror-dark fantasy-rock'n'roll crossover STAIRWAY TO HELL.

KILLING MUM by Allan Guthrie, a black as night noir about a murder broker who discovers somebody wants him to off his own mother. And the Kindle version comes with a grabber of a cover, featuring a squirrel that looks ready to chew your face off, man.

Soft Hearts of Hard Case Crime

Some generous words have come in from one of my faves and yours: "Tom Piccirilli is at the forefront of the new breed of crime writers, welding his sense of history to a modern sensibility, creating a strong new voice."--Max Allan Collins, author of ROAD TO PERDITION.

Check out Al's Hard Case Crime novels featuring his hitman for hire QUARRY.

And:

He's hot! You love him! You want him! You need him! You got him! New interview with crime/suspense author Jason Starr, author of THE FOLLOWER, FAKE ID, and the upcoming PANIC ATTACK over at The Big Adios.

More on Punisher #75

In Joe Quesada's regular Cup O' Joe column he spotlights Punisher #75, an issue where the direction of Punisher Max is bound to change.

Kiel Phegley: After last week’s CUP O’ JOE about Marvel’s pricing sparked discussion of what gets published under the MAX banner, you’re back with some MAX news this week on the Punisher front?

Joe Quesada: Yup. “Punisher: Frank Castle” #75 is a double-sized special with stories by Charlie Huston (“Moon Knight”), Gregg Hurwitz (“Vengeance of Moon Knight”), Peter Milligan, Duane Swierczynski and a great crime novelist, Thomas Piccirilli with art by Ken Lashley (“Black Panther”), Laurence Cambpell (“Punisher”), Das Pastoras (“Wolverine”) and more.
All the stories take a hard look at that fateful day in Central Park when Frank Castle’s family was slaughtered in a mob crossfire, and the Punisher was born.

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Looks like crime fiction fans are really going to have a good time with this one. Charlie Huston's "Hank Thompson" books are some of my very fave neo-noir novels (and also make sure you check out his latest THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH). Gregg Hurwitz's latest TRUST NO ONE is racing up the charts, and my buddy Duane Swierczynski tackles suspense/thriller fiction like no one else out there. His novels SEVERANCE PACKAGE, THE BLONDE, and THE WHEELMAN are all ripsnorters that will keep you nailed to the page

Neuroses is Me, Still

Amazing how after 20 years, 20+ novels, and 200+ stories, the skin can still be thin and the insecurities abundant. Advance Reading Copies (actually just bound manuscripts as for the time being Bantam is no longer printing true arcs up for their mass market paperback originals) of my new novel SHADOW SEASON are winging their way to various reviewers, friends, peers, comrades, hopefully a literary hero or two--and so once again my heart's on the line. I guess it never gets any easier, really. And I guess it's not supposed to. The fact that a writer still worries, gets excited, or becomes anxious is probably a sign that this bizarre biz/art of ours still matters deeply to us. Or maybe we are just fucking crazy.

ITW Announces Thriller Award Winners

On the evening of Saturday, July 11th, 2009, the International Thriller Writers announced the winners of their literary awards at a gala celebration in New York City. Unfortunately I couldn't be in attendance though my tale "Between the Dark and the Daylight" from Ellery Queen was up in the short story category. I got crushed but I hold no grudges. I'm just all zen-like and shit.

ThrillerMaster Award: David Morrel: In recognition of his vast body of work and influence in the field of literature
Silver Bullet Award: Brad Meltzer: For contributions to the advancement of literacy
Best Thriller of the Year: THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)
Best First Novel: CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central Publishing)
Best Short Story: THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff (in Darker Mask)

Congratulations to the winners.

A generous comment came in from Publishers Weekly about the piece, which is also the title of the new Gorman & Greenberg Year's Best.

Between the Dark and the Daylight and 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year Edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg. Bleak House (www.bleakhousebooks.com), $27.95 (600p) ISBN 978-1-60648-058-8; $17.95 paper ISBN 978-1-60648-059-5

"Gorman and Greenberg follow up A Prisoner of Memory (2008) with another impressive anthology, which features a diverse assortment of styles and settings. Readers familiar with Steve Hockensmith only from his novels will enjoy "The Devil’s Acre," a typically amusing story featuring the Amlingmeyer brothers, cowboys inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Joyce Carol Oates continues to display her facility with crime fiction with her portrait of a man’s descent into violence in "The First Husband." The title story should attract deserved notice for Tom Piccirilli, who tugs at the heartstrings while maintaining the moral relativism of classic noir. Other contributors include Michael Connelly, T. Jefferson Parker, Charlaine Harris, Bill Pronzini and Charles Ardai. "

Love for Pic

This is the reason why you all want to become professional writers. Because of the adoration, respect, unconditional love, and a readership that's not too proud to shower you with a little grateful attention.

This fan letter comes from our good friend D. Ford of Mnpls, MN. "Always looking for new mytery writers, hoping I'll find a gem to add to my favs collection. Bought your "Midnight Road" sight unseen from Amazon. Have tried to get into it 3 times. All failures. This is the most disjointed, unrealistic attempt @ writing a mystery novel I've tried in over 5 yrs. The character and his rambling 1st person problems make no sense at all. There's no cohesion or sense of danger or any tension. The dead dog!! Give me a break, don't know what you're trying for, and I don't think you do either. And the manufactured danger he faces from the police for no apparent reason, just makes this a VERY weak attempt. $$ wasted. Go back to Lit 101 & read Mike Connelly, John Sanford, Stephen Hunter, Robert Crais, and start all over!!"

Sure, I could've spent a half hour writing a resounding & insulting missive that would ring his ass like a bell, but what's the point? Here's what I wrote instead:

"Thanks for your generous compliments. Keep reading!

Love,

Tom Pic"

Haters. You know you want more of them in your life. Become a novelist now!

Pic & the Punisher plus Another of those Damn Memes

Been parceling out the info in drips and drabs the past couple of weeks, but the paperwork has been signed and things are official now.

My story "Dolls" will appear in Punisher #75, an oversized issue featuring 4 tales that's due out in October. I know brilliant crime novelists/comic writers Charlie Huston and Gregg Hurwitz will also be in this one, so that's a serious fuckin' honor right there.

Originally Marvel wanted a 4-6 page story but my terrific editor kept giving me more and more room. The final piece will be 10 pages long, about half the length of a regular issue. All the stories had to touch on the day in Central Park when Castle's family was murdered.

"Dolls" opens as Frank is about to take a sniper shot at a mobster when a little lost girl asks him to help her find her father. It's her birthday soon and she asks if he'll buy her a present. He buys her a doll that--ding ding--reminds him of his own dead daughter. Frank only has a certain amount of time to take out his target and is torn between helping the girl and leaving her and getting back to killing the guy.

The brilliant Laurence Campbell is slated to do the artwork. A sample of his work is up top.

Total fanboy geeking out here.

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Got tagged with this four-shot meme which is going around to crime writers all over the place.

Four Movies You Can See Over and Over

Seven Beauties (fave film of all time)

The Wild Bunch

Sunset Boulevard

The Maltese Falcon

Four Places You Have Lived

There's only been two:

New York

Colorado

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Dexter

The Odd Couple

Lost

Four Places You Have Been on a Vacation

Santa Fe, NM

Phoenix AZ

Quebec City, CAN

New York, New York (If I had my way this is where we'd always go).

Four of Your Favorite Foods

New York Pizza

New York bagels

Pasta Fasool (I make it better than your grandma does)

London Broil

Four Websites You Visit Daily

The Big Adios

Shocklines

Ed Gorman

Internet Movie Data Base

Four Places You Would Rather Be

Manhattan (okay, so it's a running theme)

Florence, Italy

Newport Beach, CA

1977 (so I could tell my younger self not to be such a dweeb)

Four Things You Hope to Do Before You Die

Have a New York Times bestseller

Have Hollywood woo me

Do film commentary for a film based on one of my novels

Celebrate my 83rd birthday with my 18-year old second wife Bambi (heart over the "i")

Four Novels You Wish You Were Reading for the First Time

THE DEAD FATHER by Donald Barthelme (fave novel)

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving

CATCH-22 by Jospeh Heller

Hard Eight

So as of May 27 I’m now I’m 44–a hard eight as you craps shooters say–and another year closer to 46, which is something of a benchmark as it’s the age my father was when he died. Who knows if I’ll make it (place your bets, everyone). My mid-life crisis started a couple of years ago. I’m not sure when it’s supposed to end. With the advent of classmates.com and Facebook, clearly I’m not the only one suffering through severe bouts of sentimentality and romanticized youthful times. I suppose it’s just a part of what everyone goes through. We’re just louder about it because we all fucking blog.

So, some news:

You can find my article on Korean crime/horror films in the latest issue of Asian Cult Cinema (#62), including my reviews of Our Town, Dream, The Chaser, and Open City among others.

The cover for SHADOW SEASON has been finalized. It’s a bit tweaked from the previous images I’ve posted (now with "Edgar Award nominee" listed among my attributes). I think it’s a real grabber and hopefully it’ll pop nicely on the shelf. The book is due October 27 but of course you can pre-order now from Amazon or B&N.com. Also remember to spread the love and support your independent bookstore.

I recently placed my first script with Marvel. I’m playing it close to the vest for the time-being until all the paperwork is signed, etc., but this is a real dream come true. Comics have been a big part of my life, both personal and creative, since before I could read. I clearly remember my brother handing me issues of Daredevil #4 (1st app. of the Purple Man) and Avengers #5 (first app. of the Lava Men) when I couldn’t have been older than two or three. Although my collection has thinned considerably over the years, at one point I owned about 8k comics, all properly backboarded, bagged up and boxed. The collector’s bug, that need to own every issue of every series that came out every month, eventually left me and I sold off about half my comics. Which means I currently own about 4k, including DD #4 and Avengers #5 (though not the same copies my brother gave me).

From the You’ve Got to Check This Out Dept:

Gillian Flynn’s second novel DARK PLACES is out now. Her brilliant SHARP OBJECTS was an Edgar Award nominee and DARK PLACES might even be more twisted, naughty, and noir-stuffed. It follows the story of the lone survivor of a family slaughter, alternating between the narrative of that emotionally screwed-up young lady and flashbacks of her murdered mother and her brother, the supposed killer. A real grabber of a novel that is mysterious and haunting in the best ways.

Also, out now on DVD is J.T. Petty’s THE BURROWERS. A horror-western film that is gripping, realistic, grueling, and genuinely disturbing. The story focuses on a posse hunting after a missing family believed to have been taken by renegade Indians. But soon it becomes apparent that something else, something inhuman, has stolen the folks. There are scenes that won’t be leaving your mind anytime soon. This is one unsettling, nihilistic gut-stomper the way great horror fiction/film is supposed to be.