The Guy Who Is Loren Estleman

The cover story of this week’s Metro Times features Loren Estleman, billed as “MIchigan’s Other Crime Writer”:

On a drive through Indiana two years ago, Michigan-based author Loren Estleman and his wife,

Deborah Morgan, discovered a weathered water tower painted with the words “GAS CITY” in large letters.

The sight immediately gave Estleman an idea: What about a lawless city in the Midwest?

The writer had lots of ideas motoring around in his brain, like the short stories

of a film archivist-turned-sleuth, or the Western about a hanging judge, or the further adventures

of Detroit P.I. Amos Walker.

See, Estleman’s able to transfer nebulous thoughts into novels —

and here’s what’s crazy: The guy can pump out three, sometimes four worthy books in a 12-month stretch.

This year alone, the 56-year-old Estleman published one book of photography, three novels and

slews of short fiction. He’s certainly prolific. In fact, only one novelist more prolific springs

to mind — Belgian-born writer Georges Simenon — who, at one point, wrote a book a week.

Well, I can think of a few others who are just as prolific, generally of the same generation, but sure, I can go with that line of reasoning. But it’s a very good piece whose writer, Odell Walker, also reviews that new book of photography, AMOS WALKER’S DETROIT.