Jeff Abbott's Blog

Here’s the terrific TV ad (18 seconds, nice and short!) for THE LAST MINUTE, which will start airing this week.

Hope you enjoy it! I think it really captures the feel of the book. Thanks to the terrific marketing team at Hachette/Grand Central.

Obviously I’m not blogging (Twitter and Facebook have taken over my digital outreach). But I did want to post here that THE LAST MINUTE’s official release date is Tuesday, July 3rd. The book has started arriving in stores and will be available for download on all major e-reader platforms on July 3rd.

This is the second Sam Capra novel, and you can read much more about it here on the website. But for everyone who asked, yes, Sam goes after the people who have his son in this book. I hope you’ll enjoy it; I had a blast writing this book. And I’m happy to announce that the Sam Capra series will continue; I’ve just about finished rewrites on the 3rd Sam and have started work on Sam #4.

I hope you’ll consider adding THE LAST MINUTE to your summer reading list. Have a great summer!

ADRENALINE hits stores today, Tuesday December 27, in paperback. There are two covers: one is black (like the hardcover), the other is a beautiful silver. The book is the same inside. There's also an excerpt of THE LAST MINUTE, the second Sam Capra novel, which will be out in the US and Canada on July 3rd.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Here's a 20-minute interview with me on KUT (University of Texas) radio, during their NPR Morning Edition program. In it I talk about creating Sam Capra and writing suspense fiction. Might be of particular interest to writerly types, although I did hear from a bunch of readers after a shorter version aired this morning.

ADRENALINE is featured in today's USA TODAY summer spy fiction roundup. I'm delighted to be included and all the books sound like entertaining reads.

Last Wednesday I found out ADRENALINE is staying for a second week on the New York Times bestseller list. It is now at #26. I thought for sure it would fall off the list (many books do each week, as a matter of course) and was so excited it held on. It was much less dramatic than the first week, though. Got the email when I was out having Chinese food with my family. But we still cheered and toasted the book, and all of you. Thank you again!

Nashville PI Hal Humphreys has a clever blog where he talks to authors and then crafts cocktails based on their lead characters. Here's his take on Sam Capra, and a delicious-sounding cocktail inspired by Sam. It includes the recipe, but if you're ever in Nashville, stop by the wonderful Patterson House bar and order up a Montgomery Fizz. Sam would.

Blogger Scott Butki interviews me here for his blog on crime fiction, and asks me interesting questions about Sam.

Now back to writing the next Sam. I am putting myself back in the corner.

So last Wednesday was a wild day.

We knew that the New York Times bestseller lists come out on early Wednesday evening. With the press that Adrenaline had gotten, and the Good Morning America, Amazon Best Books of the Month, and Today Show mentions, I wondered if I had a chance to hit the list. (The list runs to 35 titles, with 16-35 known as the 'extended' list.) Being in Dallas for a second signing, I knew the list would come out between 5-5:30 Central Time.

I try not to worry overmuch about things I cannot control. In publishing I can worry about exactly one thing: the quality of the book. That is the only thing I truly control. So, I told myself not to worry. Easier said than done.

My wife wisely suggested we take a break from all the publicity stuff. We were staying with my parents, so they kept the kids (and took them out for their first In-n-Out Burger experience, a separate epic) and my wife and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art, which is a truly terrific museum. This famous glass mosaic mural, Genesis, at the museum accurately reflects my mental state that morning:

But once inside, I found the art museum calming. I write commercial fiction, I don't always think of myself as an artist, but the museum is full of wonderful pottery and masks and paintings that serve a purpose beyond beauty.  For a couple of hours I totally forgot about the list, and Adrenaline, and that I have the third Sam Capra novel due soon. My wife is an extremely smart person. I even saw a painting of a writer being struck by inspiration, and I didn't think of the list, looming.

We were about to enter the last exhibit we wanted to see when I decided I'd check my email. There was a note from my editor, saying he had some "good sales info" to share with me and to let me know a good time to call me. My wife was looking forward to seeing this last exhibit and so I stuffed the phone back into my pocket and wandered with her past the sculptures and paintings, thinking: can't be, it's way too soon.

When we were done I told her he'd emailed, she said call him back right now. We went outside the museum and I called, leaving him a voicemail that he could call me back.

My wife said, "You sound way too calm."

We got in the car (she drove, so I could take the call if he called back). My editor called back within ten minutes. Adrenaline was at #25 on Barnes & Noble's hardcover fiction list, and at #27 on BookScan's list (BookScan is a service that tracks sales from a large number of physical and online accounts). He had figures on the first reporting period for the book (it came out officially on Friday, July 1st, as opposed to the typical Tuesday). So the opening day sales (say on Kindle, or my first book signing) wouldn't apply to this most recent week, as the reporting period is Sunday to the following Sunday.

The way the Times calculates their list is a secret, much like the Coke formula, and so my editor refused to speculate as to what my shot was of making the list. He said "I've seen the list surprise people in both good and bad ways." A couple of friends who have hit this list confirmed this. Everyone told me, you've gotten good news today, the book is selling well even if you don't make the list.

I might make it; I might not.

We ate Tex-Mex food for lunch (and we were both kind of quiet), signed stock at the wonderful new A Real Bookstore in Fairview, and went back to my parents' house. I hadn't told my kids, or my folks, that Wednesday was List Day. They would have only worried about it, and despite my mantra of not worrying about what you can't control, I worried. I checked my phone constantly for emails, and I usually mock people who cannot put their phones away. I have hit bestseller lists before, USA TODAY (which is one single list that includes every kind of book together), and lists in the UK, Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, and so on. If I didn't hit it, I didn't hit it, I told myself, I still had books to write.

I took a power nap. I got up. I checked the phone. Nothing.

5:00 came. No news.

We headed to Irving, one of Dallas's largest suburbs. It's about an hour drive in the maze of Dallas traffic. My stepdad has one of those three seating rows SUVs, so he and my mom are in the front; my wife and I are in the middle; my sons are in the back seat. According to my wife, I was a seething bundle of nerves. I thought I was projecting an air of calm but apparently not. I sat quietly, with my phone in my hand.

5:30. No news. The time is passed. I was sure then I hadn't made it, and I told myself that it's okay. Life goes on, more books to write. I tried to do a search on my iPhone for the list, but I only got last week's list. The traffic was a long snaking snarl as we approached Irving, and we went past a guy stuck on the side of the road (the heat index is 110) with two flat tires, phone pressed to his ear calling a tow truck, and I thought: He's having a much worse day than I am, keep this in perspective. I tried not to think of how many books I've written, what hitting the list would mean for the start of a new series, how much effort Grand Central put into promoting the book: print ads, television ads, online marketing, this tour.

I realized I did not establish with my editor if he would call me whether I made it or not. I couldn't remember if the list is dated for the Sunday it runs in the Times or the Wednesday it comes out, so I started typing in a new Google search.

Suddenly the phone rang.

I said a very calm "Hello, this is Jeff" and my editor said, after his hello, "You are on the New York Times bestseller list".

I didn't scream or jump (I'm in a car). I yelled to my family that I've made the list (thoroughly surprising my parents). My wife, who has her camera in her lap, started recording the moment.

My wife also started crying (not sobbing, very happy tears of joy). She is my constant encouragement, my rock: this is her win, too. The boys, not quite knowing what it means but knowing if I'm whooping it's a license to whoop, well, whooped.

My editor told me I'm at #23. Higher than B&N, higher than BookScan. He is so pleased. We talked for another couple of minutes, I told him we're all in the car en route to a signing, he told me to enjoy this moment in time. I called and emailed a couple of friends and family members. My wife kept telling me how proud she was of me. I felt vast relief, and then I just felt stunned. I've been in this business a while. I knew hitting the list might not ever happen for me. There have been a couple of times I've wondered if my career would move forward. Now I'm just trying to enjoy the moment. My mom started crying, too. She was the one who listened to my second grade teacher and said, "Get him a Big Chief tablet and a Husky pencil and tell him to write these stories down."

We arrived at the evening's event, at the Irving Main Library. The librarians have me set up in their biggest room, with wonderful full-color posters of all the books, and the local bookstore is there to sell Adrenaline. We got a very good crowd, over 50 people. Three of my high school friends arrived, so did one of my favorite high school teachers. In high school I wrote a 500-page manuscript, really awful. These folks knew me then, and know me now, and the whole moment just seemed surreal.

When I started my talk I told them that I've gotten great news on the way here and they're the first group I get to share it with. They cheered loudly, clapping. Libraries were so important to me as a kid and I'm really, really glad that I am at a library event for this special night.

But during the talk, I noticed my wife, who was in the back of the room with one of the librarians, kept glancing out the open door to the lobby. Well, I thought, she's heard this talk before, but still. She had a look on her face that looked like a cross between horror and nausea, and I thought: um, I must be bombing, but the audience seems to like it. The wife can be a very candid critic.

After signing and chatting with the audience, we left, and my wife explained me that she witnessed an arrest in the lobby, while I was talking. She was told (while I was signing books, still thinking she'd thought I'd given my worst talk ever) that unfortunately a woman had allegedly not taken her medications and started lobbing books at the staff. The arrest was done very quietly, even though it was mere feet away from my event, and most of the audience didn't realize what was happening. (I hope the lady is doing better and compliments to the police and library staff for how they handled the situation.) Okay, an arrest at a signing, my first. I'm sure there could be no further drama this evening.

After the drama, the comedy. The metro Dallas area is a quiltwork of dry and wet spots where liquor can or cannot be sold.  We were headed along a stretch of highway I recognized as being close to where my stepfather's company had a warehouse. I thought we'd stop at some upscale wine shop when we get closer to home. My stepfather took the exit unexpectedly and screeched up to an establishment known as "Sonny's House of Beverages":

Now I do not wish to impugn the good name of this business; I remember years ago, buying beer here with my stepdad before we'd head up to my parents' lake place for the weekend. It's like a convenience store that sells nothing but liquor, with some, er, interesting characters usually in the parking lot.  You can get good cold beer at Sonny's House of Beverages. Good chilled Champagne, I was not optimistic.

My stepfather said, "they'll have it". My wife and my mom looked at him like "they will?" I really wasn't wanting the finest bubbly of Croatia for tonight but there we were, and I thought, "This is adding texture to the story." Typical writer. I suspected I was the first New York Times bestselling author to celebrate his new status at Sonny's House of Beverages.

I knelt before the small chilled wine cooler and shoved my hand past the Asti Spumante and the sparkling versions of Two Buck Chuck and WAY in the back I saw the Moet & Chandon label.  It was the most expensive bottle in the cooler and so I grabbed it (it's the Times, people!) I wondered how long this bottle waited patiently to be chosen, and we headed home. Oh, Sonny's, I will never forget you.

At home, my wife toasted me, I toasted my family, we toasted all the folks at Grand Central and my friends who have supported me and all the readers who got me here today. And I toast you all again: THANK YOU.

The day was done. I was bone tired. The next day we planned to drive back to Austin and I needed to get back to work on the third Sam Capra novel.

Everything is the same. But everything is a little different, too.

My awesome week continues with THE TODAY SHOW airing a great segment on Best Beach Reads, selected by #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jennifer Weiner and Harlan Coben . Jennifer and Harlan each highlight four books. There are also six more books, selected by them, that are highlighted on the Today web site, to make for twenty wonderful reads. I am thrilled that ADRENALINE was selected, and think the whole list sounds fantastic — a great guide to summer reading.

Thank you Harlan and Jennifer!

I've mentioned this on my Facebook and Twitter accounts (where you are welcome to follow me) but hadn't posted it here. GOOD MORNING AMERICA picks ADRENALINE as a summer read! Click here for both a writeup of their choices and the video segment on the summer reads.

I found this out the same morning I found out about ADRENALINE being an Amazon Best Books of July pick, so it was an exciting morning.

I'm guest-starring today at two very good blogs on suspense and mystery fiction.

Janice Gable Bashman asked me to write about an aspect of writing for her excellent blog The Writing Life, so I wrote about The Hardest Part of writing a book. My answer as to what's the biggest challenge may surprise you.

Molly Weston interviews me at her wonderful Meritorious Mysteries blog, and asks all sorts of questions about how I write and research the books. She's also sponsoring a giveaway of a copy of Adrenaline to those who leave comments.