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| Interview with Robert J. Randisi, author of Blood on the Arch, the third book in the Detective Joe Keough series. RJ Randisi is also the founder of PWA and the initiator of the Shamus Awards. He is the recipient of the 1993 Life Achievements Award from the Southwest Mystery/Suspense Convention. Feature by PJ Nunn. PJ NUNN - Welcome, RJ. I’ve been hearing a lot lately about Blood on the Arch. Tell me about it. RJ RANDISI - BLOOD is the third book in the Detective Joe Keough series, the second since he moved to St. Louis from New York. (Alone with the Dead, In the Shadow of the Arch are both available in paper.) A political figure is killed, and it happens to be the man who helped Keough relocate from NY to St. Louis. It falls to Keough to solve the murder and he has feelings of guilt over not having kept in closer contact with the man while alive. Keough also undergoes some changes in his personal life. Where did you get the background idea for Detective Joe Keough? I worked for the NY City Police Department for 8 years, from 1973 t0 1981 before quitting to write full time. The character of Keough has been gestating in the back of my mind since then, I think. But I was so caught up in the PI genre that I did nothing about it until 1995. Keough is the result. In the first book he is with the NYC Police, but when I moved to St. Louis I decided to move him, as well. You've got to be one of the most prolific writers I know. So much of your published work is Western, yet I know you love mystery. How do you juggle both simultaneously? I literally do juggle them simultaneously. Often I'll be working on westerns during the day and a mystery at night, separating them with a meal or a nap. I've written as many as three western novels while writing one mystery. You're also the founder of PWA and the one who initiated the Shamus awards. Could you give us a little background on that? Are you still as active in PWA today as you were when you started the organization? No one has been as consistently active as I have in PWA, but then that's because I started it and I continue to keep it running. We have a President and Vice-President, but as Permanent Executive Director I continue to oversee day-to-day activities. At present we have a very active newsletter editor, awards chair and membership chair, which is extremely helpful. I recently served my first term as President, got voted into office after 16 years by acclamation at the St. Paul Bouchercon. I also co-chaired the second Eyecon convention - EYECON '99 - with Christine Matthews. And it was a great convention that I still regret missing! You’ve been writing a long time. How has your writing changed through the years? I hope it's gotten better. I think it's gotten a little more socially conscious, as well. In the mystery genre, lines between subgenres are increasingly blurred. Do you see any trends developing that writers need to take note of? If I did, I'd keep it to myself and try to get there first. I think Historical Mysteries will continue to be popular for a while, and I believe the male PI is coming back into fashion. The big boom in female writers has begun to settle down and so too, I think, has the legal mystery. Legal thrillers will continue to sell however, as long as there are Grishams, Turows, Barbara Parkers and Lisa Scottolines. Has your writing won any awards? You see, I created the Shamus Award, but have never won it. I have been nominated four times, however, and I did receive a Life Achievements Award in 1993 from the Southwest Mystery/Suspense Convention, which I chose to accept as a "half" life achievement award. With all you’ve done, you certainly deserve a few awards. But even without the books, you’re a very interesting man. Who are you when you're not writing? When I'm not writing, I'm a writer who is not writing. I'm a writer, and have been doing it for work for 20 years. As for hobbies, I enjoy casino gambling and thoroughbred handicapping, and traveling. Who or what has most influenced your writing? That can be answered in stages. My early writing was, of course, influenced by the classics. Chandler and Hammett to a lesser extent, but mostly Ross Mcdonald and, in the 60's and 70's, Bill Pronzini and Michael Collins. Of late my writing has been influenced by the fact that I live with a writer - Marthayn Pelegrimas - who writes mystery as "Christine Matthews." Living with another writer definitely impacts your work, and it has changed mine for the better. We've been together for 7 years, affecting each other’s work and collaborating occasionally. As a writer, where do you see yourself in 10 years? Still writing, still improving. What do you enjoy most about writing? I enjoy the physical act, and I enjoy being my own boss and setting my own work schedule. I enjoy doing something I love for a living. What do you find most difficult? Finding the time to write everything I want to write. The ideas come faster than I can get them down on paper. What is your best advice for new writers? Ignore trends, be persistent and write what you know and love. Writing from the heart makes you a better writer. Take this as advice from someone who, for years, wrote from the wallet. Now, I have no complaints. I knew when I was 15 years old that I wanted to write for a living by the time I was 30, and I did it. But that meant writing a lot of things I didn't want to write. I wouldn't trade the last 20 years for anything. I've only recently begun writing from the heart, and my work has improved tremendously - which doesn't mean I've stopped writing from the wallet. But I think I've managed to find a happy medium, thanks in no small part to my partner-in-life-and-crime. For more on published books by Robert J. Randisi, too long to print here, visit the author's website at http://www.readthewest.com/randisi.htm |
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