The USA Network has gone all-out celebrating the Jan. 3 release of my book MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE. Today they’ve launched a terrific website devoted to the books, which includes a really cool presentation of an excerpt from the book, a dozen streaming video interviews with yours truly, and a bio with all the sordid details of my life including my years as sous chef at McDonalds and my professional reawakening as tantric sex instructor. I wish all my books got this kind of promotion.
Monk Books
Post-Partum Depression
I just completed my 7th DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel, "The Double Life," which will be published in Sept. 2006, and delivered it to my agent. While it’s a great feeling to finish a book, it also leaves this big void. The book has been such a big part of my days, and my thoughts, for the last few months that it’s strange not to have it there any more. But I’m not taking much time to rest. I delivered this DM early — 30 days ahead of my deadline — so that means I’ll have a little more time to plot and write the 3rd MONK novel, "Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu," and can enjoy the holidays without having to worry about scrambling to finish a book.
Sunday On The Road
My 10-year-old daughter Madison wanted to hang out with her Dad today, so we both went down to Irvine for my talk with the Orange County chapter of Sisters-in-Crime. My brother Tod was there, too, and we talked about the craft and business of writing with the lovely ladies for two-and-half hours…and then Madison and I schlepped up to Hollywood in bumper-to-bumper traffic for the MONK season wrap party at the Lucky Strike bowling alley.
We chatted with showrunner/creator Andy Breckman, and producers Tom Scharpling, David Breckman and David Hoberman, as well as USA Network head honcho Jeff Wachtel. My old friends Terry Erdman and Paula Block, authors of the upcoming MONK COMPANION, were also there. Andy made Madison’s day by taking her picture with Tony Shalhoub and Traylor Howard (I’ll be sure to post the pictures when they arrive).
Madison says she learned a lot from our talk and that she had a great time at the party, so it looks like she may be tagging along with me more often… which is fine with me!
I Go On and On and On…
There’s a long interview with your corpulent and inarticulate host over at the Monk Fun Page about writing the MONK books and working on the show. There’s also an interview with me up at the Monk fan site in Germany.
The Fanfic Follies
I’ve become the subject of another fanfiction dust-up, this one over at the Monk message boards, where I’ve been accused of calling fanficcers rapists and murderers…but other than that, nothing new is being said you haven’t read here before ad nauseum.
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
I just this minute finished the first draft of MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII. It’s about 70,000 words. I’m printing out the manuscript now so that tomorrow I can begin my pencil-edit and rewriting. Coincidentally, today the galley proofs of MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE arrived on my doorstep for me to review. It seems fitting, somehow, that the timing worked out that way.
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
Here’s the cover for my first MONK novel, "Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse," which comes out January 3. (CLick on the image for a larger view)
Dumb Career Moves
I’ve been absorbed in all things MONK today… writing book #2, reading scripts for season #4, watching last night’s season #4 premiere, and catching up on some of the supplementary materials in the DVD boxed set of season 3.
And I’ve come to this c0nclusion. Bitty Schram leaving MONK is going to go 
down in history as one of the great dumb career moves, right up there with Tony Musante leaving TOMA, McLean Stevenson leaving MASH, Shelly Long leaving CHEERS, Valerie Harper leaving VALERIE, Wil Wheaton leaving STAR TREK, David Caruso leaving NYPD BLUE, Erica Eleniak leaving BAYWATCH, Herve Villachaize leaving FANTASY ISLAND, Redd Foxx leaving SANFORD AND SON, and George Lazenby walking away from James Bond, to name a few.
Cover Story
I started writing the second MONK book today…and whenever I get stuck, which is about every five minutes, I glance at the just-arrived cover of MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE to remind myself that I’ve been in this exact same situation before. That’s one reason why I keep a few of my published books, and the tentative covers, amidst the mess on my desk…as little visual and tactile reminders that whatever creative woes I am experiencing today I have experienced before and not to lose confidence. All that whining aside, what do you think of the cover?
The Book is Done
I finished writing MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE and sent it off to the publisher, the studio, and the showrunner on Friday…ten days before my deadline. You can read it in January. As much as I enjoyed writing that book (and proving to myself I could write a book that fast), it’s going to be very nice to have a free weekend to do whatever I want, which will be…
…playing with my INport, a device that allows me to transfer my old LPs and cassette tapes to .wav and .mp3 files.
…finishing Meg Wolitzer’s novel THE POSITION.
… getting hamburgers and shakes at The Habit with my daughter and going swimming.
…cleaning up my office, organizing my desk and paying bills.
…catching up on the TV shows I recorded on Tivo last week in my mad rush to finish the book.
…starting to plot MONK #2, which is due in early September and will be published in July 2006.