Must Be Raining, ‘Cause We’re Talking Arc

September 24th, 2019 by Max Allan Collins

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This going to be very brief, as I am starting work on the new Mike Hammer (Masquerade for Murder), again working from a Spillane synopsis with a few snippets of his prose to work in. The early chapters are always the hardest, getting the tone, getting into the swing of it, and just generally building momentum.

I had a nice response last week from readers interested in getting advance copies of Do No Harm. Interestingly – and disappointingly – not a one asked to see Girl Can’t Help It. I hope readers of Quarry, Heller, Hammer and so on will give this series a fair try. This book has particular meaning for me because I’ve finally – after all these years – really engaged with my rock ‘n’ roll background in the telling of a crime story.

As it happens, I already have on hand Advance Reading Copies (ARC’s) of Girl Can’t Help It, but am hesitant to start sending any out, since the book won’t be available till March 10.

As for Do No Harm, I have yet to ascertain whether there will be Advance Reading Copies at all – if we have to wait till the actual book exists, that will complicate getting reviews out there early enough to do any good. Publishers are starting to send out mostly e-book versions of ARC’s, which sucks. Stay tuned.

I also have not received a supply of Killing Quarry ARC’s, but some are finding their way into reviewer’s hands. A nice write-up is included below.

The readers who wrote interested in doing reviews (thank you, all of you) are mostly veterans of the Book Giveaway Wars here (and there will be more of those). I am building a list (finally) of you loyal reviewers. But I’m frustrated that so few bloggers and other on-line reviewers were a definite minority among those who responded.

Apologies for the brevity this time, but here are some interesting links to make up for it.

This one is a review of Quarry, the first novel I wrote about the character (not the chronological first – that’s The First Quarry), and the third novel I wrote if we start with Bait Money as the opening gun. (Mourn the Living proceeded it, but didn’t get published till years later. Also, there were four full-length novels written by me in my junior high and high school years, never published…thank God…but the reason why I got fairly proficient early on.

This is another nice write-up, mostly about the Quarry books, from a reader who admits having trouble keeping up with me. Here’s the thing, for those who are dealing with my prolific nature: first, I am trying to make a living; and second, I can only write books while I’m alive, so I’m using the time as best I can.

Here’s a write-up about comic book tough girls, and Ms. Tree gets some nice ink along the way.

And here’s that early Killing Quarry review I promised you.

M.A.C.

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7 Responses to “Must Be Raining, ‘Cause We’re Talking Arc”

  1. Jacob Dzik says:

    I enjoy your books and read as many as I can but am wondering why whenever on here I ask a question or seem interested in something you never respond to me. Just curious, cuz as a fan I figure you would appreciate people being interested in your work.

  2. Hi Jacob — no disrespect or lack of interest intended. My guess, without checking, is that you must have asked questions or made comments that came along with similar ones from others, and my posts — as often is the case — were general, not specifically responding to anyone by name. Also, some correspondents here are people I know personally from book signings and conventions, and I have a tendency to answer them rather directly. Believe me when I say I appreciate people interested in my work very, very much.

  3. Jacob Dzik says:

    Thanks, I appreciate it! Didn’t mean to sound like a douche. I really do love your work and think Road to Perdition is one of the greatest gangster stories ever told. I’m real excited for the new Nate Heller too. And now I’m definitely gonna check out your new series.

  4. Ron says:

    Would love to get an ARC of Killing Quarry. When I went to the Hard Case Crime website, I was a bit bummed that the preview chapter they chose to make available was the “boilerplate” one where Quarry recaps the whole history of how he got into being a hitman, etc. (I feel like I know that chapter by heart now!)

  5. Actually, there is no boilerplate Quarry chapter — I always write it pretty much from scratch, though I refer to earlier versions to keep things consistent. Some of the novels go into a lot more detail, even making scenes out of it (it’s a major part of the graphic novel, QUARRY’S WAR).

    I don’t have ARCs of KILLING QUARRY. I usually get some, but so far not this time. I’m looking into it.

  6. Tommy Raiko says:

    Speaking of ARC giveaways, do you/your publisher(s) ever run them on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway )?

    Apologies if you do and I’m just unaware, but it seems like so much readerly stuff happens on Goodreads that its giveaway program would be a natural venue, too…

  7. Reyna Birdin says:

    As soon as I found this site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.