The Inside Story Archives - Page 3 of 6

02.23.16 Geoffrey Miller: How I Wrote “THE BLACK GLOVE”

Brash Books is honored to be republishing Geoffrey Miller's The Black Glove, which was a sensation when it was first published and snagged a Edgar Award nomination for Best First Novel. Now it's back in new and revised ebook and trade paperback editions. We invited Geoff to talk a bit about how the book came about and the changes he's made to it since it was first published. When I was at the UCLA Film School in the middle to late 60s I saw for the first time The Maltese Falcon, Murder, My Sweet and The Big Sleep (in 1974 I would see Chinatown). For reasons that even today I cannot explain, I became extremely enthusiastic about the hardboiled detective story, especially Dashiell... more

08.11.15 The Mystery of A.W. Mykel and THE WINDCHIME LEGACY

Written by AW Mykel

In 1980, the mysterious A.W. Mykel came out of nowhere with the brilliantly inventive espionage thriller The Windchime Legacy. It became an overnight, international bestseller…astonishing readers with its daringly imaginative plot, larger-than-life characters, and outstanding action…becoming one of the most entertaining and beloved spy novels of the century. Mykel wrote two more bestsellers…The Salamandra Glass and The Luxus Conspiracy...and then disappeared as suddenly as he’d appeared. Until Now. We received this blog post as a handwritten note from Mykel's attorney... The Windchime Legacy was written between the years 1976-1978. There were no personal computers in those... more

06.09.15 The Writing of BLIND SPOT…and the peculiar life and death of Adam Barrow

Written by Tom Kakonis

Author Tom Kakonis tells the unusual story behind his haunting thriller BLIND SPOT, and why he originally published it, and his novel FLAWLESS, under the doomed pseudonym "Adam Barrow." In the late afternoon of a fine summer day many years ago, my wife and I were driving down one of those Interstates that ring the city of Chicago like a hangman’s noose. She, a suburban native of that city, was behind the wheel, I rode shotgun. Since it was nearing rush hour, that perpetually traffic-clogged highway was swarming with vehicles plunging headlong toward only god knew where. But as we approached a toll station, all of us began first to gradually decelerate, then slow to a crawl, then stop... more

05.06.15 Andy Straka: A Bird’s Eye View of the Private Eye Genre

Written by Andy Straka

Andy Straka is the author of the award-winning and beloved Frank Pavlicek series... about an ex-NYPD cop who becomes a PI and falconer in Virginia... which kicks off with our new Brash Books' releases of A Witness Above and A Killing Sky. Here he talks about how he created the series... How did I fall into this gig anyway? All I ever wanted to do was write the world's greatest private eye novels and have someone pay me gazillions of dollars to live happily ever after. But I had two problems. Problem number one: How could I possibly contribute anything new to such a classic private eye genre replete with masterful voices? Problem number two: Private eye novels most often feature... more

04.09.15 There’s No Such Thing as Noir Lite

Written by Gar Anthony Haywood

Not so long ago, I did something I really didn’t want to do: I watched the movie Precious. Lord knows I’d tried to avoid it; critical acclaim or no, any film about a poor, obese, teenage black girl growing up as the live-in slave of an equally obese, abusive, welfare-queen mother has to be the cinematic equivalent of root canal surgery, right? Why would I ever want to subject myself to that kind of misery? Well, surprise, surprise — the film was brilliant. Well written, smartly directed, and performed by a cast of actors deserving of every accolade and award nomination it received. In short, I’m glad I saw the movie. But yeah, sitting through it was a living... more

02.23.15 The Story Behind MEMPHIS RIBS: “Give In, Abandon All Hope and Have A Good Time”

Written by Gerald Duff

Author Gerald Duff shares the story behind the writing of his novel Memphis Ribs, which Entertainment Weekly calls 'A tangy tale of murder, gang warfare, crack cocaine, and barbecue.' As far as we're concerned, that's a winning combination! The book is available for pre-order and will be released on May 5, 2015 When I wrote my novel Memphis Ribs, I did it for the same reason that all writers take up a task that lasts so long and uses up so much electricity. I was mesmerized by the topic, in this case my trying to understand the essence of the Bluff City where I had come to live for a spell. And it was a spell, because that’s what Memphis casts upon those who come to live with... more

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