Legal Eagles: Attorneys Writing Fiction (3)

Posted on by - Book review, Legal Eagles, Legal fiction, Mystery Writers of America

Today on Legal Eagles, I’m featuring a crime author who also happens to be a fellow alumnus from the University of Colorado, School of Law. Manuel Ramos. I had the pleasure of speaking with Manuel recently at the Mysterious Bookshop, at an event to meet and greet the new board members of the Mystery Writers of America. Click here for a blog piece Manuel wrote about his new status on the national board.

As Manuel makes clear in his blog post, he is one of very few published Latino authors of crime fiction. I would venture to guess that he is also one of the few Latino crime writers with the distinction of having a highly successful law career, which included years of award-winning public service for Colorado Legal Services. He is now retired from the law.

At the Mysterious Bookshop, I picked up a copy of his latest novel, My Bad. I’m glad I did.

My Bad, by Manuel Ramos (Arte Publico Press)

My Bad, by Manuel Ramos (Arte Publico Press)

Many reviewers have written of Manuel’s talent for spare and vivid prose, bringing to life Denver’s Chicano culture and changing neighborhoods. I would add to these accolades that his legal background makes a significant contribution to his work. Those of you who’ve read the Dana Hargrove legal thrillers know of my interest in exploring the ethical dilemmas facing attorneys in the field of criminal law. Manuel enhances his work with plenty of them. How’s this one for a doozy? An ex-con employee of a criminal defense lawyer, tailing a client to investigate a civil lawsuit, unwittingly finds himself at the scene of a murder that implicates the client. Should the attorney report it or keep it quiet? What an impossible tug of competing loyalties! A dilemma of choice among the ethical duties owed in multiple capacities: as lawyer, friend, employer, and citizen. I love this stuff!

Subtitled “A Mile High Noir” in a nod to the mile-high Rocky Mountain city, My Bad is just as much a story of the relationship between attorney Luis Móntez and ex-con Gus Corral, as it is a plot-driven crime drama. Gus is adjusting to life on the outside after serving an unspecified number of years in prison for unspecified crimes. Under the watchful eye of his parole officer, Gus is perpetually on edge, second-guessing every step he makes for possible repercussions to his parole status. The legal mess that landed Gus in prison is the subject of a previous novel. Click here to watch a very cool video about the first Gus Corral novel, Desperado. I haven’t read Desperado, but am now driven to read it, to find out more about Gus. Like my Dana Hargrove novels, Manuel’s books are standalone and can be picked up in any order.

My Bad gives a real sense of place and community in its descriptions of city streets and buildings, Mexican food, family gatherings, social events, and references to music, mostly rhythm and blues. The author also sprinkles in a good number of phrases and words in Spanish. Porque lo entiendo un poquito this was not a problem for me, nor would it pose an obstacle for readers who don’t understand the language. The meaning is clear (or close enough to clear) from context, and you’ll enjoy the flavor that the dialog gives to scene and exposition.

In fiction, I appreciate creativity with language, mood, and scene, and you’ll get a lot of that here. The language is terse and, in some places, tough, but not so very tough. I’m a fan of suggestion, innuendo, clever twists, and leaving a lot to the intelligence of the reader—not a fan of graphic violence, blood and guts, or gratuitous cursing. This novel falls in place with these tastes. The characters are human, flawed, a mix of good and bad, their personal challenges relatable. For example, there’s a good deal of angst expressed by Luis Móntez as he prepares to wind down his law practice and retire, reflecting on his professional and personal life, attempting to come to terms. Does this sound familiar to me? Perhaps so. I won’t go into detail.

I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more. Check out Manuel’s website for descriptions of all his works.

Ten Minutes with Reed Farrel Coleman

Posted on by - Mystery Writers of America

Last year at this time, I posted My Ten Minutes With Lee Child, so I’m just going to have to follow up and make this a tradition!  This year’s Guest of Honor at the Mystery Writers of America Holiday Revels was bestselling author Reed Farrel Coleman.

I’ve deleted “My” from this year’s title since the “my” part of it may have been more like five minutes—I’m grabbing an extra five from the short and sweet speech he gave to the packed room at the Salmagundi Club after MWA-NY chapter president Laura K. Curtis introduced him as our Honorary Santa.

Mr. Coleman is so personable and approachable that, okay, I’m just going to start calling him Reed.  Is that okay, Reed?  I want to be on a first name basis with you, a man known as the “hard-boiled poet” and “noir poet laureate.”  His accomplishments are many and impressive. At the podium, Laura went through the list.  When she got to his three Edgar Award nominations—Best Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best Short Story—Reed was making the shape of an “L” with thumb and index finger on his forehead, a little smile on his lips, setting off ripples of laughter through the audience.  Here is a photo from his website:
reed-farrel-coleman

I have to say this: Reed looks better in real life.  How many of us can say that we look better than our author photos in real life?

After the three “Losers,” Laura mentioned the winners, and there are many of them: he’s a three-time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best PI Novel of the Year, and has received Audie, Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards.  His novel, Where It Hurts, is on NPR’s list of Best Books of 2016 in the Mystery and Thriller category!  I can say it’s now at the top of my to-read list.

Reed is a longtime member of MWA and former executive vice president.  Have I said how happy I am to be a member of this organization?  Such talented, interesting writers at every meeting, new friendships forged.  Reed’s five-minute speech was peppered with one-liners, a few of them about MWA.  On being chosen the Honorary Santa: “I couldn’t be more honored… yes I could—buy the books!” and “Lee Child was too tall and has too much hair so they had to get me this year!”  On his stint as executive vice president: “I was forced to join MWA, and then they made me king or something.” (He advised us to head for the hills if ever asked to fill that position.)

Later, of course, I was itching to go up to him and introduce myself.  I had to wait until the crowds of friends and fans dispersed.  I told him how much I enjoyed his speech and his writing.  “Do you write a book a year?” I asked.

“Two!”

“Is that stressful?”

“Is it ever.  200,000 words a year!”  He laughed and rolled his eyes heavenward.

(To myself: the stress of being under contract as a bestselling author? Maybe I’d trade in my current stress as a lawyer for some of that.)

“Well,” I said, “if the writing ever stops being fun, you could be a comedian. Have you ever thought of that?”

“I’m related to Henny Youngman, you know. ‘Take my wife … please!’”

No wonder!  It runs in the family.

Reed was born in Brooklyn and lives on Long Island.  I told him where I work in Brooklyn, and he related that he had a job in the same neighborhood years ago.  We spoke of ideas for characters, and writing what we know.  Before becoming a full time writer, Reed had several jobs, including driving a cab, and he draws on these experiences for the characters and locations in his novels.  Many of his characters are everyday people from neighborhoods on Long Island—not the well-known areas where the rich people and tourists flock.where-it-hurts

It was a pleasure meeting you, Reed!

Now, go out and buy his books!

My Ten Minutes With Lee Child

Posted on by - Mystery Writers of America

If you’re a small peanuts writer, ten minutes is longer than you’d expect to spend chatting with the legendary Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series. Where else could this have happened but the Mystery Writers of America holiday party? At most, I thought I’d have the chance to breathlessly utter a trite compliment after standing in line to see the guest of honor. But I got a full ten minutes. I wasn’t timing it, but it had to be that. As an appellate lawyer, I’ve read enough testimony in trial transcripts to know that people who witness thrilling or traumatic events tend to be very bad at estimating time. A single robbery, two witnesses, one says three seconds, the other says three minutes. But I have proof that my time estimate is not far off the mark. We covered several topics.

I admit, I didn’t monopolize—there were a few other people standing in our group. And I did start out with a compliment, somewhat mentally rehearsed. In the days when I was commuting by car, I spent many wonderful hours listening to Jack Reacher novels on CD. Didn’t want to get out of the car when I pulled into my parking spot.

The conversation progressed beyond that. These are some of the things I asked:

“I understand there’s a writer out there stealing your characters.” (I had just heard this from another MWA member who’d been chatting with Mr. Child minutes before.) “Yes,” he answered, “I call it fan fiction.” Seems that there are writers making a buck publishing e-books full of characters from Reacher novels. Mr. Child said, “I don’t mind.” I said, “You’re very generous.”

“Do you have another cameo appearance coming up in the movies?” I asked. Yes, his next film shoot is scheduled to take place at the airport and will last no more than five hours—he will be in between flights. And, yes, the cameo role is a guy at an airport.

The conversation turned to the publishing industry. Mr. Child said that the e-book/paper ratio of his book sales was 75/25 in 2012, and now it’s back down to 60/40. People are coming back to paper. I observed that many young people I know (my daughters included!) prefer to hold a book in their hands. This, despite (or because of?) all the screen time they put in.

Mr. Child said he generally doesn’t enjoy collaborating with other writers, but he recently had a very rewarding experience collaborating on a project with his daughter. I shared that I also had a profoundly moving experience collaborating with my daughter on an artistic project. “I’m a dancer,” I said. “It was a dance film.” I don’t think anyone was much impressed.

Finally, I asked him if he had any advice for a non-bestselling author to get her novels into film. “You don’t have to be a bestselling author to get into the movies. Just pitch your book to an agent.”

Easier said than done. Is there any hope for Thursday’s List and Homicide Chart?

“The best thing, though, is to sell the movie rights without the movie ever getting made. You get paid well and don’t have to worry about the movie ruining your novel.”

Dream on.

Thank you for the conversation, Mr. Child! A very genuine, nice guy. Think I’ll go read another Reacher novel.