Michael Pool's Blog, page 2
December 18, 2018
Cover reveal: Rose City
I’m excited to reveal the cover for my new novel, Rose City, which will be released in March 2019 from Down and Out Books. Rose City is the second Teller County novel, and though it involves a few familiar faces from Texas Two-Step, it features an entirely new protagonist and entirely separate events. I hope you’re as excited to read it as I am to share it with you! Here’s a little about the book:
ROSE CITY
When Cole Quick returns to his estranged hometown of Teller, Texas for his alcoholic father’s funeral, it doesn’t take long for old debts, both criminal and psychological, to drag him back into the underworld he fled thirteen years earlier.
Fresh off the death of his wife, a former local debutante who swore off her inheritance to skip town with him, Cole soon finds trouble from her family on the other side of the tracks as well.
To escape Teller County with his life intact he’ll have to solve an old friend’s murder, resist powerful forces conspiring to pillage his inheritance, and crack open the debutante town’s sterile outer shell to reveal the dark forces of racism, classism, and corruption operating just beneath the surface.
PRE-ORDER ROSE CITY HERE
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September 3, 2018
Where to find me at Bouchercon 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL
It’s that time of year again when mystery writers from around the world will all convene in one lucky city for the world’s largest crime and mystery conference, Bouchercon. And for those of you lucky enough to be attending who might be foolish enough to socialize with me, here’s a schedule of where to find me. Hint, it will mostly involve the bar!
Thursday, September 6th
2PM
“License to Snoop: Attending PI School.” in room “Royal 3AB”
I will be moderating this panel, which includes some of the biggest names in detective fiction. Join me for an amazing conversation with my fellow and former private investigators/authors:
8:30PM
Noir at the Bar, Marchlands in the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel
I will obviously be a spectator for this one, but find me with friend and fellow Noir at the Bar Dallas organizer/host for the Bouchercon 2019 edition Eryk Pruitt in the crowd, getting our drank on. Some of the biggest names in the noir genre are on the bill, including Lawrence Block, Christa Faust, Reed Farrel Coleman, Rob Hart, Hillary Davidson, and more.
Friday, September 7, 2018
8PM
Down and Out Books Meet and Greet
Hops and Props 335 2nd Ave NE St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Join me and the rest of the Down and Out Books author roster for a night of great conversations and drinks. See why D&O is one of the best independent publishers in the industry!
Saturday, September 8, 2018
7PM
Anthony Awards Presentation Ceremony
Come on out and cheer on the nominated authors as they vie for the coveted Anthony Award in various categories. A great night of honoring some of the year’s best work!
**You can find me attending a host of other panels over the course of the weekend. If you see me, please come say hello, I would love to meet you!
The post Where to find me at Bouchercon 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL appeared first on Michael Pool Official Author Site.
May 3, 2018
5 timeless hard-boiled detectives that mystery readers love
The hard boiled detective novel first laid roots alongside some of the earliest crime novels of the 20th century. And the sub genre remains a mainstay in modern crime fiction, too.
A good hard-boiled novel explores the darker aspects of the human condition, while acknowledging that all moral centers and norms are subjective, at best. Hard-boiled detectives explore much more than the mystery at hand.
Maybe that’s why hard-boiled detective novels have endured for almost a century. Hard-boiled detectives work from their own personal sense of moral center, for better or worse. They acknowledge the relative nature of morality while insisting that a sense of shared social values is as corrupt as it is vital.
Here are 5 of my favorite hard-boiled detectives (flanked by a quick recommendation of the first novel I read in their respective series ), and the reasons I think each series is a timeless read. In some cases I started in the middle of the series, but you may want to start at the beginning (though you don’t have to).
Lew Archer
Black Money, by Ross Macdonald (1966)Lew Archer is probably my all-time favorite hard-boiled detective. Like many detectives of what I call the “golden era” of detective novels, Archer gives us very little of his own personal life to work with.
We know him only by his sense of values, and money is not among them. Archer instead provides the reader with an exceptional and often empathetic window into the dynamics of various families throughout the series, though he himself seems unable to make lasting connections. Macdonald, whose real name was Kenneth Millar, also uses Archer to deftly bring the social issues of the era into focus.
Archer’s powerful first-person narration highlights both the good and the ugly aspects of a society gone material, and he never loses the mooring that keeps him grounded to his morality in the process. That’s what makes him a timeless detective, if not a kind of man that no longer exists (if it ever existed at all).
There’s a reason that William Goldman of The New York Times Book Review called the Lew Archer novels “… the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American …” (ironically enough, Millar was born in America to Canadian parents, and raised in Canada).
Related: Crime Syndicate Podcast Episode Two: A Canadian crime invasion
Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins
Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley (1990)I love the way Walter Mosley writes. And Easy Rawlins is the perfect specimen of the “unwitting” detective caught up in circumstances he’d do better to walk away from. Which he can never quite seem to bring himself to do. Whether raising adopted children alone or putting up with his sociopathic pal Mouse’s deadly antics, Rawlins drips with realism.
Hardworking, downtrodden, and always the first one to do the right thing (though occasionally doing the wrong one too), Rawlins provides a street-level view of the black community at a time when being black meant living on the absolute fringe of society in every way. It’s powerful stuff.
Related: Walter Mosley’s newest detective novel, Down the River Unto the Sea
Philip Marlowe
The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler (1939)Unless you’ve been living under a rock, as the old folks say, you’ve probably already heard of Marlowe. Marlowe has served as the model for many a hard-boiled detective, including Lew Archer (Chandler was a notorious critic of Macdonald’s work, incidentally).
Raymond Chandler’s tough, creative prose makes the wise-cracking Marlowe jump off the page. I challenge you to read a Marlowe book and not lose yourself in the time period.
There’s maybe no other series of books that has made me pine more for a time and place that I never even came close to experiencing. I’d time-warp into a Raymond Chandler novel in an instant if given the chance.
Start with The Big Sleep, but READ THEM ALL, trust me. I won’t spend any more time on this one, because the chances that you read or write crime fiction and have never read Chandler have to be low.
Related: A mysterious something in the light
Sam Spade
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett (1930)The lone detective on this list who didn’t have a series (beyond a few rare short stories), Spade is a classic none the less. In fact, most people agree that Sam Spade is the detective who launched the entire hard-boiled sub genre.
Much like our man Marlowe, he was also portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the book’s big-screen adaptation. The book originally appeared as a three-part series in the classic pulp magazine Black Mask, a magazine writers such as your’s truly would die to still have around.
Hammett was ahead of his time with The Maltese Falcon. The book remains a classic 88 years after it was first published for a reason. Come for the mystery, stay for the rough-and-tumble dialogue.
Ten bucks says you’ll want to read this one again. Call it the grandfather of all hard-boiled shamus tales.
Related: American masters: About Dashiell Hammett
Matthew Scudder
The Sins of the Fathers, by Lawrence Block (1976)Scudder is a great detective because he manages to hit every trope in the hard-boiled genre while remaining totally original. An alcoholic who spends a lot of time in AA meetings as the series plays out, Scudder is an ex-cop paying for his sins working as an unlicensed PI in Hell’s Kitchen. Or, at least, he starts out that way.
I will confess that I’ve read less of this series than the others on this list, but Scudder is the most enduring character from one of crime fiction’s most enduring authors, so I’d be remiss to exclude him.
Lawrence Block is a master of the genre, and his skills are on full display in The Sins of the Fathers. Scudder is the rare detective who evolves tremendously over the course of the series. Where a Lew Archer or Phillip Marlowe might feel frozen in time even as the books age,
Scudder, like Easy Rawlins, progresses and changes over time. But his capacity for introspection makes him a truly unforgettable and timeless detective.
Related: Drink like a hard-boiled noir shamus: 11 cocktails to serve your inner detective
Who are your favorite hard-boiled detectives?
I’d love to hear about your own favorite hard-boiled detectives. Feel free to comment below or even send me a message to discuss them. In the meantime, (not so) happy reading!
Have you picked up a copy of my new novel, Texas Two-Step? Check out what others are saying about the book HERE. You can pick up a copy from the venues below!
The post 5 timeless hard-boiled detectives that mystery readers love appeared first on Michael Pool Official Author Site.
April 23, 2018
Two steps from success: Dispatches from a debut book tour
Any writer will tell you that victories in this business come few and far between. There’s not a lot of glory in applying ass to chair day after day, month after month, and year after year. Most writers do it out of compulsion.
That’s me, too.
Sitting alone for months and years with characters of your own creation, trying to tell a story that does them justice, is not much of a social life. Spending half that time feeling positive you don’t have what it takes to do this at the highest level doesn’t do much for your self-confidence, either.
And don’t even get me started about the long, drawn-out process of bringing a book to market after you write it. It can take years, if you’re lucky enough to get there at all. There are high water marks and pot holes around every corner along the way. But mostly it’s just waiting and wondering if anyone will care. Writers live by the “hurry up and wait” mantra, like it or not.
Which is why these last few weeks have been special. They’ve also felt like a whirlwind of up and down emotions. You see, my first full-length novel, Texas Two-Step, came out this month. And the press it received to date has been positive, if sparse. I’d like to see it making a bigger splash, just as any writer would. I also realize that in today’s market a big part of that is up to me to achieve. I’m doing my best.
I’m proud of the book. It took almost two years to bring it to market, not counting the actual writing. It will be another year before the follow up, Rose City, arrives. That book will be four years old by then. That’s what this business is like.
I decided to take a chance and invest some money in travel to celebrate and promote Texas Two-Step’s release. My hope was to get the word out, but also to spend some time with other writers, feeling like I’d made it… somewhere?
So I arranged to read at several Noir at the Bar events in several cities over the course of a few weeks. I’ve hit 3 so far, and boy are my arms tired… That’s a bad joke, in case you’re wondering.
The experience felt like work at times, and like fun at others. It contained both personal and professional highs and lows in abundance. Murphy’s Law reared its head at every turn. I learned a lot about how to promote my book, and also some hard lessons about the relationship between independent publishers and independent bookstores, too.
I learned that sometimes you have to put your feelings down and act like a professional even when things don’t go your way, instead of taking your ball and going home. Or, worse, when things go in ways that largely negate your efforts and make you feel like a small-time artist. I tried to understand others’ positions rather than throwing a fit. And trust me, I can throw a mean fit. I’ve been working on that with mixed results, so I’ll call this a victory.
They’re not playing around in the litter box out in the Texas Panhandle…
I spent a rainy weekend in Seattle, a snowy one in Denver, and a happy one in Dallas. I drove through the very country that inspired Texas Two-Step’s cannabis-running plot, and laughed at all the signs for cannabis defense lawyers along highway 287 through the Texas Panhandle.
I didn’t laugh at the dozens of cops searching cars on the side of the road. The war on drugs remains in full effect, and it’s disgusting. It made the book feel timely, particularly driving on the 4/20 weekend on the most traveled route from Colorado to Texas.
Noir at the Bar Seattle
My personal life flared up with what felt like major issues the day before I left for the Seattle event. The time away provided plenty of perspective, though. I needed that. I encountered well-meaning but misguided censorship in Seattle, but also camaraderie and fun.
I got wet in the rain for two days straight, and explored the subterranean streets of Pioneer Square in the process. I drank lots of Manny’s Pale Ale. I felt firsthand how out of control the political divide is in this country, and vowed to do my best not to contribute to it (after ranting about it on social media). And I spent ten hours on planes in two days to get there and back.
Noir at the Bar Dallas
Clay Reynolds reads at The Wild Detectives for Noir at the Bar Dallas.
Back home in Dallas, I got to host and read at one of the best Noir at the Bar events I’ve been to in a long time. Every reading was pitch perfect, and the outdoor venue provided a perfect mix of city sirens and back-porch aesthetic that made the night feel special. I’m honored to be organizing Noir at the Bar events here in Dallas. I can’t wait for the next one.
From left to right: Michael Bracken, Clay Reynolds, Yours Truly, Carlos Salas, Lyndee Walker, Eryk Pruitt, and Tim Bryant
Noir at the Bar Denver
Matt Phillips regaling the NATB Denver crowd
I hung out with old friends in Denver, ate at my favorite haunts, and mourned a life there that no longer exists for me. I think it gave me closure in some ways I hadn’t expected. My heart will always remain in those rocky mountains, though.
I also got the chance to remind myself how many talented writers are currently publishing in crime fiction. And, trust me, there are a ton of them. I made new friends and came to admire them almost in the same breath.
Packed house on the day after Colorado’s national holiday (4/20)
It was awesome.
I damn near bought as many books as I sold, but I’m okay with that. My love for books brought me here in the first place—I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Check out Texas Two-Step
I delivered readings that killed, and readings that felt flat. I saw others do the same. And throughout all of it, I gained a lot of perspective on what it takes to succeed in a business where almost no one does.
I’m going to apply the lessons accordingly.
I hope you’ll consider picking up Texas Two-Step and giving it a read. I’ll love you forever if you review it on Amazon and recommend it to your friends. I’ll be nervous as hell around you if you tell me you’ve already read it. I’ll be grateful for your feedback even if you hate it. Lord knows I’m grateful for the experience of the last two weeks. It felt like turning a corner.
Until next time…
The post Two steps from success: Dispatches from a debut book tour appeared first on Michael Pool Official Author Site.
March 10, 2017
TEXAS TWO-STEP
Cooper and Davis are a couple of jam band-obsessed Texas ex-pats growing some of Denver’s finest organic cannabis and living the good life on tour. Or at least they were, until legal weed put the squeeze on their market and cramped their playboy lifestyle.
When their last out-of-state distributor gets busted by an Illinois task force, they’re left with no choice but to turn to their reckless former associate Elroy “Sancho” Watts to unload one last crop down in Teller County, Texas.
But Sancho Watts has troubles of his own in the form of Texas Ranger Russ Kirkpatrick, tasked under the table with nailing Watts for anything that will stick because of his involvement in the drug-induced suicide of a state senator’s son.
Not to mention his infamous new business partner, Heisman quarterback and NFL burnout Bobby Burnell, a man working to rise from the ashes of his self-destructed football career by making a name for himself in his criminally inclined Teller County family, no matter who he has to double-cross to get there.
What ensues is a pine-curtain criminal jamboree where everyone involved keeps their cards close to their vest, and all the high-stakes two-stepping is sure to end in bloodshed!
RELEASES FROM DOWN AND OUT BOOKS APRIL 2, 2018
PRE-ORDER HERE: https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore/pool-texas-two-step/
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DEBT CRUSHER
Cam Reynolds has a problem. When Cam’s longtime boss Tom Colcetti dies and leaves control of his criminal organization to his predatory son Tommy, Cam may finally get the chance to run a crew of his own. But Tommy has his eyes on new business horizons, and Cam just made a mistake that could destroy Tommy’s heavy-hitting new partnership.
Now Cam must struggle against violent forces of betrayal, lust and greed as he attempts to either salvage his career, or get out of the game with his life still intact. Debt Crusher is out now from All Due Respect Books!
ISBN: 1523203676
PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2016
PURCHASE IN PAPERBACK AND EBOOK HERE
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