Four Questions for Lawrence Block

I have enjoyed the work of Lawrence Block for many years. From his lighter Burglar mysteries to the hard boiled stuff, to the older works just now being made available once again for new fans. Even the guy’s newsletter is always a welcome find in my email inbox.

So, it was a great moment when Mr. Block said yes to a little request for a short interview. Thanks LB.

---

1) Whatever becomes of Bernie Rhodenbarr? Does he ever find something he loves more than breaking and entering? 

LB: Don’t expect Bernie to change. He’ll go on being Bernie as long as I find stories to tell about him. He and Carolyn occasionally discuss this stasis, realizing that neither of them will ever find a relationship that works, that she’ll go on washing dogs and he’ll go on stealing, and that they’re fine with it. In The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons, he shoots down the notion that he’ll reform and become some sort of amateur detective. He is, I’m pleased to report, one constant in this ever-changing world.

2)  Is it almost impossible to write a mystery novel set in today’s world with all the technology and means available to modern law enforcement? Isn’t it so much easier to roll back the setting a decade or three?

I see your point. Certainly the ubiquity of security cameras make Bernie’s work difficult, and in The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons he comments on how electronic keys have put a serious crimp in the once-thriving sub-specialty of hotel-room theft. And forensic advances would clear up one of Hercule Poirot’s old cases in a hot second. But one learns to adjust, bearing always in mind the Darwinian principle that, if you build a better mousetrap, God will build a better mouse.

3) Your bio sometimes describes you as an avid New Yorker. Any tips or suggestions for those visiting the city?

Here’s what Marilyn Stasio wrote some years ago in the New York Times Book Review:  “The next time that friends come to town expecting a personal tour of the real New York City, here’s what to hand them: a subway map, a fistful of tokens, and Lawrence Block’s big bruiser of a crime novel, A Walk Among the Tombstones.”

Nowadays of course it’d be a Metrocard; we don’t use tokens anymore. But there’s no need to tote one of my books around with you (although it’s fine with me if you do). What I’d advise any visitor is to go out and explore, take the road less traveled, and leave room for the unexpected. There are smaller and less crowded museums all over the place, all well worth a visit. The Borough of Queens, overlooked entirely by most tourists, is awash in restaurants of all ethnicities, most of them inexpensive, most of them excellent, and all of them waiting to be discovered.

4) And what’s coming next from Lawrence Block? You haven’t really managed to retire, have you?

Alas, retirement doesn’t seem to work for me. As a matter of fact, just two days ago I finished a new book, but all I can tell you about it for now is that it’s not in one of my several series, and that I expect it’ll be published sometime in 2015. As to whether I’ll decide to self-publish it, or have it brought out by a major house or a small-press publisher, I’m nowhere near knowing that yet.

I’m also busy self-publishing audiobook version of those few titles of mine not already available in that medium. A very early novel of mine, Borderline, was very successfully relaunched his spring by Hard Case Crime, and last month I published an unabridged audio version, superbly narrated by Mike Dennis. And another voice artist, Emily Beresford, has just finished narrating Thirty, an early venture in artful eroticism “by Lawrence Block writing as Jill Emerson.” I expect it’ll be available any day now, and there’ll be others to follow.

So I do keep busy. I don’t have another book planned, but it seems likely I’ll get the impulse sooner or later. As long as my mind and body remain up to it, I’ll probably keep rolling along. Meanwhile, I’ll be on Craig Ferguson’s show September 10th to talk about A Walk Among the Tombstones.

LB’s Bookstore on eBay
LB’s Blog and Website
LB’s Facebook Fan Page
Twitter:  @LawrenceBlock

---

---

Again, a big thank you to LB for taking the time for the interview. I discovered his works via an abridged audiobook version of The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza, the fourth book in the Burlar series. I loved the characters from the start; they’re smart, witty, and a bit daring…even the policeman looking to bust Bernie is a great character.

And, as he says above, there are more and more books becoming available on audio over at Audible all the time. Mostly great hard-boiled stuff, but others as well. A search on Audible comes up with 99(!!) titles…that’s A LOT of listening. I only wish more authors would take his lead on getting their catalog titles self-published as well.

And then there’s this little movie starring Liam Neeson, A Walk Among the Tombstones, based on one of his books from the Matthew Scudder series.

Point is it is a great time to be a Lawrence Block fan. Here’s a trailer for the movie, which comes out on September 19th.