Tony Deuce

Tony Deuce is both author and podcaster. As co-host of the Back Seat Producers podcast he brings his love of Scorsese and Cagney-style crime thrillers, as well as his affection for the European (Guy Ritchie, Michael Lonsdale) and Asian (John Woo, Tony Leung) equivalents in crime cinema, to an eclectic mix of hosts. Tony and his partners in crime, Tony #1 (Tony Mast), David (Adam), and Darryl, podcast every Wednesday evening, giving you their collective and often confrontational insights on exactly what is going on (or wrong) in Hollywood.

Tony the author has just published his first novel. "The Boston Connexion" is a gritty crime and revenge tale that harkens back to the heyday of mob fiction. It's a coming-of-age story that sprawls three cities on three different continents,"a gritty, pub-soused, bare-knuckled-brawler of a revenge novel." that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Tony will also have a short story published titled ” 商君書 (Shangzi) Or Engine of the Species." It's being released with the “Built for Speed” anthology by Unasked Question, LLC later this year (2011). He is also working on a forthcoming project with Tony Mast that hopefully will see release at the beginning of next year.

Now, wait right here while I make this man an offer he cant refuse.

6 Questions with Tony Deuce:

1. What are your favorite and your least favorite words?

  "LOL, I couldn't tell ya. Every word has a purpose. Even those formed from complete nonsense."


2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally? 

  "Wow, where are the questions like "What's my favorite color," etc? :-)
Creatively I try to be influenced by everything and anything possible. I want to feel like I could theoretically write about anything. To the extent that some creative work continues to impress me as interesting and different enough from something that was done before, to the extent that it reframes my thinking, that stuff usually can be fascinating and creatively invigorating. One example would be "The Social Network." To me, that movie kind of reframes how a movie about modern society could be done. It's like a modern day "La Dolce Vita" style-commentary, only that it's legal drama about computer geeks in a script vaguely reminiscent of "Animal House." When you see something like that--kind of breaking the formula--that gets you thinking. "I want to write something like that someday." And that pushes you further. 

  Spiritually I'm a Christian and a believer and you can't escape that stuff. Salman Rushdie says "Atheists are obsessed with God." Well, many believers can't run away fast enough! I'm no exception, and this is the central yin-yang dichotomy of spirituality. I find spirituality a trying and intellectually challenging, rather than a blissful experience. But it's just as important either way. It finds its way into my work generally, I think. I know it did on  "The Boston Connexion."
  I also like kung fu philosophy, and classical taoism alot as well. Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the internal-external dichotomy of kung fu principles, and how a lot of other things in life are like kung fu. But that's not as much of a spiritual thing as it is a philosophical and physiological thing. But it affects the spirit significantly. Mind and body always affect the spirit. I wish I had the discipline to be a hard core kung fu guy.
  I wish I had the discipline to be a better Christian as well. In short, I think spiritually, what turns me on would be more self-discipline. How does that relate to my writing? Hopefully it's in the characters.

  Emotionally, I try to let the characters' limited perspectives drive the story. As the omniscient voice in my stories, usually, I try not to involve my own emotions too much in what I write."

3. What profession other than yours would you most like to attempt?
  

  "There are a ton of things that I would love to do professionally, that I could never do. Boxing is just one of them. It's easily the most extreme thing that I would want to do, relative to who and where I am now. I think those fighter guys/gals have a lot of guts, endurance. To stand in that ring and take hits, and think on your feet, and not hesitate to deliver the blows... that's a kind of stubborness, intransigence and discipline I would never have. It's also high on strategy. Either that, or maybe it's just crazy. But you still have to be disciplined to be crazy too."

4. What profession would you least like to attempt?

  "I've cleaned enough sewer lines in my life to know that I prefer not to do that professionally."

5. What is the most fun you have ever had?

  "I have fun everyday! I don't measure it too much. I try to live in the moment, like my dogs. Everyday for them is the most fun they've ever had."

6. Assuming heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

                "We have Guinness."


Make it a Yuengling and I'm in. Thanks to Tony Deuce for giving a GREAT interview! Tony I really appreciate you taking the time to do this!
And thanks to YOU for reading! If you'd like to know more about Tony Deuce and his work check out the following links:

http://thebostonconnexion.com/
@TonyDeuce
Here's another great chat with Tony

Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time for an interview with the extraordinary comic book artist J.K. Woodward!