ASK NOT has been completed and delivered. Last week, between finishing the book with a day out of working for the Obama campaign, Barb and I are pretty well wrung out. That’s my excuse for the brevity of this update.

I do apologize for getting into politics here. I obviously seriously alienated at least one reader. My politics, intellectually, are one thing, and my politics emotionally are another, which is why you can’t necessarily sense anything about those politics in the writing of my novels. Also, since I frequently write first-person, I am immersed in the point of view of the character at hand. I doubt either Quarry or Mike Hammer vote at all. Heller is an FDR Democrat, albeit an extremely cynical one. Wyatt Earp is a Republican, and so is Eliot Ness. When you order a meal at a good restaurant, what’s the difference what the politics of the chef are?

The first of several indulgences for Barb and me following the conclusion of ASK NOT was seeing SKYFALL at an IMAX. It’s a fine Bond film, one of the few that rival the real Bond films (definition of a “real Bond film”: it has Sean Connery in it…and I included NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN). Barb and I are going through the Bond 50th anniversary Blu-Ray set – we just finished VIEW TO A KILL – and I may report on the experience on the other side. So far the big surprise is how straight Moore plays it most of the time – the silliness of some of those movies (particularly MOONRAKER and OCTOPUSSY, two horrid entries) appears the fault of the producers majorly and the screenwriters minorly. By the way, if you liked SKYFALL, you’re welcome – I “introduced” Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig by writing ROAD TO PERDITION, you know.

Be sure to check out this fantastic Bookgasm review of TARGET LANCER.

M.A.C.