by Anne Glynn
Anne Glynn.com
  • Anne Glynn - Books by Anne & Glynn
  • What's New
  • Books & Such
  • The Newsletter Thing

Lawrence Block, Superstar.

1/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
For years, Glynn asked for the same present for Christmas: the latest Dick Francis hardcover. But then the great Steeplechase jockey and world famous author passed away, not quite making his ninth decade, and things changed. “A Dick Francis Novel” is still published with some regularity – if I’d wanted to, I could have purchased Front Runner as Glynn’s gift this year – but the latest versions haven’t actually been written by the master himself. Mr. Francis’s son, Felix, has stepped up to the word processor and has, according to my sweetie, done a fine job. But wherever the difference lies between the two generations of wordsmiths, there is a difference, and Glynn no longer asks for the newest Francis’ book at the holiday.
 
So, while it’s a sadness whenever someone loses a favorite author, I wasn’t too concerned when it came to finding my sweetie a different hardcover on Christmas. He also enjoyed the Spenser and Virgil Cole novels by Robert B. Parker, so I thought I’d stuff his stocking with those (so to speak)…except that Mr. Parker happened to make his exit shortly after the loss of Mr. Francis, and now my guy had lost two of his go-to writers. Actually, he’d lost three of his favorites because Donald E. Westlake had left the mortal coil a couple of years before Francis and Parker were gone.
 
Do not ask Glynn about Don Westlake. He is sad to this minute that he can’t go onto Amazon and download a new story by the guy.
 
But, as for my holiday shopping, I was still feeling okay. In regards to gifting purposes only, I knew the amazing Elmore Leonard was still in place and doing stellar work. I was a little nervous, perhaps, and wondered why Glynn couldn’t have picked a favorite YOUNGER writer, perhaps someone closer to his own age, but I still planned to swipe my plastic at B & N when it came time to give a present. (An aside: Whenever I’m watching a movie with the Good Witch and a title card announces PRESENT DAY, she claps her hands and says, “We’re getting a present! What do you think it will be?” Now I say it, too. The present is usually a not very good movie. So silly.)
 
Until…well, Mr. Leonard celebrated 87 years, a good run by anyone’s account, but then he was gone. So in 2015, I had no easy to find, most likely satisfying, hardcover gift to offer my partner. Book-giving had become kind of a tradition by then, and I wasn’t in the mood to let it go. So I hinted around and Glynn pretended he didn’t notice where I was going with my questioning. He told me that maybe he should start reading Lawrence Block, again because he loved the writer’s Burglar series. That was the good news. Unfortunately, Block had quit writing that particular series in 2004 and, naturally, all of the existing stories were already on our bookshelves.
 
Except Glynn was wrong, as I discovered when I went over to LawrenceBlock.com. In 2013, Block brought his Burglar back in a collector’s edition, and that version never made it to our local bookstore. As Block mentioned on a blog post, “The true first edition was this signed-and-numbered hardcover, with Manny Schongut’s painting mounted on its gold-stamped dark green leather cover”, but classy stuff like this carries a hefty price tag. That is, it carried a hefty price tag in 2013. Two years later, LB needed to make room for new inventory and he offered a Christmas special on the book.
 
I took advantage of the offer. Glynn loved his gift.
 
Meanwhile, wandering through the various nooks of LB's website, I found some interesting tidbits about Mr. Block. He self-published the last Burglar novel, the one I bought, apparently for the fun of it. That’s one reason the book’s publication escaped Glynn’s radar. LB appears to enjoy the self-pubbed world, he’s doing more and more publishing under his own label, and that’s such a bold, fun move for a successful, best-selling writer. He writes a blog, at least as often as I do, he offers a newsletter, he has his own eBay store, he’s producing the German translations of one of his series, he's doing audio books, he's on Facebook, he has a YouTube channel…and he’s 77 years old.
 
A superstar, indeed. Now, if LB will just get his tush in gear and write and publish another Burglar novel before 12/25/16, I’ll be in good shape.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    I'm on Facebook

    ... but, really, the good stuff is posted here.



    Welcome!

    At the back of my paperbacks and e-books, you'll find this:
     
    A collector of vintage Barbies and younger boyfriends, Anne Glynn currently resides in the American Southwest.
     
    The truth is a little more complicated. I'm Anne and my S.W.P. (Significant Writing Partner) is Glynn. Together, we write as 'Anne Glynn'.
     
    However, I am a collector of vintage Barbies and I have, on occasion, collected the younger boyfriend. Not so much these days.
     
    I'm glad you're here.
     

    Archives

    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.