Peace, Love & Murder in Placitas
Bestselling crime author Ron Franscell, a Placitas resident, will talk about a shocking double-murder on a seemingly peaceful hippie ommune in 1970. Along the way he’ll tell some of the […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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How many times can one life change?
Pain & memory: The birth of Angel Fire
“Pain is the price we pay for memory. It’s some kind of sin to forget what hurts, as much as it is to forget what makes you smile. Suffering has […]
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The entangled histories of 'In Cold Blood' and narrative journalism
Lecture: 9:30am to 11am on Feb. 20Book-signing immediately afterwardCasper College (WY) Humanities FestivalMusic Building’s Wheeler HallAdmission is free Ron Franscell, who has been called one of the exciting voices in […]
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The best true-crime books of all time? Maybe not
Last weekend, USA Today published a Goodreads list of the “Best True Crime Books of All Time.” There are some truly great books on the list, compiled from various Goodreads […]
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Berkley-Penguin will publish ‘ShadowMan’
There are a few moments in a book’s life that are special for authors. One is when a box of finished books arrives on the front porch. Another is when […]
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Unfinished.
Once upon a time—which is how all worthwhile stories begin—I knew a man named Herman who had reached a moment when there was more of his life to look back […]
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10 Los Angeles Crime Facts You Didn’t Know
The darker side of a city built on dreams and illusions is sometimes obscured, sometimes elevated to mythic proportions. In a place where the words Manson, Night Stalker, and Black […]
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What if Huck Finn had helicopter parents?
Summer is over and you know what that means, right? No, not the start of school! It’s time for helicopter parents to lift off. Thanks to technology, these moms and […]
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5 Book Terms That Can Make You Sound Brilliant (or Stupid)
I’ve been astonished at the number of people who have expressed some trepidation about communicating with an author out of fear they’ll misuse a word (or never send fan letters […]
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Is true crime dead … or just choking on its own blood?
For many years, acquisition editors in New York have justified their rejections of true-crime manuscripts by saying, “Sorry, but true crime is on life support”—mostly as a way of letting […]
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What crime writers do I read? Here’s one
It’s one of the most common questions I get from a roomful of readers: Who’s your favorite author? Fact is, I don’t have just one. And they’re all over the […]
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All writers and readers share one profound thing
Our most profound ideas are often very simple. This one was delivered unto me by a humble, small-town Texas bookseller and scribbler as we sat among his stacks and stacks […]
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Place matters
For writers who grew up in the West the landscape is unconsciously woven into our storytelling. It’s natural because that’s what we know. And it’s the thing that makes our […]
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Why I don’t care about Ted Bundy
The short answer My crime-writing friend Kevin Sullivan is the greatest living expert on Ted Bundy. He’s literally written an encyclopedia of everything Bundy. I have absolutely nothing to add. […]
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And now, the road.
The Author is fond of researching a new story. The Author is delighted to write that story. But most of all, The Author loves—truly, madly, deeply—being among readers. This weekend, […]
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Die different.
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” —Jack Kerouac, “The Dharma Bums” A long time ago, in another life, I sat with Jan Kerouac, the […]
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A crime. A boy. A teacher. And a hundred books.
“Up ahead they’s a thousand lives we might live, but when it comes, it’ll on’y be one.” The Grapes of Wrath Fourteen years ago, a couple Southeast Texas high school kids just […]
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Let me tell you about my first time
I started reading young. I fell in crazy-mad love with books, or at least became addicted to the way they made me feel. I began to wish that I could […]
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A father, a son, and the longest day
Excerpted from “The Sourtoe Cocktail Club,” by Ron Franscell (Globe Pequot Press, 2011). While Matt sleeps, I watch the subtly changing sky as the sun circles around to the north […]
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Is true crime as entertainment morally defensible?
I’ve been writing true crime for 10 years. I confess to occasional pangs that I am reopening wounds for a few people, but the old-school journalist in me rationalizes that […]
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20 years ago today, ‘Angel Fire’ was published
On this day—June 4—in 1998, a tiny publisher in an Alabama small town released a little book, a first novel by an unknown writer in Wyoming. It didn’t change the world but it changed the writer’s life. The little book was titled “Angel Fire.” And the author was me.
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