Formerly a Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter for THE TAMPA TRIBUNE, Ace Atkins is now a full-time novelist, and a true rising star in crime fiction. (No less than Michael Connelly calls him “one of the best.”) With eight books under his belt, his latest is INFAMOUS, a novelized version of Machine Gun Kelly’s 1933 kidnapping of an Oklahoma City oilman. Prior to finishing his book tour in OKC, Atkins talked to us about the novel’s genesis, his intensive research process, and how his current job compares to his old one.
BOOKGASM: Why this novel?
ATKINS: I was actually researching another story. This is the fourth true-crime book I’ve been working on. And I was in Memphis two summers ago, pulling records from another case. And the clerk in the Shelby County Clerk’s office, we were just shooting the bull and I had said, “How far do your records go back?” And he said, “Man, I got records going back to Machine Gun Kelly.”
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In the world of Japanese imports, Vertical Inc. is tops, book-wise. From manga and puzzles to horror fiction and fantasy, the New York-based publisher doesn’t flood the market with dozens of titles a week, but instead opts for quality over quantity. Here, Vertical’s marketing director, Ed Chavez, fills us in on the house’s mission to bring the fun of the Far East to your hands.
BOOKGASM: For the uninitiated, what’s Vertical’s mission in publishing?
CHAVEZ: Our objective is to publish the best in contemporary Japanese popular culture to give a global audience a proper sample of what is currently being consumed, relevant and highly regarded in Japan.
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It’s not difficult to forget a name like Larry D. Sweazy. Sure, it sounds “funny,” but it’s memorable also because he’s one of the top new writers working in Westerns, having just published his debut novel, THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON, last fall. He followed it up last month with THE SCORPION TRAIL, also featuring the lead character of Texas Ranger Josiah Wolfe. Sweazy found some time to leave the dusty trail for a few minutes to talk with us about — what else? — Westerns.
BOOKGASM: What do you see as the state of the Western fiction genre as it stands today?
SWEAZY: Western fiction is most definitely on the uptick. Although it is doubtful that the genre will ever regain the popularity of its heyday, there are plenty of signs that are promising. My first novel, THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON, went into its third printing in three months, and other Western writers are experiencing the same kind of success.
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Comics fans, if you haven’t yet read the award-winning graphic novel THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, I urge you to. It’s an (accidentally) all-ages fantasy adventure that has major multimedia potential. It gets my highest recommendation. (Download a 16-page introduction and see for yourself!) We talked with writer Mark Andrew Smith about the project’s inception and his and artist Matthew Weldon’s plans on where to take it next.
BOOKGASM: How did the project come about and what inspired you in its creation?
SMITH: THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY originated from a desire to do a graphic novel with a mysterious feel to it and in the haunted-house genre. I jotted down the initial idea and then waited on it, and then when I went back to it, the idea really changed and grew.
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Lumbering in for the latest installment of BOOKGASM’s “WTF Q&A,” in which we hurl at an author random questions having nothing to do with his/her book, is Alaska scribe J. Kevin Burchfield, whose debut, THE GREAT ALASKAN ADVENTURE … WITH ZOMBIES!, is a great Alaskan adventure … with zombies! We hear he’s from Alaska.
BOOKGASM: Who are three dead celebrities you’d like to see come back as the undead? Now, secondly, what gives you the right to tamper in God’s domain?
BURCHFIELD: Jack Palance — now that would be one ass kickin’ zombie! Elvis — the fat old Elvis, that is, noshin’ on a deep-fried brain and banana sandwich! Michael Jackson — just to see if the makeup artists got it right on THRILLER! And who are you to question my authority!!!
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