A legend continues to grow for Gary Reilly, a Denver author who passed away in 2011 after a two-year battle with colon cancer. Leaving behind a treasure trove of 25 novels to two of his closest friends, Mark Stevens and Mike Keefe. The two established publishing house Running Meter Press in 2012. Since the first release, Reilly’s books have caught the attention of NPR, Booklist, The Denver Post – landing nine of the titles on their Best Seller List – and six Colorado Book Award nominations.
The posthumous awards and favorable criticism continue to pour in, and September 13th marks the release of Reilly’s 16th novel, THE PARADISE THAT LURKS IN FEMALE SMILES. This time, Reilly shares the story of Charley Quinn, a creative writing teacher at a free university in Denver.
We sat down with Gary’s long-time friend, and co-publisher Mark Stevens to learn more about Gary, his writing, and invaluable tips for aspiring writers out there.
Mark, what can you tell us about your friendship with the late, great Denver author, Gary Reilly?
Gary was a great friend. Open, humble, funny, engaging, wise and warm. He loved animals and children—always a good sign. I wish I had known him longer than I did. I met him 2004 and he sadly passed away seven years later. During those seven years, we met often for long coffees and chats about books, writing and any kind of bizarre, late-night B-movie he might have stayed up watching the night before.
We often met at what used to be Europa Coffeehouse (76 S. Pennsylvania St.) and work our way through a few large hot or cold beverages, depending on the season. One of the best things about Gary was how much work he put into reading my works in progress. I’ve been in writing groups and writing circles for years and it’s very common to read what others have written and provide feedback. The input I’d get from Gary was unparalleled. There was so much detail, so many ideas, and often a whole bunch of “what if” questions about the plot. Occasionally, I would get long follow-up emails full of more ideas and suggestions. I’ve never met anyone who got as much pleasure out of writing and storytelling as much as Gary Reilly. The fact that he produced 25 novels without ever seeing one published is proof of that fact. These weren’t first drafts. These were very polished novels that were ready to go. He would often tell me he was rewriting something that I thought was finished. He drew heavily from his own life as a former military policeman in the U.S. Army and, later, as a longtime taxicab driver. But he also tried his hand at fantasy and crime fiction, too. The toughest part of the relationship was that I was always the one who ended those coffees. I think Gary could have lingered all day. Inevitably, I had something else to get to. But he didn’t mind. He didn’t complain much about anything. I think he was mystified about how hard it was to find an agent or an editor, but he channeled that umbrage into his creativity and he’d go off and write another book.
We appreciate your journey of honoring him by unearthing his work. Can you give us a glimpse into this process?
When Gary was ill and the outlook was bleak, my friend Mike Keefe and I knew we needed to do something. Mike, the former Denver Post editorial cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011, had introduced me to Gary. Mike had known Gary since the 1970’s and both of us had read all of Gary’s works (at least, we think all of them). We were both huge fans, but we knew we needed Gary’s permission to publish. So Mike went to see Gary and asked him. Gary produced a three-sentence last will that included a statement to that effect. And then, kismet. I was doing a book promotion event one day for my own novels at a bookstore in Golden and I ran into a woman with Big Earth Publishing in Boulder. I told her Gary’s story and what we were trying to do and soon enough, the company Mike and I formed, Running Meter Press, was an imprint of Big Earth and all of their distribution systems.
About a year after Gary passed away, we published The Asphalt Warrior, the first of Gary’s nine comic novels in The Asphalt Warrior series. This imprint status worked well for the first five books until Big Earth went bankrupt. We took all matters back into our own hands and pulled together a team of folks to help.
We found an editor in Canada, Karen Haverkamp, who is fastidious and thoughtful. We relied on Mike’s networks of illustrators to help with the occasional cover illustration. For The Circumstantial Man and The Discharge, I did the photography. My wife, Jody Chapel, spent years designing book covers for a variety of clients and has helped whenever needed to design the exterior and interior, too. My tech-savvy daughter Justine Chapel helped with various challenges with manuscript formatting. Once we had the book edited and designed, we would often build in time to seek out advance reviews and advance comments/blurbs from other writers and then hold a big launch event, frequently at The Tattered Cover. We would also make sure publications like The Denver Post and Westword received advance copies and pitch stories to other media outlets, including Colorado Public Radio. Without the author himself here to help promote his works, we tried to play the role of stand-in. With the pandemic and my recent move to southwestern Colorado, we haven’t done those big launch gatherings for the last couple of releases, but, overall, I can say Mike and I are thrilled with the response, which includes many rave reviews and six total Colorado Book Award nominations.
The Paradise Lurks in Female Smiles is the 16th of Gary’s novels we’ve published. I can’t imagine having not done anything and, really, Mike and I were the only ones in position to even try.
Reilly was less focused on self-promotion and more on perfecting his craft. What advice do you think he would offer a budding new writer?
Great question. I think the bottom line is that, in this day and age, you have to do both. I suppose there are a few new, unknown writers out there who are so good that they can sit in a dark loft and pass down best-sellers through a small trap door to a waiting world that is eager to eat up their perfect prose. But I wouldn’t count on it.
New writers need to learn how to network. To sell themselves as well as their words in the most genuine way possible. They need a tribe of fellow writers, too. Why? Because there are plenty of published writers out there who are willing to help. If somebody is already working in the business and you gain their support and they get behind your writing and stories, you might get that needed introduction. It might be to yet another writer. It might be an introduction to an agent. Chances are you are going to receive lots of feedback from your writer friends and you need to learn how to listen to those suggestions and criticisms. You also need to learn how to ignore the takes that make no sense, of course, but the main thing is to keep working on those drafts until they are as good as they can be and then move onto the next project. And keep writing.
The quickest way to build your network? Join a writing group. Colorado is full of them. Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America. Northern Colorado Writers. Pikes Peak Writers. Lighthouse Writers Workshop. On and on. Good writing coaches and teachers abound up and down the Front Range and around Colorado. Attend their conferences and gatherings. Heck, volunteer to help out. Hold your hand up. In the process, you’re going to find your people and develop friendships that will last a long time. And in the process, you are going to read lots of fiction by your friends who are also working their way into the business. And you’ll read writing you love and you’ll see writing you don’t care for quite as much—and all of that will help you, too, develop your sensibility and your craft. Write as much as possible, get out there and network as much as possible. There are good writing days and there are bad writing days. There are very few bad networking days, especially if you show up to help others.