Stephen White - Alan Gregory discussion

The author's website is http://www.authorstephenwhite.com

Here's a link to the Stephen White Biography page
http://www.authorstephenwhite.com/Abo...

Are Mr. White's books written as a series? I couldn't tell from his website if the books need to be read in a certain order. Any recommendations where to start?
Thanks for the help.

Hey Maicie :-)
That same question was asked and answered last night in the Introduce Yourself thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

thanks, I'll check it out.

Maicie, you can also use the web site www.fantasticfiction.com. It is a great site for finding what books an author has written, and the order of a series, which is what I use it for a lot.

I use it too :-) it seems to have the latest info on new books coming out

Great website! Thanks for the info.

Latest from Stephen White
Alan Gregory Book #19 likely to be released in Fall of 2011

Happy New Year!


A Note From Stephen White

It has been a while since I wrote, but please trust that I haven’t been deaf to the questions that many readers have been raising about the next book.

A big part of the reason for the delay in revealing any information about the progress of the new book is that my initial concept for the story has been supplanted, rendering unusable months of writing that I did over the summer and early fall. I am aware that “supplanted” is an awkward word. Although it fits the circumstances, I spent some time trying to find a better one. I failed. For now, “supplanted” it is.

To be frank, I was enamored of much of the material that I set aside. Well over a hundred pages I wrote for the next book are now ensconced in a digital rock pile in my hard drive. (The deleted pages are actually far from lonely, joining dozens of excised passages from many previous manuscripts that are socked away in an archival file that is nicknamed “Shit I Writ”—with grateful acknowledgments to Steve Schemmerhorn.) Although I was reluctant to give up on the thrust of what I’d originally intended to become the nineteenth book in the series, I believe that the decision to start anew was the correct one.

Now, the calendar has rolled over to 2011. I have recovered from the initial storytelling misdirection and I am well on my way writing what will indeed be the nineteenth book in the series. And book nineteen, still untitled, will be very much a series book. Some of you will cheer at that news, some will sigh (or worse.) For those of you I disappoint with that news, I do apologize.

The new story is set primarily in Boulder and it will be narrated either completely, or mostly, in Alan’s voice. I am not intending to be coy with the “or mostly”; I simply haven’t made a decision regarding the wisdom of using an additional narrative perspective to tell the story. Right now? I’d say it’s fifty-fifty.

In structure, voice, setting, and character the new book will feel familiar. But the story and the perspective? Both are being turned upside down. My publisher and I have agreed to keep the details of the new direction quiet for a while, so I won’t be revealing anything yet. Or giving out any hints. Or responding to your guesses, wise or not. Suffice to say that I’m confident that the new direction will catch some of you off guard. It did me. I did not see it coming.

As for timing, the sacrificed writing time from last summer and fall may well end up being reflected in the publication schedule. In recent years, I’ve been publishing books in late summer. An August pub remains an outside possibility for nineteen (I do have a more lyrical working title for the book than "Nineteen, albeit a working title that will never be considered as the final title for the book. But to reveal even the working title would certainly break the promise I just made about not giving hints about the new book’s contents.) I think it is more likely that the pub date for "Nineteen" will be pushed beyond August. As I continue to make progress on the manuscript I will be better able to estimate when I might deliver it to my editor. With that estimate in hand, my editor will make a determination about where the new book best fits into Dutton’s list (as publisher at Dutton, as well as my editor, the factors he weighs in his decision require him to juggle a myriad of conflicting priorities, only one of which has anything to do with my book.) I do promise that when I learn something about schedule, you will all learn it too.

Thank you, as always, for your interest. Without all of you, none of this matters much.

Dustin, thanks for sharing this,

To Stephen White: I will be awaiting "nineteen" whenever it appears! Thanks for the news.

Yes, thank you, Dustin. This group has been pretty quiet for quite awhile...glad to see it come back to life.

I don't know if anyone is interested. I am far behind in the Alan Gregory series but I just started Harm's Way if anyone wants to read it with me.

I've missed you guys. Its been very quiet.

I know It's been very quiet :-) I haven't read any Stephen White books in a long time and our group read programs kinda died.

I finally got an audiobook of The Last Lie from the library so I'll be posting in the Last Lie discussion sometime in the next few weeks.

Christine, I probably won't be able to read Harm's Way with you because by the time I get it from the library, you'd be long done with it.

Thinking of looking into the new Edgar Award winners again - I enjoyed reading some new authors last year in this group. I tend to stick to my favorites and not branch out but really enjoyed Await Your Reply and The Weight of Silence - so keep watching - hopefully we'll get this group hopping a little again. Thanks everyone for your interest :-)

I work at Borders now and it was fun this past week when a customer called in and asked me about Stephen White - Alan Gregory books - always fun to get people hooked :-)

I am still reading Higher Authority. Of course, I haven't actually picked it up lately. But I'll get back to it soon.

Also, still reading In the Shadow of Gotham - I am enjoying it. And each time I pick it up I wonder why I ever put it down.

Dustin, thanks for the update on Stephen White.

I guess I just figured everybody was busy reading other things.

Jan C wrote: "I am still reading Higher Authority. Of course, I haven't actually picked it up lately. But I'll get back to it soon.

Also, still reading In the Shadow of Gotham - I am enjoying it. And each tim..."

I am reading "In The Shadow Of Gotham", too. Very good so far.

Christine wrote: "I don't know if anyone is interested. I am far behind in the Alan Gregory series but I just started Harm's Way if anyone wants to read it with me."

Okay, I just looked into Harm's Way and there is only an audiobook on cassette available from the library - if I find out it's unabridged I might :-)

Wow! people are still reading In the Shadow of Gotham. I'm going to go see if the library ever got an audiobook of that one...be right back.

Nope. No audiobook for Shadow of the Gotham available from the library, but if people are still reading it, I might try to get a printed copy again. I know the few pages that I read were good :-)

Harm's Way on Cassette is abridged - 6 hrs on 4 cassettes. I think I'm gonna pass this time because I don't think I have time to actually read it but I tried Christine :-)

Harm's Way was my first White book and still in the top three favorites.

Gatorman wrote: "Harm's Way was my first White book and still in the top three favorites."

I should probably read it then :-)

I just posted the list of Edgar Nominees if anyone is interested: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
see message #24 in that thread for the current list

Big News From Stephen White this past week - Book #19 has a title - Line Of Fire and will be released in 2012. Also, Book #20 to be the last in the Alan Gregory Series, so next year is the beginning of the end.

Here is Stephen's note:

A Note From Stephen White On 9-27-11

Line of Fire by Stephen White
Two big announcements today.

The first is easy. The new book, Line of Fire, is done. It will be published in 2012. Here is a working version of the cover art.


More details about the book, and the release, will follow soon.

The second announcement is much, much more difficult. Line of Fire is, literally, the beginning of the end, the penultimate book in the Alan Gregory series. The book that follows Line of Fire—once written, it will be number twenty—will bring the series to a planned conclusion.

Writing those words—presenting the news to all of you that the series is ending—makes it very real for me.

Almost a year ago I began to get an inkling that something I was taking for granted—my ability to control the way the series would eventually conclude—was in jeopardy. The concern was that forces beyond my influence—market forces, publishing trends, economic realities—would determine, perhaps soon, that a book I had just written or just published (this one? the next one?) was the de facto last book of the series. The option to write and publish any more, to wrap things up, might not be available to me.

I had a choice to make. I could continue to write the next book in the series while ignoring the risks I perceived. (Last fall, I was halfway done with that "next book.") Or I could face the reality that the series was already vulnerable to an arbitrary conclusion, and plan an ending on my terms. After much thought, and with the support of my longtime publisher Dutton, I made a decision to write a two-book conclusion to the saga of Alan Gregory and friends.

The first of those two books, the one that sets up the finale, is Line of Fire.

Although the end will arrive a little sooner than I might have hoped, the decision eliminates the risk that the series will become suspended in fictional time by circumstance or, worse, disinterest.

Line of Fire begins the process of conclusion. I am well aware that most writers of long series never get the chance to plan and create an end. I am grateful for the opportunity.

I imagine that at least a few of you will have comments and questions about my decision, and about the coming termination of the series. Go for it; I invite them. Please post them on Facebook or the Message Board or direct them to Jane Davis, my web site manager.

In the next days and weeks, Jane and I will attempt to collate and collapse your reactions into a manageable list and I will do my best to be responsive to your thoughts and queries. As with each new book, we will also begin to prepare other material—plot synopsis, Q&A, flap copy, and the like—to provide a more detailed introduction for you to a most dramatic addition to the series, Line of Fire.

There are two books yet to read. I have one series book yet to write.
The ride is not over. But, for the first time, I can see the end from where I stand.

Thanks to all of you for giving me the opportunity to make a living writing these stories. Not a day goes by that I'm not grateful for the privilege.



- Stephen White
www.authorstephenwhite.com

A Note From Stephen White

Line of Fire by Stephen White

I am humbled. Part one.



I feel pretty humble about my life most days, but your collective response to my announcement about the pending end to the series has humbled me further. Hundreds of you have offered a mix of sadness, encouragement, gratitude, congratulations, wonder, apprehension, and bafflement regarding the news. There has been some annoyance, too, and an occasional whiff of anger. It’s all good; your passion about my decision, positive and negative, warms me. Since replying personally to the individual comments and questions is beyond my capacity, I will try to find a cogent way to respond to the threads and themes that tie your thoughts and queries together. As with all things having to do with communication between me and the readers who enjoy my books, Jane Davis has been invaluable (for the record, Jane is invaluable) with the process of organizing, identifying, and categorizing the comments posted on Facebook, your questions on the website Message Board at authorstephenwhite.com, and your personal emails directed to us.



We have read them all. Two or three times.



Your kind words, your generous words, about what the series means to you? Wow. I mean, wow. More on my reaction when I get to the end of this meandering, fragmented response.



Some of you thought I was vague about my reasoning for bringing the series to a conclusion. The truth is that I was. Intentionally so. Why? Mostly because I have no appetite for sour grapes. (Real sour grapes I like. Metaphorical sour grapes, not so much.) What else can I say? The truth is that the business of bookselling has changed, is changing, and will change more in the near term. The consequences of the changes—don’t underestimate them, the changes are revolutionary—have altered the fundamental economics of getting my books, all books, into the marketplace, and have changed forever the streams of revenues that flow into publishers’ coffers. That, in turn, has made the prediction of the viability (and of the value) of long-term publishing contracts much more difficult for all involved. For me, the increase in ambiguity about my publishing future (yes, it is intimately linked to publishing revenue) translated into a potential loss of creative control about the series conclusion. My response was to choose to terminate the series before circumstances that I might fail to anticipate ended it for me. I have no doubt other writers would respond differently to the same set of circumstances. Some of you certainly would have had me respond differently. I accept that. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. I went back and forth a few times before I jumped off the fence.



Still too vague? I am sorry. Any continued reticence is probably due to the fact that I am so grateful for having the opportunity to write this series that I don’t wish to shed even a single tear over the fact that outside forces may have compressed the ultimate length of the Alan Gregory saga by a book or two. If publishing realities contributed to a premature end to the Boulder tales, the responsibility is ultimately mine for not adapting sooner, or more nimbly, to those realities. No doubt other writers are faring better as they navigate though the same waters that confounded me. But for me? Twenty books is a good length. I’m grateful for it. If one of you had looked me in the eyes twenty years ago and promised me a twenty-book writing career, I would have had you hospitalized against your will. Seriously, I had that authority.



Scary, yes?



More than a few of you questioned why I even need or want a traditional publisher going forward, given the industry-wide tilt toward ebooks and the growing trend toward authors self-publishing through various digital platforms. All the arguments that you presented to support the adoption of a digital self-publishing strategy were valid points. I can’t counter any of them. But the arguments failed to account for a particular, and maybe even peculiar, reality of my readership. This one: fewer than thirty percent of you read The Last Lie in ebook form. Since that number is increasing with each new release, I made a good-faith guess-timate that by the time the mythical last book in the series is published, a good half of you may well choose to read it, the twentieth and last series book, in some digital display format. But—and this is crucial to me—that means that half of you wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Would never. Like, ever. I couldn’t swallow that. I considered the self-publishing alternative to continue the series, but I ended up making a personal decision to extend the series only if all, or almost all, of my long time readers could have easy access to the books in their preferred form, whether hardcover, paperback, audio, or ebook. Library or not. (For those of you whose preferred format is BitTorrent, well that’s a whole different conversation. One for another day.)



I’m not quite done with this reply. Many, many of you want to know what I’ll be up to next. Please stay tuned for part two.

- Stephen White

A Note From Stephen White

Line of Fire by Stephen White

I am humbled. Part two.



Your most frequent questions are about what might be next? This focus on my future is awkward for me. For context? I tend to feel self-conscious when people ask if I have plans for the weekend.



Fortunately, your questions sort into a modest number of categories.



Many of you wonder if I plan to retire as a writer after I conclude the current series? Here’s an easy answer: I have no plans to stop writing. Writers write. For now, I plan is to continue to do just that.



What do I plan to write next? Another series? A thriller? A screenplay? The honest answer is that I do not know. That I have not thought about it. That I will likely not think about it until the last book in the series is near completion. (My brain gets crowded with these things. One story at a time suits me best.)



The least likely option is that I will set out to write another series. But I said the same thing nineteen books ago, too, and we all know how that turned out.



If I choose to write another thriller—not a long shot, but not a certainty—revisiting some favorite unexplored characters from the series as a stand-alone is intriguing to me. Dee and Poe from The Siege show up in my head at odd times. As does Jimmy Lee from Kill Me. Others, too—Merritt. Thea. I have ideas for historical thrillers. I could also choose to write a contemporary thriller that doesn’t reference the earlier series in any way.



***



I would like to thank you.



It may be trite to say, but I don’t get to do this without you. So thank you for appreciating my efforts. For being entertained and distracted by my stories. For being intrigued and enlightened by an occasional insight. For giving me the gift of this opportunity.



Thank you, deeply, for your recent kind words, your generous appraisal of what my work has meant in your lives, and for your good wishes for the future.



I look forward to offering more. I have no doubt that I will get double or triple back in return.



—Stephen White

A Note from Stephen White:
http://www.authorstephenwhite.com/Ess...
Line of Fire Planned for August release

Well, I just finished reading this discussion thread, and I am heartbroken. You are one of my two favorite authors of all time. I guess I will start re-reading the series when it ends. That won't be a problem, because I have every one of them in hardback on my bookshelf, in addition to having the collection on my Kindle. Again, I am heartbroken. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and selfishly hope that you continue to write stories in this same genre. I will be first in line to add whatever comes next to my collection. I feel like Alan is a friend, and I shall miss him greatly.

Tonight I met Stephen White for the first time at Colorado Chautauqua. Today was the release date for Line of Fire. This was an amazing experience for me. I asked if he'd ever consider joining us on goodreads but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen :-) He is really good friends with Jeffrey Deaver and I think he must have read The Blue Nowhere.

I will share my experience at Chautauqua in the following new thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...--

Thank You

We wanted to take a moment and give some thanks...

...to all the people who sent emails and posted comments on Facebook and on the Message Board. Stephen is so grateful for your kind words and your passionate and thoughtful reviews of Line Of Fire. And big thanks for being so careful with spoilers in your online postings and reviews. We all really appreciate that!

...to all the people who came out to see Stephen at one of his signing events. He loved meeting you and really appreciated your support.

...to the bookstores and Boulder Chautauqua who hosted Stephen at his signing events. You were all amazing.

...and to readers everywhere for your continued support through 19 books!

There are no more book signings scheduled for Line Of Fire but you may still be able to get a signed copy from one of these 4 stores:
High Crimes Mystery Bookshop
Tattered Cover Book Store
Murder By The Book
The Poisoned Pen

What comes next? Stephen is writing the last Alan Gregory series book now. Book number 20. It will likely be out in August 2013. We will post information about it as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.

And thanks for your time.

Jane Davis
Web Site Manager
JaneD@AuthorStephenWhite.com
AuthorStephenWhite.com