Glasvegas

This is the best new band I can remember hearing. Or, I should say, I can't recall the last time I was so excited by a group.

Out of Glasgow, they're sort of Phil Spector Wall of Sound meets U2, strained through The Jesus and Mary Chain with, uh, du-woop?! James Allan, the lead singer and writer, is a poet.

In particular, you need to check out "Flowers and Football Tops," "Geraldine," and "Daddy's Gone." Find the lyrics on line -- some of you might need a little help with the Glaswegian accent.

As a writer, I don't usually write about bands, but these lyrics are gorgeous with a strong narrative drive. And beside, hell, if I'm this excited by anything....

Many thanks to writer buddy David Young for referring me to them (and I stole part of his description).

Punisher Interview

Here's an interview with the good folks at Comic-Related about Punisher 61, my run on the title, and coming violence.

One Day, Two Comics

This Wed, the second Foolkiller in the second limited series came out, with a special guest appearance by....the Punisher.

And my first Punisher - cover by Dave Johnson, art by the inimitable Laurence Campbell, also hit stands.

It's a vigilante two-fer....

Coming To You From Chiang Mai, Thailand

One of the more unusual sightings of The Crime Writer, courtesy of Kyle Khasigian...

Some Belated Pics from Thrillerfest

Here I am with Bob Crais and Überagent Aaron Priest. And below is Crais and Coben with the brilliant Lisa Erbach Vance. We had a great time at the awards; our table included me, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Aaron Priest, Lisa Erbach Vance, Lucy Childs, David Hosp, and David Baldacci. A good crew.

Comic-Con

Pretty much lives up to the hype. Now I'm not the biggest convention person, but I have to say, the range of cool shit on hand was, well, pretty extraordinary. Among the highlights were sharing a softball infield with Marvel legend John Romita, Jr., then signing next to him a day later, catching up over dinner with the inimitable Howard Chaykin, and wandering the floor to see which artists' work caught my eye. My favorite "discovery" (he's been around longer than I have, but I only discovered him this weekend) is Mike Sosnowski, an incredible artist. Check out "The Culprit" - I picked up a print for the house.

He's Baaa-acck!

Foolkiller #1 of 5. Short Time. Arc title: White Angels. On stands today.

Jesse Kellerman

Jesse Kellerman's novel, Trouble, was nominated in the same category as The Crime Writer for the ITW Thriller Awards (from which I just returned - another glorious six-hour delay at JFK, this one involving a panic-attack-having passenger in a Detroit Tigers jacket forcing our return to the gate, thereby losing us our spot in the lengthy queue for takeoff. In fairness, if I was a Tigers fan this season, perhaps I'd be having panic attacks too. But we digress.).

So.

I thought, in a show of graciousness, I should read said book so I could have something pleasant to say to Jesse should we cross paths, or -- if said book proved unworthy -- so I could generate a suitable compliment ("The font was really lovely." "That book jacket - wow!" "I really like your shoes.")

Well.

About thirty pages in, I had that feeling of excitement. You know the one - where you realize that not only have you hooked into a book that you Love, but that you are reading an author who you know that you will be reading for years to come. It is not an exaggeration to say that his is the most exciting new voice in crime fiction I've read in years.

I gave my copy to a friend I saw in New York. Got another one for my sister. Pitched the lady sitting next to me on the plane. Emailed my agent, and my editor. Mentioned it to a screenwriter buddy at lunch. Yeah, that kind of book. Dark and sophisticated, with a playwright's dialogue and a psychologist's, uh, uh, insight. And good words and stuff, too.

His other novels, Sunstroke and The Genius, are on my list, to be bought on my next bookstore trip. Trouble should certainly be on yours.

Thrillerfest 2008

I'm off to ThrillerFest in New York. Should be a lot of fun. It'll be the biggest collection of thriller writers in one hotel in a long time, with David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Sandra Brown, James Patterson, Brad Thor, Kathy Reichs, R.L. Stine, Lee Child, Heather Graham, and more. My panel with other Thriller Award nominees is Saturday at 11, but each day will be filled with workshops, panels, and speeches on everything from martial arts to forensics to clichés that piss writers off. I think it not unreasonable to predict that bourbon will be in evidence as well.

The Crime Writer Out In Paperback

On June 24, the paperback of THE CRIME WRITER will launch. The cover is more or less the same, with a few added blurbs from Dennis Lehane, Robert Crais, Lee Child, and Brad Meltzer.

Also, in addition to being nominated for Best Novel from International Thriller Writers, the book (as I SEE YOU) has been shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Which, in addition to being a great honor, has the all-time best name for a literary prize.

On the eve of this wider launch, I wanted to take a moment to thank readers, booksellers, reviewers, and librarians for their stunning support of this book, and their help in making it an instant international bestseller.

Stan Winston

Another great one, gone too soon.

Writing Quotation of the Week

File this one in the "show, don't tell" category.

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."
--E.L. Doctorow

One of the Greats

Sydney Pollack, rest in peace.

A Favorite New Foreign Cover

From Spain. I love this one. It took a few looks to pick up the scalpel in place of the pencil. It's so great when a foreign edition arrives with a really masterful cover like this one.

Nobody's Fool

Today.

The end of the five-comic limited. All five comics will also soon be collected in a trade edition, also available at your nearest comic book store.

Stay tuned for the next Foolkiller limited, which will be called White Angels.

New Sheriff In Town

Some art from my first Punisher (#61).

Thank you, Laurence Campbell (interiors).

Thank you Dave Johnson (cover).

Blurb Bitching II: Bride of Blurbs Bitching

Okay, I got a fair number of emails in response to my Blurb Bitching blog entry (some months back) so I thought I’d answer the main questions being put to me.

What makes you more likely to blurb?

1. A personalized letter from the author. I’ve gotten a few really great letters from editors that made me crack a galley, but for the most part, if the author doesn’t even have time to enclose her thoughts, I generally don’t have time to read her manuscript. So don’t leave it solely to your publicist/editor/agent/friend who walks dogs with Thomas Harris. Have them do the hand-off, but make sure you get your voice in there.
2. If the person requesting a blurb from me is familiar with my work, and makes that somewhat clear in the cover letter. Nothing says arrogance like an unpublished writer asking me to read his manuscript who hasn’t bothered to read one of my books. When it came to the authors I asked for blurbs from, I made sure I’d read virtually everything they had in print. An if their oeuvres were unrealistically weighty, I made sure I’d read at least four or five of their novels.
3. I won’t blurb books from vanity presses.
4. If the damn thing looks good. I don’t care if it’s a social novel or a book of lesbian haiku, the first few pages better sing.
5. (And here I feel like Ms. Curmudgeon, your high school college admissions advisor): Don’t make dumb-ass spelling and grammar errors in your cover letter. If you can’t be bothered to figure out the difference between “it’s” and “its” in a one-paragraph cover letter, you probably shouldn’t be pointing a 300-page manuscript my direction.

Will you always blurb your friends even if their books suck?

No. And Ayn Rand better quit asking.

Do you ever tell people you don’t like their books?

No. They’re not asking for a critique, just a blurb. So I’m not reading looking to be helpful from an editorial perspective. I never want to undermine a young (or old, for that matter) author early in her career with a rejection, so I will often beg off mediocre manuscripts due to exigencies of schedule, etc.. Often this isn’t an excuse; much of the time it’s true.

The Punisher

As was announced this weekend, I will be writing the next Punisher arc after Garth Ennis's legendary run on the title. My five-book arc will be called "Girls in White Dresses," and it'll be followed by arcs by Duane Swierczynski and Victor Gischler, both of which I'm really looking forward to. You can tell I'm up for the challenge by the fact that I just wrote "arc" three times in two sentences.

Website for the Sick and Twisted

A buddy of mine forwarded on this link. A pretty amazing look at that most American of conventions: the last meal on death row.

What would you order?

Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Out On DVD

If you don't like Battlestar Galactica, you have no soul.

I'm just sayin'.