My Blog

Another Word on THE LAST WORD

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Moi_2Longtime DIAGNOSIS MURDER fan Chadwick Saxelid has read THE LAST WORD, the 8th and final book in the series, and didn’t find it a very pleasant experience. He says, in part:

With Diagnosis Murder #8: The Last Word author Lee Goldberg takes to the status quo of the series the way Godzilla takes to Tokyo.  He leaves no recognizable landmark standing, completely obliterating the status quo. […] This is dark stuff indeed and a major change of pace for the series.  […] This time around [he] takes the gloves off and does more than put Mark Sloan in a coma, he beats him bloody and senseless.  Watching Sloan rebound and regroup in an atypical manner completes the deconstruction of both the character and the series.  The Last Word truly is.

I certainly can’t argue with his overall take on the book, though I don’t think it’s any darker than THE PAST TENSE (#5) or THE DOUBLE LIFE (#7)…the other books in this "unofficial" trilogy. It was certainly my intent with THE LAST WORD — as well as PAST TENSE and DOUBLE LIFE — to explore, as deeply as I could, Dr. Mark Sloan and to make him more than just a one-dimensional TV character, a "doctor who solves crimes." Over those three books, and to a lesser degree in THE SHOOTING SCRIPT (#3), I was intentionally confronting/deconstructing the ridiculous conceits of the series in a backwards attempt to make the implausible, underlying concept more believable and, by extension, the characters more real. I know that sounds pretentious, but I like to think that’s what made these books read more like novels than simply knock-offs of a TV show…and why I was lucky enough to enjoy so much critical praise for them (even from Chadwick!).

If I ever decide to do more DM books, the resolution of THE LAST WORD opens the door to go in a new direction which…after being involved in four seasons of DM as a writer/producer and as the author of  eight books…I am ready to do. I think I have taken this particular format and these relationships about as far as they can go.

I’m curious to know what you think. Is THE LAST WORD a fitting end for the series? Or did I go too far?

Soho Noir

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Smalllogo Someone just sent me this link to a Q&A interview I did some time ago with Soho Noir. I missed it when it originally went online. Here’s an excerpt:

What inspires your writing, where do your ideas come from?

When I was a kid, what inspired me was the sheer pleasure of writing and living in my dreams. Now my inspiration is equally driven by fear…the terror of not being able to pay my bills. My ideas can come from anywhere…an article in the newspaper, an overheard conversation, a "what-if" thought while driving in my car, a life experience. I never seem to be at a loss for ideas…it’s the details that kill me.

Novelist, scriptwriter, producer, you have been very successful at all three, and we are interested to know if you have a preference. If you had to choose between the three which one would it be?

If I could make the same amount of money writing books as I do from writing/producing TV shows, I could see walking away from screenwriting. I love TV, but the politics you have to deal with and the games you have to play can be exhausting and infuriating. On the other hand, being a novelist is a solitary pursuit and in television, you’re surrounded by enormously creative people and it’s inspiring.

There is a lot of fun in your work, is it difficult mixing crime with humour and why put the two together?

I can’t imagine writing anything without humor. There’s always something funny in every situation, it’s the balance that’s hard. But I find that humor is often what humanizes a character and makes the unbelievable believable.

The Executioners

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Sb114 I just discovered the Mack Bolan/Executioner site (thanks to Ben Boulden). The best thing about it is the complete list of the 343 MACK BOLAN titles (not counting the 114 SuperBolans and 89 Stony Man titles) and the names of the ghostwriters who actually wrote the books.  Twenty-some years ago, when I was writing the .357 VIGILANTE books, I was approached to write an EXECUTIONER. They sent me a huge packet of material and I spoke to several authors about their experiences writing the books (I think I spoke to Raymond Obstfeld and Mike Newton), but after giving it some thought, I declined the offer. I ran into Mike last year at Boucheron (or was it Thrillerfest?) and it was great to catch up with him again. I wonder what ever happened to Raymond Obstfeld who, as I recall, was an English professor at some Southern California college (he also wrote the DIAMONDBACK westerns for Pinnacle, along with my buddy Paul Bishop).

Looking at this list of Bolan writers makes me appreciate even more how prolific Robert Randisi is …as "J.R. Roberts," he’s written the 312 GUNSMITH titles all by himself. And that’s not counting his many, many other books.

National Treasure

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National Mark Evanier reports that the Mann National in Westwood is closing. I remember how wowed I was by that theater when I first came to Los Angeles in 1980 to go to school at UCLA. To me, the Mann National epitomized everything that was Hollywood. It was huge (this was the era before stadium seating), it was plush, it was gaudy, and it was glitzy. Every time a big movie opened at the theater, they’d paint a three-story reproduction of the one-sheet on the side of the building. And it wasn’t uncommon to bump into stars like Neil Simon, Dustin Hoffman, and Sean Connery at the popcorn counter. I once nearly collided with Woody Allen on my way out of theater…because I was busy staring up at one of those  big movie poster paintings. I saw hundreds of movies at that theater while I was in college…and every time I’ve driven past the building since, I’ve thought about those movie poster reproductions. I’m sorry to see the theater go…but given the value of real estate these days, I’m not surprised.

Columbus Sets Sail with Riordan

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HARRY POTTER director Chris Columbus has found his next movie project — mystery writer Rick Riordan’s first children’s fantasy novel THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Columbus will direct and produce the movie. No word yet on who the screenwriter is. Rick is probably best known among mystery fans for his terrific Tres Navarre PI series.

Review Copies

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I’ve received a limited number of review copies of MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS (July 2007) and DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE LAST WORD (May 2007). If you’re an established reviewer and would be interested in receiving copies one or both books, please send me an email as soon as possible at Lee@leegoldberg.com with the name of your publication/website and your mailing address. I can’t promise that everyone who asks for one will get one…but I will do my best.

The First Word on The Last Word

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Mark Baker, a frequent visitor here and an Amazon top reviewers, has given his eOpinion on DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE LAST WORD, the final book in the series. He says, in part:

About a quarter of the way into it, I was getting bored and wondering where it was going. Then things really took off and I was hooked for the rest of the book. And those events from the first quarter? Absolutely essential to what comes next.

[…]Not only does this book close out the book series, but it also serves as a finale for the TV show. Yet it leaves the door open for further adventures. Frankly, I’d love to know what happens to these old friends next.

This is a book for the fans. Anyone looking for closure for these characters should read it. I’m definitely going to miss them. I just hope that something changes and we can get more adventure with these characters at some point in the future.

The book officially comes out the first week of May, but I am already getting emails from people who pre-ordered it and have received their copies.