Posts Tagged ‘Cutout’

The Big News This Week and More

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024
Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction cover
Hardcover:
E-Book: Kobo
Digital Audiobook: Kobo Libro.fm Google Play
Audiobook MP3 CD:

You may have already heard my big news this week, which is that Spillane – King of Pulp Fiction (by James L. Traylor and me) has been nominated for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America.

I am of course thrilled, if for no other reason than it’s a further indication that Mickey is finally being taken more seriously and reassessed. When Jim Traylor and I had One Lonely Knight: Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer nominated for an Edgar in 1984, we were told confidentially by a member of the committee that we would have won but for one committee member refusing to even read a book about the dreaded Spillane.

I’ve been looking at various YouTube shows about the great Kiss Me Deadly (the film, and mostly raves) but those praising the film routinely condemn Mickey glibly, while expressing opinions about Spillane that indicate they have read little or nothing by him. Mickey was so controversial that you didn’t have to be familiar with his work to condemn him. And even the great Eddie Muller, introducing Kiss Me Deadly at a Noir City screening, characterized Mike Hammer largely in terms of anti-Commie lunacy. Of the first seminal six novels, only One Lonely Night is about “Commies” (and Joe McCarthy is essentially the bad guy) and only The Girl Hunters and arguably Survival…Zero! Of the later Hammers touches upon Russian bad guys. That’s three of thirteen novels. Of the thirteen posthumous Hammer novels I’ve completed, only Compound 90 deals with Communism and Russia. The most respected noir expert that Eddie is (rightfully) should recognize the very noir theme of a detective in love with a woman who turns out to be the murderer of the army buddy who gave an arm for him in combat. That’s I, the Jury, and not a Commie in sight. The Arkin brothers discuss Kiss Me Deadly and the more liberal of the two makes the comment that Mike Hammer seems to be a WW 2 veteran – you think?

This is my roundabout way of saying I have no expectation that Jim and I will win the Edgar for this book, which I am very proud to have co-written. The Spillane stigma is still there. And I’m up against books about James Ellroy (don’t get me started) and Poe himself. But Barb and I are probably going to the awards dinner. It’s a chance to be seen as somebody who is still in the game.

Anyway, here are all the nominees in the various categories.

* * *

Barb and I have a novella coming out from Neo-Text that can be pre-ordered at Amazon right now in e-book format. (There will be a print version, too, but it’s not listed yet.)

Cutout cover

Here’s what our novella Cutout is about as described by the publisher:

A young woman from the Midwest, recipient of an unexpected college scholarship, is recruited into a lucrative courier job that shuttles her from Manhattan to Washington, D.C. There’s a slight drawback: the previous two “cutouts” died by violence.

Sierra Kane – who has bounced from one foster family to another – faces an uncertain future when she receives an unapplied-for scholarship to Barnard College specifically designed for orphans whose academic records are merely above average. A second unexpected boon comes her way when another recipient of that somewhat mysterious scholarship offers her a part-time courier job.

Soon Sierra is caught up in a whirl of espionage and murder, with a new boy friend who may or may not be part of a plot, a college mentor with a possible agenda of her own, and an FBI agent who rebuffs Sierra’s plea for help.

It’s a classic story of a small-town girl caught up in an overwhelming big-city world; but Sierra Kane is a young woman whose curiosity and determination will lead her to the truth…and into more than one deadly confrontation.

Married writing team Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) and Barbara Collins (Bombshell) – whose Antiques mystery series is a long-running mystery fan favorite under the name Barbara Allan – have crafted a novella that is at once as timeless as a fairy tale and as modern as a headline.

I am enormously pleased with the novella, although I really shouldn’t be taking top billing – the supposed value of my byline came into play and I was overridden. This book really is Barb’s baby. I did some plot consulting and did my usual punch-up draft, though her work needed little help.

For you e-book readers, here’s where you can pre-order it.

* * *

The enormously talented Heath Holland was kind enough to invite me on Cereal at Midnight for a freewheeling interview about my career. He has also pulled excerpts from our nearly two-hour talk that appear on YouTube separately.

We are discussing my making regular appearances on Cereal at Midnight (perhaps as often as monthly). Stay tuned.

Till then, here’s a link for that extensive interview.

* * *

At Lisa’s Book Critiques, Glen Davis was kind enough to list (and briefly discuss) Too Many Bullets as one of his favorite novels of 2023.

* * *

My new expanded version of Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane is available on several more streaming services, including Apple TV.

It’s on Roku, too, and Amazon Prime, Tubi and Vudu.

M.A.C.

Maybe I Didn’t Do Such a Wonderful Thing After All

Tuesday, January 16th, 2024
“Maybe I didn’t do such a wonderful thing after all.”
—John Payne, Miracle on 34th Street

This will be somewhat brief, as I am working on my draft of Antiques Slay Belles for Severn House.

What is remarkable – and tricky – about this one is how good a writer my bride Barb has developed into. I’ve noticed this before, of course – perhaps most strikingly on Cutout, which will be published in April by Neo Text – but on the Trash ‘n’ Treasures books, her improvement over the nineteen (!) titles in the series has been understandably gradual if always impressive.

I have often commented that if I’d been a brain surgeon, Barb would likely have picked that up, too. She had not been a big reader (her favorite mystery series was Nancy Drew) and probably what influenced her most (obviously in her acclaimed short story work) was adaptations of Roald Dahl’s classic tales on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which she watched growing up.

This time she presented me with a 250-page draft and it’s my job to expand it to something over 300 pages. And her writing is so tight and polished now, I sometimes feel more like I’m desecrating the prose, not improving it.

Don’t get the idea you can be a writer of prose fiction just by being smart and paying attention. That helps, and it may be key – but Barb has always had an innate story sense. Her off-hand criticisms of the many movies we watch are almost always spot on. Long before she began writing fiction herself she was my in-house editor. She has learned to be tactful and gentle in her notes, as few writers on earth take criticism any worse than me.

The odd thing about working on Antiques Slay Belles is that it’s tough to improve on something that doesn’t need improvement; but we have a contract requiring a higher word count than what 250 pages gives us, so I can’t just smile and walk away, saying, “Well done!”

It’s a nice problem.

* * *

Though the contracts have yet to be signed (actually yet to be received), last week we firmed up distribution for Blue Christmas by VCI Home Entertainment and MVD Home Video.

The Blu-ray (and the film will likely be on DVD as well) will be packed with extras, including a commentary, a half-hour bio film on yrs truly, and highlights from the premieres (and their Q and A sessions). This will probably not be available till October of this year, as the Christmas season (obviously) is the target market for Blue Christmas.


Rob Merritt as P.I. Richard Stone

I may look into a limited signed advance edition of perhaps 50 Blu Rays to see here long before the national on-sale date. Is that a good idea?

Till then, here are the premiere venues, all Iowa:

Fleur Cinema/Des Moines, World Premiere; February 24th
Collins Road Theater/Cedar Rapids Premiere; March 13th
Palms 10/Muscatine Premiere; March 16th
Last Picture House/Quad Cities Premiere; March 22nd

If you donated to our crowd-funding efforts (at Indiegogo and here at my web site, and qualify for free admission), please write me at macphilms@hotmail.com and let me know which premiere you wish to attend. (My records on who donated what are a trifle sketchy.) We will get you on the comp list. The larger donations include a Plus One, so if you fall into that category, let me know.

We have also entered four film festival events that you are encouraged to attend (and be a part of the Q&A, etc. if we are accepted):

Cedar Rapids Film Festival (April 4th-6th)
Julien Film Festival/Dubuque – (April 25th-28th)
Iowa Motion Picture Awards –(May 4th) No Q & A, award event.
Iowa Independent Film Festival – (Sept 5th – 7th)

We’ve had a lovely quote from the great Heath Holland at Cereal at Midnight (it’s on YouTube among other venues):

“A hard-boiled holiday tale crafted with humanity and humor.
Max Allan Collins proves yet again that he is a master storyteller.”

Heath is one of the best and most winning presences on YouTube in the Physical Media area. I did an interview with him (warning: I blathered on endlessly) that should be posted soon. Heath and I share a number of interests, which is why I responded to his questions as if I’d been vaccinated with a phonograph needle (an oldie but a goodie).

The other YouTube presence I would recommend is the unique Robert Meyer Burnett, who I’ve discussed here previously. He is very funny and extremely (but not obnoxiously) opinionated, an erudite man with a strong comic sensibility. And he knows even more about Star Trek than Barb and me. Full disclosure: Rob is producing the Nate Heller podcast, for which we’ve done a pilot already (starring the great Todd Stashwick of Picard fame as Nathan Heller) with a crowd-funding effort coming up soon.

* * *

Here’s a wonderful five-star review of The Big Bundle from Craig Zablo.

Here’s a nice write-up on my Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane documentary, somewhat spoiled by two imbecilic comments.

That doc is offered on various streaming services. Please watch it on one of the authorized sources – the free ones are generally ripping me off.

M.A.C.

Give Me a Little Sugar (Creek), Baby

Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek cover
Hardcover: Indiebound Amazon Books-A-Million (BAM) Barnes & Noble (B&N) Powell's
Paperback (New Release!): Indiebound Bookshop.org Amazon Books-A-Million (BAM) Barnes & Noble (B&N) Powell's
E-Book: Amazon Google Play Kobo iTunes
Digital Audiobook: Libro.fm Amazon Google Play Kobo Chirp

This week features a book giveaway of the mass market edition of Shoot-out at Sugar Creek, which looks to be the final Caleb York novel.

[All copies have now been claimed. Thank you! –Nate]

I hate having to hang up my Stetson and shootin’ iron, but Kensington has not requested another in the series, and one of the few other publishers of westerns, Five Star, is shutting down its corral. That leaves Wolfpack, but my sales there don’t yet justify doing more novels for those fine folks (not sarcasm – Mike and Jake Bray and my old buddy Paul Bishop are tops).

Anyway, as I’ve indicated here recently, I am slowing down by choice and necessity. Part of it is health concerns and just the reality of growing older (more about this later), some of it is shrinking markets for my work, and another concern is not wanting to work so damn hard.

My somewhat decreased output will be in line with what most writers would consider their normal output, and the trickle (as compared to a deluge) of M.A.C. books will not be readily apparent, as several completed things are coming up yet this year and next. The Big Bundle, the new Heller, is out in December from Hard Case Crime. Two more Fancy Anders novellas will be coming out from NeoText, who are also doing the Barbara/Max collaboration, Cutout, also a novella and a damn good one.

And I am just past the half-way point on Too Many Bullets, the Nate Heller taking on the Robert Kennedy assassination. I have in mind one further Heller, finally dealing head-on with Jimmy Hoffa (and RFK), which I hope to convince Hard Case Crime to let me do next year.

That is likely to wrap up the Heller saga, although one never knows. This cycle of three RFK-related novels (The Big Bundle, Too Many Bullets and the untitled Hoffa book) will be chronologically the last. I consider the Heller saga to be my best work, but they are exceptionally hard to do. My longtime researcher George Hagenauer has not been involved with the more recent books, except peripherally, which obviously puts the research on my shoulders.

My intention (and this is obviously subject to change) is to finish up this Heller/RFK cycle and then return to a few Quarry novels. If the Nolan movie happens, he and Jon could return…but only in the event of that movie happening (the series has been optioned by Lionsgate).

On the Mike Hammer front, I have signed to do the final two for Titan. A few fragments remain that might become short stories; but closing out the Hammer series is another indication that I am winding down.

And next on my docket is my draft of Antiques Foe (Barb is working on her draft now).

Let me assure the handful of you who care that as long as I have my marbles I will be writing prose fiction. I may do one last Perdition novel, for example, and I have a Neo-Text project that will include novellas about Audie Murphy and John Wayne as well as an unlikely third American hero.

The third act nature of what I’m up to has reflected itself in the recent work. Quarry in Quarry’s Blood finds our boy an old man now, of 70 or so; and the next one I do is likely to be a follow-up with him again in that age range. Nate Heller in Too Many Bullets (and to a degree in The Big Bundle) is an older guy who gets involved in cases that resonate with his past – i.e., the similarity of Zangara in True Detective and Sirhan Sirhan in Too Many Bullets.

Speaking of The Big Bundle, stay tuned for a book giveaway – I have some ARCs that will be available in a week or two.

* * *

A number of you have been kind enough – though I’ve discouraged you not to – to write me both in the comments here and in private e-mails with your concern and best wishes for my A-fib adventures. Everyone has my blessing to skip the rest of this section of the update as I deal with what happened since last week’s entry.

I was scheduled to have the cardioversion procedure at Trinity in Rock Island on Thursday (Oct. 20). But I had a couple of bad days and really bad nights early last week, and Barb insisted on Tuesday morning that I call my heart doc’s nurse, first thing, and let her know what my symptoms were. (For the record, extreme shortness of breath, wheezing, and an inability to sleep unless I sat in a chair and leaned forward. This was very much like what I experienced before going in for heart surgery in 2016).

Anyway, the nurse told me (in forceful but less colorful terms) to get my ass up to the emergency room in Rock Island at the heart center. We were convinced I’d get an EKG, some meds, and be told to report back on Thursday as planned. But, no – the efficient staff got me right in, and in an astonishingly short four hours, I had the cardioversion procedure and was heading home (Barb at the wheel).

The doctor was female (not my usual cardiologist, though he was consulted by her several times) as were most of the techs, and their kindness, good humor and efficiency gave me hope for the human race. (Not a lot of hope, but hope.) I was extremely impressed, and gobsmacked by having my problem addressed so quickly and well.

I am still in recovery mode. I still have the same symptoms, but dialed back considerably. This may be a side effect of some heavy medication I am still on that was part of getting me ready for the procedure.

Okay, I understand this is not the exciting stuff I reported in 2016, when after my heart surgery I ran naked down the hospital corridor thinking murder was afoot in the Columbo episode I was hallucinating (note to self: continue to avoid Ambien).

But it will have to do.

And thank you all for your concern. I can only say that my biggest concern during all this was dying before I finished the Heller.

* * *

A few quick words about movies and TV that Barb and I have enjoyed (or not enjoyed).

See How They Run, a British mystery centered around Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, is strangely flat, conveying a sense of everybody being all dressed up with no where to go. It is perhaps the only Sam Rockwell performance (he’s inexplicably cast as a British detective) I’ve seen that underwhelms. A while back someone wrote in saying how they cringed when I called something “painfully diverse” in its casting. Well, I’m saying it again about this one. Agatha Christie’s archeologist husband Sir Max Mallowan is portrayed by a Black actor, and a producer is planning to leave his wife and marry his Black secretary. In the early 1950s. It’s very possible that younger viewers will have no problem with either, but for those of us who have been on the planet a while, the historical inaccuracy of that is a big stumbling block.

We walked out of Amsterdam, despite its stellar cast (so stellar as to be distracting and even annoying). It’s apparently a comedy, but plays like a bad imitation of Wes Anderson. You will come out humming the art direction. (Fun fact: the historical event it centers upon is the one from the 3-part pilot of City of Angels, “The November Plan.”)

Barb did not see Halloween Ends, which is streaming on Peacock (and is in theaters). I did. It’s surprisingly good, making an effort to do something different and not just pile up the gory kills. After an initial Michael Myers attack, the next hour is…wait for it…story. Jamie Lee Curtis pulls it all together.

Confess, Fletch is a good little comic mystery with John Hamm fine as Gregory Mcdonald’s celebrated anti-hero. It reminded me of going to the movies in the ‘70s and ‘80s and seeing something small but entertaining.

Did I already mention Bullet Train here? It’s a ride.

* * *

Here’s a nice interview with Andy Rausch, who is writing a biography about someone or other.

Deadly Beloved And Other Stories cover

Here’s where you can get Deadly Beloved and Other Stories. It’s not my Ms. Tree novel of that title, but a collection of Johnny Craig stories from the EC comics that corrupted so many youths (including mine).

A nice little write-up here celebrates Conrad Hall’s posthumous Road to Perdition Academy Award.

Check out the classic “Theme from Ms. Tree” right here.

Finally, have a gander at this terrific review of the Blu-ray of I, the Jury.

M.A.C.

54 Years and Counting! (Really 56.)

Tuesday, June 7th, 2022

Barb and I took our first post-Covid lockdown overnight trip, celebrating our 54th wedding anniversary last week – specifically, on June 1st, the day of, and returning to Muscatine on June 2nd, the start of year 55.

It was a delightful trip, although two business situations back in the real world came up shortly after we arrived in Galena, Illinois (our favorite getaway spot) and reminded me how nice life was when you didn’t have a cell phone in your pocket.

Things settled down, though, and we shopped and lunched at Vinny Vanucci’s and had a lovely evening, dining at Fritz and Frites and then sharing a quiet, typically Collins evening in our suite at the Irish Cottage – see the photos as evidence.

M.A.C. and Barb at Fritz and Frites
Champagne and The Brain Eaters

You will note that I look almost giddy sharing a table with a beautiful blonde, undeterred by having spent 56 years of my life with her (we started going together in 1966). There are numerous reasons not to like me, even to hate me, but none better than my managing to hornswoggle (one of my late father’s favorite words) her into spending most of her life with me.

Obviously Barb is a beauty. But she is also funny and smart and ridiculously thoughtful. She loves the Three Stooges. She loves the Beatles. She loves the original Star Trek. She loves James Bond. She loves her grandchildren. And she even loves me.

The question we get most often is how we write together and remain married. I’ve seen other writing couples really struggle with that. My answer sounds flip but it’s true: our offices are on separate floors.

Another major factor is that we develop the idea for a story or novel together, often over lunch or on a car ride, and then she works alone on her draft, checking in with me only if she hits a rough patch and wants an opinion (rare). She does not love to write. I try to tell her that no writers really love to write, though many of us are compelled to do so, and all of us love to have written. But she entered the field basically to help me out, editing, and writing the “Mike Mist” feature for Ms. Tree after I burned out on minute mysteries.

So when she finishes a draft of a novel, she claims (believably) to be sick of it. She doesn’t care what I do with it. This is basically true, but if my draft wanders too far afield from what she had in mind, she’s very tough-minded about getting me back on track.

We just finished our short novel, Cutout, for Neo-Text. I say “finished,” but we haven’t heard back from the editor, so you never know when rewrites are requested. But it feels good and was very much an idea that came from Barb and a story that she generated. The Antiques novels are fairly loose and it’s not unusual for long stretches to be my work; but in Cutout, her writing was so tight that working on it, trying to improve on it, was like repairing an expensive watch.

So feel free to hate me for being so lucky in having this life partner. I don’t deserve her. But at least I know it.

Frankie Valli Concert 2022

We wrapped up our anniversary celebration with a concert – Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Really, it was Frankie Valli and four back-up singers/dancers, but I’m not complaining…it was a great show. Held at the cavernous and unfortunately named TaxSlayer Center in Moline, the concert featured an amazingly spry eighty-eight year-old Valli hitting all the high notes and giving a long, opening-act-free presentation of most of his many hits, without and without the Seasons. A multi-media affair, with a fantastic rocking band, it had a Vegas feel that made other oldies shows I’ve seen look and feel like the cobbled-together affairs they often are.

The event had been postponed twice, and we almost skipped it, having already had a fun but exhausting Galena trip. But we were very, very glad we saw this pop music legend in performance.

* * *
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds poster

Among the list of things Barb loves I listed Star Trek. We loved all the movies, including the one Shatner directed, and the recent J.J. Abrams reboot features, which not everyone does. We are okay with Next Generation, but every other ST series has left us cold – we haven’t ever boarded those vessels, not long-term.

I was once approached to do a Star Trek novel and was thrilled. It was to be about the newest, about-to-debut series, Enterprise, which I was told was a throwback to the original series. I watched the premiere, all revved up – it starred Scott Bakula, from Quantum Leap! But then it turned out to, well, uh…suck. At least in my opinion. And Barb’s.

I tried to get the book gig anyway, but both my tries were rejected because they resembled this episode of that Trek spin-off or that episode of this one.

Now comes Star Trek – Strange New Worlds, and we are both fans. It’s basically the series that Gene Roddenberry first intended to do, as indicated by the pilot (“The Menagerie”) with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, Majel Barrett as Number One, and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

Strange New Worlds (streaming on Paramount Plus) is a smart, respectful prequel with a great cast. Anson Mount as Pike seems to combine the best of Kirk and Picard, Rebecca Romijn as Number One is a particularly strong presence, and Ethan Peck as Spock channels Nimoy to an eerie degree, particularly the sound and cadence of the original Spock’s voice.

The art design and special effects are stellar (sue me) and the stories so far mostly take place on the stunning Enterprise itself. The major difference is that none of the episodes to date are anything William Shatner would have put up with. Look, I love Shatner. (So does Barb.) He’s a force of nature and his Kirk is definitive. But he would never, never have allowed his episodes to focus so much on its ensemble cast. To Anson Mount’s credit, he holds the show together without flexing his ego.

This is the best Star Trek since…Star Trek.

* * *

Thanks to all of you who took advantage of the week-long 99-cent sale for the Kindle edition of No Time To Spy, which collects the three John Sand novels by Matt Clemens and me.

We did not hit number one on any of the Amazon bestseller lists (The Shrinking Island recently did) but we got into the upper reaches.

For those of you who (like me) prefer physical media, the “real” book of No Time to Spy is a fat thing of beauty.

You can get it here for $15.99.

* * *

Finally, here’s another of those “movies you didn’t know were based on comics” pieces, but not a bad one (on Road to Perdition of course).

M.A.C.