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<\/strong><\/p>\n Lots of good news since my April Newsletter. First, it was announced in a German newspaper that designer Karl Lagerfeld is creating a perfume that smells like books. I\u2019m assuming there was a great demand for this fragrance. It\u2019s called Paper Passion and \u201cit will be sold inside a hardcover book with pages hallowed out to hold the flacon.\u201d Also, \u201cthe fragrance will have a fatty note, probably along the lines of linoleum.\u201d<\/p>\n Okay. Can\u2019t wait to buy that for my wife. You can\u2019t make this stuff up.<\/p>\n My\u00a0friend and fellow novelist, Alafair Burke, is running an awards contest in June on her website, called the First Annual Duffer Awards. I\u2019m delighted to announce that my character of John Corey has been nominated for Most Likely to Save the World. Readers can vote online here.<\/a> And you can also post your comments stating why John Corey should get the Duffer Award in this category. Please visit Alafair\u2019s website and Vote For John. He needs the ego reinforcement. Me, too.<\/p>\n Speaking of Alafair, she, along with most of the contributing authors, attended the launch party for The Rich and the\u00a0Dead<\/a><\/u> at Otto Penzler\u2019s Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan on April 26. You will recall from my past Newsletters that this book is the Mystery Writers of America 2011 Anthology, of which I am the editor. This is a good opportunity for me to continue my shameless hawking of this book. I say shameless because some of the proceeds go directly to the MWA, and the money is used to keep this fine organization in business. God knows, almost no one pays their dues, and mystery writers have been known to stop by the MWA office in Manhattan looking for subway fare or a cup of coffee. So let\u2019s everyone help by going online now, or downloading on your eReader or iPad or doing something crazy and going to a bookstore. The reviews for The Rich and the\u00a0Dead<\/a><\/u> have been phenomenal, and sales have been wonderful, so don\u2019t miss this once-a-year collection of great mystery stories by very talented writers.<\/p>\n The launch party, by the way, was a smashing success. Nearly all the authors who contributed a story were there (and those who weren\u2019t were noted and their names were entered in The Black Book) and the enthusiastic crowds filled the store all night. In fact, we actually sold out of books, and worse, the wine was gone by eight pm, so we switched to vodka. A great time was had by all, and the authors thank everyone who came, and thanks to Otto Penzler for hosting. Sorry I couldn\u2019t stay for the after party, but I had to go someplace nice.<\/p>\n Back to Paper Passion. This is bugging me now. First, it may surprise Mr. Lagerfeld, but most Americans don\u2019t associate the smell of linoleum with sex or passion \u2014 unless maybe their first experience was on a\u00a0linoleum floor. And how many Americans under the age of, let\u2019s say, thirty even remember what linoleum smells like? I do, but I associate the smell with the kitchen floor of my tenement when I was a kid. Linoleum has a sickly, oily smell, and my stomach heaves even thinking about it. Books smell better. Don\u2019t do this, Karl. And don\u2019t even consider an aftershave lotion.<\/p>\n Where was I? Let\u2019s do a commercial announcement. Follow me on this. The trade paperback of The Lion<\/a> will be published by Grand Central Publishing on June 7. To recap, the hardcover of The\u00a0Lion<\/a> was published in June 2010 and now the less expensive edition is about to hit the shelves. This is an excellent beach read for this summer and in light of all the current turmoil in the Mideast, it turns out to be a very timely book.<\/p>\n Also, three of my earlier novels By the Rivers of Babylon<\/a>, Cathedral<\/a>, and Mayday<\/a> (co-authored with Thomas Block<\/a>) will be available in the larger trade paperback edition for the first time, in June. These are great old favorites and even if you\u2019ve read them, this is a very handsome edition for a good price, and each book has a new Foreword by the author. That\u2019s me. The forewords alone are worth the price of the book. All four of these trade paperbacks together will make an excellent Father\u2019s Day gift. Available as an eBook, AudioBook, or from your online retailer, or in bookstores. Not available at the perfume counter where Paper Passion will be sold.<\/p>\n And now for some movie news: I got a phone call from my friend Mace Neufeld, who was the producer of The General\u2019s Daughter. Mace will also be the producer of The Lion\u2019s Game<\/a> if Columbia Motion Pictures\/Sony ever makes the movie. On that subject, Mace told me that he and Columbia went to George Clooney and offered him the part of John Corey.<\/p>\n Sorry, back to Paper Passion. I love books, and I know you do, too. But even if Paper Passion did smell like a book (and not linoleum) would you, ladies, want to smell like a book? And would a man want you to smell like a book? If you answered \u201cYes,\u201d then maybe you\u2019ve got a problem. I\u2019m around books all day, and when I get home, I don\u2019t want my\u00a0wife to smell like my office. Right? I like floral smells on women. Or the smell of a dry martini.<\/p>\n Anyway, Mace and Columbia are proposing to Clooney that he consider making John Corey his franchise character, meaning a continuing character. There are four other John Corey books \u2014 Plum Island<\/a>, Night Fall<\/a>, Wild Fire<\/a>, and The Lion<\/a> \u2014 and it would be very good if Columbia made them all into movies starring George Clooney. It would be good for him, good for Columbia\/Sony, good for Mace Neufeld, good for the motion picture business, and most importantly good for me. I think George Clooney would make an excellent John Corey, and George is now reading The Lion\u2019s Game<\/a> and I understand he\u2019s enjoying it. You should read it, too, if you haven\u2019t already. Or read it again, and write to George. I\u2019ll keep everyone posted on any new developments.<\/p>\n But maybe, there could<\/em> be a market for a perfume that smells like a\u00a0book. And I\u2019ll tell you why; as more and more readers turn to eBooks or Audiobooks, one of the lost reading experiences \u2014 aside from the tactile feel of the paper, and the sound of rustling pages \u2014 is the smell of the book. Maybe eReaders in the future will reproduce the sound of a turning page, but don\u2019t hold your breath (pardon the pun) waiting for an eReader to smell like a book. So, yes, if you miss paper books, you might want to douse yourself and your eReader or audio player with a perfume that smells like a book \u2014 but what\u2019s with this linoleum? Maybe a bad translation from the original German news release.<\/p>\n On to other announcements: On Sunday May 15, I was at BookHampton\u2019s Annual Mayhem event in Sag Harbor, Long Island. I did a talk and signing, and the crowd was large and enthusiastic. My thanks to BookHampton\u2019s proprietors, Charline Spektor and Jeremy Nussbaum for inviting me and\u00a0for being such good hosts. For more on this event, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A reminder that I will be at Hunter College Writers\u2019 Conference (NYC) on Saturday, June 4 at 12:30 pm for a talk with my good friend Lewis Burke Frumkes. Also, I\u2019ve added another event to the day; a panel discussion with bestselling authors Stuart Woods, Mary Higgins Clark, and Carol Higgins Clark at 2:00 pm. Stuart\u2019s a good guy and the Clarks are great friends. If you\u2019re in the area, don\u2019t miss this well-regarded writers\u2019 conference. Click here for more information.<\/a><\/p>\n And finally,\u00a0my last known public appearance of 2011 \u2014 the East Hampton (Long Island) Library\u2019s 7th Annual Authors Night fundraiser, on Saturday, August 13, 5:00-7:30 pm. This is a great evening for a great cause. I.e. to support the public library in the wealthiest town in America. Attending will be lots of wonderful authors, and wonderful me. Also signing that evening will be my friend and neighbor Susan Lucci, who will be autographing her new bestselling memoir, All My Life<\/a>. This is a great book, made more so by her mention of me in the acknowledgments. Plus you\u2019ll see a group photo which includes my lovely wife. For more info on this event, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n June is AudioBook Month, and the Audio Publishers Association has asked me to mention this, and to say, \u201cBuy Audiobooks.\u201d So, I said it, and I\u2019ll be more specific and say, \u201cBuy Nelson DeMille Audiobooks.\u201d I\u2019ll say even more about AudioBook Month in my June Newsletter \u2014 I\u2019m short on space here because of that stupid perfume. I mean, I\u2019d rather buy a book that smells like perfume, than perfume that smells like a book. Except, I guess, if I came home at night from the library and I smelled like perfume, what am I going to tell my wife? I was in the library? Oh yeah?<\/p>\n So, in conclusion, it was a good month, and my work-in-progress, The Panther<\/u>, is coming together. My research trip to Yemen is still on hold, but if I don\u2019t get there before the book\u00a0is finished, I\u2019ll schedule a few author appearances in Yemen when The Panther<\/u> is published in Arabic. I\u2019m looking forward to that.<\/p>\n Happy Memorial Day, and remember our men and women in uniform, and all those who gave their lives for their country.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Sincerely, Lots of good news since my April Newsletter. First, it was announced in a German newspaper that designer Karl Lagerfeld is creating a perfume that smells like books. I\u2019m assuming there was a great demand for this fragrance. It\u2019s called Paper Passion and \u201cit will be sold inside a hardcover book with pages hallowed out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Nelson](\"https:\/\/alexdemille.com\/nelson\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/nelson-demille-signature.png\")
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