I spent the night with Brad Meltzer...

Well, not the whole night. Only 40 minutes or so. On the phone - he was in Atlanta and I was home in Florida. So it was me & Brad....and his publisher and a bunch of bloggers. And it was awesome!

We got to ask Brad anything we wanted, and he was open and forthcoming and so much fun. We talked about The Book of Lies of course, but also Brad's fascination with Superman, the Siegel & Schuster Society, the graphic novels that Brad likes to read, how much research goes into his books, and his unusual experience with Homeland Security. Brad spoke movingly about losing his mom this year, about his loving family, and was just thoroughly engaging, entertaining, and enlightening.

I wish I could have brought you all with me, but since I couldn't, I brought the conversation here, courtesy of the Hachette Book Group:

Listen!

Did I mention he was funny? You can probably hear me giggling throughout the conversation. It was great to connect with other bloggers too, so make sure you check out these sites:

www.bermudaonion.wordpress.com
www.brokenfrontier.com
www.scoffery.com
www.supermanhomepage.com
www.wordstomouth.com
www.WatchTowerPodcast.com
www.linussblanket.com
Brad Meltzer is the next John Grisham Facebook group

Finally, Hachette Book Group has provided a free excerpt - go look:

James Crumley, 1940-2008

I was so sorry to hear about the passing of James Crumley, one of the finest hardboiled crime fiction writers. A good friend gave me his book, The Last Good Kiss, several years ago, and I've heard Dennis Lehane rave about it. It's destined to become a classic. His other books include One to Count Cadence, The Wrong Case, The Mexican Tree Duck, Bordersnakes, The Final Country, and most recently, The Right Madness.

Rest in peace.

Good deal for book groups!

This just in from Josh Henkin, author of the NY Times Notable Book, MATRIMONY:

"I wanted to let you know about a special offer my publisher Vintage is making to book groups. Sign up by midnight September 21 and Vintage will set up a phone chat for your book group with me to discuss MATRIMONY, my NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE novel, which has just come out in paperback. Normally, only five book groups are chosen among the entrants, but I have agreed to talk to all book groups that sign up. Here's the link to do so.

http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/chat.html

Best,

Josh
http://www.joshuahenkin.com"