On this episode, crime writer Vern Smith, editor of the Chinaski award-winning anthology Jacked, talks about his new novel, Scratching the Flint. Already garnering critical acclaim from respected voices in crime circles, Scratching the Flint interrogates the perceived ethics of justice, the elements culpable for the destabilization of North American policing and society, and what it means or doesn’t mean to be responsible for another person’s violent and evil demise. Join us for an engaging conversation about street-level crime fiction, the DIY ethos it takes to write six bad ass books, and the threat that Artificial Intelligence poses to the independent spirit and expression of the true artists and writers among us.

Buy Scratching the Flint here or wherever books are sold.

This episode of Roughneck Dispatch is partially supported by the Independent Fiction Alliance.

Intro music by Road Side Brake.

Closing punk song courtesy Gagmesharkoff.

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