Robert J. Randisi has written at least 13 novels a year—every year—since 1982. The tally so far is somewhere over 550. That number wouldn’t be as impressive if not for the fact that they are all good.
Okay, I haven’t read all of his books. (“No one has,” Randisi once told me, “not even me.”) But I’ve read a lot of them, as many as I can get my hands on, and I’ve enjoyed every last one of them. In fact, I have to be careful with a Randisi novel. If I start it, I will finish it in as few sitting as possible and that can be problematic if I have things like papers to grade, deadlines to meet, or… sleep to get.
What’s the shortest distance between reality and another world, another place and time? Simple. Page one of a Randisi novel.
Most of Randisi’s novels have appeared in The Gunsmith action-western series (formerly adult Western series) under the name J. R. Roberts. (The Gunsmith #353: The Deadly Chest came out this month.) Randisi has written in just about every form and every genre—from action-adventure to science fiction to erotica–but he is best known for writing private eye fiction and Westerns. The sixth book in his Rat Pack Mysteries series, Fly Me to the Morgue, comes out this June, and a new The Gunsmith novel comes out each month with one Giant Gunsmith each fall.
Below, Randisi and I talk about writing, getting knocked down and getting back up, and about always moving forward but looking back every now and then.
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