The Copper Bracelet

Plan B: Getting to Know Nick Heller

5/10/2011

Did you know Nick Heller used to smoke?

Neither did I, until I wrote “Plan B,” the short story available for free download today for Kindle and Kobo readers.

I don’t write many short stories. “Neighbors,” included in Otto Penzler’s collection AGENTS OF TREACHERY, was my first published short story, though I’ve also written chapters for the audiobooks THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT and THE COPPER BRACELET.

But constructing a series character like Nick Heller offers a world of new writing possibilities. In almost any situation I see or read about, I can ask, “What would Nick do?” I’ve also spent a great deal of time thinking about Nick’s previous life, his likes and dislikes, and all the things we know about the people closest to us but never really think about. It’s important for me to know these things about Nick, but only a fraction of it will ever show up in the novels.

That’s why I’m so glad to be able to share “Plan B,” which drops Nick into a dangerous situation far from home. Hearing that Nick had recently saved a kidnapped girl in Boston, a wealthy Ukrainian hires him to rescue his 15-year-old daughter, who’s being held in a Spanish billionaire’s compound in Barcelona. It would be easier to break her out of a high-security prison — but all is not as it seems, which is why Nick always has a Plan B.

“Plan B” is a free download at both Amazon.com and Kobobooks.com. It comes with a bonus excerpt from BURIED SECRETS, which goes on sale June 21. I hope you enjoy the extra time with Nick as much as I did.

Why Write a Serial Thriller?

12/7/2010

Today marks the paperback publication of WATCHLIST, the print edition of two serial thrillers I had the honor of participating in — THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT and its sequel, THE COPPER BRACELET. Both books were based on ideas by Jeffery Deaver and edited by Jim Fusilli, and a total of 22 authors participated in the projects, including genre masters such as Linda Barnes, Lee Child, David Liss, and Lisa Scottoline.

The books have been successful beyond all expectations. Not only were they bestsellers in audio format, but THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT won the Audie for best audiobook of 2008. It’s always a great feeling to be part of a successful project, but as I’ve given some interviews and participated in a roundtable discussion about these books, I’ve realized that I got some big benefits from the projects as well.

First, the process gave me new insights into my colleagues’ imaginations. One of the main attractions of writing a novel is the control it gives you over the world you create. I get to decide who the characters are, what they do, and what happens to them; I might never rule the world, but I rule my worlds. But it was exciting to see what Jeff Deaver came up with, and riff on his ideas. Likewise, especially in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT, I was almost overwhelmed by the variety of ideas and plot threads jammed into those first eight chapters.

Second, I got some new insights into structure and pacing, or at least was able to use what I knew in a different way. I wrote Chapter Nine of THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT. So much had happened by that point that I had to work hard to make my chapter fit into the different storylines — not only from the writer’s point of view, but from the reader’s. By the time I got the story, other authors had given the reader several terrific action sequences. I wanted to write an action sequence, too, but I stopped myself; it would have been overload. What the book needed, at that point in the story, was something quieter. (I learned another lesson from that, too. When it came time to write the second book, I asked editor Jim Fusilli for an earlier chapter, and got Chapter 6 of THE COPPER BRACELET.)

Third, I got to use some ideas and material I hadn’t been able to fit into any of my own books. Every author has more ideas than he or she will ever have time to write, and I do so much research that I’ll never be able to use everything I know about a given topic. For THE COPPER BRACELET, I got to use research I’d done for VANISHED, and explore a subject that’s always fascinated me: how someone would get into Russia secretly. It had been much too long since I’d set anything in Moscow, which was my first love and my first area of expertise. I jumped at the chance to set a scene there, using both old memories and information from a more recent visit. I set a scene in a club for retired KGB officers that’s based on a real place, a place I was invited to. Few Westerners have ever been in there, and I was delighted to be able to write something based on the experience.

It’s been great to see these books have such a long life, and find their way to readers in both audio and print formats. I’m glad to have been involved, and I hope they’ll send readers to other works by all the authors who participated.  

THE COPPER BRACELET is On Sale Now

10/29/2009

THE COPPER BRACELET, the sequel to the Audiobook of the Year Winner THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT, is on sale now!

Former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton must once again crack a secretive global conspiracy in this new international thriller. I contributed a chapter along with 15 other top thriller writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Lisa Scottoline, and Lee Child.

Download the complete, unabridged audiobook today.

Free Bonus Content: THE COPPER BRACELET

10/23/2009

I contributed a chapter to the serial thriller THE COPPER BRACELET, which will be available as an audiobook on October 29.Two new audio clips are now available: Authors Roundtable – a conversation among contributing writers Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, David Hewson and Jim Fusilli  – and interview with narrator Alfred Molina.

Another Serial Thriller

10/15/2009

You may remember that a couple of years ago, I was part of a groundbreaking storytelling experiment: THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT, a serial thriller written by 15 of the world’s bestselling authors of crime fiction and available only as an audiobook narrated by Alfred Molina. Well, on October 29, the sequel to this book – THE COPPER BRACELET, written by 16 top thriller writers, including me, and once again narrated by Alfred Molina – will be available on Audible and iTunes.

 Jeffrey Deaver leads off and closes the story; other contributors are Gayle Lynds, David Hewson, Jim Fusilli, John Gilstrap, Lisa Scottoline, David Corbett, Linda Barnes, Jenny Siler, David Liss, P.J. Parrish, Brett Battles, Lee Child, Jon Land, and James Phelan. If you can’t wait until October 29, you can download the first chapter for free today. Registration is required, but you don’t need to buy anything until you decide to order the book.