Hardboiled Journalist

FATALE Features Marlowe

CharlesKelly — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:37:41 +0000

The late hard-boiled mystery writer Dan Marlowe is getting a lot of attention this week. That’s good, because in a few months I’m going to publish a biography: Gunshots in Another Room: The Forgotten Life of Dan J. Marlowe. As I mentioned below, the Los Angeles Review of Books has published my article about him, called “The Wrong Marlowe.” And the latest issue of the graphic novel Fatale (Fatale No. 3) is carrying a shorter article I did on Marlowe. Fatale is the brainchild of writer Ed Brubaker, who has “rock star” status in the world of comics, and rightfully so. Here’s the cover of Fatale No. 3:

And here are the first two pages of the article (art by Sean Phillips).

The Wrong Marlowe

CharlesKelly — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:25:55 +0000

The online Los Angeles Review of Books is bringing excellent book reviews back to the American public. The site caters to a wide array of tastes, and even employs a Noir Editor, Boris Dralyuk. A couple of months ago, Boris commissioned an article from me on Dan J. Marlowe, focusing on the years Marlowe spent in Los Angeles near the end of his life, living off and on with his bank robber friend Al Nussbaum. The article ran March 10, 2012. Here’s the link: http://lareviewofbooks.org/

Thank You, Nettie.

CharlesKelly — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:50:31 +0000

I’ve been writing news articles for decades now, and books for a while, too. I do it because it gives me satisfaction and puts food on my table, and because I don’t have the ability to do anything else–I can’t be an astronaut or a bridge-builder or a U.S. Senator, because I don’t have the skills. Yes, and I do it to feed my ego, too. A couple of months ago, I self-published an ebook called Finnegan’s Way: The Secret Power of Doing Things Badly. Of course, I hoped it would bring me tons of money and loads of glory. Then, a couple of days ago, a woman in Vancouver named Nettie McClain bought the book and reviewed it on Amazon. She said, for her, it was “a life-changing gem.” As I read her review, I realized I don’t need tons of money and loads of glory. This is really what I want out of writing. Thank you, Nettie.

Nettie McClain (Vancouver, WA USA) -

This review is from: Finnegan’s Way: The Secret Power of Doing Things Badly (Kindle Edition)

This short and sweet little fable has an amazing amount of comforting wisdom in it. I’ve struggled with the fallout from not meeting perfectionistic standards my whole life. This amazing book shows why that approach fails, and how giving myself and others the permission to do things badly works. There are a lot of books out there now about self-compassion, but this little book sums it all up perfectly, as far as I’m concerned, and it’s really entertaining and easy to read, too. I’m so grateful that I discovered it!

Lots of Free Advice

CharlesKelly — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:11:31 +0000

Well, over a two-day promotion on Amazon, nearly 8,000 people did free downloads of FINNEGAN’S WAY: THE SECRET POWER OF DOING THINGS BADLY. The book made No. 33 overall on the Amazon free download list, and was No. 1 for long periods as the free download in the Self-Help and Motivational categories. I got three new reviews, and I’m hoping the exposure will lead to sales at its current price of $2.99. Thanks, everybody!

Fatale-istic: An Essay about Dan Marlowe

CharlesKelly — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:22:11 +0000

I’ve done an essay–actually a short biographical sketch–of the late hardboiled mystery writer Dan J. Marlowe that will appear in Fatale, a graphic novel by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips in March. Brubaker is fascinated by the life and work of Marlowe and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, so he has incorporated elements of those stories in the storyline of Fatale. Brubaker was especially struck by Marlowe’s experience of loss, first losing his wife, then–in his early sixties–losing his memory, a blow to his writing career from which he never really recovered.

A Novel of True Crime

CharlesKelly — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:40:01 +0000

I’ve finally published GRACE HUMISTON AND THE VANISHING on Amazon and Smashwords. It’s a novel, part thriller, part adventure, about the solution of a true crime case that occurred in New York City in 1917. I’ve also entered this novel in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also published a 12-page article about Grace Humiston on Amazon. It appears as a 99-cent “ebook.” It’s called THE CRIME LAWYER: THE TRUTH ABOUT GRACE HUMISTON.

The Footsteps Die Out Forever

CharlesKelly — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:35:04 +0000

Got an e-mail yesterday from a man named Mark Moore, who is investigating a homicide case that has haunted him for years: the murder of three young boys on the Gila River Indian Reservation in the summer of 1976. The boys’ bodies were found near the railroad tracks southeast of Phoenix. They had been stabbed to death. Mark went to grade school with Richard Chase, the oldest of the three victims. Mark contacted me because I wrote about the case about a decade ago as part of a series on Unsolved Mysteries in Arizona. If, after all these years, any of you have any information on this case, contact Mark at markuswelby66@yahoo.com or send me a message. I’m not sure I have my notes on the case any more. If I do, I’ll write more about it in this blog and pass the information to Mark. A very sad echo from the past. Here’s the Unsolved Mystery story: http://www.azcentral.com/news/famous/articles/0520Unsolved-Boys20.html?&wired

Can you format an ebook?

CharlesKelly — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:09:35 +0000

Ebooks are all the rage, and if you have a book-length manuscript written, or even a long article, you can upload it and sell it on Amazon and Smashwords. The question is: can you format it, and how tough is that? The answers are, “Yes,” and “Kind of tough, but possible if you stick with it.” By far the best place to start is uploading to Amazon, and the best place to learn how to do that is a blog called CJ’s Easy as Pie. CJ, a very nice lady, takes you step by step through the process. Also download the Smashwords formatting guide and read it carefully. If you have a friend who knows a little HTML, all the better. Give it a shot. The feeling of control in being able to publish your own work is awesome!

The Plea of Tony Mancini

CharlesKelly — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:21:36 +0000

I was recently reviewing photos related to a 1931 American trunk murder. They put me in mind of the Brighton Trunk Murder trial in 1934 in London, as described in A Second Companion to Murder. The accused was Tony Mancini, a thief and lowlife. The body of Violette Kaye, a prostitute with whom Mancini had been living, had been found in a trunk in his residence. He asserted she had died in a drunken fall. Who would believe him? However, he was defended by the finest advocate in England, Mr. Norman Birkett, and Birkett made an impassioned argument on his behalf. Mancini’s story was simple. He had not fetched the police when he found Kaye dead, he said, because, “Where the police are concerned, a man who’s got convictions never gets a square deal.” Mancini said he had no ill feeling against Kaye. “I did not kill her,” he said. “Strange as it is, I used to love her.” The jury acquitted him.

The Plea of Tony Mancini

CharlesKelly — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:02:48 +0000

I was recently examining photos dealing with a 1931 American trunk murder. They put me in mind of the Brighton Trunk Murder trial in 1934 in London, as described in A Second Companion to Murder. The accused was Tony Mancini, a thief and lowlife. The body of Violette Kaye, a prostitute with whom Mancini lived, had been found in a trunk at his residence. Mancini asserted she had died in a drunken fall, but who was to believe him? Fortunately for him, the greatest advocate in England, Norman Birkett, took his case, and made an impassioned argument on his behalf. Mancini’s case was simple. He did not fetch the police when he found Kaye dead, he said, because “Where the police are concerned, a man who’s got convictions never gets a square deal.” Mancini said he had no ill will against Violette Kaye. “I did not kill her,” he said. “Strange as it is, I used to love her.” The jury acquitted.