Me Me Me

Today is Pub Day

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1594143722_1Prepare yourself for same blatant self-promotion…but I think I’m allowed.

Today is the official publication date of THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE, which should start appearing in finer mystery bookstores nationwide, like Mystery Book Store, Mysteries to Die For, and Murder By The Book. You can also order if from Amazon. Here are some excerpts from the pre-publication reviews:

"As dark and twisted as anything as anything Hammett or Chandler ever dreamed
up…leaving Travis McGee in the dust" Kirkus Reviews Starred Review

"Approaching the level of Lawrence Block is no mean feat, but Goldberg (the
Diagnosis Murder series) succeeds with this engaging PI novel…" Publishers Weekly

"A
convincing, even moving tale about the real nature of the SoCal streets and
the real nature of heroism," Ed Gorman

"Likeable loser Harvey Mapes is my new favorite private eye, the guy with the dead-end job who longs to be Mannix or Travis McGee.  I hope the folks in charge of the Shamus nominations are paying attention." Victor Gischler

"Violent, often crude, sometimes hilarious and ultimately touching, this book is
a great homage to the Gold Medal paperbacks of the 1950s and 1960s." Clair Lamb, Mystery Bookstore newsletter

A witty, wicked and dare I say wise little book. Lee Goldberg shows off more than just his funny bone here. He reveals a keen eye for the wrenching heartbreaks and triumphs that forge heroes" David Corbett

"Lee Goldberg’s ‘The Man in the Iron-On Badge’ is a very funny book about the ironclad LA class system, life in a security guard’s shack, and the crucial differences between violence as
experienced on a TV show and in real life. " Scott
Phillips

"A quick fun read with a satisfying and unexpected ending. Harvey Mapes is a hero I  hope we see in a sequel." Phillip
Margolin

"A clever, witty and intelligent parody of, and homage to, the PI genre." Robert
Randisi

"Lee Goldberg is a sly and funny writer, with a warm heart and an ease with words. 
He never disappoints." SJ Rozan

"This book starts out as a fine example of the humorous “lovable schmoe”
school of detective fiction, and Goldberg does a good job with that part of it, but then it takes a sudden turn into darker and more dangerous territory and becomes even better…"James Reasoner

"The book is about Harvey’s discovery that real-life crime isn’t like
the fictional variety at all. At first, the differences are played for
laughs, but when Harvey’s case takes a tragic turn, Lee never loses his
footing. Harvey actually matures on the page, a transformation made
evident in the character’s distinctive voice." Vince Keenan

"Goldberg is funny in this rip on pop culture, PI cliches, and
California culture…a laugh-out-loud example of what the best PI
novels should be."  James Winter, Reflections in a Private Eye

I’m Outta Here…Maybe

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There’s an enormous fire raging about three miles from my house in Calabasas, California. Two neighborhoods close to mine, on the north side of the Ventura Freeway,  have been evacuated.  No one has told us to leave yet, but we’ve already made a short list of what we will take if we have to go… family photos & home movies, important documents, my external hard-drive, my daughter’s three favorite stuffed animals. In the mean time, I can sit here in my home office and watch the smoke moving in our direction…

Firefighters are doing everything they can to halt the fire at the freeway, because if the flames jump to our side, it’s a clear shot to the dry hills of  Malibu…which is exactly what happened a few years ago.

Staying Sharp

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Lee0001Here are some photos from my day of whirlwind signings with the irrepressible, and potentially lethal, Zoe Sharp. Lee0013The first is from the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood CA, the second is Zoe and I with Jane and Heidi, two of the hot Lit-babes who own Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, CA. You can order signed copies of our books from either of these fine establishments while supplies last. (Click on the photos for larger images)

Search Me II

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Here are some of the searches that brought people to this blog today…

NippledroppearlsNinya Perna Sex (Who is "Ninya Perna?")
Jeri Ryan Encino  (Is someone trying to find out where she lives?)
Jenna Lewis Sex Tapes (Jenna who? People still remember her?)
Celebrity Nipples  (Would Jenna’s nipples qualify as celebrities?)
Hunter + McCall Slash Fanfic
Brothers Grimm Slash Fanfiction
Pernell Roberts (Odd..no one is asking about his plastic surgery, his nipples, or looking for slash fiction with him and Little Joe)
Lara Flynn Boyle Plastic Surgery (Nipple implants, no doubt)
White Wash + Ian Ludlow (this one aroused my curiosity)
Orlando Bloom + Mpreg
Reunion+ reality+sucks + Fox
Chicken Pot Pie
Worst Novel Opening Lines
William Shatner Plastic Surgery Hoax
Karina Lombard Nipples (what is it with this nipple obsession on the web?)
Lindsay Lohan Nipples (I knew that would get me hits!)

On the Road Again

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Zoegun5Yesterday, I kicked off a schedule of promotional events (that stretches into March 2006) by signing at The Mystery Book  Store and Mysteries to Die For with my friend Zoe Sharp, who is in the states from the U.K pushing her hot new novel FIRST DROP. She was accompanied by Andy, her swarthy body guard, photographer, sex slave, pack-horse, chauffeur and doting husband. We had a wonderful time meeting readers, chatting with booksellers and hanging out. My daughter Madison strong-armed Zoe into buying a copy of her book
ADVENTURES OF KITTY WONDER #2: LOTS OF KILLING and at Mysteries to Die
For, Andy test-drove the owner’s new Lexus hybrid. Zoe will be posting some pictures of our whirlwind L.A. tour on her website.  You can also check out her road-trip blog.

He-Men and the Masters of the Universe

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My friend Gregg Hurwitz and his family came over to our house yesterday afternoon for BBQ, swimming, and lazing around.  When it got dark, the kids went inside to play and the grown-ups stayed outside to talk. We were having a nice conversation when Gregg’s wife very calmly pointed out that there was a tarantula crawling by Gregg’s feet. I don’t know who yelped louder or jumped higher out of his seat — me or Gregg.

We’ve seen rabbits, scorpions, mice, squirrels, rattlesnakes, bobcats, deer, lizards, coyotes, and swarms of bees in our yard but never, ever, EVER a tarantula. The spider was huge and black and terrifying. And moved very fast.

Gregg and I, squeeling and whining like little girls, finally managed to trap the spider in a jar and dump him out on the hillside behind our house. But I found the whole thing very funny. Here are these two men — guys who’ve written all kinds of books and TV shows about tough-guy action heroes —  who turned into complete blithering sissies at the sight of a gigantic, but harmless, spider.

Just goes to prove that those who can’t do don’t teach…they write about it.

Doing the Konrath III

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Author Joe Konrath, the champion of stock signing, has inspired me to drop in on bookstores wherever I go and sign the stock of DIAGNOSIS MURDER novels. This weekend, I was up in Seattle. The tally:  Eight stores visited, 53 books signed.

Room 222

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Bill Rabkin and I are teaching another four-week, online course of  "Beginning Television Writing" for Writers University. For more information on the session, which begins Sept. 5, click here. I don’t know how the students feel about it, but we’ve been really enjoying the experience. This is our third or fourth time doing it and I’ve discovered that helping others learn how we do what we do has sharpened my own writing. In fact, I applied some advice we gave a student the other day (she was having trouble structuring her story)  to one of our own pitches and it made a big difference.