BORDERLANDS
SETH'S WEBSITE
PODIOBOOKS
Seth Harwood received an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and went on to build a large readership for his first novel, JACK WAKES UP, by serializing it as a free audiobook online. He is the author of two additional novels, THIS IS LIFEand YOUNG JUNIUS, and a collection of short stories, A LONG WAY FROM DISNEY. Seth lives in San Francisco, where he teaches at Stanford and the City College of San Francisco.
Audio versions of Seth's novels and stories have been downloaded over one million times.
The Backstory of JACK WAKES UP/Birth of the Podcast Novel
In 2005, Seth started writing Jack Wakes Up. After almost 9 months of working on the novel, he decided he was ready to podcast it. In July 2006, the Jack Palms Crime Podcast Series was born. As JACK WAKES UP was followed by A LONG WAY FROM DISNEY, JACK PALMS II: THIS IS LIFE, and JACK PALMS 3: CZECHMATE, his podcast audience grew into a sizeable world-wide following, as covered by the San Francisco Chronicle here.
When Breakneck Books published JACK WAKES UP in March 2008, Seth's online audience (the Palms Daddies and Palms Mommas) jumped all over Amazon.com and bought enough copies to raise the book to #1 in Crime/Mystery and #45 overall in books.
JACK WAKES UP was subsequently purchased by THREE RIVERS PRESS (Random House) and re-released on May 5th 2009. It received rave reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Michael Connelly, and Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times Book Review.
Now Seth is happy to see his second novel, YOUNG JUNIUS, out from Tyrus Books in hardcover, trade paperback and also as a very special, limited edition.
Now Seth is happy to see his second novel, YOUNG JUNIUS, out from Tyrus Books in hardcover, trade paperback and also as a very special, limited edition.
About YOUNG JUNIUS, Publishers Weekly says:
Set in 1987, Harwood’s searing look at doomed youth chronicles a few pivotal days in the life of 14-year-old Junius Posey, a captive of poverty, ignorance, and misguided social programming in the Rindge Towers, a drug-ridden Cambridge, Mass., housing project. Beginning with his older brother Temple’s funeral, Junius’s extended quest to wreak vengeance on Temple’s killer and make himself a power in his ’hood results in a vicious black comedy of murderous errors. Harwood (Jack Wakes Up) pulls no punches, revealing not only the white death of crack cocaine but the ineffectuality of black liberals who believe their Harvard Law books can cure the malignancy inherent in “forgotten civic ideas” like the Towers and the desire of the Towers’ inhabitants to destroy anyone trying to escape. In the end, Junius’s fate is as old as Aeschylus, the endless cycle of killing “just a snake eating itself.”
Booklist adds:
After his older brother is gunned down, six-foot-three-inch, 14-year-old Junius sets his heart on vengeance and makes for the Rindge Towers, a three-building slum uneasily shared by two rival pushers. What starts as a narrative limited to the point-of-view of the remorseless teen widens—and widens and widens—until it encompasses a huge cast of characters, including kids, cops, and a legion of small-time thugs. Harwood’s cutaway view of a single bloody day in a housing project is an impressive feat, undercut only by the sameness of some of the warriors, who come fast and furious with names like Big Pickup, Black Jesus, and Seven Heaven. Despite these monikers, there’s nothing cartoonish about the story, which powers forward with a blunt and violent vulgarity: “He pushed the door open and headed out to see what the fuck.” There is a mystery here—who really pulled the trigger on Junius’ bro?—but the point is clearly the bad-versus-worse decisions brought on by bloodlust. Given the characters’ brutality, Harwood’s empathy runs deeply indeed.
CHECKOUT HIS NEW BOOK COMING OUT MAY 7TH IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
B.O.C.
WHAT INFLUENCED YOU TO START WRITING?
SETH
I think my senior
year in college. I'd spent a semester abroad and seen how many different ways
people could live. Realized that I didn't have to be a part of the
"American Commercial Machine" so to speak (though maybe I still am --
I was an economics major in college, if that helps put things together for you)
and came back wanting to create. Once I figured out I wasn't good at drawing or
sculpture, I settled into writing. Now, looking back I can see I've been
writing stories since I was very young. It was basically there the whole time.
B.O.C.
WHAT WAS YOUR
EXPECTATIONS WHEN YOU STARTED THE PODCASTS OF YOUR BOOKS AND WHERE’D YOU GET
THE IDEA?
SETH
I got the idea from a friend who’d been listening to Scott
Sigler. Then Scott himself actually helped me out. He’s been great all along.
My biggest expectation was to just have a place where my book was available to
folks so I could move on from it and start writing the next thing. I wanted to
get it out to an audience and man, did that turn out well! It was also a lot of
fun to do!
B.O.C.
DO YOU SCAN THE
NEWSPAPERS OR INTERNET SITES, OR EVEN TV FOR IDEAS?
SETH
No. Not so much.
B.O.C.
TELL EVERYONE ABOUT
YOUR NEW PROJECT
SETH
My new book is In Broad Daylight. It’s out on May 7th. In
Broad Daylight, is the story of FBI agent Jess Harding chasing a serial killer
across Alaska during the summer white nights. This baddie leaves brutally
beaten victims and cryptic messages scrawled across his crime scenes in blood.
Five years ago, Jess Harding hunted him in her first big case and got nowhere.
Now, she’s bringing her A-game. Soon,
though, she realizes that some of his messages are calling her out by name.
She’s not sure if she’s the hunter or the hunted.
If you’ve already heard the podcast of In Broad Daylight,
you know this is an awesome thriller full of kick-ass violence, pulse-pounding
suspense, and a wild trip across the Great Land. If not, it’s free just like
all my stuff. You can go listen at Sethharwood.com or over at Podiobooks. Tell
‘em Mark sent you.
B.O. C.
JACK PALMS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN
RECENT CRIME FICTION. VERY GRITTY
CHARACTER, BUT I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME HUMOR TO IT AS WELL. WAS IT HARDER TO WRITE JESS HARDING THAN JACK
AND WILL THERE BE MORE OF JACK?
SETH
It actually wasn't that difficult. Yes, more Jack Palms to
come for sure, but also more Jess Harding! I visited Alaska in 2011 and was
just so taken with the landscape there I knew I had to set a story in it. Also,
I'd been really impressed with Stieg Larssen's Millenium Trilogy and loved the
Lisbeth Salander character. I wanted to try writing from the point of view of a
female detective and Jess Harding was born.
I think I started with JACK really from the ground up,
thinking of this down and out actor leaving LA and going through all he did.
Really, these events don't even happen in the book--it's all precursors. Then,
as I was writing it, all the action Jack found himself in the middle of just
made for such a parallel to his crazy movie (which was actually a lot of the
point, I think), so it made sense to me, once he was in those situations, for
him to draw on his acting. Like, could he fake his way through it with the real
players?
I think I just had fun writing him as a character and
exploring how he'd handle himself, that that part of the writing process came
organically and may be to blame for the "effortless" quality of his
ways.
B.O.C.
WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE
CRIMINAL OR CRIME COMMITTED, HISTORICALLY?
SETH
Criminal? Michael Condiff
Crime: Robbing a bunch of casinos and hotels in a short
stint. See CrimeWAV 40
http://crimewav.com/?q=content/episode-40-michael-condiff-confessions-casino-bandit
B.O.C.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO WRITERS STARTING
OUT?
SETH
Write as often as you can, every day if possible. Build your
game plan for the long haul. Submit often. Write. Write. Write. Read. Read.
Read.
B.O.C.
WHEN IT COMES TO
CRIME FICTION AND NOIR, WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL CHARACTER?
SETH
Jack Palms, of course!
B.O.C.
I HAVE TO SAY, YOUR OWN PODCAST CRIMEWAV, IS
ONE OF THE BEST AROUND. YOU EVER RUN ACROSS WRITERS WHO TURN YOU DOWN WHEN YOU
ASK THEM TO READ THEIR WORK, OR DO THEY APPROACH YOU?
SETH
I usually ask people I know or crime writers I come into
contact with. So far, I’m getting a really high level of positive responses
from them.
B.O.C.
ONE FINAL QUESTION.
AND I’M GONNA TELL YOU SETH, THIS IS A CARRER BREAKING ANSWER, SO ANSWER
TRUTHFULLY, AND MAKE SURE IT’S THE RIGHT CHOICE. YOUR READERS WANT TO KNOW THIS
MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE WORLD. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JERRY LEWIS MOVIE?
SETH
The Jerk! Or is that Steve Martin?
CHECKOUT SETH'S WEBSITE AND HIS GREAT PODCAST!
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