Me and Reed
Back in 2002 we were in Austin Texas for Bouchercon, it was our third Bouchercon and we felt pretty comfortable and knew quite a few people. During the course of the weekend we were at a panel and up towards the front during the panel we heard a phone go off. A big guy got up apologizing and scooted out into the hall with his phone. Ruth and I looked at each other with a “Who is this knuckle head” kind of a look on our faces. Later that night Katy Munger, a wonderful human being and great author, introduced us to this guy. The minute he opened his mouth we knew he was from New York. He had a deep and loud laugh that is very distinctive, and he seemed to ALWAYS be smiling. We bumped into him a few more times and just figured, cool, another author we need to check out when we get home.
Flash forward to Sunday and Ruth and I at the airport. We are at our gate and we hear this voice loudly coming from behind us.
“Guys!!! Are you going to Milwaukee?!”
And there he was, this crazy New Yorker who now seemed to maybe be stalking us. We chatted for a while and learned that Reed had actually lived in Milwaukee for a while. (It’s a great story but you need Reed to tell properly) As we went to board we mentioned that if he was ever in Milwaukee he should let us know and he could stay with us.
A year later as we headed to Vegas for Bouchercon I had interviewed Reed and actually included the interview in my book Interrogations. This was also the place we had our first meeting about Crimespree and during the weekend we asked Reed to be a contributor. He’s been in every issue since. We had some great fun with Reed that weekend including the Shamus awards. The Shamus awards is where Judy Bobalik really got to meet him for the first time, after having had a number of “ bump intos” with Reed.

Flashforward again to the following Spring, Reed set up a signing at Mystery One books in Milwaukee and asked if he could take us up on our offer of a place to stay. By this point we love spending time with Reed so of course we set it up. It was a Saturday signing and we had a ball. Judy came up and so did some other friends including Jeremy. We had a great lunch and eventually ended up at our place and played Trivial Pursuit. I discovered a couple things during that game. One, our friends can be very competitive. Second, Reed knows A LOT of trivia.
Over the years Reed has stayed at our place quite a few times and we are not joking when we say he’s part of the family. And not just the Crimespree Family, but like we’re actually related. Every time I see Reed he makes me laugh and every minute spent with the man is a joy, his enthusiasm is infectious.
On one of our trips to New York we went and saw the anniversary performance of Hair with Reed and his awesome wife. (ironic a bit because between us Reed and I can’t make up a full head od hair) We make a point of seeing Reed on every trip we make to the Big Apple. I especially love the time we all went out for dinner at Virgil’s for BBQ. Reed’s family was there and we discovered that his kids are every bit as awesome as he is.

We’ve seen Reed switch publishers and hook up with the awesome Ben LeRoy who gave series character Mo Prager a place to hang his hat, a great match up. We’ve had Reed at a number of the Murder and Mayhem events we’ve done. He always kills it.
This coming Wednesday Reed will be in Milwaukee and Minneapolis signing his last Mo Prager book HOLLOW GIRL. If you can make it you should definitely come and see him. Reed is a great guy and tells stories like nobody else I know. (makes sense that he’s an author of course). Reed will be writing the Jesse Stone series by Robert Parker now and the first one is AMAZING.
We love Reed and I have many memories of time with him that I just don’t have time to put here. He’s one of my favorite people and I am not joking when I say I would do anything for the man and his family.
And we’re thrilled with his continued success.
So thank you Reed for being you and if you are reading this and are near where he’ll be doing a signing, GO!
 
 

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