Ask the Author: Derek B. Miller
Answered Questions (22)
Derek B. Miller
Thanks for asking. RADIO LIFE — which I love — is sort of trapped in contracting issues. It's for sale in the UK/Commonwealth but I haven't settled on an American publisher. Once that's solved it will be. Say hi to Pietro and Massimo for me …
Derek B. Miller
What a lovely note to receive. Thank you. I loved spending time with Irv and Sigrid and the team on that one. I've been toying with a follow up that would feature Irv and Sigrid years later (possibly divorced by then!) but teaming up in a New England town (reluctantly, but still partly in love) to solve a mystery together. Haven't put pen to paper on that, though. I love this book too, and I'm glad it touched you. It is the most American book and the most "local" and I feel very close to it too. In the meantime, THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI is out, and I have a book under review now. Hopefully it'll be picked up! More soon and best wishes.
Derek B. Miller
Hi. Thanks for asking. I don't so much think of all this as a crime series. Rather, they are stories about people in extraordinary circumstances. So it would go like this:
1. How to Find Your Way in the Dark: Sheldon's story from 1937-1947 (Sheldon #1)
2a. Norwegian by Night: Sheldon's story when he's 82 years old (Sheldon #2)
2b. Which also introduces Sigrid, the Norwegian cop (ergo Sigrid #1)
3. American by Day, which continues Sigrid's story leaving Sheldon behind, which is why I dedicated the book to him (ergo Sigrid #2, and perhaps Irv #1? I love Irv).
People meet and their lives spin off in different directions, most unexpectedly. I love this. Maybe the series continues because life itself goes on?
1. How to Find Your Way in the Dark: Sheldon's story from 1937-1947 (Sheldon #1)
2a. Norwegian by Night: Sheldon's story when he's 82 years old (Sheldon #2)
2b. Which also introduces Sigrid, the Norwegian cop (ergo Sigrid #1)
3. American by Day, which continues Sigrid's story leaving Sheldon behind, which is why I dedicated the book to him (ergo Sigrid #2, and perhaps Irv #1? I love Irv).
People meet and their lives spin off in different directions, most unexpectedly. I love this. Maybe the series continues because life itself goes on?
Derek B. Miller
Hi! We actually re-titled it. It is out now as HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK. It was a NYT Best Mystery of the year, and a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Thanks for asking and I hope you like it.
Derek B. Miller
I've given some thought to a final story for Sigrid (and Irv). I'm still mulling it over. As for prequels: HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK really isn't some cheap franchise move to shoe-horn in a backstory. It's a huge, epic, coming-of-age American novel set during WWII and featuring a young Sheldon. It was a NYT Best Mystery of 2021 and a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. I'm very proud of that book!
Derek B. Miller
It's very hard to answer. Each works perfectly as a stand-alone novel. NbN was written first, so naturally many people will have read it first. I expected this and considered it when writing HOW TO FIND. But chronologically they start with HOW TO FIND.
The more natural order therefore might be chronologically but if you feel a desire to read the other first because of the subject matter, don't hold back. dbm
The more natural order therefore might be chronologically but if you feel a desire to read the other first because of the subject matter, don't hold back. dbm
Derek B. Miller
I'm thinking about it. In 2021 I'll be publishing TWILIGHT CRIMES. That will introduce Sheldon Horowitz in the 1930s and makes it a prequel to Norwegian by Night where we encounter Sheldon again at 82 (and meet Sigrid). In American by Day Sheldon is gone and Sigrid takes the story forward alone. If I write another, and I suspect I will, We'll jump ahead again and I think Sigrid and Irv will both play strong parts in a wider story that introduces new characters. I like the idea of leaving behind the old model of a constant protagonist (Perry Mason, Jack Reacher), and instead having a constant and unfolding inter-generational story. It's a new way of looking at things. Every book stands on its own, but every book follows from others. Like people.
Derek B. Miller
This answer contains spoilers…
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Derek B. Miller
Hi. Thanks for writing. American by Day is, in fact, my third novel. My second was The Girl in Green. Another world — other characters — but a book I'm very proud of and hopefully you'll enjoy. As for book 4, I'm working on it. Sigrid, alas, is not in it. But I have some ideas for how she might re-emerge later. I'm glad to have you as a reader. -dbm
Derek B. Miller
This answer contains spoilers…
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Derek B. Miller
Thanks for the kind words. I especially like hearing it from veterans. I had a chance to talk to a Korean War vet who'd read it (he was older than Sheldon). I asked, "how did I do?" He said, "Oh yeah, you got it." That felt great. With The Girl in Green I on much more confident footing because I'm well traveled in the region and know the sector.
American by Day is next! Out in April. Sigrid's back and is off to another exotic location … upstate New York! Well … everything's relative.
Thanks for reading and sharing the reviews. Word of mouth is everything.
Warm wishes from Oslo.
DBM
American by Day is next! Out in April. Sigrid's back and is off to another exotic location … upstate New York! Well … everything's relative.
Thanks for reading and sharing the reviews. Word of mouth is everything.
Warm wishes from Oslo.
DBM
Derek B. Miller
I couldn't agree more. But as yet, the rights remain available. If anyone's interested, I'm represented by Janklow and Nesbit. Norwegian by Night, however, is optioned and there is a script and hopefully we'll see some progress in 2018. But movies have a production life of their own and I am not in charge.
Derek B. Miller
Dear Paul: Thanks for the kind words. I've glad you liked the book. I've wondered about Heller's influence on me and I still wonder about it. In one way — sure, absolutely. But there's more to it. I surely saw 300 episodes of MASH before I actually read Catch-22 (which of course was directly inspired by it). So there's also that. But I also think that Heller (and I, and many others) are drawing from some original Jewish source material anchored in an attuned eye for the absurd and a nearly pathological incapacity NOT to draw attention to it. I discuss this at length here: https://bookpage.com/interviews/20812...
My wife is indeed Norwegian and we live in Oslo. The things I know about Norwegians could fill a novel …
All the best,
Derek
My wife is indeed Norwegian and we live in Oslo. The things I know about Norwegians could fill a novel …
All the best,
Derek
Derek B. Miller
I miss him too. There is a movie option and a lot of discussion. Stay tuned.
Derek B. Miller
It has seriously crossed my mind. I'm wondering about his life between 1926 when he was born, passing through WWII without serving, and then signing up for Korea. I'm even wondering if there's another book from the time he gets back and the time that Saul signs up for his first tour. Those three books become a trilogy called THIS LIFE. I'm not ready yet, though. I need more time. You'll have to meet Arwood Hobbes in The Girl in Green if you need more big personalities, or check in with Sigrid again (and her new partner, Sheriff Irv Wylie) as she visits America to look for her missing brother in American by Day. All the best.
Derek B. Miller
When the world throws crazy at us we have a choice …
I am Jewish too, so I think I come by it rather directly. I wonder if there's a gene. One that makes us unable NOT to notice the absurd (the double negative is required here). I think that's twitch, anyway.
Thanks for the note. The Girl in Green, my second novel, is quote different but if you thought Sheldon was funny you might enjoy spending some time with Arwood Hobbes. All the best.
I am Jewish too, so I think I come by it rather directly. I wonder if there's a gene. One that makes us unable NOT to notice the absurd (the double negative is required here). I think that's twitch, anyway.
Thanks for the note. The Girl in Green, my second novel, is quote different but if you thought Sheldon was funny you might enjoy spending some time with Arwood Hobbes. All the best.
Derek B. Miller
Starting with flattery was not a bad idea.
Thank you for that. That was very nice to read.
The title. Yes, titles. It started as "Norwegian for the Night." Night here is literal — Sheldon goes "native" each night sleeping in houses and in forests — and figurative in that he's old and he's going to die there one way or another because he's sold his home, moved in with Rhea, and that's that. So he's "checking out" as a Norwegian. Night here being death. It was shortened to Norwegian by Night, and I think that holds the two meanings but also expands them. Almost all the characters — goodies and baddies — are domesticated and join Norwegians society by the cover of night. But in the full light of day, they are all displaced, misplaced, and immigrants. They are foreigners and outsiders by day, but Norwegian by Night.
Other than that … it's kind of catchy!
warm wishes from Oslo.
Thank you for that. That was very nice to read.
The title. Yes, titles. It started as "Norwegian for the Night." Night here is literal — Sheldon goes "native" each night sleeping in houses and in forests — and figurative in that he's old and he's going to die there one way or another because he's sold his home, moved in with Rhea, and that's that. So he's "checking out" as a Norwegian. Night here being death. It was shortened to Norwegian by Night, and I think that holds the two meanings but also expands them. Almost all the characters — goodies and baddies — are domesticated and join Norwegians society by the cover of night. But in the full light of day, they are all displaced, misplaced, and immigrants. They are foreigners and outsiders by day, but Norwegian by Night.
Other than that … it's kind of catchy!
warm wishes from Oslo.
Derek B. Miller
I posted this on FB too, but I'll gladly repost it here:
There's an old Jewish proverb: Questions unite us and answers divide us. I rather like that one. In this case, I wouldn't want to rush to an answer before we've all had the benefit of some unity around the question.
I will say this, though: A world of universal tolerance strikes me as both inherently better and also safer than a world of universal intolerance. Certain socio-cultural systems favor and promote one and not the other.
Consequently, the pragmatic move is to work towards tolerance (a hard job) while remaining vigilant against those who would promote a way of seeing the world that does not allow for pluralism and liberty.
Naziism and Communism (i.e. not to be confused with social democracy) are Western versions of that intolerant culture. We had a civil war (WWII) to conquer the first and a Cold War to conquer the second (sort of).
Jihadist Islam is in a civil war with tolerant Islam (they stole the other-wise banal word "Jihad" which once meant a personal striving for goodness and was not evil like the new version is). We need to support one and fight the other. To do that WELL we need a more developed moral vocabulary in our societies (U.S., Germany, UK, France, etc.) and we need smarter politicians (don't get me started).
Thanks for reading!
dbm
There's an old Jewish proverb: Questions unite us and answers divide us. I rather like that one. In this case, I wouldn't want to rush to an answer before we've all had the benefit of some unity around the question.
I will say this, though: A world of universal tolerance strikes me as both inherently better and also safer than a world of universal intolerance. Certain socio-cultural systems favor and promote one and not the other.
Consequently, the pragmatic move is to work towards tolerance (a hard job) while remaining vigilant against those who would promote a way of seeing the world that does not allow for pluralism and liberty.
Naziism and Communism (i.e. not to be confused with social democracy) are Western versions of that intolerant culture. We had a civil war (WWII) to conquer the first and a Cold War to conquer the second (sort of).
Jihadist Islam is in a civil war with tolerant Islam (they stole the other-wise banal word "Jihad" which once meant a personal striving for goodness and was not evil like the new version is). We need to support one and fight the other. To do that WELL we need a more developed moral vocabulary in our societies (U.S., Germany, UK, France, etc.) and we need smarter politicians (don't get me started).
Thanks for reading!
dbm
Derek B. Miller
Mr. Bates: Thanks for the kind words! By all means, spread the word because heaven knows it is the only way books sell these days failing an endorsement from Oprah or … actually I have no idea what it takes. I just write the things and hope for the best. Not only have I just submitted a manuscript for consideration (Book 3), but I am already moving full-stream-ahead into Book 4. If you haven't read Norwegian by Night (my first novel), by all means take a look. All the best from Oslo, Derek Miller
Derek B. Miller
Apparently, I should have answered this a year ago but I still don't know how Goodreads works. The Girl in Green is out now at a bookshop that should be near you (otherwise a Library, or else one of those online places). Hope you enjoy it. Something different, to be sure, but dear to my heart all the same.
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