I've just finished reading Aftershock & Others (excellent stuff - it's always great to catch up on your short stories - they're not that easy to get hold of over here in Sunny England) and wanted to ask about something I read in the interstitial material.
In 2003/2004 you mention a 'cozy medical mystery' novel that you weren't able to sell. Two things sprung to mind. First off, why on Earth would nobody buy it? I'm guessing that you wouldn't just throw some chucked-together tat out there and try to pass it off as a sell-able novel, so why was nobody interested? I mean, surely your name alone would be enough to sell a story these days, wouldn't it?
And secondly (and yes, probably somewhat predictably) will this short novel ever see the light of day?
(And a bonus 'thirdly': are there any more unsold novels cluttering up your attic space that need to see the light of day?!)
Thanks in advance.

and wanted to ask about something I read in the interstitial material.
In 2003/2004 you mention a 'cozy medical mystery' novel that you weren't able to sell. Two things sprung to mind. First off, why on Earth would nobody buy it? I'm guessing that you wouldn't just throw some chucked-together tat out there and try to pass it off as a sell-able novel, so why was nobody interested? I mean, surely your name alone would be enough to sell a story these days, wouldn't it?

I was finally able to clear some reading time and I flew the all the stories I hadn't previously read and the interstitial stuff and my first thought was that there was one thread left untied concerning the medical thriller that wasn't going to sell that Paul mentions...when can we expect our greedy little eyes to get a looksee. And is that how to write looksee?

I loved the stories. I found "Lysing Towards Bethlehem" to be particularly disturbing as disease is the scariest 'known' thing to me. I'm curious if you were writing about a specific virus or do they all essentially operate the same? And is this the picture... http://alanmclark.com/shop/catalog/produ...cts_id=421 ?

When i read the keep years ago i loved the relationship between roma (rasalom to others) and glaeken. i was wondering if there are any other bouts between the two in other adversary books. Same thing with the twins from conspiracies. they seem to have such an intriguing history that i read about in harbingers. do they appear in any other novels?

When i read the keep years ago i loved the relationship between roma (rasalom to others) and glaeken. i was wondering if there are any other bouts between the two in other adversary books.

Yes, it all comes together in NIGHTWORLD.

Same thing with the twins from conspiracies. they seem to have such an intriguing history that i read about in harbingers. do they appear in any other novels?

Only the ones you have mentioned . . . so far.

Ken V.

I've just finished reading Aftershock & Others (excellent stuff - it's always great to catch up on your short stories - they're not that easy to get hold of over here in Sunny England) and wanted to ask about something I read in the interstitial material.
In 2003/2004 you mention a 'cozy medical mystery' novel that you weren't able to sell. Two things sprung to mind. First off, why on Earth would nobody buy it? I'm guessing that you wouldn't just throw some chucked-together tat out there and try to pass it off as a sell-able novel, so why was nobody interested? I mean, surely your name alone would be enough to sell a story these days, wouldn't it?
And secondly (and yes, probably somewhat predictably) will this short novel ever see the light of day?
(And a bonus 'thirdly': are there any more unsold novels cluttering up your attic space that need to see the light of day?!)
Thanks in advance.

I refused to have it published under my name. I still do. I wanted to write as another person. It didn't work. It's my only trunk novel. It will stay in the trunk.

I refused to have it published under my name. I still do. I wanted to write as another person. It didn't work. It's my only trunk novel. It will stay in the trunk.

Fair enough. I guess it's not a bad thing, having only one 'trunk novel' in such a long career.

I refused to have it published under my name. I still do. I wanted to write as another person. It didn't work. It's my only trunk novel. It will stay in the trunk.

Send it to James Patterson for a collaborative effort. Big bucks, and he'll sign off on just about anything.

Curious, has anyone else read it? Must be hard to evaluate your own work. I hate to think that you might have some unpublished gold hidden away.

Send it to James Patterson for a collaborative effort. Big bucks, and he'll sign off on just about anything.

Curious, has anyone else read it? Must be hard to evaluate your own work. I hate to think that you might have some unpublished gold hidden away.

It's not bad. I can see people reading it and liking it but not loving it. I can't see anyone pushing it on a friend as a gotta-read book. Certainly anyone coming to it expecting my usual pacing and plotting will be disappointed.

Send it to James Patterson for a collaborative effort. Big bucks, and he'll sign off on just about anything.

You mean he really does not write ALL those books???:confused::confused::confused:

You mean he really does not write ALL those books???:confused::confused::confused:

His best books were written by someone else.