Okay, I Lied

 

I will be making one more appearance before the end of the year, and it's in Jersey! Noon next Saturday (December 3rd) I'll be hanging out with Jeff Marsick and Scott Barnett at Flemington, New Jersey's Comic Fusion (42 Main Street) as they celebrate the launch of their excellent creator-owned title, Dead Man's Party. I'll also be signing copies of Birds of Prey and whatever else you'd like. Then really, I swear this time, this is it. You won't be seeing me again until 2012.

Anyway, if you're anywhere near the greater Flemington, NJ area, which includes ALL OF PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK, in my opinion... stop on by! Remember: nothing says "the holidays" like "personalized comics and crime novels."

Hitting the Highway to Hell

Yep, I'm packing up the suitcase again for a few quick appearances to promote Hell & Gone over the next few weeks. Am I stopping by a town near you? Well, that depends. Do you live near...

... New York City? Then yes, this Wednesday evening I'll be at the Mysterious Bookshop along with the legendary Lawrence Block, the mysterious Megan Abbott, and the quizzical Q.R. Markham. (6:30 p.m., 58 Warren Street, 212-587-1011).

... Houston, Texas? Again, you're in luck! This Friday night I'll be at Murder By the Book signing with Christa Faust, who's out supporting her latest novel, Choke Hold. Interestingly, director/activist Michael Moore will be at another store, pretty much one block away, the same night. So if you're in town for the Moore thing at 5, wander down the street at catch us at MBTB. (6:30 p.m., 2342 Bissonnet Street, 888-4-AGATHA).


... Milwaukee, Wisconsin? Damn straight, skippy. I've been invited to take part in Murder and Mayhem in Muskego 7 along with Megan Abbott (who I suspect will be reallll tired of me by then), Tasha Alexander, Dana Cameron, Joelle Charbonneau, Sean Chercover, John Connolly, Hilary Davidson, Alison Gaylin, Andrew Grant, Tony Hays, Gar Anthony Haywood, Jess Loury, Gary Phillips, Stefanie Pintoff, Marcus Sakey, Tom Schreck, Kelli Stanley, Martyn Waites and Jeri Westerson. (Tickets still available! Check the website for details.)

... New Hope, PA? Hellz yeah! I'll be at Farley's Bookshop the afternoon of Saturday, November 19. More details soon. (44 South Main Street, 215-862-2452.)

... Joliet, Illinois? Nope, sorry! Hey, I can't be everywhere at once.

Hope to see some of you out on the road. And if not, I do hope you'll pick up a copy of Hell & Gone, which is available in finer bookstores (and e-emporiums) right this very second.

(Photo: "Man folding clothes into a suitcase," Nina Leen, July 1951. Courtesy Life Photo Archive.)

For Appearances' Sake

I know, I know, it's been deadly quiet around here. This is no way to run a blog. All I say can is, I've been writing my ass off, and I'll try harder to post more.

(Ironically, I have a ton of blog post ideas... but whenever I'm tempted to sit down and crank one of them out, a deadline nags at me. You know, one of those deadlines that will eventually result in a paycheck. So they're tough to ignore.)

Anyway, if you've missed me, and happen to give in the greater Philadelphia area, you have two chances to see me IN PERSON! (oh yes, the thrills never stop) over the next two weeks.

First up: a Philadelphia Noir panel smack dab in the middle of the Free Library of Philadelphia's Philadelphia Book Festival. (In case you were wondering, yes, the event takes place in Philadelphia.) We'll be getting part of the old band back together: yours truly, Carlin Romano, Asali Solomon and Jim Zervanos. April 13, 6 p.m. in the Skyline Room. If you stop by, please do say hello.

Second up: a joint Tales From the Cobra Wars signing on April 23rd at the Doylestown Bookshop in (wait for it) Doylestown, PA. I'll be joined by Jon McGoran (who some of you may know as "D.H. Dublin"), Jonathan Maberry and Dennis Tafoya, talking about our stories in IDW's big bad and brand new G.I. Joe antho edited by Max Brooks. (My own contribution, "Speed Trap," is actually a 15,000 word novella, and received some very kind reviews when it published in the back of G.I. Joe Cobra Special #2 last September.) Here's your chance to have this sucker signed by nearly half of its contributors!

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.)

Down These Mean, Sunbaked Streets

This past Saturday's screening of Hickey & Boggs was a real treat. I'm very thankful to Cullen Gallagher and the rest of his Not Coming to A Theater Near You crew for inviting me up, as well as the 92Y Tribeca for hosting. The screening room was packed, and I think it's safe to say everybody had a good time with this downbeat slice of neo noir.

And yes, they showed an actual print, not a digital copy. And while the colors were slightly sunbaked and orange to my untrained eye, it was still a beautiful thing to behold, complete with crisp audio. Besides, all of my memories of the early 1970s are slightly sunbaked and orange anyway.

Someone asked if I'd be running my introduction on my blog. I honestly hadn't thought about it until then. I prepared about 700 words of loose notes, meant as a guide for my three or four minute talk. I definitely went off script, because I wanted to be informal. Friendly. Easygoing. You know, like the 1970s. I also added quite a bit of impromptu profanity, which is what I do when I'm nervous and speaking in front of a large crowd.

Anyway, here's what I prepared, in case you want a little intro before you stream Hickey & Boggs on Netflix or download it from iTunes...

Hickey & Boggs intro/Swierczynski

Raymond Chandler one described the classic private eye in this now-classic quote:

“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.” 

 In the early 1970s, the classic romantic, private eye—the kind Chandler was describing—well… he took kind of an ass-beating.

By who? I think you can point at finger at three movies:

Robert Altman’s 1973 film adaptation of The Long Goodbye, where Chandler's own Philip Marlowe is played by Elliott Gould as if he’d fallen asleep in the 1940s and woke in the early 1970s... and he doesn’t quite adjust until the last, bloody (and controversial) scene.

Night Moves, the 1975 Arthur Penn movie in which Gene Hackman plays an old school private eye who can’t figure out the mysteries of his marriage, let alone the case at hand… and ends up, quite literally, circling the drain.

And then there’s tonight’s feature, Hickey and Boggs, which to me is the high point – or low point, as it were – of the 1970s private eye ass-beating trend.

Hickey and Boggs was the first produced screenplay of legendary Walter Hill, of Alien, The Warriors, 48 HRS. and Streets of Fire fame, among many others. The film was directed by Robert Culp -- the only film he ever directed. Culp shot on location, all over L.A. He shot cheap, on a short schedule, with a very low budget.

The stars? Culp himself and Bill Cosby. One generation might remember Culp and Cosby from I Spy. Another might remember Culp as Agent Bill Maxwell from The Greatest American Hero, and Cosby as Cliff Huxtable.

Well, you ain’t going to see that Culp and Cosby.

And if you’re expecting a prototype Lethal Weapon, let me set you straight: there are no crazy Martin Riggs antics; Culp doesn’t once say, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” 

Bill Cosby cracks a smile exactly once, if I recall correctly.*

(*Note: I made this claim, but the film proved me wrong. Cosby smiles about four or five times.)

Hickey & Boggs opened October 4, 1972… and didn’t exactly set the world on fire. It’s safe to say Hickey & Boggs was kind of forgotten, except by diehard noir fans.

You can't blame me. I was about eight months old, and missed my chance to see it in the theater.

I first saw it thanks to a reference in a book by Alain Silver and James Ursini called L.A. Noir: The City as Character.

And I’ll admit it: it was the image of Robert Culp and Bill Cosby, guns blazing behind a shot-up car on a beach—yeah, that hooked me.

After a trip to L.A., and wishing I were still there, I saw H&B on iTunes and gave it try. It blew me away.

The film is as complex as any good crime novel. Maybe even a little too complex, but so what. Full of great sunbaked LA scenes—the ultimate daytime noir. My friend, novelist and screenwriter Terrill Lankford, says he shows H&B to actors to show them how to underplay a role.

It is downbeat; it is grim. And I haven’t been able to stop watching it. I see something new every time.

And since that first viewing almost two years ago, I’ve discovered a whole new legion of fans who now consider H&B a cult classic. The good stuff does have a way of sticking around.

Why the appeal?

Hickey & Boggs is somehow everything I love about the private eye genre—even as it turns Chandler’s idea completely on its head.

Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.

Well, Frank Boggs and Al Hickey are good men… but they are badly tarnished. As the film progresses, you will see them become afraid. And finally, they themselves become mean.

Real fuckin’ mean.

If Raymond Chandler watched this movie, he’d have kittens.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to present Hickey and Boggs. Sit back and watch the classic private eye get his ass kicked hard.

Upcoming Philly Noir Events

The Philadelphia Noir tour continues with three back-to-back events this week! (And one in Brooklyn next year, for good measure.) I'll be at the first event, this Wednesday night.

Wed., Dec. 8, 7:30pm
Ursinus College, Berman Museum of Art
601 East Main Street
COLLEGEVILLE, PA 
"What is Noir?" event featuring editor Carlin Romano, with contributors Laura Spagnoli, Duane Swierczynski, Jim Zervanos, and others TBA


Thurs., Dec. 9, 7:00pm
Chester County Book & Music Company
975 Paoli Pike
WEST CHESTER, PA
*Featuring editor Carlin Romano, with contributor Gerald Kolpan, and George Anastasia, author of Philadelphia Real Noir.

Fri., Dec. 10, 6:00pm
The Doylestown Bookshop
16 S. Main St.
DOYLESTOWN, PA
*Featuring editor Carlin Romano, with contributors Diane Ayres and Dennis Tafoya.

Fri., Jan. 21, 7:30pm
Greenlight Bookstore
686 Fulton St.
BROOKLYN, NY
*Featuring editor Carlin Romano, and contributor Halimah Marcus, with Bronx Noir editor/Manhattan Noir contributor S.J. Rozan, and Tim Mcloughlin, editor of Brooklyn Noir 1, 2, and 3

(Image courtesy Temple Urban Archives.)

A Drink to Wash Down the Noir

Some say noir is the literature of "no hope." So naturally, a bunch of us are doing a Philadelphia Noir signing in New Hope, PA. This Friday night, editor Carlin Romano will be gathering Noir contributors Cordelia Frances Biddle, Diane Ayres, Dennis Tafoya, Jim Zervanos and yours truly for a special reading and signing party at Marcella's, 7 E. Ferry Street, at 7 p.m. The night is hosted by the awesome folks at Farley's Bookshop, who ran the book tables at NoirCon 2010 a few weeks ago. You can find more details about the event right here.

Best of all: buy a copy of the book, and Farley's will buy you a glass of champagne or wine.

Somehow, I think I forgot to blog about Philadelphia Noir. I'm very proud of my contribution, "Lonergan's Girl," which is set in 1924, making it my first stab at historical crime fiction. (The story is also a prequel to a full-fledged Prohibition-era Philly crime novel I've been writing/researching.) And I'm very proud to be in the company of writers like Tafoya, Romano, Ayres, Biddle and Zervanos, among other usual (and unusual) suspects.

If you're anywhere near scenic New Hope this Friday night, I hope you'll stop by and say hello.

Everyone's Gone to the Moon(stone)

Two weeks from today, I'll be hanging out and talkin' crime fiction with Dennis Tafoya, author of The Wolves of Fairmount Park and Dope Thief. The fun starts at 7 p.m. at the Moonstone Arts Center (110A South 13th Street, Philadelphia PA 19107, 215-735-9598). There's a good chance alcoholic beverages will be consumed at a nearby watering hole directly following the event. And I'll stick to my long-standing offer: buy one of my books, I'll buy you a beer. Hope to see some of you there.

Gone (Soon) To Texas

Tomorrow I'm headed to one of my favorite places on Earth: Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. Pretty sure I was there solo during my last visit, but this time I'll be joined by Victor (The Deputy, Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth, X-Men) Gischler and Lisa (Rock Paper Tiger) Brackmann. (Strength in numbers, I always say.) Stop on by, if you're anywhere near the greater Houston area. We'll start at 5 p.m.; probably be drinking many Shiner Bocks after that. (2342 Bissonnet Street)

And then the next day Victor and I head off to Book People in Austin, where we'll be joined by Jonathan (Bad Juju) Woods. This will be the first time I've actually set foot in downtown Austin, despite visiting the city twice before. (Don't ask.) Stop by, don't be shy. We may be "outlaws of pulp mystery," but we're perfectly decent gentlemen. Of course, I shouldn't speak for Mr. Woods. He might be a complete lunatic. (603 N. Lamar; 7 p.m.)

Only Three Days Left...

... until my fifth novel, Expiration Date, is available in finer bookstores everywhere. (Though I've heard reports of the book sneaking out into the wild a little early.)

There's still plenty of time to enter the St. Martin's Minotaur sweepstakes to win signed copies as well as original pieces of Laurence Campbell's art, straight from the book. Simply go here, click through to the promotion page, and type in your vitals. You can also download the first batch of pages from the novel, which St. Martin's will be posting in serial form over the next few weeks.

And don't forget: if you send me proof that you either pre-ordered Expiration or purchased it during its first week on sale, I'll send you a .pdf of Sand In My Gun. (More details on that here.) I'm happy to say that a ton of you have taken me up on the offer, but there's plenty of room for everybody else. Join ussssss, join usssss doooooo...

As for appearances, I've added a little box to the left, listing the various Expiration signing events I have planned. The first official signing will be at Port Richmond Books (3037 Richmond Street) in Philly, Sunday April 11 at 2 p.m. I'll have a bunch copies of the book on hand, as well as a lot of beer, so stop on by and enjoy a cold one with us.

More details on the rest of the events soon, but here's a quick rundown:

April 14: Noir Night at the Hiway Theater, Jenkintown, PA. I'll be introducing/talking about Hickey & Boggs, and signing copies of Expiration.

April 24-26: L.A. Times Festival of Books. I'll be at the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood for a party Friday night, then at their booth over the weekend.

May 1: Free Comic Book Day at Brave New Worlds in Willow Grove, PA.

June 5: Murder by the Book in Houston, TX. I'll be appearing with Victor Gischler, the madman from Baton Rouge, who will be out supporting his new hardboiled crime novel The Deputy.

June 6: BookPeople in Austin, TX. Also with Gischler. Unless he get sick of me, and ditches me somewhere out on a dusty Texas road.

Hope to see a bunch of you at one of these crazy events over the next few months.

Hickey. Boggs. On the Big Screen.

Last summer I went all crazy for Hickey & Boggs, the Robert Culp/Bill Cosby neo-noir from 1972. And you know? I'm still crazy for it. I've watched it a few more times over the past year, and it remains one of my favorite crime films, part of an unofficial quadrilogy of downbeat L.A. P.I. movies (the others being Night Moves, The Long Goodbye and Chinatown).

So when Ed Pettit, a.k.a. the Philly Poe Guy, asked me to kick off a new series of Philly authors introducing their favorite films, only one movie that came to mind:

The Great Muppet Caper.

No, no, I'm being silly. I'll be introducing/talking about Hickey & Boggs! Fred Kaplan-Mayer at the Hiway Theater in Jenkintown, PA even tracked down an honest-to-God print, so we'll be seeing it as nature (and Robert Culp) intended.

The event also doubles as an Expiration Date book appearance -- I'll be signing copies before and after the movie. There are other ties, too: Expiration is partially set in 1972, just like the movie. It's kind of a private eye story, just like Hickey & Boggs. And of course, it stars Philly legend Bill Cosby, which is about as Philly as you can get despite this being an L.A. neo-noir flick.

If you're at all curious about this movie, I hope you'll be able to join us. And please, spread the word. The fun starts Wednesday, April 14, at 8 p.m. at the Highway Theater, 212 Old York Road, Jenkintown, PA (215-886-9802). For more info, click here or drop me an email.

(Image from Obscure One-Sheet.)

Gimme A Shot, Next Round's On Me

Michel Lacombe and I worked on six blood-splattered issues of Punisher MAX together, and now they're all available in one affordable trade paperback, just out from Marvel this week. Punisher MAX: Six Hours to Kill includes not only the five issues of our arc, but also our one-shot story, "Force of Nature." It's available at comic shops everywhere; bookstores should have it in a few weeks.

Or, if you're anywhere near Philly, you can pick up one next Tuesday at McGillin's Ale House, where I'll be signing copies. Again, my offer stands: buy a copy of Six Hours to Kill, and I'll buy you a pint of McGillin's 1860 IPA. McGillin's was featured in Six Hours (under the name "Interesting Times"), which you can see in the above panel. This fictional bar takes quite a beating in the story. Windows are shattered. Tables and chairs are smashed into splinters. The entire building is shot to hell, blown up with rocket-launched grenades, then set ablaze. I'm kind of suprised the McGillin's folks want me anywhere near the place.

But hey, I guess it's no hard feelings. Hope to see you some of you there! (1310 Drury Street, 6 p.m.)

Crawling Out of the Cave

With a few exceptions, I've spent the past year hunkered down in Secret Dead Blog HQ, writing my Polish ass off. I haven't done many signings, except for last fall's Bouchercon and the most recent NYC Comic-Con. Well, hunker down/Polish ass time is over. I'll be emerging from the basement for three very special, quite possibly beer-soaked events...

First up is a hang-out/signing at McGillin's Ale House in downtown Philly on Tuesday, August 25 at 6 p.m. McGillin's served as the model for a fictional bar called "Interesting Times" in my Punisher MAX arc (with Michel Lacombe), so I'll be there to sign copies of the trade paperback collection, sold by my pals at Brave New Worlds. Standing offer: buy a copy of Punisher MAX: Six Hours to Kill, and I'll buy you a pint of McGillin's 1860 IPA. (1310 Drury Street, 215-735-5562.)

Next up: I've been invited to be a guest on Comic Book Club, a live comic book talk show in NYC, on Tuesday, September 8 at 8 p.m. Past guests have included folks like Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Joe Quesada, Bill Hader, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Slott, Seth Meyers, among other luminaries. If you're in NYC, I hope you'll stop by. I won't be able to buy you a beer at the show, but hell, afterwards anything's possible. (The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor, NYC. Tickets: $5.)

And finally, I'll be at the Bouchercon 2009 World Mystery Convention in Indianapolis. No word yet on panels or such, but it's good bet you'll find me in the bar with the rest of the crime-writing reprobates.

Chuck P. and Me

Chuck Palahniuk is coming to the Free Library of Philadelphia tomorrow night, and I've been asked to MC and do a live Q&A. The event is free, but you'll definitely want to show up early, especially if you want a seat or a book signed. (I believe the line starts forming at 5 p.m.) There will be games, prizes, questions, fairy tales... all of kinds of fun stuff. Palahniuk is here on tour for his latest novel, Pygmy, which is about a pre-teen terrorist army posing as foreign exchange students, and narrated by a "agent number 67" in the freakiest, most hyper-violent voice since A Clockwork Orange. Here's a sample, from the very first page, as agent number 67 sizes up a passport control officer:

Man, ancient penned anial dying of too tall, pooled heavy glood hanging in leg veins. Trapped all day, then could be next walk to toilet pow-pow, clot knock out brain.

Hope to see some of you there. And if you have any questions you'd like me to ask on your behalf, leave them in the comments below.

Update: Here's a podcast of the program, courtesy the Free Library's Andrew Kahan.

Swierczy, Live, at the Keene Forum

Labor Day is almost upon us, and many of you are probably folding up the beach towels and headed to the shore for one last sunny, sand-flecked hurrah. (Unless you live in Australia, where it's winter.) I'm packing up the family truckster, too, but I'm not headed to the shore. I'm going over to my buddy Brian Keene's place... and you're all invited!

Keene's been one of my favorite writers ever since I picked up his zombie noir debut, The Rising. Thanks to last summer's Dark Hollow, I'll never be able to look at a goat the same way again. (Thanks, Brian.) Keene's latest is Ghost Walk, and next month he's debuting his Marvel Comics mini-series, Devil Slayer (preview sketches above). The man is ridiculously talented, and crazy prolific.

And now, for some strange reason, he's opening up the doors to his place for me. All week I'll be hanging out in Keene's "One on One" forum, answering questions and just shooting the crap. And while you're there, make sure you check out the rest of Keene's joint. That's right, go snooping through his missives, manifestos, communiques, comics, books, and maybe even his cigar collection. Okay, maybe not that. We don't want to overstay our welcome...

Straight from the Booth to the Bar

Wizard World Philly was a lot of fun, though I have to admit, I felt kind of useless at the Marvel signing booth. Oooh, look, there's Mark Brooks, let's get him to draw a Skrull for me. Oooh, Joe Q., let's have him sketch a Spidey. Oooh, look, there's that Polish guy who's writing Cable, let's have him... uh, oh. Not that I didn't have fun talking to everyone and signing issues, but I felt like I wasn't exactly doing my part. I need to find a portable typewriter, so for the next signing, I'll be able to write a scene for somebody, right on the spot.

PAGE ONE, Panel Three
Cable aims a giant Liefeld-ian gun at Swierczy's head.

5 CABLE: No pressure or anything.

Though I did have two fans ask for something called a "writer's sketch," which had to be explained to me. Basically, it's when you ask a writer, who can't draw, to draw something; hilarity ensues. So I drew a fairly miserable Moon Knight, which in retrospect, looked something from a pre-teen book about female anatomy. I also drew a Cable, which was a little better, even though the fan mistook the metal arm for his shoulder padding. Ah, well.

Anyway, there was some news announced at the con: namely, a King-Size Cable that's coming out this September. It's 44-page one-shot actionfest told from Bishop's point of view. The art is by the amazing Ken Lashley (check out his Bishop above), and you can read more about it here at Wizard or Newsarama.

Speaking of Newsarama, that site's Steve Ekstrom posted a very cool review of Severance Package yesterday morning. Check it out.

And in other fun comics news, I'm happy this is finally public: my buddy Brian Keene will be doing a Marvel MAX Devil Slayer mini-series. I love Keene's horror novels; I can't wait to see what he does in the MAX universe.

I'm spending most of my day writing, but tonight is the kick-off of Peter Rozovsky's Noir at the Bar series, the first one featuring... me. There's a short item about it in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. What's not mentioned: the special guests, namely Poe Boy, who will be grilling me, and his lovely bride Kate, who will be reading the first chapter of Severance. (I've come to realize that I suck at reading my own stuff out loud, so I'm enlisting help wherever I go.) Hope to see some of you there.

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

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.