Mark Rubinstein's Blog, page 32

A Book-World Wish List for 2014

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As 2014 approaches, I think about what I would like to see happen in the world of books. I know they often say, “Be careful what you wish for,” but here are my wishes for the coming year.

1. The artificial distinction will no longer be made between “literary” fiction and well-written fiction in any genre.

2. There will be a renaissance of independent bookstores across the country.

3. People who love reading will fund generously their local libraries.

4. Amazon, Goodreads and other online sites wi...

Writer to Writer: Madiba A to Z: The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela — A Talk With Danny Schechter

Danny Schechter is an Emmy Award-winning producer for ABC News, and the author of 16 books. He’s produced and directed six documentary films about Nelson Mandela.

Danny wrote a fascinating book about Nelson Mandela, entitled Madiba: A to Z. He talked with people ranging from Thabo Mbeki to Nadine Gordimer; from Mandela’s prison cellmates to his guards; from former presidents and cabinet ministers to his closest friends and family members. Madiba: A to Z paints an intimate portrait of Nelson Ma...

Writer to Writer: A Conversation with Jon Land

Jon Land is a prolific author who has written 40 novels. David Morrell, the master of contemporary thriller fiction, called Jon the creator of the techno-thriller, which Jon began writing before Tom Clancy made the genre popular.

Jon attended Brown University where he convinced the faculty to let him write a thriller as his senior honors thesis. Four years later, his first novel, The Doomsday Spiral, was published. Jon then began writing the Blaine McCracken novels, which were tales of a rogue...

Staying Alive in a Digital World: A Talk with an Indie Bookstore Owner

All book-lovers know the digital revolution is having an impact on independent bookstores. Except for Barnes & Noble, the chains are gone. Fewer and fewer independent bookstores have survived the onslaught of online retailing. I thought it would be illuminating to talk with Annie Philbrick, co-owner of the Bank Square Bookstore, an independent business located in Mystic Connecticut.

Despite enormous competition from online retailers, and though the store was closed for weeks in the aftermath o...

Saved by a Cup of Joe

A Life Changed in an Instant

Phil was a 40 year old cop with 18 years on the force. I saw him in consultation after an incident one night in Bridgeport.

While on patrol, Phil and his partner received a radio call about a fire in a clothing store. With Phil driving, they arrived at the scene and saw a burning carton inside the darkened store. Fire trucks were on the way.

Before the call, they’d stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee. As his partner got out of the patrol car to investigate, Phil t...

‘What If?’: The Big Question

In a previous Huffington Post article, I discussed the almost dreamlike process by which I write a novel. There is a coalescence of past and present; the melding of my own and others’ experiences. The article concluded by saying that drawing from life and imagination is at the heart of my novels, but each story begins in a unique way.

I’ve often been asked how the concept for Love Gone Mad originated, given its twists, turns and many machinations. Readers want to know how the initial idea came...

The Nightmare of a New Novel

A sense of incipient dread spreads though me when I first sit down to begin a new novel. No matter how many times I’ve done it before, the initial reaction is the same: where will this go? Will the attempt lead me to a dead end from which I can’t be extricated?

Perhaps it’s a crisis in confidence, but it’s far more than just a case of writer’s block. In fact, I’m not sure “writer’s block” is a valid name for this state of mind.

A novel is an organic thing. In a very real sense, it lives, breath...

Writer to Writer: A Conversation with David Mamet

David Mamet is one of the most acclaimed, and eclectic writers of our time. As a playwright, he has won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow. Other plays have included The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and American Buffalo.

House of Games; Things Change; Homicide; Oleanna; The Spanish Prisoner; The Winslow Boy; State and Main; Spartan; Redbelt; Homicide; and the HBO film, Phil Spector, are among the feature films he’s writte...

The Quarter-Million Dog Pup

Eight years ago, when we paid $1,200 — a sum considerably higher than we ever paid before for a pup — Jenny was a seven-week-old, cute, rambunctious Australian Shepherd puppy.

She’s now a 45-pound robust, gravelly-voiced girl, who along with her gentle brother, Hank, provides us with enormous pleasure. I really should say, joy.

But, here’s the rest-of-the-story:

From the outset, Jenny has always been insatiably curious and very opinionated. Unlike the five other dogs with whom we’ve shared our l...

The Aftermath of Battle

An article appeared in today’s Wall Street journal about a Marine veteran who had overdosed twice on opioid painkillers prescribed for a hand injury suffered in Iraq. After a week of withdrawal, he checked himself out of a VA hospital, and was given 168 pills of the same drug to which he had been addicted. The following day, he was given another 168 pills.

The article pointed out that many of the more than two million Americans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from a combination of phy...