with Robert Glinski
We are delighted to welcome crime novelist Robert Glinski to Omnimystery News today.
Robert's debut novel is The Friendship of Criminals (Minotaur Books; March 2015 hardcover and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead character of The Friendship of Criminals. What is it about him that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Robert Glinski
Robert Glinski: My lead protagonist is an older man named Anton Bielakowski. He lives in Port Richmond — a small, Polish neighborhood in Philadelphia — where he runs his family's criminal organization. He is old school in every sense, capable of out-thinking and out-hustling every adversary except one — father time.
Working in Philly, I met several men like Anton and was fascinated by their duality. For the most part, they endeavored to be good fathers, husbands, and neighbors … while also being wholly committed to a criminal lifestyle difficult to fathom. These men struck me as Great White Sharks who honored their base instincts without fear of the consequences because consequences simply didn't pack the same deferential punch they do for the rest of us. They were fearless in ways I had never experienced and — for that reason — was drawn towards.
OMN: Into what genre would you place your book?
RG: I've always struggled with this choice. Each genre comes with such expectations and protocols; you're bound to disappoint somebody who feels you've fallen short. At the same time, I understand that attracting readers demands the book be placed somewhere on the proverbial shelf. While I'd say my novel is classic crime fiction, I'm more comfortable saying it honors the traditions established and continued by George V. Higgins, Mario Puzo, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, and Elmore Leonard.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
RG: They say you can tell everything you need to know about someone from their signature. What is that — ten or twenty letters? Well, my book is almost 80,000 words so, yeah, there is a whole lot of me in between the covers. Perhaps this personal involvement slows for more experienced writers on their fifteenth or twentieth novel, but my fields are still pretty fresh.
As a Philly attorney, I ran into colorful characters every day. I took bits and pieces from many of them — certain unique traits and quirks — and built them into my characters. That doesn't mean it was a straight-up lawyer-to-lawyer or criminal-to-criminal transfer — I spread these personality gems where they fit best. And that's kind of the point of my book — some lawyers I know were pretty bad dudes and some clients were swell except for a single misstep.
And yes, I was inspired by real events that I either experienced or was told the details. It's these true-to-life character behaviors and actions that I think give my book a sense of realism, which was always my goal. I'll leave truth to the non-fiction writers and fantasy to the comic book crowd. Realism is what I like to write and that requires interaction.
OMN: Tell us about your writing process.
RG: I had no idea this was such a testy issue amongst writers until recently seeing some Twitter fireworks. First, let me say I'm an advocate of using whatever works and the end product is the ultimate judge. For me, I do a little of both outlining and allowing the story to develop as I write it, cross my fingers, and have faith I can land the plane. I do think however that outlining may help ensure the ending works out okay. I read a lot of books which hum along only to fall apart the last fifty pages. That strikes me as an outlining and ambition problem. Any great story needs the ending to match the set-up or what's the point? I'd rather see a juggler perfectly execute six balls in the air rather than try ten and embarrass himself.
OMN: Where do you most often find yourself writing?
RG: I'm a big coffee shop writer; the guy in the corner pecking away on his laptop. I'll hit it first thing in the morning, break for lunch, a couple hours in the afternoon, and again late in the evening when all my family responsibilities have been honored. I've been pretty disciplined from the beginning to avoid needing the "perfect" writing environment. If I have my laptop and thirty minutes, I'm typing away. That being said, I can be distracted like anyone else.
OMN: The story of The Friendship of Criminals is set in Philadelphia? How true are you to the city?
RG: I'd argue that getting "place" right is a requirement of truly great crime fiction. Look at Elmore Leonard with Detroit, Janet Evanovich with Trenton, or John Macdonald with Florida — their crime stories could have been written in any town or state, but they were made pitch perfect by the respective authors' masterful understanding of locale.
I also think if you get "place" right, you have so much more freedom in dialogue and character interaction. Authors who don't understand their geography tend to over-write their descriptions because they don't trust getting the one or two essential elements right.
My book is the type of neighborhood-within-a-city-crime story that I thought demanded absolute accuracy similar to Dennis Lehane's Mystic River. He stone-cold knows those Boston neighborhoods and it shines through in his writing. The greatest compliment is when someone from Philly says, "Yo, man, you got it right."
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author? And what might you say to aspiring writiers?
RG: The best advice? This is probably going to sound odd but I've never actually gotten any advice. For better or worse, I'm entirely, 100% self-educated about the writing/publishing process. I have never taken a writing class, attended a conference, or really talked with any other writers. I learned how by reading and writing. I'm not sure that's the best way but here I am.
The harshest criticism? That's easy — the steady stream of rejections I received for a decade until I got my "yes". It is one thing to get blasted by a fire hose every couple years, but a polite, impersonal rejection every day or two, month-after-month, year-after-year is some brutal action. How many rejections? It's fair to say every literary agent and publisher has rejected my writing at least three — and sometimes four — times.
What did I learn? I didn't learn a damn thing from all those rejections other than the brutal truth — modern publishing is a tough, sometimes unfair business and I needed to write better. I set my jaw, read widely, edited manically, and pressed on.
My advice? Just because there are a bunch of poorly written books being published every year doesn't mean your poorly written book deserves to be included. Write something unique. Write something great. Write something no one else could have written. And you'll probably still get rejected so get ready to go again.
OMN: We understand The Friendship of Criminals has already been optioned for film. Any thoughts on who you'd like to see playing the key roles?
RG: I was lucky enough to have the book optioned before the publishing rights were even sold so this has been a fun question to ponder. One of the principal characters — a hustle named Sonny — is James Caan because he's the spitting image in accent, mannerism, and background of the guy who inspired the character. The protagonist — Anton Bielakowski — is either an aged Harvey Keitel or one of my favorite character actors — Armin Mueller-Stahl. Bradley Cooper plays Anton's son Marcek and his girlfriend is Rooney Mara.
OMN: Create a Top Five list for us on any topic.
RG: Top Five Favorite Books made into my Top Five Favorite Movies:
1) Marathon Man by William Goldman;
2) True Grit by Charles Portis;
3) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy;
4) Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris; and
5) Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
(Bonus Picks — The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Wiseguys by Nicholas Pileggi, and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.)
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Robert Glinski is a graduate of Washington University and Temple University School of Law. He was an attorney in Philadelphia and New Jersey for a decade before transitioning to investment advising. With two writing pieces recently optioned in Hollywood, he now spends his time crafting his next novel and finishing his first screenplay. He lives in Mason, OH with his wife and two children and enjoys traveling anywhere he can bring his fly-fishing rod.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at RKGlinski.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Twitter.
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The Friendship of Criminals
Robert Glinski
A Crime Novel
