Author Archives: robwhart

For a few months now, in the wilds of Facebook and Twitter, I’ve been teasing a Secret Project. The time has finally come to share it.

I’m co-writing a novella with James Patterson.

He’s got a new venture called BookShots. Shorter works, propulsive narratives. It’s a long story, but I got an audition, and then got the gig, and we’re finalizing edits on it right now.

It’s pretty damn exciting. Also exciting: Fellow Polis author Derek Nikitas in on board for one as well.

I don’t know what else about the project I can share, so that’s all I’ll say for now… so keep your eyes peeled, and more soon!

So I recently got back from book tour—Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It was a lot of fun. Chuck Palahniuk showed up to my Powell’s event, and bought my book and stood in line and asked me to sign it, which was kinda nuts. I also ate burritos and got some great books and did a bunch of other things. I would tell you more about it, but I don’t need to—I wrote a series about it for LitReactor.

Click here!

With the second Ash McKenna novel landing in less than a week, my publisher has marked down the eBook of the first, New Yorked, to $1.99 for a limited time!

Now, think about that. This is something I poured my heart and soul into for five years, and you can have it for less than what you paid for a cup of coffee this morning!

Not bad, right?

This is your chance to get in on the ground floor. I’m signed for four installments, and hope to finish it out with a fifth. It’s something that’s very personal to me, but also sometimes there are drag queen crime lords and men in chicken masks with guns. So it’s fun, too.

If you click here, you can see all the nice things people have said about it, and even read the first chapter.

And you can get it here:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iTunes * Kobo

Already have it? Spread the word, or leave a review (reviews are a great way to help any author), or pre-order the next one, City of Rose!

Pretty thrilled to say that I’ve written a scholarly essay about Road House for my favorite movie website on the internet. Yup. Pretty thrilled indeed. Check it out.

The Feb. 9 release date for City of Rose approaches fast. Time to start spreading the word about places I will be, for signing books and reading stuff and drinking and other acts of general merriment.

I’ve included links to the Facebook event pages, where you can RSVP (which is not a requirement for any of this stuff—just show up!).

Feb. 9 – The Mysterious Bookshop, NYC

58 Warren Street, 6:30 p.m. This is a joint event with fellow Polis author, Dave White, whose new novel An Empty Hell comes out the same day. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 11 – Staten Island Barnes & Noble, NYC

2245 Richmond Avenue, 6:30 p.m. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 15 – Powell’s, Portland, OR

3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 7:30 p.m. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 16 – Noir at the Bar Seattle

Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 7 p.m. Reading with Johnny Shaw, Linda L. Richards, Dietrich Kalteis, Will Viharo, Sam Wiebe, Kat Richardson, Michael Pool and Owen Laukkanen. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 17 – Seattle Mystery Bookshop

117 Cherry St, noon. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 18 – Noir at the Bar San Francisco

Iron & Gold, 3187 Mission St, 7:30 p.m. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 21 – Noir at the Bar LA

Mandrake Bar, 2692 S La Cienega Blvd, 8 p.m. Reading with Owen Laukkanen, Johnny Shaw, SG Redling, Patricia Abbott, Tom Pitts, SW Lauden, and Eric Beetner. RSVP on Facebook.

The release of City of Rose, the follow-up to New Yorked, is fast approaching, so it’s time to ramp up the gears of war (which is a much cooler way of saying it’s time to do book promo).

Let’s start with Goodreads. I need more people to add it to their ‘to-read’ list. It’s a big help for discoverability. So, here’s what I propose:

Go to this link and click that button under the cover that says “Want to Read.”

That’s it. Just click it.

Come November 13—a week and a half from today—I’m going to go through the list of people who’ve added it to their to-read list, and I’m going to pull some names at random, and those people are going to win PRIZES.

What kind of prizes? Here’s what I’m giving away:

A galley copy of City of Rose.

A limited-edition New Yorked umbrella.

And a copy of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella.

So, to recap: Add City of Rose on Goodreads, maybe win a prize.

Get clicking!

Do you live in or around or even close to Milwaukee? Then you ought to come to Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee this weekend. I will be there!

This is my first time at the conference—and I’m thrilled to be one of the featured authors. Look at this lineup! As a debut author, I feel very lucky. Like I snuck into a party I’m technically not cool enough for.

You can visit the Mayhem website to get all the details, including times and locations. My panel is at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, and all the panels are packed with awesome, fun people.

The event includes an auction to raise money for Erin Mitchell, who has a heart condition and is facing some some very expensive procedures to correct it. Given my daughter’s heart issues, this is a cause that’s close to me.

You can see all the items being auctioned off here. I’m donating a character name in the third Ash McKenna novel, South Village, as well as a book from my own collection—Assassin of Secrets by QR Markham. This book was discovered to be plagiarized, and recalled by the publisher. I have a copy that’s signed by the author.

There’ll be some bidding by proxy, but if that doesn’t work out or you can’t make the event, you can also donate to Erin right here, and I would encourage you to do so.

She’s a swell lady and this is a twisted country, that someone could be sick and then be told they can’t be helped unless they come forward with an unreasonable amount of money.

Sometimes it’s up to us.

UPDATE: Congrats to the winner, Barbara Vitale!

My mom is running a Breast Cancer Bowlathon fundraiser at Rab’s Country Lanes on Staten Island.

One of the raffles will be an Ash McKenna prize pack—a custom New Yorked umbrella, a bottle of Jameson, and a signed advance reading copy of City of Rose, which isn’t due out until February.

Maybe some other stuff too!

Tickets are $5 and you don’t need to be present when the raffle is drawn on Oct. 25. To purchase tickets call the bowling alley.

All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.

It’s for a good cause! Enter early and often.

Available now: Occupied Earth, a science-fiction anthology edited by Gary Phillips and Richard Brewer. I’m incredibly proud to have a story in this: “How the Game is Played”, which is the first that I’ve tapped into my political background for a story.

The anthology is set 20 years after an alien race has occupied Earth. Humans and Mahk-Ra live alongside each other, but not always comfortably. There’s no question who’s in charge (spoiler alert: it’s not the humans).

There are a lot of killer stories in this collection, and even more exciting: It’s available from my regular publisher, Polis!

Want to learn more about the anthology? Want to find out where to get it? Click here.