Reed Farrel Coleman and Ken Bruen Interview

**Brian clears throat and gets ready for Ed Gorman impersonation**

Brian here: Keith Rawson has been doing a fine job covering the recent events held at The Poisoned Pen. He attended Tuesday’s event (10/13/09) and has delivered again with a fine interview with Reed Farrel Coleman. While there he also interviewed Michael Connelly, whose interview will run here at BSC in the near future.

Coleman was out in support of his new novel, Tower, which was co-written as a collaborative effort with Ken Bruen. Keith also went the extra mile and conducted an interview with Bruen via email. This is a return performance at BSC for Bruen, as he was interviewed here back in 2006. Enjoy the 22-minute video interview with Reed Farrel Coleman, then continue below with the Ken Bruen interview.

     
Keith Rawson: First off, how did you and Reed Farrel Coleman first meet and when did you come to the decision to collaborate with one another?

Ken Bruen: In 2003, after The Partners in Crime Neverwards gig in New York, I was outside chatting with Jason Starr and this huge ferocious guy approached, said he was joining some friends for a brew and would we like to come.

I thought…………..no way.

We went and Jason, trickster that he is, maneuvered for me to sit beside this guy who I figured was a one of those literary hard asses.

From then, we’ve been the best friends.

     
How was your process different with Reed than it was with Jason Starr when you were writing the Max & Angie novels for Hard Case Crime?

With Jay, it was a blast, we were writing caper novels and a heavy emphasis on fun.

With Reed, we knew from the get-go, this was a serious novel, and humour was not the driving force.

     
Whose decision was it to bring Al Guthrie on board to edit Tower and what changes did he make to the original manuscript? And at any time did he threaten you or Reed during the editing process? Because in all honesty, I hear that dude is a little scary to work with.

We both knew the MSN needed a great editor and Al is certainly that but Keith, would you give Reed a hard time, I hid behind him. And Al is a joy to work with, a true pro.

     
You’ve based your last three stand-alone novels in the United States—Tower included—is there any reason why you’ve shifted locales from Ireland to the States?

New York is like my 2nd home and I spent so much time there, that I wanted to write about it, I worked as Guard at The Twin Towers and I like to still write the Taylor novels in Ireland and stretch meself by tackling NY.

     
You’ve published your four collaborative novels with two relatively small presses as opposed to going with your usual U.S. publisher, is there a particular reason for this? Do Busted Flush and Hard Case provide greater liberties than your New York publisher?

It’s a whole different dynamic, you have such great freedom and both those presses are amazing, run by truly that rare and rarest breed, enlightened mavericks and being personal friends with both, makes it a real almost family affair.

     
Are you and Reed planning on writing any future projects together? And if so, how far along are the two of you in writing it and would you care to share any details about it?

We’re planning a Western but unlike any written before; we’re in the early planning stages. Us both being cowboys in many senses, it is a natural step for us.

     
Now onto the inevitable Jack Taylor and future project questions: What’s up next for Jack? Does he actually make it out of Galway as he was planning at the end of Sanctuary? Also, do you see any end in sight for Taylor? Can you ever see yourself not writing about him?

ASAP publishing just brought out a terrifically produced short story with intro by Michael Connolly , God bless him, and afterword by the great Jan Burke and illustrations by Phil Parks, titled UISCE ( Water), titled, All The Swans Are Dying and the new Taylor novel, The Devil, where Jack meets the Occult, comes out in April. As soon as Jack stops whispering in me ear, it’s over.

     
A couple of years back there was news that you were working on a graphic novel or possible comic book series, is there any news as far as that project is concerned?

Jason Starr went ahead with the project solo and produced the brilliant………..The Chill.

     
And with your memoir, She Glides, how far away is that from being published and who’s the publisher?

It’s back on the shelf for another 6 months, I hope then it will appear.

     
And I recently read you had written a children’s book titled Peter and his Magic Pencil, what is it about and when can we expect it to hit the shelves?

After The Devil, I needed to shake off the eerie feeling I’d undergone during that book and the children’s book was the perfect remedy, it’s due to appear late 2010.

It’s about what happens when wishes and prayers are answered for a 10-year-old boy.

     
And last but not least, with your novels London Boulevard and Blitz being made into films, and the Taylor novels being developed into a television show, have you ever considered adapting your own work or perhaps even trying your hand at original screenplay?

Both the movies are finished and coming out in April, The Guards begins as 10 part series in a month, I’ve been consulted on 2 of the scripts, usually the one’s involving hurleys, I’m due to take a shot at the screenplay of the movie due after that, be interesting to see if I can pull it off.

Thank you so much Keith and I deeply appreciate it.

___________________________

BSC is on top of it, and what better way to present a collaborative book then with a collaborative effort?  Now that you finished Keith’s interviews, go check out what The Nerd of Noir has to say about the book!  (Spoiler:  he loved it.)

About Keith Rawson

Keith Rawson is a little known pulp writer who lives in the alkaline desert wastelands of southern Arizona with his wife and very energetic three-year-old daughter. His stories have appeared in such publications as Plots with Guns, Pulp Pusher, CrimeWav.com, Bad Things, Powder Burn Flash, A Twist of Noir, Beat to a Pulp and many others. You can find him most nights dicking around on either Twitter or Facebook, or stroking his already overinflated ego at his blog, Bloody Knuckles, Callused Fingertips (http://bloodyknucklescallusedfingertips.blogspot.com/)