IN SITE 19 - SLUGLINE: APRIL 2007

 

IN THE KEY OF DEATH, my seventh book and third stand-alone thriller, is months away from

release, but here’s how I’ve been describing the story: The ugly underbelly of the record industry is

exposed in this behind-the-scenes, below-the-belt account of deceit, treachery, revenge and retribution that pits ex-LAPD detective Josh Wainwright against Clyde ("Mr. Magic") Davenport, the rich, eccentric, legendary relic of the Golden Age of Rock-and-Roll Wainwright blames for the murder of his wife, international singing idol Katie Sunshine, and at least ten other recording artists who quit Davenport after he turned them into superstars…

 

TRANSCRIPT is the name of the first one-act I tried my hand at earlier this year, and I’m thrilled to say it’s been selected to have its world premiere during the first International Mystery Writers Festival at RiverPark Center in Owensboro, KY, on a double-bill with a one-act  by MWA Grand Master Stuart Kaminsky. Events organized by RiverPark’s CEO/President Zev Buffman (iconic award-winning producer of Broadway and touring shows) include participation by the likes of Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards, Ira Levin, Television Academy Hall of Famer William Link, Sue Grafton, John Jakes, James W. Hall, and more…

        

THE JAMES DEAN AFFAIR, second book in my Neil and Stevie “Affair” series, has made its appearance in a Japanese language edition, while “Affair” co-star Augie Fowler pops up twice this year in short story anthologies: THE DEADLY BRIDE AND 21 OF THE YEAR’S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, in a story that first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and HOLLYWOOD AND CRIME: AN ANTHOLOGY OF HOLLYWOOD CRIME STORIES, edited by Robert Randisi, in an original story among four singled out in a Publishers Weekly review, (quote): “Robert S. Levinson delivers a wicked portrait of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in ‘And the Winner Is…,’which turns on her lackey’s efforts to stop a Nazi sharpshooter at the 1960 Academy Awards.” (unquote)…

        

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS’ ThrillerFest returns in July, this time at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, and I’m deep into pre-production on my second go writing,  producing and (gasp!) emceeing the Second Annual Thriller Awards show. Also returning, the all-star Killer Thriller Band, comprising the same gang of best-selling authors that rocked ‘em  and had ‘em dancing at last year’s inaugural event, among them David Morrell, John Lescroart, Heather Graham, F. Paul Wilson, Michael Palmer, Gayle Lynds, and, well, you get the idea...More than a few surprises also on tap…

           

PAST, PRESENT & FUTURES: Set for publication later this year, HOW I GOT PUBLISHED—FAMOUS AUTHORS TELL YOU HOW IN THEIR OWN WORDS by Ray White and Duane Lindsay, where I’m in amazing company that includes Clive Cussler, Lawrence Block, John

Gilstrap, Dave Barry, etc., etc...In addition to the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (signing at the Mysterious Bookstore and Sisters in Crime booths), I’m primed for this year’s Bouchercon and a first-time ever visit to Alaska, as well as what’s become a tradition, giving Joan Hansen hugs and a mock hard time at her annual “Men of Mystery” event in Irvine, CA...In the works, another thriller, this one full of historical spy stuff  and the American “turncoat rebel” who achieves fame behind the Iron Curtain...THIS JUST IN: A Neil Gulliver short story, “Prisoner of Memory,” set for the July/August double-issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine…Nominated for a Derringer Award by the Short Mystery Fiction Society, for “Uncle Blinky’s Corner of the World,” from the March/April 2006 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine…