Robert J. Randisi Interview

Robert J. Randisi has been writing and publishing ever since I've known him, and that's been quite a while.  He's published so many books that I've lost count.  (I'll bet he hasn't, though.)  John Wisniewski conducted this interview with him, and I'm pleased to be able to present it on my blog.  So let's get right to the questions.

1) Why did you choose The Rat Pack to develop this series of books called "The Rat Pack Mysteries"?

          I have long been an admirer of the Rat Pack's talents, most notably Dino and Sammy. And I love Las Vegas. I was watching Ocean's 11 for the umpteenth time one day and it just came to me. A lot of things could have been going on in Vegas in between the times the Rat Pack members were on stage at the Sands, and filming the movie.  Why not a mystery?  And using song titles as titles--with a word or two changed--was a natural.  With Dean my favorite it just seemed right to start with EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOME TIME. 

2) Can we look back at your beginnings-when did you begin writing, and of what genre were your stories?

       I started writing when I was 15. I chose mystery as my genre because that was what I was reading and watching on TV at the time.  But it was when I went to the movies and saw HARPER, starring Paul Newman (based on a Ross Macdonald novel) that I decided I wanted to write Private Eye fiction, and wanted to do it for a living by the time I turned 30.  And that's what I did.  While Westerns became a large part of my output later, my heart has always been with the mystery--specifically, with the private eye.  

3) What genre is your favorite?

        Oops, I think I answered that above. My favorite genre, to write, read, and watch on TV and in the movies, is the private eye genre.  Unlike other genres--such as the police procedural, as depicted these days by Law & Order,  CSI and NCIS clones--the private eye genre depends heavily on the main character. While a lot of other genres are about the procedure, or the milieu, the P.I. genre is about people.  My Rat Pack books are written in the style of P.I. novels, but I am getting back into the private eye genre whole hog with my new book THE HONKY TONK BIG HOSS BOOGIE (August 2013).

4) You have written many novels. How do you manage to be so prolific?

        Your question of how I have been so prolific requires a two part answer. In the beginning it was not a matter of choice. I discovered early on that I had an ability to write--and type--very quickly. I believe this was a result of NOT ever outlining. I sit and write everything down as it comes to me, not according to any preset outline.  I move through my stories WITH my characters, discovering what will happen next with them. I don't outline, and rarely rewrite. Often, I don't even go back and reread what In wrote the day before. This has been how I have always worked. (It's a little different with mysteries than westerns when you have to go back and sometimes plant clues).

        For the second part, it eventually became a necessity for me to write quickly. In the 80's, when I started out, I was able to sell multiple series, including The Gunsmith western series, which I had to produce at the rate of a book a month. Add in the other western series, and the mysteries, and I had to write anywhere from 16 to 24 books a year. In 1984 I wrote 27 books in 12 months.  You see? I HAD to be prolific in order to meet deadlines. But it wasn't as much of a choice as it sounds because I was normally a fast writer.

5) How do you create characters like detective Nick Delvecchio?

       How I created characters like Nick Delvecchio is not an easy question to answer. Often the type of books I write--usually a series--depend on the reader either identifying with or simply liking the main character. That means he has to BE likable, or BE interesting. The process is different for every character.  "Miles Jacoby" is not like me; the character developed over the course of the 6 books.  "Nick Delvecchio," however, is a lot like me--drawing heavily on my Italian family background--and sprang to life almost wholly formed in the first book.  Other characters, like Eddie G. from the Rat Pack books, appears in modern times as well as the 60's.  In each era he has to be subtly different.  Western characters--like the Gunsmith, or Lancaster--are a product of their historic surroundings. Others--like Bat Masterson in Westerns, or the Rat Pack in the Rat Pack mysteries--are real, and so I must adhere to their personalities as closely as I can, while putting them through some fictional paces.  My new character, Auggie Velez, is a combination of being like me, and NOTHING like me. It's a juggling act. Writers are often not the most interesting people in the world, so our characters cannot be WHOLLY like us. Even I don't want to read about ME. 

 6) Why do you choose to use pseudonyms?

     The question of pseudonyms is very easy to answer. In the 80's, when I started, publishers liked to think that you were only writing for THEM.  But if I wanted to make a living as a writer, I needed more work than one publisher could give me.  So when I created a new series, I also had to create new pseudonym.  At one time I was writing four different western series under four different names, while writing mysteries under my real name.  It was necessary in order to make enough money to make a living, because I was NOT making Stephen King type advances.

7) You founded Private Eyes of America and Mystery Scene magazine.

     I founded PWA in 1981 to try to see that the private eye story was recognized as a genre all its own, and not as a sub-genre of the mystery. Also because, at the time, P.I. books were not being recognized by MWA when it came to the Edgar Award. I was corresponding with many of my fellow P.I. writers, and decided to ask them to send me a quarter each for postage so I could do a newsletter. That eventually worked its way into being an organization, with many of the top P.I. writers as charter members, i.e., Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Max Allan Collins, Stuart Kaminsky, Lawrence Block, Michael Collins, John Lutz, Linda Barnes, Marcia Muller and many more. Bill Pronzini  served as our first President, and I was V.P.  I also created the Shamus Award, so that P.I. books and stories would have an award of their own.  That was over 30 years ago, and the Shamus is a much respected award.

   I co-founded Mystery Scene Magazine with my good friend and colleague Ed Gorman. Back in '84 we were talking on the phone and one of us said somebody should create a magazine for the mystery genre. The other one said, "Why don't we do it?" And we did.  I gave up my interest after 7 years, Ed stayed at the helm much longer than that. It is now in the competent hands of others, and continues to grow.

8) You also co-founded The American Crime Writers League. Could you tell us about this? Are you looked upon as an elder-statesman for young and up and coming crime and mystery writers?

        Yes, I also co-founded with Ed Gorman the American Crime Writers League.  I think we both felt the need for another organization, one that was about the members, and not about awards.  We asked Charlotte McLeod to be out first President. Ed and I eventually bowed out, but I believe we are both back in as members, these days. The ACWL still has no award, but does what it can to help its members.  I think the Mystery Writers of America, The Private Eye Writers of America and The American Crime Writers League all have their place in the genre. Many authors belong to all three.

       It's very difficult for someone to say how others look upon them. An elder-statesman? Maybe.  I try to do what I can to assist other writers, especially the up and comers.  We at PWA joined with St. Martin's Press back in 1986 to run a First Private Eye Novel Contest, where the winner receive a $10,000 advance and is published in America and the U.K. Other contests have since copied our formula.  And I believe St. Martins now calls them "competitions" rather than "contests." That contest continue to this day, and has launched the career of writers like Les Roberts, Gar Anthony Haywood, Karen Kijewski, Steve Hamilton and Michael Koryta. Also, over the years, we've had many anthologies published, creating a market for our authors to write short fiction.  I hope I'm looked upon as someone who does what he can for the genre, and for writers, in general. But I really think you'd have to ask others that question.  I believe my contribution to the genre has been equal parts organizer and author.

9) Could you tell us about your written screenplays?

        I've written one screenplay. Sandy Hackett, the son of legendary comic Buddy Hackett, optioned my first Rat Pack book a few years back--EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOME TIME--and hired me to write the screenplay. It was a great experience. I wrote it in three weeks. I was satisfied with it when I finished, and Sandy liked it. It's still in his possession.

       I do plan to write others based upon my own books, like THE HAM REPORTER, which is about Bat Masterson when he was a sports writer in NY in 1911. He and a young Damon Runyon solve a mystery.  There are other of my mysteries, and my westerns, I'd like to do.  For instance, the "Gil & Claire Hunt" series, which I wrote with my partner and fiancé, Christine Matthews, is a perfect vehicle for a husband and wife Hollywood team.  But I believe my Rat Packs books probably offer the best opportunity for Hollywood to come knocking. I believe they could succeed where shows like VEGAS, THE PLAYBOY CLUB and PAN AM have failed to capitalize on the 60's.  The music of the Rat Pack would have to play a big part.