Newsletter Archive

In This Month's Issue

· Introducing … THE COWL

· International Buy Indie Day

· PARANOIA: The Movie!

· The Daily Beast Column

· Friends in High Places

· Where I’ll Be

· Win an Advanced Copy of VANISHED!

Introducing … THE COWL

Before I wanted to be an author, before I wanted to be a secret agent, before I wanted to be almost anything, I wanted to draw cartoons. I love cartoons, and always have. Visit my office and you’ll see several classics framed on my wall, including a Charles Addams original.

Reality got in the way, as it often does. The only D you’ll see on my college transcript was – yes – an art class. I realized I was better at words than at pictures, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But the dream never completely died, and at last year’s Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention), I met a couple of guys from DC Comics. By coincidence, I was working on a subplot in VANISHED involving the main character’s teenaged nephew, Gabe, who was writing and illustrating what he called a “graphic novel” about a superhero based on his uncle, Nick Heller.

So I took the opportunity to talk comics and graphic novels with them, and discovered a world I’d barely imagined. I knew that several major mystery and literary authors were working in the graphic novel arena – Michael Chabon, Brad Meltzer, Gregg Hurwitz, Duane Swierczynski, to name a few – and at Bouchercon I met Brian Azzarello, author of 100 BULLETS and (with Lee Bermejo) THE JOKER.

This fired my imagination; I’m always looking for ways to introduce my works to new audiences, and what better way than a comic book, especially if a comic book was part of my plot? And what if the comic book included a clue to the central mystery of VANISHED, itself?

I took this idea to DC Comics Senior Editor Will Dennis, who was kind enough to encourage me. He helped me find a Spanish artist, Benito Gallego, who could create the images I imagined for Gabe’s fictional superhero, The Cowl – classically heroic images in the tradition of the comics I read as a kid, by artists such as John Buscema and Joe Kubert.

Writing a comic book, however, isn’t like writing a novel. It’s somewhere between writing a screenplay and writing a series of epigrams, and it’s not what I do. I had a story for The Cowl, but didn’t know how to bring it to life.

Brian Azzarello to the rescue. I asked if he’d be willing to take over The Cowl’s story, and he agreed – and came up with a script even better than I’d imagined, about the origins of The Cowl in a post-Apocalyptic Washington, DC.

The Cowl – the secret identity of international security consultant Nick Heller – takes to the streets of Washington, DC to fight the nefarious Dr. Cash, a scientist who rules with an iron hand and an endless supply of a mind-altering chemical that enslaves the city’s young men.

The idea of a comic book based on the creation of a fictional character is a little complicated, and putting it all together was complicated as well – me in Boston, Benito in Spain, Azz in Chicago. But the first copies came off the press a couple of weeks ago, and I’m delighted with the result. Over the next several months I’ll be giving copies away, and my publisher, St. Martin’s, will make copies available to booksellers along with advance reading copies of VANISHED.

It’s been a great adventure, and I’m grateful to Brian and Benito for letting me achieve my childhood dream, with a little help from my friends.

International Buy Indie Day

Today – Friday, May 1 – is International Buy Indie Day, a grassroots effort to support local independent bookstores.

I believe that readers are best served by a wide variety of booksellers – big, small, specialty, general interest – and I also believe that the more books people buy, the more books people buy. That is, book-buying’s not a zero-sum game; I’m always supporting new authors and other authors’ books because the more people read, the more books they buy, the more likely they are to read my books as well.

Let me be clear: I would not be a bestseller were it not for the booksellers at Barnes & Noble and Borders. I’ve met most of the top buyers there and at other chains and wholesalers, and I know they’re in the business because they love books. But at the same time, there’s nothing like an independent bookseller who knows your reading tastes and hand-sells you a book she or he is passionate about. The reason I (and a lot of other writers like Lee Child, Lisa Scottoline, and Christopher Reich) support Buy Indie Day is that we want to make sure that all our bookstores flourish.

Sometime during the day today, you can support your local independent bookstore by buying a hardcover, paperback, or audiobook in your own backyard. Don’t know where your nearest independent bookstore is? Visit the Indie Store Finder to find one near you. Don’t have an independent bookstore near you? Try shopping www.abebooks.com, an international online network of independent booksellers.

PARANOIA: The Movie!

It’s probably the most frequent question I get, both by email and when I’m touring: When is PARANOIA going to be a movie? For years, I had a long story about how the movie had been bought, was in development, and went into that Hollywood purgatory known as “turnaround.” It was all a long way of saying, “I don’t know.”

Well, I still don’t know exactly when PARANOIA will be a movie, but that date got much closer in early April, when the French production company Gaumont (Leon, The Fifth Element) announced that it had acquired PARANOIA and hired Barry Levy to write a screenplay adaptation. Levy wrote 2008’s Vantage Point, starring Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox. Alexandra Milchan is producing.

William Goldman, in his famous book Adventures in the Screen Trade, says the first rule of Hollywood is, “No one knows anything.” So I’m not making the popcorn just yet, but I am very happy to have placed PARANOIA in such good hands, and I’m excited to see what they do with it.

The Daily Beast Column

I’m a little overcommitted these days, I admit – but when the editors of The Daily Beast invited me to comment on the controversy over the CIA’s use of aggressive interrogation techniques (i.e., torture), I could not resist the opportunity.

My column, “Hands Off the CIA,” appeared on April 22, and I discussed it on MSNBC on April 23. My point is, essentially, that the CIA does what elected government officials direct it to do -- and that Congressional Democrats now expressing shock and dismay over these practices were briefed on these practices years ago, and said nothing.

This won’t be my last column for The Daily Beast, although I’ve got a book to write, and don’t know how often I’ll post – but you can find this column and any future ones here, and subscribe to an RSS feed on that page as well.

Friends in High Places

President Obama presents Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with some top-secret reading material. No, it’s not real – but wouldn’t it be cool if it were? Thanks to my Twitter pal Rhonda Hitchcock (@OutlanderUSA) for the great Photoshop work!

Where I’ll Be

You can always find me on Twitter (@joefinder), on Facebook, and on MySpace. I’m still mapping out the VANISHED tour, but if you want to see me in person, you might consider registering for one of several conferences I’ll be participating in over the next several months.

Win an Advanced Copy of VANISHED!

I have only a handful of advance copies of VANISHED to give away. If you’d like to win one, we’ll draw three lucky names between now and May 31. Send your complete name and mailing address to Claire@josephfinder.com, with the subject heading “May VANISHED Giveaway.” Sorry, this contest is available only to those who haven’t won anything from www.josephfinder.com in the past 12 months, and only to those with U.S. mailing addresses. Good luck!

thanks

Thanks, as always, for your support, and happy reading –

All the best,

Joe Finder

P.S. And please, spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to friends you think might be interested.