Newsletter 06/18

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Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day and that you bought Mom a bottle of wine. Remember, you’re the reason she drinks. 

In my May Newsletter I shared with you an email I received from John Corey that began, “Dear Brutus,” in which Corey accused me of being an ingrate because my next book was not about him.

So I asked you in May if you thought my next book should be a Corey book, and I received over a thousand replies, and about ninety percent said “Yes.” Five percent said John Corey is an arrogant, narcissistic, male chauvinist pig and a wise ass. Is that a yes or a no? Interestingly, about five percent of my readers wanted to see Paul Brenner brought back. A few people suggested that I retire.

In any case, you have spoken and my next book will feature John Corey. The book, currently untitled, begins where Plum Island began, with John sitting on the back porch of his uncle’s house on the North Fork of Long Island, overlooking the Great Peconic Bay. John’s opening line is, “You can’t drink all day unless you start in the morning.”

And we go from there. I’m excited about bringing John back and so is John who has assured me that his threat to do me bodily harm was just a joke. He’s a great kidder.

Speaking of kidding around, the John Corey TV series is on again, off again, on again, and . . . who knows? The script for the pilot was turned down by someone in TV land, and they’re thinking of finding another script writer. Corey didn’t like the script either – it had him as a divorced guy with a young son, and he was still an NYPD detective and not with the Anti-Terrorist Task Force. In fact, the John Corey in the script bore almost no resemblance to my John Corey – but that’s Hollywood. Stay tuned for the next installment of this ongoing comedy.

Anyway, here it is June already. Where did the summer go? Actually, it hasn’t started – but it will on June 21, the summer solstice which is the longest day of the year – though it has no more hours than the shortest day which is December 21, the winter solstice. Also, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, as my many Australian and New Zealand readers do, this is reversed. Hope you’re having a good winter down there.

As I mentioned in my last Newsletter, the trade paperback edition of The Cuban Affair will be published on Tuesday, June 5, just in time for Father’s Day. As I’ve also mentioned in the past, virtually all books in the U.S. are published on a Tuesday. Why is this? Two reasons: the original bible was published in Jerusalem about five thousand years ago on a Tuesday, and it’s become a tradition; also The New York Times Bestsellers List begins counting weekly book sales on Tuesday. That may actually be the main reason for Tuesday publication.

In my past Newsletters I’ve listed a number of books I’d recommend for summer reading, and I’d like to add two more:

First, a memoir by Canadian/American journalist Ken Becker titled The Expat Files: My Life in Journalism. Ken has interviewed me many times in the past and his memoir is a fascinating and often funny look at all the people he’s met, the places he’s been, and the things he’d done as an expat American living and working in Canada. Very well written and very entertaining. My name is mentioned on page 317. Available from Amazon or B&N.com.

My second recommendation will be an instant #1 bestseller. It’s titled The President Is Missing, and the authors are Bill Clinton and James Patterson. You may remember Bill from when he was president of the United States, and I’m sure you’ve read one or two Patterson books. I was given an advance reading copy of this book along with a list of “suggested” enthusiastic blurbs, and I was instructed to pick one and initial it. Here’s the one I picked: “From the pens of two American icons comes a political thriller that rocks. The President Is Missing entertains, educates, and inspires us all to put our country above our politics. Bill Clinton delivers the art of government and James Patterson delivers the craft of writing. The reader gets a helluva story.”

Just kidding about the suggested blurbs, of course. I actually read the book and greatly enjoyed it. You will, too. Can I go now?

No? Well, I should also say that Jim Patterson is a friend and colleague and I was flattered to make the short list of authors who were shown an early copy of The President Is Missing. As for President Clinton, we’ve met a few times and he’s a big fan of my books so I was happy to endorse his novel. Please buy this book – the authors need the money.

On a sadder note, one of America’s greatest writers, Tom Wolf, has died at age 87. I was privileged to have met Tom at a number of publishing events and he was a true gentleman of the old school. May his wonderful books and essays live on. If you haven’t read Tom Wolfe, start with The Right Stuff. R.I.P.

And finally, have a great Fourth of July. This is America’s birthday, the day we declared independence from a cruel and crazy king and a corrupt and capricious parliament. Now we get to elect our own politicians who are . . . Anyway, have a safe holiday and a wonderful summer. See you in September.

Newsletter 05/18

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May 1 is May Day, a holiday in much of the world. It is also the name of my book which I co-authored with my childhood friend, Tom Block, retired US Airways captain. This would be a good time to buy a copy of Mayday, which has been called “. . . a novel for the true connoisseur of disaster novels” by the New York Times.

Speaking of the New York Times, a former Times writer, novelist Alex Berenson, wrote a very bad review of The Cuban Affair in the Times. This was the only bad review of my book, so I returned the favor in my April Newsletter, and gave his book a bad review. A lot of my readers were surprised or upset that I would trash a fellow author, which I’ve never done before, but as I used to say to my teachers in grade school when they were breaking up a fight in the playground, “He started it!”

On that note, let me recommend some good summer reading: First, Runner in Red by my friend Tom Murphy. Tom’s wife Barb was a marathon runner who died of lung cancer and the proceeds of all book sales go to the Barb’s Beer Foundation. Here’s a link to learn more about Tom’s mission to promote lung cancer research. Please buy this book – it’s a great read for a great cause.

Another friend of mine, Cristina Alger, has written a novel titled The Banker’s Wife, which comes out on July 3. I’ve read the advance copy and loved it. This is an international thriller that will keep you in suspense and truly grab hold of you from the first page until the last. Cristina has also written This Was Not the Plan and The Darlings. Check these books out on Amazon or B&N.com, and pre-order The Banker’s Wife now. Or, of course, go to your favorite bookstore.

Let me also recommend Skyjack: A Kidnap-and-Ransom Thriller by K.J. Howe, another friend and fellow member of International Thriller Writers. Ms. Howe’s protagonist is Thea Paris, an international kidnap expert who kicks bad guy butt. You’ll love this one as I did and learn a lot from her amazing research. Check it out online or get it at your bookstore.

And, last but not least, I highly recommend Big Guns by my pal Steve Israel, former congressman from my neck of the woods on Long Island. Steve quit his day job to write novels and his debut novel, The Global War on Morris, was very well-received. Big Guns is a satire of the gun lobby and it’s sure to annoy the pro and anti-gun people equally, and to entertain everyone else. Big Guns was released on April 17. Buy this book and help keep Steve from returning to Congress.

A reminder: The Cuban Affair will come out in trade paperback on June 5. Just in time for Father’s Day. Online pre-orders have been overwhelming and my publisher is scrambling to buy more paper and ink to keep up with the printing presses which are rolling 24/7. Don’t get left out in the cold. Pre-order now online or at your local bookstore. Thanks.

And do not forget – Sunday, May 13, is Mother’s Day. Mom would like breakfast in bed or dinner in a restaurant. And flowers. And a good book. And probably a few Bloody Mary’s to get through the day. Don’t forget the card. If you get her one of my books, get her an autographed copy, or just sign my name. Sample below.

I got an email from my friend John Corey that began, “Dear Brutus. . .” He went on to say he’d read my last Newsletter and was disappointed to learn that he would not star in my next book. He reminded me that he’d made me famous (forgetting that I made him famous) and he felt betrayed – which I figured out from “Dear Brutus.” He said he liked The Cuban Affair (though I saw his snarky review on Amazon), but he felt I was pushing my luck by introducing new lead characters and I should remember who my real friend is. He also offered to come to my office to rearrange my face.

So, I’m wondering how you, my readers, feel. Should my next book be another John Corey? Or should I write the book I announced in my April Newsletter? Shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts. Meanwhile, I’m not going to the office for a while.

Last but not least, Monday, May 28 is Memorial Day, the day we remember those men and women who made the supreme sacrifice in times of war. Take a moment from your three-day weekend to reflect on our fallen heroes. We mourn their loss and celebrate their lives. They were not surrounded by family when they died, but they were in the company of their brothers.

That’s it for May. See you in June.

Newsletter 04/18

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First, Happy Easter! Also, Sunday, April 8 is Eastern Orthodox Easter – they use a different calendar. So if you’re Catholic or Protestant, and you miss Easter service this Sunday, you can make it up by going to an Eastern Orthodox Church on April 8. You get two shots at this. No excuses.

April, said T. S. Eliot, is the cruelest month. He was referring to the weather, but don’t forget income tax day. Tax day used to be March 15, the ominous Ides of March, which is appropriate, but now it’s April 15, though it should be April Fools’ Day, which is more appropriate. Your refund check is in the mail. April Fools’!

Now on to my next book, which many of you have asked about.

I’m actually working on two books at once. The first book is untitled, but it has a plot. I’m not bringing back John Corey in this book, and I’m not writing a sequel to The Cuban Affair. I’ll be introducing a new character called Rick Truitt. Rick is a former NYPD detective, forced into early retirement when he’s falsely accused of misappropriating evidence in a drug bust. Rick knows he’s been framed. But why? And by whom? Stay tuned as I figure it out.

The second book is a collaborative project. I’ve decided to follow in the footsteps of so many authors who are co-authoring books these days, even though collaboration on a novel is very difficult, and often leads to clashing egos and unpleasantness. I’ve co-authored only one other book in my career – Mayday – written in 1978 with my childhood friend, Tom Block, who was then a U.S. Airways pilot, now retired. Mayday was a big success and it was made into a CBS-TV movie with Aidan Quinn. It’s been revised and updated, and I urge you to read it if you haven’t.

My friendship with Tom survived the collaborative process, but we both agreed not to push our luck, and we went on to write solo books. But the time has come for me to try this again.

Several writers wanted to team up with me, but I wanted someone who I knew I could trust and who I could boss around. So I picked my son, Alex. Turns out, I can’t boss him around – that stopped when he was about ten. But I can trust him to listen to the old man, and Alex is smart, energetic, and talented. Alex got his undergraduate degree at Yale, and I see a way to get some of my tuition money back. He has a Masters of Fine Arts at UCLA Film School, and he’s a terrific screenwriter and film editor which gives him a good understanding of how to plot and structure a novel, and how to create believable characters and great dialogue.

Alex’s student film, The Absence, won Best Film at Comic Con in 2012, and a short film that he edited, My Nephew Emmett, was nominated for an Oscar this year. It didn’t win, but the nomination was a big deal. Also, Alex wrote the screenplay for my novel, Spencerville, which is making the rounds in Hollywood.

So I offered Alex a job outside of his industry and he replied, “I’ll take it if you stop complaining about the Yale tuition.” We shook on it. And signed a contract.

So, what is this co-authored book about? It’s titled The Deserter, and it’s based very loosely on the Bowe Bergdahl case. That’s all I can reveal at this time.

So that’s what I’m working on. More as both books progress.

And now I’d like to recommend some good reading for Spring Break:

First, Chicago, by David Mamet, one of America’s greatest play and screenwriters. Chicago is a gripping and very well-written crime novel, set in 1920s Chicago. Check it out online or at your favorite bookstore. I loved it.

Next is The Escape Artist by my good pal Brad Meltzer. This is Meltzer at his best. If you’re a fan, you know he delivers, and like me, he takes his time writing, so every book is a polished gem. Meltzer’s books don’t come out every six months, so don’t miss this one. Check out the great reviews online.

Also, I highly recommend How It Happened by another pal, Michael Koryta. I read an advance copy of this and it had me glued to the pages. The industry trade magazine, Publishers Weekly, gave it a starred and boxed pre-publication review – their highest rating. How It Happened comes out in May, but you can pre-order now online or reserve a copy at your local bookstore.

Authors are collegial and we try to support each other. This is a tough and competitive business, and even though we’re in competition with one another, we’re all in the same leaky boat as the American public turns away from reading and spends more time and money on other forms of entertainment – mostly electronic, much of which is free or almost free. So books are a hard sell today and any author’s success is a success for all of us, and for the written word.

Having said that, I want to take this opportunity to suggest a book you should not read: The Deceivers by Alex Berenson. Berenson tries hard, but his writing is flaccid and uninspiring, and his characters are dull and one-dimensional. The Deceivers is supposed to be about Russia’s attempts to influence American politics. Sound familiar? You can read the same fiction in the news pages of the New York Times, for less money and less time wasted. If you want to read a great book about Russian influence in America, read my book, The Charm School.

And while I’m at it, I’d like to suggest that you read some of my short stories. For your convenience, here’s a list of four: Getaway, written with my pal Lisa Scottoline, who also has a new book titled After Anna, coming out April 10. My other short stories are, Rendezvous, Death Benefits, and The Book Case (for those of you who need a dose of John Corey). These are really a good bargain in eBook format and I think you’ll like them. Let me know.

I enjoy getting letters from my fans – even annoying letters. Shows you’re reading and reacting to my books or Newsletters. Let me address one annoying subject: I’ve gotten dozens of letters regarding The Cuban Affair telling me that motorized boats don’t “sail,” as I wrote when describing Mac’s diesel-powered fishing boat. Only sailboats sail, according to my critics.

Well, if you look in any comprehensive dictionary you’ll see that “sailing” can be used for motorized boats. The word has evolved to mean the movement of any boat. The U.S. Navy anthem says, “We sail at break of day . . .” And this doesn’t refer to a battleship with sails. Also, the crew on all ships are called sailors, whether or not the ship has a sail. Cruise lines and cargo ships have a “sailing schedule.” I know that the purists – the men and women who own and operate sailboats – would like to keep this word for themselves, but the English language is dynamic and adaptable, and words evolve to mean other things. For instance, we “dial” a number on our iPhones, but there is no rotary dial there. And we can “hang up” without putting the iPhone on a hook. So Mac can “sail” to Cuba in his diesel-powered boat.

So, that’s it for April, except I hope to see a screenplay for the pilot of the John Corey TV series this month. It would be great if ABC-TV and Sony hired David Mamet to do the screenplay. Or my son Alex.

See you in May.

Newsletter 03/18

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If you didn’t get my January or February Newsletter, it doesn’t mean your free subscription has expired; it means I never sent them out.

So, to play catch up, I hope everyone had a great January and February. It was cold as a well-digger’s butt here in the Northeast, and also in much of the country. This, as you know, is because of global warming.

I live a few miles south of where the last Ice Age glacier stopped, and I’m afraid if we get much more global warming the glacier will return and the wooly mammoths will trample my tomato plants.

Anyway, January was a good writing month for me because there’s not much else to do except shovel snow. I would have gone south, but Florida was experiencing a global warming cold spell and much of the Caribbean has been devastated by hurricanes. So I stayed at my desk and sulked.

February has two quasi holidays: Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day, and one federal holiday, Presidents’ Day. There must be a way to move these days to make a five-day weekend called Silly Holiday Weekend. Write to your congressman.

The Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) which is celebrated in many countries fell on February 19 this year. It’s a lunar holiday, so it moves around a lot, like Easter, and you have to keep an eye on it.

In Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is called Tet, and in 1968 it fell on January 30. I was unfortunate enough to be there then for the Tet Offensive, which – hard to believe – was fifty years ago. I won’t bore you with war stories, but it was a time I’ll never forget. And for those who didn’t make it home, time will not erase your memory or your sacrifice.

On to March, which comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb – unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere where it’s reversed.

Don’t forget, Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 11, so if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you Spring Forward – push your clocks ahead an hour. In the Southern Hemisphere you Fall Back – push your clocks back an hour. This creates a two-hour time difference between the hemispheres (I think) and gives you more morning light in . . . or the sun goes down later in . . . let me get back to you on this.

March as you know is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Why? Because a lot of military campaigns began in the spring. Soldiers march. Right? Or did I make that up? Sounds good. Also, Mars the planet is named after Mars the god. Why? Because the planet looks red – it’s called the Red Planet – and red is the color of blood. Blood, war. Get it? On a happier note, March 20 is the first day of spring. A time of renewal and rebirth. A good time to begin a military campaign. There may be a contradiction there. Let’s move on.

Saint Patrick’s Day is March 17, a Saturday this year. When I was younger, I would often march in the parade on New York’s Fifth Avenue, then join the Cardinal and other dignitaries on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to view the parade. I have fond, but dim, memories of this. Dim because I had often stopped at a few places for liquid refreshment before the parade. As my Irish friends say, “You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.”

Anyway, in recent years, I’ve brought my wife and young son to St. Patrick’s Day in New York at the kind invitation of His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan. We attend Mass in St. Pat’s, then have breakfast in the Cardinal’s residence, then view the parade from the steps of the Cathedral. The parade looks different when you’re sober. We all have to grow up. Even writers.

For more on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, read my novel, Cathedral. Here’s a plot summary: a renegade group from the Irish Republican Army take over St. Patrick’s Cathedral during the parade, and hold a number of hostages, including the Cardinal himself. The IRA guys threaten to blow up the Cathedral if their demands are not met.

Cardinal Dolan especially enjoyed this story, but for some reason he thought I owed something to the Cathedral for subjecting it – and the fictitious cardinal – to such peril. I saw his point, of course, so, long story short, all royalties from the sales of Cathedral go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral Restoration Fund. There’s nothing like Catholic guilt – except maybe Jewish guilt – to make you a philanthropist.

You can also make a contribution on your own by clicking on the above link. Please be generous. It’s for a good cause – keeping me out of hell. And don’t forget to buy a copy of Cathedral. The Restoration Fund gets about a buck in royalties for every copy sold. I get absolution.

Easter, like Passover (and Chinese New Year) is, as I said, a lunar holiday, so it’s all over the board. This year, Good Friday coincides with the first night of Passover, which doesn’t happen that often. So if you’re a Christian who’s been invited to a Passover Seder on Good Friday, it’s okay to mention the Crucifixion, but blame it on the Romans. And remember, Jesus was Jewish on his mother’s side.

So let me take this opportunity to wish my Jewish friends and relatives a happy and blessed Passover. Next year in Jerusalem! You can visit the new U.S. Embassy there.

And now for some publishing news: My latest novel, The Cuban Affair, will be out in the trade paperback edition on June 5. What is a trade paperback? Well, it’s almost the size of a hardcover, but it’s much cheaper. If you haven’t read The Cuban Affair, (the Number One New York Times bestseller, thanks to you) in hardcover, or eBook, or listened to it on audio, then don’t miss this opportunity to buy it in trade paperback. It got great reviews – except for one in The New York Times written by Alex Berenson, a fellow novelist who was obviously jealous that I’m #1 and he’s not and never will be.

You can pre-order the trade paperback of The Cuban Affair now online by clicking here.

And finally, for everyone who’s been asking me about the John Corey TV series, I have some good news. I’ve just inked (that means “signed” in Hollywood lingo) a new contract with SONY-TV who are working with ABC-TV to produce a pilot for a series tentatively called “John Corey,” or maybe “John Corey, NYPD.” We’ve been down this road twice before with the John Corey TV series, but maybe the third time is the charm. Stay tuned.

That’s a wrap, as they say in Hollywood. Have a great March.