Hi everone,
Jeffery Deaver is in South Africa, on a tour to promote his latest book, XO. One of our bookstore chains organized a special breakfast meeting and book-signing event, to which I was invited. And what a thrill it was to be sharing space with a NYT best selling author!! I was in awe, I tell you.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the name, Jeffery Deaver is the author of The Bone Collector - from which the movie, by the same name, was made and starred Denzel Washington.
There was a flurry of excitement when Deaver entered the room but when he began speaking he had us hanging on every word. He speaks as eloquently as he writes and has a delightful sense of humor. He had us chuckling as he described the creation of his main character in The Bone Collector - Lincoln Rhyme. "I wanted a character that was as far removed from the action hero as it can get," Deaver explained, "so I began by having him duct-taped to a chair. As you can imagine, I soon ran into difficulties with that. One thought led to another and Lincoln became a quadraplegic. This way, he could use only his brain to outwit his criminal quarry."
In subsequent novels, Lincoln Rhyme is getting some feeling back in his limbs. When asked about this, Jeffery laughed and said that every book should have a little 'soapie' in it.
Deaver loves writing the plot-driven thriller but he feels it very important that characters are "real and believable". If you've read any of his Kathryn Dance novels I'm sure you'll agree that he certainly achieves both. He is a prodigious outliner and given the intricate twists in his multiple-plot novels, one can see why that works so well for him. When asked what imput he had in the making of the movie, Deaver curled thumb and forefinger into a circle. O. "Writing a screenplay," he laughed, "requires a very different set of skills but I did endorse the check I received from the producers."
Deaver went on to talk about stalking, a growing problem in the United States, and how he researched it (mostly on the internet) for XO - also a Kathryn Dance novel. The audience was captivated. One lady sitting near me couldn't contain her curiosity and blurted out, "So what happened?" Ha! Like all of us, she'd have to buy the book to find that out.
I was surprised to discover that Jeffery Deaver has also written a James Bond novel. (I didn't know anyone could do that if one wasn't Ian Fleming, but I live and learn!) Check out Carte Blanche on his website - link below.
I was sorry when the discussion ended. I had so many questions, not the least of which was, "How many times did The Bone Collector get rejected before you found an agent?" But I didn't ask it. Just breathing the same air was exciting enough. I'm so hoping that a little of that magic might brush off on me.
If you'd like to see what else he's written, here's the link.
http://www.jefferydeaver.com/Novels_/novels_.html
Oh, and the breakfast was good, too.
Jeffery Deaver is in South Africa, on a tour to promote his latest book, XO. One of our bookstore chains organized a special breakfast meeting and book-signing event, to which I was invited. And what a thrill it was to be sharing space with a NYT best selling author!! I was in awe, I tell you.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the name, Jeffery Deaver is the author of The Bone Collector - from which the movie, by the same name, was made and starred Denzel Washington.
There was a flurry of excitement when Deaver entered the room but when he began speaking he had us hanging on every word. He speaks as eloquently as he writes and has a delightful sense of humor. He had us chuckling as he described the creation of his main character in The Bone Collector - Lincoln Rhyme. "I wanted a character that was as far removed from the action hero as it can get," Deaver explained, "so I began by having him duct-taped to a chair. As you can imagine, I soon ran into difficulties with that. One thought led to another and Lincoln became a quadraplegic. This way, he could use only his brain to outwit his criminal quarry."
In subsequent novels, Lincoln Rhyme is getting some feeling back in his limbs. When asked about this, Jeffery laughed and said that every book should have a little 'soapie' in it.
Deaver loves writing the plot-driven thriller but he feels it very important that characters are "real and believable". If you've read any of his Kathryn Dance novels I'm sure you'll agree that he certainly achieves both. He is a prodigious outliner and given the intricate twists in his multiple-plot novels, one can see why that works so well for him. When asked what imput he had in the making of the movie, Deaver curled thumb and forefinger into a circle. O. "Writing a screenplay," he laughed, "requires a very different set of skills but I did endorse the check I received from the producers."
Deaver went on to talk about stalking, a growing problem in the United States, and how he researched it (mostly on the internet) for XO - also a Kathryn Dance novel. The audience was captivated. One lady sitting near me couldn't contain her curiosity and blurted out, "So what happened?" Ha! Like all of us, she'd have to buy the book to find that out.
I was surprised to discover that Jeffery Deaver has also written a James Bond novel. (I didn't know anyone could do that if one wasn't Ian Fleming, but I live and learn!) Check out Carte Blanche on his website - link below.
I was sorry when the discussion ended. I had so many questions, not the least of which was, "How many times did The Bone Collector get rejected before you found an agent?" But I didn't ask it. Just breathing the same air was exciting enough. I'm so hoping that a little of that magic might brush off on me.
If you'd like to see what else he's written, here's the link.
http://www.jefferydeaver.com/Novels_/novels_.html
Oh, and the breakfast was good, too.
