What Book Am I Writing Today?

When I set out to write my Equalizer novel and its sequel, Killed in Action, it took all of my energies and creative skill, such as they were, to complete them. I had been asked by my editor at St. Martin’s Press to finish the first Equalizer novel in 5 months, and the second Equalizer novel in nine months.

But the floodgates had opened, I am glad to say, and there were some other opportunities that had come my way. I sold a children’s book to a UK publisher, Candy Jar Books, called Lost in Christmas. I got contacted to write my autobiography for an US publisher based in Georgia called ‘Bear Manor Media’. There is a series of Lethbridge-Stewart books that Candy Jar Books has published for the Y/A market based on a character from the “Dr. Who” era, set mainly in the 60’s. I came up with an idea for one of these books, called Ice Maidens, which I am currently writing. I sold a third novel in the Equalizer series titled: Equalizer: Requiem, which I am also writing. I took a step back from this flurry of activity and thought to myself: ‘What the heck am I doing? Have I gone off the deep end?’ But I have deadlines to meet and doing so has been a very rewarding experience for me.

When I sit at my desk in New York City, there comes a moment when I have to compartmentalize my ideas. Surely, you may say, you can’t be writing three books at the same time.

That would be madness. (Although the great mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner would write five or six Perry Mason books at one time using a phalanx of secretaries.)

The only way all these various stories and plot twists can exist in my head is for me to treat them separately. It does take some organizing. Of course, some of these novels have different time schedules. For example, I am 130 pages into my Equalizer: Requiem book. When I have completed the next chapter on that book, I will put it aside and turn to the Lethbridge-Stewart Ice Maidens book for Candy Jar. I will spend time on that, then I will turn my attention back to Equalizer: Requiem.

Somewhere in all this I been writing my autobiography One More Thing, Sir (a nod to Columbo). This way I can write two or three books at the same time. None of them, of course, may be any good. But at least I keep to a rigorous schedule and try not to think of any more books I should be writing! There are a couple of them in the wings that I have to grapple with, including a memoir of my time writing and producing the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues TV show and perhaps a sequel book for Candy Jar Books called Santa Saves Christmas.

I have my system for keeping all of these books separate and figuring out when I am going to have a life again.

I guess it’s all my fault. I wanted to be a novelist! Hopefully these books will eventually find their way into the hands, heads, and hearts of readers who will enjoy their experience with my stories as much as I do .

Now, as I sit down at my desk each morning, I take a breath and say to myself: ‘Okay, which book am I writing today?’