The Forever Library

Announcing the Eighth Annual Team Evie Book Drive

Sometimes I wonder what Evie’s book collection would look like today.

My daughter, like her father, was a bit of a book nerd. (“A bit” being a massive understatement.) Like most kids her generation, she sparked to the musical Hamilton. Probably unlike most kids her generation, she tore through full-length biographies of the Founding Father, notably Ron Chernow’s award-winning doorstop.

“You sure you want this Hamilton biography?” We were standing in a Barnes & Noble back in 2016, and I felt its heft in my hand.

Evie nodded. Absolutely, Padre.

My rule with Evie and her brother? I’d buy them any book they wanted. Always. I mean, they’re books! Only the best things ever. So we added Chernow’s book to the stack, and Evie devoured it over the next week. I should have never doubted.

Evie’s reads ran all over the place. Young adult dystopian novels, fantasy, thrillers, history… oh, she loved history (and wanted to grow up to become a professor in that field). She even read my R-rated crime novels long before she should have… Parker later told me they’d sneak them from my brag shelf.

(I can’t blame them. I did the same thing with my father’s collection of used paperbacks about ancient astronauts and demons and UFOs.)

After Evie was diagnosed with leukemia in May 2018, we brought her some books from home. As it turned out, there was no need. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has a wonderful program called Literally Healing. Each kid receives a new book of their choice, every day—and it is theirs to keep. This was kind of freaking amazing, and Evie took full advantage. I was almost jealous. But I didn’t need to be; there are books available for parents, too.

After we lost Evie on October 30, 2018—seven years ago this week—good friends Del and Sue Howison and Ashley Largey organized a book drive in her honor. The books were sent to Literally Healing, and soon this became the primary mission of the Evelyn Swierczynski Foundation: to keep those books flowing to those kids at CHLA.

Today is the start of the eighth annual Team Evie Book Drive, and contributing couldn’t be easier. Evie’s mom has curated an amazing list of books at Amazon. Simply click on the title you’d like to gift, make sure it’s going to the Evelyn Swierczynski Foundation (this should be the default), and complete your order.

Or you can do the same at the amazing indie bookshops who have partnered with the foundation: Reads & Company in Phoenixville, PA; Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, PA; Murder By the Book in Houston, TX, and Vroman’s Bookstore here in Pasadena, CA, where I’m typing these words.

If you’d rather contribute some dough, that’s super easy: just click on this link. Financial donations are especially appreciated; Literally Healing is able to maximize every dollar by ordering books at a steep discount straight from the publishers.

Evie in her room at CHLA with a couple of Gregg Hurwitz books.

So yes… I would love to know what Evie (who’d be 22 right now) would have on her bookshelves. I’m guessing a metric ton of history tomes, and a lot of cool fantasy and thrillers. But I also take comfort in knowing that Evie has a forever library, spread out among kids like her.

And you’re the one who can help build it.

Darkness in the Desert

Much of this past week has been spent in the beautiful and stark city of Palm Springs, roughly 100 miles east of Pasadena. I was there to attend NoirCon 2025, which was founded in Philly as GoodisCon way back in January 2007.

I like to describe NoirCon as a literary/cinematic version of the Island of Misfit Toys. Every panelist brings their secret obsession to the table (be it cult novelist, renegade filmmaker, outsider artist) and enthuse about it to the rest of the group. I’ve tumbled down so many weird rabbit holes thanks to NoirCon.

Clockwise, from upper left: The Camelot Theater; Gary Phillips and Christa Faust; Eric Rice, Eric Beetner and Richard L. Edwards; Alison Bukata and Your Humble Narrator; Adrian Wootton; Georgia Jeffries, Howard A. Rodman and David J. Schow

Part of the fun is dragging unsuspecting victims… I mean, fellow attendees… into the mix. This year it was David J. Schow’s turn.

I grew up reading David’s work as a pioneering splatterpunk (he coined the word), but that’s one small facet of his work. I’d argue that David toils in the challenging zone between horror and noir, leaning more heavily into the latter. He’s only written one actual horror novel (The Shaft); the others are propulsive and unpredictable thrillers like Internecine and Gun Work. But if you’re looking for a place to dive in, I’d recommend his short stories, specifically DJStories, or any of his “remixed” collections from Cimarron Street Books. David uses language like a brain surgeon with a scalpel and a dissector; by the time you realize what he’s done, you’re seeing the world in a much weirder way.

So of course David belongs on the Island of Misfit Noir.

David always looks at me like this.

David and I introduced Blitz, the 2011 adaption of the Ken Bruen novel, and paid tribute to the man himself (among our other literary inspirations). It was a little surreal to be chatting with one literary hero while paying homage to another, but that’s the kind of thing that happens at NoirCon.

The Executive Misfits are already planning the next installment, rumored to take place in 2027 (and possibly back home on the East Coast). Check out the site and join the mailing list to stay up to date.

That’s it for now. I have busy and (spooky) week ahead, and I’ll tell you all about it next week. In the meanwhile, look out for each other and give trick-or-treaters the full size candy bars.