Category: Crime Writing & Authors - A.B.PATTERSON

COPS WRITING CRIME - 6 new Squad members.

10/6/2020

Another 6 colleagues - 4 Americans, 1 Brit, and 1 Canadian - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 240.

That's 240 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Lisa Black - served as a forensic scenes of crime officer with the Cape Coral PD in Florida.
2. G. S. Marriott - served with the Ontario Provincial Police in Canada.
3. Terrance Donegan - served with the Phoenix PD in Arizona.
4. Lee Cockburn - served with Police Scotland (Edinburgh, I think) in the UK.
5. Curt Rude - served as a police officer for 30 years in the USA (I think in Minnesota).
6. Richard Enright (deceased 1953) - an historical entrant to The Squad - served as Chief of Police in the NYPD.

Our Squad now consists of:

142 American
48 British
13 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
1 Brazilian
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Another 4 members join The Squad.

6/6/2020

Another 4 colleagues - all Americans - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 234.

That's 234 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Johnny Barnes - served with the Rochester PD in New York State, and worked as a PI.
2. Richard Calvert - served with the Miami-Dade PD in Florida.
3. John J. Delamer - served with the NYPD.
4. Patrick W. Picciarelli - also served with the NYPD.

Our Squad now consists of:

138 American
47 British
12 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
1 Brazilian
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Another 5 members join The Squad!

3/6/2020

Another 5 colleagues - 1 Brit, 3 Americans, and our first Brazilian (sadly deceased recently) - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 230.

That's 230 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. James Ellson - served with the police in the UK in both London and Manchester.
2. Rubem Fonseca - recently deceased - our first Brazilian member and he served for a long time with the police in Rio de Janeiro.
3. Misha Jordan - served with the police in the USA, and I believe Florida (Tallahassee PD?).
4. Anthony Zeoli - served with the New York Port Authority PD.
5. Jerry C. Scott - served with the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

Our Squad now consists of:

134 American
47 British
12 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
1 Brazilian
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

A.B.Patterson LIVE READING - Thrilling Detective - Noir at the Bar

23/5/2020

Absolutely thrilled to be reading live tomorrow (Australian time) on the Thrilling Detective website's first Noir at the Bar - virtual, of course. More's the pity, I'd love to be back in California reading in person. Still, hopefully next year. If you read my blogs, you'll have seen me talk about the excellent website, The Thrilling Detective, run by Kevin Burton Smith in California. If you are into private eye crime fiction, you MUST get familiar with this site: it is the holy grail for our genre.

So, if you fancy some live reading from crime writers, including me reading some Harry, here's the blurb:

Next up is our first-ever THRILLING DETECTIVE NOIR AT THE BAR, set for Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 5:00 PM PST, which hopefully means most North Americans can participate. If this is a big problem, let me know. And if there’s a big global uprising, I may hold a more international one next time (but hey, we’ve got an Australian!). It should last about two hours, and will feature past and current contributors to the site, reading from old and new works of private eye fiction. Scheduled to appear are Thrilling Detective’s former fiction editors Victoria Esposito and Gerald So, and readings from Ron Miller, Mark Troy, A.B. Patterson, Mark Best, Josh Lanyon, David Avallone (reading from the Nooniverse), Victoria Esposito (reading for Gerald So), and Graham Powell. So far…
Come for the readings, stay for the schmoozing!

Yep, no prizes for guessing, I'm the Australian component. And honoured to be in the line up.

So, my local Aussie fans, it's 10 a.m. Sunday morning, 24 May, on the Australian east coast (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, and Canberra), 8 a.m. for Perth and the west coast, and 9.30 a.m. for Adelaide and Darwin, and anyone else in the middle bits).

The link you need: (https://thrillingdetective.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/the-thrilling-detective-zoom/)

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - 10 more American cousins join The Squad.

29/3/2020

Another 10 colleagues - all American cousins this time - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 225.

That's 225 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Kevin Hughes - served with the Dane County Sheriff's Office in Wisconsin.
2. Jeff Kaye - served with the Reno PD in Nevada.
3. Peter Mars - served with the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office in Maine.
4. Harold K. Lloyd - served with the Philadelphia PD.
5. John Mackie - served with the NYPD.
6. David Hunter - served with Knox County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee.
7. Joseph Niehaus - served with the Kettering PD in Ohio.
8. Kent Perry - served with the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon.
9. John Madinger - served with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Hawaii Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
10. Dan Marcou - served with the La Crosse PD in Wisconsin.

Our Squad now consists of:

131 American
46 British
12 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Seven more members join The Squad.

6/3/2020

Another 7 colleagues - 5 American cousins, 1 British cousin and 1 "International" cousin - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 215.

That's 215 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. J.B. Stevens - a serving officer whose agency cannot be disclosed, so listed as "international". His first crime fiction novel is imminent (2020).
2. Thomas J. Keevers - served with the Chicago PD and has written a number of crime fiction novels.
3. Jason Allison - served with the NYPD and his first crime fiction novel is imminent (2020).
4. Dan Mahoney - served with the NYPD and has written a number of crime fiction novels.
5. Evan Baldock - served with the London Metropolitan Police. His first crime fiction novel is imminent (2020).
6. Ted Knuckey - served with the San Bernadino PD in California and has written a number of crime fiction novels.
7. Bob Weir - served with the NYPD and has written a number of crime fiction novels.

Our Squad now consists of:

121 American
46 British
12 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

Cops Writing Crime - Anthology Project

16/2/2020

Into 2020 and it's going to be a big year in this author house!

So, an update on a project I mentioned a bit over a year ago, but which I now want to fire up.

"Anthology in Blue: Cops Writing Crime" (working title only, but it could stick?)

If you follow my blogs and tweets, you'll know about my project "Cops Writing Crime". Starting in 2017, I set out to collect all the crime fiction authors I could find who had served (or are still serving in some cases) as police officers or related law enforcement roles. I've also included a handful of PIs. My interest in this category of crime writer, apart from being one myself, is the sheer realism that I've found in any crime fiction I've read from ex-cops.
Check out The Squad - Also: Cops Writing Crime

As at today (16 February 2020), I've collected 208 members for The Squad, from all over the world (and I've still got a few dozen more names to research). I'm not aware of any similar project on this scale, let alone an anthology dedicated to this cohort of crime fiction writers. Well, I'm going to change that and have a lot of fun in the process.

I'll firm up all the parameters in due course, but I'm keen to hear from members of The Squad who would potentially be interested in contributing.
I won't be able to pay you (this'll be a love project!), but it's an opportunity to have some fresh short story work published in what I think will be a unique collection. I'm intending original print paperback, print-on-demand, and digital versions, and I will send all contributors a couple of original paperback copies.

I'm also keen to have another author (or two) who could be an official co-editor with me (I'm happy to shoulder the work, but a source for second opinions and reality checks would be invaluable).

Looking forward to hearing from you sisters and brothers!

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - 6 new members join The Squad.

8/2/2020

Another 6 colleagues - 4 American cousins, 1 British cousin and 1 Australian cousin - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 208.

That's 208 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Jim Malloy - served with the San Diego PD. Several crime novels to his name.
2. James R. Kelly - served with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. One crime novel to his name.
3. Gary C. Lovett - served with the Atlanta PD. One crime novel to his name.
4. Earl Kratzer (deceased 2017) - served with the Cleveland PD. One crime novel to his name.
5. Matt Hilton - served with the Cumbria Police in the UK. Numerous crime novels to his name.
6. Liam Saville - served with the NSW Police in Australia. Several military crime novels to his name.

Our Squad now consists of:

116 American
45 British
12 Canadian
12 Australian
5 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 new members join The Squad!

19/1/2020

Another 5 colleagues - 3 American cousins, 1 British cousin and our very first Chinese cousin - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 202.

That's 202 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Robert J Sadler - served with the Dallas PD. Several crime novels to his name.
2. John Schembra - served with the Pleasant Hill PD in California. Several crime novels to his name.
3. Larry Watts - served with the Houston PD. Several crime novels to his name.
4. Roger A Price - served with the Lancashire Constabulary. Several crime novels to his name.
5. A Yi (Ai Guozhu) - served with the police in China and is our very first Chinese Squad member. One crime novel translated into English.

Our Squad now consists of:

112 American
44 British
12 Canadian
11 Australian
5 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

A.B.Patterson on the radio - Link to 2SER interview "Death of the Reader"

18/11/2019

Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Flex and Herds at radio 2SER here in Sydney, joining them for their weekly "Death of the Reader" show.

So, here's the link for that interview: CLICK here.
Or paste this into your browser: https://2ser.com/tales-from-two-pockets-by-karel-capek-part-two/

And they're running a competition on Twitter (see below) to win the Harry novels.

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Another 7 members join The Squad!

27/10/2019

Another 7 colleagues - 5 American cousins, 1 British cousin and 1 New Zealand cousin - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 197.

That's 197 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Daniel B. Silver - served with the San Francisco PD. I found one crime novel.
2. Kim Wozencraft - served with the Tyler PD in Texas. Several crime novels.
3. Judith Smith-Levin (deceased) - served with the Worcester PD in Massachusetts. Several crime novels.
4. Jerri Williams - served 26 years as a Special Agent with the FBI. Two crime novels so far.
5. L. Scott Silverii - served with the Thibodaux PD in Louisiana. Several crime novels.
6. Nick Oldham - served with the Lancashire Police in the UK. A prolific writer of crime novels.
7. Ian Austin - served with the New Zealand Police, and in the UK before that with the Hampshire Police. Two crime novels so far.

Our Squad now consists of:

109 American
43 British
12 Canadian
11 Australian
5 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 more members for The Squad!

24/10/2019

Another 5 colleagues, all American cousins, join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 190.

That's 190 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. John J. Lamb - served in the Oceanside PD in California. A few crime novels to his name.
2. Jerry Minton - served in the LAPD. One crime novel I could find.
3. Loren W. Christensen - served in the Portland PD in Oregon. A prolific author in crime fiction and other genres.
4. C.A. Griffith - served in the Cobb County Sheriff's Office in Georgia. Several crime novels so far.
5. Joseph D. McNamara - served in the San Jose PD in California. A few crime novels to his name.

Our Squad now consists of:

104 American
42 British
12 Canadian
11 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - 6 more members join The Squad!

7/10/2019

Another 6 colleagues join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 185. Today we welcome 5 more American cousins, and 1 Australian (another ex-cop from my old police force! Welcome.)

That's 185 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Joseph J. Bradley - served in the Houston PD. One crime novel so far, from what I could find, plus other genres.
2. Victor Cass - served in the Pasadena PD. One crime novel so far, plus other genres.
3. Hadyn Green - served in the Western Australia Police. His debut crime novel has just come out this year.
4. R.E. Yantorno, Jr. - served in the Narberth Borough PD in Pennsylvania. A couple of crime novels so far.
5. Mitchell Nevin - served in the Milwaukee PD. A few crime novels to his name.
6. Ronald M. Schunk - served in the Dearborn County Sheriff's Department in Indiana. One crime novel so far.

Our Squad now consists of:

99 American
42 British
12 Canadian
11 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

A.B.Patterson on the radio this evening - "Death of the Reader", on 2SER 107.3FM

6/10/2019

During the week I had the pleasure of joining Flex and Herds for the recording of their show, "Death of the Reader".
We had a great chat about crime writing, including mine.
Here's the link for the show tonight

It's also available on podcast after the show.
Cheers,
ABP

Noir at the Bar Los Angeles - a swell evening!

15/8/2019

Belatedly, I am posting on my fantastic evening at Noir at the Bar Los Angeles. The reason for my tardiness: that horrible distraction called "paid work" has been interfering ever since I got back to Sydney from our wonderful US visit. (And my thoughts on America in another blog shortly).

Noir at the Bar LA on the 7th of July at the Mandrake Bar on La Cienega was a swell evening. It was the 8 year anniversary of the Noir at the Bar events in LA, all arranged by Eric Beetner. Having read some of Eric's work, and seriously enjoyed it, meeting him was a real treat. His passion for the art form was inspirational, and you couldn't ask to meet a more down-to-earth and lovely person. He's also incredibly productive as an author (about 22 books so far), so I'm all up for his habits rubbing off on me.
And then I got to meet all the other authors reading that evening: Glen Erik Hamilton, Michelle Gagnon, Martin Jay Weiss, Wendy Heard, and Paddy Hirsch. I loved their readings and chatting to them during the evening. Getting to read alongside this talented lineup was an honour indeed.
And following only a week after joining the Switchblade authors for the reading evening at Skylight Books, I began to feel really at home in LA.
I will say that the collegiate feeling I had with the other indie crime authors in LA was both awesome and motivating. The encouragement and positivity of my new American friends was wonderful. I'd love to feel that way here - will work on that, and, on that note, I'm organising Noir at the Bar Sydney for the very first time!
Photos at left are of me reading at Noir at the Bar LA, and the first one is of our host, Eric Beetner.
Love your work, Eric, and thank you again for the invitation to join you all for that great evening.

Cheers,
ABP