The call
came unexpectedly last fall from Tom Colgan, my superb, longtime editor at
Putnam. They'd asked Clive if he'd be interested in doing another series, Tom
explained. Would I be interested in
having my name thrown in the hat as a potential co-author?
Dumbfounded,
I interrogated him: Was this a joke? No
joke, he assured me. And we're talking about the Clive Cussler, correct? Author of dozens of bestsellers stretching
back decades; his work published in over 40 languages in more than 100
countries; 125 million faithful fans; 160 million copies of his thrillers in
print. Yep, that's him, Tom replied.
Satisfied
this was neither a joke nor a case of mistaken identity, I still had to think
long and hard about Tom's proposal -- okay, that's not true. I mulled it over for approximately 1.378
seconds, and said Yes.
Like so
many of us writers, Clive and his books ignited the spark in me. By the time I'd finished the biplane scene, I
was hooked; I knew what I wanted to do with my life.
It would be
another three years and a stint in the Navy before I took my first steps into
the fiction world. Two months out of the Navy I woke up one day and found
myself in a surprising, excuse- and fear-free state-of-mind: Why not just sit
down and try? What've you got to
lose? So I sat down and started the
first draft of my first novel. It was a
bad novel, but a novel nonetheless.
Gradually,
painfully, I got better and eventually landed my first novel -- The End of
Enemies -- with Putnam. When it came time to look for cover blurbs I asked Tom
if we dared approach Clive for a blurb.
Belying my trepidation, Tom was nonchalant: "Sure, Clive's a great guy;
I'll ask him." Three weeks later I had a
quote from Clive Cussler.
A few weeks
after Tom's initial call about the new series, we talked again: If I was game,
so was Clive. Later that same day I was
talking on the phone to Clive about the series, and a couple weeks after that
the gist of the series was set:
Sam and
Remi Fargo, a husband and wife treasure-hunting team who travel to the world's
exotic locals, unraveling ancient mysteries, unearthing long-lost treasures,
and generally finding themselves in sticky situations at every turn.
The first
book, as yet untitled, will find The Fargos following the footsteps of Napoleon
Bonaparte as they race to discover a treasure that's been buried for 2500
years.
Now, as
Clive and I are nearing the end of the first draft, I've found him just as Tom
described -- "a great guy" -- and working with him can best be described by
something all writers try to avoid -- a cliché:
It's a dream-come-true.
From There
to Here
This July,
as ThrillerFest marks its third year in existence, I'll mark my twenty-first
year of being a fiction writer, and like most authors, aspiring and otherwise,
I've lived much of these last two decades by benchmarks. Everyone's got his or her own name for them;
I call them Little Graduations:
- I finally stop thinking/talking/dreaming about writing a book and actually sit down and start one.
- I come up
with a plot and characters that can, for better or
worse, support a full-length book.
- I finish
the book.
- I find an
agent or agents who wants to see the book.
- I find an
agent who wants to represent me.
- I find a publisher who wants to publish the book.
This list, unique as it is to each author, can be endless, and once you get past that last Little Graduation, your challenges become profound:
- Will anyone but my friends and family buy the book?
- Will the book find an audience, or will it wither on the vine?
- Will the publisher want another one from me?
- Will the book become a bestseller?
Writing is
by its very nature a solitary business.
We toil in front of a blank screen or sheet of paper, trying to turn the
twisted clockwork worlds of our imaginations into stories that keep people
pinned to their chairs. Of course, given
the temperament most writers are saddled with, this cloistered lifestyle is
less a burden than it is a mostly-enjoyable compulsion. Still, to be part of a group of professionals
who get it, is, well, a thrill.
When I
asked for his thoughts on ITW, Clive said:
"It's simply one of the finest writing organizations in the world today,
with dedicated members who create intrigue, excitement, and adventure that
stimulate the imagination of hundreds of millions of readers."
For all the
joy it can bring, the writing business can also be unpredictable and
frustrating. This is why ThrillerFest is
so important. We gather every July to
talk shop, re-connect with old friends, make new friends, and sink happily into
the sea of authors, editors, agents, publicists, critics, and booksellers we
spend the rest of the year trying to navigate.
Attending
ThrillerFest reminds us that when we're sitting alone in front of that blank
screen, we're not truly alone.
Grant
Blackwood is the author of the Briggs Tanner Series: An Echo of War, The Wall
of Night, and The End of Enemies, as well as the short story, "Sacrificial Lion",
which appeared in the acclaimed anthology, Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All
Night.
BARNES & NOBLE BOOKSELLERS provides an on-site bookstore for conference attendees. You'll find a great selection of books by our attending ThrillerMasters, Spotlight Guests, Special Guests, CraftFest presenters, and ThrillerFest panelists. Buy books written by your favorite thriller authors and have them signed during the conference!
foreign and domestic.
"Talking to Lee Child and discovering, from his chapter in The Chopin Manuscript, that he's even more of an audio geek than I am (as his chapter in Chopin proves)." ~ David Hewson
