The Boss, The Raccoon, The Submarine

Last night's event at The Mysterious Bookshop started with Bruce, and ended with Bruce. Poe Boy picked me up around 2:30, and we shot up the NJ Turnpike, listening to Loose Ends, a Springsteen bootleg. (Poe Boy's mini van is, like, bootleg central; somewhere in there, I'm sure, is Brian Wilson's original Smile along with the master tapes of "She Loves You.") Just before the Holland Tunnel, I realized that I didn't have Dave White's number on me, so I did what any self-respecting resident of the 21st century would do: texted a Twitter message saying, "Dave White! Call your mentor." Sure enough, Dave called three minutes later. I told him to get his ass out of Jersey, and meet us at the Raccoon Lodge. The three of us knocked back a few Pilsner Urquells (me, for Dutch Courage; I'm not sure what Dave's excuse was) and admired the animal body parts hanging from the walls. Lady Weinman joined us toward the end, and then we headed across the street for the event proper...

... which flew by as fast as a second wedding. Seriously. One minute I was making small talk with friends, then the next I was asked to speak, and then I signed books, and then hung out a bit, and then it was time to close the store. The turnout was fantastic--the best in a long, long time. Among the pals o' Secret Dead Blog gathered (in no particular order): Jason "The Mark" Pinter, Jeff Wong, Axel Alonso, Michael "Grenade Launcher" Homler, Hector DeJean, Glenn Gray, Poe Boy's daughter Pam, Mike "Rescued by Nerds" Collins, Lord and Lady McQuigan, Ron Geraci, Ashlea Halpern, Jamie "The Coup" Malanowski, Bonnie and Joe from the much-missed Black Orchid, and a bunch of other cool folks who I didn't recognize (and which is always a pleasant surprise).

Afterward, a bunch of us decided to skip the Raccoon Lodge--which only seemed to have a pot of hot dogs on the menu--and hit an Irish joint around the corner for some brews and grub. It was only then that I remembered that I'd brought my camera, so I took a few snaps of folks gathered at the table (which I'll post later). Someone at the table made an off-color reference to a submarine (which I won't repeat here). And then it was over in a flash, and the next thing I knew, Poe Boy was hurling us back down the Jersey turnpike, Darkness on the Edge of Town blasting.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, hung out, and picked up a Severance. And huge thanks to Ian, Hillary, Otto and the gang at The Mysterious Bookshop, who were fantastic hosts. If you live anywhere near NYC, and want a signed copy of Severance, go to these guys. Then stay, and browse, and drool at the awesomeness gathered on the shelves around you.

Today: headed out in a few hours to hit Wizard World Philly. I'm on a Marvel panel at 1, and will be at the Marvel booth at 3:30, so stop by and say hi if you're around. I'll try to Twitter an update while I'm there.

And then on Sunday: Noir at the Bar!

(Photo above snapped at the Raccoon Lodge. As if you couldn't guess.)

Picks, Panels, Pans

I'm headed off to NYC later today with Poe Boy; The Mysterious Bookshop party kicks off at 6:30 tonight. Yes, you're invited. Stop by! (See previous post for details.)

I'm thrilled that Severance Package is a pick of the week both at Sarah Weinman's site and January Magazine's crime fiction page. Huge thanks to both Sarah and Jeff Pierce.

Severance also received its first review at Amazon... and it's a nyet! Well, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...

Mike Collins over at Rescued by Nerds has a Q&A with me up now, as does Brett White at Wizard magazine, to preview my appearance at Wizard World Philly this weekend.

Thursday: The Summer of Severance Begins

Well, okay, it began today, but my first signing will be at The Mysterious Bookshop this Thursday night. And it's not just a signing: it's a party. Poe Boy and Dave "Giamatti" White will also be on hand, and there's a good chance we'll be hitting the Raccoon Lodge across the street afterward. So if you're anywhere near NYC, stop by and say hello. Here are the details:

Join us in celebrating the new novel Severance Package (St. Martin's Minotaur) Mr. Swierczynski will discuss and read from his book and answer questions. Copies will be available for autographs. Light refreshments will be served.

Thursday, May 29th 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Admission is Free.

The Mysterious Bookshop
58 Warren Street (Between Church and West Broadway)
New York, NY 10007
(212) 587-1011
info@mysteriousbookshop.com

Well, Shoot

Severance Package is available in stores everywhere today. It kind of feels weird typing that, because it's been so long coming. I finished the first draft in early November 2006, and it was originally scheduled to appear in November 2007, but somewhere along the line St. Martin's decided it would be better as a paperback original, and launched in early summer 2008. And while I was a little bummed at first, I think it was a very good call.

I've always been a paperback guy. Nothing wrong with hardcovers; I've bought my share, certainly. But if I have a choice, I'll always go with paperbacks. They're easier to carry around. They usually have cooler art. And frankly, they're more affordable. When you gorge on books like I do, price matters. (And yes, I love public libraries... but there's something cool about owning your own copy, you know?)

Anyway, St. Martin's has done me a solid by making this a very, very cool paperback. The cover is by Tomm Coker, and there are eight black-and-white illustrations inside by Dennis Calero. (One of 'em is included at the top of this post.) There's a nice and grisly "death fax" inside. And finally, the cover stock is made of this material that feels like a painter's canvas--classy stuff for what is essentially a pulp hybrid of a spy novel and a slasher flick.

So even if you think the story blows... the book still looks like a million bucks.

I'll stop before this sounds any more like late-night TV infomercial. ("Act now and receive the exclusive bonus chapter of Severance Package, which can strip paint and remove warts within seconds!") But I'm damned proud of this one, and I hope you'll check it out.

Early Packages

I've received reports that Severance Package is oozing into bookstores a few days early. I'm headed out this afternoon to see if any of my local chains have copies ahead of time. Because... well, I just have to. It'd be like having a kid, and not going to check it out in the nursery, from behind the glass.

Anyway, if you see any early copies, let me know in the comments section. Just curious.

I forgot to mention two amazingly kind reviews that appeared earlier this week. First, Rod Lott weighed in over at Bookgasm, which is a huge thrill. No lie: it's the one book review site that's always uncannily tuned in to my strange tastes in reading material. It's a rare week that goes by without me ordering something they've mentioned. (And Bruce Grossman's "Bullets, Broads, Blackmail & Bombs" column is a weekly treat.)

And my pal Tim Haas gives Severance the 60-second treatment over at PhillyMag.com, the website of Philadelphia Magazine (where I've worked twice, back in the early 90s, and again in the early 00s). Tim hints at a little insider stuff in the novel: I did kinda sorta base the layout of "Murphy, Knox & Associates" on the Philly Mag offices, but mostly because that's where I was working on 9/11, and... we'll, you'll see.

Update (Memorial Day, 1:30 p.m.): Robert Thompson at Fantasy Book Critic weighs in on Severance. I was extremely flattered by the comparisons to Dean Koontz, and happy he mentioned the Kevlar-reinforced pantyhose. I had almost forgotten about that!

Hardboiled Fridays!

Pug said, "I'm trying to think of the best way of knocking you off."

"The Chinese do it with rats" I said. 'They let 'em eat the victim."

"Where am I going to get the rats?"

"Well," I said, "there're three in the car now."

I don't know which one hit me; Pug or the guy with the garlic breath. It was the barrel of a pistol and it cooled me for a couple of minutes. When I came to we had stopped by a shack. I was alone with the guy on my left.

"On tap again?" he asked, poking his pistol in my side."

"Sure."

"You take it funny for a guy whose got no more'n ten minutes," he said.

My head hurt.

The Fifth Grave (a.k.a. Solomon's Vineyard)
by Jonathan Latimer
(Mystery Book Magazine, 1946)

Divided We Sat

Last night's X-Men: Divided We Stand #2 signing at Jim Hanley's Universe was a lot of fun. I signed a lot of Cables and fielded a bunch of Cable questions, invoking the Marvel version of the Fifth Amendment for about half of them. (Sorry! But if I tell you the name of the baby, the chip Marvel implanted in my skull will EXPLODE. I'm doing this for your own safety.) I also had two nice surprise visitors: Jeff Wong, the man responsible for the eye-popping cover of The Archer Files, and Glenn Gray, who's been tearing it up on the online short fiction front. Afterward, the lot of us headed to a nearby Irish pub for beers, grub, Polish jokes (in fairness, C.B. Cebulski and I kind of started it) and good times all around. Thanks to everyone who stopped by—especially Rahadyan, Dion, Richard, Jef UK—and the staff at Universe, who treated us like gold, drizzled with mint jelly.

Cover Previews: Cable #6, Iron Fist #18

Here are the cover images of the August installments of both Cable and Immortal Iron Fist. One's kind of an awwww moment from Adi Granov (of Iron Man fame). The other, a kind of ewwwwww moment from mad genius Travel Foreman. I love 'em both.

Your Monday Moment of Noir

"But now everything was quiet. As far as the eye could reach there was nothing moving, nothing to be seen that had life or power of death. Just the two roads, one dirt and one black top, the desert, the mountains and behind him the frame shacks of the country store. There was an old shed near the sedan, and Danny looked behind it. A car would have parked there without being seen, but there were too many tracks to tell the story."

Detour
by Helen Nielsen
(Black Lizard, 1988; originally published 1953)

Braaaiiiinnnnssss

Here's a sneak preview of an 8-page story I wrote for X-Men: Divided We Stand #2, out this Wednesday, May 21st. I'll be signing this issue, along with C.B. Cebulski, Andy Schmidt and Mike Lilly at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan that same day, from 5 until 7 p.m. Stop by and say "yo," if you're anywhere near the Empire State Building.

Oh Happy Times

Marylin Stasio includes Severance Package in her latest NY Times Book Review Crime column, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Especially this bit, which makes me sound like a bit of a sick puppy:

... characterization isn’t the point of this turbocharged entertainment. Action is — via macabre bursts of violence dished out with extreme cruelty and astonishing cleverness.

So yes, lots of violence... but at least it's clever violence. Check out the rest right here (second item down).

The Jim Warren Cab Company

Spotted in the 'burbs.

The Coast Guard Cocktail

The medicine man behind Polite Dissent talks a bit about the so-called "Coast Guard Cocktail," as seen in Punisher: Force of Nature. This post made my day.

I Love the Germans

Here's the German cover for Severance Package, which is being retitled Last Order (at least according to Babelfish). The Blonde cover (Blondes Gift) was a knockout, and so is this one... in fact, I think I even like this a bit more. Dude, check out that letter "R," dripping blood! And the champagne glass is dead perfect. Top job, Heyne.

If you're new to the blog, you may wonder who this "Duane Louis" guy is. Well, it's me. In Germany. (As I've said before, in Germany, even Lisa Scottoline is "Lisa Scott.") You'll notice that text at the bottom says that this book is from the bestselling author of Blondes Gift; that's true. I'm nobody in Germany, but this Duane Louis guy is a freakin' bestseller. Is this a lesson, or sign that God has a sense of humor? Maybe both.

Cue the Bat Signal

Holy last minute, Batman. Totally forgot to mentioned that I'm going to be signing copies of Batman: Murder at Wayne Manor tomorrow at the Philadelphia Book Festival. (It's kind of a surprise to me, too; only found about this last week.) I'll be at the Quirk Books booth at high noon, and hanging for about an hour. Here's the interesting thing: Murder isn't officially out until mid-July, so this is pretty much the only place you'll be able to score a copy until then. I'll probably also load my trademark green backpack (going strong since 1997) with a bunch of Severance Packages, which also isn't officially available yet. If you dig getting books before their time, stop on by the Central Branch of the Free Library. The booth is #8, on 19th Street, smack dab between Wood and Vine. (If you get lost, look for Poe Boy's distinctive beard and professorial garb. He'll be nearby.)

Hardboiled Fridays!

"Something smashed into Sullivan's left shoulder; its brother dug hungrily into his left thigh, spinning him around. He fell, cursing with the pain in his wounds as he struck the stone stairway. He rolled down five steps, came to rest at a wide place where the stairs switched back—where a zig became a zag. He would have liked to lie there staring up at the stairs, the blue-white moon, resting, falling into the pit of darkness opening up in his mind... But he cursed himself and forced his right arm to prop him, his right leg to work. Summoning the rage that would ride roughshod over the pain, he got to his feet."

The Specialist #1: A Talent for Revenge
by John Cutter
(Signet, 1984)

Bonus points to anyone who knows the identity of "John Cutter."

Your Monday Moment of Noir

"Lenore has killed one person—a twenty-two-year-old Colombian who fired a shotgun at Zarelli from the shattered back window of a speeding Trans Am—and wounded three others in varying degrees of severity, including blowing the full right arm off a longtime smack broker from down the projects who made the mistake of charging her with a razor in a dark stairwell. In each of those incidents, Lenore has felt a burst of emotion that she can't put a name to, that has no definition in the heart of the average person. She approximates it every time she pulls out her weapon and draws down on a suspect without firing. It's not the same as actually pulling the trigger, but it's a step in the right direction and more pleasing than frustrating."

Box Nine
by Jack O'Connell
(Mysterious Press, 1992)

Secret Dead Blog Recommends: Sleeping Dogs

Lee Goldberg thinks that Sleeping Dogs has one of the worst book covers in years. I don't think it's that bad—yeah, the gray drapes in the background kind of suck, but I dig the Ralph Steadman-esque type treatment. Anyway, I think the cover is wrong for another reason. If it really reflected the muscle and melancholy of Ed Gorman's work, it would have one of those cool Dell First Edition covers from the 1950s... specifically, the kind of covers they used to give Robert Dietrich's (nee E. Howard Hunt) Steve Bentley novels. That's because Dogs' narrator, Dev Conrad, reminds me of a modern-day Bentley: slightly sardonic, whip-smart, and equipped with a well-worn bullshit detector. Which is good, because when we meet Conrad, he's in the middle of a down-and-dirty race for a Senate seat where no back goes unstabbed. And it's great fun to have a character like Conrad take us on a guided tour.

Sleeping Dogs would be a fantastic read any time, any year; the fact that it appears in the middle of a Presidential election year makes it all the more riveting. The novel is packed with all of that cool hardboiled political insider stuff—how to play the media, leak damaging secrets, deflect tough questions—that's entertaining right up until the moment you realize that this crap goes on all the time. I'd feel a little better knowing there were a few Dev Conrads out there in the mix. Not exactly holding my breath here.

Swierczy in Bensalem

I'll be at Bagged and Boarded in Bensalem, PA (2337 Street Road, 215-638-7020) this afternoon from 1 until 4 p.m., signing comics and talkin' Cable. The store is a stone's throw from the Franklin Mills Mall, so if you're in the area, stop by and say "yo."

UPDATE (9:43 a.m.): Shhh, but I will have a few copies of Severance Package for sale... unavailable anywhere else until May 27th. Readers of Secret Dead Blog have first dibs.

UPDATE THE SECOND (9:20 p.m.): The guys at Bagged and Boarded are insane, in all of the right ways. Huge thanks to Josh, Duke, Kevin (Happy 12th birthday, kid), Teddy (or is it Teddi?), Jim, Jerry, John, Retired Cop Jim and everyone else who stopped by. The store is great; if you're anywhere near Bensalem, PA... and if you're not, WHY AREN'T YOU?... check it out.

Other Swierczynskis in the News

Apparently, Polish land is more expensive than German land. “There is an intense thirst for land in Poland. "We currently have a 315-hectare farm in the vicinity of Bojanów for sale. I wanted to divide it into allotments of 30 hectares each, but the farmers want them to be of 5 hectares each,” says Dariusz Świerczyński, deputy manager of the Wielkopolska branch of the Agricultural Property Agency.

(Second in an occasional series. Have you spotted another Swierczynski in the news? Let Secret Dead Blog know!)

The Great Psychobilly Blog Road Trip of 2008: Day 2, Part 1

Note from Swierczy: I walked into my office this morning to find a bunch of empty whiskey bottles, a unspooled Shooter Jennings cassette, and this blog post. Which could only mean one thing: Anthony Neil Smith's Psychobilly Blog Road Trip has hit Philadelphia. Somebody hide the Liberty Bell. Quick.

Last Stop: Doolittle's Digs

Believe it or not, the Crimedogs got in 114 holes of golf at various courses between Omaha and Philly. Right until we were chased off the links by a foursome of bankers with pistols in the bags. So we arrive at Duane's door all juiced up on the Joe. Thank God he has toast, cereal, and some ice cold milk. Then he whispers to us: "You want me to, uh, add anything to that coffee?"

Now Duane Swierczynski, he's like a machine these days, churning out some high quality pulp like The Blonde, one of my favorite books of last year, while also creating "interactive" books about Sherlock Holmes and Batman, while also writing kick-ass comics. The dude just took over one of the coolest titles ever, Iron Fist. Not to mention the eagerly awaited Severance Package, which looks like a fun way to kill a day or two. Top of my buying list indeed. Shit, this guy's career looks more like Hunter S. Thompson's vacations than anyone I know. You've gotta love waking up for work doing all that.

He climbs in the cab, toting along plenty of comics for the road and a bottle full of "mystery booze" (I swear it's homemade, but..), and so the golf clubs have to go for now. We leave them littered over his lawn in the early morning dew.

Now, I consider this guy one of the club forever, another PWG vet who skyrocketed to fame despite writing stuff that should make you nauseous, and if things work out, I wouldn't mind riding in his wake a bit. I mean, we both write about severed heads, we both started off at Pointblank Press, for pete's sake, and we both laugh at the darkest possible shit. So, all you true believers, wanna take a chance on Yellow Medicine (buy it on May 12th, "Psychobilly Monday")? There are no mutants and superheroes in sight, but it is pretty gruesome otherwise.

Onward, crossing the entire country once more to pick up up-and-coming noir weirdo Greg Bardsley (author of the PWG #1 story "Upper Deck", an instant classic) on the Left Coast.

Driving Time: Duane threw my watch out the window and busted my dash clock. But I'm going to guess about three days. Tune for the leg: Now that I've wrested back control of the Cd player, time for more psychobilly! "My Curse" by The Chop Tops.

Sneak Preview: Severance Package Art

The Summer of Severance* kicks off in just a few weeks, but I've received the thumbs-up from St. Martin's to post a little preview. Here is but one of the novel's eight black and white illustrations by Dennis (X-Factor) Calero, and oh my gentle Jesus are they cool. (Click on the image to expand it.) Careful, though. Potential spoilers abound. Who's the girl? Who's the guy? Why is the girl holding the guy's wrist? What's that thing in the girl's hand? Why is the guy's hand bleeding profusely? Is that actually a girl, or one of the members of Hanson?

Find out May 27th, in finer bookshops everywhere. And good God I am shameless.

* C'mon, every novel launch needs a gimmicky name. Or did you miss the memo?

Hollywood Twitters

Poe Boy convinced me to join Twitter as we were having beers yesterday in the Hollywood Tavern. (This would be the Hollywood Tavern in Hollywood, Pennsylvania, just a minute from the Philly limits. Nobody believes me when I tell them that there is in fact a Hollywood, Pennsylania, and that if you squint, it really kinda does look sorta like Southern California.) I can't quite remember what he said that convinced me; by that point, I'd had one and a half Sierra Nevadas in me, and I was willing to believe anything.

But anyway, you'll find these Twitter updates to the left, right under my bio. The cool thing: I can post updates from my phone. The potentially bad thing: You may see ridiculous, drunken updates.

Anybody else Twittering?

Secret Dead Blog Recommends: Pigeons From Hell

Yesterday's event at Brave New Worlds was a blast; thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello pick up their free copies of Cable #1. And thanks to George, Joe, Brian and Doug for being supercool hosts. The only downside: I totally missed the Stormtroopers. (They were at the store in the morning, and drew an insane crowd, from what I hear, causing mass chaos along 2nd Street.)

Right after the signing I made a quick sweep of the racks and picked up this gem: Joe R. Lansdale's adaptation of Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons From Hell," just out from Dark Horse. (It's the first of four issues in a limited series, with art by Nathan Fox and colors by Dave Stewart.) Lansdale's one of my heroes, so I buy anything with his name on it. But even if you're a casual fan, you've gotta check this out. It's a modern retelling of Howard's classic pulp horror shocker that's full of whip-smart Lansdale-isms such as:

CLAIRE: Janet, do you remember what Grandma used to say about pigeons?

JANET: Was it... four of them and a potato make a good lunch?

Ah, so much damn fun. The back of issue #1 includes a short essay by Champion Joe about Howard's influence on his own career:

In the introduction, [Howard] talked about being a writer, how it was work of his choosing and he didn't have some son-of-a-bitch standing over him telling him what to do, and he had been able to make a living doing exactly what he wanted to do. Words to that effect. In this respect I understood Howard, and since I had already, at my young age, had jobs with some son-of-a-bitch standing over me telling me what to do while I had plans to be a writer, this was an exciting statement.

Right on, Joe.

The Answer to Your Paper Back Book Storage Problem

Yes! Stormtroopers!

Just a last minute reminder that today is Free Comic Book Day, and you really owe it to yourself to get yo' ass to your local nerdery and pick up a bunch. They're free! Yes, a gallon of gas is more expensive than a comic book these days, but you can get multiple comic books. For free, I tell you. Free!

And if you're anywhere near downtown Philly, I'll be at the Old City Brave New Worlds from 3 to 5 p.m., fighting a bunch of Stormtroopers for the hearts and minds of the comic-going public.

Finally, if you want the experience of chatting with me, but don't really want to go through the hassle of actually hanging out with me, check out this Campus Philly Q&A. My interviewer is Steve Ciccarelli, a Temple University journalism major who grills his subjects like a pro. (Thanks for the opportunity, Steve.)

Cable Ready

Marvel Noise has posted a bunch of sample pages from Cable #3, out next Wednesday. At left is the variant cover by the legendary John Romita, Jr. I've had a few non-comics nerds ask me about variants. Basically, they're an incentive for a retailer; Marvel will slip one variant issue in with every 25 to 50 issues ordered. And boom, ready-made collector's item. So far, each issue of Cable has had a variant--the first by Cable co-creator Rob Liefeld, the second by David Finch. How rare are these? Well, I couldn't find the first one to save my life, and I only have a tearsheet of the second. Maybe I'll get lucky next Wednesday with #3...

Anyway, for the main cover of Cable #3, check the sidebar. It's just as cool, and my favorite of the Olivetti covers thus so far. If that doesn't sum up the feeling of fatherhood, I don't know what what does.