Interview: Robert J. Randisi (author of UPON MY SOUL)

Inasmuch as this blog deals primarily with books and movies in the Western and Mystery genres, the name Robert J. Randisi should be quite familiar to most people reading this. Bob is the author of over 600 books, countless short stories, and more than 30 anthologies, mostly in these same genres.

In addition to this amazingly prolific writing output, Bob also founded the Private Eye Writers of America, co-founded (with Ed Gorman) Mystery Scene Magazine, and more recently was one of the founders of the Western Fictioneers.

Bob's current novel (which means right now – because if you wait very long he'll have something new out) is a crime thriller introducing hit man Sangster, titled UPON MY SOUL. (My 5-star review is up on Amazon now.) We chose this occasion to do a Q&A interview that I think you will find interesting. It is as follows:

WD:  Many moons ago --- Summer/1985 to be exact --- we did a phone interview from which I wrote an article titled "Randisi, Private Eye Writer of America" that appeared in the debut issue of my small press magazine, Hardboiled. Needless to say, much water has passed under the bridge since then. Heck, at that time you were practically a fledgling who only had about eighty novels and a couple dozen short stories published. You were in your early thirties and, in addition to your writing, the PWA (the Private Eye Writers of America), which you founded and were working your butt off to establish as a widely recognized organization, was barely four years old. Thinking back on those times now, what are your recollections? Fondness? Chaos? Exhaustion, from all the effort you were pouring into such a workload?

RJR:  What I remember is being extremely gung ho about what I was doing—having, of course, no idea what I was getting myself into. I do recall it fondly, both the writing I was doing, and the organizing. I probably should have concentrated on one or other, but I’d be hard pressed to go back now and give one up. Certainly, I’d rather write, but given what PWA and the Shamus have become, I couldn’t give them up.

WD:  Fast forward to present day. Your published output is now at 600-plus books, countless short stories, and editor of over 30 anthologies --- including the latest, LIVIN' ON JACKS AND QUEENS, a collection of stories about gambling in the Old West. Back in the '80s you told me your writing creativity seemed to suffer in the daytime and that you preferred to write from about 8 PM to 4 or 5 in the morning. Does that still hold true? Please tell us some other details about your approach to writing --- schedule, research, revisions, etc.

RJR:  I still do most of my work late at night. I don’t have a set schedule except to say that I write every day, both during the day and at night.  Usually, I’m working on two books at once,  a Western and a Mystery. I work on one during the day, then eat dinner, take a nap, and start on the other one. The break allows me to distance myself. That pretty much means that I’m writing most of the time between 2 p.m. and 5 a.m. I try to do at least 20 pages a day on each project, but if I’m approaching a deadline I put myself on an hourly limit of 5-7 pages. Back in those “old days” we talked about I was doing 10 pages an hour. I do research on the spot, while I’m writing, using both a research library I’ve amassed over the years, as well as some websites.   On days when we have errands to run—bank, post office, grocery store, etc.—I get less done during the day.

WD:  Something I still can’t quite wrap my head around is your relocation from Brooklyn to small town, Missouri. Can you tell us some details on how that came about and what the transition was like for you? Hard? Easy? Are you fully acclimated now? Any likelihood of you ever returning to live again in a big city --- Brooklyn, New York, St. Louis? 

RJR:  The simple explanation is that I moved from Brooklyn to St. Louis to be with a woman. We are still together. She’s also a writer. About 8 years ago we moved from St. Louis to a small town (440 people) on the Mississippi. We live on a hill with a panoramic view of the river. We plan to move soon to Las Vegas, but I don’t see going back to St. Louis, or New York, anytime soon. That would be going back, and we prefer to look ahead.

     The transition from NY to St. Louis was not hard. Although smaller, St. Louis is still a major city, and offered most of what NY offered on a smaller scale.  The transition from St. Louis to Clarksville, Mo was more of an adjustment. Living in a town of 440 people, with the closest supermarket 11 miles away, and the closest mall 50 miles, takes getting used to.  We love the house we live in, and the view, but still wish we had better access to some things.

WD:  Although you've established yourself very solidly in the Western genre --- especially with your long-running GUNSMITH series, as by J.R. Roberts, as well as numerous other titles under other bylines and also your own name --- is it safe to say that your first love remains the private eye genre? Your series PI characters, Miles Jacoby, Henry Po, and Nick Delvecchio have recently seen resurgence via eBooks, with the last Delvecchio (THE END OF BROOKLYN) published in 2011. And your hugely popular "Rat Pack" series ( the newest – THE WAY YOU DIE TONIGHT – due out in February), despite the star appearances in each by Sinatra and his crew, at their core are really crime mysteries featuring the character of casino "fixer" Eddie Gianelli functioning as a PI. And then there's the recently published HONKY TONK BIG HOSS BOOGIE, featuring "session man" Auggie Velez, who is available to play guitar for any group in need of a fill-in and who also doubles as a PI … Please offer some personal reflection on each of these characters and what the future might hold for each of them (recognizing that Eddie and Auggie are sure to be seen again).

RJR: Yes, the plans are for Eddie and Auggie to keep appearing. I’m pleased that Jacoby, Delvecchio and—to a much lesser extent—Po have reappeared, and was very happy to have the third and final Delvecchio book published to a starred review from Booklist.

       Yes, the P.I. genre is still my first love.  I do consider the Rat Pack books to be P.I. books, but I really appreciate the reviews I’ve received that say the books are a love letter to the Rat Pack, because that’s what they are. I love those guys and that time, and often find myself watching Ocean’s 11 again. It’s a much better movie than it’s been given credit for.

      If I stuck my toe back into the “real” P.I. genre with THE END OF BROOKLYN, then I plunged back into it with BIG HOSS BOOGIE.  I was a musician in my youth, gave it up to write. So I’m combining my love of music with my love of the P.I. Genre with the Auggie Velez “Session Man” books. BTW, Auggie’s full name is Augusto Velez Colon, which was my grandfather’s name. I have two more Auggie books planned, and so far a 10^th Rat Pack planned. I’d like to keep going beyond that with both characters. 

WD:  Now we come to UPON MY SOUL, your current novel from Down & Out Publishing, featuring retired hit man Sangster. First of all, the name: It immediately made me think of a screenwriter (mostly for Hammer Films back in the 60s) and sometimes novelist named Jimmy Sangster. Was he, by any chance, the inspiration for the protagonist's name?

RJR:  He was. I’ve read about half a dozen Sangster novels, and when it came time to name my hit man I wanted a single name and, for some reason, “Sangster” came to mind.

WD:  UPON MY SOUL sets up a wonderful premise whereby said protagonist, Sangster, a professional hit man, wakes up one day to realize he has a soul and a conscience. Concerning his profession, this presents him with quite a dilemma. … One of the lamest questions writers face is: Where do you get your ideas from? Nevertheless, I've got to resort to it in this case --- How did you hit upon this particular premise?

RJR:  When I edited a collection of hit man stories called GREATES HITS several years ago, I wanted to come up with something different, something I hadn’t done before, and maybe something nobody had done.  Of course, there have been other characters who have been seeking some kind of redemption, but Sangster is not even sure that’s what he wants. I wanted to present him with a dilemma. He can’t change the things he did, but he can stop doing them as he moves forward—if, indeed, he can ever move forward. As the book starts I think he’s stuck, trying not to look back, but not really moving forward.  He feels he has a soul, but he doesn’t know what to do with it, or about it. Is it even a religious thing? The three books are meant to show the process of getting himself to the point where he can move forward with his life.

WD:  UPON MY SOUL is announced as a trilogy. What made you plan it that way? I assume you have a pretty specific sequence of events already planned out for the three books. What if the whole thing is wildly popular? Will you close the final book in such a way as to leave open the possibly for more if that turns out to be the case?

RJR:  You and I are series people, Wayne. We think that way. We know the story of how Dan Marlowe killed his “Earl Drake” character in his first novel, and the publisher got him to change the ending so they could continue the character. I don’t want to say I’m going to leave it open, because that takes away from the suspense about what might happen to Sangster.

WD:  Not too far back, I recall reading that one of your "Rat Pack" books was under serious consideration to be made into a movie. I believe you even wrote the screenplay, is that correct? What was the script-writing experience like as opposed to the many books you've penned? And --- knowing that for every book-to-film proposal that actually gets made --- where do things stand for a "Rat Pack" movie? Is it still under consideration?

RJR: I had an option for the first book, EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOME TIME,  and was hired to write the screenplay. I wrote it in three weeks. It was a pleasure. My books are dialogue driven, and screenplays are mostly dialogue. It was a match made in heaven. The man who optioned the book and hired me to write the screenplays—Sandy Hackett, son of Buddy Hackett—loved it. However, just as all of us have been hit by the economy, the money withy which he was going to fund the movie disappeared.  He let the option lapse, but he still owns the screenplay.  He still wants to produce it and star as Eddie. If he comes up with the backing, he’ll have to come back to me and option it again.

        I had a second call from Hollywood, a young actor who started his own production company was interested in making the Rat Pack books into films or t.v.  I signed a  “shopping agreement” with him. No money changed hands, but he had the right to shop it in Hollywood and, if and when he found somebody interested, they would make a deal with him. My deal with him was that he would be attached as a producer.  This is when I learned how things have changed in Hollywood. He said there was some interest from some studios, but that they first wanted a writer/showrunner attached to the project before they’d commit.  He was not able to come up with anyone during the time limit of our agreement.

   So, we wait . . .

WD:  Finally, your thoughts on the whole eBook "revolution"? I believe you've stated that you like the opportunities eBooks give writers, but for your own reading you still a traditional book, true? It's  hard to believe with your prolific output, but are you still the voracious reader you used to be?

RJR: Yes, I read as much as I ever did, and I want to have a book in my hands. Yes, ebook publishing has created opportunities for writers—maybe too many for too many writers—but I still do not own a Kindle or Nook or any kind of ereader. I WON’T read electronic books. Sorry.  Most of my backlist is out as ebooks, and I haven’t seen them.

WD:  I really appreciate your time and attention to these questions, Bob. Let's plan on doing it again in another thirty or so years. In the meantime, is there anything you'd care to comment on that I may have missed asking about? If so, feel free to include it here. 

RJR: I think this has been one of the better interviews I’ve done, Wayne, probably because we go back such a long way. I hope we’re both still here and active in another 30 years. I*know I certainly have no intention of EVER retiring. Thanks a lot.

Available Now: (Free on Kindle thru Jan 5) NIGHT SPOOR

This novel, combining elements of a traditional hardboiled crime thriller with vampire lore, is now available Free on Amazon Kindle through Jan 5.
Sales have never been good for this title (originally appearing in 2012) so we're trying to boost interest and get some word of mouth going.
I repeat - for Free. What have you got to lose?
The cover image you're looking at is the vampiress Lenore ... Just look at that beautiful face ... Those mesmerizing eyes ... Those lush lips ... The awaiting fangs ... How can you resist?
I've often said that everything I write is hardboiled. So going up against this fatal femme is a tough, amoral hit man named Pitcairn, who used to think *he* was evil. He finds out about true evil in his first encounter with Lenore, and from there on it is a race for him to stay alive long enough to figure out a way to kill a member of the undead.
Something of a change of pace for me, but one I think you'll enjoy.
Give it a try --- Spread the word!

Another Look: HONDO (1953 film, starring John Wayne)

This excellent, often overlooked film was part of a string of solid, gritty, adult-oriented Westerns that started to come out of Hollywood following WWII. Replacing the wild and wooly "shoot-'em-ups" --- generally with little in the way of plot complexities or character development --- that had been a staple of the genre for too long, Western films of the 1950s gave us a more serious, more introspective look at the people and events caught up in the gunplay and hard riding that still supplied plenty of excitement and action for viewers. SHANE, HIGH NOON, THE SEARCHERS, MAN OF THE WEST, THE GUNFIGHTER, BEND OF THE RIVER, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, etc., were part of this trend … including HONDO.

 Whenever I pause to reflect back on my favorite movies, the first thing I have to do is approach it as having to make two lists --- one, that of my favorite John Wayne films; and then, secondly, a list of non-Duke films. Otherwise, the first twenty or so entries would all be John Wayne-ers. (RED RIVER, RIO BRAVO, THE SEARCHERS, THE QUIET MAN, and EL DORADO always the top five - with RED RIVER never sliding out of first, but the others shifting positions now and then, depending on my mood.)

And yet, upon re-viewing it just the other day, I realized that I would seldom even think of HONDO, let alone place it anywhere near the top of my list. Despite the fact I enjoy it immensely every time I sit down to watch it, for some reason it doesn't come readily to mind when contemplating the Duke's roster of films. What's more, thinking back on discussions I've had either in person or have engaged in with others via the 'net, I suspect I may not be alone in that. It's not that it doesn't deserve to hold a fairly high ranking – it does – but for some reason it often seems to get "lost in the shuffle".

The back story on the film may explain part of why that is.

For starters, it was one of the first features to be made by the new business venture, Wayne-Fellows Productions, that Duke formed with long-time friend Robert Fellows. (Shortly thereafter, when Fellows fell on hard financial times, Wayne bought out his half and renamed the company Batjac, which maintains many Wayne business interests yet today.) HONDO was set to be filmed in the new 3-D process that was becoming all the rage at that point, and was originally geared for Glenn Ford to play the lead role. Veteran director-screenwriter John Farrow would be at the helm of the picture.

When Ford and Farrow clashed just before shooting was scheduled to start, Ford dropped out and Wayne had to step in at the last minute and assume the starring role himself.

Production went slower than planned, partly due to the All-Media cameras (used to achieve the 3-D effect) frequently breaking down as a result of the dust and other harsh elements of the desert location; and partly due to the unfamiliarity of Farrow and his crew when it came to using the specialized equipment. Ultimately, Farrow avoided resorting to many of the "gimmicky" shots such as used in other 3-D movies (meant to enhance the "coming right at you" sensation considered a prerequisite to help "sell" the concept) and did most scenes in a more standard manner. In the end, this made little or no difference at the box office when the film went into release. In the first place, the whole 3-D craze was starting to peter out by then. Secondly, distributor Warner Brothers went to considerable effort promoting the film as utilizing the 3-D process for richer visual scope and perception rather than its "gimmick" aspect. That way, those who wanted 3-D got a little extra zip in a handful of scenes where knives and arrows seemed to fly off the screen at them, those who preferred a more traditional viewing experience weren't distracted by those few scenes.

When all was said and done, the movie was quite well received. It placed sixteenth at the box office that year, grossing over 4 million dollars, and Wayne's female co-star, Geraldine Page, was nominated for an Academy Award in the supporting actress category.

Also of note: When filming ran over schedule, Director Farrow had to leave before completion to fulfill another commitment that couldn't be delayed. As a favor to Duke, his long time friend and mentor, John Ford, stepped in to direct the final climactic scenes where a wagon train of settlers and an already battle-battered troop of soldiers are chased by a horde of Apaches. Although the transition between directors is mostly seamless, you can see some trademark Ford touches in the camerawork and the way he stages the frantic running battle against the vast sweep of the desert landscape.

Another bit of Ford influence can be found in the members of his famed "stock company" --- Wayne, Ward Bond, James Arness, Paul Fix --- who are present in the cast. Andrew McLaglen, son of Victor, who was also a Ford regular, was assistant director on the pic. He would go on to direct numerous TV shows (nearly a hundred episodes of Gunsmoke) and movies, mostly Westerns, several featuring Wayne (notably McLINTOCK and CHISUM).

After HONDO's theater run, it played a few times on TV (where I first saw it, about 1961 or so) but then the Batjac company, under the leadership of Wayne's son Michael, "vaulted" the film for over two decades, making it unavailable anywhere --- including on VHS during the big home video boom of the '70s and '80s. In 1991, it played as a TV "special", complete with much hoopla and a nation-wide program to make the 3-D glasses available to viewers (proceeds from these sales going to cancer research). Then the film was pulled from circulation again, until a second frame-by-frame restoration was completed and it finally got a full-scale release on DVD in 2005.

It was all that time being unavailable, I believe --- the final years of Wayne's life and for nearly a decade after his death, a period when Duke's always-prominent star status was evolving into near-iconic stature (for each of the 35 years since his death he has placed consistently in the Top 10 on polls of favorite male actors) --- that caused HONDO to slip largely from viewers' memory.

As for the film itself, it is a lean (with a running time of only 84 minutes), episodic tale of settlers, cavalry, and Apaches on the warpath. Plot elements that have been used over and over again. But the handling, in this case, makes all the difference. For one thing, the storyline (based on a short story and subsequent novelization by Louis L'Amour) presents the Indians respectfully and much more than just one-dimensional savages. They have been wronged and lied to, it is explained, and these are the reasons for the uprising that backgrounds the film's central chain of events. There is even a subplot involving the Apache chief Vittorio making a young white boy his blood brother due to the bravery the lad shows in attempting to protect his mother. 

Other characters are multi-dimensional as well --- mainly Wayne as Hondo Lane, a former gunfighter and now cavalry dispatch rider; and Geraldine Page as Angie Lowe, a plain-featured, decent, hard-working pioneer wife and mother whose husband is a lout and a coward who leaves her and their son alone and unprotected on a remote ranch. The slowly building romance between Hondo and Mrs. Lowe --- made even more strained by the fact that Hondo was forced to kill Angie's husband when the latter attempted to ambush him --- is wonderfully layered and acted, especially by Miss Page, whose award nomination was surely justified.

(For what it's worth note: 20 years later, Wayne would again play a character simply called "Lane" opposite Ann Margaret's "Mrs. Lowe" in Burt Kennedy's THE TRAIN ROBBERS – a decent but decidedly less powerful film.)

When the action comes in HONDO --- and it is plentiful, what with chases on horseback, gunfights, a saloon brawl, a knife fight, and the aforementioned running battle at the end

--- it is staged every bit as expertly.

I highly recommend this film.

If you, like me, haven't seen it or thought about in a while --- or for sure if you've never seen it --- then I urge you to seek it out. If you like Westerns, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Another Look: THE PROFESSIONALS (1966 movie)

THE PROFESSIONALS is a tight, tough, Western actioner, written and directed by Richard Brooks, released in 1966. It falls in that sweet spot occupied by certain films of that era that still exhibited elements of "the way they used to make 'em" along with revisionist, more permissive "adult" touches that gained ground steadily through the late Sixties and into the Seventies.

In accordance with the title, Lee Marvin leads a four-man, hand-picked team of professionals hired to raid a rebel camp across the border in turn-of-the-century Mexico to rescue the kidnapped wife of a wealthy American rancher. The other team members are: Robert Ryan, playing a horse wrangler; Woody Strode as a scout and Apache-trained tracker; and Burt Lancaster as an explosives expert. Marvin is an ex military man and weapons specialist. The veteran cast is rounded out by Ralph Bellamy as the rancher; Claudia Cardinale as his voluptuous wife; and Jack Palance as Garza, the rebel leader responsible for her kidnapping.

My recollection from previous viewings of this film, including when it first came out, was that Lee Marvin had the dominant role by a considerable margin. This was likely influenced by the fact that the peak of his career came in close conjunction with THE PROFESSIONALS, which hit a year after Marvin's Academy Award-winning performance in CAT BALLOU and just ahead of THE DIRTY DOZEN. A recent re-viewing, however, has caused me to realize that Lancaster's role (his name rightfully also leading in the credits) actually has greater depth and more screen time than Marvin's (although the latter is still featured very prominently).

It is also a fact that the two stars did not get along well during the filming, mainly due to Marvin's heavy drinking and unpreparedness when it came time to go before the camera. Director Brooks (who had previously directed Lancaster in his Academy Award-winning role as THE BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ) would say afterward that his greatest challenge in making the movie was to "keep Burt from grabbing Marvin by his drunken ass and throwing him off that mountain".

Nevertheless, none of these behind-the-scenes problems show up on the screen. What the viewer gets there, as I said at the outset, is just a terrific Western adventure filled with explosive (literally) action, romance (at times a bit on the saucy side), suspense, and even a nifty surprise or two.

Strictly for males to take note of: Claudia Cardinale is her usual sultry, sensational self in this. But there is a second female featured here --- an otherwise seldom-seen actress named Marie Gomez playing a rebelista known as Sergeant Si Si ("she never says no") Chiquita --- who manages to, er, outdistance even the curvaceous Claudia in some key scenes.

If you haven't seen this one in a while --- or for some reason have never seen it --- it is worth a re-viewing and definitely worth checking out for the first time.

P.S.   My buddy James Reasoner probably knows the answer to this, but I've got a question to toss out for general comment: It seems evident to me that John Benteen's popular FARGO character (which debuted in print about three years after this film) must have been influenced, visually for sure, by Marvin's character … Ex Rough Rider, multi-skilled in weapons and fighting, premature bone white hair, battered old campaign hat, etc. The early Fargo paperbacks certainly conveyed this and the Piccadilly reprints are continuing … Did Benteen ever acknowledge this influence/inspiration?

Another Look: THE LOST WORLD (1960 film version)

The term "guilty pleasure" tends to get overused but, nonetheless, it properly suits my feelings toward this film. I've long been a sucker for certain cheesy sci-fi/horror flicks of this ilk. Hell, I even like some of current crop they run on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm not sure why a few of them click for me yet others get deservedly shrugged off as mere junk. I hate to admit to such a shallow level of character and maturity, but I have a sneaky hunch that if one of the female stars is appealing enough, then my "junk tolerance" drops considerably.

I suspect the latter --- in the form of a young Jill St. John in tight-fitting pink safari slacks --- plays a part in me liking this 1960 version of THE LOST WORLD. Otherwise, the plot is hoaky, the acting is so-so (at best), and the special effects aren't all that special. This was only two years after Ray Harryhausen's spectacular Dyanimation effects for THE 7^TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, so the ol' "glue some scary-looking fins on Komodo dragons and crocodiles" trick for creating the illusion of dinosaurs really suffered by comparison.

But there was those pink safari pants … I don't know if they count as special effects or not. But inasmuch as I was twelve at the time of this movie's release --- and on the brink of busting wide open with all kinds of raging hormones --- I suspect they seemed pretty special to me. In fact, upon viewing THE LOST WORLD again the other night, some fifty-odd years later, I still – er – noticed them.

Shortcomings aside, the film still has a lot of energy and top level production values in departments such as cinematography and vivid DeLuxe color. And in addition to the aforementioned Miss St. John, the cast includes mostly veteran actors such as Michael Rennie, Fernando Lamas, David Hedison, and Academy Award-winning (and multiple nominee) Claude Rains (as Challenger) who chews up the scenery with such great relish you wonder how they kept enough vegetation on the set for the jungle shots.

The whole works was based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yeah, the Sherlock Holmes guy), and was the first of several books and stories he wrote featuring renowned explorer Professor Challenger. This film version was helmed by producer/director Irwin Allen, during his early sci-fi phase that would also include films such as VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON before shifting to a string of TV series (Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Land Of The Giants, etc.) and then culminating in epic disaster blockbusters like THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO.

Upon sitting through it again, I found that THE LOST WORLD was still a lot of fun. And that's really all this kind of movie is supposed to be.

It also brought back a recollection that had totally slipped my mind of something that occurred when I first saw THE LOST WORLD in a tiny, drafty movie house in Genoa, Illinois… For the first and only time in all my years of movie-watching in theaters, there was a scene that caused the audience to break out in applause right in the middle of the film. The scene? It is near the big climax, just before the volcano explodes. The native tribe that inhabits the "lost" Amazon plateau where the explorers have ventured, is chasing them due to their transgressions. They are fleeing through underground caverns on a high ledge above a river of lava. One of the explorers pauses to torch some dry scrub brush growing along the ledge --- the fire quickly flares back and drives the pursuing native witch doctor and his crew off the ledge and into the lava. Can't say as I can see where it is such a high point of excitement upon watching again (and, in fact, in this age of political correctness run amok, there possibly would those in the audience who would boo such shabby treatment of the indigenous people). But, at the time, it sure revved the motors of that particular movie audience.

Maybe that's part of the implanted impression that makes THE LOST WORLD a guilty pleasure for me still today.

Interview: Stephen Mertz (author of THE CASTRO DIRECTIVE)

Stephen Mertz is a veteran popular author best known for his mainstream thrillers and novels of suspense, including several titles in the popular Mack Bolan, Executioner and MIA Hunter series. Additionally, his work includes darkly paranormal titles such as Night Wind and Devil Creek, hardboiled noir (Blood Red Sun), as well as historical speculative thrillers like Blood Red Sun and his latest — The Castro Directive. .

His work has been well received critically. Booklist called Night Wind a “fast-paced...a white-knuckle read” and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine labeled Mertz “an action specialist." Writing peers have also praised his work — Edgar-winning bestseller Joe R. Lansdale says Steve "writes a hard-edged thriller for those who like their tales straight and sharp and full of dark surprise"; and another Edgar-winner, Max Allan Collins, says "Stephen Mertz is one of my favorite novelists … a wonderful writer."

Steve is also a popular lecturer on the craft of writing and has appeared as a guest speaker before writer’s groups and at universities.

Recently, Steve agreed to an in-depth interview with yours truly. He's a pro's pro and I think you will enjoy this exchange:

WD:  Although we've known each other and have stayed in touch, on and off, for over thirty years, it occurs to me I know little or nothing about you, family-wise. Does your creativity (writing; music) run in the family? Did you get support/encouragement from anyone in particular as you were developing these talents? Marriage? Children?

SM: Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin though I’ve now been a westerner for most of my adult life. Normal middle-class upbringing in a small, loving family. Mom and Dad, bless them, encouraged and never discouraged my creativity. Marriage and children? Well, a couple of ex-wives in the slipstream of life but no kids. Happily domesticated these days with the same woman for nine years, so I’m settled down at last. Life is good.

WD:  You have called yourself a born writer and said you started "scribbling stories" when you were about 13, and never stopped. What do you remember about those very early stories? Were they genre-related, traceable in any way to your later work? 

SM:  Oh, sure. In fact my first novel, not published for another fifteen years, was actually dreamed up during a Geometry class that I was flunking in high school.

WD:  Speaking of influences --- All good writers start out as avid readers. Can you name some of your favorite writers, past and/or present? Were there any who influenced your own work at any stage along the way?

SM:  Well it all starts with Hemingway, doesn’t it? Where would any of us be without Papa? After that, I dunno, the usual suspects. Steinbeck. Hammett. Of course before that I’d begun with the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, and by eighth grade I’d discovered Mike Shayne and Mike Hammer. The hardboiled tough guy private eyes constituted much of my extracurricular reading during high school. Spillane was king but I read ‘em all. Yes, there were influences. But when I first turned pro and broke in writing those Mack Bolan novels, one of the main reasons I signed on was to concentrate on refining my prose while maintaining a degree of anonymity. A learn-while-you-earn kind of deal. I revised those early Executioner novels quite a bit (which in itself is a rarity in writing of that sort), and by the end of my tenure on that series I’d pretty much consciously pruned from my writing the sound of any writers who I felt had a discernible stylistic influence on me. Of course with the Bolan books I was being paid to write like someone else but by the time I started in on my work, I’d found my own voice.

WD:  As a young man, you served a hitch in the Army and attended college. I'm not sure in what order. First of all, please accept my sincere gratitude for your service to our country, especially during that turbulent time, which – by my reckoning – would have been the 1960s. It was a time when military service and the mood in much of the country, especially on college campuses, were not always compatible. Can you tell us about any of your experiences during that time?

SM:  I’m like the guy in Little Big Man; I managed to survive in both worlds. I graduated from high school the summer that I Can’t Get No Satisfaction and Like a Rolling Stone were crackling the atmosphere from every car radio in America, and I heeded the rebel yell. Tried a semester of college but that didn’t take. You want to be a lawyer? Go to college. Same if you want to be a doctor or an accountant. But you’re 18 and you want to be a writer? Hit the road, jack. Travel as much as you can. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open and never stop reading and writing. At least, that’s how I did it. Headed out as a roadie for a rock band that never went anywhere except one trip to NYC where I lingered on the fringes of the hipster Village scene. Cold water walkup on McDougal. Nights digging Nico & The Velvet Underground at Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Headed south on enough train fare to get me as far as Atlanta, where I drove a delivery truck for a florist. Talk about your range of human emotions for a writer-in-training to observe! One minute you’re delivering flowers to a joyous wedding party, the next stop is a funeral service where they’re crying buckets. Eventually the draft board caught up with me in Tallahassee where I was sitting in on lectures and drinking too much beer. Campus life suited me just fine except for that business of taking classes and studying for tests. So for the next two years I wore OD green and rocketed to the rank of Specialist 5^th Class, but with no “what did you do in the war, daddy” stories to share. In His wisdom, Uncle Sam sent me to Germany to push papers and keep an eye on them durn Ruskies. Probably would have sent me to Vietnam if it had been World War II. Had me an apartment off-base, an Italian girlfriend and got to travel around Europe and the England. The Army treated okay.

WD:  You've said that you broke away from the 9 to 5 grind about 40 years ago and never looked back. What type of work did you do during that 9 to 5 grind period? Since then, you have traveled extensively – always writing – and have worked at various other jobs along the way. Can you expand a bit on that also?

SM:  After the Army? Hell, everything from janitor to office clerk to the summer I managed a resort. But I was the world’s worst employee. A day gig for me existed only to make money so I could write. In retrospect, though, I now realize that I was watching, listening, learning and retaining in every one of those jobs. It’s all grist for the mill. You pay attention to the little stuff. I worked one winter as a janitor for a service that would go into teen beer bars in this college town. We’d hit them about 3 AM after the place had been emptied and everyone had gone home. Now, every night of the week these dumps were jam packed with college guys trying to pick up college girls and vice versa. Dim lights, loud music, the place is jumping. Loose change dropping left and right but in an atmosphere like that while you’re hustling a hottie, who’s going to say, “Excuse me, I dropped a quarter” and get down on your knees in the dark to look for it? But throw on the fluorescents for us hungry janitors and, man, you wouldn’t believe the loose change you could pick up. I found fifty bucks one night in three bars, and we were a four-man crew! So anyway, I knew the perks of being a janitor and one day in some way, into a book it goes.

WD:  In addition to your writing, you are an accomplished musician. Tell us more about that, please. What instruments do you play, favorite artists, etc? You wrote a wonderful book titled HANK & MUDDY a few years back (one of my favorites from you) and now I understand that you've recently finished a work about Jimi Hendrix. I assume these stemmed, to some degree, from your own interest in music? Care to tell us a little about the Jimi Hendrix book? Is it, like HANK & MUDDY, a fictionalized account of some event in Hendrix's life, or is it more biographical?

SM: A little of both. The book is set in London in 1970 during the final 48 hours of Jimi’s life, which have always been shrouded in mystery amid suggestions of foul play. At a deeper level the novel is about those two tracks of American youth culture that ran parallel to each other during the turbulent times you speak of. Half were safe and sound, getting high and listening to Jimi Hendrix, the other half was trying to stay alive in a deadly combat zone, getting high and listening to Jimi Hendrix. Dichotomies like that trigger my imagination, and they’re everywhere. My music novels stem from a lifelong love of music, everything from jazz to rock and classical too. I worked for a spell as a DJ in country radio. Worked for seven years on the road as a rock musician. Vocals and harp (blues lingo for amplified harmonica). Never recorded professionally. Played the beer bar circuit, college towns, ski resorts, cowboy bars, biker bars, after hours dives. Writing eventually pushed that aside. Better working conditions and you only travel when you want to. Thank you for the kind words about Hank & Muddy. Writers are always supposed to say they’re latest book is their best, and maybe that’s true, but Hank & Muddy is my personal favorite of the ones published thus far.

WD:  For years you were associated with paperback adventure series like Cody's Army and Mark Stone: MIA Hunter, for which you turned out many highly entertaining titles. Recently, however, you've slowed down the pace and are turning out stand-alones like the aforementioned HANK & MUDDY, thrillers like DRAGON GAMES, THE KOREAN INTERCEPT, BLOOD RED SUN, and THE CASTRO DIRECTIVE (just released in print format). Can you comment on the contrast between the two types of books, as far as research, writing discipline, personal satisfaction, etc.?

SM: I intend my series novels to constitute strong examples of stories crafted to meet the expectations of readers who know what they want. I take pride in delivering those goods in a series like the Mark Stone books. That’s the sort of writing that can be fresh and dynamic when judged on its own merits. But I always liked the way some of my favorite old movie directors like John Ford or Hitchcock could make intense little movies like Liberty Valance or Psycho, and then turn around and paint their pictures on a larger canvas, so to speak, with films like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon or North By Northwest. Yet all of their work bears their distinctive motifs and style. That’s the difference. My stand-alone novels present stories on a bigger canvas. 

Also, you've done a number of collaborations with writers like Don Pendleton, Bill Crider, and Joe Lansdale. That must be a whole different writing dynamic. Comment on that also, please.

SM: I’ve always been proud of the apprenticeship that my friendship with Don Pendleton afforded me. In the other cases, some top notch friends, who happen to be top notch writers, have helped me out at times by pitching in as series co-writers when deadlines collided with reality and I needed someone to bail me out with a first draft. The three MIA Hunter novels that Joe R. Lansdale and I did have stirred considerable interest over the years, and there’s anticipation for the three-in-one collection of them scheduled for publication by Subterranean Press in 2014.

WD:  Some of your MIA Hunter books have recently been re-issued and are getting a good response as eBooks. Is it true this is stirring an interest in you to perhaps write some more adventures for Mark Stone and his crew? I'm sure a lot of readers would love to have confirmation of that. Additionally, what are your feelings about the whole eBook movement?

SM:  This is probably the most exciting, uncertain time to be a writer since the birth of paperbacks, and I’m lovin’ it. The writer’s task is to communicate. Ebooks means more readers. How can that be anything but a good thing? There is a new, unpublished MIA Hunter in the pipeline, but Crossroad Press still has a ways to go in reissuing the original series so we’ll see. As a reader, I’m old school. I prefer old-fashioned real books. But so-called “legacy publishing” needed a big time kick in the ass and here it is, folks. As a writer, I’m just happy that people read and enjoy my books and whatever delivery system works best for them is just fine with me.

WD:  Any firm plans for what we can expect next from Stephen Mertz on the writing front?

SM:  There’s always something in development but I won’t jinx it by talking about that before it’s done. Right now I’m all about getting the word out about The Castro Directive and the MIA Hunter series. They’re great books, folks, and they’re cheap!  There, that oughta do it for the sales pitch.

WD:  There was a time when you and I didn't hit it off. I was young and a little too cocky for my own good back then, and you called me on it. But then our mutual friend Mike Avallone intervened and got us patched up. I always found it a bit ironic that the peacemaker role was played by Avo --- who was, shall we say, a bit pugnacious in his later years and always seemed to be firing off letters to raise hell with somebody about something (God, can you imagine what a terror he would be if still alive in this age of Tweets and e-mail). You got to know Avo better than me over the years and he even dedicated his last book to you. Recognizing there may be some folks reading this who, sadly, won't be familiar with the Avallone byline --- got any good Avo stories you want to share? (I've got a couple of my own, but will hold that for another time.)

SM: Hmm. Truth is I don’t remember us ever buttin’ heads! Drawing a total blank, and I don’t care to remember. Interviews notwithstanding, I’m about the present and the future.

My Avallone story concerns an actual short story that I wrote for and about him. I adored Mike. He was the first professional writer I ever knew. I wrote him a fan letter after he made the cover of a Writers Digest in 1970. He was burning up the paperback racks in those days. I’d been reading him since high school and the Army. I really liked his stuff. As a young fella who wanted to write, I didn’t know anything about all the flaws people say they find in his work these days. I just knew that when I picked up an Ed Noon novel or anything with Avallone’s name on the cover, I couldn’t stop reading. So I wrote him a fan letter. We became and remained good friends until his death almost 30 years later. Mike always called me his “loyal Boswell,” and in fact dedicated two of his Ed Noon books to me.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after we made contact that his markets started drying up. By the late 70s, Mike was in a very dark place. Mike said they (the editors and agents) blacklisted him. They said he was difficult to work with. Mike was a real character with personality coming out of his ears. He was a link to the past (he’d actually met Chandler) and I wasn’t the only young newbie writer of my generation that he encouraged early on. Then, to see him sliding into this angry, dark, bitter place mentally and emotionally….he  started blaming people. He picked fights and sometimes blamed writers for his misfortunes who were friends of mine and who I knew to be good people. So I finally decide I’ve got to let Mike see that he’s maybe pushing too hard. That he should reassess, reboot, whatever. I’d suggested this in a variety of ways during our regular phone conversations but this time I went full bore and wrote a story called “The King of Horror,” about a troubled writer named Rigley Balbo who was quite obviously Michael Avallone. It was published by Dutton and later Signet in a collection called Murder Is My Business, edited by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane. The story was pretty harsh. It’s a cautionary tale for all writers, but also an open letter specifically to Mike, meant to wake him and shake him. So I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.

Well, he loved it. In fact, he said it was such a great story and so faithfully written in his voice, people would think Stephen Mertz was a pen-name for Michael Avallone! That was the irrepressible Avo. For years after that he often wrote Rigley Balbo as his return address on the letters he sent me, and he once referred to that story as my love letter to him…and he was right.

WD:  Thank you, Steve, for your time.

SM:  Thank you, Wayne, for your interest.

Available Now: MEAN CHRISTMAS NIGHT

Here's a Christmas short story to get you in the holiday spirit. It just went live on Amazon Kindle.

Don't let your guard down, though, and be expecting some White Christmas frivolity or a Dr. Seuss rhyme fest ... This is me, remember? So you ought to know there's going to be a healthy dose of nastiness that's sure to earn somebody a big fat lump of coal in their stocking.
As the sales copy says:

"St. Gregory's was a poor parish in a decaying part of the city.
Nevertheless, Father Maynard maintained the strength of his faith and the conviction that there were still good people in his flock who needed and wanted the word of the Lord in their lives.
But then came the night—the Holiest of nights—when three vicious punks showed up to test the very limits of the priest's faith and convictions … until Father Maynard discovered that an unlikely Savior may reemerge when needed the most."

 

If you're interested in seeing how it all plays out (and I naturally hope you are) then I urge you to check this out. It's a quick read and one I think you'll enjoy.

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