An Interview with Gary Phillips
Michael Haskins, Key West-based author of Chasin' the Wind (Five Star)
and other mysteries, took time to interview Gary Phillips
for the January edition of the International Thriller Writers'
on-line publication, The Big Thrill.
TREACHEROUS: GRIFTERS, RUFFIANS AND KILLERS,
the short stories of Gary Phillips, is a new collection
from Perfect Crime Books that brings together for the first time
the various tales of chicanery and odd goings on the veteran mystery
writer has produced over the years. For instance in “The Thrill is Gone”
(from SEX, LIES AND PRIVATE EYES), a hitman rescued from the agonies
of Hell is a reluctant envoy sent back to Earth to dispatch evil for Heaven;
in “Roger Crumbler Considers His Shave” (from LOS ANGELES NOIR),
a mild-mannered middle-aged accountant on his birthday contemplates
much more than having a second slice of cake; and in “Branded”
(from FLESH AND BLOOD: EROTIC TALESS OF CRIME AND PASSION)
a philandering husband wakes after a night of debauchery with a tattoo
in a . . . rather uncomfortable location that will be hard to explain
to his out-of-town wife.
“As a writer you learn a lot when you have to write a short story.
Establishing your characters, setting the plot in motion, and,
if the crick don’t rise, delivering the big punch in the end,
well, there’s no room for error. You gotta make that story
work in an efficient and entertaining manner. Hopefully readers will agree
if they give this collection a try,” Phillip says of his writing.
“I enjoy telling stories in various medium about various characters.”
Phillips lives in Los Angeles and is best known for his novels
and short stories featuring PI Ivan Monk. He has worked
a lot of different gigs in his time: a graveyard shift security guard,
a printer, a union organizer, co-director of the MultiCultural Collaborative
(a nonprofit set-up to improve race relations after the ’92 LA riots)
and as political director of a city council campaign. He writes on politics and
pop culture for publications such as the Los Angeles Times, LA Watts Times,
Rap Pages, San Francisco Examiner, Freestyle and Black Scholar.
He occasionally loses money at the poker table, watches his kids
play sports, and finds that walking the dog
is a fine excuse to light up a stogie.
“Ultimately I write the stories I want to read,” Phillips said
of his short fiction.“I am mindful of critiques of my work, at least
the ones that are constructive, and try to improve my craft
in whatever it is I’m writing. Writing can seem like a long slog
at times but often getting to the end of a story,
that is after rewrites and edits, there can be a great sense
of satisfaction as well.”
The collection of eclectic stories spans nine years of Phillips’s writing
for such magazines as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, books
including Dublin Noir and Black Noir,
and a number of anthologies.
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