tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post691029864793165501..comments2024-03-28T17:06:34.405-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Life Imitates Crime Fiction with Rick SkwiotJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50160193285794648662014-10-18T07:05:37.688-04:002014-10-18T07:05:37.688-04:00Thanks, Kathy. I'm glad you liked Key West Sto...Thanks, Kathy. I'm glad you liked Key West Story. I think you'll find Fail to be much different in terms of tone and setting. Similarly, it puts you on the streets of St. Louis, for better or worse. FYI, my protagonist, the disgraced Mexican-African-American cop Carlos Gabriel, is patterned in large part after a Key West friend, an Italian-African-American.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-17938398469102890362014-10-17T23:16:25.098-04:002014-10-17T23:16:25.098-04:00I've been gone all day and am commenting late,...I've been gone all day and am commenting late, but I wanted to say hello to Rick and thank him for providing me with a great read 2 1/2 years ago when I discovered Key West Story. The young Ernest Hemingway character, whose presence can only be explained in terms of guardian angel sent to help a struggling writer, was so interesting to follow. Rick, you made me feel like I was walking in Key West along with the characters, just like Lucy's does in her Haley Snow series. <br /><br /> Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-5364251452689804072014-10-17T21:19:34.884-04:002014-10-17T21:19:34.884-04:00In my previous comment I meant to say, "I zoo...In my previous comment I meant to say, "I zoomed down the north side of City Hall," not the "north city of City Hall." Blame it on the Beaujolais.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-26846004211480760782014-10-17T20:48:33.801-04:002014-10-17T20:48:33.801-04:00Maude, what my bio omits to say is that I am a St....Maude, what my bio omits to say is that I am a St. Louis native who has spent a lot of time on its streets over the years and still visit there frequently. However, as I was writing the book in Key West and needed to check facts and locations etc., I relied heavily on the Internet. For a scene set in the mayor's office, where I had been once years ago, I went to Google Earth and zoomed down the north city of City Hall and was able to see what the perspective was from that locale and was thus able to describe the view. Brilliant! The toughest part was getting all the police stuff right. Luckily I got some good help from the SLPD's PR guy and the director of the policy academy, who spent a good deal of time on the phone with me answering questions and filling me in on equipment, procedures and organization.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-47158626135328985482014-10-17T19:03:48.061-04:002014-10-17T19:03:48.061-04:00Hi, Rick,
Fail sounds great. I read your bio an...Hi, Rick, <br />Fail sounds great. I read your bio and wonder if you had to visit St. Louis to get the street names and neighborhood references right or research the from afar? What was the biggest challenge about the setting?<br />Maudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-62327876115139809212014-10-17T13:18:22.813-04:002014-10-17T13:18:22.813-04:00Thank you for the note, Susan. Yes, there is ample...Thank you for the note, Susan. Yes, there is ample material for crime writers in our cities--enough for everybody. And the criminals there--elected and otherwise--are so inventive that it makes our job much easier.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-56666010219506778012014-10-17T12:31:25.772-04:002014-10-17T12:31:25.772-04:00Welcome, Rick! Just finished watching The Wire (th...Welcome, Rick! Just finished watching The Wire (thank you, Hank!) and sounds like your books and St. Louis are the perfect companions. (I'm from Buffalo, NY and know all about dying cities and corruption....)Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-14576657496155049882014-10-17T12:26:59.369-04:002014-10-17T12:26:59.369-04:00Exactly! I've had interviewers say--why do you...Exactly! I've had interviewers say--why do you do those news stories? It'll tell the criminals how to get away with things!<br /><br />I shake my head. I ain't telling bad guys anything they don't already know.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-60622759484765982412014-10-17T11:36:36.155-04:002014-10-17T11:36:36.155-04:00Thanks for sharing your sobering St. Louis experie...Thanks for sharing your sobering St. Louis experiences... What FAIl strives to do is to show how the city's dysfunctional elements--corruption, failing schools, gangs, etc.--are all interrelated. The book's epigraph says it succinctly: <br /><br />"Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail.' - Mark TwainRick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-66623890436530088702014-10-17T11:06:39.454-04:002014-10-17T11:06:39.454-04:00Hi Rick and congrats on your perfect timing.
I l...Hi Rick and congrats on your perfect timing. <br /><br />I lived in St Louis much of my life, worked for City Hall, had a job that required I just show up and agree to canvass for the right candidates. I didn't stay long.<br /><br />I also experienced the atmosphere of ingrained racism in Murder City, not to mention street crime and gang activity that found me at the end of a gun muzzle held by a young gangster going through gang initiation. <br /><br />I'm already a fan of your books, but really looking forward to this one as I plan a trip to visit family in STL.<br /><br />This book should get lots of attention!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-8808998884701566452014-10-17T09:41:43.852-04:002014-10-17T09:41:43.852-04:00Remembering my first radio interviewer asked me if...Remembering my first radio interviewer asked me if all the terrible things in the world happened because they were written about in crime novels. Of course, it's the other way 'round. And our 'fiction' can have happy-ish endings, justice served, yadda yadda, while that's rarely the case in the real world.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-80469160386641112222014-10-17T09:08:51.878-04:002014-10-17T09:08:51.878-04:00Thanks, Hank, for the welcome. I recall from my da...Thanks, Hank, for the welcome. I recall from my days as a newspaper reporter that you see underlying things that affect you but that you can't put into your objective reporting. However, they make great fodder for fiction.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-74123121871648708372014-10-17T09:08:15.573-04:002014-10-17T09:08:15.573-04:00Colin Cottrell has done similar work with his seri...Colin Cottrell has done similar work with his series that takes place in southern Thailand. The first book is filled with excerpts from the speeches of George W Bush, also. The title is Killed at the Whim of a Hat.Karen in OHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-83592851518277033722014-10-17T08:56:41.759-04:002014-10-17T08:56:41.759-04:00OH, thank you, Karen! xo
And yeah, as a reporter,...OH, thank you, Karen! xo<br /><br />And yeah, as a reporter, I see how the world works--or doesn't--and that inevitably gets into my fiction.<br /><br />And it so common that real life events mirror plots of books that have been written years before. (The Other Woman was submitted to publishers the day of the Arnold Schwarzenegger revelation...) And a real estate agent was recently found murdered in an empty home--shades ofTRUTH BE TOLD!<br /><br /> Hi Rick! Welcome!Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-62255376627396798542014-10-17T08:53:28.960-04:002014-10-17T08:53:28.960-04:00Thanks, Karen in Ohio... I would add two other con...Thanks, Karen in Ohio... I would add two other contemporary writers whose work I admire:<br />James Church and his Inspector O series, showing us what life is like in North Korea, and Peter Temple, whose novels depict dysfunction in urban Australia.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-68336740018842775852014-10-17T08:45:02.097-04:002014-10-17T08:45:02.097-04:00I agree with you, Mary. I've long thought that...I agree with you, Mary. I've long thought that fiction offers us a deeper truth, one that can affect us not only intellectually but also emotionally, viscerally, morally, spiritually, etc.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-40999785103702693212014-10-17T08:41:27.209-04:002014-10-17T08:41:27.209-04:00Hi, Rick, and thank you for sharing your work with...Hi, Rick, and thank you for sharing your work with us. In a way, writers who increase awareness of issues like corruption in government are the real Caped Crusaders of our world. That is your very own superpower.<br /><br />Of course, no list of writers who do this would be complete without mentioning Hank!Karen in OHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-43929154305585425502014-10-17T08:35:02.505-04:002014-10-17T08:35:02.505-04:00Thank you, FChurch. You are right. When done well ...Thank you, FChurch. You are right. When done well fiction can make readers feel what it's like to be in someone's else's shoes and thus expand the bounds of human sympathy. Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-86024911800996403562014-10-17T08:34:01.406-04:002014-10-17T08:34:01.406-04:00I'm with Joan - I don't think I could make...I'm with Joan - I don't think I could make a list and her sounds good to me.<br /><br />As for real life corruption and fiction - I venture to guess that much of what really exists out there would never fly in a book because readers wouldn't buy it. Quite often, truth really IS stranger than fiction.<br /><br />I think <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> is another instance of fiction shining a light on truth. Sometimes, it may be easier to face up to hard truths when it comes in the "it's only a story" wrapper - and that's where I've always thought of fiction as "true" stories.Liz Millironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919409969263609919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-73569200505329305512014-10-17T08:08:08.087-04:002014-10-17T08:08:08.087-04:00I watch real-life action-heroes like the Southern ...I watch real-life action-heroes like the Southern Poverty Law Center in awe. They tackle cases like a justice and educational system in Mississippi that routinely incarcerated black youths for offenses such as being tardy in school. <br /><br />Fiction can take those true stories and shine a light on them--and I think in my cynicisim that there are so many hidden stories--the work is never done. Then along comes someone else willing to shine that light--bravo, Rick!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-45128890764763743102014-10-17T07:33:47.934-04:002014-10-17T07:33:47.934-04:00Historically, Joan, fiction has worked to move peo...Historically, Joan, fiction has worked to move people to action regarding social ills. Uncle Tom's Cabin and slavery, David Copperfield and child labor, the Grapes of Wrath and the plight of migrant workers. I'm sure you can name other books. My book Fail not only works to highlight the dire plight of inner city education and the tragic toll it takes on youth and society, but also offers some hope and, perhaps, some healing for St. Louis. At least that is what some of the early reviewers are saying.Rick Skwiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09201050619301142454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13002153830790453122014-10-17T01:46:36.514-04:002014-10-17T01:46:36.514-04:00There are so many good crime fiction writers --- t...There are so many good crime fiction writers --- the bad part about a list like this is that invariably someone gets left out who should have been put in; nevertheless, here's an attempt at it:<br />Aside from the Jungle Red ladies <br />there's Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Laura Lippman, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman, Archer Mayor, Kathy Reichs, Lisa Scottoline, and so many more . . . . <br /><br />Rick, it's a sad commentary on our society when the crime fiction you describe is the truth for so many cities --- Do you think shining a light on it in a work of fiction will have any effect on galvanizing folks to do something about it?<br />I am looking forward to reading "Fail" . . . .Joan Emersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06810313925049108163noreply@blogger.com