BESTSELLERS & BEST FRIENDS
My book publishing blog, with murder mysteries woven through it.
If this is your first visit, be sure to start with “1. Let’s do it!”
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All I wanted to do was share my love for book publishing.
A blog seemed like a good idea. A few friends and colleagues agreed.
Then some strangers started reading this.
And now some good people are dead.
I really don’t know what to say. Maybe I should just shut down this silly little blog. I never, never imagined it would inspire anything fatal.
Funny thing, I was just reading Richard Osman’s The Man Who Died Twice, and came across this sentence (see image). It resonated.
Since the death of Tom at Macmillan and Orlando at Writers House, Linda Steel, head librarian at the Brooklyn branch of the New York City library system, was strangled in a mugging. And Harris Levy, manager of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale (AZ) was killed in a car accident. And Tony Shaw, a board member of the Mystery Writers of America, died of a heroin overdose outside of Minneapolis.
So we’re talking about a murder of an acquisition editor, an agent, an influential librarian, a notable bookseller, and an influential muckety-muck.
For each of these damn deaths, a manuscript was submitted to a publisher or literary agency. The victims’ real names were used and their killings happened just as the manuscripts promised. Then Phil Duffy, the fictional owner of a fictional mystery bookstore on West 10th Street in Greenwich Village (New York City) solves each mystery.
And every time, it turns out that the real me, Jess Brallier, blogger of “Bestsellers & Best Friends” is the killer. I supposedly slammed into Tom’s bike, I supposedly pushed Orlando off the roof, I supposedly strangled Linda, I supposedly ran Harris off the road, and I supposedly suppled Tony with a fatal dose of smack.
I sure do get around.
And this crazy son of a bitch is the world’s WORST mystery writer because now, the reader ALWAYS knows that Phil Duffy is ALWAYS going to figure out that I’m ALWAYS the killer. Really, WTF!?
Colleagues in the industry are joking (sort of) with me, about how they’re afraid I’ll kill them.
The Phil Duffy murders were the lead story in today’s newsletters from Publishers Weekly, the Bookseller, Publishers Lunch, and Shelf Awareness. And they all mention how I’m the killer. Sigh.
These deaths and their manuscripts are all that anybody in the business is talking about.
Biggest thing ever.
Bigger than Amazon showing up, bigger than any one author, house, or format, bigger even than when Penguin CEO and Publisher Peter Meyer was running for his life after being sentenced to death for publishing Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.
As for the manuscript which had me getting killed by the 2 p.m. local Norwood train at Boston’s Back Bay station, the whacko sent that directly to Liz Hammer at Macmillan. Actually, he dropped it off with the Macmillan receptionist. On the envelope was written “The newest Phil Duffy mystery. Brallier gets killed!”
Everybody at Macmillan was on alert. The envelope was immediately taken to Liz. And wearing gloves (per the police) she opened it and read the manuscript right away. Which is why she called me in panic. Although nobody actually tried to kill me. Now the bastard was simply messing with me.
Again, like with every other submission from this jerk that wasn’t tossed (only the first two, the killings of Tom and Orlando were tossed) no fingerprints could be found, no phone number was included, and the same non-existent street address was used on the cover note.
And here’s the other thing. The bastard is obviously reading this blog. He knows about my lunch conversation with Liz, he knew I was going to Boston, and exactly what train I was taking. All stuff that I’ve posted here.
So to whoever you are, FU!
Tomorrow: Lunch at Penguin Random House