Time for an update, innit? It seems to me I have a few things to tell you.
Now if I can only remember what they are. . .
Well, I suppose the first thing to report is that HIT & RUN, the fourth book
about Keller, after spending an enjoyable year between hard covers, is now
ready to emerge as a mass-market paperback. Now I know that’s of little
immediate concern to most of you, as you already own the book, and very
likely a first edition at that. (And some of you are proud owners of the
Philatelic Edition. At least I hope you’re proud. You are, aren’t you? Oh,
good.)
But now you can stock up on paperback HIT & RUNs. (Or should that be Hits &
Runs? Oh, never mind.) Bestow copies upon all your friends. Hand them out at
stamp shows. You’ll think of something.
Speaking of Keller, some of you expressed concern that his career might have
ended with HIT & RUN. (That was after you’d got done worrying if he’d still
have a pulse at the book’s end.) Well, I can’t say whether there will be
any more books about Keller---I can’t really say whether there’ll be any
more books, period, of which more later---but I’m pleased to report that
there’s a new Keller story beginning in the July/August issue of American
Stamp Dealer & Collector. This fine philatelic publication has reprinted
several of Keller’s adventures over the past couple of years, and now they
will be running a brand-new story, “Keller in Dallas,” in two or three
installments. The story takes place in the present, a year or two after the
conclusion of HIT & RUN, and I hope the non-philatelists among you will have
as much fun reading the story as you’ll have trying to find a copy of the
magazine.
I have a pair of stories coming up in the next few months in Ellery Queen. One
’s “Without A Body,” a short-short with an interesting history. It was
commissioned some ten years ago by Esquire; I was one of five or six writers
asked to write something inspired by the Sante and Kenny Kimes murder case.
(You could look it up.) A private investigator friend of mine was doing some
investigative work for the defense, so I talked to her and spent a day at the
trial and wrote an impressionistic piece from the victim’s point of view.
Esquire meanwhile had second thoughts, paid everybody, and returned all the
stories. I quite forgot about it until it turned up on my hard drive,
whereupon I sent it to EQMM, where I’m pleased to say it’s found a home.
The other story for EQMM, “Who Knows Where It Goes,” is very much a
creature of the moment, and specifically of the current economic downturn.
And there are a few more short stories coming up in original anthologies.
Dark End of the Street, edited by S. J. Rozan and Jonathan Santlofer, will
provide a home for “Scenarios,” Indian Country Noir, edited by Liz Martinez
and Sarah Cortez, will do the same for “Getting Lucky,” and “Clean Slate”
is due in Warriors (George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois). So, although I’
m not working on a novel and don’t have one in the planning stages, I don’t
know that it’s accurate to say I’m retiring. Shy, perhaps, but not
retiring.
For a while there, it looked as though I was retiring from walking as well.
When I finished writing STEP BY STEP: A Pedestrian Memoir, I was ready for a
break. (I walked two marathons a week apart last spring, and that may have
had something to do with it.) They say running and walking are addictive, but
they’re nowhere near as addictive as inactivity. The result of all of this
was that, by the time the book came out, I found myself in the position of
one of those poor schnooks who drops a hundred and fifty pounds on “The
Biggest Loser,” writes a book to tell the world how he did it, and then
gains it all back with interest just in time for the book tour.
My own book tour was minimal---a few days in Los Angeles, a couple more in
Cedar Rapids and Des Moines---but by the time it was over I got the point,
and the day after my plane landed at Newark I got back on Atkins and the
pavement. I’m up to forty miles a week, which is where I intend to plateau
for a while, and I’m planning on a marathon in the fall. So there.
What else? I suppose I should talk some about film and TV. That, after all,
is what everyone always asks about. (It’s funny---people show up at a talk
or signing because of their fondness for books, and all their questions are
about the movies. Don’t ask me why.)
But there’s not much to say. Keller’s in development as a TV series, and a
pilot has been written, but I don’t know that any of that is going anywhere.
A brilliant screenwriter/director has optioned Tanner, and I’m hopeful he’
ll be able to make something happen. And a somewhat less brilliant
screenwriter---uh, that would be me---has adapted A Ticket to the Boneyard
for the screen; we’ve had a couple of serious nibbles, but nothing more
substantial than that as yet. We’ll see.
Short films are another story. We’re still selling DVDs of Mark K. Sullivan’
s film of "Cleveland In My Dreams"and now Marton Varo has filmed another of
my short stories, “A Bad Night for Burglars.” I haven’t seen it yet, there
’s a screening I hope to attend Friday at Anthology Film Archives, and if
things work out I may be able to offer DVDs at LB's Bookstore.
This might be a good time to mention that inquiries about rights to any of my
work should be directed to my film agent, Matthew Snyder, at Creative Artists
Agency. (That’s MSnyder@caa.com) Many of my short stories are evidently
adaptable as short films, and I am happy to accommodate film students and
young filmmakers by offering very reasonable terms for non-exclusive rights
to a story for non-commercial use.
At LB's Bookstore, we’re still offering the Treasure Chest, a big box full
of assorted goodies. But we’ve changed our policy and will only ship this
item to US addresses. If you want a Treasure Chest, or anything else we’ve
got for sale, now might be a good time to order. One of these days David
Trevor will take a vacation, and things slow down significantly when that
happens.
Oh, before I forget, I had the great privilege recently of participating in a
roundtable discussion at Newsweek's offices, in the exalted company of Kurt
Andersen, Robert Caro, Annette Gordon-Reed, Susan Orlean, and Elizabeth
Strout, with Jon Meacham of Newsweek moderating. What a group, with four or
five Pulitzer Prizes among them; there was, as JFK remarked once at a state
dinner, never so much talent gathered under one roof since Thomas Jefferson
dined alone. I don't know who thought to invite me, or why, but I have a
wonderful time. It's all written up in the magazine's July 13 issue, on the
newsstand or here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/204211
And that’s more than enough news. Be well, and enjoy the summer. Or the
winter, if you’re in that other hemisphere.
LB
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