It’s been a good run of press lately, but this one really makes me happy.

And, in kind of the oddest and coolest news I got, if you listen right here, you can hear Bob Dylan introducing the Louvin Brothers song “Satan Is Real” on his radio show. Which is very cool, of course. But even cooler is that Mr. Dylan has requested a copy of the book Satan Is Real. I don’t know what that means, but I love that he has a copy in his hands.

Also, in Pike news, it looks like the French edition from Editions Gallmeister will be available in September. I won’t pretend I’m not blown away by joining an author list that includes Ed Abbey, Craig Johnson, Larry McMurtry, Tim O’Brien, and Tom Robbins.

We’ve also got some details on Noir at the Bar, which I’ll be attending in about three weeks. This from Mr. Bar, Jedidiah Ayres:

Oky-doke kiddos, here’s the official lineup for the N@B double header coming your way late in February. Two nights of walking on the dark side in St. Louis. First up, February 21st, Robert Randisi has been added to the the lineup alongside Benjamin Whitmer, Sonia Coney and Jason Makansi, so that’s fantastic. How many people do you know who’ve read over five hundred books, let alone written that many, let alone published that many? Sure, somebody in the near future will probably take a big ol’ dump all over the internets with their self-published titles and get up into the hundreds like that, but Randisi has done it the hard way, the ultimate pulp writer kids. That cat goes through keyboards faster than I go through underwear, and tossing ‘em when he’s worn the letters off the keys. Take that, James Patterson.

As I understand it, we’ll be meeting at the Meshuggah Cafe in St. Louis. Again, cannot wait.

And I think that brings me up to date on my doings. At least for the most part.

On the non-career related side, I’ve been getting back to doing a little shooting. 3×5 cards up at Left Hand Canyon. And I know I keep saying this, but I can’t get over how solid my 1911 has been since I put in the Ed Brown Hardcore extractor and tensioned it. I haven’t had a problem of any kind, not one, and it’s been well north of 1,000 rounds. (Probably more than 2,000.) I clean it about every 300-400 rounds, keep it oiled, and it just keeps banging along. I’m having so much fun.

And, of course, I’m reading and writing. I finally read Johnny Shaw’s Dove Season and highly recommend it. This is crime fiction the way I dig crime fiction: a strong, individual voice rooted in place and character. I loved it. And I gotta post the cover, because it’s just as great as the writing inside:

I also want to give a huge shout out to Matthew McBride, whose Frank Sinatra in a Blender was picked up by New Pulp Press this week. He gives the lowdown here in a wonderfully titled post, “How To Get A Book Deal In 3,285 Days.”

That’s all I got.

In the meantime, a few things. First, huge thanks to Barry Graham for including Pike in his list of the ten best books he read this year, to Steve Weddle for putting it on his recommended shopping list, and to Elizabeth A. White for putting it in her top ten. I’ve can’t say enough about the kindness and generosity of the crime writers and readers I’ve come to know over the last year and a half. I’m incredibly grateful for all of it.

Second, the Kirkus review of Satan Is Real is in. Given the reputation Kirkus has, I won’t even pretend I’m not immensely relieved at how nice it is.

And third, Charlie Stella has posted the cover of his upcoming release, Rough Riders, coming next July from Stark House. I’m very much looking forward to that one and you should be too.

As I said above, the next month is going to be hectic. The release date for Satan Is Real is January 3rd, and the interest already shown by the press has far surpassed anything I imagined. I only wish Charlie could be around to enjoy it.

Anyway, until then, happy holidays (and thanks, Paul).

In 1958, The Louvin Brothers had an epiphany, a revelation: if God is real, they decided, then, the devil must be real as well. They went into a Nashville studio with producer Ken Nelson and the result was Satan is Real, as gothic-sounding a concept album as ever came out of Nashville. Dark as Flannery O’Connor but without the grace of humor. If Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath had hooked up and had some harmonizing twins, they might have chosen these songs to record. This is ostensibly a religious album but it depicts a curiously gothic, unforgiving religion, as if the most threatening parts of the Old Testament have been set to harmonious and beautiful music. The Louvin Brothers have news for you about your soul, and it is not good news. In fact, it’s downright dire. The straight and narrow is more narrow than straight. Woe betide the folks who fall by the wayside. The album was originally released in 1959, and the cover art became instantly notorious: Ira and Charlie, in their ornate white Nudie-like suits, are posed before the engulfing flames of hell. Their arms are outstretched in beckoning gestures as if they’re welcoming you to the fire. The red devil, leering and cross-eyed, stands behind Ira, pointing the handle of his pitchfork at him. It probably gave a few ’50s kids bad dreams and people who saw it as children remember it well today.

The rest.

Huge thanks to Frank Bill for pointing me at this. Though the looming release date of Satan Is Real kinda makes me jumpy now, knowing that it’s a story somebody like William Gay might be interested in.

Also, I spotted this really nice review of Pike from Carl Brookins:

This crime-ridden novel will not be to everyone’s taste. It is gritty, dirty, foul-mouthed and foul-intentioned on the part of the principal characters. It is a wonderfully written novel. If your tastes in crime fiction run to the dark side; if you yearn to explore the minds and the actions of those who inhabit the dangerous underside of urban life, you should read this novel.

The rest.

It’s a kind one.

Per their initial email that set the ball rolling:

Editions Gallmeister is an independant french publishing company which was established in 2006 and is exclusively dedicated to the publication of contemporary american literature. After only 5 years of activity, Gallmeister is renowned for its american list of literary fiction, crime fiction and nonfiction books, both in our hardcover and trade paperback imprints. Our authors have won great acclaim in France and received some prestigious awards. Our list includes the following writers : Edward Abbey, Rick Bass,  Ron Carlson, John McPhee, Doug Peacock, Alan Tennant, David Vann (Prix Médicis 2010), William G. Tapply, Trevanian, Tom Robbins, Terry Southern, Larry Watson, among others. Among the writers that will be published in 2011 and 2012 are Mark Spragg, Bruce Machart, Tim O’Brien and Larry McMurtry.

I get queasy just thinking about being included in that list. But, man, I couldn’t be happier. Nor prouder.

Sure we’ve all got our favorite series and authors, but I want to know if you’ve got any publishers whose books you’ll pick up just on the strength of their track record?(Seriously, if you do, I’d love to know about ‘em as they must be doing something right.)

I’ve had a few. Black Lizard, Serpent’s Tail, Hard Case Crime – I’ll always take a good close look at what they’re offering, and I’ve got my ever watchful eye on Tyrus and New Pulp Press but man, my current publisher crush has got to be PM Press’s Switchblade line.

The rest.

Benjamin Whitmer’s “Pike” is published by PM Press’ “Switchblade” imprint, but it’s not a switchblade. “Pike” is a homemade knife, made from an old file, sharpened with an angle grinder in some shack in the Ozarks, with duct tape wrapped around the grip. Calling this novel “noir”, while technically correct, doesn’t come close to accurately classifying it. It’s like calling Alaska “pretty cold in winter.”

The rest.

So begins a picaresque journey through the different levels of Cincinnatti society, as Pike and Rory invade crack houses, shanty towns, rehab centres and middle-class living rooms in pursuit of Derrick. The plot lurches from confrontation to confrontation, and every one is expertly rendered. The most effective are those that pit our heroes against ordinary decent people. I found myself thrown outside the ethical world of the plot, thinking what it would be like to be confronted with a pair of hulking brutes like Pike and his sidekick. It was disconcerting to find myself coming down on the side of these bloodthirsty bottom-feeders and their maniacal mission. Like them, I was infected with contempt for the soft-fleshed wrapped-in-cotton-wool white-collar world.

The rest.