My Detective Red Shaw novels are at Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines.* (There were hints.)
Tell Alice B.J. sent you.
* Since not everyone lives in Des Moines, of course, the books are on Amazon, too.
Red Shaw is at Beaverdale Books!
Category: Books
Detective Red Shaw is in the bookstore
The paperback crime novels featuring Des Moines’ very own Detective Edward “Red” Shaw have arrived in Des Moines. That just feels right to me.
Coincidentally, they’re in a bookstore that is not far from a taproom/bike shop that I made up for North of Grand: Detective Red Shaw Novel #2.
If I told you the name of the fictional bike shop for beer drinkers, I would be giving away the name of the real bookstore. Alas, you’ll have to wait until the books are actually on the shelf.
Read on.
B.J. Smith
Paperback Writer
Homegrown crime fiction coming to Des Moines
Hey, Des Moines! My Detective Red Shaw paperbacks are coming to a bookstore near you. Like, right there in my old hometown. Soon, too!
I’ll let you know when they arrive, and then I’ll tell you where.
Guesses are more than welcome in the meantime.
Maybe there’s a clue or two somewhere here, maybe some evidence.
B.J.
Puzzles, pencils and book excerpts
Crossword puzzles used to consume much of my time, especially on Sunday mornings when the tough ones show up in The Denver Post. I did them in pen, no erasing. They sometimes ended in inky messes, where my mistakes were easy to see, but no one ever looked. On occasion, they were perfect.
Pencils are for those who know their limits.
I beat my addiction to crosswords and got hooked on Sudoku. The easiest ones became boring, and the evil ones just too damn hard. I did those in ink, too.
Sunday mornings nowadays are given over to more worthwhile pursuits, like writing and bicycling. This morning I decided to publish excerpts from my two Detective Red Shaw novels and then write this little post. The excerpts are from Blood Solutions, which grew out of my experience as a crossword-puzzle proofreader (someone had to do it), and North of Grand, some of which I figured out while riding my bicycle.
Now, back to a short story that needs finishing.
Read on.
B.J.
“Detective fiction meets the peloton”
First the Kindle ebook, and now in paperback! Just letting you know that.
Special note to my dear cycling friends: here’s some of what an Amazon reviewer had to say about the new Detective Red Shaw novel:
North of Grand is also a really interesting experiment in genre–detective fiction meets the peloton, resulting in “bicycle noir.” Read it!
Can’t argue with that.
Pedal on,
B.J.
In search of good bicycle fiction
Something prompted me to search for “bicycle fiction” and “cycling fiction” this weekend. (OK, the prompt just might have been this book review.)
My search turned up some short fiction but not many exact matches. I did find A Simple Machine, Like the Lever on Goodreads and tagged it as a book I want to read.
Movies about bicycling are easy to find, often in lists like this one:
The 26 Best Cycling Movies of All Time
If there are 26 “best,” that leaves me wondering how many cycling movies there are, and how much time I’m willing to put into watching.
I’m more inclined to read, if anyone out there can recommend some good novels that you consider bicycling or cycling fiction.
Pedal on.
B.J.
P.S. I read Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not About the Bike when it was considered nonfiction, so don’t bother.
Thrillers and “engrossing bicycle noir”
People who write for a living always look forward to finishing things and getting paid.
If some of those finished things are works of fiction, some writers also anxiously wait to see what readers think.
The insecure (that may be all of us) wonder: Will this be a dismal failure or will there be some good reviews and lots of stars? Will there be royalties?
Only the dreamers and the famous think about screenplays and movie deals.
After releasing my second Detective Red Shaw novel last month, I have to say I’m feeling pretty good. Just today, readers had terrific feedback on both BLOOD SOLUTIONS (Red Shaw #1) and NORTH OF GRAND (Red Shaw #2).
#1 was called a “gripping, compelling thriller” soon after publication and won five more stars this morning.
#2 so far is a “riveting thriller,” “a real page-turner” and, maybe my favorite, “engrossing bicycle noir.”
If you haven’t read them, consider those reviews and others and start turning pages.
Read on.
B.J.
