I know, I know. It’s been longer since my
last newsletter than since Mick Ballou’s
last confession. I could say I’ve been busy
with this and that, and have had other
things on my mind, but why should you care?
I do have some things to report, include
some big changes at LB’s Bookstore, and
accordingly will Get Right Down To It.
BETWEEN DRINKS
First, it’s my pleasant task to advise you
that I’ve written a new book. The title is
BETWEEN DRINKS, and it takes
place in 1982-3, and for the moment that’s
all I’m able to tell you. As soon as I can,
I’ll fill you in on publication details and
further specifics, but that’ll have to wait.
E-BOOKS
Next, let me give a shout-out to the brave
new world of e-books. I’ve been hugely
impressed with the medium for fifteen years
now, but could never tell whether it would
ever amount to much. Well, it’s amounting to
more every day, and it’s starting to look
like the future of publishing. (If
publishing has a future . . .)
All my HarperCollins titles are available in
all e-book formats, and seem to be finding
an ever-increasing audience. In addition,
I’ve been able to make over a dozen of
, my other titles available for Kindle,;
these include the five early books published
in paperback by Hard Case Crime, along with
several books long out of print in all
editions. Cinderella Sims, The
Specialists, No Score, Ronald Rabbit is a
Dirty Old Man, the novellas
Speaking of Lust and Speaking
of Sin, and a new Keller novelette,
Keller in Dallas, are all
available for Kindle, along with a
book-length miscellany of introductions and
afterwords, INTRODUCING MYSELF AND
OTHERS, which I cobbled together
exclusively for Kindle. And there’s a lot
more coming as soon as I get the books
scanned, including the rest of the Chip
Harrison titles, all the Jill Emerson and
Paul Kavanagh titles, and, oh, lots of
stuff.
To see what’s available, just go to
amazon.com, and search for Lawrence
Block Kindle Books. There were 62
titles there at last count.
CAMPUS TRAMP
My first Andrew Shaw title for Nightstand
Books was CAMPUS TRAMP, and it
was to achieve mythic status at Antioch
College, with battered copies selling at
Senior Sales for three-figure prices. (Well,
five figures, if you count the zeroes after
the decimal point.) For years I comforted
myself with the thought that the book had
not been printed on acid-free paper, and
would eventually disappear from the face of
the earth.
But that is not to be, as I’ve arranged for
Creeping Hemlock Press. to
reissue the book as a handsome trade
paperback, with an intro from me recalling
the writing of it and the reception it got.
I’ll have further details when the book’s
available, and in the meantime you can
Google your way to their website.
HELLCATS & HONEY GIRLS
Not long after I’d written Campus Tramp, I
teamed up with Donald E. Westlake to produce
three erotic novels, two published by
Midwood, one by Nightstand. We wrote
alternate chapters, proceeded not only
without an outline but without ever
discussing the book’s plot or
characters---and I don’t think I ever had
more fun writing. Now, after all these
years, Subterranean Press will bring out a
triple volume of the three books, A
Girl Called Honey, So Willing, and
Sin Hellcat. The collection’s
to be called HELLCATS & HONEY GIRLS,
and I’ve written a properly nostalgic
afterword for it. Are the books as much fun
to read as they were to write? Well, you’ll
have to judge that one for yourselves.
GENERALLY SPEAKING and THE MURDERS IN
MEMORY LANE
Generally Speaking is the
title of my monthly column for
Linn’s Stamp News. If you’re a stamp
collector you probably already know about
it, and if you’re not, well, I can’t think
why you’d be interested. But it’s news, and
this is a newsletter, so there you go.
The Murders in Memory Lane is
the title of my column in
Mystery Scene, consisting of
anecdotal reminiscence of writers I’ve
known. The first column was about Stanley
Ellin, the second’s about Ross Thomas, and
the third, just completed, recalls Henry
Kane.
There’s probably more, but that’s enough for
now. I’m going to turn it over to the
irreplaceable David Trevor, who has news
from LB’s Bookstore:
LB'S BOOKSTORE
David Trevor here, and there’s quite a bit
to report. First, the bookstore will
be closed entirely from the middle of March
until sometime in May. If there’s
something you’d like to order, I would urge
you to get your order to us by March 10. I
should be able to fill all orders placed by
that date.
If you want
LB’s Treasure Chest, be sure to
order it before the March closing. We’ll
probably drop that item when the store
re-opens; if we offer it at all, the price
will be higher.
Some time ago we stopped accepting overseas
and Canadian orders for the Treasure Chest.
Now, alas, we’ve found it necessary to
limit LB’s Bookstore to US orders only
on all items. The expense and red tape
involved in shipments out of the US has been
over the top for some time, and it only gets
worse; LB cherishes his overseas readers and
collectors, but can no longer fill their
orders directly.
One exception: Because there’s no shipping
involved, we will go on filling orders from
anywhere in the world for either of our two
MP3 files, Telling Lies For Fun &
Profit and Affirmations For Writers.
The Bookstore renovation will be part of
an overall makeover for the entire
lawrenceblock.com website, and
neither LB nor I have a clue what it’ll look
like. When the Bookstore does reopen, we’ll
have dropped some items and may be offering
others; you’ll get a detailed announcement
when the time comes. We’ll probably be
offering some original Lawrence Block
manuscripts, either in LB’s
Bookstore or on eBay. Again, we’ll let you
know.
David Trevor for Lawrence Block |
