Last time, I told you a bit about Rod Riesel's taste in music.

This time, I want to share with you a bit about his taste in books.  

     For those of you who are anxious to hear more specifics about his debut book, please be patient!  This is a creative process in which all the smaller pieces fit together to make one big picture. I promise you, it'll all come together in the end!  Getting there is half the fun!!!

     Unlike Rod's eclectic taste in music, Rod's favorite genre of literature is mystery. End of story.  His favorite authors are G.M. Ford, Robert Parker, and John D. MacDonald.  Here are some interesting things that I discovered about these authors:

G.M. Ford: Modern mystery writer with a very colorful take on life and writing.  I unearthed this quote Ford given to J. Kingston Pierce of January Magazine about the mystery genre:

"I write fiction. I feel no need to match reality. I have no idea what a real gumshoe does, 
and quite frankly I don't care. Books have no obligation to be accurate. 
What they can't be is noticeably inaccurate. 
As long as they don't puke on their own shoes, everything's fine and dandy.
In some subgenres, like historicals or police procedurals, 
the needs for accuracy are quite different. 
In a standard P.I. story, all you need to do is 
tell a good story (http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/gmford.html)."

And from what I've heard, Rod's Sleeping Dogs Lie is a really good story!


Robert Parker: He was the self-proclaimed "Dean of American Crime Fiction" publishing nearly 70 books, and like Rod, he held many interesting jobs in his lifetime and was a husband and father (http://robertbparker.net/robert-parker-books.php).

John D. MacDonald: MacDonald's a real interesting guy and acclaimed author of 78 American crime novels, including the Travis McGee Series.  What's interesting about that particular series is the location of the setting.

Utica OD contributor, Malio Cardarelli wrote an excellent feature article for the OD back in 2007 about all of the references to Utica that native John D. MacDonald penned in this series.  If you get a chance, go to http://jdmhomepage.org/jdm-and-utica.html and read the article.  While you're there check out the rest of the blog by Cal Branch.  Branch has virtually everything you ever want to know about MacDonald, including this picture of MacDonald's Utica home on Beverly Ave, which is still there:

Rod's favorite books:

This is the toughest question that everyone seems to falter on . . .the standard answer is "there is just too many to choose from."  Ain't that the truth, friends?  But what Rod did tell me was that he is currently reading G.M. Ford's No Man's Island ("best book I've read in two years!" says Rod) and two very memorable books for Rod are Hunter Thompson's Rum Diary  and Jimmy Buffett's Tales from Margaritaville, which relates back to Rod's favorite music.  

See, it all comes together!

Only one more thing before I tell you a bit about Sleeping Dogs Lie, but that will have to wait until next time!  Be sure to keep reading, and until next time . . .

"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it"  P.J. O'Rourke, writer, journalist and author