Author ED GAFFNEY Guest Blogs Today (He's Suz Brockmann's husband, too)

[becke_davis]

Today ED GAFFNEY has written a guest blog for us - Ed is a thriller author in his own right, as well as a producer, screenwriter and more. Some of you also know him as the husband of Suzanne Brockmann, who will be joining us tomorrow (Feb. 28th). 

Visit Ed's website here: http://www.edgaffney.com/

[becke_davis]

Suffering Fools 

Attorneys Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach — friends, partners, and complete opposites — have perfected the recipe for legal disaster. Begin with a fool for a client, a man who can’t even testify convincingly to his own name, much less to an alibi. Add a couple of determined private investigators and a brave, beautiful police detective whose work only confirms that your client is impossible to defend. Then go to trial. Welcome to the real world of criminal law, where the truth is out there... maybe.

"Suspenseful and compelling." —Marie Pyko, Fresh Fiction

"A meticulously plotted, fascinating glimpse at the real justice system… A first rate, fascinating mystery." —Romantic Times Book Club (June 2006 edition)

Click to read an excerpt from SUFFERING FOOLS.

Enemy Combatant 

A man charged with the brutal act of terrorism...

A lawyer sworn to defend him...

A courtroom spinning wildly out of control...

In the trial of the decade, attorney Tom Carpenter was just a spectator. Until, to his own astonishment, Tom finds himself thrust into a case primed to explode…

The whole world thinks Tom’s new client is guilty of the worst act of terrorism since 9/11—except for one shadowy figure, who feeds Tom astounding inside information. But just as the trial is about to break wide open, Tom receives a chilling threat. Suddenly Tom cannot trust anyone, and his family must run for their lives. The only way to survive—and the only hope for justice—is for Tom to crack a terrifying conspiracy so vast and so powerful that anyone who believes it has already been marked to die... 

"Gaffney's latest gut-grabbing thriller turns up the heat... with plenty of thrills and chuckles along the way."  —Publishers Weekly

"Gaffney's mesmerizing novel—in which a terrifying band of conspirators possesses the power to start wars and eradicate its enemies—has action that launches from the first page with the force of a nuclear blast.  This is an explosive courtroom drama."  —Romantic Times

Click to read an excerpt of ENEMY COMBATANT

Diary of a Serial Killer 

For defense attorneys Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach, time is precious. Not just because they’re paid by the hour. Or because their careers have taken off after a succession of high-profile cases. Or because a baffling, shocking serial murder case is threatening to tear Zack’s family apart. For these two lawyers, time is precious because they have just walked into the wrong courtroom at the wrong time, where a man is shooting a gun into a crowd that includes Zack’s innocent young son.

But until the last second, there’s hope. While a woman detective desperately races through the city streets to stop a sadistic serial killer, while a puzzle of lies, madness, and brutal manipulation comes together, two men are out of time — for everything but the truth...

"Make[s] good on the promise of its explosive opening... The legal thriller equivalent of a James Bond flick."  —Publishers Weekly

1/2 "Gaffney's third novel is a roller-coaster ride of chilling suspense.  This gritty, no-holds-barred thriller will enthrall readers from page one."  —Romantic Times Book Reviews (April 2007 edition)

"The perfect thriller."  —Harriet Klausner, Instant List

"Ed Gaffney does it again . . . a complex, compelling and thoroughly engrossing story..." —Marie Pyko, Fresh Fiction

Click to read an excerpt from DIARY OF A SERIAL KILLER.

Premeditated Murder 

In a New England courtroom, two young defense lawyers face a trial they cannot win. For attorneys Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach, partners and best friends, it seems an open-and-shut case. Their client confessed to a horrific multiple homicide and Zack and Terry have only one hope: to spare him from the death penalty. But even that is a long shot, until the case takes a sudden, strange turn. The two lawyers may have stumbled on a loophole: their client had a secret motive for his indefensible act — a motive that might even free him if Zack and Terry can pull off an ingenious defense.

But as the media descend on a quiet Massachusetts town, and as Zack and Terry fight to save their client’s life, a surprise witness turns the trial into something no one could have predicted. Because only he can put all the pieces of an astounding puzzle together and expose a conspiracy that is more shocking, far-reaching, and treacherous than anyone could guess.

"A fabulous tale... that never slows down..." —Harriet Klausner, The Readers Guild

"Fast-paced, dramatic debut novel loaded with tension." —Marie Pyko, Fresh Fiction

 "Unique thriller filled with intrigue and non-stop action." —Romantic Times Book Club (June 2005 edition)

"A Must Read 4+. Political thrills, riveting suspense, snappy dialogue, and fantastic characters. A roller coaster ride of a thriller with multiple plots and characters that all come together with a big bang. Hope we see these two (Terry and Zack) again soon!" —Barbara Larson, bookseller

Click to read an excerpt from PREMEDITATED MURDER.

[becke_davis]

Ed Gaffney took ten years of work as a criminal lawyer, added an overactive imagination, and came up with a new career as a novelist. His fourth book, Enemy Combatant, was released earlier this year.  And he is already at work on his fifth book, tentatively titled Habeas Corpus.

Ed lives west of Boston with his wife, New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann.  A schnauzer or two are in their future.

[becke_davis]

For BN.com Mystery Forum -- Feb. 28, 2011

Suz Brockmann

The Virtual Signing Boy Blues

Hi.  My name is Ed Gaffney.  For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Suz Brockmann’s husband.  I’m also an author, a screenwriter, an independent movie producer, and a former criminal appeals attorney.

But for the next four weeks, I get to be something entirely different.  I get to slip into my alter-ego, Virtual Signing Boy.

This is an identity—(read: “a job”)—that has evolved steadily over the past several years, as Suz’s virtual signings have grown in size and complexity.

So what the heck is a virtual signing in the first place?  Basically, it’s a chance for readers to get a signed copy of one of Suz’s books mailed to them on the day the book is released by ordering it from Suz in advance.

And how does Virtual Signing Boy fit into all of this?

Well, for Breaking the Rules, Suz’s next book (available March 22nd, he mentions helpfully), my work started several weeks ago, when Suz came into my room and said, “So I’ve decided that I want to do a virtual signing for my next book, and I’d like to give away a copy of this short story I wrote, called When Tony Met Adam.  Do you know how much it will cost to mail Breaking the Rules and this short story to every state in the country?”

I looked up from the book I was writing.  My hero had just found a dead body in the trunk of his car.  I was momentarily disoriented.  Suz wanted to mail a murder victim ... No.  A book and a short story.  Got it.  I asked, “Well how heavy is Breaking the Rules?”

“I don’t know.  It’s the longest book I’ve ever written.”

Gulp.  Not a great start.  I rallied.  “How about the short story?”

“I don’t know about that, either.  It’s twenty-thousand words.  [Side note: that’s a 

l-o-o-o-n-g ‘short’ story.]  Oh, yeah, and I don't just want to know what the postage is to every single state, I pretty much need an estimate of postage to every country in the world."

Gulp again.

So, Virtual Signing Boy went on line, estimated the weight of the biggest book Suz has ever written and the long short story that was going to be part of the package, and gave Suz the information she needed to put the virtual signing ordering instructions up on her website, and she began to send out the word via her website and Facebook pages.

Last time we checked, Suz had over 600 orders.

Awesome!

And ... cue the gulp.

See, Suz and her trusty sidekick, Virtual Signing Boy, are, except for the final days before the book release, the entire staff of this operation.  What that means is we’ve got about fifteen gigantic boxes of bubble pack envelopes stacked in our spare bedroom, seven boxes of short stories sitting in our dining room, and a table full of order forms and envelopes and priority mail stickers in our living room.

And every night while we watch television after dinner, Suz signs the short story booklets (Suz: Oops, when I use the inside front cover, the ink smears.  Ed: How about the first page of the story?  Suz: No room there.  I know -- I’ll sign at the end.  There’s a space on the page there.  But I’m going to need a different kind of pen.  Ed: Virtual Signing Boy is on the job.), or puts address labels on envelopes.

So that by March 8th, she’ll have over 600 (800?  1000?)  large bubblepack envelopes all addressed and ready to go.

Why March 8th?  Because that’s the day that Virtual Signing Boy cleans out the back of the hybrid SUV, and loads at least 60 (80?  100?) boxes of hardcover editions of Breaking the Rules from our local Barnes & Noble into our vehicle.  (Yes, that’s a lot of weight.  The back drops considerably after we load up.  And I have to drive slowly over speed bumps, otherwise I bash the undercarriage.)

Back home, we’ve cleared out a space in the living room under the front window for dozens of boxes of books, and Virtual Signing Boy lugs the boxes in and starts stacking.

And now, Suz’s post-dinner activity becomes actual book signing -- TV-free.  This is full concentration work.  Readers can a book with a signature only (that's easy for Suz to do) or they can get a personalized book.  (“To Pam, Your husband bought this for you and hopes you love it almost as much as he loves you.  Love, Suzanne Brockmann.”  “To Cheryl, Happy Birthday!  Love, Suzanne Brockmann.”  “To Liz Lemon, WTF is up with the guy on 30 Rock who wears those stupid hats?  Love, Suzanne Brockmann.”) 

Then the book and envelope are slid across the table to me.  I insert the book and a signed copy of the short story into the envelope, seal and then tape the envelope, and put it in one of the many empty boxes we’ve been storing up in our garage.  (About seven stuffed envelopes fit in each box.) 

The dining room now begins to swell with cardboard containers loaded with stuffed envelopes.  In addition to the boxes of addressed yet unstuffed envelopes, the boxes of books, the boxes of short stories, this new set of boxes makes our dogs, Dexter and Little Joe, concerned that we are running out of floor space for them to wrestle.)

Since we have only 15 days between the 8th and the 22nd, Suz has got to sign at least 40 books per day, or on the 22nd, she’ll be really busy.  (By the time it’s all done, if Suz has received 750 orders, she’ll have to sign 50 books per day.) 

But she’s also writing her next book, helping our daughter plan her upcoming wedding, and doing a countdown on her Facebook page, so there’s a chance that she won’t be able to do 40 books per day.  Virtual Signing Boy will keep track of the math, in hopes that by March 22nd, Suz has signed enough books so that she doesn’t need to spend that entire day signing with breaks only for trips to the bathroom.  (Those are not good days.)

As we get closer to the 22nd, we’ll call in the help.  Suz’s mother and father, now eighty and seventy-nine years young, are virtual signing veterans, and bring their own special expertise to the process.  Fred, like me, is great at stuffing envelopes and worrying about how many are left to stuff.  Lee has beautiful handwriting, and processes the express mail and the international orders, which require a level of bureaucracy which drives me crazy, but which Lee manages with insane amounts of competence.

On the big day, March 22nd, I will call upon my daughter, Melanie, and Dexter and Little Joe, to help me make somewhere between ten and thirty trips to the post office, slowly emptying our house of hundreds of signed-book-stuffed envelopes.  At the end of each trip, Virtual Signing Boy will stride into the post office, shocking the other patrons with the number of swollen packages he intends to send.  The clerks are good-natured, for the most part.  (Except the grouchy one in Massachusetts, who didn’t seem to particularly like her job.  Let’s forget her, shall we?)

And on the evening of the 22nd, after it’s all done and done, and Suz has signed her name on hundreds of books and short stories and we’ve sent them all on their way, guess what?  She’ll go back to the local B&N and . . . that’s right.  Do a book signing!  Which sounds silly, but is actually really fun.

Especially for me.  Because all I do then is watch.

Note from Suz:  Thank you, Virtual Signing Boy, not just for your excellent description of the VS process, but also for your tremendous skill in crazy-busy-author-wrangling! 

Readers interested in getting a signed copy of Izzy's book, Breaking the Rules, plus a special, printed, collector's edition "Extra" booklet with my new Troubleshooters short story, When Tony Met Adam (available for sale in June in all e-book formats) can find more information on my website at:

http://www.suzannebrockmann.com/btrVirtualSigning.html

[Mujerluminosa]

Hi VS Boy, oops I mean Ed --

First, I am so happy to hear you are writing another book!  I've read all of your novels -- and enjoyed them tremendously.  Even if I felt like sleeping with all the lights on after reading Enemy Combatant!   

Looking forward to hearing more as your writing moves forward. One question - is the new book with new characters or characters from your previous novels?  Either way, can't wait.

If I could I would happily volunteer to be VS Girl   However, I think you have it all under control.  I am recommending some BioFreeze gel for what will be sore muscles for Suz and for the VS team.  Kudos to Becke for the invitation for a visit.

all the best,

Stephanie

[becke_davis]

---

Mujerluminosa wrote:

Hi VS Boy, oops I mean Ed --

First, I am so happy to hear you are writing another book!  I've read all of your novels -- and enjoyed them tremendously.  Even if I felt like sleeping with all the lights on after reading Enemy Combatant!   

Looking forward to hearing more as your writing moves forward. One question - is the new book with new characters or characters from your previous novels?  Either way, can't wait.

If I could I would happily volunteer to be VS Girl   However, I think you have it all under control.  I am recommending some BioFreeze gel for what will be sore muscles for Suz and for the VS team.  Kudos to Becke for the invitation for a visit.

all the best,

Stephanie

---

Stephanie -

Thanks so much for stopping by! It was great meeting you last year in NYC - I think my camera was broken or I would surely have taken some pictures of us all! My daughter took one of the poster:

[AnneM-SC]

Hi Ed! {waves to Ed from sunny SC}

Great piece on Virtual Signing  Ed - or should I say  -Virtual Signing Boy? You are a hero to the 100's (1000's?) who participate in the virtual signing as are all the members of the team. Good work!

Like Steph, I am thrilled beyond words that you are writing another novel. Have loved your stories even if they, at times, scared me to death! Even so, looking forward to more. Please keep us informed. Can't wait!

Keep eating your Wheaties and working out to keep VSB's body and muscles in shape for all that heavy lifting soon to come.

Hugs to you (and Suz)

Anne

[Mysterylover11…]

Ed 

Thanks for joining us today

I haven't yet had a chance to read any of your novels but after reading what Becke wrote about your novels I will definatly be adding them to my TBR pile.  

Where do you come up with the ideas for your novels?

Do you have a certain number of pages you write per day?

Do you write on a computer or do you like to hand write and then type your work up later?

I hope you are having a great Sunday and I hope to hear from you soon.

Leigh

[1AnneB]

Hi -  HVSB (I've given you a new name Ed, HANDSOME Virtual Signing Boy) - Thanks for all your hard work helping Suz sign our books - and buying paperclips (which I haven't figured out what you are using them for). I am ashamed to say that I haven't read your books - Yet !! But reading what everyone is saying, I think I see them in my future !!! Please know that all of us REALLY appreciate all your hard work, so that we can have our own special copy of the new book.

Anne

[leisure_reader]

Hi Ed

Just the titles alone of your books makes me want to hunt them down...

Thanks for joining us.  Another auther to be included in my TBR pile.

J

[Suz_Brockmann]

Hi Stephanie!  (Ed here.)

This new one (I'm calling is Savage Memories) has new characters, centered around a hero (Axle Savage) I really like, who reminds me a little of Tom Carpenter from Enemy Combatant.  (Good guy with no quit in him is swept into an overwhelming situation.)  It's more thriller than legal thriller, though.

And yesterday was the first day Suz said, "OK, that's enough signing.  My hand is starting to feel it."  She was getting a jump on signing the short stories, and her enthusiasm gave her a bit of a cramp.

Great (as always) to hear from you!  -ed

[Suz_Brockmann]

Hi Anne M from SC!  Thanks for saying hello!  I am fit and ready for whatever the final number turns out to be.  (Six hundred is in the rear view mirror now.  It's exciting!)  This is definitely a case of "the more the merrier!"  

-ed

[becke_davis]

Hi Ed (disguised as Suz) - thanks so much for this wonderful blog!

[TiggerBear]

(claps) Cool article. Thank you Mr. Gaffney!

Um did virtual signing boy know the post office will for free arrange to pick up packages from your home?

[Suz_Brockmann]

Hi Leigh.  Ed here.  Thanks for checking in!

To answer your questions....

The ideas for my books come from letting my imagination loose, starting with the phrase, "What if...?"  

The first one, Premeditated Murder, my question was, "What if a lawyer were assigned a case where his client admitted to committing the crime, and insisted on testifying that he did so?"  

My most recent one, Enemy Combatant (which was nominated for an EDGAR award!), was a little different.  In that one, my question was, "What if a lawyer, in the middle of a trial, learns that his client is innocent, only to be threatened with the death of his family unless he loses the case?"  Unlike my first three books, which focused on a pair of lawyers, Enemy Combatant was a first person story from the point of view of a good guy who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a terrible conspiracy that threatens everything he holds dear.

As far as pages per day, when I'm writing, I like to go for four pages per day.  But even on those days when there's a lot going on (for example, when I'm Virtual Signing Boy) I demand of myself at least a page.  I feel the need to make progress, even if a small amount, every day.

And I write on my computer.  I've never tried writing longhand -- my handwriting is bad, and slow.  I think it would drive me crazy!  

Thanks for your questions!

-ed

[Suz_Brockmann]

Hi Anne.  Thanks for posting!

And thanks for your kind words!  We love doing the virtual signings!  (It's very exciting for us to see the number of orders growing through the day, recognize the names of old friends ordering books again, and imagining the faces of the post office clerks when I stagger in with my first armload of boxes!)  LOL

Hope you enjoy Suz's next book!  (We just learned it got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.  Woo hoo!)

-ed

[Suz_Brockmann]

Hi J.

I hope you like the books as much as the titles!  (I worked hard on them.  I especially like the titles Suffering Fools and Enemy Combatant in the context of legal thrillers.)

Thanks for posting!

-ed

[Suz_Brockmann]

You are (as always!) very very welcome, Becke!

-ed

[becke_davis]

---

Suz_Brockmann wrote:

You are (as always!) very very welcome, Becke!

-ed

---

Ed - Can you tell us about your adventures in movie producing? (Or are you keeping mum about that for now?)

[maxcat]

Hi, Ed and Suzanne, welcome to the Mystery Board and I hope you enjoy your stay.