Newsletter 09/08

September 2008

Well, the summer is over and the presidential campaign season has begun. Book sales (especially fiction) traditionally take a dip every four years during the presidential race, which is why I decided to publish my new novel, The Gate House, on Tuesday, October 28, a week before Election Day. There is a method to this madness, and if I remember what I was thinking, I’ll share it with you. Meanwhile, let’s all buck this silly slump in book sales for this election and pre-order The Gate House (click here) or run out and buy it on October 28. The book is 688 pages long, and I guarantee that if you throw it at your TV set during the election returns, you’ll knock out the picture. The book will survive.

The Gate House, as you may know is the sequel to The Gold Coast, and as I mentioned in the last Newsletter, Grand Central Publishing has reissued The Gold Coast in the large trade paperback size, and will reissue the standard paperback on October 1. Both editions have a new cover, a new Author’s Introduction, and a new Twenty-first Century price. You don’t need to read The Gold Coast before you read The Gate House — you can read them concurrently or in reverse order — it’s only important that you buy both books. I’ve got a two-year old who’ll be in college in 16 years.

Costco has done a wonderful promotion of the reissued Gold Coast and if you get their newsletter you’ve seen this and seen the great review, by J. Rentilly, and also seen some very nice things written about me by Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco’s book buyer.

I spent the summer outlining and researching my next novel, which will be the sequel to The Lion’s Game, featuring John Corey, NYPD (ret.), currently with the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force. I’ve already begun the book and in the first chapter of the sequel Corey kills his nemesis from The Lion’s Game, Asad Khalil. I think that was supposed to come at the end of the book, so now I’m not sure what to do. Maybe I need to rewrite Chapter One.

Anyway, I’m very excited about this book (as yet untitled – any suggestions?), and I’m happy once more to be spending my days with John Corey and Kate Mayfield — especially Kate.

My Newsletter generates hundreds and hundreds of responses from you, and as I’ve said, I read each and every one of them, and I wish I could reply, and it’s frustrating that I don’t have the time to do so, but I appreciate all the emails and I thank you for taking the time to write. I get a much needed ego boost from the letters, but I also get taken to task by some readers for my use of profanity. As one lady wrote, “I read Wild Fire three times and counted the F-word thirty-six times.”

I need to say here that my original manuscripts contain no profanity whatsoever. But Grand Central Publishing has an editor known as the “F-Guy,” who peppers my manuscripts with four-letter words. I would end this practice immediately, but it’s been brought to my attention that the publisher has this right, as per the small print in my contract.

Having said that, I will speak to the “F-Guy” about this and try to clean up the next John Corey book. In fact, at the beginning of Chapter One in The Lion’s Game sequel, John Corey says to his boss, “I am going to find that dastardly blighter, Asad Khalil, and kick him in the shins.”

A side note here: I did a booksigning this summer with other authors to raise money for the East Hampton Public Library. I love libraries — you know, those places where they give away my books for free. I mean, East Hampton is one of the wealthiest communities on the planet, so I think the residents who live in twenty-million dollar summer homes can buy their books. But I digress. At the signing, I met Alec Baldwin, of all people, and we chatted about his past involvement in the movie version of The Gold Coast. That’s a long story, but I need to say here that despite what people may think of his politics or his personal life, he is a charming man, and as down-to-earth as any actor I’ve ever met. And I don’t say that just because he loves my books — he liked Night Fall the best — but I say this because he’s an astute reader and he’s bigger than me — see the photo in my Photo Gallery.

Okay, so that’s about it for this time. I’ll get out another Newsletter before the October 28 publication date of The Gate House.

Meanwhile, click here for my publicity schedule. I’m not doing much of a cross-country booksigning tour this time — I need to work on the sequel to The Lion’s Game — but if I’m in your area, drop by and bring a copy of this Newsletter. You’ll go to the front of the signing line and I’ll tell you a funny story about Alec Baldwin.

Thanks for all your cards and letters and for your support over the years. And remember, no matter who wins the presidency on November 4, the other guy will lose.

Best regards,
Nelson DeMille

Sincerely,