GREENFELLAS meets THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES

Kevin Tipple was nice enough to invite me to guest blog at his site.  "The Anti-Hero's Journey" explains how my comic crime novel was influenced by Joseph Campbell's theories on mythology. 

Uncle Victor and the Milwaukee geocache

Today at SleuthSayers I explain how a twenty-year-old

 story called "Uncle Victor's First Case" wound up as the centerpiece of a geocache in Wisconsin.

Discussing Greenfellas WWU

I had a great time yesterday talking about my novel in the Special Collections Room at Western Washington University.  Thanks to Clarissa Mansfield for the photos!

On the Ramblas, on SleuthSayers

Today at SleuthSayers I write about my story "On The Ramblas," which is in the Bouchercon 2015 anthology, Murder Under The Oaks.

Crime Against Nature, at Western Libraries, November 19

On Thursday November 19, 4 PM, I will be talking about GREENFELLAS at the Special Collections Room at Western Washington University Libraries.  If you come I won't be all alone.

GREENFELLAS in Kings River Life

Sandra Murphy has a lot of nice things to say about GREENFELLAS at Kings Rive Life.  Also, there's a chance to win a copy of the book!

"Sal is a delight as he figures out ways around what most would consider insurmountable objects. The dialogue and action are fast paced... I’m just jealous I didn’t think of the idea for this book first—'green' with jealousy. "

updating

Just updated the bibliography on my website so all my short stories are listed.  Wouldn't want the fan base to have incomplete knowledge. 

Crime against nature: GREENFELLAS

I will be talking about GREENFELLAS at Western Libraries on November 19, 4-5:30. The title is "Crime Against Nature: Writing an Environmental Crime Novel."  Should be fun!

Bouchercon views

with Chris Muessig

Speed dating breakfast.  My table partner Craig Faustus Buck testifying.

I don't know if this belongs under author's news but, hey, it's my blog.  These are pix from Bouchercon in Raleigh, where I had a great time.

The amazing signing for the Bouchercon anthology.

Jewish Noir panel, with Kenneth Wishnia and Jason Starr, photo by Pete Rozovsky

with Kathleen A. Ryan

with Art Taylor

GREENFELLAS on a bestseller list

Just found this out.  Guess what book was #6 on the Seattle Mystery Bookshop's Seattle Trade Paperback Bestseller list?  Oh, you guessed.  Well, aren't you the smart one.

My story in JEWISH NOIR

At Sleuthsayers today I explain how I wound up writing a story for the new anthology JEWISH NOIR, out this month from PM Press.  I am delighted to be sharing space with Marge Piercy, Harlan Ellison, SJ Rozan and many other wonderful writers.

Western Front covers Greenfellas

Nice piece in Western Front, September 21, about my book.  Thanks,Sarah Mikkelborg.

Terry Ambrose interviews me

Terry Ambrose interviewed me about GREENFELLAS and it went live today.

GREENFELLAS in Seattle

Had a wonderful time in Seattle yesterday, signing copies of GREENFELLAS at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop.  Fran and Adele were wonderful hosts.  (Here we are with two customers.)

And I got to meet longtime FB friend Sallie Tierney and her pay Judi Burke.  What a treat!

Publishers Weekly loves nEvermore!

Great review ov nEvermore! in PW, and my story gets special mention.  Cool!

Good times at Village Books

Last night I got to read from GREENFELLAS at Village Books in Fairhaven.  We are incredibly lucky to have one of the country's best independent bookstores right in town.  300-350 author's events a year! 

Bouchercon finds room for me

The official schedule for Bouchercon (Raleigh, NC) has been announced.  I am delighted to be on two panels, both for anthologies in which I have stories.

Friday, October 9.  10 AM. Jewish Noir.

Saturday, 10:30 AM Murder Under the Oaks Anthology.  (This is the official B-con anthology, with profits going to libraries.  There will be a signing immediately so  people who buy copies can get them scribbled on by most of the  authors. )

GREENFELLAS hits Seattle

I will be signing my new novel at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop on Saturday, September 5th, 3-4 PM.  There will be cookies!

GREENFELLAS at The First Two Pages

B.K. Stevens was kind enough to let me talk today about the beginning of my new novel are at her wonderful website The First Two Pages.

I am Distinguished

David J Montgomery was kind enough to point out that I made the list of Other Distinguished Mystery Stories in the BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2015, edited by James Patterson and Otto Penzler.  It was for "The Accessory," which appeared in EQMM. 

Last time I made a similar list was Edward D. Hoch's in 1982.  It is good to be distinguished again.

Reading GREENFELLAS at Village Books, Sept 3.

I will be doing my first reading from GREENFELLAS at Village Books in Bellingham, 7 PM on Thursday, September 3.  I wrote here about getting ready.  I'm excited!

JEWISH NOIR is available for pre-ordering!

And it features my story "Nachshon," along with a bunch of newbies like Marge Piercy, Harlan Ellison, SJ Rozan...  Order it here.

GREENFELLAS reviewed in Hitchcock's!

Jackie Sherbow, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine:

"What do you expect when you pick up a novel about New Jersey mobsters?  Robert Lopresti's GREENFELLAS (Oak Tree Books, $17.95) has plenty of genre motifs, but it's the unusual characters, vistas, and twists that will surprise and amuse the reader.

"Legendary Sal 'the Screwdriver' Caetano is vying for the spot as head of the Napolito crime family after the impending demise of the current patriarch.  Sal, a widower, is 'even among Sicilians of his generation...a sentimental type' (despite his growing hit list and well-earned reputation).  After his daughter gives birth, Sal is struck with a crisis of conscience during his grandfatherly celebrations when a news report about the dangers of climate change interrupts musings about his granddaughter's bright future.  He enlists some experts and makes going green his first priority.

"Although Sal has always been known as forward thinking, the reactions to his new passion are mixed, to say the least.  While he tries to convince his compatriots of the cause and gather outside allies, changes in leadership and wavering alliances threaten.

"GREENFELLAS features a colorful host of secondary characters, including a computer geek with a belated realization as to who's payroll he's on, a squirmy double agent known to both sides as a seperate type of vermin, a Battlestar Gallactica-watching second in command, and a feminist rival borgata boss, among others up and down the mafia, law-enforcement and political hierarchy.   The chosen settings are equally quirky: A tense conversation occurs while overlooking a field of brightly clad yoga enthusiasts and a climax of the story hits at a picnic.

"Lopresti's multiple-viewpoint storytelling is peppered with clever juxtapositions and puns, but amidst the humorous aspects the characters also deal with betrayal, loss, and hope for the future. 'Caetano looked mostly like a successful small businessman who had been working too hard and had too much on his mind,' one character observes -- and, as the reader will realize, he is.  This idea is the heart of the book, which raises questions about morality both inside and outside the law.  The characters populating Lopresti's world are progressive and open in one instance, and closed off and ignorant in another.  They're shaking hands one moment, and shooting a gun the next.  They're human.

"In GREENFELLAS, Lopresti defies the reader's expectations in a contemporary way, and the result is a fun and suspenseful read."

Murder Under The Oaks

The Bouchercon anthology is available for preordering.  It features my story "On The Ramblas."

Ed Gorman plugs GREENFELLAS

Ed Gorman, wonderful writer and terrific fella, fives GREENFELLAS a plug on its natal day. 

P-Day

GREENFELLAS is officially published today.

nEvermore! forever

Today is the publication date of nEvermore! the anthology of Edgar Allan Poe-inspired stories, featuring my own "Street of the Dead House."  I love that cover.

Greenfellas at SleuthSayers

Explaining why I wrote my novel...

They arrive.

Mystery Scene and me

In the New Books section of the summer issue of Mystery Scene magazine, I explain why New Jersey geography is central to GREENFELLAS.

First review of the new novel.  Hey, I'd buy that!

**** Robert Lopresti, GREENFELLAS, Oak Tree Press, $17.95. If Carl Hiassen and Al Gore had collaborated on RESERVOIR DOGS, it might have come out something like GREENFELLAS. Then again, it probably wouldn't. Robert Lopresti, whose stories have appeared in EQMM, AHMM, and THE STRAND, among others, has penned a comic crime novel in which a New Jersey mobster with a bad comb-over decides to use his resources to save the environment for future generations. The dialogue is crisp and the situations darkly funny. - Steve Steinbock, "The Jury Box," ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, August,2015.

Murder Under The Oaks is announced

The 2015 Bouchercon anthology has just been announced.  My story "On The Ramblas" is included.  I am a happy fella. 

TDE reviews Shanks on Crime

I have been reading the new issue of The Digest Enthusiast which features an interview with me.  Imagine my surprise when I find a two page review of my story collection SHANKS IN CRIME, by Rudolph Schmidt.  What a treat!

"Shanks on Crime is a wonderful collection of short stories starring a serial detective-of-circumstance who solves minor crimes and misdemeanors with his sardonic with and wisdom."

Yeah, what he said.

TDE interviews me

The new issue of The Digest Enthusiast is out, with a long interview with yours truly.  They have also done a wonderful job of creating a neat bibliography of all my stories, crammed onto two pages. 

Blogging about Street of the Dead House

At SleuthSayers today I blog about :"Street of the Dead House," my story in nEvermore!, a new anthol0gy of stories inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.  The book comes out July 15 and features stories  by Margaret Atwood, Richard Christian Mathesen,  Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and the late great Tanith Lee.

Shooting at Firemen in AHMM

My first story published this year is "Shooting at Firemen," in the July/August issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.  I wrote about it at SleuthSayers, of course.

Rationale

My writing stuff is getting scattered between my blogs, my Facebook author page, and my Amazon page, so I'll be keeping a copy of the important stuff here, mostly so I can find it later.  You can read it if you want.  Thanks for your interest.