Book Festing

I just got back from day 1 of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I look forward to this event all year and, despite my vows to cut back on my book buying at the Fest, I always end up making several trips back to the car to unload my goodies...which included signed books by Richard Russo, Peter Carey, Richard Price, and Tana French and lots of architectures books. I ran into many old friends at the Festival today, and last night at the Mystery Bookstore party... authors like Lee Lankford, Paul Levine, Michael Connelly, Dick Lochte, Cara Black, Mark Haskell Smith, Naomi Hirahara, Bill Fitzhugh (who was on the way to an opening of a musical based on his novel PEST CONTROL) Bob Levinson (who I will be hanging out with in Owensboro Kentucky later this month), Loraine Despres, Thomas Perry, Denise  Hamilton, and Susan Straight. I also chatted for a while with Lisa Lutz, Susan Kandel, and Rita Lakin.

Tomorrow, my brother Tod and I will be signing at 11am at the Mystery Bookstore which, as fate would have it, is the same time our sisters Karen and Linda will be signing at Borders...and then Monday I head off to New York for Edgar Week.

But  I won't have my MONK book hanging over my head during the trip. I sent MR. MONK IS MISERABLE to my editors yesterday. On Wednesday, I'm having breakfast with MONK creator Andy Breckman to discuss my next MONK novel...I'm hoping to come up with a vague idea for it on the flight to New York.

Comments

[Vic]

Fan curiousity: do you think when you meet with the creator on Wednesday, you can find out how they are going to handle the Dr. Kroger situation?

[Lee Goldberg]

I already know but my lips are sealed.

Thanks for the reply...now I won't be able to sleep tonight, tomorrow night, etc. Should I expect to get my next sleep during the first or second half of the upcoming season?

[Carstairs38]

So if I had remembered to ask you about Kroger's replacement, it wouldn't have mattered?

It was wonderful to see you today. :)

Mark

[Loraine Despres]

It was great seeing you at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. I'm so impressed with your energy and mulitple talents. Loraine Despres

[Dan Williams]

Yeah, it's so nice to renew old acquaintenceships, and especially at a festival, so you feel connected in instead of just there on your own.

As for your next Monk novel: so far, I've read three, several times: Blue Flue, Two Assistants, Outer Space. And it seems that the backdrop of Outer Space gave you the most comic possibilities. So if you set a Monk novel in a Theme Park, or during Martie Gras, or during a State Visit in DC of the new Russian president, these kinds of events might spark your comic talent to greater heights.

Of the three, Two Assistants stays with me the most because of the high stakes Natalie was playing for. So if Natalie again was playing for higher stakes, and at some great comic background, that might combine the strengths of both Two Assistants and Outer Space. Maybe not.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to Germany, and any ideas here that might spark your talent belong to you, totally, completely.

Hope you and your gang have a great L.A. day at such a great festival.

[Shel Holtz]

You continue to confuse POD with the vanity press. The inaccuracy is staggering. FYI, Terry Fallis used POD to publish his novel, "The Best Laid Plans," which just won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in Canada. So much for the idea that good books are only published by mainstream publishers. You can see what Terry told me about his choice to use POD in a post I wrote here:
http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/print_still_rocks_especially_when_you_can_do_it_yourself/

It wouldn't kill you to get your facts straight. I'm 100% on the same page with you about vanity press, but that's not what POD is. Not even close.

[frakman]

What does this rant have to do with Lee's post on the Book Festival!? NOTHING. POD isn't mentioned anywhere in this post. You must be really desperate for Lee's attention (and to siphon off his readers). I looked at the Award page, since I've never heard of this so-called prestigious award...

http://www.leacock.ca/ENTRY.htm

No wonder I haven't heard of it. It's for Canadian authors of humor only, and entrants have to pay $100 dollars to enter and must attend the awards, at their own cost for the event ticket, airfare, hotel, etc. And if they want to put a sticker on the book saying that they won, they have to cut another check for $1000 to Leacock!! Sounds like a real prestigious prize, Shel. You don'tsee the National Book Award, the Pulitzer, the Edgar, the Nebula, etc. charging entrants fees and demanding that the entrants also buy a ticket to the event!

[Mark A. York]

Well that sounds like prestige POD style to me. T.C Boyle was awesome at the LA fest. That's a long way from PODville.