The publicity-still cover is cool; but I can't help thinking the book would look even cooler with a painted cover -- particularly one like the cover on the Hard Case Crime novel I just finished reading, THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Collins:
Showing posts with label Burn Notice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burn Notice. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Once Again, I Plug My Family's Books
If you're a fan of the BURN NOTICE TV series, or a reader of the first tie-in novel, THE FIX, Amazon.com gives you the chance to order my cousin Tod's second tie-in novel, THE END GAME, a mere six months before it comes out.
The publicity-still cover is cool; but I can't help thinking the book would look even cooler with a painted cover -- particularly one like the cover on the Hard Case Crime novel I just finished reading, THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Collins:
The publicity-still cover is cool; but I can't help thinking the book would look even cooler with a painted cover -- particularly one like the cover on the Hard Case Crime novel I just finished reading, THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Collins:
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Hand Grenade Pins in Every Line
What does a literary novelist do when he writes a media tie-in novel, as my cousin Tod Goldberg did with "Burn Notice: The Fix"?
He searches his soul; draws inspiration from the writers successful with their own books who do tie-ins; invests his emotions in the project; and then writes a nifty L.A. Times essay about the whole experience.
A non-literary novelist likely writes his tie-in, cashes the check, and moves onto the next deadline.
He searches his soul; draws inspiration from the writers successful with their own books who do tie-ins; invests his emotions in the project; and then writes a nifty L.A. Times essay about the whole experience.
A non-literary novelist likely writes his tie-in, cashes the check, and moves onto the next deadline.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
When You're a Spy, You're a Spy All the Way
This past Saturday was Amy's and my 11th wedding anniversary, and what better way to spend a chunk of it than to drive over to the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood (a whole, oh, three or four miles from our house) and watch cousins Lee and Tod Goldberg do a joint signing. The occasion for the signing was that each brother has a media tie-in novel for a USA Network series: Lee has his umpteenth Monk novel, MR. MONK GOES TO GERMANY; and Tod has his first BURN NOTICE book.
The latter is a true departure for Tod. His metier hitherto has been literary, non-linear stories of messed-up young men in which the moral compass often spins like a windmill. With BURN NOTICE: THE FIX, Tod dives into the world of heroic fiction -- specifically, the sub-continent of the former spy turned hardboiled private eye -- and tells the linear story of a character who ostensibly operates out of his own elightened self-interest, but actually uses his superior skills to protect the vulnerable and make the world a marginally better place.
Plus, Tod says that he's made me a character in the book; and that my literary doppleganger meets with violence. Just the thing to keep me reading: appealing to both my narcissim and my sense of dread.
****Update (and spoiler warning)**************************************************
Finished the book. Yes, my prose counterpart makes the mistake of pulling a piece on the book's hero (who is not only an ex-spy, but, as the series depicts him, essentially the most badass ex-spy out there), and receives for his temerity a well-placed pistol whip in the schnozz and choppers. One sign that a literary novelist is writing this story: The violence is realllly ugly.
The latter is a true departure for Tod. His metier hitherto has been literary, non-linear stories of messed-up young men in which the moral compass often spins like a windmill. With BURN NOTICE: THE FIX, Tod dives into the world of heroic fiction -- specifically, the sub-continent of the former spy turned hardboiled private eye -- and tells the linear story of a character who ostensibly operates out of his own elightened self-interest, but actually uses his superior skills to protect the vulnerable and make the world a marginally better place.
Plus, Tod says that he's made me a character in the book; and that my literary doppleganger meets with violence. Just the thing to keep me reading: appealing to both my narcissim and my sense of dread.
****Update (and spoiler warning)**************************************************
Finished the book. Yes, my prose counterpart makes the mistake of pulling a piece on the book's hero (who is not only an ex-spy, but, as the series depicts him, essentially the most badass ex-spy out there), and receives for his temerity a well-placed pistol whip in the schnozz and choppers. One sign that a literary novelist is writing this story: The violence is realllly ugly.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Feel the Burn
Burn Notice is basically The Prisoner updated for the 21st Century. Except ex-spy Michael Weston didn't quit; he was fired. And he's trapped in Miami, not an English village where all the men dress like Captain Kangaroo. And it's got Bruce Campbell instead of Leo McKern. And it's about dysfunctional relationships rather than dysfunctional totalitarianism. And there's no savage killer beachball waiting in the surf. And . . . well . . . okay, it bears no resemblance to The Prisoner.Anyway, my cousin Tod is still writing the manuscript for a media tie-in novel; but the novel's cover is already done, and here it is, complete with ISBN number and bar code. Why not pick up a few copies. Christmas is only nine months away.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Burning News
Some readers of this blog might know that my cousin Lee Goldberg writes tie-in novels for the mystery series DIAGNOSIS MURDER and MONK. His brother Tod -- heretofore a literary novelist/short story author, a journalist, and a book reviewer -- has now ventured into the same waters. He has announced on his blog that he has contracted to write four tie-in novels for the TV series BURN NOTICE. That means he can (as Lee has), if he wishes, go down to San Diego Con, sit on a panel of media tie-in writers, and then sign autographs under the sails in the convention center.
Meanwhile, Lee's latest Monk book, MR. MONK IN OUTER SPACE, sits on my pile of books to read. It's a Monk mystery set at a science-fiction convention. Is it a frisson of fear that prevents me from immediately cracking it open?
Meanwhile, Lee's latest Monk book, MR. MONK IN OUTER SPACE, sits on my pile of books to read. It's a Monk mystery set at a science-fiction convention. Is it a frisson of fear that prevents me from immediately cracking it open?
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