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SOME WRITERS ASPIRE to literary greatness, Deaver reflects on the potentially huge onlin e W HILE I ENJOY a good good penning works that will let them live in the pan- audience and the danger of interactivity on blogs:
By Steve Fisher
suspense novel, I find that I
theon of creative geniuses for time “What I’m doing a number on in The
have a hard time reading them
immemorial. Jeffery Deaver is content Chilton Report [the name of a popular
during a Pacific Northwest
to entertain his audience. blog in Roadside Crosses] is ... a game of
winter when sunny days are a
“I look for something that will thrill telephone,” he observes. “Someone my readers,” declares the North Carolina– writes something, and someone writes
rarity. Now that the days are
based Costco member and internation- something else, and the next thing you ally renowned, award-winning author of know the story is 180 degrees away from
longer and brighter, I gave
Jeffery Deaver’s latest a read
bestselling mystery and suspense novels. true.” And, as Roadside Crosses illus-
and found it to be a fast-paced,
“I really dislike when I hear an author trates, the accused may just make his gripping tale, with lots of twists say, ‘I write for myself.’ My job is to cap- accusers the victims. and turns. tivate readers, get them going on page Butsimply usingthe onlinemedium
JERRY BAUER
A killer is targeting people
one and just have their palms sweating as a plot device is not enough for Deaver.
and devising ways to kill them
from start to finish. He decided to embrace it as another ele-
Jeffery Deaver
based on information he finds
“My typical book,” he adds, “takes ment to add to readers’ enjoyment.
place over a short period of time, has lots of twists “It’s a whole new world,” he says. “The conflu-
about them online. Even though
and turns, and a couple of surprise endings that jolt ence of new media is fascinating to me.”
it’s summer, you’ll want to be
sure to keep the lights on and
the reader.” As if writing a full-length novel isn’t difficult In his new novel, Roadside Crosses—featuring enough, Deaver actually created an online blog (www.
the doors locked. And consider
his popular character Kathryn Dance, a body-
thechiltonreport.com) to mirror the one featured in
yourself warned: This book
language expert for the California Bureau of the book. The additional task was equally challenging may undermine your comfort Investigation—Deaver creates a roller-coaster ride and time-consuming. zone with the Internet. of thrills and emotions. The story involves a trou- “I’m not a tech person at all,” he declares. “But
Roadside Crosses is avail-
bled teenager’s apparent revenge against others who I learned about various blog servers and hosting
able in most Costco warehouses
have been bullying him via an Internet blog. platforms and actually bought the software.”
and at Costco.com. For more
With his sister Julie Reece Deaver (herself a noted author), Deaver put together a series of blog pages that are referred to in Roadside Crosses to let readers find additional clues to the mystery online, and that in itself posed a problem.
book picks, see page 38.
FRANCE FREEMAN
On a real blog, navigation tools usually allow users to click back and forth to go to different parts of a site. In Roadside Crosses, references to specific URLs ( Web addresses) take readers to only the pages Deaver wants them to see.
“Each successive blog post has a few more clues,” he explains. “It’s not impossible, but it’s very difficult to get to the subsequent pages because I didn’t
want to give anything away.”
Asked about the possibility of writing something other than mysteries, Deaver is quick to dismiss it, explaining it this way: “I make a comfortable living. Fans don’t like genre-jumping authors.” He quickly adds, “A wise man knows his limitations.”
Pennie Clark
Jeffery Deaver may be content to limit himself
Ianniciello
Costco Book Buyer
to mystery thrillers, but that just means limitless entertainment for his fans. C
COSTCO HAS 50 signed copies of Jeffery Deaver’s Roadside Crosses to give away. To enter, print your name, membership number, address and daytime phone number on a postcard or letter and send it to: Jeffery Deaver, The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088. Or send an e-mail to giveaway@costco.com, with “Jeffery Deaver” in the subject line.
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES. Purchase will not improve odds of winning. S weepstakes is sponsored by Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Open to legal residents of the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at the time of entry and who are current Costco members. One entry per household. Entries must be received or postmarked by July 1, 2009. Winners will be randomly selected and notified by mail on or before August 3, 2009. The value of the prize is $26.95. Void where prohibited. Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Employees of Costco or Simon & Schuster and their families are not eligible.
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