Don’t tell you what? That it’s been over two months since you sent out a newsletter?

You had to say it, didn’t you?

Well, somebody ought to. You’ve got a new book coming out, the so-long-awaited-that-people-gave-up-and-stopped-waiting return of Bernie Rhodenbarr, and you’ve been determined to keep the whole enterprise a secret.

That’s not true. I’m very happy with the way The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown turned out, and I was eager to make it available for preorder, and I’m pleased to report that it’s getting preordered left and right, in both ebook and paperback. The release date for both is October 18—

That’s less than two months away.

I know. And that same day, Richard Ferrone’s audio version will be available from Recorded Books. With all of that going on, I should at the very least have been putting my nose to the grindstone and my shoulder to the wheel. But I wasn’t doing that, and I felt guilty enough about it to say yes to a sit-down with the Impertinent Interviewer.

Always a mistake.

You’d think I’d learn. It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on, but I have to say it came out surprisingly well, and brought the book some nice publicity when Janet Rudolph reproduced it on Mystery Fanfare. It’s too long to run here, but I’ve posted it on my website.

You’re a brave man, because it does make you look a little foolish. But I guess you’d look even sillier with your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel, and the theory you float about parallel universes is sort of interesting.

Just sort of?

Well, I read all the way through it without yawning. But if it had been a couple of sentences longer—

Never mind. I’ve also sent out review galleys to some bloggers and reviewers, and the book is already receiving some welcome comments, and if I were better organized I could share some of them with you now—

But you’re not and you can’t.

Evidently. But here’s a rave that just came in, Colman Keane’s take on the audiobook of Hunting Buffalo with Bent Nails:

“A fantastic collection of bits and pieces from a favourite author, Lawrence Block. Essays and recollections of family, travelling at home and abroad, memories of other authors, friendships and some of their books, plenty of bits and bobs on New York and his long association with the city. Entertaining, never less than interesting, great narration and a wonderful accompaniment to numerous commutes and exercise runs.“

And I love this part: “Superb narration from Peter Berkrot. At times it felt like I had great company in the car with me, regaling me with interesting anecdotes and memories.”

That’s lovely, and Peter deserves it. But didn’t Hunting Buffalo come out in 2019?

So? I’ve been busy with something else. I’m at the gym every day, picking up heavy metal objects and putting them back where I found them—

That sounds pointless.

It does, doesn’t it? And I’ve been walking five or six miles a day so I won’t have to listen to more lectures from my Fitbit.

Where do you do this? In the park?

Sometimes, and sometimes on the treadmill, which you’ll probably say is pointless—

It’s all pointless.

—but on the treadmill I don’t have to worry about getting lost. Oh, there’s no way to avoid this. One reason I‘m jammed for time is that—oh, rats, do I have to say it?

Say it.

All right. I’m Writing Something.

But—

I know.

You just wrote something. Out of the blue, and much to everyone’s surprise, not least of all your own, you wrote The  Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown. When did you wrap that one up?

End of April.

And it’s not even published yet, and here you are writing Something Else. Is that the title? Something Else?

It hasn’t got a title.

I hope it’s nothing too ambitious. A haiku? A sonnet?

I don’t want to say.

You don’t want to say whether or not it’s a haiku? Can’t you just give me a yes or a no in seventeen syllables?

It’s too long for a haiku. It just passed the 30,000-word mark, and I’d guess it’s about halfway done.

So it’s going to be a book.

I’m afraid so.

What can you tell us about it?

Nothing.

That’s a big help. Well, is it fiction or nonfiction?

I’m not sure.

Really? You can’t tell whether you’re lying or telling the truth? Maybe you should run for office. When do you expect to finish this indefinable work of genius?

I don’t know. And what difference does it make? I’ll just sit down again and start writing something else.

You’ve got something in mind?

No, but I didn’t have this in mind, either. An empty mind is evidently like a blank sheet of paper. Some pestilential force always comes along and mucks up all the beautful empty spaces with words.

So why don’t I go ahead and wrap this up with a preorder pitch for The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown? If you preorder the ebook, you’ll be locking in the preorder price of $9.99—which may increase after publication. Preordering the paperback also guarantees you’ll get it for $17.99—and that price is almost certain to go up after publication date, probably by two dollars.

Of course the best way to save money is to skip the book altogether. How hard is it to find something good on TV?

Thanks a lot. Did you take lessons from the Impertinent Interviewer? Here are the preorder links: Amazon   Barnes & Noble   Apple   Kobo   Thalia   Vivlio

And I just click on the link of my choice? And then what? Bob’s my uncle?

And Roberta’s your aunt, and Fredric Brown and Bernie Rhodenbarr are in your future, even as I am forever in your debt.

Meanwhile, I’m out of here.

Cheers,

PS: As always, please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might find it of interest. And, if you yourself have received the newsletter from a friend and would like your own subscription, that’s easily arranged; an  email to lawbloc@gmail.com with LB’s Newsletter in the subject line will get the job done.

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