Ron Franscell, Author at Ron Franscell

Better Angels: No veteran should die alone

It was after 2am and the graveyard-shift nurses drifted like ghosts in the hallway, tending to the dead and dying. It wasn’t that Michael* couldn’t sleep, even with meds he […]

by Ron Franscell

The day the sun never set

Seventeen years ago, I spent this day with my teenage son in a remote Yukon camp above the Arctic Circle, where the Sun never sets on the longest day of […]

by Ron Franscell

The memory of dirt

“Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be rearranged.” —Law of Conservation of Mass For a long time, I collected dirt. OK, maybe not the coolest collection, […]

by Ron Franscell

How to recognize a toxic narcissist—and survive

According to the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder — related to sociopathy under the umbrella term Antisocial Personality Disorders — is a mental condition in which people have an inflated […]

by Ron Franscell

‘Angel Fire’ was published 25 years ago today

“Reminiscent of Charles Frazier’s ‘Cold Mountain’ … Ron Franscell’s themes involve a fresh approach to our rural roots as a font for the elusive American spirit.” — USA Today Twenty-five […]

by Ron Franscell

You might be surprised who’s reading DEAF ROW!

Hollywood actor, comedian, and impressionist Jim Meskimen—the superb narrator on DEAF ROW’s audiobook—offers some insights on some beloved celebrities who might be reading my new mystery.

by Ron Franscell

Book clubs: 10 Questions about ‘Deaf Row’

Does your book club feature a lot of awkward silences? Is the deepest question, “Did you like it?” Tired of meetings that are more about the furniture than the book? […]

by Ron Franscell

Which is harder to write … true crime or crime fiction?

My true crimes like SHADOWMAN and THE DARKEST NIGHT are the product of old-school research and investigation. I’m an old-fashioned reporter who believes in first-hand, up-close sensory experiences that tell […]

by Ron Franscell

I’m gonna miss you, Elsie Mae

I never met Elsie Mae but I wish I had. I don’t know too much more than last week’s obituary tells me: She taught grade school for most of her […]

by Ron Franscell

Hollywood veteran Jim Meskimen breathes life into DEAF ROW

When you read a printed book, you might imagine the different characters’ motivation, feelings, and emotions. You might even envision funny little mannerisms. But when you listen to an audiobook, […]

by Ron Franscell

DEAF ROW

FINALIST in 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in Crime Fiction! Retired to a small Colorado mountain town, ex-Denver homicide detective Woodrow “Mountain” Bell yearns only to fade away. He’s failed […]

by Ron Franscell

New book trailer for DEAF ROW!

Get a taste of the new thriller that suspense superstars Anne Hillerman, CJ Box, and John Lescroart are raving about! Then go pre-order DEAF ROW at your favorite bookstore and […]

by Ron Franscell

Philly’s ‘Boy in the Box’ finally gets a name after 65 years

On Feb. 25, 1957, a naked, emaciated boy between 4 and 6 years old was found dead in a cardboard box in a wooded area in northeast Philadelphia. He’d been […]

by Ron Franscell

‘Chilling’ new DEAF ROW cover unveiled!

A great book cover elicits an emotional response. And if it’s done well, a reader will feel the same while reading the book. In the case of the new cover […]

by Ron Franscell

Lost & Found: A WWI dogtag goes home after 104 years

This spring, a French metal-detecting buff found the artifact a young doughboy unintentionally left behind in a muddy camp on the Western Front

by Ron Franscell

A father, a son, and a river at the edge of the land

My father-son memoir The Sourtoe Cocktail Club, about our Yukon odyssey to the literal edge of the Earth to find a cocktail containing a mummified human toe, was published in 2011. It is a deep—and often funny—contemplation about whether I was still relevant to my teenage son after a divorce. On Father’s Day, eleven years later, it seems appropriate to contemplate it again.

by Ron Franscell

Something novel

Unable to go out into the world during Covid, I turned inward. How could I use what I’ve learned in decades of true storytelling and journalism? How can I still write a provocative book without leaving the safety of my home and imagination? The answers changed the arc of my writing.

by Ron Franscell

Beware of fast, easy answers about Uvalde’s tragedy

WHY is a natural and human question. I’m not a psychologist, I’m a journalist who has spent a career exploring what some evil, disturbed humans can do to fellow humans. […]

by Ron Franscell

Montana, Wyoming tour set for ‘ShadowMan’

In May, Ron will hit the road with “ShadowMan” on a book tour in Montana, the epicenter of the grim crimes recounted in this new bestseller. (There’ll be some stops […]

by Ron Franscell

So you wanna be a crime writer, eh? Forget these myths

You’ve been exposed to so much Hollywood crapola that I’m surprised you aren’t already on Ducky’s slab.

by Ron Franscell

Today’s the day! ‘ShadowMan’ is now in bookstores everywhere

The secret of my success as a writer is that I never pick a story I can screw up. “ShadowMan” struck me as such a story. To me, its power […]

by Ron Franscell

Patty Nieman narrates ‘ShadowMan’ audiobook

“I’m an actor by training and a lover of words by nature,” she says. “I want to build the bridge that travels from the author’s intent, through the text, to the reader’s imagination.

by Ron Franscell

SHADOWMAN: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profiling

The entangled tales of a harrowing crime and the introduction of the FBI’s newest forensic tool: criminal profiling

by Ron Franscell

You’ve Got Mail: A letter that changed everything

Satchell Paige, the great baseball pitcher and philosopher-from-left field, once said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” I’ve never been sure what he meant. Do your best […]