Archive for category: Nelson DeMille Newsletters

Dear Nelson DeMille Fan,

We’ve booked some exclusive TV studio time with Nelson DeMille, author of the upcoming novel The Gate House (in stores Oct. 28, a sequel to The Gold Coast) to answer questions from fans like you.

Would you like to participate? If so, please record video of yourself asking a question for Nelson DeMille and email the clip to us. We will notify you if your question is chosen. We will also post the final video with fan questions Nelson DeMille’s answers on blastserve.com/, DeMille’s publishers’ web site www.hbgusa.comand to the Nelson DeMille Facebook Fan group.

Ready to record? Here are the Guidelines:

* Email your clip to fansofnelsondemille@gmail.com.
* Submissions must be no more than60secondsand must be in .mov or .wmv format. 
* Email submission with the subject line: “Video Question”
* Sign and send back release below via fax to 212-364-0923

While you’re online, please also check out our Gate Photo Contest, where we ask you to take a photo of the cover of The Gate House with your favorite gate.

Looking forward to viewing your questions.

Nelson DeMille Fan Headquarters

Release Agreement

October 15, 2008

Hachette Book Group, Inc.
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017 

Gentlemen/Ladies:

I consent to your using the video that I am submitting showing me asking the author, Nelson DeMille, a question in connection with a marketing video or presentation featuring Mr. DeMille and his work, The Gate House.

I understand and agree that you will own all the rights to the Program, including any statements and recordings made by me, and that you will have the right to edit, use reproduce, distribute and transmit the Program without limitation in any medium throughout the world. You may use my name, likeness, voice and biographical information in connection with the Program.

I agree that I will make no claims against you or anyone authorized by you based upon the Program, and I agree that this Release Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements fully performed herein.

Date ________________________________________________

Signature ________________________________________________

Print Name ________________________________________________

Street Address ________________________________________________

City, State, Zip Code _________________________________________

 

First, thanks to all of you, The Gate House has debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at #1. And thanks to me, too, for writing such a great book. The Gate House has also appeared at #1 on other national and regional bestseller lists, so this isn’t a fluke.

I’ve received thousands of emails through my website mailbox, and I wish I could respond to all of them, especially the snarky ones, but it’s not humanly possible, so, this Newsletter has to suffice.

For those who wrote me that they didn’t like The Gate House, sorry, but you were in a distinct minority. The main negative complaint was that the book went on too long. The most common praise was that it went too quickly. So, there you are.

Most of The Gate House reviews in newspapers and magazines were excellent, but one or two were lukewarm, and those reviewers are not getting invited to my annual Salute to Book Reviewers, which I host on a private yacht in the Caribbean every January. I hope they get the message. The most idiotic review I received was written by Charles Taylor in Newsday, which is my local newspaper. You need to read this review to appreciate what John Updike meant when he said, “Reviewers are like pigs at the pastry cart.” Mr. Taylor’s very weird review can be read by going to the Newsday website, click here.

A confession: I once met Charles Taylor at a fundraiser for Talentless Book Reviewers (he was the honoree), and when he got up to receive his award I ate his pork chop. So, maybe that explains the bad review.

I get a lot of questions in my website mailbox and most of them could be answered by perusing my website. You can also read my old Newsletters in the archives. The most frequently asked question is: Are you bringing back John Corey? Yes, in my next book which is a sequel to The Lion’s Game. This book is only four chapters long, but they are loooong chapters.

Recently I was blogging on Barnes & Noble Center Stage. Click here to view.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to my book signings in the tri-state New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area. You were all terrific, and I hope you enjoyed the evening as much as I did.

I had a book signing at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, something I’ve never done before, and it was fun. This was a joint signing with my Grand Central Publishing colleague, David Baldacci, whose new book, Divine Justice, will also be a #1 New York Times bestseller. David was fun to be with, and the folks at Foxwoods were wonderful hosts, and the attendees were terrific, especially those who came directly from the cocktail lounge. It’s not every book signing where you can drink, gamble, and smoke. Don’t get me wrong — I love bookstores, but, well, there are no blackjack tables or bars in most bookstores. But maybe that’s just as well; I left a few hundred dollars with the house before my wife pulled me out of there.

In the spirit of giving thanks, it is forty years this month since I returned from Vietnam, and I count every day as a blessing and a gift. Someday I’ll write about my homecoming, but in the meantime please pray for our men and women stationed in combat zones around the world as the holiday season approaches.

I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends, peace and love.

Best regards,
Nelson DeMille

This is my first Newsletter since December, and I’ve spent the last three months writing the sequel to The Lion’s Game. I have no title for the book as yet, so I call it Lion’s Game II. LG II is coming along and I’m enjoying revisiting my old characters — John Corey, Kate Mayfield, the agents and bosses at the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, and Corey’s old nemesis, Asad Khalil, aka, The Lion. Khalil is nastier than ever, and he’s back in the U.S. to settle some old scores from The Lion’s Game. The first score he intends to settle is with John and Kate. This publication of LG II is scheduled for June 2010, in time for Father’s Day.

More publishing news: The Gate House sold very well, and it was listed by Publisher’s Weekly as the #15 bestselling novel of 2008. I want to thank all my readers who bought this book and made it such a big bestseller. And I congratulate all the authors who had the first 14 bestselling novels, and I wish them continued success. Actually, I wish they’d retire, but I don’t want to sound petty.

The paperback edition of The Gate House is scheduled for publication in November, and if you liked the hardcover edition, you’ll like the paperback even more because it’s cheaper. Also included in the paperback of The Gate House will be Chapter One of Lion’s Game II at the end of the book. So, for this reason alone, it’s worth buying The Gate House again.

More publishing news: The last John Corey book was Wild Fire, which is still available in mass market paperback. But this fall, Wild Fire will be available in the larger, trade paperback edition, and included in this larger paperback will also be Chapter One of Lion’s Game II, plus a new author’s foreword.

To recap: Chapter One of my work in progress, which is Lion’s Game II, will be available this fall in a) the paperback edition of The Gate House, b) the trade paperback edition of Wild Fire.

Moving right along to movie news: The producers of The Gold Coast are about to sign a major star to play the part of Don Frank Bellarosa. I have been sworn to secrecy until the deal is done and the name is made public, but I can say that this is one of the best actors in Hollywood, and someone who is perfect for the role. When this actor commits, the rest of the cast should fall into place very quickly. I’ll put out a Newsletter when this is a done deal.

I’ve received a rather nice check from BARF — the Bestselling Author’s Relief Fund — which I deposited into a bank that failed. The FDIC — Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — sent me a check to cover this loss, which I invested with a brokerage house that also failed. The Treasury Department sent me a bailout check to cover my lost investment, and I sent this check to the I.R.S. to help cover my April 15 taxes. The I.R.S. has just notified me that my Treasury Department check bounced. I think we have a problem.

I hope everyone had a happy and joyous Easter and Passover season. Happy Spring!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful summer. I spent the whole summer, including weekends, writing. And just last week, I wrote the two most beautiful words an author can write: The End.

Yes, I am finished with the sequel to The Lion’s Game. And as I reported in my last newsletter, the title of my new book is The Lion — short and simple, and it leaves a lot of room for my name in big letters, as you can see here.

Actually, this cover was finished before I finished the book, but now it has all come together — book and cover, and even a publication date, which is June 8, 2010. That’s a long time away, but it’s worth the wait. The Lion is every bit as good as The Lion’s Game, and in many ways better. John Corey, NYPD, returns at the very top of his game, and his wife and partner, FBI Special Agent Kate Mayfield has her hands full trying to rein in her rambunctious husband as they pursue Libyan terrorist Asad Khalil who escaped their grasp in The Lion’s Game. This book is so good I actually read it myself.

The Lion will be on the shelves in time for Father’s Day, graduation, and summer vacation. It would also make a great belated Mother’s Day gift. And, of course, for the one or two million people whose birthday is June 8, what a special gift this would be — a book born on the same day as your friend or loved one.

On to other subjects: as I also mentioned in my previous newsletter, my last novel, The Gate House is now available in trade (large-size) paperback. This is a nice, easy-to-read format, and is only slightly smaller than the hardcover edition for about half the price. Included in this edition of The Gate House is Chapter One of The Lion. At no extra charge. And six months before publication date.

Also now available is the trade paperback edition of Wild Fire, the previous John Corey novel, which also includes Chapter One of The Lion.

Please look for (and buy) both these new editions at your local bookstore or from your favorite online book source. And don’t worry if you’ve already read The Gate House or Wild Fire; if you’re like me, you can’t remember what you’ve read, and it will all seem new and fresh.

As I said earlier — or did I not say? — I’m going to post Chapter One of The Lion on my website — but I’m also going to do something bold and different: I’m posting the last chapter of The Lion on my website. That’s right — I’m giving away the end. So, you can read Chapter One, and Chapter Forty-seven, then decide if you’d like to buy what comes in between. Or, you can make up your own story about what came between Chapters One and Forty-seven. Hell, it might be better than my version.

All right, just kidding — the last chapter remains a state secret. But you can read Chapter One of The Lion (to be published in June 2010) by clicking here, or in the trade paperback editions of The Gate House and Wild Fire, available now in bookstores and online retailers.

Now that I’m done with The Lion, I am joining the growing ranks of the unemployed, and to fill my days, I am re-opening my website mailbox so that my readers can email me here with their thoughts, advice, criticism, praise, or questions. I try to answer mailbox emails, but sometimes the volume is overwhelming. Still, I’d like to hear from you, and if you don’t hear back from me, write to your mother — she always responds. Kids not so much.

I like to give movie news in my newsletters, but it’s been pretty quiet since I last wrote. Basically, the books that were in development — The Charm School and The Gold Coast — remain in a holding pattern. Columbia/Sony, who own the motion picture rights to The Lion’s Game and Plum Island (both John Corey novels), have expressed an interest in revisiting these projects. Stay tuned.

Sometime after my unemployment checks run out, I will begin my next novel. As of now, I have a great title — Captain — and a really terrific cover, but I have no idea what the book is about. Sea captain? Airline captain? Army captain? Police captain? The cover is blue and gold, with my name in big red letters, and a big black question mark where the artwork should be. Publication date, according to my astrologer, will be May 17, 2011. More on this in my next Newsletter.

That’s it for this Newsletter. I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful Thanksgiving. Despite the economy and the world situation, we have much to be thankful for. And please remember our troops stationed around the world in your thoughts and your prayers as you gather ’round the holiday table.

This is my first Newsletter since December and I hope everyone had a good winter despite the record-breaking global warming freeze in most of the country.

I’ve just read and corrected the galley proofs of my new book, The Lion, and it’s off to the printer. The Lion will be published June 8, as scheduled, in a limited edition of one million copies which will be offered to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to avoid long lines and disappointment, I suggest you pre-order your copy or copies online, or call your bookstore and ask them to reserve a copy for you. When these million copies are gone, there will be no more copies available to the public — unless the publisher goes back to press for another half million or so. But don’t take a chance on being left out — Order now while supplies last! The Lion will make a great Father’s Day gift, or a belated Mother’s Day gift. And don’t forget birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, christenings, bar mitzvahs, or relatives in prison. And if you’re like me, you like to have a heavy book in your hand when you answer the door to a solicitor or census taker. Two whacks upside the head usually gets rid of them.

I’m still working on Captain which will be published sometime in 2011. I’m about halfway through the book and I’ve figured out what it’s about. At first it was supposed to be about a long boring flight from Rome to New York. But then I decided to introduce the element of computer failure over the Atlantic. Well, as you can imagine, the flight gets interesting at that point. I’m actually flying from Rome to New York in May, so if the computer goes down I can see firsthand if I’m getting it right.

I just autographed my income tax check and like millions of other Americans I probably won’t get a thank you note from the IRS. It’s like the whole IRS is made up of my nieces and nephews.

Just to remind everyone, the prequel to The Lion, titled The Lion’s Game, will be reissued in mass market paperback on May 3, and in the larger trade paperback edition on May 19. It’s not necessary to read or reread The Lion’s Game before you read The Lion, but it’s not a bad idea either. I mean, do you really remember The Lion’s Game? I don’t, and I wrote it. This reissued edition of The Lion’s Game includes a sneak preview chapter from The Lion and also a new Author’s Introduction.

Not much new on the movie front except that the manuscript of The Lion is out with about sixty producers and studios and we’re waiting for the offers to start rolling in. I did get an offer from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences for one million dollars if I’d stop sending manuscripts to Hollywood. My agent is negotiating.

Well, that’s about it. I hope you’re all enjoying the spring and that you’ve managed to find something to read before The Lion comes out in June, just in time for beach reading.