Ask Bestselling Author Lawrence Block a Question discussion

Did you and Donald Westlake ever consider a Dortmunder caper with Bernie as part of the string?
I know you have collaborated in the past.

David, we did in fact think of it. Or rather I did, and wanted to do it, but Don would have no part of it. One objection he raised was that Bernie was first person, Dortmunder third. At some later date I said I could write Bernie 3rd person, and at that point he said he'd consider it, but nothing ever came of it, and now of course he's gone.

One objection he raised was that Bernie was first person, Dortmunder third. At some lat..."

If that was his main concern, you might suggest he read Connelly's Brass Verdict. Connelly writes his Lincoln Lawyer (Haller) character in 1st person and Harry Bosch in 3rd, having Bosch come into
Haller's world (chapters) while Bosch's chapters are investigations separate from Haller. Works brilliantly.

Cheers --- Larry
http://www.larrydmarshall.com

Nor was Michael the first person to do this. Still, it would be tough to point as much out to Don, as he died two and a half years ago.

Lawrence wrote: "Still, it would be tough to point as much out to Don, as he died two and a half years ago."

...now that you mention it, I knew that. My brain retrieval system isn't what it used to be and it failed me here. [Egg dripping off face photo here]

Cheers -- Larry

Hi, Lawrence. I've enjoyed the Bernie series for a while with my favorite being Can't be Choosers. So, where on earth did you come up with the name Bernie Rhodenbar for this character?

Will we be reading more of Bernie, please?

I enjoyed the Rhodenbarr series the most, I guess, because I have always liked comedy-of-error, wrong-place-wrong-time style books.

The last Matthew Scudder and Hit Man books had the feeling of finales to me. I was afraid that you might be retiring all of your wonderful characters. With a new Matthew Scudder out, will the other boys be back as well?

I'm particularly fond of the Burglar series, Bernie Rhodenbarr is a great character, surrounded by other great characters. And, he pokes fun at other series in the genre.

Kendal wrote: "Hi, Lawrence. I've enjoyed the Bernie series for a while with my favorite being Can't be Choosers. So, where on earth did you come up with the name Bernie Rhodenbar for this character?"

I don't remember.

Linda wrote: "Will we be reading more of Bernie, please?"

Time will tell, Linda.

Sheldon wrote: "I enjoyed the Rhodenbarr series the most, I guess, because I have always liked comedy-of-error, wrong-place-wrong-time style books."

Thanks,Sheldon. Bernie always speaks well of you, too.

Joannemarie wrote: "The last Matthew Scudder and Hit Man books had the feeling of finales to me. I was afraid that you might be retiring all of your wonderful characters. With a new Matthew Scudder out, will the other boys be back as well?"

We'll have to see, Joannemarie.

To all of y'all,
My gig here was supposed to be from May 28 to June 3, but I started early and have stayed on a few extra days, and while I've enjoyed the ride, it's taking too much time. So I'm signing off as of now. Some of you have friended me here, and I feel friendly toward you, but won't be active on this forum. And those of you who expressed an interest in following my reviews, well, I don't do reviews, so following them, while admittedly tricky, at least wont be time-consuming.

Again, thanks.

LB

One last thought—

I wrote afterwords for all my Open Road ebook titles, and they're being gathered together along with other material as AFTERTHOUGHTS; it amounts to a piecemeal memoir of my early writing days, and will be available soon as a 99¢ ebook. Meanwhile, you can read some of the pieces in my Kindle listings. Here's how to find them:

Go to Amazon and then to the Kindle store, search for a title, then scroll down, all the way below the reviews, to Discussions. If I've started a discussion of that title, click on it; if not, try another title. Searching can be problematic; I've found the best way is to search for title, author, and Open Road. Like so: "Warm and Willing Lawrence Block Open Road."

You don't have to buy the book to do this. You don't have to buy the book to participate in the discussion, either (and I hope some of you will be inclined to join in). You don't even have to own a Kindle.

I'll post this on the various topic boards here, in an effort to reach all of the folks Ive chatted with this past month so you may get sick of reading it. But I do want to get the word around. . .