Lee Goldberg

What To Do

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I have some time on my hands. Today I turned in the manuscript for my 12th Monk novel, MR MONK ON THE COUCH, which means that, for a few weeks anyway, I don't have any deadlines hanging over my head. I still have to come up with the plot of my next Monk book over the next couple of days (the book is due in June), but that's not worrying me too much.

So I'm sitting here trying to decide what project would be the best use of my time, creatively and financially, over the next four-to-six weeks (assuming some paying gig, like a job on a series or a freelance script, doesn't come along!).

1. THE HEIST MOVIE.  I've got an incredibly detailed outline  for a big heist movie, a project I developed a year or so back for a Big Name Movie Producer…but the project fell through.  It's all mine, there are no strings attached to it, so I could write that up as a new spec feature script. 

2. THE CRIME NOVEL.  I have 20o pages and an outline that I wrote two years ago for a crime novel called KING CITY and then had to set aside for some paying gigs. I could finish that up and give it to my agent…or publish it directly on the Kindle. Or…

3. THE SPEC PILOT. I could go in a different direction and write KING CITY as a spec TV pilot script, since the idea originally began as a TV series pitch that a lot of folks liked, though not enough to actually buy it.

4. THE WALK SEQUEL. My wife thinks I should write a direct-to-Kindle sequel to THE WALK to take advantage of the book's success. The sequel would be set over the same three-day period as the book, but would focus on what was happening to the hero's wife while he was walking across Los Angeles. I have some notions, but I still need to plot the whole thing out.

I'm mulling them all and waiting to see which one inspires me the most over the next couple of days. In the mean time, I've got Men of Mystery to attend in Irvine tomorrow, I want to finish reading Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE, and I've got lots of episodes of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, NIKITA, and some other shows to catch up on.

I’m Giving Away THE WALK

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The_Walk_FINAL (2) When THE WALK came out in hardcover seven years ago, nobody noticed it. I figured that was the end…but 15 months ago, I re-released it as an ebook. It was an immediate success and has sold nearly 12,000 copies so far and is still going strong.  

I want to introduce THE WALK to the next wave of new Kindle, iPad, and Nook owners this holiday season… and to do that, I’d like send you a FREE COPY of the novel in whatever eformat you prefer (epub, PDF, txt, html, etc). Here’s all that you have to do:

  1. 1. Send me an email at lee@leegoldberg.com with the subject FREE WALK BOOK and give me your name and the address of your website or blog (don’t have one? That’s okay. Read on).

    2. 2. Agree to post a review, positive or negative (but with no spoilers!) on your blog, website, Goodreads page, Facebook page, or the Amazon listing for THE WALK by Christmas Day. (You don't have to buy the book on Amazon to review it there, you only need to have an account). 

    3. Email me a copy of the review or a link to the post.

    This offer is limited to the first 100 people who respond by November 30.

    UPDATE 10-27-10, 5:14 pm: I've given away thirty books already…so if you're interested, you'd better hurry!

My Brother Tod is Funny

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This week my brother Tod wrote what may be his funniest Letters to Parade column ever.  Here's an excerpt.

…Elizabeth Chambers, hailing from Los Angeles, CA, and presumably reading Parade in the LA Times, as I do, has a question that made me realize that the reason people end up voting for complete fucktards like Sarah Palin is that they don't realize politicians aren't fictional characters. You see, Elizabeth is very curious about that nice young President we have…on THE EVENT:

"Blair Underwood is great as President Elias Martinez on NBC's The Event. Does he have any political experience in real life?" 

Jesus fucking Christ on a bed of wild rice, Elizabeth. Do you really think you somehow missed out on the two terms Blair Underwood spent as a United States Senator? Or what about when he was a Congressman? Or those years when he was Attorney General? Personally, I'll never forget what it was like meeting Blair Underwood when he was just a state Senator –this was during his downtime after his seven year stint on LA Law ended and before he landed his next role four minutes later. I knew then that one day he would eventually either be President or at least play the President in something. He just had that gravity, you know? But then when he was on The New Adventures of Old Christine a few years ago, I was like, whoa, he's just a school teacher in this! Well, he was a school teacher on the show, and, of course, was the Dept. Secretary of Defense, too, but, anyway, I just felt like he was selling himself short. 

For fuck's sake. I mean it. People this stupid shouldn't be allowed to watch television. It's clearly not good for them and thus it's not good for America and, thus, it's bad for the Jews.

 

The Mail I Get

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I got home from Bouchercon and found this email waiting for me.

Fan of Monk the series, don't care at all for your books. 

What about a spinoff? Randy and Sharrona got married, right.  Why not do a show about them and his new job.  I think this would be a good idea especially with all the special guests.  Randy was a good detective with Barney personality and Sharrona was a good investigator/assistant.  I can see a lot of good shows for them.  Don't forget Benji-Hawaii trip episode. 

Just a thought.

             Nancy
I'm a fan of readers, don't care at all for you or your dumb ideas. What about next time you write to someone, you don't start off by insulting them? Just a thought.

 

Bouchercon Day 3

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Sara Gran, me, Scott Phillips Another lively day at Bouchercon… it started with a panel on the legacy of Robert B. Parker. My fellow panelists were Joseph  Finder, Dick Lochte, Mark Coggins, Declan Hughes, and Russel McLean. The panelists and the audience seemed to really enjoy it.  Afterwards, a guy came up to me and said "You look like the most hated politician in San Francisco… but now that you're standing, I see that you're fatter."

I thanked him.

The panel was  followed by a signing. A woman asked me to sign her program and, as I was doing so, she said "I really enjoyed your books back  when they were good."

I thanked her, too. Oh, these dumb comments remind me of one that came up when I was "in conversation"  with William Link. A guy in the audience stood up and asked Link "When you created COLUMBO, how much were  you influenced by Huckleberry Finn?"

"Not at all," Link said.

"This brings up an interesting question," I said. "When you created MANNIX, how much were  you influenced by CATCHER IN THE RYE?"

Link was still laughing about the Huckleberry Finn question  today when I signed with him after the Parker panel.

After the signing,  I grabbed a sandwich at Boudin and got a little writing done…then hung out in the bar for a while, talking with David Hewson, Bill Crider, Lynn Sheene, Doug Lyle, Christa Faust, Robert Ward, and probably a dozen others throughout the afternoon. 

But the highlight of the day  and the conference for me was the screening of my short film REMAINDERED tonight. The room was packed with authors, editors, agents, booksellers and fans. And they all seemed to love  it. I couldn't have asked  for a better  first screening. It really was the perfect audience for the film. I just wish the cast and crew could have been there to enjoy it with me. 

The screening  was followed by a lively Q&A and then I headed up to the bar, where I talked ebooks and the future of publishing with Penguin/NAL senior editor Sandra Harding…and later with Mulholland  Books editor John  Schoenfeller and agent Josh Getzler. I also caught up with Sara Gran, Scott Phillips, Joe Konrath, Cameron Hughes, Megan Abbott, Allison  Gaylin, and several other authors.

All in all, it was a terrific Bouchercon for me. I'm so glad that I  came up for it. 

(Pictured: Sara Gran, me, Scott Phillips)

Bouchercon Day 2

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Starr Highes Goldberg Gagnon I started my day by making a pilgrimage to Kayo Books, one of my favorite bookstores on earth, and spent an hour browsing their amazing stock of pulp novels. I bought some old westerns then walked down to the Hyatt, where I ran into Daniel Woodrell as soon as I walked in the door. The two of us went to the Boudin Bakery and had a terrific conversation over a long, leisurely  lunch. Sourdough and Woodrell, a perfect combo.

After lunch, I spent an hour chatting with various authors before participating in a panel on ebooks. CJ West did a remarkable job moderating, especially considering how big  the subject is, how obnoxious I am, and how many authors there were on the panel…me, Boyd Morrison, Wendy Hornsby, Gary Phillips, Bill Fitzhugh and David Hewson. The audience was very engaged…and I think if the panel had a weakness besides me, it was that we didn't have nearly enough time to field all the questions (I continued answering questions on the topic for much of the afternoon, not that I am any sort of expert). We could easily have filled two  hours on the topic. David Hewson, by the way, is hilarious. 

I didn't attend any other panels. I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to fans and with authors (like Joel Lee david ellis konrath Goldman, Declan Hughes, Jason Starr, Michelle Gagnon, Steve Hamilton, DP Lyle, etc). In the early evening,  I attended the Penguin author party,  where I met Scott Brick, the voice of 1000 audiobooks…and then went  out to a terrific dinner with David Ellis, his wife, and Bill Rabkin at the Empress of China. On the way back, we ran into Dick Lochte and Gar Anthony Haywood and spent the walk back talking about ebooks and what a great guy Steve Cannell was.  The rest  of the night was spent at the Lee Child's Jack Reacher party…where I chatted with Lisa Lutz, Robin Burcell, Vince Keenan, Alafair Burke, Parnell Hall, to name just a few folks.

I'm having a grand time and am looking forward to screening REMAINDERED tomorrow….

(Pictured: Jason Starr, Declan Hughes, me, Michelle Gagnon. And in the other picture, from yesterday, me, David  Ellis and Joe Konrath)

Bouchercon Day 1

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I am too tired to write anything…at least anything coherent.  The conference is off to a great start and I'm having a lot of fun.  My "Conversation with William Link" went really well even though I left my notes & questions in  L.A. and had to wing it. And I have  had a fantastic time schmoozing with old friends and making new ones.  Here are some photos…you can click on them to enlarge the images.

Remaindered display1
(It was a nice surprise  seeing two REMAINDERED posters at the registration desk…this is one of them)

Lee and link
(Me with William Link before our conversation)

Crider-lee-alan
(Bill Crider, me, and Alan Jacobson)

Lee woodrell
(Me going all fan-boy over Daniel Woodrell)

Lee meg gardiner
(Me  and Meg Gardiner)

 

Open Up Those Golden Gates

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Kevin Signing 4 I am heading up to San Francisco this morning for Bouchercon, the world mystery conference. I’m on a bunch of panels, including one on self-published ebooks and another on the legacy of Robert B. Parker, but what I am really looking forward to is my on-stage conversation this afternoon with COLUMBO writer/producer/co-creator William Link and the screening on Saturday of my short film REMAINDERED. I’ll try to post a few reports from the conference while I am up there.

(Pictured: a screen grab from the film)

The Mail I Get

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I guess this guy, who calls himself a "Marketing and Business Development Expert," didn't read my previous post about inept solicitations from self-published authors…(I've changed the name and link to save the author from embarrassment)

My name is X and I am inviting you to view a few chapters of a soon to be released classic. It's a controversal memoir about race, class and pursuing the American Dream. Let me know what you think. XYZ.com. Please forward the link to someone else who may benefit from it.

I especially appreciate his modesty.