Reed Farrel Coleman Explained

Reed Farrel Coleman
Pseudonym:Tony Spinosa
Birth Date:29 March 1956
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Occupation:Poet, crime fiction writer
Nationality:American
Genre:Crime fiction
Notableworks:Moe Prager series
Spouse:Rosanne
Children:Kaitlin, Dylan
Awards:Anthony (2006)
Audie (2013)
Barry (2006)
Macavity (2010)
Shamus (2006, 2008, 2009)
Years Active:1991 to present

Reed Farrel Coleman (born March 29, 1956) is an American writer of crime fiction and a poet.

Life and career

Reed Farrel Coleman, the youngest of three boys, was born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. As a teenager, he heard a shot while walking to work, and saw a man lying in the street with a fatal stomach wound. That is when he realized, "People do get hurt." He started writing in high school. He has worked at an ice cream store, in air freight at Kennedy Airport, as a car leasing agent, in baby food sales, cooking at a restaurant, as a cab driver, and delivering home heating oil. Coleman met his wife Rosanne at The New School in a writing class. They have two children, Kaitlin and Dylan. He now lives on Long Island.[1] [2]

Coleman only considered making writing a career once taking a Brooklyn College detective fiction class. He is a multiple award-winning author, particularly his Moe Prager series. Also published are series featuring protagonists Gulliver Dowd, Dylan Klein, and Joe Serpe. The Dowd character was based on a retired police detective that he had met. The Joe Serpe novels were originally written under the pen name Tony Spinosa, but are now available as Coleman titles. He has written the stand-alone novels Tower with Ken Bruen, Bronx Reqiem with Det. (ret.) John Roe of the NYPD, Gun Church, and several short stories, essays, and poems. Coleman has won Anthony, Audie, Barry, Macavity and Shamus Awards.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] His books and stories have additionally been nominated for Gumshoe and Edgar Awards.[8] [9] The books have been translated into seven languages.[10]

He considers William Blake, Lawrence Block, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett to be early influences. Later he found significance in the writing of colleagues Peter Blauner, Ken Bruen, Jim Fusilli, S.J. Rozan, and Peter Spiegelman. He says, though, that his single greatest writing influence was his college poetry professor, David Lehman, who provided "permission to be a writer and...the first clues on self-editing".[11] NPR has referred to him as "a hard-boiled poet", HuffPost says, "Coleman is the resident noir poet laureate of the United States" and The New York Times has commented, "If you dragged one (of his books) across the asphalt, you'd half-expect it to leave a chalk outline".[12] [13]

With a four-book contract, Coleman takes over writing Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series with the September 2014 publication of Blind Spot. He has also been signed to a two-book deal featuring retired Suffolk County (NY) cop turned PI Gus Murphy.[14] He is an adjunct instructor of English at Hofstra University, a former Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding member of Mystery Writers of America University.

Bibliography

Dylan Klein series

Moe Prager series

Joe Serpe series

(writing as Tony Spinosa)

Gulliver Dowd series

Gus Murphy series

Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone

Standalone novels

Essays and short stories

(a selection)

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry

Awards

Anthony Award

Gumshoe Award

Shamus Award

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reed Coleman Writes of Crime and Brooklyn . Wilson . Michael . New York Times . May 15, 2006 . July 12, 2014.
  2. Web site: Reed Farrel Coleman . Heirloom Bookstore . 2007 . July 28, 2014.
  3. Web site: Anthony Award Nominees and Winners . Bouchercon World Mystery Convention . July 7, 2014.
  4. Web site: Winners and Finalists . Audio Publishers Association . July 7, 2014.
  5. Web site: Barry Awards . Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine . July 7, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120423032903/http://www.deadlypleasures.com/barry.html . April 23, 2012 .
  6. Web site: Macavity Awards . Mystery Readers International . July 7, 2014.
  7. Web site: Shamus Award Winners . Private Eye Writers of America . July 7, 2014.
  8. Book: Sobin, Roger M. . The Essential Mystery Lists: For Readers, Collectors, and Librarians . Poisoned Pen Press . 2007 . 2007 . 212 . 978-1-59058-457-6.
  9. Web site: Edgar Awards . Mystery Writers of America . July 7, 2014.
  10. Web site: Reed Farrel Coleman . The Book Report . 2014 . July 28, 2014.
  11. Web site: Reed Farrel Coleman . Beaks and Geeks Podcast @3:40 . June 10, 2014 . July 29, 2014.
  12. Web site: A Wise Guy Mystery Writer Makes Good . Corrigan . Maureen . NPR . May 14, 2009 . July 12, 2014.
  13. Web site: Books Uncovered - Indie Press Edition! . Pinter . Jason . Huffington Post . October 6, 2010 . July 12, 2014.
  14. Web site: Coleman to Handle Jesse Stone for Putnam . Deahl . Rachel . Publishers Weekly . April 7, 2014 . July 12, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140709103843/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20140407/61739-book-deals-week-of-april-7-2014.html . July 9, 2014 .
  15. Web site: Reed Farrel Coleman . Beaks and Geeks Podcast @9:20 . June 10, 2014 . July 29, 2014.

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