Charles Ardai
{{short description|American writer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charles Ardai
| image = 5.15.24CharlesArdaiByLuigiNovi3.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Ardai at a Midtown Comics
signing in Manhattan
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| alma_mater = Columbia University
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Entrepreneur
- writer
- editor
- television producer
}}
| years_active =
| employer = D. E. Shaw & Co.
| known_for =
| notable_works = Juno Online Services
Hard Case Crime
| awards = Edgar Award (2007)
Shamus Award (2008)
Ellery Queen Award (2015)
Inkpot Award (2024)
}}
Charles Ardai is an American businessman, and writer of crime fiction and mysteries. He is co-founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He was also an early employee of D. E. Shaw & Co. and a managing director of the firm.{{Cite web|last=Celarier|first=Michelle|date=2018-01-18|title=How a Group of Computer Geeks and English Majors Transformed Wall Street|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/d-e-shaw-the-first-great-quant-hedge-fund.html|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Intelligencer|language=en-us}}{{Cite web|last=Hong|first=Euny|title="No idea, no matter how good, is unique." Entrepreneur Charles Ardai on what not to assume in business|url=https://qz.com/1663/things-charles-ardai-knows-that-he-wants-you-to-know-too/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Quartz|date=October 2012 |language=en}} He is the former chairman of Schrödinger, Inc.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=159490&privcapId=517678|title=Company Overview of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.|publisher=Bloomberg News|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 9, 2023|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=September 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918083119/https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=159490&privcapId=517678}}
Early life
A New York native and the son of two Holocaust survivors, Ardai told NPR in a May 2008 interview that the stories his parents told him as a child "were the most grim and frightening that you can imagine" and gave him the impression "there was a darker circle around a very small bit of light," something that enabled him to relate to his own characters' sufferings.{{cite news
|url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90183296| title = Charles Ardai: Hard Case Shows a Soft Spot for Pulp| date = May 5, 2008| work =National Public Radio}}
While in high school, Ardai enjoyed reading pulp fiction and worked as an intern at Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-02-ca-hardcase2-story.html
|title=A crime line of passion|last=Hamilton|first=Denise|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|quote=after college Ardai landed a coveted job as an investment banker at the D.E. Shaw group. In 1994, Ardai dreamed up what became the Internet provider Juno. When Juno was sold in 2001, Ardai and Phillips, the company’s art director...discovered their shared passion for midcentury pulp|date=July 2, 2006|access-date=September 6, 2021}}
After graduating from Hunter College High School in 1987, he attended Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1991.{{cite news| url = http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/nov04/bookshelf2.php
| title = A Hardboiled Passion| date = November 2004| work = Columbia College Today| access-date = June 13, 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091213070929/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/nov04/bookshelf2.php
| archive-date = December 13, 2009| url-status = dead}}
Career
Right out of college, Ardai was hired by hedge fund D. E. Shaw. His first job at the firm was to set up its recruiting department,{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna53283862|title=An excerpt from Brad Stone's 'The Everything Store'|publisher=NBC News|author=Stone, Brad|language=en-US|url-status=dead|date=October 15, 2013|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518162330/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna53283862}} with a goal of hiring "people who really excel in one field or another."{{Cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/d-e-shaw-the-first-great-quant-hedge-fund.html|title=How a Misfit Group of Computer Geeks and English Majors Transformed Wall Street|last= Celarier|first= Michelle|work=New York|quote=Soon after the 22-year-old joined, he was tasked with setting up Shaw’s recruiting department. We've filled the company with everything from a chess master, to published writers, to stand-up comedians — people who really excel in one field or another|date=2018|access-date=September 6, 2021}}
Sometime in the early 1990s, Shaw tasked Ardai and Jeff Bezos with coming up with potential online business ideas.{{cite magazine |title=How a Misfit Group of Computer Geeks and English Majors Transformed Wall Street |url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/d-e-shaw-the-first-great-quant-hedge-fund.html |date=1 Aug 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200131060116/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/d-e-shaw-the-first-great-quant-hedge-fund.html |archive-date=31 January 2020 |magazine=New York|last=Celarier |first=Michelle}} While Ardai founded Juno, an internet company, in 1996 with D. E. Shaw as an investor,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538629,00.html| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070116185829/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538629,00.html|url-status = dead| archive-date = January 16, 2007|title = Single Malts and Double Crosses: Hard-Boiled Books|date=September 26, 2008
|magazine =Time|first1=Lev|last1=Grossman| first2=Terry|last2=Stoller}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=17SpCgAAQBAJ&dq=Juno+Ardai+Marsh+Tse&pg=PA10 The Science of Growth: How Facebook Beat Friendster--and How Nine Other Startups Left the Rest in the Dust(Sean Ammirati, 2016, page 10)] Bezos went on to found Amazon.com on his own.{{r|misfit}} After Juno was sold in 2001, Ardai and Max Phillips decided to start a publishing company to publish crime fiction in the pulp magazine style they grew up enjoying. That proposed company became Hard Case Crime, which published its first books in 2004.{{cite book |last= Rausch|first= Andrew J |date=2019 |title=Perspectives on Stephen King: Conversations with Authors, Experts and Collaborators |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUCIDwAAQBAJ |location= USA|publisher= McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers|page=24 |quote=Max Phillips and I came up with the idea of Hard Case Crime in the winter of 2001. We had worked together on an Internet company called Juno and it had just sold that fall.|isbn=9781476674179}} Hard Case's books were produced by Dorchester Publishing and Ardai's Winterfall, LLC between 2004 and 2010 and have been produced by Titan Books and Winterfall since 2011 (together with a related comics imprint launched in 2016).{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/gun-honey-charles-ardai-trailer/|title=Gun Honey: Charles Ardai's Debut Graphic Novel Drops a Steamy Trailer|publisher=CBR.com|author=Swanson, Larry|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=August 6, 2021|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518163826/https://www.cbr.com/gun-honey-charles-ardai-trailer/}}
Ardai's writing has appeared in mystery magazines such as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, gaming magazines such as Computer Gaming World and Electronic Games, and anthologies such as Best Mysteries of the Year and The Year's Best Horror Stories. Ardai has also edited numerous short story collections such as The Return of the Black Widowers, Great Tales of Madness and the Macabre, and Futurecrime.{{cite web | url = https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Charles+Ardai| title = Amazon.com: Charles Ardai| website = Amazon}}
In 1994, Ardai's short story "Nobody Wins," published in 1993 by Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, received a Shamus nomination for Best P.I. Short Story.[http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Awards/Shamus_Awards.html Stop You're Killing Me, "Shamus Awards"]
His first novel, Little Girl Lost (2004) was nominated for both the Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America and the Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.{{cite web| url = http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=Little%20Girl%20Lost
| title = Hard Case Crime: Little Girl Lost}} His second novel, Songs of Innocence, was called "an instant classic" by The Washington Post,{{cite news| url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/1304916041.html?dids=1304916041:1304916041&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+16%2C+2007&author=Patrick+Anderson&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=C.2&desc=Neo-Noir+That+Hits+Its+Target| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021015941/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/1304916041.html?dids=1304916041:1304916041&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+16,+2007&author=Patrick+Anderson&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=C.2&desc=Neo-Noir+That+Hits+Its+Target| url-status = dead| archive-date = October 21, 2012| title = Neo-Noir That Hits Its Target
|date = July 16, 2007| newspaper =The Washington Post|first=Patrick| last=Anderson}} selected as one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly,{{cite news| url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6496987.html?q=richard+aleas| title = PW's Best Books of the Year| date = November 5, 2007| work =Publishers Weekly}} and won the 2008 Shamus Award.{{cite web| url = http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv72.html| title = The Shamus Awards| date = March 28, 2021}} Both books were written under the alias Richard Aleas and were optioned for the movies by Universal Pictures.{{cite magazine| url = http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/09/28/crime-novel-little-girl-lost-to-be-feature-film-for-universal-pictures/| title = Crime Novel 'Little Girl Lost' to be feature film for Universal Pictures| date = September 28, 2010| magazine = Entertainment Weekly|url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20101001034046/http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/09/28/crime-novel-little-girl-lost-to-be-feature-film-for-universal-pictures/| archivedate = October 1, 2010| df = mdy-all}}
He received the Edgar Award in 2007 for the short story "The Home Front".{{cite web|url = http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php|title = The Edgar Awards|access-date = June 13, 2009|archive-date = September 27, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180927165310/http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php|url-status = dead}} Ardai's third novel, Fifty-to-One, was published in November 2008.{{cite news| url = http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/53318/| title = Criminally Retro: A One-Man Pulp Spree | date = January 11, 2009| magazine =New York |author= Carl Rosen}} It was the fiftieth book in the Hard Case Crime series and the first to be published under Ardai's real name.
His fourth novel, Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear, is part of a pulp adventure series he created in 2009, describing the globetrotting exploits of a modern-day explorer named Gabriel Hunt. Authorship of all the books in this series were originally credited to Gabriel Hunt himself.{{cite web| url = http://www.huntforadventure.com| title = The Adventures of Gabriel Hunt}}
File:5.15.24CharlesArdaiByLuigiNovi26.jpg signing for Gun Honey: Collision Course #1. Beside him is an advance copy of a reprint edition of the Hard Case Crime novel Lemons Never Lie, which had previously gone out of print.]]
In 2010, Ardai began working as a writer and producer on the SyFy television series Haven,{{cite web |url=http://www.biogamergirl.com/2013/06/exclusive-editor-charles-ardai.html/ |title=Exclusive: Editor Charles Ardai Discusses Joyland, Working With Stephen King and Producing the TV Show Haven |accessdate=2013-06-16 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613151719/http://www.biogamergirl.com/2013/06/exclusive-editor-charles-ardai.html |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |df=mdy }} "BioGamerGirl.com Interviews Charles Ardai" inspired by the Hard Case Crime novel The Colorado Kid by Stephen King.{{Cite web|url=http://scifiwire.com/2010/07/6-ways-the-new-show-haven.php|title=6 ways the new show Haven gives you Stephen King goodness|date=July 8, 2010|work=Sci Fi Wire|accessdate=July 8, 2010}} The pilot episode of Haven premiered on July 9, 2010{{Cite web|url=http://www.mensspot.com/entertainment/haven-syfys-new-tv-show-premiere-july-9-2010/1169/|title=Haven – Syfy's New TV Show – Premiere July 9, 2010|date=July 10, 2010|work=Men's Lifestyle & News Spot|accessdate=July 10, 2010|url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713073014/http://www.mensspot.com/entertainment/haven-syfys-new-tv-show-premiere-july-9-2010/1169/|archivedate=July 13, 2010|df=mdy-all}} and the series finale premiered on December 17, 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvinsider.com/article/60561/haven-series-finale-postmortem/|title=Haven Series Finale|date=December 18, 2015|work=TV Insider|accessdate=September 17, 2016}}
In 2015, he received the Ellery Queen Award for his work on Hard Case Crime.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-edgar-award-winners-stephen-king-20150430-story.html|title=Edgar Award winners announced; Stephen King takes top prize|date=2015-04-30|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-24}}
In 2016, he wrote a novel based on the Shane Black movie The Nice Guys.{{Cite web|url=http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/05/03/exclusive-read-an-excerpt-from-the-nice-guys|title=Read an Excerpt From the Nice Guys novelization|date=May 3, 2016|work=Birth. Movies. Death.|accessdate=September 17, 2016 |last1=Jr |first1=Phil Nobile }}
On September 22, 2021, Titan Comics released under the Hard Case Crime imprint Gun Honey #1, Ardai's first written work for the comics medium. The book, which is drawn by Ang Hor Kheng, and features covers by Bill Sienkiewicz, Robert McGinnis, and Adam Hughes, centers upon weapons smuggler Joanna Tan, who after helping a convict escape prison, is chosen by the U.S. government to track him down and return him. The four-issue miniseries was conceived by Ardai when he conceived of Hard Case Crime Comics five years prior,{{cite web|url=https://www.flickeringmyth.com/titan-hard-case-crime-announce-gun-honey/|title=Titan and Hard Case Crime announce Gun Honey|publisher=Flickering Myth|author=Collinson, Gary|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 25, 2021|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518165741/https://www.flickeringmyth.com/titan-hard-case-crime-announce-gun-honey/}} and he has likened Gun Honey to other espionage action thrillers that influenced it, such as James Bond,{{cite web|url=https://www.freaksugar.com/interview-charles-ardai-on-illusion-danger-in-heat-seeker-a-gun-honey-series/|publisher=Freak Sugar|title=INTERVIEW: CHARLES ARDAI ON ILLUSION & DANGER IN HEAT SEEKER: A GUN HONEY SERIES!|author=Keith, Jed W.|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=April 28, 2023|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518171901/https://www.freaksugar.com/interview-charles-ardai-on-illusion-danger-in-heat-seeker-a-gun-honey-series/}} as well as action/adventure stories featuring female protagonists, such as Modesty Blaise, Alias, Kill Bill, and Barbarella. At the review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup, the debut issue has a rating of 8 out of 10, based on eight critics' reviews.{{cite web|url=https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/titan-books/gun-honey/1|title=Gun Honey #1|publisher=Comic Book Roundup|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 29, 2021|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518165245/https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/titan-books/gun-honey/1}} The story was followed by a sequel, Gun Honey: Blood for Blood, in which Joanna and her ally, a government agent named Brook Barrow, are framed for murder by a vengeful rival of Joanna's.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/gun-honey-sexy-spy-thriller-returns-new-season-titan-comics/|title=Titan's Sexy Spy Thriller Gun Honey Returns For a New Season (EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW)|publisher=CBR.com|author=Schreuer, Brandon|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 7, 2022|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518200753/https://www.cbr.com/gun-honey-sexy-spy-thriller-returns-new-season-titan-comics/}} That miniseries premiered August 24, 2022.{{cite web|url=https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comics/series/156628/gun-honey-blood-for-blood|title=Gun Honey: Blood for Blood|publisher=League of Comic Geeks|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=August 24, 2022|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518185852/https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comics/series/156628/gun-honey-blood-for-blood}} It was followed by a four-issue spinoff series, Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series, also written by Ardai, with art by Ace Continuado, Jose Zapata, and Asifur Rahman. The book, whose debut issue was released on June 28, 2023, sees Tan going on the run after she is targeted for assassination by the U.S. government. Pursued by a beautiful sociopathic hitwoman named Sarah Claride, Tan seeks help from her friend, stage magician and illusionist Dahlia Racers, who specializes in helping people disappear.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/titan-comics-gun-honey-spinoff-heat-seeker/|title=EXCLUSIVE: Titan's Pulp Spy Thriller Gun Honey Expands With New Spinoff Series|publisher=CBR.com|author=Schreuer, Brandon|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=February 20, 2023|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518171454/https://www.cbr.com/titan-comics-gun-honey-spinoff-heat-seeker/}} The next installment in the series was the miniseries Gun Honey: Collision Course, whose debut issue was released May 15, 2024.{{cite web|url=https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comics/series/174445/gun-honey-collision-course|title=Gun Honey: Collision Course|publisher=League of Comic Geeks|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=May 15, 2024|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240518185442/https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comics/series/174445/gun-honey-collision-course}}
Awards and nominations
- 1994: "Nobody Wins" nominated for Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus in the category "Best P.I. Short Story"
- 2004: Little Girl Lost nominated for Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America†
- 2004: Little Girl Lost nominated for Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America†
- 2007: Edgar Award for the short story "The Home Front"
- 2008: Shamus Award for Best Original P.I. Paperback for Songs of Innocence †
- 2015: Ellery Queen Award (an Edgar Award category "to honor outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry") for his work on Hard Case Crime.
- 2024: Inkpot Award
† Written under pseudonym "Richard Aleas."
Personal life
Ardai is married to writer Naomi Novik. As of 2006, they live on Manhattan's Upper East Side.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/books/11novi.html|title=A New Writer Is Soaring on the Wings of a Dragon| newspaper=The New York Times|first=Julie|last=Bosman|url-access=limited|url-status=live|date=October 11, 2006|access-date=May 18, 2024|archive-date=June 18, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220618204547/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/books/11novi.html}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{National Public Radio|90183296}}
- [http://www.hardcasecrime.com Hard Case Crime official site]
- [http://www.huntforadventure.com Adventures of Gabriel Hunt official site]
- [http://www.mostlyfiction.com/authorqa/ardai.html mostlyfiction.com interview with Charles Ardai, author of Fifty-To-One]
- {{ISFDB name|id=Charles_Ardai|name=Charles Ardai}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardai, Charles}}
Category:American mystery writers
Category:American publishers (people)
Category:Jewish American novelists
Category:Hunter College High School alumni
Category:American male novelists
Category:Novelists from New York (state)
Category:Writers from Manhattan
Category:American technology chief executives
Category:American company founders
Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni
Category:American hedge fund managers
Category:D. E. Shaw & Co. people