The Battle of Hollywood

Want a glimpse of the sordid underbelly of Tinseltown, as seen through the eyes of Philly scribes? Boy, have I got an event for you. This Wednesday I'll be taking part in a panel discussion at the Free Library of Philadelphia titled, "Can Writers Survive Hollywood?"

(Spoiler alert: Everyone on the panel did, in fact, survive.)

The panel is part of the One Book, One Philadelphia festivities, and will focus on Sherman Alexie's short story, "Fearful Symmetry," which belongs to one my favorite sub-subgenres. Namely, the "innocent writer goes to Hollywood and loses his/her innocence and/or mind" sub-subgenre (see also Nathaneal West's Day of the Locust, Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby stories, Barton Fink, etc.)

Joining me will be novelist and screenwriter Joe Gangemi, novelist Ken Kalfus and screenwriter Mark Rosenthal, and the event will be moderated by Ursinus professor Erec Smith. We took part in a conference call last week to get to know each other, and if the conversation was any indication of how the panel will turn out... well, you guys are in for a wild ride.

The fun starts at 7 p.m., at the Central Branch (1901 Vine Street). Hope to see some of you there.

(Illustration: Charles Binger's awesomely pulpy Day of the Locust paperback art. Which springs to mind whenever I think about Hollywood.)

The Hit Parade

"Don't forget to floss."

Yesterday Publishers Weekly Daily ran a special on Mulholland Books with a crapload of original content from its authors, including Michael Robotham on the top robberies of all time, Lawrence Block on Matthew Scudder, Mark Billingham on the perils of writing a series, Marcia Clark and Sebastian Rotella on how their previous day jobs influenced their writing, and then finally me with a quick rundown of "Great (Hit) Men I Have Known." I know I forgot a bunch of favorites (Thomas Perry's own "Butcher's Boy," comes to mind, as well as Block's Keller and Allan Guthrie's Park, the hitman who is afraid of blood). But that's the problem with these kinds of lists. You remember half a dozen more the moment  you hit "send."

So help me out here, before some creators send their creations after me. Who are your favorite fictional hit men?

(Photo from the wonderful Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur.)

The Wheelman Rides in Paris

The French edition of my crime novel The Wheelman is out this month from Rivages/Noir, and once again, I'm loving the cover. Yes, I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the classic Rivages look, and the fact that so many of my crime writing heroes (David Goodis, James Ellroy, Donald Westlake/Richard Stark) have been published by the same line. But the cover image is also spot-on. You've got a guy running down a road, scrambling for his life, much like Lennon in the novel. And I'll be damned if this doesn't remind me (kinda sorta) of the narrow tunnel that shoots under the Philadelphia Museum of Art, if you're cutting from Fairmount Avenue to I-76. (Philadelphians will know what I'm talking about here.) Anyway, what do you guys think?

Also: If any of you read French, I'd love to know what the translated title means. Best Babelfish can tell me is "any pace." And that just sounds... weird.

(Once again, huge thanks to Frédéric Fontès for the tip.)

Set the Time Machine to "Future Awesome"

One of the most valuable things about social media blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc? Yeah, sure, the camaraderie, the photos, the links, catching up with that dude you spoke to exactly once in 10th grade, blah blah blah.

But what I really love are the tips on forthcoming books. Stuff that is weeks, months, maybe even years away... but makes me all twitchy, wanting to get my paws on them immediately. There is no book more tantalizing than the one you can't read right thisverysecond.

So, in no particular order -- and with no attempt whatsoever to be "complete" -- here are a few books I've heard about that have me drooling:

The Damned Highway, by Brian Keene and Nick Mamatas (Dark Horse). I'm a Hunter S. Thompson fan. I'm a Brian Keene fan. And I'm sure after this novel, I'm going to be a newly-minted Nick Mamatas fan. Look at that Ralph Steadman-inspired art above. I mean... seriously. They had me at "gonzo horror."

Fatale, by Jean-Patrick Manchette (New York Review Books Classics). Manchette wrote a dozen acclaimed crime novels in French. Only two translated into English, and I adore both of them. This will be the third, and I would probably surrender a finger or kidney to be able to read it right now.

(Oh, and while I'm at it: Fantagraphics will be publishing a graphic novel adaptation of Manchette's The Prone Gunman called Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot. This is a good year to be a Manchette fanboy.)

Reggie Jackson Wanted to Kill Me, by Robert Ward (Tyrus Books). The subtitle is "Collected Essays of American Tough Guys," but I'd argue that Ward is one of the toughest of all. Ward gave a little taste of this collection at a Bouchercon panel last year, and he absolutely killed the audience. Literally. Bludgeoned every single person to death with his brain.

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, by Sara Gran (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Every so often, Gran turns her hand to a new subgenre... then totally owns it. With Come Closer, it was modern-day demonic horror. With Dope, it was 1950s junkie PI noir. Now she's sending a 1980s girl detective into post-Katrina New Orleans, and even better, this appears to be the start of a new series. There's never enough Gran on the shelves.

The Pack, by Jason Starr (Ace). Following his crime/horror graphic novel hybrid The Chill, the Dark Prince of Noir is now apparently ready to really bare his fangs. Ten bucks Starr's werewolves ain't going to be moping around, bummed that some sparkly vampire stole their dame.

The Informant, by Thomas Perry (Otto Penzler). One of the best hit man novels ever is Perry's The Butcher's Boy, which was first published in 1982. The Informant will be the second sequel, following 1992's Sleeping Dogs. Not only is Perry one of our finest thriller writers, he is also a cruel, cruel tease.

Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson (Doubleday). Just because it sounds absolutely mental.

Flashback, by Dan Simmons (Reagan Arthur Books). Much of a very fucked-up near-future USA is in the grip of a drug that has its users literally living in the past. As a man slightly obsessed with nostalgia, I can see the appeal.

Tabloid City, by Pete Hamill (Little, Brown). Newspapers/New York/Cops/Murder/Hamill... really not needing much more convincing this pick this one up.

Also: Little, Brown will be bring out George Pelecanos's back catalog in handsome new trade paperback editions. That means I'll have a chance to re-read the Nick Stefanos trilogy, the D.C. Quartet... all of the brilliant stuff that got me hooked on Pelecanos a decade ago. Can't wait.

Again, this is not complete -- just what I've added to my shortlist recently. What are you guys looking forward to?

(To put it bluntly: I NEED MORE TIPS.)

Fun & Games in the UK

Very proud to share with you guys the official UK cover for my next novel, Fun & Games. I'm pretty much in love with it. The image is subtle, but darkly funny. And it pairs nicely with the blood-so-red-it's-almost-turning-black title treatment. My name doesn't look too ridiculous, nor is it hidden. The tagline is funny. (Similar to one I submitted along with the novel, but it's been sharpened up along the way.) And as the subtitle indicated, this is the first of a series. A trilogy, to be exact, with the second and third volumes following closely behind the first.

The UK version will be published this June by Mulholland Books UK, the sister of imprint of our own beloved Mulholland Books. I've seen a rough version of the American cover, and I can't wait to share it with you, because it kicks ass in an entirely different way.

What do you guys think? If you were in a Waterstone's or something over in the UK, and you saw this on the shelves, would you give this novel a go?

Update: The US cover is online! Check it out after the jump...

Not long after I posted the above image, my Twitter/Facebook pal Elizabeth A. White (who runs a must-read book review website, by the way) mentioned that she liked the UK cover better than the US. I wondered if she was mistaken; I thought Mulholland was still playing around with the US cover. But lo and behold, it was already on the official Mulholland Fun & Games page! Color me inattentive.

Anyway, you can see that the US version takes a more pulp-art approach, and I love this one just as much. The blood on the arm, the totaled vehicle, the the palm trees... it's all pretty damned appealing. My name even manages to pop a little, which is no mean feat with a handle like mine.

And it's a little hard to make out, but tagline is the one I used while pitching this novel: "Accidents will happen. They'll make sure of it."

What do you guys think of this one?

Tears of a Mercenary

Out tomorrow in comic shops everywhere, unless the ice storm washes away every single copy: the long-awaited Deadpool and Cable #26. Yes, it's been almost a year since Deadpool and Cable #25. And in the meantime, Cable... uh, died. But why let a little thing like that get in the way? I love the coverlines the Marvel folks slapped on this baby. (Whoever came up with "How Mourns a Mercenary?" deserves a beer.) Hope you'll check it out. It would be fun to write Deadpool and Cable #27 sometime in the next two or three years.