You Have the Right to Six Words - Reed Farrel Coleman

I mentioned several weeks back when I highlighted Hank Phillipi Ryan that the enthusiasm of the writers for this project has been a strong motivator for me. When I receive the e-mails with excited memoirs or the beautiful thank you notes, I am so energized I think I could do this forever. Well, maybe not forever, but you know what I mean.

One of the people who really made me excited about this project is Reed Farrel Coleman. Leave it to the poet to bring this memoir thing to life. I'm devoting this whole post this week to Reed for two reasons. First, it's a tribute to the release of his collaborative work with Ken Bruen. Their novel, THE TOWER, is released this week by Busted Flush Press and should show up in stores by the end of next week. And secondly because when I e-mailed Reed to ask him to participate, he responded and said, "sure, I'll try anything." And he came back with this memoir:

Dad, standing at the hospital window.

He asked me if I wanted an explanation. So, me being me, I asked him if maybe he would do an interview with me and he can explain it then. He said "yes"! So look for that in the future; he's kind of busy with the whole TOWER book tour and all, but I'll check back with him later.

Not long after, I received another e-mail from Reed who said, "here's three more to keep in reserve:"

My mom, at the mirror, empty.

Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Coney Island.

Saturday morning, my brothers, we're happy.

So, of course I'm deliriously happy. The award-winning author of the Moe Prager series and the Dylan Klein series is getting into my project! How cool is that? And while I'm still reeling with excitement, I receive another e-mail that says, "When you’re ready to post, let me know and I’ll give you two more so you can have 6 of 6." Six 6-word memoirs! He's a clever guy that Reed is! So, I knocked on his e-mail door once more on Sunday, not real sure if he'd have time to come up with two more since he is preparing for the tour and all. But sure enough, he sent two more:

My children. My wife. Our life.

Ken, Reed, Tower, movie rights sold.

I absolutely love this six-pack look at Reed Farrel Coleman. As I was preparing for his post, I learned that Reed and I are both Aries and we both come from families with three children. I'm the oldest of three girls; Reed is the youngest of three boys. But the similarities come to a screeching halt there. Reed grew up in New York and discovered his love of writing in high school where he served as editor and chief of his school literary magazine.

After college, Reed worked in the cargo area at Kennedy International Airport and met many of the people who would go on to inspire the characters in his writing. Also during this time Reed took a night class in detective fiction, which thankfully brought him to this genre. Besides his distinct style of writing, Reed thinks he may perhaps have another characteristic that sets him apart from any other writer in the crime fiction genre: he is licensed to drive hazardous materials!

Reed served as an Executive Vice President of the Mystery Writers of America. He has published ten novels, poetry, short stories and essays under his own name and his pen name, Tony Spinosa. And on his resume he can claim a Barry award, an Anthony award, a Shamus award as well as nominations for the Edgar, Macavity and Gumshoe awards. As I mentioned earlier in this post he is now adding to that distinguished list his collaborative work with Ken Bruen, THE TOWER.

I hope that you all have enjoyed Reed's "6 of 6" today as much as I have. Let me know in the comments what you think your favorite is. I like them all, but I think I may be leaning toward the first one because there's just such mystery to it.

Many, many thanks to Reed for having so much fun with this and inspiring me. I'm still smiling as I type this. Happy Reading everyone!