(blogs.thetimes.co.za, Nov. 26)

Forbes Magazine has released its list of the world’s highest paid authors. In a year when financial returns are a great source of consternation, some writers have still managed to rake in the cash. Top of the list is unsurprisingly J.K Rowling who managed to make $300 million over the course of the year. The Harry Potter franchise has generated $4.5 billion dollars since Rowling published the first of the stories dealing with young Harry and his magical exploits in 1998 catapulting the author from an existence as a single mother on welfare to the billionaire status in just ten years.

Second on the list is the ever productive James Patterson who made $50 million dollars this year. Patterson churns out his novels at the rate of at least two a year and has already sold more than 150 million books worldwide.

Third place goes to the king of horror Stephen King with $45 million made this year. The one time school teacher has published over 40 books and sold more than 350 million copies since the publication of Carrie in 1974.

Fourth place belongs to Tom Clancy, king of the political thriller and creator of Jack Ryan star of novels such as Patriot Games, The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger. Last year Clancy sold videogame rights to Ubisoft for an estimated $100 million.

And finally in fifth place is the queen of the romance novel Danielle Steel who earned $30 million this year. Steel’s books (more than 70 titles) have been published in 47 countries and 28 languages and she also has an Elizabeth Arden perfume and a San Francisco art gallery on her resume.

Nicholas Sparks, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Dean Koontz and Ken Follett round up the list for this year.

(nzherald.co.nz, Jan 09, Nicky Pellegrino)

When writing about the year ahead it seems almost mandatory to be all doom and economic gloom, but for book lovers at least, 2009 holds plenty of promise – new authors to discover, new releases from well- loved writers and a publishing industry that is as vibrant as it’s ever been.

First, let’s get the shameless self-promotion out the way. My own new novel, The Italian Wedding (Orion) is released here in April (two months before the UK gets it) and is a story about food, feuds and discovering who your parents really are. Naturally, highly recommend it!

Most publishing companies encourage their big-name authors to release a book each year so I can expect some stiff competition on the shop shelves. For instance Jodi Picoult’s next blockbuster also lands in April. Handle With Care is the story of a child born with brittle bone disease whose mother decides to file a wrongful birth lawsuit against the obstetrician who also happens to be her best friend.

Crime/thriller writers tend to be especially prolific for some reason. Michael Connelly has two new titles on offer this year as do Janet Evanovich, Jonathan Kellerman and Ian Rankin, who will be introducing
readers to a brand new series to replace the retired Rebus.

There will also be offerings from all the usual suspects: John Grisham, Jeffrey Deaver … and a book called Dead Man’s Dust about a vigilante hero from newcomer Matt Hilton, who’s being heralded as the next big (more…)

(Scotlandonsunday, Jan 11, David Leask)

We should all be sick of John Grisham. We should be sick of his formulaic legal thrillers and we should be sick of the smug and suspiciously youthful-looking author’s face on their covers. We should be. But we’re not.

There were three newish Grishams piled up among the bestsellers in the shops this Christmas. And there’s another new one out later this month. It’s going to be another hit. Why? Because it’s a damned good read.

Grisham’s latest is The Associate. Cynics might suggest it has been stamped out at some thriller cloning factory. Its hero, after all, is a smart young legal beaver named Kyle McAvoy, who is recruited fresh from Yale law school to a major New York law firm. Think Tom Cruise as smart young lawyer Mitch McDeere in the movie of Grisham’s first bestseller, The Firm. True, young Mitch graduated from Harvard and worked in (more…)

(theaustralian.news.com, Dec. 6, Graeme Blundell)

(Bee Book Club, Dec. 15, Allen Pierleoni)

“I write about the issues I care about, and I know it’s a luxury to have an audience for that,” said author Richard North Patterson, sitting in the living room of his well-furnished home in San Francisco’s Marina district.

He added: “On the other hand, there’s a price to be paid for writing about controversial things – not everybody loves you for it.”

Patterson, 61, a former trial lawyer, has been a best- selling novelist for 28 years. He does not write “legal thrillers” in the sense that, say, a John Grisham or a Linda Fairstein does (both are close friends of his). Rather, he addresses major issues of national and/or global concern through a cast of characters who end up in courtrooms one way or another, further illuminating those issues.

Patterson’s themes have included women’s reproductive rights, gun violence, the death penalty, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and presidential politics. (more…)

“The Associate”, John Grisham’s new legal thriller and 22nd novel, due to premiere in January 2009. (And you can get your signed copy from VJ Books!)

The master of legal suspense, John Grisham was a criminal and civil lawyer in Mississippi when his first book, A Time to Kill, was published. But it was his next book, The Firm, that became a blockbuster and established him as king of the genre.

While working as an attorney, Grisham witnessed emotional testimony from the case of a young girl’s rape. Naturally inquisitive, Grisham’s mind started (more…)

(Publisher’s Weekly, Dec. 1)

In an interview, John Grisham talks about how he enjoys writing about lawyers much more than being one: “I closed my law office 13 years ago and it was the happiest day of my life; I have not missed it for one moment. . . I was so unhappy in that profession I would dream of ways to get out of it” he says.

The Appeal, printed simultaneously in mass market and trade paperback, has a combined three million-copy print total.

(jverse.com, Nov. 16, Jeff Carlson)

Here’s a freak twist of fate for you. I can see Alan Jacobson’s house from my front yard. He lives on the street across from us, and, through bad fortune, is also much closer to the new construction than I am. The 5000 sq. ft. monster-mansion is basically done… but the shack on the next property down the hill has also sold, and someone else is knocking it down as well as cutting out a lot of brush and trees. Welcome to the war zone! Chainsaws! Bulldozers! Hammers in the sky!

In the meantime, Alan is writing kick-ass, bestselling, twists-and-turns (more…)