Duane Swierczynski is one of the most exiting and prolific writers working today. His action packed novels make brilliant use of some old conventions by turning the amp up to 11. He busier then all of the Hey Mon sketches combined. He has written six non-fiction books, some of which are considered the definitive books in their field.
Bibliography
Novels
Secret Dead Men
The Wheelman
The Blonde
Severance Package
The Crimes of Dr. Watson
Anthologies (editor)
Better off Dead
Non Fiction
The Big Book O' Beer
This Here's a Stickup
The Spys Guide: Office Espionage
The Complete Idiots Guide to Frauds, Scams and Cons
The Encyclopedia of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List
The Perfect Drink for Every Occasion
Fantasy Book Spot deals with all types of genre fiction, though the Fantasy portion tends to get the most traffic. But we're trying like hell to correct that. Some visitors of the site may not be familiar with your work. Lets gets some of the obligatory set up questions out of the way if that's ok with you, if some of them are redundant don't send the nerf gun bullies down 95 to my house!
Brian Lindenmuth - First I want to ask if you have ever watched The Wire. (Depending on your answer it may come up later, so figured I’d ask now)
Duane Swierczynski - I've caught quite a few episodes, but I need to buy the DVD box sets so I can enjoy them in one blast. Al Guthrie was raving about the series all weekend at B'Con.
Brian Lindenmuth - Your first debut was Secret Dead Men. It has an interesting premise that doesn't summarize well. So, straight from the horse’s mouth, how would you describe it?
Duane Swierczynski - Why, it's a love story.
Okay, kidding. The easiest way to describe it: Imagine if the Grim Reaper were a private eye, and called upon to solve a strange double homicide/stalking case in Bicentennial Philadelphia. (Hey, it makes perfect sense to me.)
Brian Lindenmuth - When was it written and when was it published?
Duane Swierczynski - I wrote the first draft in the summer of 1998, but it didn't see the light of day until January 2005. This probably explains why it doesn't sound all that much like THE WHEELMAN, which was written in 2003, more or less, and published in 2005.
Brian Lindenmuth - Though it's never presented as such a few of the central ideas like the brain hotel and multiple "souls" inhabiting one body often reminded me of Multiple Personality Disorder. Were these parallels intended or am I just over reaching in my comparisons.
Duane Swierczynski - No, it was definitely intended--in fact, up until a certain point, you could think the narrator does have MPD, and has imagined this whole goofy "Brain Hotel" thing. That was the fun of it; subverting an old mystery/suspense gimmick (split personalities) in a freaky way.
Brian Lindenmuth - You have a lot of spinning plates on poles with Secret Dead Men. To your credit though very few of them wobble and even less crash. Which is I suppose an asinine way of saying that I liked the book. At times things get, shall we say a bit chaotic, was it hard to plot and keep the characters straight? Did you have an outline or some other reference tool that you used to keep thinks straight.
Duane Swierczynski - The writing of Secret Dead Men was the goofiest thing ever. It started out as a straight forward murder mystery screenplay called NOBODY KNOWS, which I wrote for a "Set in Philadelphia" contest in 1995. It didn't win. So three years later, I took the basic murder mystery -- which had a character with a split personality -- and applied this idea of the "Brain Hotel" to the whole thing.
So while it did get a little loopy at times, I did have the spine of the story to guide me through. And thank God for that, because I didn't write it in order.
Brian Lindenmuth - It would appear that you believe strongly in the soul, with the body being just a vessel. Would this be a fair statement?
Duane Swierczynski - I think we have souls. The cool thing is, if I'm wrong, I'll die and never know differently.
Brian Lindenmuth - How are those three sequels to Secret Dead Men coming along?
Duane Swierczynski - Hah! Truth is, Secret Dead Men hasn't sold all that well. Which is understandable--virtually zero copies showed up in brick and mortar bookstores, and it relied completely on word of mouth and a few kind reviews in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER and CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. So it's not as if there's a legion of fans clamoring for a sequel.
But I have been toying around with the idea of adapting it into a screenplay--modernizing it, too, to the present day. (Secret Dead Men takes place in 1976.)
And there might be some life left in the old dog--PointBlank is bringing SDM out again this December in a new offset version, one that will actually show up in bookstores. So here's hoping.
Brian Lindenmuth - Your day-job is the editor in Chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, where you also publish a weekly column. It seems that in my area the newspapers are dying a slow death, what do you see as the future of the news print media.
Duane Swierczynski - Direct brain implants seem to be the way to go. "We report it. You think it."
Seriously, though... no matter what form it takes, there were always be news media. That is to say, professional reporters and storytellers who can act as a filter for the 197 billion things going on at any given moment. Any jackass with a blog can post an entry. Hell, I'm one of those blogging jackasses. But it does take hard work, training, and a smidgeon of talent to report and write a piece of nonfiction.
Maybe that will still be in print form. Maybe it will all migrate online. Maybe those brain implants will happen...
But human beings have always needed storytellers. We'll continue to need them.
Brian Lindenmuth - If I'm wrong here you can feel free to correct me. After you wrote Secret Dead Men (but before it was published) you took an interesting detour, you wrote 6 non fiction books:
The Big Book O' Beer
The Perfect Drink for Every Occasion
This Here's a Stick Up
The Spys Guide: Office Espionage
The Complete Idiots Guide to Frauds, Scams and Cons
The Encyclopedia of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List
There seems to be a pattern here: Drinking and Crime. Which prompts the obligatory question, have you ever gotten drunk and pulled a job. C'mon be honest. I've seen the picture on your website; you look like you could kill a man for lookin at ya funny.
Duane Swierczynski - You're very perceptive. How can else you can you support a good, hard drinking habit without pulling a few heists?
But I've always been fascinated by vice, which comes from my love of mystery and crime fiction. So it makes sense that I would gravitate toward these kinds of books.
Do I really look like I could kill a man? I'm a mild-mannered father of two. And I don't scare them a bit.
Brian Lindenmuth - Did any of the non fiction books stem from articles in your paper?
Duane Swierczynski - Actually, no... but one book began life as a failed magazine story pitch. That was drink occasion - THE PERFECT DRINK FOR EVERY OCCASION
. Boy, am I glad my editor passed on that idea.
Brian Lindenmuth - How has your newspaper experience influenced your writing? It would seem that at least one shared trait is their economy of words.
Duane Swierczynski - Definitely. Working at magazines definitely beat a lot of bad writing out of my system. There's nothing like your editor handing you back a draft of a story, and it looks like it was left on the set of Friday the 13th, Part VII, or something. Most times, bad writing means overwriting, where you put in needless explanations or description. Don't tell me about the fucking clouds unless the clouds are a main character in the story. And by "main character," I mean those clouds better fall in love then get stabbed on the subway, or something.
Brian Lindenmuth - Is it easy to make the transition between writing fiction to non fiction to news? What are the differences? Do you have a preference?
Duane Swierczynski - It is for me, because it's pretty clear where the boundaries are. Plus, I usually work on nonfiction during the weekday, and then write fiction at nights, or over the weekend. Both are storytelling. With nonfiction, you're making a deal with the reader: "Look, I'm going to tell you some cool stuff, and it's COMPLETELY TRUE. Swear to yo' momma." With fiction, the pact is different: "Look, I'm going to tell you some stuff it made up, but I used bits of truth here and there that you might find entertaining." As long as you don't fuck around with the reader, or break your pact, you're fine.
As for my preference--well, fiction's always been my first love. But I get a huge rush out of both forms. There's no drug like telling a good story and entertaining somebody.
Brian Lindenmuth - You're the only person I know that has written an "A Completes Idiot Guide to..." book. Is that something they approach you about or do you pitch the idea? I'm a little curious. You know I saw The Bible for Dummies the other day and was REALLY tempted to pick it up.
Duane Swierczynski - I wrote This Here's a Stick Up for Gary Goldstein at Alpha Books (he's since moved on to Kensington), and when that worked out, he approached me with the idea for the The Complete Idiots Guide to Frauds, Scams and Cons). There is a series "bible"--how many sidebars you need to include per page, how long entries can be, etc. But beyond that, I was on my own. I had a lot of fun with that one. Mainly because I still can't believe I got away with some of the shit I snuck into that book...
Brian Lindenmuth - The bank robbery book, This Here's a Stick Up, has some legend surrounding it, is it true that a guy got caught robbing a bank and had your book in his possession?
Duane Swierczynski - It's true. A dude named Buchon Buchanan--there's a name, right?--bought my book, then a few days later, robbed a bank. (He'd robbed a series of them in California.) When the cops caught him, they found the receipt in his car. Some Associated Press reporter heard about it, and it became one of those "can you believe how dumb crooks are?" kind of stories. A friend sent me the clip, and I couldn't believe it. I still can't.
Brian Lindenmuth - Next came your second debut novel The Wheelman. It was a radical shift in style from Secret Dead Men in so many ways. Was that change a conscience effort or just a reflection of growth between novels? The Wheelman is also far more stripped down and streamlined.
Duane Swierczynski - I think it's more the latter. Like the old spaghetti commercial said: as I got older, I got better. Between those two books, I learned that you didn't have to show the character going from Point A to Point B, which burns up a lot of words. And it's so easy to overexplain things--a pitfall of first person novels.
I was also hugely influenced by Ken Bruen 's THE WHITE TRILOGY --his first three Brant novels--which taught me how you can be economical without giving up muscle, menace, voice or color. There's a three page scene from THE GUARDS I used to give my journalism students, and I'd tell them: Here's the fence you're swinging for.
Brian Lindenmuth - I love the Junior Black Mafia reference, being a true crime junkie have you read Black Brothers Inc.?
Duane Swierczynski - Hell yes. What a great, sprawling epic.
Brian Lindenmuth - Was part of the reason to keep Lennon mute due to your fear of not capturing the particular lilt of the Irish brogue. What with Bruen & McKinty working poetic wonders with the greatest of ease. There's a lyricism present in their writing (and I would imagine speaking) that's gotta come naturally to them.
Duane Swierczynski - Actually, it was more the creative challenge of writing a character who couldn't talk. For one thing, it makes dialogue a real bitch.
Brian Lindenmuth - I'll also take the time to point anyone interested in a more in depth discussion of this book to your recent podcast interview. It's quite good. Any questions I had sucked compared to theirs so give it a listen. I'll ask this about the pod cast though, do you always talk that fast?
Duane Swierczynski - Dude, I *slowed down* for that podcast. I think my brain just works at hyperspeed. That's not to say I'm smart or anything; it's just how my brain operates. I also recently learned that I have high blood pressure. Big surprise, huh?
Brian Lindenmuth - It is a VERY visual novel. Has Hollywood shown any interest in The Wheelman. I'll be 100% honest I see Dominic West (McNulty from The Wire) as Lennon.
Duane Swierczynski - Ol' Wheels was optioned by a very talented Scottish film director named Simon Hynd, who recently wrapped his first full-length feature: an adaptation of Stona Fitch's SENSELESS. Simon is co-writing the screenplay with my heterosexual life partner, Allan "Sunshine" Guthrie, so I feel like I'm in great hands. We'll see what happens...
Dominic West is an interesting choice. I could see Paul Bettany doing a bang-up job in the role, too. Or that creepy dude who played Scarecrow in BATMAN BEGINS... Cillian Murphy.
Brian Lindenmuth - Did the idea of writing a bank robbery novel come from the research that went in to This Here's a Stick Up?
Duane Swierczynski - That's *exactly* where it came from. In my introduction to STICK-UP, I talked about how I cased my own bank. I really did this. And I thought about the plan so much, I decided to write a short story about it, just to get it out of my head. The short story slowly turned into a novel, and here we are.
Brian Lindenmuth - How did SMELL THE ROSES became THE WHEELMAN.
Duane Swierczynski - The working title was SMELL THE ROSES, which has a specific meaning if you read the book. But St. Martin's (quite rightly) thought it sounded a bit cozy-ish, so I came up with some alternate titles. Among the first five I submitted: WHEELMAN. No dice. I wrote a dozen more. Nothing. I think I ended up writing 60 fucking titles or something before the head of Minotaur said, "Hey, what about *THE* WHEELMAN?" By that point, they could have called it FOURTEEN LOBSTERS ON FIRE. Looking back, though, they made the right call.
Brian Lindenmuth - This is a great book so please remind every one that the paperback is coming out on...
Duane Swierczynski - Hey everybody! The paperback is out! It's my "author preferred" edition, which means I had a chance to fix some of my dumb mistakes that crept into the hardcover. The paperback also includes a sneak preview of my next one, THE BLONDE, so if you're a fan of sneak previews, this is the book for you.
I'm so bad at this "hard sell" thing, ain't i?
Brian Lindenmuth - Your latest is The Blonde. One of the many highlights of the book is the Mary-Kates, did you do much research into nanotechnology, or did a little bit of research mixed with a healthy imagination go a long way?
Duane Swierczynski - The tiniest bit of research. Mostly gleaned from science fiction movies. (Which probably doesn't qualify it as "research," does it?)
Brian Lindenmuth - Both Secret Dead Men & The Blonde are very much mysteries/thrillers, but they do have mild science fiction elements to them. Do you read any science fiction?
Duane Swierczynski - I used to read a ton of it during the late 1990s--I gorged on Philip K. Dick, Robert Sheckley, Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester and Harlan Ellison. You can probably see a huge Sheckley influence on Secret Dead Men... he was the master of the asburd-yet-believable novel.
I fell off the wagon for a while, but I pick up a sci-fi novel now and again. Most recently I've enjoyed John Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR, as well as Richard Morgan's ALTERED CARBON and John Steakley's ARMOR. As well as the soon-to-be-published GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE, by Victor Gischler. Fuckin' brilliant, that one.
Brian Lindenmuth - I want to talk about the ending. There was a little bit of a doomsday scenario to the ending, or a better way to put would be to say that it was a ticking time bomb ending. Was the pending doom intentional?
Duane Swierczynski - Oh yeah. Isn't the definition of noir "pending doom"?
But seriously, I like the idea that my novels are but slices of a larger story. The most interesting part, hopefully. So the end of THE BLONDE does leave the reader hanging...
... that is, until November, when my novella "Redhead" appears, and wraps up some of those loose ends. (See later reply for more.)
Brian Lindenmuth - Minor gripe - The crime scene cleaners, The Dydak's, were mentioned and seemed like a great source of material, but they never really made an appearance. I couldn't shake the feeling that they had sections that were cut, are you thinking of perhaps using them at some later time. I know, it's not really a question either, but would you care to comment.
Duane Swierczynski - I thought I might circle back to the Dydaks in THE BLONDE, but the situation never came up. However, they will be back in their novel. Sooner than you may think.
Brian Lindenmuth - Michael is presented in a different light then at the end of The Wheelman. In the The Wheelman he seemed very much calm, cool and collected, in The Blonde he possesses a dogged determination and is still deadly but also seems to be a bit of a goof, what with the stupid jokes with his handler and all. Is there a difference between the two presentations?
Duane Swierczynski - Well, in THE WHEELMAN you really don't see much of him at all. Just the scene at the end--and I'd argue he's kind of a goof then, too. As much as he can be, anyway, given the circumstances. (Don't want to spoil anything.) Kowalski's humor, though, is just a different set of armor--a way to distance himself from the pain and violence around him.
Also, between the events of THE WHEELMAN and THE BLONDE, Kowalski has gone a little nuts.
Brian Lindenmuth - As a writer with a few outlets, from your blog to your weekly column for the paper to stupid interviews like this, do you find it difficult to do an interview when so many of your thoughts on various subjects are already out there? Does maintaining a blog hinder or help the creative process for you
Duane Swierczynski - I'm still very new at this whole "being on the other end of a microphone" thing. And the thrill is far from old.
My weekly column is interesting; I've been writing it for two and a half years, and I'm not sure it's found its purpose yet. I'm alternately the City Paper's MC, ombudsman, and class clown. And I'm not sure I should be any of those. Sometimes, the best thing an editor can do is shut the fuck up.
My blog is different. Pressure's off, so I can yap about pretty much anything, from what I'm reading to what I'm working on.
All of these outlets, though, are separate from fiction. One really doesn't influence the other.
Brian Lindenmuth - You seem to have a healthy interest in Goodis. What is it about him that turns you on? Admit it you have a bit of a man crush on him!
Duane Swierczynski - It's his eyes. So fucking hot.
Okay, beyond that... I first found myself crushing on Goodis when I realized that there was a crime writer who wrote about the same streets I grew up on. His protagonists weren't fighting for their lives in London or New York--they were getting drunk and beaten the next neighborhood over.
Beyond that, Goodis was a supremely talented writer who could capture human desperation like nobody else. The pain he captured is universal--and it hurts to read, no matter where you grew up. What's not to love?
Brian Lindenmuth - My last name is almost as fucked as yours, but not quite (you've got all of those damn consonants plus that "czy" that just throws people off), do you envy those people that have easy monosyllabic last name like Jones, you know something that is easily pronounceable? I once told someone that all the letters in my last name were silent and it was really pronounced "Smith"
Duane Swierczynski - You dare compare our last names? Lindenmuth is a walk in the park compared to my nine-car pileup of consonants.
But yeah, I do obsess a bit. I check out the spines of novels on my crime hall of fame shelf, and none of them look like mine. Sometimes I think: that's cool, you're just different. You stand out.
Other times, though, I think: YOU DON'T BELONG ON THE SPINE OF A BOOK YOU WORKING CLASS POLISH BASTARD...
My mind is a fun place!
Brian Lindenmuth - With a nod to recent posts of yours, If you COULD go back in time and become a writer of a men’s action series what would you pen name be? I think mine would be either Dick Kingston or Jett Lewis
Duane Swierczynski - I'd go Latin American and become "Entez Tiñes" (pronounced in-TACE TEEN-yace). Just for the hint of international mystique.
Brian Lindenmuth - How does it feel to appear in someone else's book as a character?
Duane Swierczynski - Disappointed that I wasn't beaten and killed.
Brian Lindenmuth - If you went back in time 75 years and asked some random guy off the street if he has ever googled himself do you think he would punch you?
Duane Swierczynski - If I went back in time 75 years I wouldn't waste time asking some doofus about Google. My Polish ass would be making a beeline for the nearest bookstore and start snapping up first edition Dashiell Hammetts.
Duane Swierczynski - Then I'd kill Hitler.
Brian Lindenmuth - If you could be a member of one gang from the movie The Warriors, which gang would that be.
Duane Swierczynski - Fonzie's gang.
Brian Lindenmuth - Your newest novel in the Swierczy-verse will be Severance Package. You’re also working on an interactive Sherlock Holmes novella. Finally there is the sequel to The Blonde called Redhead. Without veering into cuntjobby territory what can you tell us about them?
Duane Swierczynski - Nice use of the word "cuntjobby"!
Okay, SEVERANCE PACKAGE is about a guy who shows up for an "emergency meeting" at his office one Saturday morning... then realizes his boss is fucking nuts, and wants to kill everyone in the room. Chaos ensues. (If you work in a corporate office, this is probably very familiar.)
The Sherlock Holmes thing is a weird experiment. I'm not exactly the most Holmesian motherfucker on the block... but I had an absolute blast creating a strange little puzzle using the most well-known mystery characters in the world. Dr. Watson is framed for murder. Baker Street goes up in flames. And Sherlock is still dead. Chaos ensues!
And finally, "Redhead" is my little coda to THE BLONDE. It will be included in that novel's paperback edition, but also as a free download. (I don't want readers who spent good money on the hardcover to feel cheated.) Thing is, you really have to read THE BLONDE to understand anything about "Redhead." But rest assured: chaos ensues!
Other Reviews of works by Duane Swierczynski
