Duane Swierczynski's Blog, page 2

Cheap, Fast and Hardie

The third novel in my Charlie Hardie series, Point & Shoot, is out this April. But for a limited time you can catch up on the first installment, Fun & Games, for only $2.99, at your favorite ebook dealer...

Amazon
Nook
iTunes
Kobo
Sony

Soul of an Old Machine

The old iMac keyboard. Note the faded "S" key.Time to retire another computer. This time, I'm saying goodbye to my workhorse iMac I bought back in August 2008, which has been wheezing and chugging along for a few months now. I wrote a crazy amount of stuff on this machine, including seven novels (Expiration Date, Fun & Games, Hell & Gone, Point & Shoot, and the three Level 26 novels with Anthony Zuiker), at least 70 comics (Birds of Prey, Godzilla, Cable, Iron Fist, Punisher, Werewolf By Night, Deadpool, Bloodshot, X, Judge Dredd, including issue #5, the last comic I wrote on it), one screenplay (the Severance Package adaptation with Brett Simon), as well as innumerable e-mails, notes, treatments, blog posts, updates, pitches, half-baked ideas and other unclassifiable things that gushed out of my brainpan. The machine served me well. And that keyboard (see above), boy did that take a beating. I pretty much typed the "S" key into oblivion. (Do I type the word "shit" that much?) Granted, I did some writing on various laptops during this time, too, but the majority of my output came from this noble old piece of Apple hardware. Fare thee well, iMac, you 24" aluminum wonder you. Remember: old computers never die. They just get recycled.

And as of right now I'm working on a new novel, lots of comics, and a massive secret project (shhhh) on one of these new-fangled fancy iMacs. Wonder what I'll write on this machine before it gives up the ghost in... 2016 or 2017. (I tend to get three to four years out of every machine.) Whatever the case, I'm sure the "S" key will be pounded into oblivion.

Sad, forlorn keyboard photo by Meredith Swierczynski.

Retreat to Goodisville 2013: Going Down There

"True Thug-4-Life": One of the highlights of every Goodis tour.
It's back! And bigger than ever! What used to be a humble graveside tribute to Philly noir legend David Goodis has blossomed into a full-on noir adventure on wheels we call "Retreat to Goodisville," and this year's installment promises to be even crazier.

Here's the deal: at 10 a.m., Saturday January 5th, 2013 (nearly the 46th anniversary of Goodis's death) we'll be meeting just outside  The Grey Lodge Pub , 6235 Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philly. A coach bus will take 30 of us up to the Goodis grave in nearby Bensalem, PA. Bring your favorite Goodis passage, because at the man's grave we'll be paying tribute to him by reading excerpts from his work. Then it's back on the bus for a tour of prime Goodis locations, including the house where he lived with his parents (and wrote most of his novels), his birthplace, street corners and landmarks mentioned in Shoot the Piano Player (a.k.a. Down There). Plus, on the bus we'll have guest speakers, prizes, and beer. (Yes, we're allowed to imbibe on the bus. Lou checked!) Finally, we'll end up back at the Grey Lodge for beer and snacks.

Want a seat on the bus? We're asking for $50 per person to cover transportation, beer, soft drinks, bus snacks, prizes and incidentals. Seating is limited, so drop me a line at duane DOT swier AT verizon DOT net (with the subject line, "Retreat to Goodisville 2013") and I'll send you an address where you can send a check to reserve your seat.

Don't want to enjoy the warmth and camaraderie of the bus? No worries; Goodis's characters were loners, too. Meet us at the grave site and we'll give you a list of our tour stops so you can join in. But trust me: the bus is going to be worth it. Early January in Philadelphia tends to be pretty damn cold.

Lou and I hope to see you many of you guys there. Any questions? Drop me a line. I'll post a follow-up when the bus is full, which based on our early head count, should be fairly soon.

Black Friday, Dredd Saturday

If you're anywhere near Annapolis, MD for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and you dig the idea of motorcycle-riding fascist judges sentencing and executing perps on the spot... then you're in luck!

Next Saturday Third Eye Comics (2027A West Street) is hosting a release party for Judge Dredd #1, written by your humble blogger and with art by Nelson "Death Sentence" Daniel and the legendary Paul "Send 'Em to the Gulag" Gulacy. The Third Eye folks promise a special surprise to the first 15 people in line... and you know what? I'm going to bring a surprise for the next 15 people in line. Warning: Cut the line and you will be sentenced to 3 months in the iso-cubes.

The fun starts at 11 a.m. and ends around 1 p.m. when the Judges haul me away for some minor infraction I'm sure to have committed during the signing.

And if you're nowhere near Maryland, don't forget to pick up Dredd #1 this Wednesday at finer comic shops everywhere.

The Original C. Hardie

"Matt Brady" was the one-time pseudonym of Philadelphia crime novelist (and journalist) Joseph Shallit, and Take Your Last Look, Gold Medal #376, was his final novel.  I enjoyed two other Shallit novels, The Case of the Billion Dollar Body and Lady, Don't Die On My Doorstop, both featuring Philly tough guy Dan Morrison. So I decided to give Last Look, his only non-series novel, a whirl. I love a good hardboiled read set in my town.

There were two surprises:

One, Last Look isn't set in Philly. I mean, the place feels an awful lot like Philly, but Shallit/Brady goes out of his way to never specifically ID the city as the setting. As I read, I started playing association games: Was "Mayview" supposed to represent "Mayfair," the neighborhood in the Northeast? Is "Ardley" a suburban stand-in for "Ardsley" or "Ardmore"? Or maybe even "Yardley"?

But the bigger surprise was the name of the protagonist, tough and relentless (maybe-Philly PD) narcotics detective Cliff Hardie.

If you haven't read my novels Fun & Games or Hell & Gone, this means nothing. But those who've read either know that my protagonist is tough and relentless former Philly PD consultant... Charlie Hardie.

But man, you should have seen my double-take.

I intended the name "Charlie Hardie" as nod to a certain action classic. "Hardie" is a twisted mash-up of Die Hard, an obvious influence on the series. I even gave him the middle initial "D" so that his name, when unscrambled, is essentially "Charlie Die Hard."

But now it turns out there was another C. Hardie patrolling the mean streets of maybe-Philadelphia back in the 1950s.

From now on, of course, I'm going to pretend that my Hardie is part of a larger family tree of Hardies stretching throughout all of Philadelphia hardboiled fiction. Hell, it almost makes me want to contact Joseph Shallit's estate and negotiate for permission to write an official "Cliff Hardie" novel. Maybe he's Charlie's great uncle? Grandfather?

But only if I'm allowed to set it in the real Philadelphia.

Get Your Can Over to Mechanicsburg, PA

Okay, so, yeah... it's been a couple of months since my last blog post. I have no excuse other than: I've been writing. Comics, chunks of future novels, and other stuff (I can't talk about quite yet). Comics like, say... Bloodshot (#2 is available in fine comic shops near you)! Yes, that was a ham-handed plug. Sorry.

Anyway, I'm writing you from lovely downtown Mechanicsburg, PA. Okay, this is lie, because I'm not downtown. I don't even know if Mechanicsburg has a downtown. I'm in a hotel near a highway, listening to Talking Heads, sipping a rye on the rocks, writing this blog post.


But tomorrow... I'll be at Comix Connection in Mechanicsburg (possibly in the actual heart of its downtown!) for its fifth annual Creator Cookout! Here's the deal: Show up with a can (or more) of food for the Central Food Bank of Pennsylvania and you'll get to chow down on free burgers, dogs and kebabs and hang out with comics folks like Brian Keene, Mike Hawthorne, Dirk Shearer, Andrew Griffith and myownself. Comix Connection is also offering a ton of back issues at a buck each; donate a can and you'll be entered in a drawing for signed comics, gift certificates, and quite possibly your own private island in the South Pacific. (Note: I've had a few ryes; this may not be entirely accurate.)

I'll have some books for sale (including a bunch of increasingly rare paperback copies of Secret Dead Men, and a few hardcover copies of The Wheelman, complete with spine typo). But I also have a small stack of Judge Dredd promo cards to give away, free to whoever stops by early.

Fun starts at noon. If you're anywhere near the greater Harrisburg area tomorrow, stop by and say "yo."

A Lowdown Dirty Shamus

  
This morning I woke up to the very happy news that Fun & Games, the first Charlie Hardie novel, had been nominated for a Shamus Award in the category of Best Paperback Original. The award is given by the Private Eye Writers of America, usually presented at a banquet during Bouchercon. I have no illusions of winning, since my fellow nominees are pretty damned stellar (Max Allan Collins, John Lutz, John Gilstrap, James L. Ross). But as they say, it's thrill just to be nominated.

F&G is also up for a Barry Award this year, so I may have the opportunity to lose twice during the same convention!

Dispatches from the Basement

This weekend brings Philadelphia Comic-Con, and I will be there for much of it! I even have a table (or part of one) apparently, which is a new thing for me. Not quite sure what I'm supposed to do at this table, as I don't do sketches or anything. Maybe I could write you a quick panel description with some dialogue? I don't know. But do stop by and say hello, and of course I'll be happy to sign anything you'd like. For those of you seeking some more formal, I'll be on a panel with Nathan Edmonson (Grifter, Who Is Jake Ellis?) Sunday at 2 p.m. in Room B. The topic? "Writing and Editing in Comics." I think we're up against the Melissa Joan Hart Q&A, but can Ms. Joan Hart tell you how to break into comics? Huh? HUH? Mind you, I'm not sure we'll be able to answer that either, but we'll give it a shot.

Also: I'm proud to report that Fun & Games is up for three (yes, three) coveted Stalker Awards. The categories: "Lead Character You'd Want As a Friend," "Most Memorable Dialogue," and "Most Eye-Popping Cover." And you determine the winner, so vote early and often! Deadline is June 5, midnight PST.

Finally, some random book/music/film recommendations: The Last Good Time by Jonathan Van Meter; Here, by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; Chronicle, directed by Josh Trank. Got anything to recommend to me? Tell me in the comments below!

Oh Godzilla, You Devil

Thirty some years ago, I used to pretend I was Godzilla and stomp my kid brother around the living room. Today, as an alleged fully-grown adult, I have the lucky job of writing about the actual Godzilla tromping on entire cities (and presumably, many, many living rooms). Sometimes, your childhood dreams do come true.

Anyway, tomorrow! Grab yer wallets and head to your local comic book shops and snap up a bunch of copies of Godzilla #1, my first issue of a new IDW series with art by the psychotic Simon Gane and rockin' Rhonda Pattison, and edited by bunker-busterin' Bobby Curnow. The first issue has a bunch of extra action-packed pages; subsequent issues will include guest essays from notable giant monster fans such as David J. Schow and Christos Gage.

And early reviews are good! Newsarama's Best Shots Team says #1 is "a great comic that monster movie fans will love."

Hope my fellow kaiju fans dig it. If you do pick it up, let me know what you think in the comments section.

An Early Shot

Today Valiant Entertainment released four preview pages from Bloodshot #1, scripted by your humble blogger, with art by the amazing Manuel Garcia (we've collaborated before, on a too-short run of Black Widow for Marvel) and the equally amazing Arturo Lozzi.

The comic debuts July 11th, right on the eve of San Diego Comic-Con, but expect to hear a lot more about it in the coming weeks. I've been doing (and will be doing) a ton o' Q&As on this bad boy. And it's kind of a tap dance, because this series probably packs more surprises than any other comic I've written. I don't want to give anything away.

Which is why I write coy solicits like, say, this one, for Bloodshot #2. Hey, it's all about keeping the mystery alive, folks.