Five on Friday: Tom Schreck

Happy March and Happy Friday everyone! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have February in the rear-view mirror. I try not wish my life away, but this February was a rough one. I'm super excited to be starting with a fresh new month; I have Left Coast Crime to look forward to and St. Patrick's Day. I like this holiday!

Before I get to our first Five on Friday of March, I have some odds and ends housekeeping info to share.

First is about Soho's contest for Cara Black's new Aimée Deluc mystery, MURDER BELOW MONTPARNASSE. I signed up earlier this week and got a notice today that I won some French post cards. Fun stuff! They have a Nook up for grabs at the end loaded with some Soho crime novels, so don't miss out on that!

I'm going to be working on my panel for Left Coast Crime, so if you are so inclined to share your feedback with me but you haven't done so yet, now's the time. Here's the link for the survey form. Many thanks to everyone who has already contributed their thoughts. Your contributions will help me to focus the panel in a way that will hopefully be beneficial to anyone who attends. By the way, are any of YOU going to be in Colorado, too?

Those Crimespree folks that I just love have a new website. Be sure to pop over and take a look. Also, they're sponsoring a new Friday Reads contest on Facebook, so make sure you enter for that this week.

In the interest of time...and the fact that I know you want me to get to this week's guest...I'll leave the updates at that.

Now let me move on to a man I've known almost as long as I've been blogging. Tom Schreck writes a series featuring Duffy Dombrowski, a social worker/semi-pro boxer, and Al, a basset hound (or a basket hound, depending on who you ask).  Those who know Tom might see some similarities. Tom has worked as a social worker, and while he doesn't box professionally, he does judge boxing professionally.  And Tom has a basset hound of his own--as well as a bloodhound and a mix-breed dog with a little of both blood hound and basset hound. Add in the cats and the Schrecks have a very busy house! It's a good thing that he has such a great sense of humor.

If you haven't checked out Tom's series before, there's a special starting (I believe today) on his second novel TKO. It'll be 99¢ with a snazzy new cover on Kindle. And the third book, OUT COLD gets its make-over starting today as well. If you're familiar with the original covers I think you'll be surprised to see the difference. Gives them a whole new tone! If you like dogs, funny, conspiracy theories, I think you'll like Duffy Dombroski.  But let me quit my yapping and turn things over to the man himself...Mr. Tom Schreck!

Tom with Jon Jordan and Joe Schmidt at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego

1. If I could tell my 16-year-old self one piece of advice, knowing what I know now, it would be: Relax, you’re not going to get in trouble and even if you do sometimes it’s worth it. Oh, and your zits will go away in twenty years or so.

2. The best gift I ever received was: My wedding ring. My father made it during WWII while he was in Europe. After he died my mom gave it to me before I got married and it symbolizes how lucky I am to have met Sue.

3. One thing I have no tolerance for is: Arrogant people. (note from Jen: and yet, he tolerates me!)

4. The most daring thing I ever tried (to date) was: When I was in my early 20’s my Dad and I weren’t getting along. Like many WWII, greatest generation types, he wasn’t the kind of guy who talked about emotional stuff. I decided to write him a letter and in it I told him I loved him but that sometimes he hurt my feelings. I expected him to ignore it but I figured as a man it was something I needed to do.

 That day he called me and he was in a really cheerful voice and told me he got my letter and that he had one for me. When I read it I couldn’t believe it. He poured his heart out to me and promised to change. He did and never broke his word. It changed our relationship forever.

5. The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: I really want to be able to play “Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do” on the guitar exactly like Elvis did on his TV special. I want to be able to do it on an electric with all the fills and solos and I want to be able to play it in front of an audience. I don’t necessarily need the black leather suit… But it would be nice. 

Oh yes, I guess I forgot the other similarity between Duffy and Tom (how could I have forgotten to mention THIS?): their love of Elvis Presley! In both cases, it's pretty legendary.  Despite knowing Tom for awhile now, I knew almost none of this! This is exactly why I love Five on Friday!

Tom's a regular at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego as well as Bouchercon, so if you attend a future event, be sure to say "hi" to him. You'll find a very friendly, kind, out-going guy with lots of dog stories! And until those events roll around, you can find Tom on Facebook. Thanks Tom for your wonderful responses this week. And thanks to all of you for stopping by to read! Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you have plenty of good reads to fill it!