If you’re a small peanuts writer, ten minutes is longer than you’d expect to spend chatting with the legendary Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series. Where else could this have happened but the Mystery Writers of America holiday party? At most, I thought I’d have the chance to breathlessly utter a trite compliment after standing in line to see the guest of honor. But I got a full ten minutes. I wasn’t timing it, but it had to be that. As an appellate lawyer, I’ve read enough testimony in trial transcripts to know that people who witness thrilling or traumatic events tend to be very bad at estimating time. A single robbery, two witnesses, one says three seconds, the other says three minutes. But I have proof that my time estimate is not far off the mark. We covered several topics.
I admit, I didn’t monopolize—there were a few other people standing in our group. And I did start out with a compliment, somewhat mentally rehearsed. In the days when I was commuting by car, I spent many wonderful hours listening to Jack Reacher novels on CD. Didn’t want to get out of the car when I pulled into my parking spot.
The conversation progressed beyond that. These are some of the things I asked:
“I understand there’s a writer out there stealing your characters.” (I had just heard this from another MWA member who’d been chatting with Mr. Child minutes before.) “Yes,” he answered, “I call it fan fiction.” Seems that there are writers making a buck publishing e-books full of characters from Reacher novels. Mr. Child said, “I don’t mind.” I said, “You’re very generous.”
“Do you have another cameo appearance coming up in the movies?” I asked. Yes, his next film shoot is scheduled to take place at the airport and will last no more than five hours—he will be in between flights. And, yes, the cameo role is a guy at an airport.
The conversation turned to the publishing industry. Mr. Child said that the e-book/paper ratio of his book sales was 75/25 in 2012, and now it’s back down to 60/40. People are coming back to paper. I observed that many young people I know (my daughters included!) prefer to hold a book in their hands. This, despite (or because of?) all the screen time they put in.
Mr. Child said he generally doesn’t enjoy collaborating with other writers, but he recently had a very rewarding experience collaborating on a project with his daughter. I shared that I also had a profoundly moving experience collaborating with my daughter on an artistic project. “I’m a dancer,” I said. “It was a dance film.” I don’t think anyone was much impressed.
Finally, I asked him if he had any advice for a non-bestselling author to get her novels into film. “You don’t have to be a bestselling author to get into the movies. Just pitch your book to an agent.”
Easier said than done. Is there any hope for Thursday’s List and Homicide Chart?
“The best thing, though, is to sell the movie rights without the movie ever getting made. You get paid well and don’t have to worry about the movie ruining your novel.”
Dream on.
Thank you for the conversation, Mr. Child! A very genuine, nice guy. Think I’ll go read another Reacher novel.