First, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I’m finally realizing from my emails that this Newsletter is received by people all over the world. So, if you don’t know what Thanksgiving is, it’s about eating.

My thanks to everyone who responded to my November Newsletter. I’m still reading the last thousand letters, so if anyone offered me money or their villa in Tuscany, and you’re wondering why I haven’t responded, it’s because I haven’t gotten to your letter yet.

Many people are still writing to me on the subject of Alec Baldwin playing the part of John Sutter in the movie version of THE GOLD COAST: First, as it turns out, it’s possible that Baldwin will play the part of the mafia don, Frank Bellarosa. The script, I’m told, features the character of don Bellarosa – not John Sutter – so it stands to reason that Baldwin will play that part.  I’ll pass along any updates I get on this subject.

Second, the email comments from everyone who wrote about Alec Baldwin had been running about ten to one against Baldwin playing ANY part in ANY movie.  But now I see a swing toward Alec in the last several hundred emails.  Many people said that his politics and personal life were irrelevant to his art, and some people, of course, had no problem with his politics, or even his personal life.

Again, I’m just reporting and not taking sides in this.

As for the character of John Corey, who appears in four of my novels, thousands of people over the years have told me that the only possible John Corey is Bruce Willis. I absolutely agree, and as I may have mentioned in the past, Bruce is a Nelson DeMille fan, and we've spoken on the phone once. So, Bruce, have your people call my people. The nation wants you to be John Corey.

But as I’ve said, I have absolutely no control over who plays the parts of any of my characters, and that’s just as well. As movie producers and directors love to tell novelists, “I didn’t tell you how to write the book, so don’t tell me how to make the movie.”

Fair enough. And I’ve never meddled in a TV or movie production, or a screenplay based on any of my books, as too many novelists do. As I tell other novelists, “If you don’t want Hollywood to screw up your book, don’t sell the movie rights.”

Moving away from movies, the paperback edition of WILD FIRE is selling like wild fire. And for that, I thank all my readers, and my friends and family who have reluctantly taken my checks and gone out and bought multiple copies in order to bump up the book on the bestseller lists.

I am still writing the sequel to THE GOLD COAST, and I think I’m in the home stretch. I got hung up in November on a sex scene that I couldn’t quite get right, but after some exhausting research, I was able to get it perfect – at least on paper.

THE GOLD COAST sequel, as yet untitled, will be published probably in October 2008.

I received a letter from the CIA asking me where I get my information – this is not a joke – and where I got my background for my CIA character of Ted Nash.  If you’ve followed the Corey novels, you know that Ted Nash is not a very likeable character. It was a nice letter, however, very friendly in tone, and included an invite to visit CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. I was reminded of a funny Thanksgiving card I received that shows a turkey bragging about being invited to the farmhouse for dinner.

Nevertheless, I have accepted the invitation, and I relate this here so that if I go missing…well, you get my point. Sounds like a novel.

This is my last Newsletter until April, because I need to finish THE GOLD COAST sequel by April 1, so I’ll wish everyone now a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and happy every other holiday that falls between now and April Fool’s Day.

And as always, pray for the safety of our men and women serving in hostile regions around the world. As a man who spent a year in the jungles, swamps, and rice paddies of Vietnam, I can tell you that the holiday season is the most difficult for the troops serving overseas. Send a letter, or a package, and don’t forget the wounded in the military hospitals.

Sincerely,

Nelson

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club – a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 – and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename: Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read more about WILD FIRE.
-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

First, my thanks to everyone who responded to my last Newsletter.  I received close to a thousand emails so far and I wish I could reply to everyone who took the time to write.  I do read each and every email, and I very much appreciate all the comments, observations, praise, and even the criticism when it’s constructive.

On that subject, I did receive some major criticism, though it was not directed at me.  In my last newsletter, I said that Alec Baldwin was possibly going to star in the movie version of THE GOLD COAST, and the reaction was about ten-to-one against that.  Most of the negative comments were based more on Baldwin’s politics than his acting ability.

Well, that was interesting, but I won’t comment; I’m only reporting, and I have no input into the movie.

I promised in my last Newsletter an update on the status of my books being made into movies, and here it is:

In addition to Alec Baldwin starring in THE GOLD COAST, I’ve learned that Aaron Eckhart is very interested in the John Corey character.  Eckhart starred in Thank You for Smoking, an excellent movie based on the very funny novel by Christopher Buckley.

Aaron Eckhart said in a recent magazine interview that PLUM ISLAND was one of his favorite novels, and I assume this is the Corey novel in which he’s interested.  The movie rights to PLUM ISLAND are owned by Columbia Pictures, and Mace Neufeld who produced THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER, for Paramount, will produce PLUM ISLAND for Columbia.  Maybe.

Another John Corey novel, THE LION’S GAME, is also owned by Columbia, and is now in development as a five part event series for network TV.  The Goodson-Todman Company, who are one of TV’s most successful producers of game shows, are working with Columbia to bring THE LION’S GAME to the small screen, and into your living rooms --- or, any room where you have a TV, including the bathroom.  And yes, your 62” plasma is still a small screen.  Stay tuned for more on this as it develops.

On to THE CHARM SCHOOL.  The movie rights are with Bristol Bay Entertainment, and this is in active development.  Frank Marshall, who directed Seabiscuit, and produced and/or directed Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, and The Sixth Sense, will produce and direct THE CHARM SCHOOL.  In addition, the screenplay is by Frank Pierson who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Dog Day Afternoon.

As for THE GOLD COAST, several people asked me which character would be played by Alec Baldwin, and I’d first heard that it was the character of the mafia don, Frank Bellarosa.  But now my agent tells me it’s the character of John Sutter.  I know it’s not Susan Sutter.

Last, but not least, UP COUNTRY.  This book features the character of Paul Brenner from THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER, and the movie rights are with Paramount, with Mace Neufeld producing.  The plan here is to have John Travolta reprise the role of Paul Brenner, who he so brilliantly portrayed in THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER.  Are you listening, John?  Have your people call my people.

So, now you know everything I know about which books are in movie or TV development, and I’ll update this as it progresses.

Don’t forget that WILD FIRE has just been released in paperback, so hurry and get your copy before they’re all sold out.

Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I want to wish everyone, again, a safe, healthy and happy holiday.

Best wishes,

Nelson

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename: Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read more about WILD FIRE.
-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

In my last Newsletter of January 2007, I said that I would be "cloistered for a while," writing the sequel to THE GOLD COAST, and that I wouldn't be able to get out another Newsletter until May or June.  Well, May and June have come and gone, and I didn't get the Newsletter written, and I'm still working on the sequel to THE GOLD COAST.

The good news for fans of the original GOLD COAST, published in 1990, is that the sequel is as good as or better than the original.  How do I know this?  Well, my agent says it is, and he never lies to me.

The GOLD COAST sequel is not yet titled, but if I bring back a dead character from the original, then I'll call it THE COLD GHOST.  And for those who asked, publication date is set for early October 2008.

More good news: The paperback edition of my last novel, WILD FIRE, will be published on November 1^st, which is very soon.  This paperback will come out in a different size format than most paperbacks --- it will be narrower and taller --- so it will be easier to hold, and to slip into your pocket --- after you've paid for it, of course.  Also, the new shape makes it an easier stocking stuffer, even if your foot is still in the stocking.

Thousands of readers over the years have asked me if I'm going to write a sequel to THE LION'S GAME, which was published in 2000, and now I can say that my next book, after the sequel to THE GOLD COAST, will be the sequel to THE LION'S GAME.  I'm really looking forward to the final confrontation between John Corey and Asad Khalil, and I know that they, too, are looking forward to trying to kill each other.  The survivor goes on to star in the next book.

A number of readers have asked me to group the books which feature the same leading characters, so I'll do that here: The John Corey novels, in order of publication, are --- PLUM ISLAND, THE LION'S GAME, NIGHT FALL, and WILD FIRE.

The Paul Brenner novels are --- THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER and UP COUNTRY.

All the rest feature stand-alone characters.

Another FAQ: the movies.  As of now, Alec Baldwin is interested in starring in THE GOLD COAST, and if this happens, production will begin in Spring ‘08; Bregman Productions will produce the film, based on a screenplay by Michael Bregman.  As I get more information, I'll pass it on.

There is more exciting news about possible movies made from my novels, and I'll put this in my next Newsletter.

Also in the Good News Department, earlier this year, I was elected President of the Mystery Writers of America.  I thereby join a long and illustrious list of American and international writers in this genre who have served as president of this fine organization since 1945, and I am honored to have been chosen by my peers to be among those giants of American literature.  If you want to know more about the Mystery Writers of America, please visit their website at www.mysterywriters.org.

As I've said in the past, I thank you all for taking the time to e-mail me, and though I can't reply personally to everyone, I do read each and every e-mail, and every snail mail.

My best wishes to everyone for a happy and safe Thanksgiving, surrounded by family and friends.  And here's John Corey's recipe for turkey stuffing: Three paperback copies of WILD FIRE soaked overnight in beer (remove covers), parsley, salt and pepper.  Bon appetit!

Best wishes,

Nelson

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename: Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read more about WILD FIRE.
-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season filled with warmth and wonder.

I want to thank everyone again for their emails, snail mails, Christmas cards, and also for buying WILD FIRE which continues to sell well and get good reviews.

I've begun writing the sequel to THE GOLD COAST, so I'm cloistered for awhile and won't be able to get out another newsletter until about May or June.  Also, I'll be checking my mailbox only about once a month.

My best wishes for a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year.

Best,

Nelson

My book recommendation for January is MAN IN THE MIDDLE by Brian Haig.

Brian Haig is not only one of my favorite writers, he's also a great guy, and I'm privileged to know him.

Brian has a new book coming out this month, and it's titled MAN IN THE MIDDLE. This is the story of Army Lieutenant Colonel Sean Drummond, whose latest assignment is to find out if the death of one of D.C.'s most influential defense officials (the one who knows the secret of the nuclear weapons in Iraq) was murder or suicide.

This is an excellent read, filled with good insider information, and as timely as tomorrow's headlines. Don't believe me?  Find out for yourself. There's an excerpt posted online at HBGUSA.com.

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename:Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

As a subscriber to Nelson DeMille's newsletter you already are entered in a random drawing to win one of five autographed copies of WILD FIRE.

Please note that subscribers who sign up for Nelson DeMille's newsletter by March 31st are also eligible. May we suggest that you forward this newsletter to a friend who is a DeMille fan?

A new newsletter contest will be announced in early April.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and many things to be thankful for.

My latest, WILD FIRE, is selling like...well, wild fire. The book made Number One on every national bestseller list, except the New York Times, where it was beaten out by my fellow Warner author and pal, Nicholas Sparks. Thanks, Nick.

WILD FIRE continues to sell well, and for that I thank all my readers. My reader mail, through this website, and through the US Mail, has been overwhelmingly positive, except for Luann in Michigan --- you know who you are --- who thought John Corey was an infantile idiot. That's not exactly a brilliant observation Luann. He is an infantile idiot; that's why we love him. And Peter, in (where else?) San Francisco, who didn't like what was said about his city in the book. I should remind everyone that the views of the characters in my novels do not necessarily reflect the views of the author. But sometimes they do.

I wish I could respond to every one of the over 1,000 people who've emailed and snail mailed me about WILD FIRE, but I can't. I do, however, read each and every letter, and I thank you for taking the time to write.

I've also read many of the readers' comments on Amazon.com and BN.com. Most of these readers/reviewers loved WILD FIRE, but a few did not, and they were really snarky about it. I think all those people are actually one person --- an old girlfriend who lives in Florida. Get over it, darling.

And last but not least in the book review department; the print media. I honestly expected some very negative reviews on this book for a variety of reasons, but so far WILD FIRE has received only one negative review and I certainly like that ratio of good to bad.

On another subject, I'm mostly done with my publicity tour, and if you saw me on "Good Morning America," you may have a memory problem because I wasn't on the show. I was on GMA for the last book, NIGHT FALL, but this time I concentrated my time and efforts on talking up WILD FIRE in local bars, as well as doing book signings in stores other than bookstores i.e. hardware stores, dry cleaners, delis, and gas stations. It was an interesting marketing strategy, and the results were mixed. I did get a lot of errands done, however.

Many people have asked me, "Do you think a copy of WILD FIRE is a good holiday gift?"

I have to answer yes to that. Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or the Virgin of Guadalupe Day (December 12) WILD FIRE, which is about treachery, treason, murder, and Nuclear Armageddon is the perfect book to take your mind off the joys of the holiday season.

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename:Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

As a subscriber to Nelson DeMille's newsletter you already are entered in a random drawing to win one of three custom made John Corey WILD FIRE baseball hats --- autographed by Nelson DeMille.

Please note that subscribers who sign up for Nelson DeMille's newsletter by December 31st are also eligible.  May we suggest that you forward this newsletter to a friend who is a DeMille fan?

A new newsletter contest will be announced in early January.

The good news is that my latest John Corey novel, WILD FIRE will be in bookstores on Monday, November 6; the bad news is that every other author in America has decided to come out with a new novel this fall. Actually, it's usually the publisher who decides that, but the result is the same --- a very crowded fall line up of good books. This is great for you, the reader, and for the bookstores, but not so great for authors and publishers who have to slice the pie smaller. And think about those forests of trees --- I could hear the chainsaws revving up in August.

In any case, it promises to be an exciting fall and holiday season for good books and I hope everyone visits their bookstores for holiday gifts this year. I have several books I can recommend, but I can't remember them now.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, you can read Chapters One and Two of WILD FIRE here and see if you like them before you go out and buy twenty copies.

As I also mentioned, I'm doing a limited publicity tour for WILD FIRE, but you can view my schedule here. If you can make any of these events that would be terrific; if I can make them, that would be even better.

In my last newsletter I said I was working on a sequel to THE GOLD COAST, and I'd like to report that it's going very well.  I'd LIKE to report that, but actually I haven't started it yet. But when I do, it will go very well.

As Election Day nears I want to remind everyone to get out and go to their local bookstores before or after going to vote.

I hope everyone is having a great fall, and my best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving filled with good friends, family and love.

Nelson

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename:Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

As a subscriber to Nelson DeMille's newsletter you already are entered in a random drawing to win one of three custom made John Corey WILD FIRE baseball hats --- autographed by Nelson DeMille.

Please note that subscribers who sign up for Nelson DeMille's newsletter by December 31st are also eligible.  May we suggest that you forward this newsletter to a friend who is a DeMille fan?

A new newsletter contest will be announced in early January.

Here's my promised post-Labor Day newsletter. I know you've been waiting for this. First, I didn't actually go to France for vacation --- I spent a few weeks at a beach house on the North Fork of Long Island which, you may recall, was the setting for my novel, PLUM ISLAND.

It was actually a working holiday, and while swimming in the Long Island Sound, I outlined a new book in my mind (it's hard to write in the water) which will be the sequel to THE GOLD COAST.

Of all my novels, this is my favorite, and it's the book that my readers voted "Most Needs a Sequel."

So, John and Susan Sutter and all the cast of THE GOLD COAST (except the characters who I killed off) will be back in my next book.

Publication of THE GOLD COAST sequel will be sometime in 2007. I don't have a title yet, but I'm thinking about having one of the dead characters in the original coming back and calling the book THE COLD GHOST.

Just kidding.

If you haven't yet read THE GOLD COAST, I think you'll enjoy it.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, my new novel, WILD FIRE will be published by Hachette Books on November 6, the day before Election Day. I fully expect that this very controversial book will influence the elections and that the news media will be reporting on Election night that everyone stayed home to read WILD FIRE, no one voted, and no candidates won. This will be followed by days of celebrations as the American public realizes that the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate no longer exist.

Just kidding, again. But think about that.

If you want to get started reading WILD FIRE now, you can read chapters one and two here, for free, but you'll have to wait til November 6th to read the rest. Maybe you can read slowly. Or re-read them a lot until then. Perhaps you can memorize them and recite them at parties between now and publication. I would like this.

There was an interesting piece about WILD FIRE in Liz Smith's nationally syndicated column of August 10. Liz read an advanced reading copy of the book and wrote, "A book with a dreadful and compelling idea, and it makes one wonder if Uncle Sam does have a "Wild Fire" plan." I hope you saw the whole article or that you can find it online.

Back to my publisher. It bears repeating here that Hachette Books was formerly Warner Books, so no I haven't changed publishers after 21 years with Warner; Warner changed ownership.

So far, Hachette, the French parent company has not made any significant changes other than sending memos and emails in French which very few people in the New York office can read. Also, smoking is now permitted around the water cooler, which has been filled with red wine. This has received mixed reviews amongst the staff.

I'm doing a limited publicity tour for this book, (so I can begin writing my next book) but I will be here and there in November, and if you check my website in a few weeks my booksignings and media appearances will be posted when they're firmed up.

I'll get out another newsletter in October, right before the November 6 publication of WILD FIRE.

I hope everyone had a great summer and that you all got some good vacation reading done.

Au revoir,

Nelson

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club --- a men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club's Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 --- and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename:Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it's up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed...

-Click here to read an excerpt from WILD FIRE.

As a subscriber to Nelson DeMille's newsletter you already are entered in a random drawing to win one of five copies of WILD FIRE.

Please note that subscribers who sign up for Nelson DeMille's newsletter by October 31st are eligible. May we suggest that you forward this newsletter to a friend who is a DeMille fan?

A new newsletter contest will be announced in early November.