Friends Who’d Never Met Reunited At Last

 

By Mark Howell

 

“The hot afternoon sun was beating down mercilessly on those people foolish enough to walk the streets of Key West. I turned off of Duval Street into the alley beside the Red Garter Saloon. My destination was on the other side of the road, a wooden panel building with a long porch full of potted trees. A sign out front read The Smokin’ Tuna Saloon..

 

 

“Inside the building was a man I had been seeking for a long time. We had been friends for years but we had never met face to face. I walked along the narrow walkway between the two wooden buildings that comprised the bar and eatery. One of the first people I saw was a newer acquaintance and I went up and spoke to him first: A writer by the name of Michael Haskins.

 

 

 

“After introducing myself, I asked about the fellow I’d come to Key West to find.

 

 

“He had lived in Canada when I knew him before, a cold and snowy place called Toronto. After Haskins pointed him out, I walked across the bar, sidestepping busy waitresses with long, tanned legs and other patrons. I was halfway across the bar when he turned and looked at me.

 

 

 

“I paused for a step and then continued over to him. ‘Hello, Mark,’ I said.

 

 

“‘Bill?’ his tone was uncertain.

 

 

“‘Yes, how are you, my old friend?’ I asked with a grin.

 

 

 

“‘Bill Craig!’ his voice was choked with emotion. He extended his hand and I shook it and pulled him into a hug.

 

 

 

“Mark Howell was a man who’d been both friend and mentor for me for more than 30 years, yet we had never met face to face before.

 

 

 

“Mark was the editor that helped me with my writing, offering suggestions over the years that had always been constructive and helpful. He made me a better writer.

 

 

 

“So Mark bought me a beer and we sat down at the bar to talk about old times back when I’d first written for him in his role as senior editor at Gold Eagle Books. I passed on a hello message from Sharon Ahern, the wife of our mutual friend and also another mentor of mine, the late Jerry Ahern. Talking of Jerry led us to discussing the books he’d written for Mark, ‘The Takers’ series and ‘Track.’

 

 

“Mark became quite overwhelmed with emotion as we explored those old times.

 

 

“He has now become a recurring character in my ‘Marlow Key West’ mysteries that I write for Absolutely Amazing E-Books, although his name has been changed to protect the innocent. For almost an hour we spoke of old friends and good times. I’d proved I’m not a bad detective in my own right, tracking down this international man of mystery to the inaugural Key West Mystery Writers conference.”

 

 

Howelings received this chapter above by e-mail the morning after the Mystery Writers Key West Fest came to an end. Those proceedings had begun, just as Bill describes them, at the Smokin’ Tuna on a lucky Friday, June 13.

 

 

The whole fest was a huge success, with at least 25 Mystery writers, local and national, brought to town by Key West writer Michael Haskins and international publisher Shirrel Rhoades.

 

 

But for Howelings, the great surprise came in the form of big Bill Craig of Indiana, creator of a never-ending series of adventure novels that have always brought back memories of how we did things back in Toronto, Ontario, headquarters of Harlequin Books, the world’s largest publisher of romances, and its action-adventure and mystery lines, published in the Gold Eagle division — sufficient books to reach the moon and back (that’s a fact).

 

 

Since those days we have lost the great Jerry Ahern, also Don Pendleton, creator of Gold Eagle’s biggest-selling series featuring Mack Bolan, Executioner, in his war against the Mafia. We also lost — well, killed off — April Rose, Mack’s faithful sidekick (a mistake, that, I’ve always thought). Back in the early, deadlier days, we lost the very first of our ghost writers, who died from the stress before he’d even begun and whose newly widowed new wife came to Toronto to collect his promised fortune that never materialized.

 

 

But I never did get to meet one of our all-time favorites among the writers, Bill Craig, until last month here in Key West.

 

 

Now back to Bill, who picks up his story as it unfolds in the 21st century, with adventure morphing into mystery and Absolutely Amazing eBooks becoming the publisher of the hour:

 

 

“It was 2007 that I first decided to try my hand at writing mysteries. I had been writing pulp-inspired action-adventure novels for years and wanted to try something different. The Midwest, where I live, unless it is Chicago or Detroit, isn’t all that interesting as a setting for private eye stories.

 

 

“So where would make a new setting that would be fun to write about? I settled on the Florida Keys. The first of my mysteries was ‘Scorpion Cay,’ an imaginary island in the Keys. It featured former DEA agent Sam Decker who turned out to be something of a cross between Magnum and Jimmy Buffet. Eight books later, Decker is still going strong.

 

 

“During this time, Mark introduced me to Shirrel Rhoades. Shirrel liked two of my books so I pitched a new series to him about a former NYPD cop who’d moved to Key West to start over. “Marlow: Indigo Tide” quickly became an Amazon best seller. Four books later, the Marlow stories are some of the top sellers for Shirrel’s imprint.

 

 

“As an old-school writer with a background in pulp fiction, my goal in life is to beat the record for most words written in a year, set by Walter B. Gibson back when he was writing two ‘Shadow’ novels a month at the height of the character’s popularity.  So far this year I’ve already finished and published six novels.

 

 

 

“My goal for the year is 12. I am on my way….

 

 

“This is not The End!”

 

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