Newsletter 12/09

December 2009

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I enjoy the holiday, but I wish the Pilgrims had shot a cow instead of a turkey. I mean, turkey is good for you, but steak is something to be thankful for.

One of the things I am thankful for are my great readers who consistently put my books on the bestseller list. The Gate House trade paperback edition was released on November 3, and it immediately made it to the New York Times bestseller list as well as other lists around the country. So for that I thank all of you who bought the book. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you also enjoyed Chapter One of The Lion, which is included in the back of The Gate House. The Lion, which is the sequel to The Lion’s Game will be published on June 8, 2010, in time for the Summer Solstice on June 21. Depending on your longitude and latitude, you can read this book by sunlight until about 8 pm — longer, if you sit on your roof — thereby helping the environment and reducing global warming by three percent.

My November Newsletter generated almost a thousand emails from my readers. I promise you, I do read every email, but it’s obviously not possible to answer each one. However, I do thank you all for writing, and for your good wishes, and your suggestions, comments, and even your criticisms which are usually helpful. Even the really dumb criticisms are interesting.

In my last Newsletter, I mentioned my next book, titled Captain, and I said I didn’t know what it was about. This generated about a hundred emails with suggestions and I picked one. Captain will be an airline disaster novel with a twist. The twist is this: the airplane never leaves the ground. It sits on the runway for six hours and no one makes an announcement to the passengers. The lavs back up, the air conditioning is not working, the galley is closed, and finally the pilots and crew sneak off the plane under cover of darkness. Then, an amateur pilot enters the cockpit. He can’t fly the aircraft, but he taxis to the highway and heads for the nearest Hooters. Happy ending.

Speaking of endings, as we all know by now, the world will end on December 21, 2012. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I will have another book out in time for Christmas 2012. It’s called “Two or Three Books to Read Before You Get Vaporized. “Originally, it was a hundred books, but…well, two or three is probably all you can read before December 21. More on this as the time approaches.

On the movie front, the big question going around is: Will Hollywood turn another DeMille book into a major motion picture before the world ends? A few years ago, I would have answered Yes! But now, as The End approaches, I’m more pessimistic about seeing one of my books on the silver screen. My agent, too, is concerned about not seeing any royalties after Doomsday. On the brighter side, we won’t have to audit the royalty statements. Or take any more meetings in L.A.

I’d like to remind everyone that a book makes a great holiday gift. The gift of a book shows thought, and it sends a message to the recipient that you think he or she is literate. Also, you’re probably not paying full cover price, but it looks like you spent about thirty bucks. And finally, if you shop early, you can read the book first, then wrap it. Just don’t sneeze on it.

Before I sign off, I’d like to ask a favor. Please forward this Newsletter to friends, family, and anyone who you think might enjoy reading this. And please urge other people to subscribe to this Newsletter. This Newsletter is free to the first half million people who sign up.

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy Hanukkah. I spent Christmas 1968 in a foxhole in Vietnam, so at this time of year my thoughts and prayers always go out to the men and women serving in hostile areas around the world. Home safe.

And Happy New Year to all.

Sincerely,