Official Site of American Writer Ace Atkins | Blog

Cool Stuff of the Week

2012-02-10T09:51:00.000-06:00

Lalo Schifrin and Bullitt -- So Cool in '68

2012-02-08T17:59:00.000-06:00

More Spenser News

2012-02-06T10:58:00.000-06:00

We're still several weeks away from Spenser's newest case, but Rick Koster of The Day has weighed in on the subject. And as an author with a lot scrutiny these days, I greatly appreciated what Rick had to say on the subject. Also check out this great clip of one of RBP's favorite singers, Anita O'Day. Like everything RBP appreciated -- from baseball to jazz to great beer -- the song resonates with class.

Pistol Annies

2012-02-01T13:57:00.001-06:00

I've been playing the hell out of this album from Nashville super group -- Pistol Annies. Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley. Like most people, I've been pretty disenchanted with the sorry state of country music these days. This is a throwback to Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Highly recommended.

More Author Inspiration

2012-01-29T12:38:00.000-06:00

THE RANGER NOMINATED FOR EDGAR AWARD!

2012-01-22T18:36:00.000-06:00

Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction. The winners will be announced at a gala banquet on April 26 in New York.

Best Novel: The Ranger by Ace Atkins (G.P. Putnam's Sons); Gone by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press); The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur Books); 1222 by Anne Holt (Scribner); Field Gray by Philip Kerr (Marion Wood Books).

Best First Novel by an American Author: Red on Red by Edward Conlon (Spiegel & Grau); Last to Fold by David Duffy (Thomas Dunne Books); All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen (The Permanent Press); Bent Road by Lori Roy (Dutton); Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder (Thomas Dunne Books).

Best Paperback Original: The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit Books); The Faces of Angels by Lucretia Grindle (Felony & Mayhem Press); The Dog Sox by Russell Hill (Caravel Mystery Books); Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (Harper); Vienna Twilight by Frank Tallis (Random House Trade Paperbacks).

Best Fact Crime: The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins (Crown); The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T.J. English (William Morrow); Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (Doubleday); Girl, Wanted: The Chase for Sarah Pender by Steve Miller (Penguin Group); The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal (Viking).

Best Critical/Biographical: The Tattoed Girl: The Enigma of Steig Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of our Time by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer and John-Henri Holmberg (St. Martin's Griffin); Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making by John Curran (HarperCollins); On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press); Detecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective Film by Philippa Gates (SUNY Press); Scripting Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds and Marnie by Walter Raubicheck and Walter Srebnick (University of Illinois Press).

Best Short Story: "Marley’s Revolution" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by John C. Boland (Dell Magazines); "Tomorrow’s Dead" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by David Dean (Dell Magazines); "The Adakian Eagle” – Down These Strange Streets by Bradley Denton (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books); "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" – Down These Strange Streets by Diana Gabaldon (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books); "The Case of Death and Honey" – A Study in Sherlock by Neil Gaiman (Random House Publishing Group – Bantam Books); “The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Peter Turnbull (Dell Magazines).

Best Juvenile: Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams/Amulet); It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster); Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney-Hyperion); Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press); The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA).

Best Young Adult: Shelter by Harlan Coben (Putnam); The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Putnam); The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Knopf); The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines (Roaring Brook); Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (Egmont USA).

The Simon & Schuster - Mary Higgins Clark Award: Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books); Come and Find Me by Hallie Ephron (William Morrow); Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick (Minotaur Books); Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry (Crown); Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely (Thomas Dunne Books).

Remembering RBP Today

2012-01-18T17:24:00.000-06:00

Leavin' Trunk Returns

2012-01-10T16:26:00.001-06:00

I've heard the toughest of my books to find has been Leavin' Trunk Blues. My second novel was published way back in 2000, taking Nick Travers up to Chicago to interview a jailed blues singer named Ruby Walker. The research on this novel also took me to Chicago a lot, much of it on the South Side. I had the fortune of hanging out in some of the city's best blues clubs -- seeing the late Honeyboy Edwards, Junior Wells, Hubert Sumlin, and Pinetop Perkins. You talk about hardboiled. Man, these guys lived the life. What a thrill as a young writer getting to see and hear the masters in person. I know I learned as much about writing from them as I did Chandler and Hammett. The novel was rereleased on kindle this week.

Rainy Day Stuff

2012-01-07T12:22:00.000-06:00

This Week's Inspiration

2011-12-16T11:20:00.000-06:00

Best Christmas Gift Ever!

2011-12-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

Operators are standing by now at Square Books down in Oxford, Mississippi. You can also reach the store at (662) 236-2262 to buy signed first editions of The Ranger and all titles. Ace will also be personalizing books from now until Christmas only at Square Books. **Disclaimer: book clerk may not resemble above image.

Author Double Guns for May 2012

2011-11-18T10:11:00.000-06:00

OK. Here we go for 2012. The good folks at G.P. Putnam's Sons have decided to release my next two novels in the same month: May! So we'll not only see the first return of Quinn Colson in THE LOST ONES but also the 40th return of Robert B. Parker's iconic private eye, Spenser, in LULLABY. Both novels are already available for pre-order on Amazon.com. But so far, no one outside my publisher knows what either book is about. So for you guys, the real insiders, here is some insight:

THE LOST ONES takes place the following year after THE RANGER. Quinn, now sheriff of Tibbehah County, tackles everyday small-town crime with Deputy Lillie Virgil by his side. Their investigation of a child's serious injuries uncovers a baby-selling ring rife with disturbing abuse (this is based on an actual case here in north Mississippi). Meanwhile, Quinn's high school buddy Donnie Varner returns home from the front with a dangerous plan to cash in on his time with the Army. Donnie brings a Mexican cartel -- and a obsessed federal agent -- to Jericho's doorstep.

LULLABY takes place the following spring after we last saw Spenser in SIXKILL. Spenser helps a tough 14-year-old girl from South Boston find justice for her mother, who was murdered four years ago. The girl, Mattie, believes the wrong man is doing life for the crime, because she saw two other toughs shove her mother in a car the night she died. Spenser finds those two toughs are connected to Gerry Broz, the screw-up son of infamous crime boss Joe Broz, a man who's been missing for more than a decade and the top of the FBI most-wanted list.

James Garner Talks Getting High with Belushi and Punching Stepmother

2011-11-07T12:55:00.001-06:00

A few years ago, I found myself in Hollywood trying to pitch a new version of the Rockford Files to the series creator, the late Stephen J. Cannell. Cannell was witty and easy going, great giving time to me and my buddy, novelist Scott Morris. Cannell wasn't all that enthused about a Rockford Files show that was in the works at the time and we talked about revisiting the issue. He also invited me to have lunch with him and Jim Garner on my next trip to Los Angeles.
Cannell died a short time later of cancer. Cannell was so funny and larger than life, he never let on a moment that he was ill.
I doubt I'll ever have that chance to meet with Garner now -- one of my favorite all-time actors. From Maverick to Rockford to The Great Escape and even forgotten gems like Support Your Local Sheriff and Skin Game, no one could beat Garner for screen presence and sly wit. I think I borrowed a lot of his delivery in the creation of Nick Travers.
But now it looks like I'll be able to read the next best thing. Last week, Garner published his biography with all kind of great details about Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. Not to mention coming to blows with his stepmother in Depression-era Oklahoma and getting high with Jim Belushi. Maybe in a later post, I can tell the story of how a studio head nearly ruined the Rockford Files by not wanting Garner in the lead.

This Is Your Life -- Phenix City, Alabama

2011-11-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

A terrific and very rare clip of Hugh Bentley -- reformist of Phenix City, Alabama -- on This Is Your Life. This clip includes vintage commercials and interviews with many familiar faces in the Wicked City. Highly recommended viewing. -- Ace

Howlin' Wolf Disses Son House

2011-10-25T15:35:00.000-05:00

I ran across this clip while watching a documentary on the late, great blues master. It seems that Howlin' Wolf wasn't a big fan of Son House's drinking. As most of you know, Son House was the king, the innovator who all the younger guys -- Wolf being one of those -- respected. But according to close friends of mine who new Son House, he was also a heroic drunk -- turning up a bottle of gin or vodka as if it were water. In this clip, Wolf is plenty pissed about it. -- Ace

The Poetry of Bruce Lee

2011-10-24T14:06:00.001-05:00

Bruce Lee was about a lot more than just whipping ass. This is from the book Bruce Lee: Artist of Life compiled by his widow, Linda.

"Night Rain"

Sadness broods
over the world
I fear to walk in my garden,
lest I see
a pair of butterflies
disporting in the sun
among the flowers.

For more, check out the entire story.

Return to Tampa/St. Pete

2011-10-18T09:44:00.000-05:00

It's been about fifteen years since I first attended the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading. I was a rookie reporter then, just a lowly correspondent and occasional book reviewer for the newspaper. One of the perks was getting invited to the Festival parties and meeting some of my favorite writers at the time -- James W. Hall and Kinky Friedman.

In college, I'd been crazy about Hall's gritty and quirky Florida noirs about a Keys beach bum named Thorn. Hall is one of those terrific Florida crime writers who can wrap a hell of a social message in a terrifically entertaining novel. His books were funny and weird with some of the best villains I'd encountered since Ian Fleming. He was gracious enough to answer a lot of questions from a 25-year-old aspiring novelist. A lot of what he told me helped shape my career.

I'll get to spend some time with Hall again this weekend -- at the 19th Annual Festival of Reading. This time I'm honored to be one of the featured authors.

This is one of the last great book festivals in the country and I look forward not only to speaking but listening to many of my of my new favorite authors including the great Connie May Fowler.

Go to the festival site for more on times and authors. I'll start up at 11. a.m. This is my first trip back in many years to the place where I started my career.

Classic Actors on Vinyl

2011-10-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

During a weekend trip to my local bookshop I spotted a small coffee table book called Celebrity Vinyl written by Tom Hamling. The book is a showcase for the author’s novelty record collection featuring albums recorded by actors and other celebrities. The book is fun to flip through but Hamling’s a tough critic and seems to enjoy referring to his record collection as the “worst collection ever.” The book got me thinking about some of the most interesting celebrity albums that I’ve come across over the years. A surprising number of classic film and television actors I admire have recorded LPs and I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite discoveries. READ ENTIRE PIECE

An Online Shrine to Literary Spies

2011-10-04T14:10:00.000-05:00

There are all manner of spy cinema websites scattered about the Internet, but only one that is devoted exclusively to the source material for the many espionage films that have taken up permanent residence in our collective consciousness. Most filmgoers rarely give thought to the literary antecedents of their favorite silver screen spy, yet there would be no James Bond, Harry Palmer or George Smiley if Ian Fleming, Len Deighton and John Le Carre hadn’t created them. Fortunately, one man had the perception to recognize this oversight, plus the expertise and dedication to create “Spy Guys & Gals,” a cyber shrine to the numerous fictional agents — male and female — that have populated espionage fiction for the past five-plus decades. His name? Masteller. Randall Masteller. READ ENTIRE PIECE

John Huston and the Making of "The Maltese Falcon"

2011-10-01T09:47:00.000-05:00

Click Here For Story

Valdez is Coming!

2011-09-30T15:54:00.002-05:00

Double Indemnity

2011-09-29T16:16:00.000-05:00

I just read that Playmate Holly Madison has had her breasts insured for a million bucks with Lloyd's of London. I could think of no better occasion to trot out an old photo with Holly from a book signing in L.A. . . . . umm, or a press-related Playboy event I attended with my actor pal, Kris. Read the entire story about the million dollar breasts here.

I Still Love the Mustang

2011-09-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

The Third and Forgotten King of the Blues

2011-09-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

Now that music has gone digital, I really miss the days of thumbing through my record collection and finding that album I'd forgotten about. Just recently, I was recently sorting through my dusty CDs and ran across my beloved copy of "The Best of Freddie King." The only reason this had gone to the back shelf was that I played it too much.
Freddie King was a towering talent and one of my personal favorite all-time musicians -- a bluesman born in Texas, raised in Chicago who died in the 1970s while still in his early 40s. His style is so unique, a mix of Texas and Chicago blues, funk, soul, and Southern rock 'n roll. Lately I've been listening to Freddie nonstop. Some of you may recognize his hit "Goin' Down" as the theme song to "East Bound and Down." Take a minute to see Freddie live and get familiar with one of the real unique talents of blues. Warning, "East Bound and Down" is pretty raunchy, for immature audiences only.

90 Years Ago, Roscoe Arbuckle Should Have Stayed Home

2011-09-03T09:18:00.002-05:00

This Labor Day weekend marks the 90th Anniversary of the fateful trip to San Francisco that led to the downfall of one of Hollywood's first major stars. Silent film comedian Roscoe Arbuckle booked three rooms at the St. Francis Hotel, where he threw a grand party full of beautiful girls and bootleg whiskey. Sometime during the party, a bit-part player and sometime-model named Virginia Rappe got sick and died not long thereafter.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office charged the rotund actor with rape and murder, and that news set off the first major celebrity scandal.

The public quickly turned on Roscoe, who up to that point was widely adored and as popular as any movie star in 1921. He was on equal footing with Chaplin -- whom he helped start in the business -- and had just signed a million-dollar deal with Paramount. He'd gone to San Francisco to celebrate that new deal with a couple of Hollywood pals. During his trial, women spit on him.

What happened in that suite has been the source of debate and conjecture for almost a century now, but what continues to fascinate many people is Arbuckle himself and his great fall from stardom.

When I started work on my novel about the trial, Devil's Garden (G.P. Putnam's Sons 2009), I knew more about the myth than the facts. I was fortunate enough to find the trial transcripts intact and even Virginia Rappe's medical records. Those documents revealed no infamous Coke bottle and that a lot of initial slander about the case never panned out. My novel centered on the true involvement of a young Pinkerton detective working for the defense named Dashiell Hammett. Many critics believe the writer's hard-boiled world view came partly from watching the railroading of Arbuckle first hand.

Actors from John Belushi to Chris Farley have talked about making a movie on the Arbuckle scandal. Those projects, almost like the true story, have been doomed from the start.

To get a sense of the fury and circus around the Arbuckle trial, check out the spectacular image file at the San Francisco Public Library that includes rare stills of Arbuckle and newspapers photos of the trial.
Arbuckle actually suffered through three trials before finally being acquitted of all charges. But the damage was done. He had been vilified in newspapers throughout the world, and when he returned to Hollywood, he was banned from making movies by the newly formed Hayes Commission.

Ten years later, seldom remembered and broke, he died. Those lucky enough to discover his films at festivals or on DVD, will find one of early Hollywood's great talents.

Honey Boy Edwards Was the Real Deal

2011-08-31T11:06:00.001-05:00

Honey Boy Edwards died Monday at the age of 96. He toured and played up until the end. I got to meet and see him play numerous times in Mississippi. I was even featured in a documentary on his life -- "Honey Boy" -- about ten years ago. He traveled with Robert Johnson and played with many of the greats later in Chicago. He played simple songs in a deeply emotional way. His sweet, gravely voice was unforgettable.
Everytime I'd see him, I'd remind him we shared the same birthday -- June 28th. He thought that was pretty cool.
The Chicago Tribune adds: Born in Shaw, Mississippi in 1915, Edwards' father, a guitarist and violinist, bought him a guitar for $4 from a plantation worker. It led to his leaving home at age 14 to travel with bluesman Big Joe Williams.
Edwards went on to play with a number of noted musicians, including Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Muddy Waters. Among Edwards' hit songs were "Long Tall Woman Blues," "Gamblin Man" and "Just Like Jesse James."
Edwards won a 2008 Grammy for traditional blues album and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2010.
A funeral is planned for Thursday.

Paul Newman Drinks Coffee and Tries on Mustaches

2011-08-24T10:57:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I posted an advertisement with one of my favorite actors -- Steve McQueen -- selling cigarettes. A few people asked me about my other favorite actors doing commercials. Here's Paul Newman selling Maxwell coffee in Japan. For some reason coffee goes really good with a nice mustache on the side.

Johnny Cash 1963

2011-08-23T12:07:00.000-05:00

Nick Travers Returns

2011-08-21T10:58:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month, we released CROSSROAD BLUES on kindle to see who'd be interested in following the adventures of Nick Travers on these crazy devices. Well, the month isn't even over and the response has been pretty incredible. We're looking forward to releasing the second Nick Travers story -- LEAVIN' TRUNK BLUES -- in September, DARK END OF THE STREET in October, and DIRTY SOUTH this November. If the interest continues, we're thinking of a short story collection out this Christmas with some all-new Travers stories. In Ranger news, check out this insightful review that hit the wires today by book scholar/reviewer Don Noble.

Elmore Leonard in Rare Photos

2011-08-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

I've long considered Elmore Leonard one of the greatest American writers. At 85, he's still the hippest writer working today. I just stumbled upon this photo slide show of key moment's Elmore's life. His newest novel -- RAYLAN -- will be out this spring and I hear a new Western is in the works.

Author Walks Tall

2011-08-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

Much thanks to Associated Press writer Chris Talbott for taking time out from interviewing country music superstars Glenn Campbell and Jamey Johnson, to spend time with me in Adamsville, Tennessee. Chris and I met up at the Buford Pusser Museum there to talk a little about The Ranger, Burt Reynolds movies, and Spenser, too. A really terrific piece.

2 Series, 2 Times the Fun for Ace Atkins

By Chris Talbott, AP Entertainment Writer

Ace Atkins walks out of the Buford Pusser Museum with a big smile on his face and two large hands wrapped around a genuine "Walking Tall" souvenir stick.

The author of the "The Ranger" and new caretaker of Robert B. Parker's iconic Spenser series has spent the last hour touring the former home of the famed but doomed small-town Tennessee lawman whose story captured the imagination of Hollywood and the nation in the early 1970s.

Atkins is on a research high as he heads to lunch at the nearby SawMeal Restaurant on a sunny, sultry afternoon. As he sits down to a club sandwich and fries . . . MORE

Steve McQueen Unaware Cigarettes Aren't Cool

2011-08-02T14:30:00.000-05:00

Since I'm hard at work on the sequel to The Ranger, I don't have a lot of extra time to blog. As I continue to write, please enjoy this collection of ads Steve McQueen did for Viceroy cigarettes during his Wanted: Dead or Alive days. I still don't know what a thinking man's filter means but McQueen still looks cool shilling for the man.

Nick Travers Goes Electric!

2011-07-21T17:21:00.001-05:00

Muddy did it in '45.
Dylan did it in '65.
And now Nick Travers has gone electric. For the first time, all the Nick Travers' novels will be available on kindle. You might have seen those funny Etch A Sketch looking things on planes. Now all four Nick Travers' books will be available for download at amazon.com. We'll be releasing a new title every month starting in July with Crossroad Blues on kindle.

Two of those novels have been hard to find as of late -- Leavin' Trunk Blues and Dark End of the Street. So this will be an exciting chance to bring the Nick Travers' stories to a whole new audience. And to think Nick Travers doesn't even own a CD player -- he's vinyl only.

By the way, check out a bad-ass version of Leavin' Trunk by Taj at the link above.

What Would Nick Travers Read?

2011-07-16T08:18:00.000-05:00

I'm always heartened to hear from people who still remember my original creation, Nick Travers. The star of my first four novels, Nick was unlikely hero -- a New Orleans hipster music researcher who'd rather listen to a classic blues show, drinks a few Dixies, and sleeps in. He had also been a professional football player and was pretty good with his fists. But it took some prying to get Nick out of his comfortable NOLA groove.

So I'm always pleased when people ask me about what Nick has been up to since Dirty South. Will he make an appearance in The Ranger books? What happened to Nick after Katrina? Well, I honestly have no answers for those questions. But you will be pleased to know I can absolutely be certain what Nick would be reading right now -- The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'N' Roll.

A new book from Memphis author/journalist Preston Lauterbach takes on the fascinating, gritty all-too-true world of the old Chitlin' Circuit. For those of you who don't know, the Chitlin' Circuit was the road through a string of Southern music clubs in all-black neighborhoods. A lot of great acts got their start playing these clubs like Sam & Dave and many great acts were only known to the black audience of that time.

In the forties, many of these acts gave roots to the sound that became rock 'n roll.

The Washington Post says: Mr. Lauterbach uncovers a story as sensational as any day-glo circuit-show poster, featuring "the numbers racket, hair straighteners, multiple murders, human catastrophe, commercial sex, bootlegging, international scandal, female impersonation, and a real female who could screw a light bulb into herself—and turn it on." READ ENTIRE PIECE

That's like baiting a trap for Nick Travers. An all-too fascinating subject in the hands of a terrific storyteller. Hope you'll join Nick in picking up one of the summer's best books.

Quinn Vs. Snopes

2011-07-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

I just saw a review of The Ranger alongside a memoir written by Oxford pal, Dean Faulkner Wells. You may have heard of her uncle. He wrote a few books some time back. Leonard Gill with Memphis magazine is one of the few to get the background of Quinn and the world of Tibbehah County. I tip my hat and greatly enjoyed his piece.

Who is Dean Faulkner Wells? The short answer: co-founder, with her husband Lawrence Wells, of Oxford, Mississippi’s Yoknapatawpha Press, which since 1975 has published the work of Southern writers. The long answer to the question? That takes some doing, which is what Wells does in Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi (Crown).

“Where did I belong? Where were my people? Who was I?” Wells writes.

Deep Fried Love

2011-07-06T18:02:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the happy couple who got married in a convenience store where I often buy gas and coffee. Just when I think I'm pushing the Southern Gothic too far, I see these real Mississippi tales. They are greatly appreciated. God bless these folks for making a life altering decision before those snack cakes and to a wedding march played on a cell phone. Welcome to Deep Mississippi. You can bet the happy couple will turn up in Tibbehah County for The Ranger sequel. Click below for a terrific story by Jack Gurner.

WATER VALLEY – Danielle and Shelton were married last Thursday surrounded by family, friends, snack cakes, candy bars and beef jerky.

Knife vs. Gun

2011-07-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

For those keeping track of production, I'm putting the finishing touches on the new Spenser novel and headed right back into the sequel to The Ranger. Both novels will be out in 2012. As I return to writing about Quinn, I'm often reminded of James Coburn in The Magnificent Seven. For those of you in the know, you'll understand.

The French Actually Like Writers

2011-06-27T22:17:00.001-05:00

I finished up the last signing for The Ranger last Thursday in Jackson, Mississippi. But on Sunday I had a chance to speak to Francois Busnel, host of La Grande Librairie -- an extremely popular show in France focusing on writers. Can you imagine a show in America talking to writers instead of Real Housewives or fifth rate celebrities attempting to dance?
I met Francois in Memphis on Beale Street to discuss race, music, and the complexities of the South. The French are endlessly fascinated with Southern culture. They also love classic noir. So in the last few years, my Nick Travers stories have enjoyed a nice run of success. Even though I haven't written about Nick for seven years, a French audience is just discovering the books in translation. Francois and the wonderful crew from La Grande Librairie enjoyed a nice drink together at the Peabody bar before they headed to Jackson to speak to pal, Tom Franklin and then onto New Orleans to talk with James Lee Burke. This is all for a seven-part series on American authors and the regions they write about. Other authors highlighted on the show will be Jim Harrison, Pat Conroy, and Philip Roth.

Steve McQueen's Motorcycle License

2011-06-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

I saw this posted on the Sundance Channel website this morning. I agreed with the note on the post. It seems McQueen couldn't take a bad pic -- even a mug shot.

No Sleep in Seattle

2011-06-17T00:55:00.000-05:00

So . . . after I left the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, I joined my new pal Jim Drake for lunch at theBank of America Tower. Jim was one of the directors behind a lot of hit shows when I was a kid, everything from All in the Family, Good Times, to Alice and The Facts of Life. We spent most of lunch talking about our mutual love of Westerns, particularly Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. The tower offers the best views of Seattle and we studied it while we ate burgers and drank beer. You could almost see to Japan.

After I left Jim, I walked down to Pike Place Market. The fish stalls were closed and the fish throwers had all gone home for the evening. I stood on First Avenue to watch the ferries chugging home against the twilight. Dinner came courtesy of Steelhead Diner on Pine Street. I had some Copper River salmon and local clam chowder on the side. About midway through the rhubarb-strawberry pie, I was pretty sure I'd be returning to Seattle. Not a bad place to spend 22 hours. -- Ace

Postcards from the Road

2011-06-15T03:09:00.000-05:00

Shiner Bocks at the Texas Chili Parlor

2011-06-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

I'm in Austin tonight at 5 for a reading at the world-famous BookPeople. My buddy Jesse Sublett will be singing a few murder ballads between chapters. Jesse is not only the founding member of The Skunks but also a terrific writer of novels and histories.

On the road from Houston to Austin, I did make my annual pilgrimage to the Southside Market in Elgin. Best brisket I've ever had.

After the reading tonight, I'll probably wander down to the Texas Chili Parlor for some Shiner Bocks. You may know the bar from Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. The inside of the bar looks pretty much like the movie. But you won't find a parking lot or back porch. That was added from Tarantino's imagination. Here is one of my favorite scenes in the movie with music by Joe Tex.

Speaking of Quentin. I think Quentin would definitely appreciate Quinn. Much like Death Proof, The Ranger is my tribute to some of those terrific 1970s drive-in movies. More on that tomorrow . . .

On the Road

2011-06-11T15:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a couple days since my last post. It's been pretty damn busy.

THE RANGER tour kicked off to a great start in my home town of Oxford, Mississippi on Thursday.

My thanks to everyone who came for the Square Books reading and carried the event on over to the City Grocery bar.

Yesterday, I hit the road on up to Blytheville, Arkansas at the famous That Bookstore in Blytheville. The owner Mary Gay Shipley is one of my favorite people in the book biz and that sentiment is echoed by Bill Clinton and John Grisham who make her store a regular stop.

I just landed in Houston this afternoon for a 4:30 signing at Murder By the Book. This is my first signing there after the death of my great friend, David Thompson. Very strange to be here without him. Above is a very typical of photo of me and David drinking after the book reading and talking old movies and books.

Tomorrow I drive over to Austin to read at Bookpeople and hang out with my pals, Jesse Sublett and Scott Montgomery. Thinking maybe some natural barbecue from Ruby's and a few Shiners.

Monday night I'll be at A Real Bookstore (yep, that's the name) outside Dallas in Fairview for a cocktail party/reading at 6 p.m.. If you're in the area, please stop by. Apparently they've created a cocktail just for The Ranger made with plenty of Jack Daniels. Man, I love Texas!

Washington Post Talks The Ranger and the Roots of Redneck Noir

2011-06-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

By Patrick Anderson, Published: June 5

I confess to a perverse love of a subgenre I call redneck noir. Redneck noir, like all noir, offers a maximum of violence and a minimum of sentimentality, but it has the additional blessing of being acted out in the darkest recesses of the not-always-sunny South by people who prove themselves to be more dangerously disturbed than citizens of other, more tranquil regions.

Redneck noir has illustrious roots in Southern literature. One of its most sublime moments comes at the end of Flannery O’Connor’s great story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” when the maniac known as the Misfit, after killing a silly old woman, reflects, “She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.”

Elsewhere, William Faulkner gave us the backwoods sadist Popeye and the upwardly mobile white-trash clan of Snopeses; Erskine Caldwell embraced redneck noir in novels such as “God’s Little Acre”; and John D. MacDonald often set Travis McGee in conflict with narrow-eyed, big-bellied Southern psychopaths with names like Billy Bob and Bubba.

Ace Atkins’s “The Ranger” is a fine example of the subgenre. Atkins, who lives on a farm outside Oxford, Miss., has written eight previous novels, all or most set in the South, but this one begins a new series about an Army ranger named Quinn Colson. The novel’s plot is unoriginal. Colson, a tough survivor of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, returns to his home town for the funeral of his uncle, the local sheriff, who is said to have killed himself. He learns that his uncle might have been murdered and sets out to find the truth. Along the way, he must deal with various family problems — including a sister who has become a lap dancer — as well as with his high school sweetheart, who has married one of his best friends. A pregnant girl of 16 with a six-shooter in her backpack also complicates his life.

We’ve passed this way before, but what brings the story roaring to life is that it takes place in northern Mississippi, up near Memphis, in a fictional Tibbehah County that is populated by some of the most ignorant, mean-spirited, violent and generally deranged human beings who ever walked the Earth. We’re given a close look at a gang that is pumping methamphetamine into the county. At the bottom level are zonked-out teenage followers of a psychopath called Gowrie, who is preparing them for a Holy War of some sort. Above them in the food chain is Johnny Stagg, a latter-day Snopes who’s getting rich off meth and truck-stop prostitution and naturally has political ambitions. Farther up the line, in Memphis, are mobsters no one wants to think about.

Our ranger’s quest for justice is punctuated by choice moments of Southern-fried noir. A crazed evangelist vowed to save the life of a rich man with cancer: “Even when the man died, the preacher didn’t give up, refusing to let folks take the body from the church, letting the man lay there for nearly a week, telling everyone that he could raise [him] from the dead.” A senile gangster, during a gun battle in a convenience store, “found a spot up by the cash register, where he thumbed through porno mags and drank a beer, every so often giving a low whistle and saying, ‘Hot dang.’ ” Atkins has an unerring sense of the rural underworld of trailer parks, truck stops and meth labs.

Perhaps the reader must be a son or daughter of Dixie to fully appreciate Atkins’s dark vision. O’Connor used to say that she didn’t write about grotesques, just people she knew. In any event, “The Ranger” is a joy ride into the heart of darkness. Its plot may sound a bit likeLee Child’s Jack Reacher novels — ex-military killing machine takes on local toughs — but the Reacher series increasingly strikes me as expertly crafted comic books, whereas Atkins does more with characters and a sense of place. If anything, “The Ranger” recalls the hard-edged crime novels of Greg Iles, although Iles’s books are set in the more sophisticated (these things are relative) world of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Neither Atkins nor Iles writes pretty or uplifting stories, but their books ring true, at least if you’re not looking for magnolias and moonlight.

Anderson regularly reviews mysteries and thrillers for The Post.

Adios, Marshal Dillon

2011-06-04T13:09:00.001-05:00

In his size -- he was 6-foot-7 -- and his centeredness, James Arness suggested John Wayne, to whose production company he was under contract before he became the star of “Gunsmoke.” For 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, Arness, who died Friday at the age of 88, played Marshal Matt Dillon in what, along with “Law & Order,” is the longest-lived drama on American television. READ ENTIRE L.A. TIMES OBIT

Me & Honeyboy

2011-06-03T11:02:00.000-05:00

If you happen to get the Documentary Channel, check out "Honeyboy and the History of the Blues" tonight. I'm a featured interview in the doc, talking about the myth and legend surrounding Robert Johnson. Remember him? He was the subject of my very first novel in 1998. Be sure to also check out my beard. I had forgotten I had a beard when this thing was shot about ten years ago. I kind of miss the beard.

"Honeyboy and the History of the Blues" (June 3, 8 pm ET/PT) -- A legendary musician -- a a performer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama -- David "Honeyboy" Edwards was born on a plantation, hopped trains playing guitar around the country at age 16 and became an early pioneer of the musical phenomenon known as The Blues. Featuring interviews with Edwards, B.B. King and other Blues greats, "Honeyboy" is a biographical journey that is as much the story of the man as it is about the music that he helped to create.

Joan Parker Speaks

2011-06-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

This week Joan Parker was the guest on NPR's "Here and Now." She gives a tour of her home in Cambridge and talks about her relationship with her late husband. Listen until the end of the segment for a teaser on the new Spenser books. This year I've had the immense pleasure of getting to know Joan. You learn why Bob dedicated all those books to her.

Also check out today's piece in the Boston Globe about Bob's desk. I had the honor of chatting with Joan earlier this year in this very special place.

-- Ace

Happy Birthday, Andy Griffith

2011-06-01T10:49:00.000-05:00

Andy Griffith turns 85 today.
A real American icon, I don't think there is a town in America that doesn't get reruns of the "Andy Griffith Show." Like many people my age, there hasn't been a time I don't recall Sheriff Andy Taylor and the gang. But my favorite role for Griffith had to be as Lonesome Rhodes in the brilliant -- and somewhat forgotten -- Face In the Crowd. If you haven't seen this picture, you should rent it. Today. One of my all-time favorite films and one that really showcases the range of Griffith, a darkness and madness that's not to be missed.
But let's go back to Sheriff Andy for a moment.
Someone the other day asked me what The Ranger series is about. And I replied, "it's a very gritty version of the 'Andy Griffith Show.'" Just imagine Andy as a hardened Afghan war vet, Barney as a massive black wounded Iraqi war vet, and Opie as a mixed-race child of mysterious parentage.
I absolutely had the show in mind as I started this series. And my greatest thanks to Mr. Griffith today for his inspiration. Now someone let Otis out of the drunk tank.

Let's Talk Ranger

2011-05-31T09:41:00.000-05:00

Q&A with Ace Atkins on THE RANGER

1. You’ve spent the last seven years creating crime novels based on true events, with White Shadow, Wicked City, Devil’s Garden and Infamous. What brought you back to contemporary series fiction in The Ranger?

The idea of kicking off a new series actually started with my long-time editor, Neil Nyren. Neil edits John Sandford, Patricia Cornwell, Robert Crais, Tom Clancy and Randy Wayne White to name a few. So when he requests that you start a series, you take the idea very seriously.

The first four books of my career were series fiction, and I’m a huge fan of the form. I felt like my standalone novels had allowed me to grow, however, and develop new skills. It was just a good time to go back to the well, especially since I had been playing with a Mississippi-based character like Quinn in my head for a few years now.

2. So where did Quinn Colson come from, and what makes him someone you wanted to follow?

For the first time in decades, we’re seeing a mass of young men and women returning home from the frontlines of war. These soldiers have experienced things that make a transition back to normal life nearly impossible. I am fortunate enough to know a lot of them, from barely 20-year-old enlisted guys to officers who are my age, and I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices they’ve all made.

So many people of my generation and younger are completely wrapped up in trivial things. Our big problems aren’t really problems when you consider the state of the world. But there’s a subset of us who are different, who are truly heroes: the American soldier. Who better to serve as our fictional hero? And when I thought about the best soldiers, I knew that my hero had to have been a Ranger. They have a deep, rich history that goes back before the Revolution.

3. Did you have much help in getting Quinn’s Army background correct?

As luck would have it, as I began thinking about the series, I heard from an Army colonel serving in Afghanistan who’d just finished reading Devil’s Garden at Camp Phoenix. Through our emails, we became fast friends, with a mutual respect of classic crime, noir and good cigars. He put me in touch with a colleague, a former Ranger who’d taken part in several missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

That Ranger ended up being my advisor for this novel and helped me to ensure that Quinn’s background, skills and experiences were true. These guys pride themselves on being great woodsmen. And that’s perfect for a place as remote as Tibbehah County.

4. Tell us a little about Jericho, Mississippi and Tibbehah County, where the Quinn Colson novels are set. Is this a real place?

Tibbehah County could be several different counties in northeast Mississippi. I’ve borrowed from several and made my own county to explore. I wanted a county that would essentially be a throwback to old times, something as lawless and corrupt as a town from the Old West. I mean, if you really want to break down this series, it’s a contemporary Western. And yes, places like Tibbehah County really exist in Mississippi. Highway strip clubs, thieving politicians, meth dealers, corruption, plenty of people willing to look the other way, and some really great catfish joints, too. I read the local newspapers for story ideas and listen to gossip. Tibbehah County is based on four counties that surround where I live and I’ve take all the best – or worst – of each.

5. So far, The Ranger is built on the experiences of real people, set in a real place. What about its fictional influences? What kind of popular culture is at work in The Ranger?

I am a huge fan of the gritty realism of early 1970s filmmaking. Some of my favorite films of that period were set in the South, everything from Deliverance to Walking Tall. There was also a movement of films now known as Hixploitation films that I love. That includes cult films such as Billy Jack, Mr. Majestyk and White Lightning. Many of these films center on a soldier back from the front facing hard times as home. The premise was that simple and very attractive to me to take into current times.

6. From Quinn and his troubled sister Caddy to pregnant Lena walking a “fur piece” to find “Jody,” The Ranger is peppered with William Faulkner references. What influence does Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha County have on your modern crime novel?

First off, Faulkner was not only one of the greatest novelists of the 20^th Century, he was also one of the greatest crime novelists. Intruder in the Dust and Sanctuary are the obvious examples, but Absalom, Absalom and Light in August also have terrific elements now found in the modern crime novel. He also wrote several gripping short mysteries featuring attorney Gavin Stevens. Living in Oxford, you can’t help but soak up these influences; that’s the main reason I live here. People also forget that Faulkner wrote the screenplay to The Big Sleep and was very close to Dashiell Hammett. So you’ll find a lot of Chandler and Hammett and Faulkner in my novels, since those are the guys I’ve been soaking into my brain for the last 20 years or so.

But sure, starting a book with a wandering pregnant girl named Lena and having a bad guy named Gowrie was no coincidence.

7. What makes this novel different from the thousands of crime novels published every year?

I think the authentic Southern setting makes a big difference. It’s definitely different than the moonlight and magnolias South seen in most Hollywood movies or in books. This is a pretty gritty world that I try to represent with the utmost accuracy. My favorite films and books are rooted in the real world, and I appreciate authors who get it right. I could drive within 10 miles of my house and show you the real Tibbehah County. I could tell you dozens of recent stories like the ones you find in The Ranger. And I could introduce you to dozens of guys like Quinn and his friend, Boom.

8. Boom is one of the most intriguing characters in The Ranger. He’s a wounded veteran who’s definitely having a tough time making a go of it on the home front. How did he come about?

I think a lot of what Boom is going through came from the excellent Washington Post series about the troubles at Walter Reed hospital, and everything we’ve heard and read about battlefield injuries since then. I read about the hundreds of amputees returning home with physical and psychological scars. Thanks to advances in battlefield medicine, they had survived explosions and wounds that would’ve definitely killed them just 20 years earlier. Obviously, that’s wonderful, but what happens next after literally cheating death? Some of them fight back and go on to be recertified to fire weapons and serve, according to a story I read. But many others face a constant struggle to find their place in society after returning home changed forever. I did not want to water down Boom’s experience or his handicap. I wanted someone to accurately represent them in a true and heroic way.

9. Meth seems to be a consistent plague in rural areas of America. We’ve seen it addressed in countless news stories and even in an Oscar-nominated film, Winter’s Bone. What made you drew you to the epidemic?

Unfortunately, it’s a fact of life in the Deep South. A major methamphetamine operation was broken up by the local sheriff’s office only a couple miles from my house. It’s a cheap high that anyone can make with ingredients from their kitchen sink and some Sudafed. The laws are just getting some teeth in them to help with the problem but not before it’s ruined countless lives. From a storyteller’s point of view, these guys are about the same as the old moonshine runners. There’s a lot of money in a cheap high. And with the money comes the violence and crime.

10. What draws you to crime fiction? Why not a family drama or a coming-of-age tale?

Well, I think The Ranger actually is a family drama and a coming-of-age tale, and, I hope, a black comedy. I think the possibilities of crime fiction are limitless.

Hero-driven books are the most pure form of storytelling, from the ancient epics to today. In taking readers on the journey of the hero, you get to give a hell of a lot of social commentary. I think the best writers working today are crime writers. We are able to do the job of a novelist with less pretension and navel-gazing. There are wrongs to be righted and much to be learned on the journey.

11. When will we see a return of Quinn, Boom, and Lillie?

I am halfway into the second book in the series, set for release in summer 2012. One of the most important parts of writing a series is making sure you’ve found a world and characters that have not only a lot of story possibilities but who you also love and respect. I think The Ranger is just the jumping off point for these guys. They’re young and tough, and there is a ton of corruption and hidden secrets to uncover down in Tibbehah County.

A MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE

2011-05-29T21:44:00.000-05:00

This video was recorded from the dashboard of a Mississippi state trooper a few weeks ago. He was riding in the funeral procession for Staff Sergeant Jason Rogers. The Marine's body was returned home to Brandon, Mississippi from Helmand Province, Afghanistan where he was killed during combat operations. The incredible outpouring of support came in tribute but also to counter a protest set by a nutball "church" from Kansas. Music is by Jason Isbell of the Drive-By Truckers. Watch the entire video. I don't think any words would do justice to the respect shown here.

Cigar Retraction

2011-05-29T09:07:00.004-05:00

I would like to thank those who pointed out Dash Hammett could not have possibly been smoking a Cohiba cigar in that rare still I shared yesterday. The brand only came into existence in the late 1960s. Since I've been to Cuba, you'd think I would've known this.

The story goes that Cohiba came about when Fidel Castro's bodyguard shared some of his private stash. Castro liked the cigars so much that he set up production for himself and a other top Communist leaders in Cuba. This was about 1968. And, of course, this is not the same Cohiba you can buy in the U.S.

According to Castro: "I used to see the man smoking a very aromatic, very nice cigar, and I asked him what brand he was smoking. He told me that it was a special blend, but that it came from a friend who makes cigars and he gave them to him. I said, let's find this man. I tried the cigar, and I found it so good that we got in touch with him and asked him how he made it. Then we set up the house [the El Laguito factory], and he explained the blend of tobacco he used. He told which leaves he used from which tobacco plantations. He also told us about the wrappers he used and other things. We found a group of cigar makers. We gave them the material and that is how the factory was founded. Now Cohiba is known all over the world."

So I'll retract my guess and say it was probably a Romeo y Julieta. This is a pretty safe guess since that brand was founded in the late 1890s. I also think Dash and I have similar tastes. This was the brand I smuggled out of Havana a few years ago while researching White Shadow. An absolutely amazing cigar. Worth the risk of returning back to Havana.

By way of an apology, please enjoy the attached clip of Desi Arnez singing "Cuban Pete."

Hammett Loved a Good Cigar

2011-05-28T10:03:00.000-05:00

My pal Don Herron -- one of the foremost experts on Dashiell Hammett -- recently uncovered this rare photo of THE MAN himself. He culled it from a clip of a documentary about composer Harold Arlen. What a great find on the occasion on Dash's 117th birthday.
I'm a fan of cigars. Often cigars are regulated for bad guys in movies, douche bag CEOs, and a-holes on the golf course. But a cigar is a wonderful thing and can be enjoyed by cool people, too. Case in point, Dash Hammett! Quinn Colson -- hero of THE RANGER -- is known to enjoy a La Gloria Cubana. I just wish we could see the cigar's band. I'm betting an original Cohiba. Looks like a six ring.
Read Don's complete piece on the discovery at his excellent site. And if you are ever in San Francisco, be sure to take Don's Hammett tour of The City. And incredible journey down those mean streets.

Mad Men Will Return -- Just Not This Summer

2011-05-27T12:46:00.000-05:00

For the last four years, one of the highlights of summer was pouring a tall beverage and watching Mad Men every week. Since it's one of my all-time favorite shows, I was pretty bummed to learn Season 5 would not be on in 2011. But some good news on this front, I hear -- after a lot of contract negotiations with AMC -- Mad Men will return.
As a side note, two years ago I was able to get into the lobby of Sterling-Cooper while visiting a buddy on a nearby set in Los Angeles. You notice I mention the Sterling-Cooper lobby. We tried to break into the office set but it was closed for the summer.
Good things come to those who wait. Check out the article below from TV Line about Jon Hamm directing the first episode of Season 5:
Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm just got the kind of promotion that I dare say would impress even Don Draper: The actor will step behind the camera to direct the Emmy winning drama’s fifth season premiere. “The wheels have officially been set in motion to make that happen,” Hamm tells TVLine. “It’s a very exciting challenge that I’m looking forward to with a mixture of utter fear and excitement.” MORE

Burt Could've Been The Ranger

2011-05-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

My buddy Ted "Train" O'Brien once told me that once your book is published, it ceases being yours. The reader takes it over and fills in your words with their imagination.

But sometimes you get a reader who sees your world exactly as you drew it. Below is one of the first reviews out on The Ranger. Scott Montgomery runs the crime/thriller section for one of the largest bookstores in the country -- BookPeople in Austin, Texas. I don't know when I've enjoyed a review more. Scott definitely got what The Ranger was all about.

THE RANGER by Ace Atkins

Scott Montgomery

As someone who has dealt with writer Ace Atkins, I could tell this book is a mix of his many loves and influences. Blues and country & western music, Drive-in action movies for the southern set, classic crime novels, southern literature, and westerns all leave a footprint or several on the pages. Ace’s original voice and enthusiasm pull it all together into something fresh and original

Army Ranger Quinn Colson home from a tour in Afghanistan to bury his uncle, the sheriff of Tibbehah County that’s overrun with meth and crime. Lillie Virgil, the cute deputy he grew up with, says it was murder. When Johnny Stagg, the town boss, tries to take his uncle’s land from him, Quinn grabs his badass one-armed buddy and set out to run the bad guys out of town.

Like Dashiell Hammett, Atkins melds pulp with politics and current events seamlessly without ham-fisted preaching. He uses the genre to look at a small town America that has been gutted by poverty and drugs, populated by men used and jaded from rich men’s wars. His fictional small town corruption mirrors the bigger real life social corruption, all while delivering more fun dialogue, fights, and speeding cars. The Ranger fires on all cylinders like a Trans-Am in a Burt Reynolds movie. I can't wait to do more laps around the track with Quinn Colson behind the wheel.

Author Searches for Suitcase

2011-05-23T10:47:00.000-05:00

In two weeks, it's tour time again. The Ranger -- the first book in a series about Army bad-ass Quinn Colson -- hits stands from coast to coast on June 9. My book tour -- see the link on my Press page -- will take me through 13 different cities -- from Alabama to Seattle. Arizona and Texas in between.
For my long-time readers -- this is my ninth novel -- you know how I love to post tour updates as I go. I'll be posting pics and stories from the road. Mostly, I'll be blogging on the local food and dive bars I encounter on the way.
One of the best things about book tour is catching up with old friends. I've been doing this since 1998 when Crossroad Blues came out and it's always a highlight of the year. If anyone checking the schedule has recommendations in cities I'm visiting, please let me know. Time if short from town to town, but I always welcome a chance to find a new bars and restaurants. And I always look forward to meeting new and old readers at the bookstores. Check back to the blog often -- updates will be fast and furious for the next several weeks.
Hope to see you out there.

WICKED CITY -- THE BOOK TOO MEAN TO DIE

2011-05-14T10:38:00.002-05:00

Last month, my sixth novel was tapped for a nice honor -- WICKED CITY was chosen for a Community Wide Read by the Huntsville, Alabama public library system. This meant that every single book club in the city was discussing Lamar and Reuben, Hoyt Shepherd and Fannie Belle.
This really terrific honor was supposed to culminate with a talk at the end of the month. They screened "The Phenix City Story" and even had a local burlesque troupe perform a bawdy tribute to America's Wickedest City.
This was the same week a batch of horrific storms devastated large parts of the state. While the burlesque troupe made the gig, I'm rescheduled for the night of Wednesday, May 25th, at the main branch of the library.
I have also heard from several teachers picking up WICKED CITY for both lit and Southern Studies courses. I recently spoke to my pal Jack Pendarvis's crime fiction class here at the University of Mississippi on WICKED CITY.
And, this just in, WICKED CITY is now in development for a major motion picture. I'll be discussing more details as they develop. And everyone knows, it's a long road from page until premiere. But I'm thrilled with the creative, native Alabama talent taking on the project.
One of the biggest compliments is to have a novel that continues to capture the imagination of readers. -- Ace
(photo: PC kingpin Hoyt Shepherd)

The Long Version

2011-04-28T00:15:00.000-05:00

THE ROBERT B. PARKER ESTATE AND LONG-TIME PUBLISHER G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS STRIKE A DEAL TO CONTINUE PUBLICATION OF PARKER’S TOP BEST-SELLING SERIES, SPENSER AND JESSE STONE, WITH NEW AUTHORS

Michael Brandman, Producer and Screenwriter of the CBS-TV “Jesse Stone” Movies, to Take Over Jesse Stone Novels in September 2011; Putnam Crime Novelist Ace Atkins to Continue Spenser Series in Spring 2012

New York, New York, April 27, 2011 … The Robert B. Parker estate and his long-time publisher G. P. Putnam’s Sons have come together to strike a deal that will allow Parker’s top best-selling series, Spenser (39 novels since 1974) and Jesse Stone (9 novels since 1997), to continue in the hands of two new, highly respected and accomplished writers, Michael Brandman and Ace Atkins.

Joan Parker, Robert’s widow, and his soul-mate since they met as teenagers in Massachusetts in the early 1950s, expressed her enthusiasm for the new arrangement with Putnam and the new authors: “I am delighted that the worlds of Spenser and Jesse Stone will live on in the capable, talented hands of such gifted writers,” she stated. “Through the Jesse Stone television movies, our dear friend Michael Brandman knows Jesse perhaps better than anyone other than Bob. And what an inspired choice Ace Atkins is! An established author of his own franchises, he is a true Spenser fan who possesses an extraordinary understanding and reverence for the characters Bob created. I am sure all Spenser and Jesse Stone fans will share my excitement for what is to come.”

Ivan Held, president of G. P. Putnam’s Sons, noted that “It is exciting to think that we can keep these two iconic characters that Bob invented going with the deft touches of our new authors, Michael Brandman and Ace Atkins –under the eye of Bob's longtime editor Chris Pepe. They have truly captured the voice that gave - and still gives - so many readers great pleasure.”

Robert B. Parker, who authored more than 60 novels between 1974 and 2010, most of them national best-sellers, passed away in January of 2010, after which his last few completed novels were published posthumously by Putnam. The final work, Sixkill, the 39th entry in the beloved Spenser series about the now-legendary Boston private detective who goes only by his surname, will appear on May 3. Parker also wrote nine novels featuring Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone, along with a number of well-received Westerns and other crime and suspense works. Among his many other awards, Parker was awarded the prestigious Grand Master designation by the Mystery Writers of America in 2002.

Michael Brandman, a long-time collaborator of Robert B. Parker’s, will write the first new Parker-brand book, a Jesse Stone novel. Brandman is a long-established Hollywood producer and screenwriter who, with actor Tom Selleck, both co-wrote and produced the CBS television movies featuring Selleck as Parker’s creation Jesse Stone, a small-town Massachusetts police chief, in such films as Stone Cold, Night Passage, Sea Change and Death in Paradise, and earlier also produced three adaptations of Parker’s Spenser novels for the A&E network. Brandman’s first Jesse Stone novel is entitled Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues, which will be published on September 13, 2011. Brandman had this to say about inheriting the Parker legacy as the new author of the Jesse Stone series:

“Bob Parker and I collaborated on some eleven movies...seven Jesse Stones; three Spensers and Monte Walsh, a western starring Tom Selleck; writing that one was a major hoot. Selleck of course would go on to master the role of Jesse Stone years later for our CBS movies. Bob was a total original. Whether we were writing together or he was acting, as he did so memorably as the superspy Ives in A&E’s Small Vices, or pounding the Hollywood pavement pitching ideas, he always maintined an ironic distance, the ability to comedically comment on anything and everything.
“It’s an amazing honor to succeed him in writing the Jesse Stone novels. Bob set the bar stunningly high and by so doing, threw down the gauntlet for his successors. Although I welcome this challenge, the truth is I’d much rather be sitting across from him in some restaurant, gabbing, chomping and laughing with him like we were a pair of lunatics. He was a great man and I loved him.”

Ace Atkins, who will be continuing as the new author of the best-selling Spenser series, is already well-established with the Putnam imprint, having authored a number of well-received novels based on historical crimes and criminals, including White Shadow, Infamous and Wicked City. Of his work, USA Today enthused, “Atkins is an astute observer of life as well as a singular voice in fiction,” while The Chicago Tribune called him “a major player in the mystery genre.”

Atkins, who lives in Oxford , Mississippi , noted: “I am thrilled and honored to be continuing such an iconic series. I've been a Robert B. Parker fan since high school; reading Spenser is what inspired me to become a crime novelist. Years ago, my mom waited in a long line at a booksigning in Atlanta to get a copy of Double Deuce signed by Parker for my 21st birthday. The inscription he wrote is when I first learned Bob's nickname was Ace. It's still one of my prized possessions. For me and a ton of readers, Spenser occupies that fourth chair at a table shared by Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Lew Archer. There are plenty of imitations but only one Spenser.”

Atkins has his own new crime series featuring Army Ranger Quinn Colson debuting in June 2011 with The Ranger. His first Spenser novel will be released in the Spring of 2012.

Chris Pepe, Parker’s longtime editor at G. P. Putnam, recalled, “I started working with Bob Parker as a young editor more than twenty-three years ago. Although I was new to the publishing world, I knew Bob: he had long been one of my father's literary idols, and therefore became one of mine. How lucky for me, then, to work with him for all those years, on forty-seven incredible books. He was an absolute joy, and clearly very patient: he's the one who really taught me to be an editor, and so I owe him a tremendous debt. I'm thrilled that we have found two such talented writers to carry on Bob's work; they respect and understand the characters of Spenser and Jesse, and are ideal stewards to bring both series into the future.”

Parker’s agent of four decades, Helen Brann, who had represented Parker ever since his first book, the 1974 Spenser debut The Godwulf Manuscript, noted, “I was honored to be Bob Parker’s literary agent for forty years and the future of his legacy, all those books, written with the wit, observation, irony and wisdom unique to Bob’s brilliant talent is very important to me. Who could possibly measure up? Capture that voice, the humor, the smarts? Do justice to the iconic character, Spenser, and the complex Jesse?

“Amazed, excited for the future, and grateful I am that Putnam’s has found Michael Brandman to write Jesse Stone and Ace Atkins to write Spenser. These two writers are both gifted and as Robert B. Parker fans will see, they capture the essence of these characters and will carry their stories forward in great style. It shows on every page they write that Michael and Ace have enormous respect and love for Bob’s work. His legacy is safe with them.”

AUTHOR BIOS

ROBERT B. PARKER:

Robert B. Parker, the bestselling, award-wining author of more than 45 books for Penguin Group (USA)'s G. P. Putnam's Sons and Berkley Books imprints, died suddenly on January 18, 2010 at his home in Cambridge , Massachusetts . He was seventy-seven. Long acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction, Mr. Parker was named Grand Master of the Edgar Awards in 2002 by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen.

He was renowned for his Spenser novels, featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye, which earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim. Mr. Parker also launched two other bestselling series featuring, respectively, Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone and Boston private detective Sunny Randall. In addition, Mr. Parker authored four Westerns. Mr. Parker's bestselling Western novel Appaloosa was made into a major motion picture by New Line, starred Ed Harris and Vigo Mortensen, and was a box office hit in 2008.

Mr. Parker was born on September 17, 19 32 in Springfield , Massachusetts . He graduated from Boston University , where he received his Masters and PhD. He was married to his wife Joan H. Parker for fifty-three years. They attended Colby College together, and they were married in 1956, after Mr. Parker completed his Army service in

Korea

. They have two sons, David, a dancer/choreographer, and Daniel, an actor. Mr. Parker dedicated most of the 60-plus books he wrote to his wife and once said, "Joan has been the central factor in my life since I was a child. You wouldn't understand me unless you understand me and her."

MICHAEL BRANDMAN:

Michael Brandman grew up in South Orange , New Jersey . He studied Theatre at Carnegie Institute of Technology. Brandman was the first Director of Program Development for HBO. He now lives in Los Angeles , California , with his wife, the actress Joanna Miles. He has two sons.

Along with Tom Selleck, Brandman both wrote and produced a series of movies for CBS based on the

bestselling Jesse Stone novels written by Robert B. Parker. These include “STONE COLD,” “NIGHT

PASSAGE,” “DEATH IN PARADISE ,” “THIN ICE,” “SEA CHANGE,” “NO REMORSE” and

“INNOCENTS LOST.” He also produced adaptations of three Spenser novels written by Robert B. Parker,

“WALKING SHADOW,” “SMALL VICES,” and “THIN AIR.”

ACE ATKINS:

Ace Atkins is the author of nine novels, including The Ranger , the debut novel in the Quinn Colson series, from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

A former journalist who cut his teeth as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune, he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues, at 27 and became a full-time novelist at 30.

While at the Tribune, Ace earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which earned raves from noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City , Devil’s Garden, and Infamous, blended first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. The historical novels told great American stories by weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.

The Ranger represents a return to Ace’s first love: hero-driven series fiction. Quinn Colson is a real hero—a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan —who returns home to north Mississippi to fight corruption on his home turf. The first Quinn Colson novel, a contemporary book with a dash of classic westerns and noir, hits stores in summer 2011.

Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford , Mississippi with his family.

Trouble Is My Business

2011-04-27T23:55:00.003-05:00

OK. So you wound up on my website after reading about me writing the new Spenser. Your first question might be, "Who in the hell does this guy think he is?"
Well, I'm sure I'm not Bob Parker. RBP is an icon of crime writing. Most critics seat him at the table of the Big Four with Hammett, Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. He's a legend and a true hero of mine.
I got into classic crime writing by being a fan of Mr. Parker's work. He introduced me to those who influenced him. And after reading every word he wrote -- most multiple times -- I learned from him, too.
It wasn't up to me to decide if Spenser should continue. This was a decision made by Mr. Parker's family.
And if they wanted Spenser to take on more cases, I wanted to be a part of it.
The fortieth Spenser will be my tenth book. I started my career covering the crime beat for a major newspaper. I've been a full-time novelist for the last ten years with my last four books centered on famous American criminal cases -- one of my last told the true story of Dashiell Hammett's work as a Pinkerton.
Most important to Spenser fans, I'm a man who appreciates baseball, good beer and food, and dogs.
Although I'm almost finished with the new Spenser novel -- after working on it for many months -- it won't be out until next spring. Being able to write about Spenser, Susan, and Hawk is more fun than I could have ever imagined.
I can tell you this, the estate could not find another writer more passionate about Mr. Parker's work or more honored to continue this iconic series.
I know he has many more cases left. Boston needs Spenser.
And I for one wasn't ready to see him go. For now, the office light at the corner of Berkeley and Boylston remains on. I hope to keep it shining a good long while. -- Ace

G.P. Putnam's Sons Announce Ace's Summer Book Tour

2011-03-18T10:00:00.001-05:00

THE RANGER TOUR -- SUMMER 2011

June 9 OXFORD, MS Square Books

June 10 BLYTHEVILLE, AR That Bookstore in Blytheville

June 11 HOUSTON, TX Murder By the Book

June 12 AUSTIN, TX Bookpeople

June 13 DALLAS, TX A Real Bookstore

June 14 SAN FRANCISCO, CA M is For Mystery

June 15 SEATTLE, WA Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 16 PHOENIX, AZ Poisoned Pen

June 17 NEW ORLEANS, LA Garden District Bookshop

June 18 MONTGOMERY, AL Capitol Book & News

June 21 MEMPHIS, TN Davis-Kidd

June 23 JACKSON, MS Lemuria

Happy Birthday, Baby

2011-03-08T09:34:00.001-06:00

Jean Harlow would have turned 100 this month. Since she only lived 26 years, it's hard to think of her as old.
A couple of years ago, while researching INFAMOUS, Harlow was everywhere. In 1933, she was Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s, Madonna in the 1980s.
I ran across a piece in the Kansas City Star -- the same week as the big train station massacre -- with the news that Harlow was back home. She'd been born and partially raised in Kansas City and the news that the movie star was around town was front page stuff.
Her soft white skin and platinum locks made her the ideal subject for the hundreds of movie star magazines. Her easy comedic style and confident voice made her a sensation in the new sound pictures. How many actresses could have held their own with Gable and Powell?
She'd later fall in love with Powell -- as you'll learn in this month's TCM profile -- when she was hit with kidney failure brought on by a childhood illness. This month, TCM is running Harlow films every Tuesday night. And it's easy to see why she's one of the best remembered actresses of all time.

Tonight kicks off with Red-Headed Woman at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Nobody Could've Done it Better -- Ben Hecht's 007 Script

2011-03-07T18:49:00.002-06:00

Just read a terrific piece in the The Telegraph about a recently unearthed 007 film script written by Ben Hecht.
Hecht was the screenwriting genius behind the films His Girl Friday, Gunga Din, Spellbound, and Notorious. He also had a hand in Gone with the Wind.
But it looks like his version of Casino Royale would've been a hell of a movie. Here are a few choice details from the excellent piece by thriller writer, Jeremy Duns. (By the way, Duns retro spy novels are fantastic reads.)
** Characters include Lili Wing, a beautiful but drug-addicted Eurasian madam who once had a fling with Bond, and her girlfriend, Georgie, who carries a black kitten on her shoulder.
** A car chase through Hamburg’s red light district ending with Bond drenched in mud disguised as a lesbian wrestler.
This may have topped Goldfinger as the greatest Bond flick of all time. Check out the entire piece.

Tough Without a Gun

2011-02-23T09:32:00.001-06:00

Just last week, I got received a copy of the new Bogart biography from my buddy, Nick Childs. Nick and I share a lot of the same interests in noir, crime, and indie film. Check out his short film The Shovel starring David Strathairn.(The film took home top honors at the Tribeca Film Fest a few years ago.)

As you'll read in this recent piece in the L.A. Times, Bogart was product of tough times -- the Depression and two world wars. Nick was saying to me, perhaps -- look at the headlines -- there is another Bogart out there waiting to be discovered. I'm not so sure. But Nick made a great case for it. I'm only a few chapters into the bio but there was no one like Bogart. Hell, he was Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe!

Not to mention Bogart was married to the best looking woman of all time. Speaking of Lauren Bacall, check out the recent profile of her in Vanity Fair. She still has the stuff in her 80s!

car-crashing, plane-jumping, & bone-breaking

2011-02-10T11:16:00.000-06:00

After a week of vacation, I'm back on the blog. This morning I came across this gem on one of my favorite movies of all time -- Smokey and the Bandit. Here's an excerpt on how director Hal Needham got the idea for the Southern classic. His new book sounds like a terrific read and can't wait to get a copy. Speaking of Smokey and the Bandit, it's come up for debate here in Oxford about the makings of a Diablo sandwich. Fans of the film will know the scene where Buford T. walks into a barbecue restaurant and orders a Diablo and a Dr. Pepper. Yet no one seems to know what makes one. For the last several years I've been trying to get my buddy Randy Yates to add one to the menu at the Ajax Diner here in town. I'm pretty sure it's just a barbecue sandwich with hot sauce and jalapenos. Hope he'll bring it back soon. Check out the famous scene here.

Wanda Jackson and Jack White Have Special Relationship

2011-01-26T10:57:00.001-06:00

Read a nice piece about rockabilly royalty Wanda Jackson apprehension about working with Jack White on a new album. Hopefully you heard Jack's terrific work with Loretta Lynn on "Van Lear Rose" -- one of my favorite albums of the last decade. Hope to see this duo in person, until then here's the clip from Letterman. God bless you, Jack.

J.D. Salinger -- Tough Guy

2011-01-26T10:49:00.001-06:00

The reason most recent offerings from the literary elite leave me cold is that the authors have little say. How much experience can a writer have from college into an MFA program and then onto the NYC cocktail party scene? But the real ones, the great ones, had personal stories to tell -- even if they didn't flaunt them. I was unaware of J.D. Salinger's WWII experience until I read about the latest bio -- which sounds fascinating. I've always thought of Holden Caulfield as a kind of kid gumshoe and Catcher in the Rye being a great noir -- no wonder.

Fritz Lang Hated Happy Endings

2011-01-26T10:33:00.000-06:00

Great piece on German noir genius Fritz Lang today in the New York Times. Fritz directed a couple of my all-time favorite films: The Blue Gardenia and The Big Heat. It seems getting good movies made was even a pain in the ass for Fritz. A new retrospective of his work opens this weekend in NYC.

Susannah York

2011-01-16T11:19:00.000-06:00

One of the my favorite mod girls of the Sixties has died. Susannah York is best known for her work in Tom Jones. But I first fell in love with her in the James Coburn vehicle, Duffy. She was absolutely the coolest chick in the world in '68. She'll be missed. Read the Associated Press obit.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED AUBURN ISSUE

2011-01-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

It only took 17 years to be featured on SI again. This time as a writer. Check out the Back Page/Final Say column of SI's special National Championship issue for Auburn. The issue just hits newsstands today.

007 returns 2012

2011-01-12T08:21:00.000-06:00

Regular readers of this blog know what I fan I am of Ian Fleming and the James Bond films. So I was pretty pleased to see this item move across the wire today. MGM finally announced Bond 23 with not only Daniel Craig returning but Sam Mendes directing. This is going to be great. Read the entire piece here.

CHILEAN MINER VISITS GRACELAND

2011-01-09T11:34:00.000-06:00

The first Elvis song that Chilean miner Edison Peña heard was "Heartbreak Hotel." Peña was in high school at the time, and it was the start of a lasting devotion to Elvis that will bring him to Graceland next week as part of the late singer's birthday celebration.

Edison Peña

"Muchas gracias," said Peña, a national hero of Chile who will get a chauffeured ride in a 1956 pink Cadillac to Elvis' birthplace in Tupelo, Miss., as part of his visit.
Peña was among the miners who survived 69 days this year buried in a caved-in gold and copper mine almost a half-mile below ground. When Graceland learned that he is what he calls an "Elvis fanatic," it arranged to send an MP3 player filled with Elvis music into the mine shaft for him. READ ENTIRE STORY HERE

THE RANGER jacket design

2010-12-22T13:51:00.000-06:00

Here's an early Christmas gift to my wonderful readers from the good folks at G.P. Putnam's Sons. This is the jacket design for THE RANGER -- in fine bookstores across the nation on June 9, 2011.

THE RANGER Soundtrack

2010-12-20T22:19:00.001-06:00

For the last dozen years, readers have been asking me about putting together a soundtrack for each book. Since a ton of my inspiration and mood comes from music, I've long thought this to be a pretty good idea. The problem comes in wrangling all the legal rights to the songs and how and where to compile the music. I can make lists and you can search on your own, but there's nothing like finding a complete album that was the basis, inspiration for a novel. So, I've finally found an easy way to make this work. The only catch is that you have to have iTunes version 10 to make this happen. If you don't, download here. From there, it's pretty easy. I've decided to kick this off with the music that provided the background music as I wrote my latest. For THE RANGER, it's been the sounds of the North Mississippi Hill Country. This isn't the blues you know from the Delta, but a rougher, rawer sound that feels just about right in Tibbehah County, Mississippi. DOWNLOAD THE RANGER SOUNDTRACK. Above photo from the great Bill Steber. For more of his work - including the cover of the 10th Anniversary Crossroad Blues -- check out his website.

My French teacher would be so proud . . .

2010-12-15T11:03:00.001-06:00

Next month, Devil's Garden will be published in France. This will be my fourth novel for Le Masque and my longtime editor, Marie-Caroline Aubert -- they also published Dark End of the Street (Blues Bar), Dirty South (Dirty South), White Shadow (Tampa Confidential).

Translations often keep an English title but often changed to something that resonates more with French readers. But for Devil's Garden, we're getting a literal translation -- LE JARDIN DU DIABLE -- which sounds even better in French.

My readers in France have always been my most loyal fans (they know a little about Noir) and I can't wait for Roscoe Arbuckle's return to Paris. Only a year before his trial, he was greeted in the city by thousands of adoring fans.

Below is of note to my 10th and 11th grade French teacher, Peggy Todd. She wouldn't believe it!

Présentation de l'éditeur

1921, San Francisco. Samuel (plus tard Dashiell, quand il commencera à écrire) Hammett, enquêteur pour Pinkerton, est chargé d’interroger les témoins de ce qui va être le grand procès du monde du cinéma : Roscoe Arbuckle, dit Fatty, célèbre star du comique muet, est accusé d’avoir, lors d’une orgie dans son hôtel, « écrasé » une jeune actrice, Virginia Rappe, provoquant sa mort. L’affaire est un coup monté, dont le livre nous développe les étapes en alternance avec le cheminement de Hammett, marié à une infirmière, tuberculeux, adorant son métier, fumant et buvant beaucoup, et posant toujours les bonnes questions. Il rencontre en route une séduisante blonde, agent du FBI, qui cherche à découvrir qui a approvisionné en alcool la fameuse orgie qui a mal tourné.
Outre les deux personnages principaux, les rôles secondaires sont des « people » aussi célèbres que Marion Davies et Howard Hugues, grand instigateur du complot. Le Jardin du diable est aussi une réflexion sur les mœurs dépravées de l’époque, l’obsession de la célébrité et de l’argent, la corruption des magistrats et l’impunité de Hearst : le côté Amérique pourrie qui a poussé Hammett à écrire par la suite Moisson rouge et La Clé de verre.

Traduit de l’américain par Christophe Mercier

Biographie de l'auteur

Natif de l’Alabama, Ace Atkins, 40 ans, vit dans le comté d’Oxford, Mississipi, au pays de Faulkner. Ace a pratiqué le football en championnat, été un temps libraire, puis journaliste. Ses enquêtes criminelles dans le Tampa Tribune lui ont valu d’être nommé pour le Livingston Award et pour le prix Pulitzer en 2001. Il est l’auteur de Blues Bar, Dirty South Rap et Tampa Confidential (Le Masque).

NICK TRAVERS STORIES

2010-12-08T09:04:00.001-06:00

It seems that most of my email these days focuses on one question: Where is Nick Travers? Don't fret, folks. He's still around. If you read Nine Below Zero in the Delta Blues short story collection, you'll know he's happily living in an Airstream trailer in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He also showed up in Last Fair Deal Gone Down in last year's rerelease of Crossroad Blues. But more is on the way. In 2011, Busted Flush Press is bringing back both Dark End of the Street and Leavin' Trunk Blues in special edition trade paperbacks. Each new edition, as with Crossroad Blues, will feature a new Nick Travers' short story. All three editions were designed by the amazing graphic artist, Mark Francis. So who can say? It would be good to see him in a new adventure soon. -- Ace

INFAMOUS CHRISTMAS & GEEZER NOIR

2010-12-08T08:47:00.001-06:00

Don't forget that Square Books in Oxford, MS still has signed copies of Infamous. I also will be glad to personalize copies at the store in the coming weeks -- until Christmas. Also take note the new noir collection Damn Near Dead 2 has just been released. This was the last collection put together by my great friend David Thompson and includes new short stories by C.J. Box, Don Winslow, Carolyn Haines and many other terrific writers. I contributed a brand-new short story -- The Long Last Ride of El Canejo -- just for the collection. The collection focuses strictly on "Geezer Noir." You got to love old folks and crime.

Irvin Kershner

2010-11-29T08:55:00.002-06:00

By now, most of you heard that Leslie Nielsen died. One of the all-time great comedic performers. But you may not have heard about Irvin Kershner's death. Kershner was an old-hand when he took the reigns of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in the early 80s. This is without doubt the greatest film in the Star Wars franchise.

And for those with a keen eye, you'll recognize that Empire is also a terrific Noir -- a jaded hero, double crosses, and the bad guys win. Not surprising since Kershner also directed the classic STAKEOUT ON DOPE STREET in the '50s about some hooligans who find a heroin stash.

For more go here.

MORE INFAMOUS

2010-11-21T10:24:00.001-06:00

Even though I finished INFAMOUS some time back and have moved onto new books, I'm still kind of obsessed with the "Machine Gun" Kelly story and some of the side characters who've been lost to history.

Last week, I just stumbled across more images of my favorite character in the tale -- 12-year-old Geraline Arnold. Many readers have written me about Geraline, saying there was no way she was real. Most people think I based her on the Tatum O'Neal character from Paper Moon.

While there are a lot of similarities, Geraline was certainly a real person and did in fact play the biggest role in sending Public Enemy #1 to Alcatraz. As you may recall, she was the daughter of Luther and Flossie Mae Arnold, a couple of Dust Bowl farmers picked up by Kathryn Kelly after the Urschel ransom drop.

I've uploaded a few more rare photos of the players -- including a great shot of Kathryn playing the piano in the Big House and Kathryn and her family during the trial in Oklahoma City.

Speaking of Oklahoma City, I just returned from OK City recently for a fund raiser for the Trinity School. As always, I had a terrific time. I've never been treated better in any city and I look forward to many more returns for future books. More soon and happy Thanksgiving -- Ace

Photo of letter sent by George and Kathryn Kelly during the first Urschel kidnapping trial in 1933.

Photo of Kathryn -- seated second from left -- between her sister-in-law, mother and stepfather -- Boss Shannon. The man standing is their elderly attorney -- one of the only people who'd take their case.

Photo of Kathryn after being sentenced to the Big House. I wonder what tune she's playing. Below is another shot of Geraline Arnold. A pretty smart 12-year-old. My favorite character in the Kelly story.

Become A Heist Films Expert In Ten Easy Movies

2010-11-10T09:04:00.000-06:00

Master a genre in just a handful of films

Playing out like a guns-blazing origin story for every jailhouse drama and prison-break thriller out there, the heist movie is a thread you can pick all the way back to Hollywood’s golden age. Filled with tough guys, grasping palookas, dime-a-dance dames, double-crossing fences and shady masterminds, they cut us adrift in murky worlds where good and bad are often interchangeable. Thanks to minds as devious and elastic as Goldfinger, Gruber and Cobb, great caper movies have given us a few pointers on honing the ultimate raid. Should you ever decide to take down the Bank of England - and we’re not recommending it – here’s our ten-step homework guide to mastering this most noir-tinged of genres and avoiding common pitfalls…CLICK HERE!!!

THE WALKING DEAD

2010-11-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

After missing the Halloween premiere, I finally watched THE WALKING DEAD last night. Although I didn't necessarily find it to be groundbreaking zombie drama, it proved to be good entertainment. I must say Atlanta never looked better. And it reminds us all that zombies may be slow and stupid but don't let them near your horse. Looking forward to watching the complete season. Check out this story today on mtv.com about the second episode.

Moguls & Movie Stars

2010-11-01T09:01:00.001-05:00

For regular readers, you're pretty much used to my obsession with old Hollywood. I find the history and the characters absolutely fascinating. One of the best experiences of my career as a novelist was working on DEVIL'S GARDEN. The research into Roscoe Arbuckle and the early days of Paramount was not only an insight into the early days of the film business, but also how we as a culture have become consumed by Hollywood.

Tonight is the first part of MOGULS & MOVIE STARTS -- "Peepshow Pioneers" -- on TCM. Really looking forward to this . . . for more check out this story on the documentary or the amazing Moguls & Movie Stars site from Turner Classic Movies.

Real Country

2010-10-28T22:23:00.000-05:00

About every time I get brave and try my local country radio station, I'm disappointed. Today's country music is just God awful. What else can you say? If I hear another song about how much a man loves his truck, farm, dog, woman, country, I'm going to throw up. What happened to heartache? Being drunk? Broke? Stickin' it to the man?

When did Nashville stars start looking like old women fresh from the beauty salon with frosted hair and eye liner.

That brings me to the salvation in all of this: Have you heard of Jamey Johnson? Like the original Hank, he hails from my home state of Alabama and is absolutely kick ass. This is true, authentic country music. Check out this recent story in the New York Times about his exploding career. Country is back.

Nolan Announces Next Batman Film

2010-10-28T08:40:00.002-05:00

I was happy to see yesterday's story in the L.A. Times about Christopher Nolan talking about the next Batman film and even giving away the title. The Dark Knight has been one of my favorite films in recent years, honoring the gangster films of the 1930s and the great noir films that influence my writing. Like most, I became aware of Nolan with Memento -- an absolutely terrific noir. Love or hate Inception, he is one of the best directors and screenwriters working today.

From the L.A. Times:

Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film will be called “The Dark Knight Rises” and though the Gotham City auteur isn’t ready to reveal the villain of his 2012 film, he did eliminate one of the big contenders: “It won’t be the Riddler,” Nolan said in an exclusive interview with Hero Complex.

Riddler rumors were off target. (DC Comics)

Nolan was most eager to talk about the fact that Warner Bros. had agreed with his argument that the film should resist the current 3-D craze and instead use high-definition approaches and IMAX cameras to strike out on a different cinematic path than the stereoscopic technology that, for better or worse, has become the dominant conversation in the blockbuster sector.

Check back here later in the morning for a more in-depth look at that decision and the Nolan ambitions and reasons behind it.

As for the title, it shows the writer-director’s intention to keep his Bruce Wayne trilogy tightly stitched together. “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” Nolan said cryptically. I had an odd thought: What if Nolan somehow brings back Harvey Dent?

The only reason I even mention it is because, back during post-production on the second film, Nolan told me that the title “The Dark Knight” was just as much about Dent and his fall from the status of shining-knight civic crusader. Dent was plainly dead at the end of the last film, though, and Nolan has been intent on keeping his Gotham City film firmly rooted in a gritty gangland realism– this isn’t a franchise that has veered off into the supernatural or even much super-science.

Nolan plays things close to the vest — he’s one of the few filmmakers of his generation who actually does wear a vest — and he chuckled when I tried to get a few more details out of him. “Oh, you know me, I don’t talk.”

He began our conversation by comparing it with a visit to the dentist’s office. Well, if so, he’s a patient who never opens wide. I asked if he could imagine a time when Warner Bros. would let a filmmaker shoot a Batman script where the villain isn’t one of the signature creations from the comic books. “Ah, Geoff Boucher, master of the leading question,” he said with a chuckle.

That’s when he did agree, however, to eliminate a villain candidate, namely Edward Nigma, the green-suited Riddler, who many people (myself included) assumed was the next natural choice. That character could be taken in a lot of directions — think of Kevin Spacey’s character in “Seven” as a compass point for one of those dark paths — but Nolan and his team are going a different way.

As with “Dark Knight,” the new film has a script written by Nolan and his brother, Jonah, and it’s based on a story by the director and David Goyer. Earlier, I got Nolan to take Mr. Freeze off the list and, yes, this is like pulling teeth but don’t think for a minute that I mind.

Nolan makes sublime films, and any secrets he wants to keep in place are done so to protect the final product. As for me, I’m hoping now for Hugo Strange who, come to think of it, looks a bit like a dentist…

– Geoff Boucher

BOSTON NOIR

2010-10-17T10:59:00.000-05:00

I finally got a chance to see Ben Affleck's latest THE TOWN based on a novel by Chuck Hogan. I had read a couple reviews but didn't expect much. I enjoyed GONE BABY GONE but thought the tone and pacing was way too slow and self conscious.

There was none of that sluggishness found in THE TOWN. The movie is a straight-up, fast-paced crime thriller shot with a confident hand and a sly wit. I really appreciate Affleck's style, shooting the movie in Charlestown neighborhood of Boston and on the streets of the North End. There is a terrific climax set in Fenway Park with a death scene worthy of a Warner Bros. gangster flick. (The last observation courtesy of my pal, Jack Pendarvis.)

The story is classic noir: a bank teller is held up by a team of armed gun men. One of the robbers pays her a visit -- unmasked, of course -- to find out what she knows. He ends up falling for her while the bad guys try to draw him back into one big final score.

This movie felt completely contemporary but had that wonderful classic framework. Some of the best scenes featured the amazing Rebecca Hall.

A lesser actress might have played the role of the victim unraveling as a set piece. Instead Hall is completely authentic and holds the film together. She is also so incredibly good looking that you can understand how the tough guy played by Affleck is torn.

Although Blake Lively is tremendous as his drug-addicted ex -- terrific in the role but definitely the healthiest looking drug addict I've ever seen.

Another favorite is Pete Postlethwaite who just breathes with violence and corruption as crime boss, Fergie Colm. Wait until you see the way he dethorns a rose.

After the film was over, I started thinking about other great Boston crime flicks. I realized there definitely is a subgenre here as I've written about in the past -- Southern crime and great British crime movies.

I'll list a few of note below. Readers let me know any other that you recommend or should be listed.

* The Friends of Eddie Coyle: Based on the novel by George V. Higgins and starring Robert Mitchum. Elmore Leonard called the novel one of his formative reads.

* Mystic River: Dennis Lehane's breakout crime epic seen through the lens of Clint Eastwood.

* The Departed: My favorite of the bunch. Scorsese's retelling of Infernal Affairs. Music by the Dropkick Murphy's turns up the heat even more.

* Southie: A small film featuring Donnie Wahlberg as a Southie (someone who grows up in South Boston) who comes home and gets involved with old pals in with the Irish mob. A terrific little film.

* The Brink's Job: A great film that has yet to make it to DVD. You'd be lucky to score a VHS copy. The story centers on the true tale of one of the biggest armed car jobs in history. Starring Peter Falk and directed by William Friedkin.

My pal, David

2010-09-29T09:26:00.001-05:00

Regular readers of my blog and books probably have heard me talk often about my pal, David Thompson. I got to know David more than a dozen years ago through Murder By the Book, a terrific indie bookstore in Houston.

David was the one who found me. Not long after Crossroad Blues was published, David called me at The Tampa Tribune -- where I still worked as a crime reporter -- and said how much he enjoyed the novel. "Why don't you come to Houston," he said. "We have a great bar here called The Velvet Elvis that you'd really like."

As you all know, I can't pass up a good dive bar and made the trip and David and I became fast friends. He was one of the sharpest people you'd ever meet on film, television, and literature. He was absolutely brilliant and could reference John D. MacDonald books and John Hughes movies within seconds of each other.

He was also very funny with a dry, sharp wit.

Over the years, David came to visit me a few times in Mississippi and I made countless trips to Texas. We ate a lot of Mexican food and barbecue and drank endless Shiner Bocks. During on of those sessions, he told me about an idea he had for starting a small publishing house that eventually became Busted Flush Press.

Busted Flush would go on to publish Daniel Woodrell, Don Winslow, Reed Farrel Coleman and me. David was the one who brought back Nick Travers in the 10th Anniversary of Crossroad Blues. The press will publish a new edition of Dark End of the Street in November and Leavin' Trunk Blues in the spring.

We spoke nearly every day on the phone or through email. I made few business decisions without David's input. Many top publishing houses in New York did the same. He was one of the most respected folks in the business.

Every major crime writer in America -- and often the United Kingdom -- stopped in Houston to visit Murder By the Book.

This past Sunday, many of those writers returned for David's memorial service. He died unexpectedly at 38-years-old. A steady stream of more than a thousand people, bookstore regulars and bestselling authors side by side, made their way to sign the guest register.

I'm glad to say that David's vision for Busted Flush Press will live on through Tyrus Books. The owner of Tyrus, Ben Leroy, is committed to keeping David's vision for the imprint.

McKenna Jordan -- David's wife -- bought Murder By the Book only last year and wants everyone to know
that business has not stopped. They host several signings every week.

Still the fun and excitement of being in this business won't be the same without David Thompson. His enthusiasm and friendship was something that I counted on and appreciated more than he maybe knew.

David was a great pal, business adviser and drinking buddy. He is greatly missed by all.

-- Ace

More news on THE RANGER

2010-08-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

We're still a ways from the release of THE RANGER. But here's a sneak peak of the action from the official G.P. Putnam's Sons catalog out this fall:

THE RANGER

From the acclaimed, award-winning author comes the beginning of an extraordinary new series about a real hero, and the real Deep South.

Northeast Mississippi, hill country, rugged and notorious for outlaws since the Civil War, where killings are as commonplace as in the Old West. To Quinn Colson, it’s home – but not the home he left when he went to Afghanistan. Now an Army Ranger, he returns to a place overrun by corruption, and his uncle, the county sheriff, dead – a suicide, he’s told, but others whisper murder. In the days that follow, it will be up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and , not least of all, himself. And once discovered, there is no turning back.

This is the series Ace Atkins’ fans have been waiting for.

Ace Atkins is the author of White Shadow, Wicked City, Devil’s Garden, Infamous, and four Nick Travers novels. He lives on a farm outside Oxford, Mississippi.

NOVEL #9

2010-08-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed I've taken a short break from my summer movie series celebrating great redneck cinema or hixploiltation films of the 1970s.

I had a pretty good reason. I was facing my annual deadline from my longtime publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons for next year's book. Some may wonder why the hell would they need a book now, spring 2011 is pretty far away.

But that's the way it works. A novel is usually turned in about a year from pub date to account for all the sales, marketing, and promotion for a national release.

So what the hell is this book about?

Last year I was approached by my editor -- who also edits some folks like Tom Clancy, Randy Wayne White, John Sandford, Robert Crais, W.E.B. Griffin, and Patricia Cornwell to name a handful -- to create a brand-new series for Putnam. Well, when you look at my editor's stable, any writer would jump at the opportunity.

This is where my writing and latest posts celebrating Southern cinema converge. The debut novel -- THE RANGER -- introduces a U.S. Army war vet Quinn Colson -- 17 missions as a Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan -- returning home to a pretty much busted, rural county where he grew up and tried his best to leave.

I have always loved those great '70s gems like Walking Tall, Mr. Majestyk, Billy Jack and White Lightning. THE RANGER was absolutely born from the mold of those heroes as we find ourselves in a similar time and place to post Vietnam, veterans returning home to hard times. Battle hard vets who are still in their teens and twenties.

This is the first novel introducing us to our hero and backwoods Tibbehah County -- a place rife with corruption and greed and for the last three decades run by Quinn's uncle, the sheriff. This is the kind of county you often find yourself stopping through on a road trip, filling up with gas and moving on, recognizing trouble to follow.

As a warrior returning home, Quinn will be faced with some hard decisions about exposing the corruption and in turn binding himself with the county's future. It's a pretty rugged landscape that may remind folks of a modern-day Deadwood or my earlier novel Wicked City.

I've always been struck how some counties in backwoods Mississippi almost seem like something from the frontier, an outpost stuck in time. I guess you might say this is more contemporary Western than just crime novel -- a story of shifting allegiances, blood oaths, and quick and dirty gun battles.

Sometimes the toughest part of being a writer is waiting for a story you're excited about to get in your readers' hands. But in the coming months, I'll be posting more updates on this new series and perhaps a chapter or two with jacket design. It's always fun for me to see a book (even better a series) take shape and hope you'll enjoy being part of the process.

-- Ace

Queen of the Bs

2010-07-18T13:39:00.004-05:00

SOUTHERN FRIED ACTION PT. 2
(a continuing series on great Southern action films of the 1970s)

I screened a bootleg copy of Dynamite Women the other night -- aka The Great Texas Dynamite Chase -- with some local actors and filmmakers here in Oxford, Mississippi. Some were skeptical of the choice of the 1976 cult classic but all walked away not only loving the movie but in love with the great Claudia Jennings.

So much has been made of Thelma and Louise being a female version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that Dynamite Women -- produced by the king of the Bs Roger Corman -- is always over looked as the real inspiration.

Jennings plays Candy Morgan a confident outlaw on the run who meets up with Ellie Jo Turner -- Jocelyn Jones -- a mousy bank teller who's just been fired. During a robbery -- Jennings' heist pulled with what else but a stick of dynamite -- Ellie Jo decides to join up and the two women go on a crime spree across Texas.

There's even a Brad Pitt-like character who gets roped into the fun, complete with a sexy romp at a roadside motel.

The whole film is played with a light hand and wink to the camera, making the most of the biggest trend in Hollywood -- Southern action. While no one will confuse the California landscape for Texas, the actors give a credible feel to the picture and the quick action, many good laughs, and sexiness make it a top pic of the genre.

Jennings -- Playboy Playmate of the Year 1970 -- ruled the B movies of the early 1970s appearing in such classics as Unholy Rollers, Truckstop Women, and Gator Bait. In interviews, Roger Corman has said she was due a break out into mainstream films, her Playboy past blocking her for too long.

In Dynamite Women, she's tough and sexy, playing the heist scenes and sex scenes with so much confidence. (One sex scene with original Mouseketeer Johnny Crawford!)

Her breakthrough almost came as a replacement to Kate Jackson in Charlie's Angels but again Playboy turned off network executives.

Still working the Hollywood scene in 1979, she was killed in an auto accident at 29. While not a top star at the time, she's become a cult siren in some of the most loved drive-in classics. And an absolute favorite of mine.

When Claudia appears on screen, no matter how the outrageous story, no one can stop watching.

Southern-Fried Action

2010-07-06T09:36:00.000-05:00

Even bloggers need a vacation. And after two months on the road to promote Infamous, I definitely needed a break. But now I'm back with a few updates and a new post. In the news, Infamous was just picked as a Summer Must-Read by the Chicago Tribune -- a huge honor. And G.P. Putnam's Sons has announced my next novel -- #9 -- will be out next spring . . . more details on that later. I appreciate all the emails I've gotten about Infamous and all my books in the last few months. There is much more to come . . .

SOUTHERN FRIED ACTION PT. 1
(a continuing series on great Southern action films of the 1970s)

I've never been a fan of movies like Steel Magnolias or Sweet Home Alabama. If you think those films reflect the real South or that's the South you want to see, read no further.

I'll take a solid trucker movie or a good shot-em-up of the 1970s anytime. These films have often been called Hixsploitation films after the Blacksploitation Films -- like Shaft, Superfly -- of the same time period. But I'd like to define the genre a little more and call them Southern-Fried Action.

The movies can be about truckers, outlaws, defiant swamp girls but must be made in the 1970s and contain a strong element of crime. They most often star the legendary Burt Reynolds or the late Jerry Reed -- Reed himself took the lead in a fine Southern Fried Action with High Ballin' co-starring Peter Fonda. My favorite female lead would be the gorgeous Claudia Jennings, who although not Southern, looked better than anyone in a pair of Daisy Dukes shooting guns or blowing up the law.

Some of my favorites Southern Fried classics include: White Lightning, Smokey and the Bandit (the king of 'em all), Dynamite Women and Moonrunners . . . a film that introduced us to the Duke boys and Uncle Jessie before the hugely successful television show.

These kind of movies would inspire a kid of this period to play with a lot of cars and trucks in the dirt and take some pride that the South was once again a cool place to call home.

Some say the genre exploded under Burt Reynolds and died a hard death with the release of Stroker Ace. But we'll always have Burt looking at the camera while hiding from the law, giving that shit-eating grin to the audience, and kicking that Trans Am into gear.

More on these films in the next post. And please let me know any films I've left out.

-- Ace

Machine Gun Kelly 1946? Gardner. Lancaster. It could've been great.

2010-05-24T20:54:00.001-05:00

Just last week, I came across these images from an ebay auction. A '46 noir starring Burt Lancaster as "Machine Gun" Kelly and Ava Gardner as Kathryn!

It sounded too good to be true -- the only MGK flick I knew about was a really cheesy one from the '50s starring Charles Bronson. I quickly scanned imdb for any mention of such a movie but couldn't find it.

Turns out, the stills were shot as a promotion for the classic movie THE KILLERS -- a film based on one of my favorite short stories of all time by Ernest Hemingway.

Why did the case of THE KILLERS decide to get decked out as the Kelly Gang and reenact the Charlie Urschel kidnapping? I'm not sure. But in these photos, you'll see some real legends acting out scenes you'll recognize from INFAMOUS.

* George's arrest by a G-Man.
* Kathryn being pushed around by Charlie Thorne
* The gang hatching the kidnapping plot
* Kathryn in all her glory
* Harvey Bailey's arrest on the Paradise, TX farm
* Charlie Urschel trying to escape.

I even went to my good pal, noir czar Eddie Muller, for a little direction. Apparently these stills were so rare that even Eddie hadn't seen them.

I will say a couple of 'em are now in my possession. But the one I really wanted, that great photo you see of Ava Gardner as Kathryn, fetched a price that went in the stratosphere. Isn't that just like Kit?

-- Ace

HAPPY TRAILS!

2010-05-16T22:31:00.002-05:00

It's been more than a month of press and promotion for INFAMOUS. 15 cities. Phoenix, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, New York and all those great places in between. It's been by plane and by rental car. Morning shows and NPR. Phone interviews for the next stop.

Lots and lots of coffee. I really do appreciate the good folks at Starbucks.

So here I am now in Oklahoma City after the final book signing and sitting in the Skirvin Hotel where some of the action in INFAMOUS took place.

For those of you who've read the book, I can't help but think of ole Luther Arnold checking in with Kathryn's old jalopy and renting out that suite.

What a fitting end to the tour here in Oklahoma City -- the town that launched Machine Gun Kelly into infamy. After the book signing (attended by the granddaughter of the man who sentenced George and Kathryn), I was invited out to Charlie Urschel's mansion to take a tour of the house where he was snatched.

**See the photo of the sun room where Urschel was playing bridge with his wife and another couple when MGK and his partner Albert Bates burst through the door.

For dinner, I headed down to the old Stockyards and worked on a terrific T-bone at Cattlemen's -- a legendary OK City joint that's been around forever.

And on the last night of book tour, I'm having a nice glass of Gentleman Jack and toasting all those who came out to say hello and my good friends at G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending me out on the road.

After eight books and twelve years of doing this for a living, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support of my readers.

Yesterday started off with a 101 fever that forced me to miss an anticipated signing at Big Sleep Books in St. Louis. Several hours later, I was feeling better and hit the road only to be stopped by the state patrol for speeding. I almost forgot today's hail storm that that spider-webbed the windshield of my rental.

Well . . you can't stop an author on tour.

Until next year! Adios.

Big City to Big Delta

2010-05-06T09:13:00.003-05:00

It's been a wild past week. Since the last post, I was headed to New York for signings and to attend the 64th annual Edgar Awards. I got to catch up with a lot of friends including Otto Penzler at the Mysterious Bookshop (see photo) and ate some terrific food at the Katz and Carnegie delis. Also seems I was strolling through Time Square just about the time Faisal Shahzad was making a dry run to park that SUV.

My congratulations to Otto for winning best critical work for The Lineup and to Luis Alberto Urrea for his work in Phoenix Noir.

From NYC, there it was a fast flight back down South to the Alabama Writers Symposium. Year after year, these folks always make me feel so welcome in the hometown of Harper Lee. Here I am with Bert Hitchcock presenting me with a gift for being their keynote speaker.

I was also extremely impressed with a new Southern bookstore on the scene -- Beehive Books. After visiting the store, I'm confident this is going to become one of the great literary stops in the South.

After a brief rest back in Oxford, I'm headed down to one of my other favorite bookstores tonight for a reading. I'll be visiting my old friends Jamie and Kelly Kornegay owners of Turnrow Books, situated right in the heart of Greenwood.

Only two stops left on the INFAMOUS tour -- Big Sleep Books in St. Louis on May 15th and Full Circle Books in Oklahoma City on May 16th. The good folks at Putnam thought it was fitting that we wrap the tour where it all began for George and Kathryn Kelly. I hope to have some photos posted of the Urschel mansion where the kidnapping took place and my travels on Route 66. More soon, including a link to a short documentary filmed by my buddy Thad Lee about the Kellys.

-- Ace

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2010-04-30T00:13:00.001-05:00

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MEMPHIS LOVES MGK!

2010-04-26T23:17:00.002-05:00

Back home in Oxford tonight with great memories of today's Memphis signing at Davis Kidd. A packed house with non-stop signing for more than an hour. But the real fun was getting to meet folks with personal connections to INFAMOUS.

Tonight, I met a man whose father worked on Raynor Street and witnessed the bust by G-Men in 1933. Another woman who attended the signing was the daughter of the Memphis detective who busted MGK! *She confirmed the story about ole George taking a leak when the cops and G-men busted in.

Another brought photos, fingerprints and the original rap sheets of the Kellys -- her father had worked for the Memphis Police Department and had saved the documents from destruction. *Check out these priceless images (right).

One of my favorites had to be meeting Jeff Bailey with the Central High School Alumni Association. He wanted me to join in honor of "Machine Gun" Kelly. It turns out George is now a distinguished alumnus of the famous Memphis school (see below).

I'll be appearing on FOX-13 in Memphis all morning tomorrow. The station is broadcasting LIVE from the city's MGK sites. From there, I head direct to New York for this year's Edgar Awards. Look forward to catching up with all my pals up north.

Thanks much, Memphis, for giving INFAMOUS a hell of a launch today.

-- Ace

MEMPHIS

2010-04-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

It's Monday and I'm spending the day in Machine Gun Kelly's hometown -- and my adopted one -- of Memphis. This morning I sat down for a television interview and the host -- Alex Coleman -- showed me the front page of the Commercial-Appeal. Machine Gun Kelly is back on 1-A where he belongs. Check out the fantastic story by James Dowd and also a great piece by Leonard Gill in the Memphis Flyer.

I'll be on Book Talk later today and then INFAMOUS will be featured on WKNO -- Memphis NPR -- this afternoon. All good things in crime.

I head to New York tomorrow for some quick signings and the annual Edgar Awards. "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" -- featured in the Crossroad Blues 10th Anniversary Edition -- was nominated for Best Short Story.

Looking forward to seeing my friends in the city. Only two stops left on the 15 City Tour!

-- Ace

INFAMOUS LIVE TONITE!

2010-04-22T10:25:00.001-05:00

About a year ago, my buddy Slade Lewis and I were drinking beer -- not an uncommon occurrence -- and talking a little bit about this new novel I had just wrapped up called INFAMOUS. Slade is a terrific jazz musician who's played in not only some top bands but has also has penned some first-rate scores for documentaries.

We both thought it would be pretty cool if we could somehow turn the idea of INFAMOUS into a throwback 1930s radio serial -- like "Little Orphan Annie" but with more sex and violence. Slade plays bass in the Thacker Mountain Radio band -- The Yalobushwackers -- and brought the concept to the folks putting the show together.

They all loved the idea and several months ago, the serious work set in of me turning a novel into a radio script and the harder work of Slade arranging the music and also putting together an expanded house band to perform.

Well, last night after flying back into Memphis, I was able to see the full dress rehearsal and it is killer. The radio serial is quick and funny and the music just awesome. Musician Bryan Ledford -- one of Mississippi's best -- helped Slade out with the show and performs a Jimmie Rodgers song as if he's channeling the ole Singing Brakeman.

We have a terrific sexy Mae West number performed by beautiful and talented Clarissa Romano -- who also plays Kathryn Kelly -- and a bring-the-house-down, big, brassy and bold version of "Minnie the Moocher." Jeff Calloway just nails the damn thing.

My part will be to introduce the show, tell the good folks a little bit about the bankrobbing/kidnapping couple -- the Kellys -- and their local connection to Memphis and Mississippi and then the show heads back in time to 1933 where everything is of the period.

If you can't make it, I'll make sure I post a link to the rebroadcast in the coming weeks. But if you're anywhere in the MidSouth, it will definitely be worth the drive.

** Check out today's Mississippi Daily Journal for more on INFAMOUS, including a trip the bank vault MGK robbed in 1932. Photos are from last-nigh
-- Ace

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

2010-04-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

The last few days I've been out West in Houston and Phoenix -- terrific readings at Murder By the Book and Poisoned Pen. I was fortunate to meet a lot of loyal readers but also have some great food. (Eating good is a key point of book tour.) Check out the photos from the Southside Market in Elgin, Texas and grabbing a little Mexican food last night with my old Auburn teammate Jason Stoft in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Now it's back to my hometown of Oxford, Mississippi where we prepped for Thursday night's Thacker Mountain INFAMOUS show. More on the rehearsal tomorrow.

INFAMOUS IN TEXAS

2010-04-19T13:19:00.003-05:00

Second week on tour for INFAMOUS and about to leave Austin for Houston. I don't get much downtime between stops but being able to upload a few items from the coffee shop at Bookpeople where I read last night with musician Jesse Sublett.

One of the highlights has been meeting folks with personal connections to the story. The photo of me is with the niece of Oklahoma oilman J.G. Catlett who was the man who paid the Urschel ransom to George Kelly. For more on Catlett's role in the kidnapping affair, check out FBI records.

Earlier that day I met a couple who'd driven from Paradise to Plano to attend the signing. He'd actually grown up in the house where Urschel had been kept.(See details of the house in the INFAMOUS extras.)

Got to spend some quality time last night at the Texas Chili Parlour for several cold Shiners. (Lone Star is no longer made in Texas!) This was the bar where Tarantino filmed parts of Death Proof -- a terrific short film.

I bought a couple of terrific CDs -- including the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- at Waterloo records. The only disappointment in Austin was missing the Hatch Show print exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art. I found out they were closed Mondays . . .

SUNDAY/AUSTIN/MURDER BALLADS!!!

2010-04-17T23:40:00.002-05:00

Headed to Texas this a.m. I have two dates on Sunday. I'll be in Plano at 1 p.m. at Legacy Books and then headed to Austin for a signing at BookPeople at 7 p.m.. (Do check out the fantastic article on INFAMOUS in today's Austin American-Statesman).

Texas is deep INFAMOUS territory and I'll be driving down those same roads as George and Kathryn, eventually leading to tonight's Murder Ballad Show -- I imagine plenty of tunes by our friend, Johnny Cash -- played by Texas music legend, Jesse Sublett.

My great thanks to the good folks in Texas rolling out the red carpet including my annual stop on Monday night at Murder By the Book where I'll be promoting not only INFAMOUS but the 10th Anniversary edition of CROSSROAD BLUES.

More pics and stories from the road . . . here are a few I snapped while on the LOST HIGHWAY from Montgomery today. See y'all in Texas!

INFAMOUS TOUR -- THE ROAD

2010-04-17T09:15:00.004-05:00

Hello from the road. After two days, I have about fifteen minutes before hitting the road again and heading to the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery. I'll be reading and signing today -- Saturday -- at 2 p.m. and then heading west for dates in Plano, Austin, and Houston. On Tuesday, I'll be in Phoenix to sign at the Poisoned Pen. And then it's back to my hometown of Oxford for the big Thacker Mountain Radio show. This is going to be in the historic Lyric theater with actors portraying the parts of George and Kathryn Kelly. I've posted a few tour pics here -- picking up the award for Best Book from the Alabama Library Association for WICKED CITY on Thursday and then onto Atlanta where I spoke at the Georgia Center for the Book -- here I am telling the crowd the size of George Kelly's weapon of choice.

** For those of you in Texas, don't miss my signing at Bookpeople in Austin on Sunday night -- I'm lucky to have Austin music legend Jesse Sublett kicking off my reading of INFAMOUS with some traditional murder ballads! How cool is that? This is a event not to be missed. Lone Stars to follow.

Official Site of American Writer Ace Atkins | Blog

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