Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

2026, friday, january, an, interview, with, monday, favorite, reads, author, of, nick, forte, may, april, february, 13, thursday, follow, by, feed, blog, archive, john, steinbeck, and, me, winter, charlie, stella, raskin, world, dana, king, the, novels, private, investigator, from, criminal, econ, 101, chapter, my, fall, 2025,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (257), and (143), you (73), that (63), for (61), was (50), with (48), this (34), how (32), but (31), one (31), what (29), are (27), they (26), may (24), about (22), obaat (22), january (21), share (21), out (21), have (21), more (21), april (20), from (20), all (20), not (20), time (20), them (20), your (20), #february (19), forte (19), when (19), who (19), august (18), september (18), october (18), november (18), had (18), december (17), march (17), june (17), july (17), nick (17), first (17), has (17), read (16), writing (16), caroline (16), write (16), were (15), his (14), like (14), than (14), which (13), novels (13), can (13), books (12), off (12), novel (12), been (12), book (11), think (11), back (11), don (11), always (11), their (11), she (11), get (11), some (11), dana (10), king (10), world (10), just (10), much (10), these (10), got (10), know (10), people (10), him (10), did (10), after (9), her (9), then (9), made (9), place (9), will (9), few (9), declan (9), years (9), many (9), facebook (8), posted (8), fiction (8), two (8), through (8), private (8), still (8), way (8), come (8), man (8), those (8), would (8), thing (8), find (8), going (8), didn (8), most (8), law (8), see (8), into (8), right (8), author (8), 2026 (7), series (7), labels (7), favorite (7), pinterest (7), blogthis (7), email (7), another (7), better (7), before (7), where (7), never (7), makes (7), over (7), anything (7), last (7), question (7), girls (7), daughter (7), lot (7), well (7), also (7), something (7), else (7), start (7), name (7), because (7), raskin (7), steinbeck (6), here (6), reads (6), comments (6), year (6), though (6), took (6), couple (6), while (6), story (6), mean (6), wrote (6), now (6), writers (6), person (6), things (6), long (6), want (6), friends (6), ice (6), thought (6), any (6), there (6), doesn (6), violent (6), used (6), went (6), mob (6), other (5), only (5), even (5), reading (5), work (5), new (5), own (5), both (5), once (5), written (5), character (5), guys (5), using (5), best (5), say (5), such (5), said (5), too (5), father (5), idea (5), relationship (5), less (5), need (5), working (5), looking (5), point (5), does (5), good (5), bite (5), interview (5), awards (5), could (5), make (5), should (5), hammer (5), job (5), spillane (5), found (5), charlie (5), life (5), probably (5), wakeland (5), audience (5), penns (4), river (4), non (4), shows (4), ever (4), wambaugh (4), several (4), minutes (4), finished (4), done (4), stories (4), banks (4), seem (4), each (4), later (4), three (4), friday (4), criminal (4), sure (4), side (4), ask (4), boys (4), deal (4), knew (4), myself (4), already (4), outside (4), chapter (4), between (4), take (4), end (4), beyond (4), why (4), next (4), others (4), give (4), shamus (4), keep (4), hope (4), again (4), eye (4), almost (4), worked (4), ago (4), stella (4), change (4), dave (4), single (4), tips (4), whole (4), 2025 (3), john (3), blog (3), posts (3), multiple (3), english (3), left (3), blooding (3), investigator (3), woodrell (3), great (3), telling (3), continue (3), care (3), gave (3), try (3), sense (3), including (3), true (3), forget (3), set (3), readers (3), look (3), black (3), econ (3), 101 (3), fuck (3), expected (3), either (3), eat (3), six (3), takes (3), meant (3), until (3), door (3), hell (3), situations (3), needed (3), play (3), tyler (3), close (3), high (3), school (3), away (3), himself (3), yet (3), wouldn (3), chance (3), drive (3), met (3), cop (3), little (3), sometimes (3), goes (3), justify (3), friend (3), crime (3), reconcile (3), around (3), loving (3), internet (3), feel (3), interviews (3), asked (3), published (3), genre (3), doing (3), american (3), irish (3), america (3), someone (3), told (3), works (3), day (3), hard (3), audition (3), characters (3), getting (3), mickey (3), style (3), without (3), couldn (3), talk (3), least (3), taking (3), thugs (3), real (3), starts (3), finish (3), having (3), wife (3), ending (3), introduced (3), chekov (3), etc (3), interesting (3), rest (3), project (3), bad (3), check (3), bit (3), scene (3), chen (3), case (3), duffy (3), gets (3), 2008 (2), buy (2), feed (2), home (2), extraordinary (2), lost (2), police (2), funny (2), sitting (2), days (2), joseph (2), glenn (2), voice (2), giving (2), paradise (2), tell (2), none (2), received (2), born (2), weeks (2), attention (2), itself (2), every (2), winter (2), typically (2), hit (2), camacho (2), jones (2), guy (2), skye (2), protagonist (2), enjoyed (2), ray (2), bosch (2), connelly (2), love (2), fan (2), wonder (2), started (2), echo (2), michael (2), past (2), months (2), willing (2), second (2), eight (2), south (2), loose (2), toward (2), learn (2), shake (2), watching (2), situation (2), joanna (2), handle (2), young (2), men (2), far (2), pass (2), near (2), big (2), college (2), enough (2), earlier (2), line (2), sundae (2), busy (2), primary (2), reason (2), popular (2), comes (2), playing (2), leave (2), same (2), face (2), show (2), okay (2), band (2), room (2), plan (2), growing (2), isn (2), knowing (2), protection (2), monday (2), legal (2), among (2), escape (2), satterwhite (2), kind (2), bring (2), closest (2), chicago (2), consider (2), yourself (2), association (2), opportunities (2), violence (2), knows (2), learning (2), anyone (2), except (2), throwback (2), detectives (2), might (2), sleep (2), remember (2), taken (2), let (2), elephant (2), killed (2), peers (2), bob (2), special (2), since (2), speech (2), proud (2), detective (2), ben (2), doc (2), cousin (2), grind (2), joint (2), guest (2), differently (2), different (2), needs (2), our (2), personalities (2), recent (2), rachel (2), chose (2), thanks (2), mike (2), week (2), agent (2), means (2), music (2), italian (2), called (2), musician (2), trumpet (2), mostly (2), wanted (2), starting (2), influence (2), approach (2), fault (2), watch (2), mention (2), sam (2), progress (2), old (2), title (2), page (2), women (2), punks (2), badges (2), kill (2), fun (2), research (2), merle (2), drown (2), inevitable (2), final (2), program (2), reader (2), suggestion (2), possible (2), fella (2), plus (2), previous (2), today (2), dialogue (2), football (2), help (2), gresham (2), serious (2), happened (2), excuse (2), publication (2), times (2), becomes (2), realize (2), government (2), truly (2), waiting (2), happens (2), really (2), opera (2), verismo (2), firms (2), early (2), liked (2), process (2), word (2), lawyers (2), part (2), above (2), degree (2), uncowed (2), wiebe (2), agency (2), exile (2), mckinty (2), during (2), friction (2), down (2), creates (2), fascinating (2), earl (2), nesbitt (2), entertaining (2), drawing (2), learned (2), death (2), list (2), post (2), exercise (2), scare (2), beloved (2), spouse (2), draft (2), drafts (2), forced (2), usually (2), throw (2), pick (2), helps (2), lose (2), rewrite (2), surprised (2), yay (2), skip (2), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 107, 2013, 105, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, archive, rss, follow, subscribe, atom, older, speaking, talents, effort, giant, levels, greatest, writer, procedurals, rivaled, mcbain, examines, detail, gruesome, murders, village, mid, 1980s, led, instance, identifying, killer, genetic, fingerprinting, alternately, painful, quietly, frankenstein, creature, returns, arctic, pre, war, york, evokes, mary, shelley, adam, license, gifts, limitations, mere, humans, lack, strain, credulity, accept, initial, premise, deserves, acclaim, woman, teel, james, loss, fresh, mind, beautifully, draws, interfere, characterization, succumbed, striving, sentence, beautiful, gripping, evocative, manner, naturally, remind, talent, bone, daniel, protagonists, devotee, hannibal, prefer, carry, predictable, aspects, pronoun, target, austin, flows, povs, gimmicky, coming, across, bar, alternate, nights, hook, wolf, tickets, fluidly, elements, loyal, came, harry, notice, favorites, ego, pronounce, consensus, fourth, quarter, fall, fucked, head, shakes, soup, straw, however, broken, jaw, heal, arlington, heights, toughs, ten, olds, steal, lunch, money, pantsing, taller, answers, turn, asshole, speak, cleared, kept, register, calls, conducting, survey, questions, menacing, hey, produced, reaction, moved, unhurried, stride, tossed, empty, cup, trash, bin, boy, elbow, steer, table, awkward, impulse, sort, social, dilemmas, role, safety, net, peeked, shoulder, direction, body, language, stiffened, cool, uncomfortable, assurance, twenty, noticed, corner, detour, charges, looked, seniors, freshmen, relatives, eavesdropping, busted, redeem, reputation, maintained, sight, packed, bought, sundaes, typical, rides, milkshake, milkshakes, chauffeur, ready, apparently, pegged, soft, touch, requests, approved, nearly, broke, nose, shoving, cell, phones, improvisation, drill, send, mom, dad, text, cream, buds, minute, trek, bolingbrook, aspect, often, complimented, marching, protective, struggles, herself, cone, exists, tells, frustrated, constrained, followed, result, operator, planning, justice, applied, inclined, hands, tim, pulled, scrapes, fingers, count, contact, priests, schoolteachers, caregivers, safe, confidant, timothy, goose, collector, enforcer, various, entities, officer, angels, known, potential, provoke, certain, poster, child, argue, writes, key, element, figures, prominently, evolved, grows, require, repercussions, age, call, dinosaur, methods, losing, answer, hadn, bat, shamuses, popularity, contests, decided, honor, serve, committee, allows, opportunity, genrewhile, acknowledging, worthy, contributor, sales, alone, cannot, deliver, open, self, independently, submitting, mwa, membership, nominations, randisi, began, intent, keeping, vital, noble, annual, banquets, miss, discontinued, covid, believers, together, celebrate, alive, someday, uniquely, literary, hughes, creator, loy, impassioned, bouchercon, highest, form, twice, nominated, committees, pwa, color, lines, lead, dougherty, remain, four, perfect, closer, explain, town, western, pennsylvania, precisely, stars, opinion, spread, conducts, finds, sorted, capable, sides, reconciled, revised, saw, leavened, divorced, add, depth, occasional, lessening, tension, everything, drawn, runner, middle, tend, egregious, transgressions, deliberately, spent, weekend, binging, homage, satire, encouraged, hand, light, able, garner, third, earned, nomination, figured, small, sacrifice, obvious, choice, loud, literally, strong, surname, punch, consonant, provides, quitting, knowledgeable, ins, outs, instrumental, business, investigate, shady, thinly, disguised, based, professional, player, career, ended, creative, outlet, complained, being, rigged, understand, underhanded, orchestra, motions, holding, auditions, hundred, fifty, players, pay, fly, wherever, developed, become, stereotypical, sounding, derivative, haven, seemed, stylistically, dated, imitators, tried, refined, originals, primitive, respect, moonlighting, hill, street, blues, pis, classic, mold, spade, philip, marlowe, continental, spenser, patrick, kenzie, elvis, cole, unique, problem, pointed, insensitive, tune, tough, woke, zeitgeist, appear, upcoming, fortes, depends, ideas, suited, seventy, seventh, thursday, comment, drops, appreciate, forward, appreciated, owe, burke, fishing, anti, asses, halfway, finding, stones, necessary, fascist, bullshit, streets, nothing, bottom, barrel, losers, passion, fulfill, racist, macho, misogynistic, fantasies, granted, ability, immunity, beat, elderly, everybody, oath, keepers, features, actual, resistance, likes, panthers, armed, themselves, daring, native, americans, actions, begin, resonate, family, focal, doyles, affected, sisters, reckless, trying, sister, wounded, enlightening, browning, smiley, super, bowl, month, feedback, personal, editor, comfortable, mfa, worth, gold, specific, alice, munro, raymond, carver, patricia, highsmith, richard, bausch, hemingway, ass, switched, political, heroes, writings, ton, zionism, leftover, yorker, articles, throne, researching, engaged, psychotic, lunatic, laura, loomer, sweet, jesus, fucking, nutjob, following, impressive, gals, fact, present, dostoevsky, roth, updike, lynn, kostoff, harris, whitmer, brain, farting, edibles, toll, memory, calm, ball, rolling, spoken, influences, elmore, leonard, george, higgins, influential, inspiring, developing, teacher, minot, north, dakota, smart, charismatic, maybe, shouldn, dumbski, entered, magazine, honorable, charity, anyway, print, forever, goal, prayer, became, obsession, seeking, marriage, lifestyle, manhattan, firm, midnights, crossed, split, shift, luckiest, impress, ann, marie, puts, insanity, dumbskis, eddie, total, failures, rejected, moving, exclusive, seems, irrelevant, worse, regarding, matters, corruption, type, horrible, within, collectively, hold, jockstrap, compared, arm, genocide, figure, fourteenth, keeps, stacked, imagination, dogfella, jerry, immediately, ones, everywhere, mentioned, experience, depicted, directly, rely, narrative, changed, publisher, darker, originally, chekhov, gun, late, particular, carol, enjoy, processing, assume, protected, shield, respected, wrong, reasons, condemnation, reality, guess, ers, slapped, very, decent, ideological, morons, departure, pov, criminals, grifter, welcome, chat, thirteenth, superstition, although, younger, inexperienced, course, talking, godfather, five, picks, running, partner, jeff, living, montreal, returning, vancouver, lawyer, shuzhen, soon, enmeshes, ruthless, motorcycle, gang, learns, midst, under, due, large, unscrupulous, estate, developer, exception, sunset, jericho, adrian, sean, dufffy, trilogy, original, stop, catholic, northern, ireland, troubles, car, bombs, protestant, cops, pretty, died, deals, investigation, trusts, branch, hang, christopher, jim, nesbvitt, nerve, reintroduce, cannon, burch, formal, enforcement, setting, displaying, ways, stud, supporting, cast, plays, dialog, reminiscent, movie, farther, west, missed, wait, water, fatal, saving, grace, examination, homicides, solves, dna, analysis, brutally, murdered, university, scientific, breakthrough, allowing, cases, prove, theories, avuncular, riveting, corresponded, sad, national, treasure, community, owes, expressed, shorter, quarterly, usual, judge, consumed, award, submissions, appropriate, short, announced, noted, future, ana, ysis, hear, arguing, behind, closed, agrees, aloud, sound, version, darlings, cut, excuses, changes, move, beware, dear, dearer, response, number, unheard, complete, section, bypass, trouble, belong, performance, wasn, row, trumpeter, breathe, phrase, properly, regardless, volume, imaginary, generalized, nameless, faceless, unlike, theater, exist, imagined, tenet, observe, religiously, screenplays, notes, filled, momentum, freely, rapidly, paper, correct, interferes, flow, rhythm, unconscious, material, variation, dictum, taught, seventeen, abandon, track, 400, pages, installment, looks, thus, misguided, likely, donald, trump, famous, fodder, thoughts, relate, educational, catastrophe, crash, burn, damn, tidying, anticipation, laptop, betters, everyone, spell, compiled, wanting, dip, toe, pool, blogging, exercising, longer, harder, sidebar, main,

Text of the page (random words):
e than the case and the last exile is no exception posted by dana king at 6 13 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels favorite reads friday february 13 2026 an interview with charlie stella author of raskin s world it s friday the thirteenth and what better way to show this blog is uncowed by superstition than by having our favorite guest another man uncowed by anything although much of that has to do with how much younger and inexperienced he is than me of course i m talking about the godfather of mob fiction charlie stella one bite at a time welcome back charlie you re one of the most popular interviews we do here at obaat both with readers and with me it s always good to chat with you raskin s world is a bit of departure for you as none of the primary pov characters are criminals in the way most people think of the word though one is a serious grifter why the change charlie stella i ve worked in law firms most of my word processing life about 41 years and i always found it interesting how lawyers for the most part are a lot more like the rest of us good and bad than some of them like to think many assume they are above and beyond because of that degree and that they are protected by a shield a legal degree that is respected for all the wrong reasons raskin s world isn t a condemnation of lawyers it s more a reality check i guess it s my verismo opera some of those mf ers should be slapped once in a while to bring them back around i ve met a few who are very decent people and not ideological morons obaat looking at it from the writing side did you have to change anything about your approach or process for raskin s world cs i had to rely on a bit more narrative than i m used to using i changed the ending several times at the suggestion of my wife and publisher it was much darker originally i couldn t escape the mob after all but that chekhov bit about using something that is introduced early to be used at the end worked for me one gun is introduced late in the novel but early enough in a scene toward the end to think chekov i probably liked that particular carol ending i just had to make sure i had her name right more than i probably should but i did enjoy writing it obaat you mentioned how long you worked in law firms how much of that experience is depicted in raskin s world either directly or by influence cs a lot of it one place went through a jerry situation had to check for his name too what happens almost immediately after i start a new project i forget the old ones it s really no different than what happens everywhere again verismo opera obaat near as i can figure raskin s world is your fourteenth novel plus a non fiction as told to book dogfella what keeps you going and how many books are stacked up in your imagination waiting for you to find time to write them cs i ve got at least that many that were total failures about 3 or 4 now that have been rejected etc moving away from mob exclusive novels seems to go with the times the more irrelevant the mob becomes and we realize how much worse a government is regarding all matters of corruption and violence the less interesting the mob is to me and the more i want to write more declan type novels there are some truly horrible people within the mob world but they collectively can t hold a jockstrap compared to a government that would arm a genocide obaat i don t know if i ve ever asked you what got you to start writing for publication in the first place so here goes what got you to start writing for publication in the first place cs dave gresham my english teacher in minot north dakota where i went to play football he was so smart so charismatic so interesting i thought maybe i shouldn t be a dumbski the rest of my life he entered something i wrote into a college magazine or something it got an honorable mention i think which had to make it a charity project probably by dave anyway i probably started getting serious after that and i remember him telling me once you see your name in print you ll want it forever something like that he was right getting published for me was a goal at first and i didn t think i had a prayer at it then it became an obsession and the right thing happened at the right time in my life i was seeking an excuse to get out of a bad marriage and a bad lifestyle and i took a job at a manhattan law firm working midnights and crossed over with my wife she was working a split shift luckiest thing that ever happened to me i wrote eddie s world my first published novel to impress her ann marie puts up with my insanity but she s no fan of dumbskis obaat dave gresham got the ball rolling and we ve spoken before of the influences of elmore leonard and george v higgins who else has been influential in inspiring you and developing your style cs writers who were so impressive to me are the guys and gals i could never be as good as fact and that goes back in time to the present steinbeck dostoevsky that chekov fella roth updike etc and today i d say guys like yourself talk about great dialogue lynn kostoff michael harris ben whitmer merle drown more i m sure but i m brain farting right now edibles are taking a toll on my memory but they do keep me calm watching football and they help me sleep obaat following up on the previous question who do you read and why cs it s been a big change in my life the mfa program was worth gold to me for who i was introduced to as a reader i d get a suggestion to read a book or two by a specific author and i d read as many of their works as possible alice munro raymond carver patricia highsmith richard bausch that chekov fella again hemingway etc i read my ass off for a few years after the program then a few years ago i switched over to my political heroes and their writings i did a ton of research on zionism several years these days i m reading a lot of leftover new yorker articles on the throne because i m too busy writing declan new novel and researching plus facebook posts that keep me engaged last week i read one about that psychotic lunatic laura loomer sweet jesus what a fucking nutjob obaat the inevitable final question for any interview what s next cs it s called declan and i owe you and the great irish author declan burke for the title i was fishing for a title and you had him up on your page it is an anti ice novel get off your asses america novel and i m just beyond the halfway point it s about the american people finding the stones to do what is necessary to end this fascist bullshit in the streets ice thugs are nothing but bottom of the barrel losers with a passion to fulfill their racist macho misogynistic fantasies out in real life and they ve been granted that ability with immunity to beat on women the elderly and everybody else how many proud boys and oath keepers are working as ice thugs punks with badges declan features an actual resistance the likes of which we ve yet to see in america except for the black panthers who have armed themselves and are daring the punks with badges to give them a try declan starts with some native americans taking it to ice thugs and their actions begin to resonate with others an irish american family is the focal point the doyles and how they are affected by it all one of their sisters is killed by a reckless ice agent trying to kill someone else and her sister is wounded that s the start off point it s been a lot of fun to write and the research has been so enlightening including what a browning m2 50 can do smiley face i thought i might finish it before the super bowl but it ll take another month or so as a change up i m having my daughter give me feedback as i write it my wife and my personal editor merle drown will get it when i m comfortable with an ending thanks for this always appreciated obaat no more than i appreciate you taking the time i m looking forward to declan and hope you ll come back to talk about it when it s out raskin s world drops on april 3 posted by dana king at 9 06 am 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels charlie stella interviews thursday january 8 2026 an interview with dana king author of the nick forte novels one bite at a time criminal econ 101 is your seventh nick forte novel how long do you think you ll continue to write this character dana king i have another in progress now after that he ll appear in at least one of the upcoming penns river novels beyond that we ll see a few years ago i didn t know i d write as many fortes as i have already it all depends on what ideas i get that are best suited for him and how long i continue to write i am seventy years old you know obaat forte is a throwback tough guy private investigator why not make him more in line with the recent zeitgeist of more woke less violent detectives dk because the pis i read that made me want to write these stories were in the classic mold sam spade philip marlowe the continental op spenser patrick kenzie elvis cole they all have unique personalities and handle many things differently from each other but they re all guys who will talk a problem out for only so long it should also be pointed out that forte is not insensitive he s just willing to tune up those who need it obaat you didn t mention mike hammer dk mickey spillane had a lot to do with me starting into writing but as i developed novels i found hammer s approach and spillane s style had become stereotypical and hard to write around without sounding derivative i haven t read a hammer novel in a long time the last one i read seemed stylistically dated but that s the fault of all the imitators since i also tried to watch hill street blues and moonlighting a few years ago and couldn t get into them other shows have taken what they did and refined it to the point where some things in the originals seem almost primitive that doesn t mean i love and respect those shows any less same with spillane and hammer obaat you said mickey spillane had a lot to do with you starting to write where did the idea for nick forte come from and how did mickey spillane influence that dk i used to be a professional musician trumpet player my career such as it was ended and i was looking for a creative outlet when a good friend complained about an audition being rigged understand that doesn t mean anything underhanded went on mostly it meant some people thought the orchestra already knew who they wanted and went through the motions of holding auditions which meant a hundred fifty trumpet players had to pay to fly in from wherever to audition for a job they had no chance of getting looking at such things from the outside as i was after quitting i thought of an idea for a private eye who was knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the instrumental music business called in to investigate a shady audition my closest friends got thinly disguised characters based on them for the detective s name forte was an obvious choice it means loud in music but is literally strong in italian i chose nick because i needed a name that worked with an italian surname and had the punch to it a hard consonant provides i spent a weekend binging the first three mike hammer novels and wrote the story in a week as both an homage and a satire it was so well received by my friends i wrote another for the job i was working at the time then another for the job i went to from there a few people encouraged me to try my hand at a novel as almost all writers do i wrote a couple that will never see the light of day though one was able to garner me an agent the third was a small sacrifice which earned a shamus nomination so i figured i knew what i was doing obaat readers tend to give forte a pass for some of his more egregious transgressions thanks to the relationship he has with his daughter caroline was that something you deliberately set out to do dk it s a funny thing how writing works sometimes i didn t set out to do that but as i revised the book i saw how a close relationship with his daughter leavened forte s character i a divorced father myself and used that to add some depth and occasional lessening of tension almost everything nick and caroline do in the books is drawn from things i ve done with my own daughter rachel i chose the name caroline for nick s daughter because it was first runner up for a middle name for rachel obaat i asked nick forte in a recent interview how he reconciled the loving father caroline knows with the violent man others may see and she s learning about through the internet he told me i should ask you okay i will how does he do it dk forte doesn t need to reconcile a thing he is who and what he is like anyone else he conducts himself differently in different situations and he takes those situations and the people in them as he finds them when he s with caroline he s a loving father when he s with someone who needs sorted out he s more than capable we all have multiple sides to our personalities obaat forte guest stars in a couple of your penns river novels grind joint and the spread how did that come about and what makes it work in your opinion dk in grind joint i needed a character to color outside the lines a little so that the lead detective in penns river ben doc dougherty could remain true to himself and still get the book to come out right i d written four forte novels by that time and nick was perfect so i made him doc s first cousin to make the relationship closer and explain how this chicago pi comes to a little town in western pennsylvania precisely when they need him most obaat you ve twice been nominated for shamus awards by the private eye writers of america and this year you re on one of the awards committees what does pwa mean to you dk private eye fiction may be the most uniquely american literary genre the irish author declan hughes creator of the ed loy books gave an impassioned speech at bouchercon in 2008 about how when done right the pi novel is the highest form of crime fiction declan made me proud to write pi stories what bob randisi began with the intent of keeping the genre vital is to me a noble thing the annual banquets were special and i miss them since they were discontinued after covid they were opportunities for the true believers to get together and celebrate what their peers were doing to keep the genre alive i hope someday they ll start up again as for the awards bob was open to self and independently published writers submitting when no one else was mwa wouldn t consider me for membership and i had two shamus nominations the shamuses are also among the few awards that are not popularity contests as they are decided by an author s peers it s an honor to have been asked to serve on an awards committee it allows me an opportunity to give back to the genrewhile acknowledging i have been a worthy contributor to it that s something sales alone cannot deliver posted by dana king at 9 00 pm no comments email this blog...