In Jack Clark's pulp mystery Nobody's Angel, a cab driver turns detective after another cabbie is killed and a young prostitute is mutilated and left for dead. Before the novel was picked up by Hard Case Crime, Clark, also the author of Shamus Award—nominated Westerfield's Chain, self-published it and sold 5,000 copies to passengers in his Chicago cab.

How did you make the transition from cab driver to writer?

Actually, I made the transition from writer to cab driver. I'd been working for the Chicago Reader. It got to a point where I couldn't take the pressure, where I had to write a cover story and an inside story on a regular basis. I said, “I can't do this.” I moved furniture; I drove over the road for 15 years. Driving a cab is nice.

Was Nobody's Angel inspired by what you saw while you were driving?

It's a funny thing. A woman who had read the book told me that she was a nurse, and that she'd been working in the hospital when the girls I talk about in the book were brought in. Until she said that, I'd kind of forgotten that there was a real-life event that was similar to what I wrote about in Nobody's Angel. That incident had gotten me thinking, which started the story, and it went on from there.

In my life, it was time to write this book. I'd just turned 40, and I'd read somewhere that the average age of a novelist is in their 40s. So I figured it must be time, and sat down and wrote the first draft.

To what extent is the story autobiographical?

Well, it's not exactly based on my life story, but I do know a lot about being a cab driver. And I want real life in my fiction. Things don't always work out right away—there's not always an answer.

But Eddie, your protagonist, never gives up either. He takes joy where he can find it.

That's the nice side of reality. People go on and on.

How did you sell the book to your passengers?

I just hung it up in my cab. People asked about it, and if they wanted to buy a copy, I sold it to them for $5. It was funny when the book show was in town. I'd pick people up at McCormick Place, and they'd do one of two things: ask, “Is that your book?” or look terrified and not say anything. One woman asked about it, and it turns out I had a rejection letter from her husband!

What are you working on now?

I've just finished a play, called The B Side of Misty. It's a love triangle set in a diner in Chicago, where nobody gets what they want. I've got two follow-ups to Westerfield's Chain I'm hoping to find homes for.

But you're going to keep driving?

Absolutely! I've got to. If I didn't drive, I'd starve to death.