Posts Tagged ‘Death by Fruitcake Movie’

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

Tuesday, August 12th, 2025

You may have noticed that the last two updates were rather shy of text – mostly pictures of what went on for the last several weeks. I am here to correct that.

The San Diego Comic-Con was, as they say, “the best of times, the worst of times.” Our son Nathan brought his entire family (wife Abby and our two grandkids, Sam and Lucy), which made the trip special. They were in a different wing of the Marriott Marquis, and to some degree operated on their own separate track. Nate attended all three of my panels, and the whole brood attended the other two.

Let’s start with the “best.” I was an Invited Guest, which brought with it various perks, including getting our hotel room paid for and a meal allowance. I was assigned three panels. I had my doubts about the first panel, hosted by San Diego’s Mysterious Galaxy book store; it included moderator Betty Ramirez, Arvind Ethan David, Delilah S. Dawson, Adam Cesare, Ted Van Alst Jr., and of course yrs truly. When I read about it, the panel seemed like a bunch of writers tossed together who didn’t have much in common. One of those panels that cons avail themselves of to make sure all the invited guests got at least one panel.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was an extremely lively affair, and you can watch it right here:

The other two panels had me interviewed first by Robert Meyer Burnett, director of True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak; and second by Andrew Sumner of Titan Books. Both Rob and Andrew are pals of mine and both interviews were a pleasure. Both men are knowledgeable about my work, and took different approaches, which meant the two panels taken together covered just about everything.

I did several signings, two official convention ones and one each with publishers Titan and First Comics. All of these were gratifying because fans (or customers, as Mickey Spillane used to put it) had brought all sorts of stuff for me to sign. It’s fascinating to me to see which of my properties an individual reader will gravitate toward – this was everything from Batman and Wild Dog to Road to Perdition and Nathan Heller, with some Quarry thrown in for good measure.

Lovely people to connect with, but kind of melancholy for me, as this is almost certainly my last San Diego con.

Which us to the “worst” part. I have some mobility issues that cause me no problems on familiar turf, but the crowd congestion and the long walks between panel rooms had me using my cane (a replica of Gene Barry’s on Bat Masterson, a TV show boomers will recall). It was tiring and frustrating, and the convention floor was jammed at all times. Even crowded, this used to be heaven to me – I could find all sorts of things to tempt me, including original art and physical media (Blu-rays and DVDs). Barb and I put together a game plan to get me to just the booths I wanted, for either buying goodies or talking to a publisher’s rep. This worked well, and I picked up wonderful stuff at the Hermes booth and Fantagraphics, but was unsuccessful connecting with anyone in editorial at the DC booth.

Turned out there was almost zero physical media, and the original art had skyrocketed in price. Art that would have cost in fairly recent years a few hundred dollars were now in the high thousands. No longer a game I can afford to suit up for.

But – despite an awful amenities-impoverished hotel room, which I am glad not to have paid for – it was a pleasure being with my family in such a beautiful place on the ocean. Unfortunately, the town had jacked up its already onerous prices to take advantage of con-goers – for example, a key restaurant at the hotel had dropped its lunch menus and served dinner all day instead. What had seemed a generous meal allotment was laughable compared to the Southern California prices.

Our usual trip to Ghirardelli’s in the Gaslight Quarter was a nightmare – packed streets made it nearly impossible to get for hot fudge Sundaes, and an unwillingess of Uber and Lyft to pick us up after had our family squeezing into a pedal cab and taking a breakneck ride back to the hotel – only to be charged $300 for the privilege, thanks to rates hidden below the legs of seated customers. Truly a nightmarish experience, and Ghirardelli’s itself was a horror – stuffed with people, uncleared tables and a single uni-sex bathroom.

Among the more comical joys of the trip was the adventure Barb and I had with a scooter she’d rented, anticipating my mobility problems. We practiced in the hotel hallway and she got pretty good, and so did I, but the thing ran too fast, unless hitting people like bowling pins was the goal. She tried it in a typical crowd and quickly we turned back, with Barb admitting defeat (a rarity on her part). But by the time we took our scooter over to Seaport Village, where a beautiful view and strolling tourists and an array of restaurants awaited, we had both mastered the speed problem with our trusty scooter. I eventually did most of the driving, but Barb was better at it.

Other joys included running into old friends, like Leonard Maltin and his family; and my inability to connect with DC editorial was cured when the very editor I wanted to speak to (about a possible Perdition collection) recognized me at the Marriott breakfast buffet ($40 bucks per and a limit of 19 minutes to have “all you could eat”).

When we made it home, after the usual airline delays, little Muscatine, Iowa, looked incredibly good to us, and Barb declared this our last trip by air, and to anywhere even by car that was more than a day trip or perhaps an overnight stay.

Nonetheless, we were only home a few days before heading to the Star City Film Festival, held in Waukon, Iowa, a little gem of a town (Muscatine is a metropolis by way of comparison) near the Minnesota border. Waukon looks to be a more or less straight line above us, as the crow flies, but Google Maps foretold a trip that would take three hours and change. Not bad. All paths to Waukon seemed to require making this turn and that, and going from one highway to another, with hardly any four-lanes in the mix.

I am a hopeless navigator, but I worked hard and, initially, quite successfully from three pages of Google Map instructions. Barb (the driver) and I were chipper and laughing and talking about what a great adventure this was. Then we found ourselves on a gravel road. Shit! Thank you, Google Maps! (Please don’t ask me why we didn’t use GPS.)

Our little car began to sputter on the last leg of what was turning into a four-hour trip, albeit through some lovely country, towering green and rocky walls, a lot like our trips to Galena. We barely rolled into Waukon just in time for a luncheon of the filmmakers hosted by fest chair Dr. Katie O’Regan at the pleasantly unpretentious Uptown Grill.

The luncheon was a blast, and Barb charmed everybody with her funny tales of woe as production manager on our modest movies. The food was great in a funky joint that included a bar with a Western saloon in its soul, an unpretentious dining room and a party room, where the filmmakers got together.

When the luncheon was over, Barb and I headed to the motel, a reservation having been made for us. The car sputtered badly and we managed to get off the street and into the parking lot of the Pladsen Chevrolet car dealership before our vehicle died a coughing death. But we were lucky in our bad luck…we had come to a stop about ten yards from the Chevrolet service department. We had a possible repair in sight.

Also in sight was the dealership’s next-door neighbor — our motel! See what I mean about lucky? We abandoned our buggy and schlepped our suitcases over to Boarders, which proved to be a very nice motel with a North-woodsy theme. Little did we know this would be our new home for several days….

As for the film festival, on Saturday evening we caught two features and several shorts, plus had our screening of Death By Fruitcake. The final film of the day, The Empty Church, a feature, was shown – after a terrific picnic-style dinner of barbecue brisket, sweet corn and baby potatoes – at the intimate theater behind Katie O’Regan’s home. A double-wide metal shed had been transformed into an intimate theater, with stage and screen and three rows of seating. Delightful.

Sunday morning the festival wrapped up auspiciously for us with our Best Feature win, and a “cold” table read by three terrific Chicago actors and Katie herself of about thirty pages of my Dying in the Post-war World screenplay. I mentioned this last week, and this cast knocked it out of the park.

When the car dealership opened on Monday, we were treated well – friendly and sympathetically. They would get right to fixing our car. Sweet! It was nerve-racking, wondering what the cost would be, both in time and dollars. More than once we wandered the dealership lot looking at cars that actually worked, wondering if it was time to buy a new one and was that even practical this far from home?

As our third day at Boarders began, we were relieved to be close enough to the downtown (about two blocks of it, modest but charming and fairly complete) to take our meals at a variety of restaurants, none of whose prices were of the San Diego pocket-picking variety: a breakfast joint, a Chinese restaurant, a Mexican place, a steakhouse. A phone call late Monday from the nice dealership guy told us a part had to be ordered and with luck would arrive by noon tomorrow.

It did, and – taking on the drive back a longer route but incredibly scenic – we were home by Tuesday evening. Once again, Muscatine looked very good to us. Barb affirmed that she was never leaving the house again, but this proved to be more of a threat and less than a promise.

Thus ended two weeks in our life that, reflecting, seem like two months. Oddly, we kind of enjoyed all of it – except the San Diego prices.

* * *

The film version of Road to Perdition continues to gain latterday attention.

And here.

Check out this review from In Love With Books:

Two Volumes, One Relentless Journey
Before Road to Perdition was an Oscar-winning film, it existed as a graphic novel noir masterpiece — a blend of sharp storytelling and unforgettable illustration that redefined the crime genre on the page.

Vol. 1 — Road to Perdition
Written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner, this is where the journey begins. In Depression-era America, Michael O’Sullivan is both a loving father and a feared mob enforcer. When betrayal shatters his world, he and his son hit the road — a path of vengeance, loyalty, and love, drawn with Rayner’s painstaking, cinematic detail.

Vol. 2 — Road to Perdition: On the Road
The saga continues with Collins’ razor-sharp prose, now paired with the dynamic artistry of José Luis García-López and Josef Rubinstein. Their bold lines and dramatic shadows give new energy to O’Sullivan’s odyssey, as father and son navigate drifters, criminals, and unexpected allies — each step pulling them closer to their destiny.

Why these books are unforgettable:

• Noir storytelling steeped in history and moral complexity.
• Vol. 1’s haunting realism by Richard Piers Rayner.
•Vol. 2’s cinematic action by José Luis García-López & Josef Rubinstein.
•A father-son tale that’s as tender as it is brutal.

Some roads are drawn in ink…others in blood. This one is both.

* * *

Read Leonard Maltin on the new Blu-ray of the forgotten first Wyatt Earp western, Law and Order, which features a commentary by my pal Heath Holland and me.

M.A.C.

Fruitcake at the Last Picture House, Plus Nate Heller

Tuesday, May 13th, 2025

We had a terrific Quad Cities premiere for our film Death By Fruitcake, starring Paula Sands, Alisabeth Von Presley and Rob Merritt. It was a packed house at Davenport’s stellar The Last Picture House, the theater that’s the brainchild of our bigtime local filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (who brought you A Quiet Place, Heretic and more).

We had a number of cast and crew members on hand, including Paula and Rob, and I led (with producer/d.p./editor) Chad Bishop a Q and A after. I took a spill off the riser onto my back but (with help) got onto my feet to helm the Q and A. Definitely a “show-must-go-on” moment, because I am still (it’s Sunday as I write this) recuperating from my own impromptu stunt-man feat.

Despite this, it was a wonderful evening, thanks to Last Picture House manager Jameson Ritter. Our two Muscatine screenings late last year were marred by sound problems (far too soft, something we weren’t able to rectify on site), but we were nicely loud and pretty impressive on the big screen. For a little movie designed to find a home (or homes) on a streaming service(s), this kind of theatrical exhibition was a rare treat for us (and, I think, the audience).

We promoted the event with an appearance on Quad Cities Live, the afternoon show that followed Paula Sands Live on her retirement from broadcasting. It was fun seeing Paula return to the site of her huge regional success. And what a Vivian Borne she makes! Alisabeth Von Presley, our equally impressive Brandy Borne, couldn’t make it to the event (she was choreographer on a high school production in Cedar Rapids that evening). But what a thrill for Barb and me to see our Barbara Allan/Antiques characters come to such wonderful comic life.

Max Allan Collins and Paula Sands on Quad Cities Live
L to R: Kyle Keil (host), Morgan Ottier (host), M.A.C., Paula Sands

Whither Death by Fruitcake? We are talking to various distributors now. I fully expect us to be streaming for this year’s holiday season. Getting on physical media is a trickier proposition as that market has just about vanished except for blockbuster films and the boutique labels, which specialize in horror and cult items, where we don’t fit. That doesn’t mean I won’t try.

If you want to help us in our filmmaking efforts, take a look at Blue Christmas on Tubi right now. Don’t wait for an invitation from Santa.

photos courtesy of The Last Picture House
Rob Merritt, M.A.C., Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt at The Last Picture House for Death by Fruitcake
L to r: Rob Merritt, M.A.C., Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt
Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt and Paula Sands at The Last Picture House for Death by Fruitcake
Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt and Paula Sands
Q and A post-QC premiere at the Last Picture House
Q and A post-QC premiere at the Last Picture House. L to R: Tracy Peltzer-Timm, Chris Causey, Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt, Cassidy Ptacek, Rob Merritt, M.A.C., Paula Sands, Chad Bishop
L to R: Paula Sands, Chris Causey, Rob Merritt, Barbara Collins, M.A.C., Chad Bishop at The Last Picture House for Death by Fruitcake
L to R: Paula Sands, Chris Causey, Rob Merritt, Barbara Collins, M.A.C., Chad Bishop

L to r: Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt, Rob Merritt, Tracy Peltzer-Timm, M.A.C., Lucy Collins, Nathan Collins, Abby Collins, Sam Collins

This link will take you to Paula Sands and me appearing on Quad Cities Live, the show that took the place of her Paula Sands Live, from which she retired after decades of Emmy-winning broadcasting. For longtime fans of my work, you should recall Paula’s wonderful appearance, spoofing herself and her show, in Mommy’s Day (1997).

* * *

Here’s an unexpected but welcome review of my 1983 novel, True Detective, which introduced Nathan Heller and my format of weaving a detective story in with actual events/crimes.

It’s interesting to me that a review of a novel I wrote in 1981 and was published in 1983 would appear in 2024 (!).

Two things should be noted, however: the reviewer uses True Detective to recommend the entire series; and it’s appearing just as True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak is getting some nice notice, which may have sparked this review.

True Noir is, as those of you who drop by here regularly know, a ten-episode audio drama with a full cast, sound effects, and score. I consider it the best adaptation of my work done to date (but then why wouldn’t I, having written all ten episodes myself). The cast is incredibly stellar, and our Nathan Heller – Michael Rosenbaum – just effing nails it. The score by Alexander Bornstein is mesmerizingly terrific, and the whole thing has been expertly directed and edited by Robert Meyer Burnett.

You may know Rob from his several YouTube shows (Robservations, Let’s Get Physical Media, regular guest on The John Campea Show), but he is much more than that – an accomplished film director (Free Enterprise), documentarian (Star Trek; The Next Generation), editor (Femme Fatales) and producer (Tango Shalom, aka Forbidden Tango).

All ten episodes of True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak are available at truenoir.co, $29.95 for the complete audio drama – four-and-a-half-hours worth. If you are a member of the Nathan Heller Fan Club (well, there isn’t one, but you know what I mean), you will lose your non-membership in good standing if you haven’t ordered yet.

And I would welcome comments/reviews here from those of you who have enjoyed it thus far.

We will be available on other platforms eventually, but for now it’s truenoir.co. And there’s stuff to look at there, including links to episodes of my History Behind the Mystery video series (directed by my longtime collaborator, Phil Dingeldein) that looks at the real events depicted in each episode.

M.A.C.

Death by Fruitcake – A Quad Cities Premiere Showing!

Tuesday, April 29th, 2025

For those of you within driving distance, I wanted to let you know about several showings of our film, Death By Fruitcake, based upon the Antiques mystery series by “Barbara Allan” (my wife Barb and I). I directed and wrote (with Barb looking over my shoulder).

On May 9 we will have a Quad Cities premiere in Davenport, Iowa, at the Last Picture House with Paula Sands (Vivian Borne) and Rob Merritt (Chief Tony Cassato) in attendance and participating in a Q and A session after the screening. I will be there as well, as will co-producers Chad T. Bishop and Barbara Collins. So will other cast and crew members.

Here is how/where you can get tickets.

The Last Picture House is a terrific boutique theater masterminded by the Quiet Place team, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. This part of the world is very lucky to have this venue to enjoy film (including, from time to time, mine). And the generosity of these successful hometown filmmakers is much appreciated. (In my opinion, Heretic is their best yet.)


M.A.C., Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Phil Dingeldein

Last November, we had two hometown screenings at the Palms Theater in Muscatine. These were very well-attended, but we had some audio problems that should not be an issue at the Last Picture House event. That said, Iowa’s Fridley movie chain has been most supportive, not just of our efforts but Iowa filmmakers in general. They are in particular supportive of the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s awards (I am a three-time past president of that association).

Producer Chad Bishop and I have selected clips for the five categories we’ve been nominated in for the Iowa Motion Picture Awards — Best Actress (Paula Sands), Best Actor (Rob Merritt), Best Supporting Actress (Alisabeth Von Presley), Best Direction (M.A.C.) and best Live Action Feature (Death by Fruitcake, of course).

These nominations each represent a shot at an award (there are two levels, Excellence and Achievement). The clips Chad and I selected will be shown with the other nominees at the Iowa Motion Picture Awards on Saturday May 31 at the Palms in Waukee (near Des Moines).

Also, as nominees, we’ve been selected by the IMPA to have Death by Fruitcake screened twice at the Fleur Theater in Des Moines — Friday 23 at 4:30 pm, and again on Wednesday 28 at 8 pm. Barb and I will be there for the Wed. 8 pm screening, and I’ll intro it and have a Q and A after — a few other cast and crew members will likely participate in the Q and A. Tickets are available here (for both performances).

In the meantime, we’re talking with several distributors in hopes of getting our film on one or more streaming service for the holiday season. This means the Davenport and Des Moines screenings may be the last opportunity to see Death By Fruitcake in a theatrical setting.

If you’d like to get a very early start on seasonal entertainment, our previous picture, Blue Christmas, is available now on Tubi, right here (free!)

Here’s a teaser trailer for Death By Fruitcake that our producer/editor/director of photography Chad Bishop put together.

And in case you missed it, the full-length trailer (and photos and more) can be seen at our IMDB page.

* * *

A gentle reminder that the complete True Noir: The Assassination of Mayor Cermak is available at Truenoir.co. Rob Burnett and Mike Bawden (and their Imagination Connoisseurs) have done right by Heller (and they started with my script for the ten-episode audio play).

M.A.C.

More Thoughts on Collaboration

Tuesday, January 28th, 2025

Recently I discussed the benefits of collaboration in broad strokes – that working with another writer on a story or novel can create a synergy that turns two plus two into five. This requires a meeting of the minds and a compatibility between two creative forces that doesn’t always happen. It’s a kind of marriage. You gotta gell.

I’ve been very lucky in this regard with the likes of Terry Beatty, Dave Thomas and Matt Clemens, among a few others.

Collaboration on a film set is a much different animal. The social element is something I find refreshing, as someone who has worked in a solitary fashion for many years. Actors and film crews bring their considerable talents to bear in helping me mount a production from a script of mine – they often improve upon that script. I would say they usually do.


Alisabeth Von Presley and Paula Sands at the premiere of Death by Fruitcake in which they appear as Brandy and Vivian Borne, shown with Sushi. Watch for it late this year!

Phil Dingeldein and Chad Bishop are key players in my (apparently) ongoing return to indie filmmaking. Robert Meyer Burnett has worked closely with me as he directs my script for True Noir, our immersive ten-chapter audio adaptation of True Detective (episode five just dropped!). That project is very film-like as an experience – making an elaborate, large-cast “movie for the mind.”

I’m sure the need to create something in collaboration with others has a lot to do with why I stayed involved with playing in my bands the Daybreakers, Crusin’ and Seduction of the Innocent. Frustrations and head-butting ensues, yes, but the sum total is worthwhile and, frankly, fun.

What I neglected to talk about, in regard to writing fiction with a collaborator, is how the process works. Frankly, it can work several ways – more than several. But my process is usually that the plot and themes are mostly worked out in advance, and the other writer takes a pass at a chapter (or short story), or a complete draft, and I take the second pass, basically working as a supremely intrusive editor (the kind of person I hate when I’m writing on my own – copy editors have often been subject of my displeasure…so there’s an irony here).

My longest and arguably most successful collaboration has been with Barb, my wife of a hundred years or so. The most infuriating thing about Barb to other writers is when they learn she grew up having no interest whatsoever in becoming a writer. That dream held by so many was nothing she ever experienced.

Basically, she put a toe into the water at my request when Terry Beatty and I needed help on the back-up feature (“Mike Mist”) in the Ms. Tree comic books. Initially she wrote scripts and later, to save Terry two pages of art per issue, short stories. What they used to call “filler” in Golden Age and Silver Age comic books.

She was almost irritatingly good at it. I was a tad surprised, but not really, because she had been my in-house editor from the start and displayed an innate feel for storytelling. Her inspirations were the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series (particularly episodes based on Roald Dahl short stories) and Nancy Drew novels. She was not an avid reader (although she is a big reader of non-fiction now, particularly biographies).

I have said before that if I had been a brain surgeon, Barb would have become one, too, just picking it up being around me. That certainly seems to be the case with fiction writing.

Her process, whether she’s writing with me or on a solo project (she did many short stories alone before we began working on the Trash ‘n’ Treasures Antiques series together) is slow and steady. Fastidious. She is a long distance runner and I am a sprinter. I write quickly and revise as I go, having been working at fiction writing since junior high; she works and re-works her draft before turning it over to me.

Our process is discussing and loosely plotting a novel together, often over a dining-out meal or a car trip, and usually we come up with a title (sometimes she comes up with it, sometimes I do, but we have to agree it’s a good one). Then she sets out alone and works for six months or so on a somewhat short (250 – 275-page) draft.

She then turns her draft over to me, and I take under a month on my draft, generally, and expand the novel to 300 to 325 pages. These are double-spaced pages. She reads my chapters as I go, gives notes, finds typos, and I make the corrections and revisions before I start the next chapter. She rarely gives me a bad time about changes and expansions I make, claiming to be sick of the book by the time she hands it over to me. She gives me remarkable freedom in my rewrite, mostly just making sure I am not doing damage to the plot, because I don’t read her entire manuscript before starting my revision.

That may seem counter-intuitive, because you would think I’d want to read the thing before starting to revise it. But that doesn’t work for me. Back when I did read Barb’s draft first, I would start rewriting it in my head, immediately, making notes and getting bogged down. I do better just digging in. Also, because we plotted it so long before, I seldom remember who the murderer is. So that means, as I do my draft, I’m in the dark with the reader, which is a good thing. If I can guess who did it too early, we have some carpentry to do.


Barb and Max Allan Collins at the Death by Fruitcake premiere with Sushi. Their Antiques series come to life!

Collaborations work a lot of ways. This is our process. I don’t recommend it as a method, because every writer and every writing team must find their own method, their own process. It may work for you, it may not. Our way accommodates Barb’s pace and my pace, which are (as I’ve said) radically different.

It does work for us. I’m very proud of the Antiques novels, and my contribution to them, although Barb is very much the lead writer. The Trash ‘n’ Treasures series has more entries than any other series of mine – it has enjoyed the longest run with some of the best reviews any project I’m associated with has ever received.

I think it’s fair to say that Barb couldn’t do these books alone and neither could I. Either of us could write an entry in the series, but neither of us could write an entry as good as our team could do. It is indeed synergy.

What’s the secret? First, we each respect the other writer. Second, we stay of each other’s way. I don’t look over her shoulder while she’s writing her draft, and she gives me all the room I need to write mine.

Also, her office is on the first floor of our house, and mine is on the second.

M.A.C.