Newsletter Archive

In this Month’s Issue:

• School Was Never Like This
• In the News
• Bouchercon and Other Things to Look Forward to This Fall
• Back to Work

School Was Never Like This

September began for me as it did for lots of kids and parents around the country: with a return to the classroom. But I have to admit, these were no ordinary classrooms.

It's hard for me to say "Waikiki" without feeling like a game-show host, but that's where I was at the beginning of the month - at the 2009 Hawaii Writers Conference, which might be the closest thing I'll ever find to an earthly paradise. Hundreds of students, dozens of instructors, including some of the biggest names in the business: Mitch Albom, William Bernhardt, Ann Hood, Jacqueline Mitchard, editor Neil Nyren, Karen Slaughter . . . and me.

From Hawaii, I went to San Diego for a very special event: a fundraiser for the mentoring program at Montgomery High School, a public high school with a large population of low-income and immigrant kids. The program is called the Montgomery Media Institute, and despite its fancy name, it's all about helping high school students -who probably never dreamed about doing anything after high school except working at some menial job - get experience working in print and broadcast journalism, working with real professionals. And it helps these kids afford college, which their parents can't. It's the creation of a remarkable teacher named Kathleen Obrist, whom I was lucky enough to meet several years ago; Kathleen invited me to meet with a group of her students back in 2005, and I've been an active supporter of MMI ever since. It was an honor to be the speaker for this fundraising event, and to see once again the amazing work that Kathleen and her students are doing. Kathleen is one of the greatest teachers I've ever met, and I continue to be blown away by this program. And I have such admiration for the high school's principal, Lee Romero, who has fought to keep this program alive.

From there I went to the Colorado Gold Writers Conference sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and another keynote address. I was invited there by a fantastic writing/editing coach named Margie Lawson who gives "deep-editing" workshops in person and online. It's always energizing and inspiring to be surrounded by people who are so engaged and enthusiastic about writing and books. I loved that group, and was flattered to be invited to give the keynote. Plus, it sent me back to my own desk revitalized, and also makes me very grateful for the support that makes this writing life possible.

In the News

I've always said that because I'm a novelist, people tell me things that they'd never tell a reporter. So this summer I began hearing things that hadn't been reported about the troubled CIA, and I began to talk to a lot of people in the Agency and in the intelligence community, asking questions that very few reporters have asked. The result was an op-ed piece I wrote for The New York Times arguing that it's wrong for our Attorney General to target just the little guys when going after the CIA the way he seems to be doing, especially when the legal cases he wants to re-open were already dismissed by serious career prosecutors. Naturally, the piece was controversial. The same week that the CIA was attacking me for stuff I've written, I was being called a CIA shill by ideologues on the left! It amazed me to see how polarized our political debates have become. It also makes me glad my day job is fiction.

Covert operations are always easier in fiction. The Wall Street Journal asked me to recommend five great books about political conspiracy, which I was glad to do; at the top of my list is Sinclair Lewis' IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE, written more than 80 years ago but alarmingly relevant today.

Oh, and VANISHED hasn't vanished from the headlines just yet . . . Maureen Corrigan (of NPR's "Fresh Air," and a dedicated reader of crime fiction) called VANISHED "a humdinger" in the The Washington Post last month. The Montreal Gazette gave VANISHED a review that I'd call a rave. And best of all, my old hometown newspaper - the Albany Times-Union - did a great profile of me.

Bouchercon and Other Things to Look Forward to This Fall

If you were disappointed about how short the VANISHED tour was, I'm doing my best to hit as many different parts of the country as I can between now and the end of the year . . .

At home in Boston, you can join me for a "Fireside Chat" at Vilna Shul, Boston's center for Jewish culture, at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7. The program is free and open to the public, but you need to register online.

A week later is the biggest event of the crime fiction year, Bouchercon -the World Mystery Convention -which happens this year in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 15-18. It's always a great event, and this year promises to be something really special. If you're planning to attend, I hope you'll enter the Midwest MWA's contest for a "Hot Ticket" to spend approximately an hour in a small-group conversation with me - the original deadline for this contest has passed, but if you stop by the Midwest MWA's booth at the conference, you can enter a "second chance" drawing for another place at the table. (My wife has joked that she wanted to bid on this, given how little time I've been at home lately.) And/or you can just come to one of the two panel discussions I'll be part of. The first is "Adaptation: How a Story Moves from Page to Screen," on October 15 from 4:30 to 5:25 p.m.; mystery book critic David Montgomery moderates a panel that includes Sean Chercover, John Gilstrap, Paul Guyot and me. The second is "At the State House: Law and Politics," on October 16 from 4:00 p.m. to 4:55 p.m. in the Indiana State House, where Barbara D'Amato will moderate a discussion among Mark Arsenault, David Ellis, Mike Lawson, and me. (I don't think that one is about state politics, actually. At least, I hope not. I don't know much about Indiana state politics.)

If you're anywhere near Boston on October 24, please come to the very first Boston Book Festival, happening in and around Copley Square. I'll be part of a panel on "Spies, operatives and terrorists: what makes them tick and why do they fascinate us?", with Professor Stephen L. Carter and Andre Dubus III, at 4:00 p.m. in the Boston Public Library Popular Reading Room. The whole program is free, and no ticket is required for this session. Hope to see you there!

I'll be back in Indiana at the end of the month, on October 29, for "The Guilded Leaf" Book & Author Luncheon in Carmel. This annual event benefits the Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation, and it's more than a luncheon; doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the event goes until 3:00 p.m. I'm honored to be part of a group of featured authors that includes Barbara Delinsky, Jennifer Chiaverini, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and Kaylie Jones.

I'm heading to Arizona in November, for a "Cloak and Dagger Weekend" at the Fairmont Hotel in Scottsdale. It's two days of conversations, presentations and demonstrations with five mystery authors: Steve Berry, David Morrell, M.J. Rose, Les Standiford and me. It sounds like a great time, and I'm looking forward to it - and also to dropping in sometime that weekend to The Poisoned Pen, one of the nation's best independent bookstores.

Closer to home, I'll be back in Massachusetts for the annual New England Crime Bake, a joint meeting of the New England chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime held in Lowell, MA, November 13-15. The Crime Bake targets aspiring writers, offering panels on improving your writing and building a career. I'll be part of a session on Saturday, November 14 called "B is for Bestsellers: How they broke in, broke out, and keep it fresh and fascinating, year after year"; Hallie Ephron will moderate a panel that includes Sue Grafton, Lisa Gardner, Michael Palmer and me.

Back to Work

And with all that said, I still have to finish the next Nick Heller novel. So with this issue, the newsletter will go to a bimonthly schedule, at least until spring. I'll still be on Twitter (though probably not as much), and I'll keep up as best I can with my Facebook and MySpace pages.

thanks

Thanks so much for all of your support, and I hope I have the chance to say hello in person sometime soon.

Best wishes,
Joe

P.S. And please, spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to friends you think might be interested.