Richard Aaron's Blog

Turbee

A very big aspect of Gauntlet is that it was written based on my own autistic son. I wanted to write the book to honor his courage and intelligence, and to show him that even in our less-than-ideal world, he too is capable of big things. For that reason, I've been asked time and again to describe what it's like to live with an autistic son, and what my son in particular is like. Please consider the following blog to answer those questions…

My own Turbee (it's actually his childhood nickname...

Taliban and Nukes

The world has a big problem. Pakistan, a nation that has historically dealt in terrorism and hatred, has now become one of the world's nuclear powers. Even worse, the security of that country's nuclear arsenal has now been placed in jeopardy, in light of Pakistan's increasing troubles with the Taliban. The Taliban have advanced southward from Wast Province in the Northwest Frontier Lands to within 60 miles of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Two articles appeared this weekend, expressing c...

Back from the book tour

I have just returned from a fourteen-day book tour to promote Gauntlet. I was on radio, TV, and in what feels like at least 100 book stores. I was extensively tutored by my publicist, Antoinette Kuritz, but even after that it was difficult appearing on television, and I don't think I'll ever really get used to it. But we started with a bang: right off the bat my publisher announced the incredible news that the entire first printing SOLD OUT BEFORE THE RELEASE. She was scrambling madly to get ...

Life imitates art

On March 24, 2009 there was a cross-border drug bust much like what I describe in Gauntlet. This was a good example of a coordinated effort between the police in Washington and the Canadian RCMP in BC.  The problem? Large amounts of highly potent BC marijuana were being sent across the border to Washington and Idaho, with cocaine, ecstasy, and American guns coming back into British Columbia.  The smugglers used small, low flying helicopters and transporting the goods in the middle of the...

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, THE authority when it comes to reviewing novels, received a copy of my book several months ago. They contacted my publisher to tell her that they would be doing a review (based on what, I don't know – did you know they get something like 500 books/week???). But that's the last we heard. I know that everyone has been checking everything they can daily, waiting for said review, and had no return. Nothing. Nada.

I can't speak for my publisher, or distributor, or the publicist, ...