Big Ideas And Big Names In Suspense From Brash Books Blog

01.10.17 Phillip Thompson: Staying Organized

I use a variety of methods to stay mentally and physically focused while I’m trying to write a novel, and this is important to me because I don’t spend all day writing. I may go days without being able to sit down with the characters, and I need to be able to jump right back in whenever I do. So, one of the big challenges for me during the writing of Outside the Law was staying organized for the long haul. Both physically and mentally. Physically, writing a 60,000+ novel can get cumbersome, depending on how you’re going about it. I’m like several writer friends I know — I start a Word document and just start banging words out. Which sounds like a... more

01.09.17 Mark Rogers: Writing “KOREATOWN BLUES”

Written by Mark Rogers

It was bad enough that in 2007, at the age of 55, I tore up roots and moved from the east coast to Los Angeles, to carve out a career as a screenwriter. I upped the fish-out-of-water ante by choosing to live in an ethnic enclave—Koreatown. On arrival I found myself in a neighborhood where I not only couldn’t speak the language—I couldn’t even decipher the store signs. I was an outsider, which isn’t a bad situation for a writer. It kept me off-balance and open. I was an outsider for only so long. After a string of lonely nights in my apartment, I ventured out to a Korean nightclub a couple blocks away. The nightclub had no name that I could find, just a plastic sign that read... more

01.07.17 Phillip Thompson: Writing “Outside the Law”

Written by Phillip Thompson

After 3 ½ years in the making, it’s hard to believe I’m now three weeks away from the launch of my latest novel, Outside the Law on February 1st (but available now for pre-order). Writing this novel has been by far my most interesting and, I think, productive writing session yet. But it was not without its challenges. Like a lot of writers I know, I started out with a grand idea and a lot of words clogging up my head, and so I embarked on the tale in December 2013. I cranked out nearly 10,000 words over a holiday vacation week and felt pretty good about where I was headed. Then reality set in. Ten thousand words is a commitment — once I’m into it that deep, I have... more

12.27.16 Max Allan Collins on Being a Grand Master

Written by Max Allan Collins

The announcement of my Edgar award as a Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America has garnered congratulations and praise from all over the place. I’m very grateful. It’s particularly fun or, in Facebook terms, to be “liked” (you like me, you really really like me) by old friends, some of whom I haven’t heard from in decades. The world at once seems bigger and smaller. I thank you all for the congratulations about the Grand Master award, which won’t be presented till next April, by the way. I’ve been reflecting on the Grand Master , the only troubling aspect of which is that it’s a reminder that a long career preceded it, and that the... more

11.29.16 Max Allan Collins is named Grandmaster, The Highest Honor in Mystery Writing

Written by Brash Admin

We're delighted to announce that The Mystery Writers of America has named Max Allan Collins a Grandmaster -- the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing. The award honors his important contributions to the genre as well as a stellar body of work that is, as they put it, "both significant and of consistent high quality." We couldn't agree more! Max was thrilled, of course, to get the news. “To be in the company of Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and Mickey Spillane is both thrilling and humbling. This is an honor second to none in the art of mystery and suspense fiction.” Max sold his first two novels in 1972 while a student at the University of Iowa... more

11.17.16 Collins on QUARRY: The Author Reviews His TV Series

Written by Max Allan Collins

The TV series Quarry, based on Max Allan Collins' beloved series of books, has just finished its first critically acclaimed season on Cinemax. The series has departed in some ways from the books. Here Max discusses those departures, inherent in any adaptation, and his feelings about the fresh direction the show has taken while finding its own, unique voice. It’s a first-rate show. The finale (like the opening episode) is a feature-length crime story worthy of release as an indie film. The Vietnamese war sequence – one long take – is as remarkable a piece of filmmaking as I’ve seen in some time, capturing the feel and pressure and insanity of battle. The cast has been... more

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