Rolling on The Rock

This weekend I took some time off from Bouchercon to visit Alcatraz, a.k.a. "The Rock."

As seen in crime classics such as Birdman of Alcatraz, Point Blank, The Enforcer, Murder in the First, and of course, The Rock.

Home to such gangland luminaries as Al Capone, "Doc" Barker and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis.

Here's a brief slideshow of my trip.

Bouchercon 2010: Yeah, I Feel Lucky, Punk

Early tomorrow morning I'm headed off to Bouchercon 2010, which this year is being held in the lovely city of San Francisco. Very happy to be seeing old degenerate friends, as well as meeting new degenerate friends. I might file a blog entry here and there... but no promises. If you want that vicarious Bouchercon feeling, your best bet is follow my Twitter posts (I'll do my best to update as much as possible) as well as the #bcon2010 hashtag. Drink while you read, and it'll be like you're there, swear to God.

And if you're going to be attending Bouchercon, don't be shy. Say hello! I'll most likely react by buying you a drink.

Bogie's Hiding Out

And so am I.

I'm finally back home from my six week trek to California, and there photos and stories and general fits of insanity to share. But there are also deadlines to meet, so I'll post here and on Twitter (twitter.com/swierczy) whenever I need a break from the action.

But man, do I have stories.

In the meantime, you should definitely visit the brand-spankin' new Mulholland Books site, because John Schoenfelder and Miriam Parker and the crew have been posting one hardboiled/noir goodie after another. Don Winslow! Lawrence Block! Joe R. Lansdale! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to be part of this outfit. (If you dig around the site, you'll find a few words about my forthcoming trilogy for Mulholland.) So follow 'em, friend 'em, cut your palms and become blood brothers with 'em. You won't regret it.

(Photo: A third-floor apartment in the Malloch Building on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, a main setting for the 1947 noir, Dark Passage, based on the novel by David Goodis.)