If It's Friday, I Must Be in Times Square

At nine o'clock this morning, if you were to have asked me where I'd be nine o'clock the next morning, I would have said: "Um, my desk? At work?"

Nope. Instead I'll be at the Times Square studio of ABC News Now, taping a segment about The Crimes of Dr. Watson. Surprised the hell out of me, too. But the book seems to have caught the eye of a producer, and she liked it enough to invite me up to talk about it. Which is awesome. The segment (as long as I don't completely botch it, that is) should air sometime next week, both on cable and online.

The only downside is that I have to report to the studio by 9 a.m., which means I'll be leaving Philly really really early. I don't even want to think about how early. Yes, they joke about Philly being a suburb of New York. But that's only if you don't have to commute from Northeast Philadelphia to Times Square on a cold Friday morning. Then, somehow, it feels much further away. Like, two states away.

So, no Hardboiled Friday entry tomorrow. But Saturday morning I'll catch you up on what happened at the taping. Wish me luck.

An Army of Redheads

Just a quick note of thanks to everyone who's emailed, requesting a copy of "Redhead." I'm astounded at the number of people who have killed brain cells reading The Blonde, and are actually hungry for more abuse. God bless you all.

The offer's still good, mind you. Like, pretty much forever. So drop me a line if you'd like a copy.

Today, incidentally, is the on-sale date for The Crimes of Dr. Watson. If you're at all in the mood for an incredibly cool-looking book, you might give it a whirl. Or buy a copy for the Sherlockian in your life!

You're Officially Invited...

... to the Crimes of Dr. Watson/Blonde/Redhead launch party!

It's a week from today, at the Port Richmond Bookstore in the lovely (and extremely Polish) neighborhood of Port Richmond. There will be plenty of books, booze, food and of course, Poles on hand. I've launched my last two books at the store, and each time it was a blast. You recall last year's blog post, about how we all ended up at a Polish disco? No futher questions, your honor.

So to recap: Sunday, November 18th, 2 p.m. Port Richmond Bookstore (3037 Richmond Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19134, 215-425-3385). C'mon. Can you think of a better way to kick off your Thanksgiving week?

(Huge thanks, in advance, to Lou Boxer, Deen Kogan and Greg Gillespie for hosting me yet again.)

Holmes Land Security

Yesterday I received an advance copy of The Crimes of Dr. Watson, the interactive Sherlock Holmes mystery I edited, and... holy shit, is it a stunner. See, I can say this because I had very little to do with the production of the book—the foxing of the pages, the luxurious illustrations, the period detail. All I did was work on the manuscript (purportedly written by Dr. John H. Watson himself), and add an intro and editor's note. The geniuses at Quirk Books did the rest.

Dr. Watson will be available at bookstores everywhere on November 15th; I'm happy to report that Barnes & Noble will be giving it special play at their holiday gift tables this season.

And since Dr. Watson is no longer with us, I'll be stepping in to do an exclusive discussion/signing at Murder By The Book in Houston, Texas on Saturday, December 1 at 4:30 p.m. (Where I'll also be pimping The Blonde, a book I actually wrote.) Hope to see some of you there.

There will also be a launch party here in Philly; every single one of you are invited. Check back later this week for details.

First Look: A Dr. Watson Clue?

Could this be a clue from my forthcoming Sherlock Holmes novella, The Crimes of Dr. Watson? Is this something you might pluck from the book itself, to examine at your leisure? Why, is this a train schedule? What possible significance could this have? What is Glen Rock? Why do they transport people? Where do they go to? This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife...

Anyway, yeah, I've just burned through the second round of page proofs for Dr. Watson, and holy crap is this book looking awesome. Even if my story sucks the big one, you can purchase this bad boy knowing you're getting every penny's worth of illustration and design. The folks at Quirk sure know what they're doing. Even if I don't, most of the time.

First Look: The Crimes of Dr. Watson

Could this be the cover of the Sherlock Holmes novella I've been blabbing about? Why yes, I believe it could be. If you think this is cool (and I do), wait until you see the rest of the book. The art folks at Quirk Books are going all out for this one. They even nailed the waterstain on a 110-year-old envelope. What's really fun is that I have two wildly different books appearing this November: The Crimes of Dr. Watson, which is Victorian-era whodunnit, and Severance Package, a modern-day thriller. And yet, both feature dismemberment. Go figure.