Dear Reader,

Some years back, mystery authors Ken Kuhlken and Alan Russell needed money to finance the road trips they took, excusing themselves from family by claiming these journeys were all about business.

Since “midlist” novels earn their creators less than they could’ve made collecting aluminum cans, Ken had taken to writing feature stories for the San Diego Reader, a weekly tabloid that paid plenty. Ken supposed that if he and Alan chronicled a road trip or two, the Reader would buy the story. He didn’t know the contempt in which the Reader’s otherwise congenial editor held Alan Russell, ever since he had accused her of  stealing story ideas he submitted.

When poetry publisher Terry Hertzler heard Ken and Alan read from their tale at Hickey’s Bookstore, he asked to publish a chapbook edition. He named it Road Kill, whipped out some first editions, and paid the authors enough to put air in the tires of Ken’s Explorer. Soon, Ken and Alan were back on the road,  heading for the Left Coast Crime Conference in Boulder, Colorado, where Alan would win the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery. He also won a traffic citation while blazing through Utah. And Ken had backed into a parked car. Now they needed money to avoid imprisonment.

So they stationed themselves in the conference hotel bar, mooched drinks and convinced the sufficiently inebriated to buy Road Kill. Also stationed in the bar was Kinky Friedman, puffing on a stogie. His novel Road Kill appeared a couple years later. This reporter will draw no conclusions, as he is a fan of Kinky’s music and supports his campaign to become governor of Texas.

To read the original Road Kill, return to the top of this page and subscribe to Ken's newsletter. Soon you'll receive a copy of the newsletter with a link to the free ebook, from which you'll get dozens of laughs at Ken's and Alan's expense.

Yours truly, Clifford Hickey