GENRES
Harlan Coben, author of Promise Me, Just One Look and The Final Detail, answers our questions
When and where were you born?
January 4, 1962 in Newark, New Jersey. Yes, that's the same town where Myron Bolitar and Will Klein were born and raised. I still live in New Jersey.
Where do you get your ideas?
It's a corny cliché, but anything can stimulate an idea. The hard part is recognizing which ideas will work, and developing those ideas into a workable story. An idea is not a plot. An idea is not a novel. Turning it into a story – that's where the real work comes in.
Are any of the characters based on real people in your life?
Not really, no. Win is loosely based on my college roommate, though in real life he is less, er, psychotic than his fictional counterpart.
Do you have a favourite book of the ones you've written?
I'm going to trot out another cliché. The books are like my children. It's hard and probably wrong to pick favorites.
Do you outline? Do you know the ending before you begin?
I don't outline. I usually know the ending before I start. I know very little about what happens in between. It's like driving from New Jersey to California. I may go Route 80, I may go via the Straits of Magellan or stop over in Tokyo, but I'll end up in California.
What's up with Hollywood? Any word on Hollywood movies or TV shows based on the books?
Hollywood is a tricky animal and one a novelist is best keeping at arm's length. At the same time, I'd love to see something made.
What is the order of the Myron Bolitar novels?
Deal Breaker, Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin, One False Move, The Final Detail and Darkest Fear. After that, we have Tell No One, Gone For Good and No Second Chance. The new book Promise Me, published in the UK in April 2006, will also be a Myron novel.
How do I get published?
My advice would be to NOT try to market or sell your novel until it is done. I mean, completely done, done, done, fully-finished and ready to go, and a few other redundant phrases like that. I suggest that you find an agent. There are many sources for that. Then write the agents a fabulous one-page query letter that reads like the greatest flap copy in history. Make them hunger for more.
