First Family Book Signing of the New Year

This afternoon, I bicycled up to Westwood for a book signing at the Mystery Bookstore featuring my cousin, Lee Goldberg, and his writing partner, Bill Rabkin.



Lee was publicizing the latest media tie-in book he wrote, MR. MONK IS MISERABLE (which is enjoying anything but miserable sales; it's in its 3rd printing).








Bill was promoting his first tie-in novel for the TV series PSYCH.

I intended to head home and blog about it in detail. But in the time I biked the four miles from Westwood to my neighborhood (all downhill), took in dry cleaning and had dinner, Lee had already driven back to his home base in the valley and written up his own blog account, complete with photos. The man plainly knows how to write on a deadline.

More about Mr. Monk

My Cousin Lee Goldberg's latest novel, MR. MONK IS MISERABLE, was released today -- and already has two user reviews on the Amazon site, apparently from speed readers.

Be sure to pick up a copy or two, and make the holidays a little brighter for the Monk fan in your life (and for the Goldbergs).

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 Writer Abroad

My cousin Lee Goldberg, who has been in Europe all summer producing the pilot for the TV series "Fast Track," is briefly back in the States (he is leaving again tomorrow for the Old Country) and had a signing Saturday afternoon at the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood for his latest MONK tie-in novel, MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS. I decided to get my exercise that day by bicycling up to Westwood Village to see him. My neighborhood is downhill from the Village, so the ride was a pretty good workout; and what better way to greet my cousin and his reading public than drenched in sweat.

Lee held a Q & A, in which he discussed Europe ("Crotches. Crotches everywhere."); bringing the top action producer in Germany together with Stephen Cannell; writing bits in the MONK novels that the TV series writers sneak into the episodes; and even a scene written for (but cut from) one of the episodes in which a writer named Lee Goldberg appears. (In the scene, Monk sits in a publisher's waiting room. "Lee" sits next to him, with a fat manuscript. Monk glances at the first page of the manuscript, and announces who "did it" in the book. "Lee" promptly dumps the manuscript into a trash can and walks out.)

Lee also described how he included obscure pieces of automobile techobabble in his script for "Fast Track": He wrote gobbledygook in the script whereevery he wanted tech-talk to go; then called up our mutual cousin Sam Barer (who writes a column about cars) and had him supply automotive stuf for the placeholder words. Our family, the resource.

Since I left my camera at home, and the photo I took with my cell phone was lousy, I took these pix from the Mystery Bookstore newsletter.

Mr. Monk and the Best Episode Ever

You'll have to forgive my shamelessness in bragging about my family's accomplishments. It's just that my work-related accomplishments are usually either confidential or deadly boring (as I'm reminded when I try to share them with non-lawyers).

Anyway, cousin Lee Goldberg has revealed on his blog that fifty thousand USA Network viewers voted on their favorite episodes of MONK -- and the episode voted Best Ever is MR. MONK GOES TO MEXICO, co-written by Lee. Massive props and kudos to Mr. Goldberg.

When Black Friday Comes

Since I live within walking distance of a SoCal mall, I dropped by this morning to witness the "Black Friday" orgy of consumerism. I got over there at 9:45 a.m., by which time the initial frenzy appeared to be over. I saw a lot of deals that made me reach for my wallet, then stop and think: "Do I really need this? Does anyone I know really need this? Where would I put it?" One purchase I could not resist: boxed sets of the MONK TV series for about $16 each at Suncoast, marked down from $60 each. I walked away with the first four seasons. (Not that I'm likely to watch them any sooner than our boxed sets of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, or the other DVDs sitting around our collection waiting to be watched . . . .)