Elmore Leonard, 1925-2013: Farewell to the master

Elmore Leonard passed away this morning at age 87, following complications from a stroke. I wrote about him today for my alma mater, The Newark Star-Ledger. You can find the story here.

Talking "Bruce Noir" on N.J.'s 105.7 The Hawk

Here's an mp3 clip of host Tom Cunningham and I talking about the upcoming "Bruce Noir" film fest in Asbury Park on his Bruce Brunch radio show on N.J.'s 105.7 The Hawk Aug. 18, 2013 (opening is slightly clipped).





Details and schedule for the festival can be found here.

GUN CRAZY - The story

Joseph Lewis' classic 1950 film noir GUN CRAZY is one of the titles at next weekend's "Bruce Noir" film festival at the Showroom Theatre in Asbury Park, N.J. (Springsteen has acknowledged the influence of the film on his songwriting, and you can really hear it in songs such as "Highway 29" and the still-unreleased "Losin' Kind"). Here's a rare look at the film's origin, McKinley Kantor's original short story as it appeared in the Saturday Evening Post Feb. 3, 1940. (Hat tip to "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller for pointing me in the right direction).

(Click on images to enlarge)

SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST - Final cover

After some subtle tweaking, here's the final cover for the third Crissa Stone novel, SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST. Out from St. Martin's Press Dec. 3, but available for pre-order now.