OK, well maybe not yet, but man, did today’s trip to the mailbox make my day.

I had heard from Ardai at Hard Case that Richard S. Prather, creator of Shell Scott and one of my personal pulp idols, was having some health problems. I’d always wanted to write to him, but never got up the nerve. Now that I actually had something to write to him about (other than just how much of a big geeky fangirl I am), I figured I’d better seize the goddamn day. So I sent him a letter telling him about MONEY SHOT and how it never would have been written if I hadn’t read his novels. How it was my post about his novel THE PEDDLER here on this blog that caught Ardai’s attention and got me invited to submit to Hard Case in the first place. Anyway, today I received a handwritten response that I plan to frame and hang beside my desk. It reads:

Dear Christa Faust

It’s a continuing – and amazing – pleasure for me to know that anyone is still reading my books all these decades after they were first published. Like THE PEDDLER upcoming next month from your publisher. (How does that sound? Congratulations to the “First Lady” of Hard Case Crime!) That one was written when my wife and I were living in Mexico City waaaay back in 1952!

The above is all preface to my telling you your letter not only made my day, it brightened my year. Many thanks for those cheering words.
I sincerely hope MONEY SHOT (I’ll keep an eye peeled for it) is a huge seller and earns you lots of applause and money… and from pleased readers down the road, letters that give you as much pleasure as yours gave me.

Love and light from an old pro to a new young tiger. Go get ‘em, Christa!

Richard Prather

You bet I will, Mr. Prather.