Randall J. Funk's Blog
May 3, 2023
And the Books Just Keep on Comin'...
I guess I can call it a trend now. One book takes longer than I planned and the next one snaps together in short order. DEATH, YOU JABRONI took a year and a half to complete, being published six months later than my "new book every summer" schedule. And now, the next Joe Davis book will be ready in a few months, possibly coming out earlier in the year than any of the other books. I guess there's always a silver lining, huh?
December 15, 2022
DEATH, YOU JABRONI
When his friend Lars becomes the ring announcer for a small promotion, Joe Davis, Twin Cities humor blogger and low-level celebrity, gets a look inside the wild world of professional wrestling. Joe, a lifelong fan, is thrilled…until one of the promotion’s main event stars turns up dead. And another main event star is the top suspect.
Believing the police are pursuing the wrong person, Joe takes on the investigation himself. It brings him deeper into the world of professional wrestling, where the line between fact and fiction is often blurred. Along the way, he meets a promoter desperate to reach the big time, a couple of aging stars facing the end of their careers, and a young star with a dark secret in her past. Joe must also deal with sneak attacks, break-ins, secret agendas, and frameups. Can he navigate a world in which nothing is quite what it seems? And can he do it without suffering a beatdown of his own?
Believing the police are pursuing the wrong person, Joe takes on the investigation himself. It brings him deeper into the world of professional wrestling, where the line between fact and fiction is often blurred. Along the way, he meets a promoter desperate to reach the big time, a couple of aging stars facing the end of their careers, and a young star with a dark secret in her past. Joe must also deal with sneak attacks, break-ins, secret agendas, and frameups. Can he navigate a world in which nothing is quite what it seems? And can he do it without suffering a beatdown of his own?
October 20, 2021
DEATH IS A REAL KILLER
“This is the deal, darling: you help me solve this murder…or I kill you.”
A year ago, Joe Davis, humor blogger/low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, found himself and his friends spending a night pursued by cops and criminals (like you do). Among the pursuers was a comely contract killer named Deirdre. Though Deirdre and Joe saved each other’s lives that night, Joe hoped to never see her again.
Looks like that hope has been dashed.
Deirdre turns up on Joe’s doorstep, pursued by the police after apparently murdering the CEO of a prominent Minnesota company. While Deirdre was hired the commit the murder, it appears to be a set up. The murder was committed before Deirdre arrived, leaving her at the mercy of the police. Now Deirdre needs Joe to help clear her name before the cops’ pursuit ends her chosen career. Joe is hesitant, but Deirdre drives a hard bargain: help her or become her next victim. Decisions, decisions.
The investigation leads Joe down a path of corporate intrigue, malfeasance and skullduggery. The suspects include an ignored wife, a jealous friend, and an ambitious coworker. How does a potentially doomed project and the death of a corporate whistleblower tie into it? These are the things Joe must figure out if he is to survive this case. All with a figurative—and sometimes literal—gun to his head. No pressure, right?
A year ago, Joe Davis, humor blogger/low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, found himself and his friends spending a night pursued by cops and criminals (like you do). Among the pursuers was a comely contract killer named Deirdre. Though Deirdre and Joe saved each other’s lives that night, Joe hoped to never see her again.
Looks like that hope has been dashed.
Deirdre turns up on Joe’s doorstep, pursued by the police after apparently murdering the CEO of a prominent Minnesota company. While Deirdre was hired the commit the murder, it appears to be a set up. The murder was committed before Deirdre arrived, leaving her at the mercy of the police. Now Deirdre needs Joe to help clear her name before the cops’ pursuit ends her chosen career. Joe is hesitant, but Deirdre drives a hard bargain: help her or become her next victim. Decisions, decisions.
The investigation leads Joe down a path of corporate intrigue, malfeasance and skullduggery. The suspects include an ignored wife, a jealous friend, and an ambitious coworker. How does a potentially doomed project and the death of a corporate whistleblower tie into it? These are the things Joe must figure out if he is to survive this case. All with a figurative—and sometimes literal—gun to his head. No pressure, right?
June 25, 2020
DEATH AND THE FANBOY
Holy sleuthing! How are they going to solve this one?
Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, and his friend, Mike, a comic book fanboy, get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the cast of an old superhero TV show. Unfortunately, the experience doesn’t go quite as they hoped. One of the stars of the show dies suddenly in the middle of a performance at a comic book convention. Things get worse when Mike is threatened by an attacker who believes he has evidence it was murder. Since the police don’t believe anything Mike tells them, it’s up to Joe to investigate.
Turns out there is an all-star cast of suspects: an embittered alcoholic co-star, an angry ex-wife, and a combative producer. Joe and Mike must also battle mysterious attackers, nasty blackmailers, sleazy muckrakers and dubious cops. Can Joe discover the murderer before his faithful sidekick becomes the next victim? It may take a little of the old Bang! Pow! to get the job done.
Stay tuned, dear reader. The best is yet to come!
DEATH AND THE FANBOY, coming in July.
Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, and his friend, Mike, a comic book fanboy, get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the cast of an old superhero TV show. Unfortunately, the experience doesn’t go quite as they hoped. One of the stars of the show dies suddenly in the middle of a performance at a comic book convention. Things get worse when Mike is threatened by an attacker who believes he has evidence it was murder. Since the police don’t believe anything Mike tells them, it’s up to Joe to investigate.
Turns out there is an all-star cast of suspects: an embittered alcoholic co-star, an angry ex-wife, and a combative producer. Joe and Mike must also battle mysterious attackers, nasty blackmailers, sleazy muckrakers and dubious cops. Can Joe discover the murderer before his faithful sidekick becomes the next victim? It may take a little of the old Bang! Pow! to get the job done.
Stay tuned, dear reader. The best is yet to come!
DEATH AND THE FANBOY, coming in July.
January 10, 2020
DEATH STOLE MY RIDE
oe Davis is BACK for his FIFTH adventure!
When Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, inherits an old beater car from a senile relative, he entrusts his friend Lars to sell off the unwanted vehicle.
Turns out his trust is misplaced.
Lars loans the car to Joe’s cousin, Micky, who uses it as the getaway vehicle in a botched robbery. Now, Micky’s disappeared with the money (and the car) and both the cops and the crooks are after him. And Joe to boot. When the crooks who attempted the robbery start turning up dead, Joe worries about his safety…and Micky’s. To set things right, Joe has to find the car, the cash and the cousin…before the cops and the crooks find him. It leads Joe and his friends down a rabbit hole of corrupt cops, conniving molls, clueless goons and shady characters. Can Joe save Micky and himself before it all comes crashing down?
So much nonsense for such a sensible vehicle.
When Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, inherits an old beater car from a senile relative, he entrusts his friend Lars to sell off the unwanted vehicle.
Turns out his trust is misplaced.
Lars loans the car to Joe’s cousin, Micky, who uses it as the getaway vehicle in a botched robbery. Now, Micky’s disappeared with the money (and the car) and both the cops and the crooks are after him. And Joe to boot. When the crooks who attempted the robbery start turning up dead, Joe worries about his safety…and Micky’s. To set things right, Joe has to find the car, the cash and the cousin…before the cops and the crooks find him. It leads Joe and his friends down a rabbit hole of corrupt cops, conniving molls, clueless goons and shady characters. Can Joe save Micky and himself before it all comes crashing down?
So much nonsense for such a sensible vehicle.
April 9, 2019
DEATH STOLE MY RIDE
Joe Davis is BACK for his FIFTH adventure!
When Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, inherits an old beater car from a senile relative, he entrusts his friend Lars to sell off the unwanted vehicle.
Turns out his trust is misplaced.
Lars loans the car to Joe’s cousin, Micky, who promptly uses it as the getaway vehicle in a botched robbery. Now, Micky’s disappeared with the money (and the car) and both the cops and the crooks are after him. And Joe to boot. When members of the gang that attempted the robbery start turning up dead, Joe worries about his safety…and Micky’s. To set things right, Joe has to find the car, the cash and the cousin…before the cops and the crooks find him. It all leads Joe and his friends down a rabbit hole of corrupt cops, conniving molls, clueless goons and other shady characters. Can Joe save Micky and himself before it all comes crashing down?
So much nonsense for such a sensible vehicle.
It's DEATH STOLE MY RIDE, coming this summer!
When Joe Davis, humor blogger and low-grade Twin Cities celebrity, inherits an old beater car from a senile relative, he entrusts his friend Lars to sell off the unwanted vehicle.
Turns out his trust is misplaced.
Lars loans the car to Joe’s cousin, Micky, who promptly uses it as the getaway vehicle in a botched robbery. Now, Micky’s disappeared with the money (and the car) and both the cops and the crooks are after him. And Joe to boot. When members of the gang that attempted the robbery start turning up dead, Joe worries about his safety…and Micky’s. To set things right, Joe has to find the car, the cash and the cousin…before the cops and the crooks find him. It all leads Joe and his friends down a rabbit hole of corrupt cops, conniving molls, clueless goons and other shady characters. Can Joe save Micky and himself before it all comes crashing down?
So much nonsense for such a sensible vehicle.
It's DEATH STOLE MY RIDE, coming this summer!
April 25, 2018
Work on the New Book- 4/25/18
(NOTE: I will be updating the progress on DEATH IS SLEEPING WITH MY WIFE, the 4th Joe Davis book, as I more or less race against time to get it completed by the summer. Here's the latest update on where I'm at.)
Right now, the plot is nearly untangled. I've dealt with both the main plotlines and the "subplots" (stories involving Joe's friends that run parallel to, and eventually converge with, the main plot. With all of this completed, I've given myself the week of April 23 (my weeks start on a Monday) to write the climax of the book and have a workable draft.
The climax will consist of two chapters: a "set up" chapter and the climax itself. I originally planned to outline the entire thing, but decided it should have a little more "flow". So I scribbled down the information I'll need to impart and I'll just wing it from there. Even in figuring out the information I need to include, I've spotted a few more wrinkles in the plot. Nothing huge, but issues that will need to be addressed. At least I feel like I've got my arms around the story.
Now to bring this thing in for a landing!
Right now, the plot is nearly untangled. I've dealt with both the main plotlines and the "subplots" (stories involving Joe's friends that run parallel to, and eventually converge with, the main plot. With all of this completed, I've given myself the week of April 23 (my weeks start on a Monday) to write the climax of the book and have a workable draft.
The climax will consist of two chapters: a "set up" chapter and the climax itself. I originally planned to outline the entire thing, but decided it should have a little more "flow". So I scribbled down the information I'll need to impart and I'll just wing it from there. Even in figuring out the information I need to include, I've spotted a few more wrinkles in the plot. Nothing huge, but issues that will need to be addressed. At least I feel like I've got my arms around the story.
Now to bring this thing in for a landing!
April 20, 2018
DEATH IS SLEEPING WITH MY WIFE
Joe Davis is BACK for his 4th adventure!
Joe Davis, humor blogger and minor Twin Cities celebrity, is very happy with his new girlfriend. Happy, that is, until a problem rears its ugly head: a call from the husband he didn’t know she had. And the husband is much less happy with Joe’s new relationship, as his many death threats will attest.
The problem goes from bad to worse when the husband turns up dead under mysterious circumstances…and Joe is the prime suspect. Desperate to prove his innocence, Joe begins investigating the murder. As he does, sordid details of the husband’s tangled professional and personal life come to light. And other suspects emerge: the husband’s jealous brother, a pair of suspicious co-workers…and Joe’s own girlfriend. Meantime, the real killer is still on the loose and has begun to come after Joe. With time running out, can Joe find the murderer before either being arrested or killed?
The things we do…or maybe the people we kill…for love.
It's DEATH IS SLEEPING WITH MY WIFE. Coming this summer.
Joe Davis, humor blogger and minor Twin Cities celebrity, is very happy with his new girlfriend. Happy, that is, until a problem rears its ugly head: a call from the husband he didn’t know she had. And the husband is much less happy with Joe’s new relationship, as his many death threats will attest.
The problem goes from bad to worse when the husband turns up dead under mysterious circumstances…and Joe is the prime suspect. Desperate to prove his innocence, Joe begins investigating the murder. As he does, sordid details of the husband’s tangled professional and personal life come to light. And other suspects emerge: the husband’s jealous brother, a pair of suspicious co-workers…and Joe’s own girlfriend. Meantime, the real killer is still on the loose and has begun to come after Joe. With time running out, can Joe find the murderer before either being arrested or killed?
The things we do…or maybe the people we kill…for love.
It's DEATH IS SLEEPING WITH MY WIFE. Coming this summer.
April 19, 2018
Work on the New Book- 4/19/18
(NOTE: I will be updating the progress on the 4th Joe Davis book as I more or less race against time to get it completed by the summer. Here's today's update on where I'm at.)
I'm suddenly cautiously optimistic that I'm going to get this thing done. In the last few weeks, I've completed reverse engineering the outline, identified the main plotlines that I need to straighten out, solidified the murder storyline and started going through the main plotlines. At this point, I need to finish straightening out the "subplots" (i.e. any storyline involving the supporting cast) and finally write the climax of the story. If that new climax works out, I can attach the existing epilogue. If I can start writing the climax by Monday, April 23, I'll be in good position to finish out the book. Then I can use the month of May to review it and hand it over to a proofreader.
Of course, I'm congenitally unable to be completely optimistic, so check back to find out where I'm at mentally after the weekend.
I'm suddenly cautiously optimistic that I'm going to get this thing done. In the last few weeks, I've completed reverse engineering the outline, identified the main plotlines that I need to straighten out, solidified the murder storyline and started going through the main plotlines. At this point, I need to finish straightening out the "subplots" (i.e. any storyline involving the supporting cast) and finally write the climax of the story. If that new climax works out, I can attach the existing epilogue. If I can start writing the climax by Monday, April 23, I'll be in good position to finish out the book. Then I can use the month of May to review it and hand it over to a proofreader.
Of course, I'm congenitally unable to be completely optimistic, so check back to find out where I'm at mentally after the weekend.
April 3, 2018
Work on the New Book- 4/3/18
(NOTE: I will be updating the progress on the 4th Joe Davis book as I more or less race against time to get it completed by the summer. Here's today's update on where I'm at.)
At this point, I have a draft of the book completed. As is standard with anything that's not the final draft, it's kind of crappy. There are elements of the plot that have to be untangled, both in relation to the main plot and all of the subplots involving Joe's friends. One element that's been missing for me is a feel for the entire book. It's fragmented in my mind. I can think of individual scenes and storylines, but I don't feel like I have my arms around the story as a whole. And I've decided to completely re-write the climax of the book, something that exists conceptually but hasn't been committed to the page yet.
Beginning April 1, I started going through the draft, writing quick notes on what each chapter and scene contains. I've been using the margins in my notebook to add little thoughts on what the next draft should contain. It's sort of like reverse-engineering an outline. It has at least had the effect of making me feel closer to the story. I'm finally able to see it as a whole. The plan is to complete the reverse-engineered outline today, then go through each storyline to see what needs to be worked out. I should be able to begin the untangling today.
By the end of April, I REALLY need to have this draft in almost-completed form, just needing some tweaking and proofreading. A long way to go and a short time to get there...
At this point, I have a draft of the book completed. As is standard with anything that's not the final draft, it's kind of crappy. There are elements of the plot that have to be untangled, both in relation to the main plot and all of the subplots involving Joe's friends. One element that's been missing for me is a feel for the entire book. It's fragmented in my mind. I can think of individual scenes and storylines, but I don't feel like I have my arms around the story as a whole. And I've decided to completely re-write the climax of the book, something that exists conceptually but hasn't been committed to the page yet.
Beginning April 1, I started going through the draft, writing quick notes on what each chapter and scene contains. I've been using the margins in my notebook to add little thoughts on what the next draft should contain. It's sort of like reverse-engineering an outline. It has at least had the effect of making me feel closer to the story. I'm finally able to see it as a whole. The plan is to complete the reverse-engineered outline today, then go through each storyline to see what needs to be worked out. I should be able to begin the untangling today.
By the end of April, I REALLY need to have this draft in almost-completed form, just needing some tweaking and proofreading. A long way to go and a short time to get there...
