April 21, 2002

JON:  When I interviewed you last, in the spring of 2000, you had three books out, and Running Blind on its way. The series was generating a following then, but now it seems like everyone is reading your books. Are you gratified by the success?

LEE:  You bet I am. That was a significant year - maybe your interview was what made the difference! But it all seemed to take off real big around that time. Now I can't tell you how good it feels to have so many new readers every year. Very, very exciting.

JON:  With the large fan base you have, I would imagine that there is a lot of feedback from readers. Do you get a lot of requests for things to do in the books? Like "Can you have Reacher come to Seattle?"

LEE:  Seattle, and California, and Britain, and Australia, and just about everywhere else. Problem is, there would have to be a really good, organic reason. I don't want to turn the series into a travelog just for the sake of it. I get requests to bring characters back, too, like Roscoe or Jodie or Harper. But equally I don't want to turn the series into a pure soap opera.

JON:  Little by little we are getting glimpses into Jack's past. Is this going to continue? Will we ever know everything?

LEE:  It's a process that will definitely continue, and it might even include an actual "prequel" as one of the upcoming books. It's really the only way we can get to know Reacher better - he's so much of a solo drifter in the present day that his emotional resonance has to come from the past. Will we ever know everything? I hope not, because that would imply the end of the series.

JON:  Usually books that come out in the UK don't come out until a year later in the US. Yours are almost at the same time. Why is that?

LEE:  Because they're really American publications, with the US publisher owning the primary rights. It's actually just a technicality that they appear in the UK first, even by a matter of a few weeks - my contract states that they should be published in the US first, but back in 1999 Putnam merged with Penguin and the new amalgamated company re-jigged its list and moved me back a little, thereby accidentally exposing the UK date as the true first publication. So it's really just a glitch.

JON:  With all the traveling you do with touring and such, do you have a favorite city to stay in? A favorite hotel?

LEE:  I've got a lot of favorite places, mostly connected with how good the local book scene is. Some of them are a lot of fun. I don't care much about hotels - in fact I often ask to be "down-graded" because I like cheap anonymous dives much better than the kind of place that has a dozen obsequious doormen in your face all the time.

JON:  Are you working on any other projects besides the Jack Reacher novels?

LEE:  No, one Reacher a year plus all the attendant promotional hoopla is enough for me. Anything more would start to feel like serious hard work!

JON:  These books scream movie to me. Are you getting any interest from Hollywood? Any buzz you could share?

LEE:  We get constant buzz and interest. I was riding on a train the other day, from Manchester to Norwich on the English tour for "Without Fail", and my cell phone rang and it was Warner Brothers asking about the rights. I'm sure there'll be a movie within a year or two. It's like publishing itself - it takes a long time for momentum to build to the point where something actually happens.

JON:  Have you read any books recently that you would recommend?

LEE:  Lots, some that need no recommendation from me, and maybe some that do. I filled in the gaps in my Michael Connelly reading with "The Concrete Blonde" the other day and loved it. And "The Good German" by Joseph Kanon, and "Tarmac" by Lynne Heitman, and "Flashover" by Suzanne Chazin, and Robin Burcell's new book. All excellent. That's what's so great about this genre - everywhere you look there's talent, be it knew, old, or in-between.

JON:  Reacher's Creatures..... What was your first reaction to this group of people? Did you ever think you would see a creation of yours on T-Shirts and spawning fan clubs?

LEE:  http://www.ReacherCreatures.com is a fan site, nothing to do with me, but of course I'm incredibly flattered. I've seen fans wearing the Reacher fatigue T shirt and camouflage pants at signings. I think it's terrific, because it's about the character passing into public ownership, and there's nothing more flattering than that for a writer.

JON:  Where are some of the places you would like to take Jack to?

LEE:  That depends on the feel and the mood of the story idea. It's got to fit right. I never really have any idea until I catch the "key" of the next book. Ideally I'd like to take him all over the place, a book a year for the rest of my life.

JON:  Do you put a lot of effort into getting the title just right for each book?

LEE:  I think the title is vital (how about that for a catchphrase?) So yes, I put a lot of effort in. But that's not to say I succeed every time. In fact I think a couple of my titles are pretty weak. And there have been compromises with the publishers, which never helps, because a good title is like love, you can't explain it or talk about it. It's either there or it isn't. I'm happy with "Without Fail", even though it contains two negative words and therefore isn't technically ideal as an eye-grabber. Next year's book is a one-worder: "Persuader." I like that, too.

JON:  The website is beautiful, and nowadays it's almost a given that most authors have one. Do you find it to be a good way of keeping in touch with the fans?

LEE:  It's an excellent way. Web site e-mail has totally revolutionized author fan mail. Easy for the reader, easy for the author. And as you say, a web site is now a given, anyway. People just reflexively enter "Author'sName.com" and you better have something waiting there for them. Mine is done by a genius fireball called Maggie Griffin, who shoulders the whole load, which is just as well, because I wouldn't have the time or the skill to do it myself.

JON:  What's the coolest part of being an author?

LEE:  Being on a plane or a beach and seeing somebody reading your book. Being called up on your cell phone on a train by movie producers. Seeing your name in the best-seller lists.

JON:  Will we be seeing any more of Frances Neagley in the future?

LEE:  Like I said, I'm wary of doing the soap-opera thing, and I'm wary of formula, but she was a great character. So yes, maybe she deserves to come back.

JON:  Is there anything you won't do in your writing? Any subjects that you just wouldn't write about?

LEE:  I won't write about gratuitous sexual abuse of children. I'm a tough guy, I'm not squeamish or prudish, but there are some places we don't need to go.

JON:  What's the most outrageous thing you've encountered at a signing?

LEE:  People who follow me from town to town, night after night. I mean, I'm flattered and all, but I'm not that interesting! And there was a woman in New York last year who upbraided me mercilessly for using what she called an old author photo that made me look younger than I really was. Problem was, it wasn't an old photo! Made me feel like I should consider plastic surgery!

JON:  The more involved I get in the mystery/thriller/crime genre, the more I can appreciate the writers who do the work. And yet I keep reading on different forums little nit picks about the tiniest things. Do you think it is a safe assumption for an author to expect the readers to remember that they are reading fiction and that certain liberties need to be taken?

LEE:  Because truthfully, a book that was totally absorbed in realism and fact would be pretty dull. Good point. I joke that the days when nothing happens to Reacher, I still write the books, but the publisher rejects them. But what I learned from my years in TV is that whatever you do, there are people who will write in with objections. Often I find they write with complaints about the parts that are carefully researched and absolutely true! So I trust that most of the audience is responding in the right spirit, and I use the complainers as a rough gauge to how many people I'm actually reaching. Twenty serious complainers as a percentage implies a million satisfied customers, in my experience.

JON:  Can you talk about what Jack Reacher is up to in the follow-up to Without Fail?

LEE:  Next year's book is "Persuader" and it's written in the first-person, like "Killing Floor" was. So it's back to an intensely personal story from Reacher's own point of view - it's a resonance from a disaster ten years ago in his past. A real "this time it's personal" type of thing. It's been a fun book to write.

JON:  How far before publication are the books written?

LEE:  Usually about a year. I try to hand in next year's final draft just as this year's book comes out. But I'm a little late this year ... 9/11 delayed me somewhat.

JON:  And, is raspberry Danish still the one thing always in your refrigerator?

LEE:  I just checked, and there's plenty of Peruvian Organic Shade-Grown coffee in there too. Coffee and Danish ... all a writer needs.