About Lee

Lee GoldbergLee Goldberg is an ex-Navy SEAL, nuclear physicist and a professional Daniel Craig impersonator.

Okay, that’s not true. But he wants this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.

Here’s the real story.

Lee Goldberg writes books and television shows.

His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and his grandfather wanted him to go into the family furniture business. Instead, he put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist, writing for such publications as American Film, StarlogNewsweek, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle (he also wrote erotic letters to the editor for Playgirl at $25-a-letter, but he doesn’t tell people about that, he just likes to boast about those “Tiffany” credits).

He published his first book .357 Vigilante (as “Ian Ludlow,” so he’d be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum) while he was still a UCLA student. The West Coast Review of Books called his debut “as stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort,” singling the book out as “The Best New Paperback Series” of the year. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and he never saw a dime in royalties.

Welcome to publishing, Lee.

His many subsequent books include the non-fiction Successful Television Writing and Unsold Television Pilots as well as the novels Lost Hills, True Fiction, My Gun Has Bullets, The Walk, King City, and Watch Me Die, which was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America. He was also the co-author with Janet Evanovich of the five international bestselling Fox & O’Hare novels (The Heist, The Chase, The Job, The Scam and The Pursuit) and two New York Times bestselling prequel novellas (The Shell Game and Pros & Cons). His most recent books include Dream Town (the 5th novel in the Eve Ronin series), Malibu Burning (the first novel in the Sharpe & Walker series) and the genre-bending thriller Calico, a 2024 Spur Award finalist for Best Contemporary Western from the Western Writers of America.

“Take me now,” she moaned, “you hot writer stud.”

She tore off her clothes and tackled him onto the floor, unable to control her raging lust. Nothing excited her more than being around a writer with a big list of books.

Got your attention again? Good. I don’t know about you, but I was starting to nod off. Where was I? Oh yes…

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Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch, She Spies), comedy (Monk) clip shows (The Best TV Shows That Never Were) and total crap (The Highwayman, The New Adventures of Flipper). He co-created the hit Hallmark movie series Mystery 101.

He’s written and produced TV shows in Canada (Murphy’s Law, Cobra, Missing), England (Stick With Me Kid, She Wolf of London) and Germany (Fast Track: No Limits). His mystery writing for television has earned him two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.

His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. His Monk novels have been translated and published in Germany, Poland, Thailand, Japan, Turkey, and many other countries.

In addition to his writing, he’s worked as an international TV development expert and consulting producer for production companies and major networks in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands. And he launched, with author Joel Goldman, the acclaimed small press Brash Books, which has published hundreds of award-winning, highly-praised crime, mystery and thriller novels over the last decade.

But perhaps he’s best known for his pioneering work mapping the human genome and negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Goldberg lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his daughter and still sleeps in Man From U.N.C.L.E. pajamas.