I haven’t read Jenna Bush’s Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope (HarperCollins), but I was intrigued by Ben McGrath’s description in the New Yorker (”First Book“):

The book has a spare, verging-on-hardboiled prose style ("’How did your parents die?’ Ana asked. ‘They were sick," Berto said. ‘Mine, too.’"), and suggests that Jenna may yet have a future following Margaret Truman and Susan Ford into the mystery-novel genre. She has a weakness for dubious ethnic analogies: "His eyes were wild, like those of the pumas that lived in the jungles," and "A nurse wrapped Beatriz in a blanket - like a burrito."

I also appreciated–after reading so much about about how serious she is, and how she did write it herself, and isn’t it the kind of book a liberal would write?–learning about Bush’s opening remarks at the book’s launch party:

"If you don’t have a glass of wine and you want one, you should get one, because it’s a party," she said, drawing a laugh. "No, really, go back to the bar and get one."

In her defense, crime writers are notorious drinkers.

Since 2001, when his Joe Pickett mystery series debuted with Open Season, C. J. Box has earned accolades and fans in ever-growing numbers. Not only was Booklist one of the earliest publications to take note of his exciting talent (Bill Ott wrote a double-length, rave review), Box went on to have a track record here that few writers can equal: five of seven Joe Pickett novels have been deemed worthy of a starred review.

It takes guts to tinker with a successful formula, but the Wyoming native (recently photographed sans cowboy hat) has done just that. In January, St. Martin’s Minotaur will publish Blue Heaven, his first stand-alone thriller. It’s different from the Joe Pickett books in a number of ways, most notably in the larger cast and the breakneck pacing. Set in north Idaho, dubbed "Blue Heaven" by the California cops who are retiring there, it starts with two kids watching a man get executed–and then things really get hairy. Does Box pull it off? Make that six starred reviews in total.

I talked with the author in 2005 about his remarkable Out of Range, but given the new direction he’s taking, it seemed like high time to check in with him again. Over e-mail, Box explained why he wrote Blue Heaven, affirmed that "Blue Heaven" actually exists, and proved he has a gift for sports prognostication, too.

First things first: is Joe Pickett on hiatus?

Joe will be back next May in the eighth Joe Pickett novel, called Blood Trail. My intention is to keep the series going with Putnam while writing stand-alone thrillers for St. Martin’s Minotaur. It’s not as crazy at it sounds. Blue Heaven has been in the works for over two years.

Why did you decide to write a stand-alone thriller?

There are themes, formats, and characters that just won’t work in a series format and I wanted to stretch myself. Plus, I hoped readers who may think of the Joe Pickett books as "huntin’ and fishin’" books–which they aren’t–might give Blue Heaven a try and be surprised.

Blue Heaven has some familiar elements we’ve come to expect from you, but with a different feel. How different were you trying to make it?

As different as it needed to be. There is a large cast of characters in Blue Heaven, and the novel is told from the point of view of many of them in real time over 60 hours. Because of the ticking clock, the characters needed to be introduced as quickly and clearly as possible before moving to the action. There was no time for a lot of back-story but enough, I hope, that the reader can tell everyone apart and empathize with several of them. There’s somewhat of a comfort zone with the Joe Pickett books because we know the protagonist and his family and we know–to some degree–what they’re capable of. With Blue Heaven, the onion is peeled just a little each time a character is reintroduced to the story.

I feel like I saw some familiar character traits, too–but with a larger cast, it was almost as if they were spread out over more characters. Not to keep asking about Joe Pickett, but it almost seemed as if you need more than one character to replace him.

That’s a really good point and shows your familiarity with Joe Pickett! I never really thought of that before. There are also a couple of very "gray" characters in Blue Heaven that I find as interesting as anyone; the local businessman with a guilty secret and the wavering ex-cop who just might turn out to be okay after all.

Is it true that California cops are retiring to north Idaho in great numbers?

Yes. In fact, the first time I heard the phrase "blue heaven" was from an ex-LAPD officer at a book signing who asked me if I came from "that blue heaven country." He had dozens of colleagues who who had sold their California homes for a lot of money and bought acreage and huge homes in north Idaho. It turns out there are hundreds of them up there. Luckily, I’ve run across no bad ones like the ones in the book.

What kind of research did you do? Does a stand-alone require more research than a series book?

I went to Santa Anita Racetrack one day and found it completely empty but every gate or door I tried was open. It was very strange. I walked through the grounds, on the track, inside the restaurants and saw absolutely no one. I also spent some time in north Idaho interviewing locals. They confirmed not only the presence of all of the ex-cops but how their community had been transformed pretty quickly from a kind of sleepy timber and mining economy to one that catered to wealthy new residents. The cultural cross-currents were there for anyone to see. And I drove around a lot on my own, just looking and taking notes.

There wasn’t necessarily more research required than an series book, but there was more background required of the characters. I was creating a whole new world.

How is the culture of Idaho different from Wyoming–or is it different?

I found the culture in Idaho very different, even from other parts of Idaho. In that state, the division is from north to south, not east to west, like Wyoming or Montana. The north Idaho I got to know doesn’t have a single iconic image and is kind of a mish-mash of influences–a little ranching, timber, mining, recreation, but also Pacific Northwest and the new California thing.

You have more stand-alones coming out with St. Martin’s. Can you tell us what they’ll be about and when they’re coming?

All I’ll say about the second stand-alone is that it takes place in Denver, Lincoln (Montana)–and Berlin.

Your work seems to be getting even more attention since we last talked (you’re a New York Times bestselling author, for one). Has it changed your life or the way you write? Does your office still have a bad view of a window well?

I now have a painted window well, thank you very much! Thanks to my artist daughter Molly, I look out on a painting of a fly-fisherman on the Lamar River in Yellowstone. Last year it filled with snow for several weeks. That was kind of boring.

Will the Cubs finally go all the way this year?

No, I’m sorry. The Rockies will beat San Diego in the one-game playoff tonight and take the rest of the National League by surprise (although, as I write this, the Padres just hit a grand-slam and went up 4-3).

[Editor’s note: If Box ever tires of writing thrillers, he might try his hand as a sportswriter. The Rockies went on to win a wild, 13-inning game and make the postseason. At this writing, they’re leading the Phillies in the NLDS 2-0. As for the Cubs, well, they’re behind the Diamondbacks 0-2.]

(Photo credit: Roger Carey.)

I can’t seem to leave the New York Times site today. For instance, have you heard of “libel tourism”? Me neither. Rachel Donadio explains (”Libel Without Borders“).

And David Brooks ponders how Jack Kerouac’s On the Road went from being “a burst of rollicking, joyous American energy” to “the book you want to read if you find Sylvia Plath too upbeat” (”Sal Paradise at 50“).

Moving on to the Boston Globe, Anna Badkhen’s description of a decrepit bookmobile reminded me of Ian Sansom’s delightful Case of the Missing Books (”Bookmobiles’ final chapter?“).

And, finally: yes, Virginia, there really are banned books (”Banned Books Week: Self-Congratulatory Hype?” Galleycat).

More from the front lines, where reviewers and writers are going toe to toe. In this instance, Nicole Mones, author of The Last Chinese Chef (2007), takes issue with Heidi Julavits’ review of same (”The Kitchen God’s Girlfriend,” New York Times). Her, ahem, beef? That Julavits, the anti-snark, is being snarky. And also inaccurate.

Joe Keenan has won the 2007 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his novel My Lucky Star.

The runners up? Bob Newhart (I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!) and Merrill Markoe (Walking in Circles before Lying Down).

That’s a lot of TV talent for a book prize.

In an essay that doubles as an advertisement for the book he just edited, The Best American Short Stories, 2007, Stephen King foretells the impending demise of the short story. From the New York Times (”What Ails the Short Story“):

The American short story is alive and well.

Do you like the sound of that? Me too. I only wish it were actually true. The art form is still alive - that I can testify to. As editor of "The Best American Short Stories 2007," I read hundreds of them, and a great many were good stories. Some were very good. And some seemed to touch greatness. But "well"? That’s a different story.

Can’t he just write a bestselling novel in which short stories once again become wildly popular? That fictional scenario might then translate into the real world–which in itself sounds like the plot of a Stephen King novel. There will have to be a war between good and bad short stories, of course, and reading the bad ones will kill you . . . but I’m getting ahead of myself.

More literary brawling, but all in good fun. Mostly. From the San Francisco Chronicle (”Literary Death Match exudes attitude. But beer in the face? That’s so slapstick.” by Edward Guthmann):

When Literary Death Match started, it was supposed to be a lark. Todd Zuniga and Elizabeth Koch, editors of the literary journal Opium, wanted to add some sizzle to the local lit scene - a friskiness to foil the preciousness of literary readings.

So they invited four local writers to read from their work and brought in three judges to select a winner. Instead of renting a dusty bookstore, they staged their “American Idol”-for-scribes at Harlot, a sleek South of Market bar with gothic bordello decor.

“People love sports,” reasoned Koch. “They love getting their heart and emotions behind one person and seeing competition. It’s just all in good fun.”

Instead, at the first Literary Death Match in July, author Stephen Elliott was so offended by judge Howard Junker’s put-down - “As a writer, I think he has no literary merit” - that Elliott tossed a glass of beer in his face during intermission.

Maybe there can be a special reviewers vs. writers night. I’ll show up and beat the crap out of myself.

As summarized on Galleycat (”Called Out By Her Reviewer, A Panned Author Answers Back“), Carolyn See and Porochista Khakpour are getting into it:

One of the first bits of advice writers are given as their books make their way into the world is “don’t engage with the reviewers.” A quick glance at the letters section of the NYT Book Review on any given Sunday will show you how often that counsel is ignored, but since there’s no guarantee a newspaper will run an author’s letter - if they even have a letters section - the Internet provides another opportunity for writers to speak out when they think they’ve been badly reviewed. And when a critic frames her rejection in the form of an open letter to the author, as Carolyn See did to Porochista Khakpour in the pages of the Washington Post while reviewing Sons and Other Flammable Objects, perhaps it’s inevitable that the author responds on her blog.

I haven’t read the book, so I have no idea whether See or Khakpour is “right.” But, really, I don’t think either of them comes off very well. See takes some questionable shots, and Khakpour answers right back, with a “she started it” rationale.

The letter-to-the-author device isn’t particularly well suited to the book review, although it has its place in other departments. And, as for answering the reviewer, I don’t think it’s ever a good idea. Bad reviews hurt, but raising the profile of the review only prolongs the agony.

There are other potential complications, too: say a book reviewer pans a book, then asks his editor if he can be excused from reviewing the writer’s next offering. It’s not a good match. But then a letter arrives from the author, questioning the fairness of the review. Now the decision becomes a political one: if a different reviewer handles the next book, it looks as if the editor is caving in to the author’s complaint with a vote of no-confidence in the reviewer. If the editor trusts his reviewer’s judgment, the reviewer is then forced to review the author whose work he dislikes so much. And the writer has lost the chance to find a (possibly) more sympathetic reviewer.

Has it happened at Booklist? I’m not telling.

So now Little, Brown won’t be publishing Tintin in the Congo at all (”Little, Brown Cancels Tintin in the Congo,” by Lynn Andriani, Publishers Weekly):

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, which had been planning to publish Tintin in the Congo, a book criticized for its racist, Colonial-era depictions of Africans, has quietly pulled the title from its fall list, PW has learned. The publisher also said it will not include the book in a forthcoming box set of all 24 books in the Tintin series. 

Well, nobody said you have to publish something you don’t like–or that your customers don’t want. But pulling the book from what would have been a definitive boxed set has me wondering: did Thomas Bowdler ever stay the night in a Potemkin Village?

What I mean to say is that, if some kid gets hooked on Tintin now and grows up to tell his friends that he’s a fan of Hergé, he won’t really have seen the whole picture, will he?

I guess this is the publishing world’s version of reality TV shows (”Amazon Launches Debut Novel Contest,” Publishers Weekly):

Amazon is getting into the author-writing contest arena, launching the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award today in cooperation with Penguin and Hewlett-Packard. Amazon will accept submissions through November 5 and the winner will have his or her novel published by Penguin, which is also offering a $25,000 advance. PW will serve as preliminary judges of the material as well.