Interview with Harlan Coben
by Jon Jordan
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JON:  I guess the first question I need to ask, just because so many people are interested; Are you going to write any more Bolitar and Win books?

HARLAN:  Yes. I think so. I mean, I’m pretty sure. My plan is to bring Myron and Win back, but as the old Yiddish expression goes, “Man plans and God laughs.” My guess is, when I do write a new one, it will startlingly different than the old Myrons. It’s hard to go back. I think that’s probably a good thing.

JON:  I would imagine that becoming a Father has changed quite a few things for you. Has it changed your writing at all?

HARLAN:  Sure, of course. You may think you know want and love and how far you can be pushed, but when you have children, it raises that to the nth degree. It’s changed my perspective - of course, that will change my writing.

JON:  Was it advantageous being published in paperbacks first before making the move into hardcovers?

HARLAN:  Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but with hindsight, yeah, sure, it worked for me. Do I recommend it? No, not really. I’d have preferred the books were published in hardcover right away, but maybe I was lucky that I didn’t get what I wished for.

JON:  Is the writing easier when you know that the book is a stand alone?

HARLAN:  The process is pretty much the same. They are equally hard.

JON:  You seem to be quite involved in the mystery community, working with the Edgar committee, blurbing books for new authors, etc. Do you think it’s important to try to give back a little?

HARLAN:  When I first started, a number of big-time authors were good to me. They showed the way. So yes, someone gave me a boost. I try to do the same. The problem is, you have to pick and choose your spots. I’m still learning how to do that.

JON:  Chandler, Hammett, or Kane? And why?

HARLAN:  I’ll be a bit controversial. None of the above. They were all great, but I don’t think I’ve read more than two books by any of them. Yes, I know that’s sacrilege. Yes, I know that they are incredible talents and that they paved away. I was influenced more by their students - people like Robert B Parker, Mary Higgins Clark, Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, I could go on and on - than these grand masters. That said, I choose Chandler. When I read certain lines, I cry that I didn’t write them.

JON:  The illusion is that when you are a full time writer you have a lot of free time. But I’m guessing this is not true. What kinds of things occupy your time when you are not actually writing a book?

HARLAN:  Four children. Ages eight and under. There is no free time. I have no hobbies or anything like that.

JON:  If you decided to give up your life style and become a professional criminal, what kind of crimes would you commit?

HARLAN:  Sheesh, I don’t know. I hope nothing violent.

JON:  What’s the one question you get asked more than any other?

HARLAN:  Why are you so damn good-looking? Man, I get asked that all the time. Of course, then I wake up. Sorry that’s an old joke, but sometimes I like to bring back the classics.

JON:  In books with a strong character as the side kick, is hard to balance how much stage time to give them?

HARLAN:  I don’t really worry so much about stuff like that. I tell the story. Sometimes that means the sidekick gets more air time. Sometimes he or she doesn’t. If you start worrying about making sure that everyone has enough lines, you’re writing television not novels.

JON:  Who is your favorite person to hang out with when you just want to be Harlan, not Harlan Coben the author?

HARLAN:  I like being Harlan Coben the author - hey, I worked too hard to ignore that guy! I like hanging out with my writer friends, though I don’t see them as often as I wish. My kids learned a song in school about keeping old friends and finding new ones - “one is silver and the other gold.” I’m not sure how it applies, but it does.

JON:  There are a great deal of ways to get books to the public now, including print on demand, e-books, and other self publishing methods. Do you think they will have any effect on the way the larger publishers do things?

HARLAN:  I don’t know. Probably. I also can’t worry about it. I can only write the best book I can. If you read it on paper or on a monitor, that doesn’t and shouldn’t change what or how I write. I can’t let the business end be a distraction.

JON:  A theme that seems to pop up in more than one of your books involves a past that may be false or misunderstood. What is it about this that gets your interest?

HARLAN:  Put simply, it’s cool. I love old secrets. I love family bonds that can strangle or soothe. I love terrible misfortune and impossible redemption. That’s my bag, man.

JON:  Were signings and conventions more fun when you were not as well known?

HARLAN:  Yes and no. It’s a bit like a love affair. The beginning is intense and stomach-churning, but then it mellows into something pretty wonderful too. I like it both ways.

JON:  When you write, do you tend to shut your self off from the world and dive in, or do you do it in spurts, as ideas hit you?

HARLAN:  I, uh, spurt, I guess. I’m more a streak writer. I work all the time, but then I’ll hit stretches, especially at the end, where I can write forty or fifty pages in a day (my current record is fifty-five pages in one day - and yes, I passed the urine test).

JON:  What was the last really good book you read?

HARLAN:  Steve Hamilton’s BLOOD IS THE SKY.

JON:  If you could talk to a teenage Harlan, what would you say to him? And would he listen?

HARLAN:  I’d probably keep my mouth shut because trial and error are the best teachers. And in the end, with all the mistakes, I like the path he chose.

JON:  What do you think are some of the best movies ever made?

HARLAN:  Cannonball Run 2. So much better than the original. Seriously, I’d have to go with ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, ANNIE HALL, CASABLANCA, STRANGER ON A TRAIN and DEER HUNTER. Sure, there are many more, but that’s a sampling of my top twenty.

JON:  Have you had any Hollywood interest? Anything that may see the screen?

HARLAN:  Plenty of interest. Plenty of options too. Nothing has made it to the screen yet. TELL NO ONE is supposedly close, what with a big studio (Columbia Sony), big producers (Mark Canton, Mace Neufeld) and big director (Michael Apted) on board. But we’ll see.

JON:  What is your favorite hotel, and where is it?

HARLAN:  The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. The song One Night In Bangkok, mentions the Somerset Maughn suite. Conrad, Greene and a slew of others have suites named for them too. The place is gorgeous, though expensive.

JON:  Can you tell anything about your next book?

HARLAN:  NO SECOND CHANCE will be out in the spring of 2003. I just got the catalogue copy which in part reads: “NO SECOND CHANCE is a breakneck ride where nothing is what it seems--and where hope and fear collide in the most surprising ways.” Love that catalogue copy, don’t you? I guess you could say that it’s a kidnapping story, but not like any you’ve ever read.

JON:  What is the one thing that’s always in your refrigerator?

HARLAN:  We got pictures of the kids. What else?