|
|
I
Advice from Robert Crais by
Jack
Getze
BOISE, IDAHO (June 9) -- Walking from my hotel to the
Saturday evening reception, Murder in the Grove’s closing show, I
find myself mano-a-mano with New York Times best-selling author,
this mystery convention’s Guest of Honor, Robert Crais.
Strolling the sidewalk, just the two of us, one author to
another.
Sure. Like Roger Clemens and my granddaughter are
both baseball players.
“You’ve got to lose your ego in this
business,” Crais says.
My ears perk up. The first reason is
Crais himself. One of the publishing industry’s biggest stars, and
about to be presented with Idaho’s Bloody Pen Award for his
contribution to crime fiction, Crais is wearing blue jeans,
sneakers, shades, and a dark suit jacket over an untucked flowered
shirt.
“I showed up at a bookstore not that long ago and
they’d completely forgotten about my signing,” Crais says. “The
place was empty. When I found the manager, he offered me a job
application.”
All I can do is shake my head. Crais is
telling me this story, talking about egos, for a reason. On his
author panel earlier in the day, answering a question about my most
embarrassing moment as a novelist, I mentioned what happened the
night before. The bookstore we were all bussed to, for a signing,
featured books by every author but me.
“My point is, you
can’t let that stuff upset you,” Crais says. “That stuff happens all
the time, to everybody. It’s part of the business.”
We’re
about ten strides from the reception where one-hundred people await
the presentation of Crais’s award and his acceptance speech. He’s a
very funny, charming guy. I’ve got about four seconds before the
crowd swallows him.
“I wasn’t upset with that bookstore
lady,” I say. “Pouring whipped-creme latte on people’s shoes is
pretty calm for me.”
Crais hesitates before joining the
crowd, grins at me. “Yeah, but ramming the author bus into her
Volkswagen was a bit much, don’t you think? You don’t want people
saying you’re a hothead.”
Before I can tell him it was an
accident, that I’m not used to driving International diesels, Crais
disappears into a sea of friends and fans.
Maybe he’s right.
I don’t want the publishing industry or potential readers to think I
have a nasty temper.
Then again, if the bus driver and that
bookstore lady actually file charges, I could get some decent news
coverage.
This story has 5 points.
Vote! I liked
| disliked
this story.
|
|