Ace Atkin's Carolina book tour swing--

Writer Ace Atkins stopped in Charlotte on an author tour on Wednesday and I was able to speak to him briefly and listened as he shared a few stories of his travels.  Atkins is the author of the Quinn Colson series which follows the work of a new sheriff in northern Mississippi.  He also writes the new adventures of Robert B. Parker's Spenser with three in print to date.  Parker died in 2010.

I told Atkins about my book club at the library and that we had read his second book of the Quinn Colson series The Lost Ones months ago (February of this year to be exact) and enjoyed it.  I wish had remembered to add that I would have suggested the book club read the first book of the series The Ranger--but the library system owned more copies of the second book.

Another comment I would have shared with the writer was that his book did bring us stateside for a story--and in the Souh specifically--after reading a number of books in England and elsewhere.

(I'm standing next to Ace Atkins during his visit to an independent
bookstore in Charlotte.  Our hands are resting on copies of his newest
"Quinn Colson" book The Forstaken which he was signing.)

I caught the tail end of the visit when the  discussion veered to talking "The Rockford Files" TV series starring James Garner.  Atkins was able to see some scenes filmed for one of the TV movies based on the series and also on a separate occasion got into a lengthy discussion with show creator (and novelist too) Stephen J. Cannell.



Writer Robert B. Parker dies--

When I read the headline on the Internet today about the death of novelist Robert B. Parker, I gave a small gasp and mouthed "oh no." Although I did not keep up reading private eye Spenser books Parker cranked out at a steady quip for a number of years now, I was a fan. Here's a googled pix of one of the true favorites of the library mystery section.

When I was younger, I enjoyed the '80s TV series Spenser for Hire with actors Robert Urich and Avery Brooks--based on the Spenser series--and much later got into those characters stories in print. I started with The Godwulf Manuscript and--truth be told--just bounced around wildly from there.

And as a fan, I looked forward to seeing Parker's other work too, whether reading his young adult book Edenville Owls, a stand-alone book about a bodyguard for ballplayer Jackie Robinson in Double Play and the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randell novels. I was also pleasantly impressed when I watched the movie Appaloosa last year on cable and saw that it was based on the Parker novel at the movie's end. Usually, I'm not too excited about Westerns but I read this was a good one (and the actors were interesting).

At 77 years old, Parker did thankfully live to get nods of appreciation for his body of work which includes the recent Mystery Ink's Gumshoe Award in 2007 for the lifetime achievement. Here's much more here about Parker's work aside from my reflections.

He won't write any new stories of characters striving for justice, battling with fistacuffs or throwing wise-cracks but I've certainly enjoyed Parker's work over the years.

The "fun" of writing young adult novels

Parade magazine in yesterday's Sunday newspaper had a timely question about adult fiction writers moving on to pen young adult titles. In the "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" section, a reader asked that question of writers Carl Hiaasen and Jane Smiley. Smiley was contacted--the article said her first young adult novel was published last month--and described the process as "fun." She added, "Since we want kids to read good books, why not try a hand at writing them?"

The same can be quickly said for some mystery writers as I wrote about Robert B. Parker two years ago with his first such book Edenton Owls. And he is continuing with his third young adult book--this time with his most popular adult character "Spenser" in a story from his childhood. Chasing the Bear: a young Spenser novel is a story of the then 14-year-old living with his father and two uncles involved in a dangerous bout of rescue and friendship.

Branching Out--

One of the modern masters of mysteries branching out a little to reach a different readership with a new book. And this time, it's not a long-rumored cookbook. Robert B. Parker of the Spenser series fame has reached out to younger readers with the book Edenville Owls. In this book, Parker specifically has a young adult, coming-of-age story with a 14-year-old involved with sports, peers and a close female friend. That kid, "Bobby" (mmmmm, I guess it's just like a nickname for the author, huh?) also gets involved in a mystery with his school friends helping their new English teacher.

And, of course, you have to have a mystery with writer Parker right?

I remember mentioning this title to one children's librarian and she wasn't interested in reading it--the historical period angle of the story around World War II, I believe--but I thought everything was good. The story seemed to blend quite well with the mystery and Bobby's growth as an individual and a young man. And the historical setting appears to be a cozy fit for Parker's background.

I think Parker can swing it as a YA writer if he chooses and pull in his exisiting fanbase too.