Out of Hibernation

My next novel, California Bear, will be released by Mulholland Books on January 9, 2024. My previous novel, Revolver, was published way back in July 2016, the same month I moved my family to California.

Why the long gap between books? you might be asking. Have I been on a seven-year cocaine bender? Was I trapped in the sub-basement of the Writers Building on the Warner Bros. lot, forced to crank out mindless straight-to-VOD action movies under a variety of Alan Smithee-style pen names? Or have I simply been lazy, spending all of my time at the New Beverly when I should have been writing the next novels?

The answer is none of the above (though I do spend quite a bit of time at the New Bev).

Back in the summer of 2016, while still unpacking, I started playing around with new novel ideas. One was Renegade, which would have been a direct sequel to Revolver, following Audrey Walczak during her first year as a cop. But the idea of writing another novel set in Philly while I was living in Burbank felt… weird. Plus, I was mildly annoyed with myself for moving to L.A. just when I’d released the most Philly-centric novel of my career (and I wasn’t able to return home to promote it).

As I nervously watched the orange-and-purple skies from a series of wildfires, I came up with a post-apocalyptic version of The Postman Always Rings Twice. But I needed to spend more time in my new home to make it feel authentic (when I completely destroyed the place).

By fall, I was plotting an action thriller set in snowy Vermont (which later became a screenplay), as well as a detective story that blended noir and cosmic horror—one that opened in bitter cold Philly, but ended up in a surreal L.A. I even plotted out a massive YA sci-fi thing, just for fun. None of these felt right.

You see, I always know when I’ve caught a case of the novel virus (not be confused with the novel coronavirus). When an idea really grabs me, it’s all I can think about. And that is unusually enough to power me through the next three, six or nine months it will take to write it.

I caught such a virus on December 16, 2016.

That was when I started writing 45 Grand, meant to be the third book in my unofficial “Daughter Trilogy.” The title was a reference to money, but also the main protagonist: a 45-year-old grandfather whose daughter overdoses on Fentanyl, leaving behind a four-year-old grandson and year-old granddaughter. This was meant to be a lean and nasty revenge story, set in an America I was struggling to understand. It is no coincidence that I start writing this novel not long after the 2016 election.

But by the following summer, something unusual happened. The novel just… sputtered and died. I couldn’t figure it out. And not long after that, I was busy writing a pilot for NBC (that was never made) and uncredited rewrites on a movie (which was made). 45 Grand, then titled Painkiller, sat on my hard drive until I chopped out a piece of it for Lawrence Block’s anthology, At Home in the Dark. (BTW, you can find that story, “Giant’s Despair,” in my collection Lush and other tales of Boozy Mayhem… now on Kindle!)

Looking back, perhaps it was a good thing I didn’t finish the novel about a pair of grieving parents. Because the following May, our daughter Evie was diagnosed with leukemia.

My wife and I spent every day at Children’s Hospital LA with her. While in her hospital room, purely as an escape hatch, I started writing a comedic mystery (working title: All Kinds of Wrong) about a retired cop and an ex-con who join forces to catch a serial killer who thought he got away with it. When we lost Evie in October 2018, I put away the 100 pages I had written. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to write anything again.

But writing has always saved me, and I was determined to rebuild that part of my life. I started small, with short stories, just as I had done in high school. Eventually, I worked my way up to a novella. I researched and wrote large chunks of a true crime memoir. I adapted one of my short stories into a screenplay. I co-wrote an Audible Original. I co-wrote a novel.

And then, by early 2021 I resumed work on that comedic novel, now titled California Bear, eager to keep part of Evie’s spirit (and her brilliantly twisted sense of humor) alive in its pages. The human being who finished this novel was different from the human being who started it, but I hope the seams won’t show too much. You’ll be able to read the result in just a few weeks. And I’m happy to say the advance reviews have been very kind!

So yes… that’s why it been seven years between novels. But I hope you’ll think it was worth the wait when you preorder now.

Swierczy & The Bear (& Friends) Tour ‘24

For the first time in forever, I’m headed out on a book tour! And this time, I’m bringing backup.

For many of my book tour stops, I’ve blackmailed invited friends, both new and old, to participate in a kind of “In Conversation With…” type event. Here’s the rundown.

• Tuesday, January 9: To celebrate pub day, I’ll be visiting Small World Books in Venice Beach, followed by lunch at the Sidewalk Cafe. (Both are key California Bear locations.) If I can figure it out in time, I might even do one of those Instagram Live things so you can be part of the “fun.”

• Friday, January 12: Murder by the Book (Houston, TX), in conversation with “murder boss” McKenna Jordan, who has known me since I was a Baby Novelist. Seriously—she was there for my very first book event, where I signed alongside Allan Guthrie, Ken Bruen, Jason Starr and J.D. Rhoades. So doing my first Bear signing at MBTB feels like coming home.

• Sunday, January 14: Farley’s Bookshop (New Hope, PA), in conversation with novelist Dave White, who I’ve known ever since our early stories appeared in the (virtual) pages of Kevin Burton Smith’s Thrilling Detective. Expect many horrible puns (Dave), a few Abe Vigoda jokes (me).

• Tuesday, January 16: No formal event, but I will be up in New York City darkening the doorway of the Mysterious Bookshop and visiting Mulholland Books HQ.

• Wednesday, January 17: Reads & Company (Phoenixville, PA) in conversation with novelist Robert Swartwood, who very generously offered to do a Facebook Live event with me, and didn’t flee in terror when I suggested we do an actual live event… like, in person. And I can’t wait to visit Reads for the very first time.

• Saturday, January 20: Book Carnival (Orange, CA) in conversation with novelist Eric Beetner, who has very generously hosted me at a few Noir at the Bar events. No good deed goes unpunished, it seems, and he’s being dragged back into service.

• Tuesday, January 23: The Poisoned Pen (Scottsdale, AZ) in conversation with Jen Johans, host of the excellent podcast Watch With Jen. We have never met in person, so you can be there to watch all of the awkward… live! (Jen is a total pro; the awkward is me.)

• Thursday, February 1: Vroman’s (Pasadena, CA) in conversation with… a very special guest, yet to be announced! Stay tuned.

Are you disappointed I’m not visiting a bookstore near you? Remember: I’m like a vampire. If you want me to cross your threshold, all you have to do is invite me (and I’ll see what I can do).

WHO THE...? You’ve signed up for a newsletter from writer Duane Swierczynski, who has written a dozen novels, hundreds of comic books, a fistful of screenplays and audio dramas, and other violent entertainments. He works out of a tiny private-eye style office in Old Pasadena. Learn more at gleefulmayhem.com and linktr.ee/swierczy.