It’s 50 days until Christmas. I know this because shopping reminders are landing in my inbox every few seconds. Bah humbug!
I cannot believe we are in November already and there are so few weekends left in which to prepare book content.
November always puts me into a complete tizz. I think it sends my body into fight or flight mode. We have been programmed since we were children for end-of-year exams and, as students, in Johannesburg in particular, we went into jacaranda watch, the blooms a sign of doom if you hadn’t started studying for varsity exams.
But there’s light at the end of the Christmas train-set tunnel. Hero Jack Reacher comes in to banish holiday blues. He saves Christmas. Funny ’cos true. I know I carry on about JR (as I fondly call him), but allow me to go on about him some more. Or skip this if you are tired of Reacher love.
Every November a new Reacher hits bookstores and thank goodness. It used to give me something to look forward to, as I’d save the offering for the holidays. During Christmas celebrations I could be found in a corner, reading the latest JR. But alas, this year I have read ahead and have nothing to save for later.
On Monday, I interviewed the authors of the latest book, Lee and Andrew Child. Oh, yes, poor me. They were absolutely fantastic. We gabbed and goofed about life and got into the business of how they manage to write together on such a mighty task. The new one, Better Off Dead, is number 26.
Andrew, Lee’s younger brother, has penned loads of books under his real name, Andrew Grant. Now he has taken on Child to write with Lee, who will eventually hand over the series to him. This is their second book together. The first was The Sentinel, which was released last year. It was critically acclaimed and Andrew brought something extra to Reacher, bringing the character back to where he was a few years ago.
If you’re a fan of JR, you will have noticed that the last one Lee wrote alone, Blue Moon, was a bit of a downer compared with the others (he admitted this). Reacher had a true sense of ennui. He kicked and punched his way out of the situations he found himself in and helped others along the way, but it seemed the world’s problems really got to him.
I was afraid that it would soon be the end of our peripatetic hero who has hands the size of dinner plates. But Andrew came to the rescue. Fifteen years younger than Lee, he brought new energy to the hero. He was also one of the first readers of the first Reacher and has been involved in some way or form all these years, said Lee.
Andrew saved Reacher and ergo saved Christmas for me. I might just give it another read during the holidays.
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