Joseph Wambaugh 1937 - 2025

Joe Wambaugh died yesterday at his home in California of esophageal cancer. He was 88.

 

I discovered his writing when I was in high school, a paperback copy of The New Centurions. Afte that the Blue Knight and the Police Story TV shows he created and co-produced. More than anyone, it was he who put the bug in my ear about cops.

 

I didn’t read him for a long time after. I went to college, got deeply involved in music, and read virtually all non-fiction for many years after. I came back to him with The Choirboys about ten years ago, then The Onion Field. Read all the ‘Hollywood Station” books. Right now I’m about halfway through reading, or re-reading, all his books in order.

 

No one had a greater influence on me as a writer of police procedurals; only three are roughly equivalent. (Alphabetically, Connie Fletcher, Ed McBain, David Simon.) His willingness to deviate from the main story line to show some of what cops have to face, either from the bosses or weird calls from citizens, allowed me to greatly loosen up how I told the Penns River stories, and for the better. His use of dark, sometimes even inappropriate humor also served as permission for me to more fully express myself.

 

No one I know who interacted with him ever had anything other than good things to say about him as a person. My personal story is, after coming across his web site in 2016, I dropped a line in the Contact page to tell him how much his books had meant to me. He wrote back to get my address, and a few days later two elegant bookmarks arrived in the mail. Silver on blue, they had an image of his LAPD badge and a listing of his books in order. He signed both on the back. On one he wrote,

“To Dana King,

That was a lovely message. Made my day

Warmest regards,

Joe Wambaugh”

Those are still my go-to bookmarks for whatever I’m currently reading. They never leave the house, lest I lose them.

 

  

Writer's Block

 I will be brief:

There is no such thing as writer’s block.

THE END

 

 

AFTERWORD

Writer’s block can safely be attributed to a writer’s desire to either

A>  Procrastinate.

B>  Make writing appear to be a more exalted job than it is.

I’ll not waste time on procrastination. We can always find things to do to put off writing. Dishes, dusting, going down an internet wormhole, watching old movies. Why, just the other day I –

I’ll not waste any more  time on procrastination.

A more exalted job? “It’s not a job, you cretin. It’s a calling. It’s a career. It’s the air I breathe.”

Calm down. Those may be the reasons you do it. Doing it is a job. You sit your ass down and write. Period.

Acknowledging that it’s a job removes the cache from saying “I’m blocked,” which too often makes the writer present him- or herself as a tragic hero/heroine. Get over yourself. You’re not William The Wallace or Joan of Arc. You’re a writer.

To borrow an analogy from Reed Farrel Coleman, do teachers get Teacher’s Block? “Take a study hall today, kids. I’m blocked.” Ask a journalist if they get Journalist’s Block. “Sorry, Editor, I can’t give you those twelve inches you need on the president’s speech. I just don’t know where to start.”

I’ve written a Nick Forte private eye novel and a Western since I last spent time on my Penns River series. I’m well into two Fortes and have a heist novel about half plotted; the next Penns River novels isn’t coming to me. Am I blocked?

If I was, I’m not anymore.

The problem I had (past tense) moving forward with Penns River was that I was looking at too large a scope. I wanted to include police corruption, the growing power of the biker gang, and an old acquaintance of Doc’s coming back to town to become his nemesis. I was hung up trying to find stories I could hang from those.

That’s not how I work. My process is to find a lodgepole story and then find the other stuff to hang from it. I’d been looking at it ass backward.

Problem solved. I still have the work to do, but that’s only a matter of putting ass in seat and doing my job.

What people call writer’s block is no more than looking at too big a problem to be solved. Break it down. Eat the elephant one bite at a time, dumbass.

 

An Interview with Sam Wiebe, Author of Ocean Drive

 Sam Wiebe is onw of my favorite interviews on the blog. We first met when we shared a table at the Shamus Award banquet in Raleigh in 2015. Since then we’ve stayed in touch personally, and Sam has become one of the handful of writers whose books I will buy just because they came out.

His newest entry is Ocean Drive.

One Bite at a Time: Welcome back to the blog, Sam. I always look forward to seeing you here.

Your newest book, Ocean Drive, is a departure for you in a couple of ways we’ll get into as we go. First, and most obvious, it’s not a private eye book. What sent you in this new direction?

Sam Wiebe: I wanted to write about the Washington-B.C. border, where you have sleepy towns like White Rock that also happen to be the site of transnational criminal enterprises. The novel investigates that from the point of view of a cop, Megan Quick, on the outside looking in, and a recently paroled killer, Cameron Shaw, who’s inside and trying to get out.

OBAAT: I got to the end of Ocean Drive and thought, “Oooo. A series,” as you’re as good as anyone I know at keeping a series fresh. Two questions here: Was I right about Ocean Drive being the pilot for a series? How do keep a series fresh while still touching all the bases people love about it?

SW: I love a good series. With Wakeland, there’s infinite inspiration because the Pacific Northwest is constantly changing. I don’t know if Ocean Drive will continue in that way, but I think it would make a swell TV show…(Editor’s Note: Oh, yeah.)

OBAAT: Your PI books are in the traditional PI first person; Ocean Drive alternates POV by chapter. Is one or the other easier or harder for you? What do you see as the advantages or disadvantages for the kinds of stories you write?

SW: First person has a tighter focus but a fuller expression of voice, whereas with third person you can put voices in conversation with each other. Megan’s chapter can end on a cliffhanger, and then Cam’s can pick up at the same point or earlier.

OBAAT: You’ve said that Ross MacDonald’s Lew Archer books are more about revelation than resolution. I see some of that in Ocean Drive. Who else influenced you in writing this book?

SW: An agent compared Cam’s voice in Ocean Drive to the Springsteen song “Straight Time.” That was nice to hear. I really like the way Richard Stark/Donald Westlake shifts point of view in the Parker novels. And Attica Locke’s Bluebird Bluebird is really great in terms of a law enforcement character who’s out of step with the others in their profession.

OBAAT: A personal, for me, question: Have we seen the last of Dave Wakeland? I hope not, but I also understand how authors’ interests evolve.

SW: Nope! The Last Exile is out this spring.

The PI genre is my favorite by far. It’s the closest to literature and the closest to real life—at least when it’s done well. 

OBAAT: The Beloved Spouse™ and I are returning to Bouchercon in New Orleans this September. Do you have your schedule set up for the year? Where can folks find you, either in person or online?

SW:. At samwiebe.substack.com I write a newsletter a few times a month, mostly reviewing old crime films and novels. samwiebe.com is my website. I also write under the pen name Nolan Chase, and the second Ethan Brand novel, A Lonesome Place for Murder, comes out this summer.

Thanks, Dana! Best to you and Corky.

Legitimate Uses of AI for Writers

 It’s safe to say I’ve been harsh in my denunciations of writers who use artificial intelligence in their work. Nothing I’ll say here contradicts that. Artificial intelligence (AI) is, and will continue to be, useful in too many aspects of life to mention; I welcome many of them. It’s in the creative arena where I have my primary issues with its use.

Let’s get the vitriol out of the way: I have no time for ‘writers’ who use AI to ‘create’ anything, or even to generate ideas. If you feel the need for AI to write ad copy or marketing materials or a news or journal article, you be you. Just don’t call yourself a writer, as you’re a notch below plagiarist on the food chain. At least the copycat looked up what to steal.

That said, AI can be of legitimate value to writers. I’ll use myself as an example.

I used to print my final drafts a chapter at a time and read them aloud, marking the printed page as I found things that needed improvement. This became a difficult process when I developed macular degeneration, as I had to devote too much concentration to reading accurately to have any left over for listening to how it fell on the ear.

Enter Microsoft Word’s Read Aloud feature, which allows me to listen to a disembodied voice read what I see on the screen, which I magnify and reverse the image to accommodate my eyesight. I then go back and make the necessary changes right there on the screen.

How do I remember what needs to be changed? I never do more than a chapter at a time, and I always have Word display the document’s line numbers. I then make note of which lines need an adjustment and go directly there to make them.

A piece of advice: When making corrections in this manner, work backward. That way the line numbers you’re looking for won’t have changed as you make edits to the document.

When that draft is complete, I use the Check Document tool to look for spelling, grammar, and a few other potential errors. Many – maybe even most – of the suggestions will be ignored in a work of fiction. Names, places, and bits of dialog may not be in Word’s dictionary until I add them. (‘Jagov’ comes to mind in the Penns River stories, as well as names such as Napierkowski, Neuschwander, and Wierzbicki.) I may want some grammar to remain incorrect, especially in dialog. (As Chandler once famously wrote, “When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split.”) The clarity check typically calls out passive voice, which my years of writing documents for the government make me particularly prone to.

That’s what I use AI for: proofreading. It makes up for my deficiencies in vision and lack of training in proper grammar. Creating and driving the story forward are my job and always will be. AI’s only function is to clean up the horse shit after my parade has passed.

An Interview With Chris Bauer, Author of I Heard You Paint Cowboys

 I became aware of Chris Bauer’s work at a Noir at the Bar event at the Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity conference several years ago. His flash piece never fail to capture the audience and he doesn’t confine himself to a particular niche or genre.

Besides being an outstanding writer, Chris is a hell of a nice guy, as evidenced by the fact he’s from Philadelphia and I still interviewed him for the blog.

His new book is I Heard You Paint Cowboys.

One Bite at a Time: Hard to believe this is your first time on the blog, long as we’ve known each other and as much as I enjoy your work. Let’s start with the obvious question that may be on readers’ minds: where did you get the title I Heard You Paint Cowboys?

Chris Bauer: It’s a compromise, with a significant story behind it. It’s a thriller that began the submission process with the title America is a Gun, which is the title of a poem by UK poet Brian Bilston who, at the time, wasn’t as popular as he is now. (He’s outstanding; a very visual, observational, warm poet; people should check him out. He’s been dubbed the Poet Laureate of the internet, although he might have come up with that title himself. Readers can’t believe much of what he says, but in reality they should believe all of it.) I felt the America, etc. title captured the dilemma the U.S. faces with its proliferation of guns, plus it is a majorly “in your face,” “poke the bear” kind of title, and I like poking the bear. I contacted Mr. Bilston to see if he might give me permission to include his poem in the novel. He shocked me by a) responding to me, and b) saying yes. Fast forward: my agent at the time said nope, no way, the America, etc. title is too in your face, plus she wouldn’t shop the book because the topic’s too controversial. Boo-hiss; I’m no longer her client. Then came some interest from Independent Publisher Number One, folks who have published a number of my books. They eventually also said nope, you’ll piss off half your potential readers, plus we’d rather not publish it, it’s a tad too controversial, etc. Along came Independent Publisher Number Two who said we’d love to publish it but not with that title, again, too in your face, so what else you got? The first title that popped into my head—true fact—was I Heard you Paint Cowboys. It came from having recently seen Scorsese’s megahit movie “The Irishman,” based on Charles Brandt’s NYT bestselling true crime account book titled I Heard You Paint Houses, about organized crime hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran from Philly, someone who claimed he offed Jimmy Hoffa. Secondly, the paint-art aspect works (art theft is a major plotline), the cowboys aspect works (a 1916 painting by N. C. Wyeth, “Wild Bill Hickok at Cards,” is heavily featured), the Philly connection works, and it’s not a stretch that the organized crime aspect works as well, when trying to categorize the real-life relationship the gun lobby has with gun manufacturers. Even though the title changed, the “America is a Gun” poem is still in there. So I’d love it if some of Mr. Bilston’s 316,000 Facebook “friends” would check out the novel, do you hear me, Brian Bilston FB community?

OBAAT: Counsel Fungo isn’t just an unusual name; she’s an unusual character. Tell us a little about her and why she is the way she is.

CB: I introduced Counsel Fungo in Binge Killer, released 2019, a rather violent novel where she chases a terminally ill killer to a small town in upstate Pennsylvania. Fungo is her married name; she kept it after her divorce. (I like the sound of it: “fun-go,” a type of baseball bat, and I love baseball. A different enough surname that maybe readers won’t forget it.) Trivia/easter egg stuff coming, so pay attention. She has an older brother named Judge Drury, the protagonist of the novel Jane’s Baby, a political thriller of mine. Backstory is their U.S. senator father wanted them both to become lawyers and follow in his footsteps, so he named his first born Judge, his sister Counsel. Other quirks: They both have Tourette syndrome, they both entered law enforcement, both became bounty hunters, and both have working dog partners. One day they will work together. The author hasn’t found the right case for them to work on yet.

OBAAT: What inspired you to write I Heard You Paint Cowboys?

CB: A combination of things. I wrote a horrifically gruesome short story titled “Kitchen Sink” in 2013, where a marginalized character (born female, identifies as male) is caught up in a gruesome crime where its multiple victims’ funeral arrangements were handled by a restaurant’s garbage disposer. A few of my short stories, published and unpublished, have become fodder for longer pieces. Second, I was intrigued by a piece I read on the early-nineteenth-century theft of the Mona Lisa and the search for it while it was missing. Third, I wanted to address the proliferation of civilian-owned assault-style weapons in the U.S. As a fugitive recovery agent, protagonist Counsel Fungo is not against the Second Amendment; she just wants no more assault-style long guns to enter the civilian population, and she’d rather much of that existing semi-automatic population be destroyed. Fourth, there are suggestions in the novel that direct law-abiding gunowners away from the current Number One gun-lobby gunowners association, not be named here, toward more benevolent gunowner groups that might be willing to tell their legislators to change the way people can obtain guns: better background checks, address the gun show loopholes, and are anti-assault-style weapons. And one suggestion I’d really like to see take hold: have these organizations acknowledge prospective victims of mass shootings and gun violence not simply with “thoughts and prayers,” but by having a portion of their membership dues specifically earmarked for their families. The newer, nicer, fictional, gunowner group the novel showcases does all these things.

OBAAT: You have enough novels under your belt now to have a pretty good idea of what process works for you. Describe that to our readers.

CB: I like writing thrillers, crime-type novels, and I’ve written horror and paranormal. I call myself a plantser, a “pantser-planner” combo. First there’s the germ of the idea, maybe a wrong that needs to be made right (gun lobby interference), or an oddity impacting common understanding of a controversial circumstance (Roe v Wade, highlighted in Jane’s Baby: the real-life Jane Roe did have the baby she wanted to abort, something that many people hadn’t realized), or the little known world of crime scene cleaning (the Blessid Trauma Crime Scene Cleaners series: who cleans up the scene after the cops leave?). Then comes creating the characters. I like making them quirky, with unique things about them to make them interesting (at least to me). Counsel Fungo has Tourette’s. “Wump” Hozer, my beloved Catholic church custodian in Scars on the Face of God, is an ex-con who earned his nickname from the sound a crowbar makes when it hits a person’s head. Max Fend, the creation of USA Today bestselling author Andrew Watts and a protagonist in the Maximum Risk thriller series, is a benevolent billionaire “playboy” who does piece work for U.S. security agencies in exotic locales.

Second, I outline the entire story chapter by chapter, working toward a climax that I think a reader would enjoy, creating conflict, a subplot or two, and twists. I’ll do the general plot and take a multiple-twisty way to get what I hope will be a satisfying, raucous conclusion. Then I sit down and write the damn thing, shooting for anywhere from 70K-90K words, or roughly 275 to 300+ pages. I’ve written novels in as little as 4.5 months and as long as six years (my first).

OBAAT: Who, or what, do you consider to be your primary influences? Could be a writer, book, movie, TV show, director. Whatever you feel has made you the writer you are today.

CB: When asked, I always highlight one novelist first: Steve Shilstone, who penned a wonderful baseball book titled Chance, published 2000. He now writes fantasy and poetry, but the voice of his unnamed narrator in Chance entertained me immensely, and it helped me find my own. Chance contains outstanding odd characters, great dialogue, and it all plays off the crazy, unique personalities that populated organized baseball in the twentieth century. There’s also Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, which provided great conflict in the organized crime environment by way of an extremely quirky Tourette’s-afflicted character named Lionel Essrog. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum bounty-hunter character inspired me to write a novel about a female fugitive recovery agent; Counsel Fungo now has two books about her. Carl Hiaasen does it for me, too; excellent nutjob characters, plenty of humor. Go Carl.

OBAAT: The classic final question: What are you working on now?

CB: Working on what could be a highly controversial series that crisscrosses political satire with various genres. One feature done, more in the hopper. I’m also invested in producing a post-WWII thriller that follows a 1940s Philly police detective through his Navy enlistment, his assignment to the Pacific theater, his survival in a Japanese POW camp, then his post-war Office of Naval Intelligence work in nuclear-ravaged, Allies-occupied Japan, where he needs to solve a few violent crimes perpetrated by Allied troops. Fun.

Thanks for having me on, Dana. A pleasure reading your blog, and a pleasure being on it. Readers can find me at chrisbauerauthor.net and on Facebook (cgbauer), Instagram (cntbauer1), Twitter/X (cgbauer), Bluesky (realchrisbauer), and a tiny presence on tiktok (chrisbauerauthor101).

 

An Interview with Dietrich Kalteis, Authof of Crooked

 Dietrich Kalteis is a regular visitor to this page, with good reason. He’s a fine writer whose books are always fresh and never predictable. He’s also a good friend and always an interesting interview. His newest book is Crooked. That’s the title. The book looks like any other book. Except for the cover, which is unique to Crooked. You get the point.

One Bite at a Time: Welcome back to the blog, Dietrich. It’s always a pleasure to have you. Crooked deals with the life and crimes of notorious Depression-era bank robber Alvin Karpis. The era did not lack for notorious bank robbers. What attracted you to Karpis?

Dietrich Kalteis: Thanks for inviting me, Dana. It’s nice to be back.

When I was researching for my novel Call Down the Thunder, also set in the same era as Crooked, I came across an archived newspaper article about Karpis and the Barkers. I looked up more about them and became intrigued in the gang’s crime spree and their evasion from the law which spanned over five years, making them the longest-running criminal outfit back then. I saw there was a story waiting to be told.

OBAAT: Avoiding any spoilers, did you learn anything about Karpis that surprised you? Or about the Barkers?

DK: Alvin Karpis was smart and exceptionally good at avoiding capture. Using a number of aliases, he set up various bank accounts, had stashes and a solid network of underground connections around the country. For instance, he and the Barkers sought safe haven in St. Paul where they were under the protection of a corrupt police chief, that is as long as they committed their crimes outside of his jurisdiction. Along with Fred and Doc Barker, Karpis used an alternating cast of midwestern criminals for their crimes.

One surprise about the gang was that Kate “Ma” Barker wasn’t the brains of the outfit as portrayed in the movies Bloody Mama and Killer Brood, or as stated by J Edgar Hoover after her untimely demise. Bank robber and gang associate, Harvey Bailey once stated, "Ma Barker couldn't even plan breakfast.”

OBAAT: I know you do a lot of research for your period pieces. How much of Crooked is true, how much is fiction, and how much is conjecture?

DK: The timeline of their crimes is accurate. I did cherrypick my way through a lot of archived material, using the moments that I felt would best bring the story to life. Of course, interactions between the characters are all conjectured, and their conversations are a play on how I imagined the characters to be.

OBAAT: In recent years you’ve written several historical novels. What provoked and sustained this interest? (Full disclosure: I’ve had an itch to write one myself but the research required has put me off so far.)

DK: Significant social and political corruption along with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake made for the perfect backdrop for House of Blazes. The isolation and desperation of the Dustbowl times on the Central Plains were ideal for Call Down the Thunder. The hard times of the 30s seemed right for both Under an Outlaw Moon and Crooked. The punk music scene of the late 70s became the perfect backdrop for Zero Avenue. And the taxi wars of Chicago during prohibition formed the background for my upcoming novel Dirty Little War. For me, setting needs to add atmosphere and interest, and it’s a bonus if it helps build tension and pace as well.

OBAAT: Your dialog sounds as much like two people talking as any writer I can think of. Any tricks or suggestions you can pass along to others looking to improve?

DK: I keep a notebook with detailed descriptions of each of the characters, including detailed backgrounds, and I find images that I attribute to them. As I’m working through the early drafts, I get to know them. And as they start to flesh out and come to life, it feels like they start talking on their own. That’s when I know I’ve got it right.

OBAAT: You have enough of a catalog now for the following question to have relevance: which of your books should someone unfamiliar with your work start with if they want to get a good idea of your style to be encourage to read more? Beside Crooked, I mean. The new book is always a given.

DK: I suppose it really depends on what a reader is looking for in a story. I’ve written about bounty hunters, smugglers, gangsters, pot growers, ex-cops, punk rockers, and about relationships from hell. If a reader prefers a story with more heart I’d likely suggest Nobody from Somewhere, the story of a dying old man who rescues a runaway teen. If a story based on real events appeals to a reader, then I might offer Under an Outlaw Moon, which is based on real-life bank robbers Bennie and Stella Dickson.

 

An Interview With Beau Johnson, Author of Like Minded Individuals

 Beau Johnson is an annual guest here, and the blog is better because of it. Beau is always entertaining and gives thoughtful answers, no matter what kind of goofy questions I throw at him. He also knows more about cheese than is considered healthy by most people.

His new book, Like-Minded Individuals, drops on Monday.

 

One Bite at a Time: Welcome back to the blog, Beau. It’s always a pleasure catching up with you.

Your new book is titled Like-Minded Individuals: A Bishop Rider Book. Bishop has been away for a while; I won’t say why. What brought him back?

Beau Johnson: Hi, Dana. First off I want to thank you for lifting the ban! That was a tough couple years, and I apologize for the misunderstanding. I’m glad we could sort things out and know that never again will I mistake pillows for something they are not! I kid, of course, but it’s always nice to throw a John Candy reference out there when I can. So, Bishop Rider. If I’m honest, he’s not really back. He’s still dead last time I checked.  But as ever, his ghost looms large, ensuring his war continues.

OBAAT: A couple of years ago you said in an interview with the This is Horror web site that “horror and crime are cousins of a sort.” Would you care to elaborate?

BJ: It’s a fine line I think.  A balancing act.  The monsters Bishop Rider fought and the ones Jeramiah Abrum continues on with, they do more than just go bump in the night. The rapists, the pedophiles, the human traffickers. They’re real. They aren’t made up. Not really. The crimes Bishop Rider and Jeramiah Abrum attempt to abate as scary-horrible as they come.

OBAAT: You specialize in short stories, though you are also a not infrequent contributor to Shotgun Honey, which I consider the pre-eminent venue for crime flash fiction. What is the appeal, and what are the challenges, to going even shorter than usual with your writing?

BJ: The challenges of flash are the same as a short story in my opinion, only compacted. You have to get in, get out, but tell a coherent story all the same. My own goal or mantra when writing anything is ‘set the hook, omit the boring parts, and stick the landing’. I’ve gotten better at it over the years, but as with a lot of things, I have much to learn.

OBAAT: Reviewer Michael Patrick Hicks wrote this about Bishop Rider and Jeramiah Abrum: “They aren’t good guys. But they may be the necessary guys, the right guys, the ones needed to fix — or at least send a message to — our neutered justice system, the bastard cops, and an immoral country that caters wholly to the white, wealthy, and powerful.” Care to comment?

BJ: I’ve always stated Bishop Rider was the bad guy.  This hasn’t changed.  He believed it, struggled with it, but did what he felt he had to all the same.  Jeramiah is a different breed, choosing to see things through a lens Rider never could. In other words, Jeramiah believes he’s the good guy. The way things are going post-Rider, how they’ve escalated, I suspect he always will.

OBAAT: If memory serves, and correct me if I’m wrong, you were talking about quitting. We’re all glad you didn’t, but what changed your mind?

BJ: Well that is very kind of you to say, Dana.  It is. Truly. But yes, I did quit. The whole endeavor lasting a grand total of ten months until some very kind people helped me change my mind. It started with Shawn Cosby and went through to Paul J Garth, Laurel Hightower, Steve Stred, and too many others. The food for thought I was given, it was enough for me to realize I was doing a disservice to myself because of what I’d become focused upon. My most popular book then (and now) is my third, All Of Them To Burn. The absolute failure of Brand New Dark, my fourth book, is what brought around my decision to hang up the pen. In hindsight, however, I sometimes think maybe it had to happen. For the story to go on, I mean. It doesn’t paint me in a favourable* light, no, as I never thought of myself as a quitter, but here we are, two books past my self-imposed ‘retirement’ and I have to admit I’m still having fun. All told, I remain indebted. (* - Read with Canadian accent.)

OBAAT: The inevitable cheese question: what cheeses would you include in the ultimate macaroni and cheese recipe?

BJ: Have we ever talked about Havarti?