Johnny Shaw's Blog

First off, if you don't know who Ray Banks is, you are dead to me. Go out, buy his books (all of them), read them, and then get back to me.  I'll wait.

While I have found that the crime writing community has been shockingly supportive and inclusive, Ray has gone above and beyond in his support for DOVE SEASON.  Including this interview, in which Ray asks some really great questions.  Check it out at The Saturday Boy.

And if that wasn't enough, I wrote a guest blog about the 1965 movie, THE...

My debut novel DOVE SEASON goes on sale today. It's still hard to believe.

As a writer, I often joke that I have more discipline than talent. I'm the guy who shows up every day. I get my work done and try to maintain a certain level of quality in everything that I produce. I can't imagine not writing every day, and I try to show respect for the work and my potential readers. But to actually have the book in my hand, to see my first novel out in the world,  it's an absolutely incredible...

I will be giving a reading and doing a workshop at the Wordstock Festival in October.  Leading up to that, they asked me to write a guest blog for their site, which you can find here:

http://www.wordstockfestival.com/2011/08/dippy-duck-and-me/

I'm really excited to be a part of one of the  most exciting literary events in Portland.

Author Declan Burke's blog CRIME ALWAYS PAYS is an essential resource for any fan of crime fiction.  And although the site primarily concentrates on Irish crime fiction, Declan was nice enough to include me.

For me, it was a real treat.  How often does one get asked what their favorite Irish crime novel is?  I imagine that question could catch a lot of people flat-footed.  I'm lucky I'm a fan.

Check the interview out here:  a

Great event at Murder By The Book in Portland yesterday.  I joined Shaun Morey, Tyler Dilts and Audrey Braun (aka Deborah Reed) to talk about our books, writing, and a whole slew of other subjects.

If you're ever in Portland, don't just go to Powell's.  Stop in here, as well.  It's one of the country's great mystery bookstores with an incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff and wonderful selection of new and used books.  I always find something I didn't know I was looking for.

Last night, I was fortunate enough to attend Donald Ray Pollock's reading of his new novel THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME at Powell's in Portland.   After reading his short story collection KNOCKEMSTIFF earlier this year, I was an immediate fan.  If you like good writing and an honest portrayal of the hardscrabble, lives that many rural Americans have experienced, it's a must-read.  Uncompromising feels like a weak adjective, but it's all I got.

Maybe it's because I have my ear to the ground, but...

I just learned of the passing in early May of author Newton Thornburg, probably known best for his novel CUTTER AND BONE.  There is a longer article about him here at The Guardian.  When I was soliciting authors for blurbs, I found him in the phone book and wrote him a fan letter not knowing that his health was in decline. I hope that he knew that he had readers that were incredibly thankful for his contribution.

CUTTER AND BONE is one of the finest examples of California crime fiction that...

Okay. So this blog's a month late. I'm writing a screenplay and new novel concurrently, so I still haven't found a way to keep any consistency to this new thing called blogging. If the content is going to be at all interesting, I just need more time. And more interesting. So don't expect the content to be too interesting yet (How's that for salesmanship?).

The view from my hotel room

Last month I was in New York for BookExpo America (or BEA for the super-hip).  BEA is this giant convention...

I was doing some research on wikipedia, and of course, I got almost immediately distracted from whatever I was supposed to be doing.  I ended up searching JAMES CRUMLEY to see if there were some books that I hadn't read yet.  I just had to share one of the quotes that they include in the listing.  This is from THE LAST GOOD KISS, one of the best crime novels I've ever read.  If you haven't read it, drop what you're doing and find a copy.

"Son, never trust a man who doesn't drink because he's...

The Advance Reader's Copies of DOVE SEASON just arrived today!

It's hard to describe the feeling of finally having the book in my hand.  So little about writing actually feels concrete that having a real book is flat-out bananas.  I am obviously at a loss for words if "bananas" is the best I can.

If there are any other authors out there that can describe the feeling of having your first novel in your hands for the very first time, I would love to hear from you.  Or even your tenth book.  The...