WRITERS BORN TODAY - BILL PAXTON

 It's the birthday of Bill Paxton, born this day in 1955. His fame stems from his career as an actor in several blockbuster films, including The Terminator, Aliens, and Twister. But very few people know that he also wrote two important books. The Hidden Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II explores a story with Sherlock Holmes on the island of Malta in pursuit of hidden treasure. Unfortunately this gem is out of print. 

The second book, a work of non-fiction, is a biography of an obscure but important boxer from Pittsburgh, PA named Harry Greb. Harry was a lightweight and middle weight champion who fought between 1913 and 1926 and assembled a spectacular record. Greb died after an operation for a minor injury, a fate that ironically would also claim the life of his biographer, Bill Paxton, who went under the knife in 2017 to repair a heart valve and died shortly afterwards.

Paxton's film career as an actor is well known, but my favorite movie of his is a lesser known crime caper that shows his acting chops in a way that few other performances can. 

In 1998 he appeared in the film, A Simple Plan. which exposed the fates of three ordinary folks who stumble across a plane filled with millions of stolen dollars. The men's plan is...simple. Hide the money and wait a few months to see if anyone comes looking for it. Then, if no one does, they split the loot and live happily ever after. As you may have guessed, it doesn't quite work that way. Greed takes over, and by the end of the film, almost everyone involved in the theft has been killed. Bill Paxton's character and his wife survive, but are forever changed by the crime and it's aftermath.

WELCOME! ( TO YOUR NEW CRIME SERIES )

 Voracious readers of crime novels suffer from two curses worthy of the labors of Hercules. The first curse is "What to do when you come to the end of an author's series?". The second curse is "What do I read next?".

The solution to both questions? Read award winning Mike Faricy's "Jack Dillon" crime series. Jack Dillon (known as "Dildo" among his friends) is a U. S. Marshall assigned to fly to Ireland and return with a multi-million dollar fraudster. It's not a glamorous job. His boss, who despises Jack, only gives it to him because there's no one else available. It should be a easy assignment.

It isn't. The Russian Mob has other plans for a witness against their criminal operations. But Jack Dillon comes prepared for any outcome. Along the way, Jack falls in love with his police escort, and the prisoner transfer results in a no holds barred shootout that will leave you eager to read the next book in the series.

 The story moves fast and has a generous amount of action and humor. Except for a shot of Irish whiskey or a pint of Guinness, what more could you want?

P.S. There are 16 books in the series. Enjoy! And you can check out the rest of his work at https://www.mikefaricybooks.com/

WRITERS BORN TODAY - JEFFERY DEAVER

 It's the birthday of Jeffery Deaver, born May 4th in Chicago. As befitting someone who was born in Chicago, he has been fascinated by crime from a young age. This led him first to a career in journalism, and then to the legal profession. 

Both of these choices provided ample opportunity for criminal activity, but at some point he must have determined that the risk/reward ratio was not in his favor. Thus, he turned to writing.

Fortunately for us, his interest has been used to create over 40 novels as a best selling crime writer, including one of his best known novels, The Bone Collector. One of his biggest inspirations was Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond novels. He has also credited Alfred Hitchcock, Raymond Chandler, and Agatha Christie as models. 

But he hasn't limited himself to the old masters. Some of his work has been inspired by changes in technology, resulting in the frightening novel, The Blue Nowhere, where his protagonist pursues a murderous hacker who kills using the internet.

His most famous hero is Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic detective, who has been described by critics as a modern day "Sherlock Holmes", due to his intellectual skills. This character, along with his partner Amelia Sachs, has appeared in 16 novels, and has a special appeal for his creator.

Although his novels have been described as a "ticking-clock" while the story races to the end, Deaver's writing process is anything but seat-of-the-pants. He spends several months outlining his novel, and can wind up with 200 pages in his outline before he even starts to write Chapter One. Then when he is finished, he rewrites the book as many times as needed to create his award winning novels.

In 2021 he received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in recognition of his contributions to the crime writing genre.

Photo Credit: Niko Giovanni Coniglio

"As Hemingway said, there are no great writers, only great rewriters."  - Jeffery Deaver