The Great American Novel

I knew I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a teenager. By the time I left college and still hadn't found a publisher for my novel of the 60s, I realized it wasn't going to be that easy.

I decided to try something simpler, like a detective novel. But I really hadn't read anything other than The Hardy Boys and Mickey Spillane. One day somebody told me to read Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I was immediately hooked, especially on Chandler. Eventually I was ready to try it myself.

I came up with the idea of a tough detective who was a former hippie AND an ex-cop. Yes, it was a stretch, but I wanted a character who was a liberal and a tough guy, too. After two years of writing and then searching for a publisher, Crockett was finally born in 1976.

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Crockett on the Loose

Crockett On The Loose was the first, followed by The Perdition Express and Brand Of Fear, all original paperbacks from Leisure Books. I didn't set the world on fire, or even make a lot of money, but I did have myself some great door-openers to the world of advertising copywriting, and I developed a life-long love for hardboiled detective fiction. Update: Here's an interview and some reviews that were recently added to a great site called Mystery*File.

This Web site is dedicated to that world of excitement. It's a world that continues to grow, with authors like Elmore Leonard, Robert B. Parker, and Michael Connelly adding to the tradition begun by Hammett, Chandler, and MacDonald. I hope you enjoy the book covers, articles, and links, and please send me an email with any comments or questions. (Just don't ask if there'll be another Crockett book!)