NoirCon 2016 kicks off tonight in Philadelphia with an evening of readings by more than a dozen crime writers from around the world.
Join us — you won’t regret it!
The gig starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Pen & Pencil Club, 1522 Latimer St., Philadelphia, PA. The venue is very cool: the Pen & Pencil Club is America’s oldest daily operating press club.
Authors reading their work include:
Don Donovan
Kent Harrington
Woody Haut
Vicki Hendricks
Lanny Larcinese
Jon McGoran
Warren Moore
Andrew Nette
Leigh Redhead
S.A. Solomon
Joe Samuel Starnes
Charlie Stella
Richard Vine
Lono Waiwaiole
Jonathan Woods
And… me.
More information is available at the NoirCon website and on Facebook. I hope to see you there!
I’m excited to be a part of the opening night Noir at the Bar reading which takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 26, at the Pen & Pencil Club, 1522 Latimer St., Philadelphia.
The list of readers is outstanding: Vicki Hendricks, Jon McGoran, Kent Harrington, Lono Waiwaiole, Andrew Nette, S.A. Solomon, Joe Samuel Starnes, Jonathan Woods, Lanny Larcinese, and many more.
The rest of the conference includes panel discussions on topics like Forgotten Innovators of Suspense, 70s Noir Movies, and The Rough, Rural South of Larry Brown, plus events like a screening of Oren Shai’s film The Frontier, Meredith Anthony’s play Murder on the Main Line, and a keynote address by Woody Haut.
I’ve been to three previous NoirCons, and they’re always a great time. Organizers Lou Boxer and Deen Kogan do an outstanding job.
This episode of Word Crimes was recorded live at Misconduct Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at a terrific Noir at the Bar event. It features readings by Jonathan Woods, me, Duane Swierczynski, and Jon McGoran.
Hosted by Peter Rozovsky, Noir at the Bar kicked off the great NoirCon, which takes place every two years in Philadelphia. All told, a dozen authors read their work in front of an enthusiastic, standing-room-only audience. This episode is part three of three. Part one can be found here, and part two can be found here.
Did you enjoy this episode of the Word Crimes podcast? Let us know by posting a comment here, on Twitter or Facebook — or, best of all, rate the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
This episode of Word Crimes was recorded live at Misconduct Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at a terrific Noir at the Bar event. It features readings by Merry Jones, Don Lafferty, Sarah Weinman, and Dennis Tafoya.
Hosted by Peter Rozovsky, Noir at the Bar kicked off the great NoirCon, which takes place every two years in Philadelphia. All told, a dozen authors read their work in front of an enthusiastic, standing-room-only audience. This episode is part two of three. Part one can be found here, and part three will be available on Dec. 18.
Did you enjoy this episode of the Word Crimes podcast? Let us know by posting a comment here, on Twitter or Facebook — or, best of all, rate the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
This episode of Word Crimes was recorded live at Misconduct Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at a terrific Noir at the Bar event. It features readings by Thom Nickels, Jen Conley, Joe Samuel Starnes, and Matt Cook.
Hosted by Peter Rozovsky, Noir at the Bar kicked off the great NoirCon, which takes place every two years in Philadelphia. All told, a dozen authors read their work in front of an enthusiastic, standing-room-only audience. This episode is part one of three. Part two will be available on Dec. 15, and part three will be available on Dec. 18.
Did you enjoy this episode of the Word Crimes podcast? Let us know by posting a comment here, on Twitter or Facebook — or, best of all, rate the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks!
Noir at the Bar returns to Philadelphia at 9 p.m. tonight!
I’m thrilled to be one of the authors reading tonight, and I’m bringing a special giveaway that features more amazing art by Dillon Samuelson, who drew the cool pumpkin-in-a-fedora you see down at the bottom of this post.
Just see me to get your very own copy (while supplies last!) of an eight-page short story called “All Alone,” the cover of which is the finished version — a full color painting — of the sketch to the right. Dillon really nailed the feel of an old pulp magazine cover. Nailed.
“All Alone” is set in 1951 Philadelphia, and I hope the writing feels half as pulp as Dillon’s cover. (Read some of the background for “All Alone” here.)
So come on out to Misconduct Tavern tonight and listen to some incredible authors read some amazing stories!
NoirCon 2012, a small convention dedicated to the art of noir, has come to an end. I also attended NoirCon 2010 (it takes place every other year, so the next one is in 2014). Both were excellent events, packed with interesting panel discussions, one-on-one interviews and speakers. Organizer Lou Boxer does a tremendous job.
There were many, many highlights. Here are just a few:
A panel called “The Movie was Better” featured Lawrence Block, Anthony Bruno and Duane Swierczynski with moderator Ed Pettit. Some great tidbits: Swierczynski’s Charlie Hardy books (Fun & Games, Hell & Gone, Point & Shoot) have been optioned for a television series… Bruno novelized the screenplay for Seven, but the producers wouldn’t give him any video or stills as the movie was being made so he had no idea it was raining 90 percent of the time… Block was not influenced to change his burglar character Bernie Rhodenbarr in any way whatsoever after the 1987 film Burglar starring Whoopi Goldberg in the title role. (The movie also starred Bobcat Goldthwait, so what are you waiting for?)
On that panel, Block also discussed the importance of on-site research for modern writers who want to get the setting of a scene just right: “Between Google and Wikipedia, there’s no reason to ever leave your house.”
The keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler, spoke about cinematic technique as it applies to novels. He used examples from Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (the latter, being published in 1861, obviously didn’t draw from film for inspiration, but nonetheless used the novel’s equivalent of establishing shots, slow motion, etc.). It was a great talk.
Butler’s latest novel, The Hot Country, is available from Mysterious Press and features an early 20th century war correspondent, Christopher Marlowe Cobb, who travels to Mexico during that country’s civil war and witnesses a priest being shot.
Megan Abbott may be the best panel moderator in the history of panel moderators. She’s funny, smart and keeps things moving. The True Crime panel with her, Alison Gaylin, Wallace Stroby and Dennis Tafoya was a clear standout. David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac was singled out several times for being an excellent true crime movie, a sentiment I completely agree with.
In the one-one-one interviews, Jeremiah Healy did a great job interviewing Otto Penzler (of Mysterious Bookshop and Mysterious Press fame), while Swierczynski did an incredibly entertaining interview with Block. The Swierczynski-Block interview was, hands down, the funniest hour of the show.
When Swierczynski pointed out that Block’s career started with Gold Medal paperbacks, which many people didn’t consider to be “real books,” and is now in the era of e-books, which many people don’t consider to be “real books,” Block responded with: “Right. I’ve been writing not-real books for over 50 years.”
The interview touched on Block’s use of pseudonyms, the speed with which he writes, the number of countries he’s visited (about 160, though “now, we’re finding that staying at home is a perfect way to prevent jet lag”), and much more.
Block’s dry sense of humor was evident throughout. Discussing one particular editor, he said, “I never met him, and I’ve always been grateful for that.” And when people ask him how he wrote a book, his answer is, “I took those particular words and put them in that particular order.”
Block said the books he’s probably most proud of are When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes (1986, featuring private investigator Matt Scudder) and Small Town (2003, a stand-alone novel).
I could go on and on, since nearly every panel, interview and speaker could qualify as a “highlight.” (I really should mention the final panel, Crime in Primetime, which featured extended discussions of the television series Breaking Bad, The Shield and Hill Street Blues. Terrific stuff.)
But for me, the best part of NoirCon was meeting so many great people, including the incredibly down-to-earth Mr. Penzler, David Corbett (I took his class at LitReactor earlier this year and he’s a wonderful teacher), fellow Temple alum Jon McGoran (whose tremendously cool-sounding book Drift will come out in July), Dustin Kurtz (marketing manager at Melville House, who was kind enough to help me find a great book for my wife: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov), Peter Farris (author of Last Call for the Living), Shannon Clute (of NoirCast.net), Liam José (of CrimeFactory) and William Lashner (who is hilarious and made the Jewish Noir panel a riot).
This morning in Philadelphia, NoirCon 2012 begins. (Here’s a great look at the convention from the Philadelphia Inquirer.) I’ll be there all three days, and I’m looking forward to the many great panels, including:
Good Country People (Southern Noir): Peter Farris, Vicki Hendricks, Jake Hinkson, Jonathan Woods, and moderator Joe Samuel Starnes
L.A. Noire: Lawrence Block, Duane Swierczynski, Megan Abbott, Joyce Carol Oates, and moderator Jonathan Santlofer
True Crime: Megan Abbott, Alison Gaylin, Wallace Stroby, and Dennis Tafoya
Crime in Primetime (TV’s most innovative noir series): Jared Case (THE SHIELD), Rich Edwards (BREAKING BAD), and Thomas Kaufman (HILL STREET BLUES)
I’m also looking forward to the one-one-one interviews, with Jeremiah Healy interviewing Otto Penzler today and Duane Swierczynski interviewing Lawrence Block tomorrow.
There’s no doubt that NoirCon 2012 will be fantastic. I’ll be tweeting about it from time to time if you want to follow along @erikarneson.
Episode 20 of the 
Erik Arneson 