We all of us have favorite writers. People who we eagerly await the next book to come out. It could be a series or just the general output of the author. I have a bunch of guys I follow and get every book that comes out as soon as it is published. Robert B. Parker. Eric Flint. SM Stirling. George RR Martin. Elmore Leonard. Elmer Kelton. Robert Conroy. Harry Turtledove. Sean Chercover. George Peleconos. Dennis Lehane. Loren Estleman. And a bunch more.
Sometimes the author dies. People like John D. MacDonald. Elmore Leonard. Tom Clancy. Robert B. Parker. Then your supply is shut off. Your favorite characters will not be having any new adventures. Series are cut off in the middle of their run.
Now some authors are so popular that other people step up to continue the legacy. Sometimes it is the son or daughter of the author. When Michael Shaara the author of one of my favorite books "The Killer Angels" died his son Jeff picked up the mantle and produced some pretty good books. But more often than not there is no one to carry on the series.
That is not to say that many people don't try to use the famous characters in new stories. The most prominent example is of course Sherlock Holmes who seems to have moved into the public domain. There are innumerable pastiches using Holmes and Watson in stories by fans and authors who pay homage to the great stories first put forth by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Some are great and some are dreck. I always wanted to try my hand at that and the Inspector Lestrade letters are a nod in that direction. Maybe someday I will try.
The estate of Robert B. Parker is trying a different approach. They have several different professional authors to carry forward three of the series. The Jesse Stone novels are being written by Reed Farrell Coleman and more interestingly TV producer Michael Brandman. He is making a cottage industry of Jesse Stone has he has produced a series of TV movies staring Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone. You can catch them on Netflicks and they are pretty good although quite different than some aspects of the books.
Robert B. Parker's Westerns are being carried forward by Robert Knott. Now Parkers Westerns were always his weakest work and this has not changed with a new hand on the reins. I sympathize because I am a big Western fan and wish I could write them as effortlessly as someone like Louis Lamour or Elmer Kelton or Elmore Leonard. It is a noble effort that just doesn't quite cut it.
Finally they hit a bullseye when they got novelist Ace Atkins to pen the new Spenser novels. He is right on the mark. He captures Parkers voice without slavishly copying him. The latest Spenser novel is called "Kickback" and is about the for-profit prison systems that have sprung up to house juveniles in the Northeast. I just bought it and will read it today. Nothing is better than getting one of your favorite authors new books to read. It is not actually Robert B. Parker but it is close enough to top off my jones for hard boiled detective fiction for a while.
Now I have to wait until September for the next SM Stirling book. Waiting sucks.
1 comment:
This comment's been sitting in an open tab for a while, started on the day the post came out. Since it still applies, I'm sending it on.
We all of us have favorite writers...It could be a series or just the general output of the author...Sometimes the author dies...Then your supply is shut off. Your favorite characters will not be having any new adventures. Series are cut off in the middle of their run.
Yeah, well that's how it will be when you kick the bucket and there's no more "Whose that..." showing up, which I why I keep advocating for more opportunities for rest, refreshment, and creative expression--different and apart from the creative energy being poured into expanding the business and keeping a roof over your heads.
Writing seems to be what you not only like to do, but are also good at doing, and if you can find a way and time to do that once or twice a week (not necessarily for the blog) well, that's a whole 'nother garden and place of sanctuary no one can touch or dump on. I've started drawing and painting again, and am enjoying the feeling of freedom that comes with doing something away and apart from shows, blogs and daily life requirements.
Actually I consider this type of post to be another form of "gardening". Let us know how how you experience the book. I read all of Parker's books when he was alive, but quit after he died. I didn't like the western series. I tried listening to his books on on audio, but found that the conversation that bounces back and forth during silent reading comes across as too staccato and laconic when read aloud.
As a PS, tacked on a week later, blog posting at Lem's might also fill the writing bill, although it doesn't sound restful. Whatever works out, keep taking care of yourself, as you too are a writer who'll be missed when the supply shuts off.
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