November 5, 2025 • 35 mins
Welcome to The Thriller Zone with host Dave Temple, where today we’re diving deep into the thrilling world of crime fiction as we chat with the amazing Marshall Karp, the mastermind behind the latest page-turner, *NYPD Red 8: The 1159 Bomber*.
Today's episode is packed with fun and laughter, as we explore how Marshall crafts nail-biting plots while infusing them with heart and humor. He shares some behind-the-scenes stories about the creative process, including the challenges of collaborating with the big names in the writing game and how he keeps his characters fresh and engaging after eight books.
Plus, we tackle the technical side of podcasting—because who doesn’t love some good ol’ tech tips sprinkled in with our yarns?
So grab your headphones, sit back, and get ready for an entertaining ride filled with laughs, insights, and a whole lot of storytelling magic!
Takeaways:
- The latest book, NYPD Red 8, features a thrilling plot about a bomber wreaking havoc at 11:59 AM, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.
- Marshall Karp emphasizes the importance of having a reliable microphone and strong Wi-Fi connection to ensure a smooth podcast experience—technical difficulties be gone!
- Creating strong characters is essential for storytelling, as audiences return for the emotional connections they form with familiar faces and their journeys.
- Marshall shares valuable writing advice: write every day without worrying about perfection, because a professional writer is just an amateur who didn't quit.
- NYPD Red Series with James Patterson
KEYWORDS: NYPD Red 8, Marshall Karp, thriller podcast, crime fiction, bestselling author interview, writing tips, character development, book recommendations, plot twists, cinematic storytelling, writing process, collaboration in writing, emotional depth in fiction, crime writing techniques, series vs standalone novels, writing advice, storytelling craft, suspenseful narratives, author interviews, book launch events
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Foreign.
Welcome to the Thriller Zone.
Guess who?
Dave Temple, your host.
So nice to have you here ontoday's show.
My dear, dear friend, MarshallKarp has a new book called NYPD Red
8, the 1159 Bomber.
As you can see, I enjoyed it.
(00:20):
Made all kinds of notes.
Marshall is.
He's fast becoming one of mybest friends.
He's just a good dude.
So talented, and we have a lotof fun in today's show.
Now, there are some technicaldifficulties throughout the show,
and this is why I tell peoplewhen they go, Dave, what can I do
to make my show the best?
(00:41):
Your show the best?
Well, here's an idea.
Have a microphone that picksup your voice.
A standalone microphone.
Like, this is a good idea.
Headphones is a good idea.
I'm not wearing them todaybecause I don't need to, because
I'm not talking to anyone.
And.
Oh, WI Fi.
A really good, strong signal,muy importante.
Because if you don't havethat, well, sometimes.
(01:03):
Sometimes it just kind of stinks.
You know what I'm saying?
Anyway, those are just tipshere at the beginning of the show.
But Marshall Carp had a WI Fi challenge.
It comes and goes.
Big deal.
Who gives a.
We're having fun.
This book.
Well, what can I say?
Let's just say it's.
It's a hell of a read, andyou're going to really enjoy it.
(01:24):
But what I need to do is shutmy pie hole and get into the show,
because this one is fun.
Stick around, bear through allthe technical stuff, because you're
gonna learn stuff.
This is one thing withMarshall, I'm always learning something.
So, without any further ado,New York Times number one bestselling
author, Marshall Karp here onthe thriller side.
(01:46):
Enjoy.
Dude.
Yeah.
Long time no see.
Louis, compadre.
How are you doing?
I would say I'm really good.
You haven't changed a minute.
What's it been, a year?
It feels like it's been a year.
Hasn't been.
No, no, no, no, no.
I think don't tell Me how toDie came out on March 4, and you
(02:07):
and I met, like, on March 4and a half or something like that.
Wow.
Yeah.
Oh, it's.
Really.
Yeah.
Well, let's just.
You know, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna put this little propup there.
The subtitle is moreinteresting than NYPD Red 8 has.
NYPD Red has a fan base.
Nobody.
Nobody likes me, but theystill think Jim Patterson writes
(02:29):
the books.
Anyway, it's NYPD Red 8, the1159 bomber, which sort of gives
you.
Oh, this is going to be interesting.
There's a bomber and he startsblowing stuff up at 11:59am One minute
(02:49):
before noon.
On a daily basis.
I'm not going out into thestreet between a quarter to nine
and somewhere around dinnertime, because holy crap, we know
when the bomb's going off, butwe don't know where.
And it goes from neighborhoodto neighborhood to neighborhood.
And I remember when I was akid growing up, we had a mad bomber
(03:12):
in New York City.
And I reference him in the book.
It took the cops 16 years tofind this guy.
Wow.
His name was George Meteski,and he was a disgruntled employee
of Con Edison, the electriccompany who basically, I think, didn't
(03:35):
take care of their employeeswho were hurt on the job.
So.
Yeah, but he was.
He was.
He was crazy.
Yeah.
Well, wait.
He was crazy.
So I'm writing about that.
Yeah, that kind of fits inwith my style.
Yeah, I'm crazy is like mylove language.
(03:56):
Crazy like a fox.
Well, now, hold on a second.
Now we.
We're shooting out of the gate.
I don't want to.
I don't want to shoot out ofthe gate with all this.
We're going to get to this.
Oh, okay, okay.
You know, we're going to getto that.
Okay.
No, well, but you got mestarted, so.
Take two.
Foreplay.
Anyway, I just.
(04:17):
I fucking love to write.
I love to hear from people wholike what I write.
But I'm just having fun.
And I want you to have fun.
I want people to read the book.
I want people to go to thelibrary and take it out for free.
I like to write, and I hope it shows.
All right, so you said earlierthat you would actually.
(04:38):
And you said this under theauspices of kind of like.
I don't really want to saythis, but I would write these books
for free.
So is that you want to go onthe record as saying you'd actually
write, like, for instance,NYPD Red 8, the 1159 bomber.
So are you saying you mightoffer this for free or you're just
saying you would like.
(04:58):
Oh, my problem is that myproblem is always the uncomfortable
balance between art and commerce.
I write a lot of stuff for free.
I don't want to get into thethings that I have written for free,
that have helped people, theworld, whatever, and I do it because
(05:23):
I can do it.
But I now have a publisher whoplunk down money to get this into,
you know, bookstores andlibraries and, you know, all over
the place.
And they're not in businessfor love.
You know what they don't call it?
(05:43):
Show friends.
Jerry.
Right.
One of my favorite lines.
I mean, it's so.
But if you said to me, wouldyou help me write?
Blah, blah, blah.
Oh, I mean, I cannot tell youhow many father of the bride speeches
I have written that, you know,people go, oh, thank you.
You tell me when I write youan email or a text or even an inscription,
(06:08):
you don't feel like I phonedit in.
You feel like, this guy writesto me.
That's right.
Yeah.
Because I want to read anexample of that on the little note
that you put in my book,David, I hope you have as much fun
reading it as I did writing it.
Hugs.
Kisses, Love, Marshall.
Carp right there.
Oh, it says Marshall.
(06:29):
It doesn't say Marshall Carp.
Oh, the printed says, but it'sjust signed Marshall, like, warm.
Am I right?
Well, there's a great bigheart that I was just assuming was
Carp.
No, it's Marshall Hart.
But okay, anyway, so listen,let me.
Jump over here becauseotherwise, if I don't interrupt you,
you'll just be talking toyourself all day long.
(06:51):
So we're gonna go back to you.
And James started the seriesJim Jimmy to his friends.
How did you navigate thatcreative handoff?
Because I don't know if Iasked you this last time we talked,
but I want to know how youhand handle that, that creative handoff
and.
And what was like one of thebiggest creative.
Let's go with creativedifferences and freedoms between
(07:12):
collaborating and writing solo.
And before you answer that, Iwant the reason I asked that.
I was having dinner with abuddy of mine, Jack Stewart, who
came into town last week, andwe were talking about it and I said,
you know, how is it writingwith a collaborator versus on your
own?
And I thought, oh, I'm gonnaask the same thing, a Marshall, because
(07:33):
you're talking about havingwritten with one of the really big
biggies.
And I'm like, that had to havebeen its own unique experience.
But I also have gotten to knowyou pretty good, and you're kind
of an opinionated, thoughtfulguy with lots of.
(07:54):
I don't know if I hit the wordopinions enough, but.
So I'm curious as to what thatwas like, how.
How that handoff was and thepros and cons of duo versus solo.
When you talk aboutcollaboration, sometimes you talk
about like, you know, Rogersand Hart or, you know, Roger Hammerstein
(08:17):
or this guy and that guy.
They're kind of equal.
I was collaborating with an800 pound gorilla.
And that's, that's a little different.
I mean, Jim has a brand, hehas style.
(08:38):
And I knew that brand and heknew how he knew my writing.
And but the interesting islike I came to him with the concept
of NYPD Red, an elite taskforce who jumps in whenever a crime
is committed against, andsometimes by the rich and famous.
(09:01):
He loved his publisher, loved it.
I don't think this is, I thinkI've said this before.
Originally NYPD read the firstbook was going to be by Marshall
Karp, you know, kind ofpresented by James Patterson.
Because I basically wrote thebook and got Jim's feedback on it,
(09:25):
but the publisher was so happywith it that they wanted to make
it more co author and theregoes art and commerce.
So I said yes.
But for the most part, youknow, Jim is producing 30 books a
year.
Some he has to like be moreinvolved with than others, but he
(09:49):
was involved every step of the way.
And so I had done a lot ofthis on my own with him basically
approving or not approve it.
And there were times when Iwould pitch a story and he would
say, no, I don't like that.
In NYPD Red 7, which is thefirst book I wrote without, you know,
(10:10):
just on my own.
Without his, without the gorilla.
Yeah.
You know, and you know, the,you know, we say that affectionately.
I mean he, he's, he's the guyresponsible for the James Patterson
grant.
And I introduced a characterin NYPD Red 7, this 18 year old documentarian,
Theo Wilkins, who may or maynot be the illegitimate son of the
(10:37):
detective who's the hero, Zach Jordan.
Now I had pitched that idea toJim and he didn't want that.
He wanted keep it clean, justfocus on the heroes.
And now in NYPD Read 7, wefind out a lot about that relationship
between Zach and, and, and,and Theo.
(11:02):
And people were writing to mesaying, well, what happens next?
I want to know what happenswith those characters.
Because that's.
Yeah, I was going to say wefind out because when I, Yeah.
That when I got to the end,I'm like, oh snap.
Yeah.
But working with Jim for themost part was easy because we're
(11:30):
both on the same mission.
You don't have to always agree creatively.
I worked in television.
Some people were impossible towork with because they had an agenda.
Most people's agenda is like,oh, please God, don't let me get
fired today.
Especially in the.
(11:51):
Yeah.
And so a lot of people in thebusiness that I worked with were
like, well, I had the head ofcomedy at One point, comedy development
at a studio.
I worked for comedy was.
(12:15):
Had an accounting degree.
And he was promoted frombusiness affairs to head of comedy
development because one nightthey all went out and got drunk and
he was very funny.
I'm not kidding you.
So at least I respect Jim'spoint of view.
The very first book I wrotefor him, which was not NYPD Red,
(12:36):
which was don't, don't, whichwas kill me if you can, I resisted
some of the.
I resisted the Russian mob guywho was having an incestuous affair
with his daughter.
And then, you know, the firstsex scene I wrote that wasn't the
inside.
He goes, nah, I don't like thesex scene.
(12:56):
And, well, he knows whatreaders want in a sex scene.
So we had a glass of wine.
No, I learned a lot from Jim.
And I think if chapter one,321 prologue, 321 pages, grabs you,
(13:17):
you could read those two pagesin a bookstore.
You can read those two pagesin the library.
You go, like, you could callme on the phone and I'll read you
those two pages.
Actually, you would do it better.
But it's a compliment to say that.
And so we got to the pointwhere I really wanted to take over
(13:41):
the series and Jim was nowbranching out.
He was working with PresidentClinton and Dolly Parton and the
estate of Michael Crichton andJeffrey Epstein.
It was like he was beyonddoing, you know, the sequel to NYPD
(14:03):
Red.
So we, I wound up owning the property.
There you go.
And it was.
I mean, he did a video say,from now on, Marshall is writing.
And I can't wait to read itbecause I'm going to be surprised
at the ending.
So it was like, you learn alot and then you go off into business
(14:26):
yourself with the blessing of,you know, I could not do what Jim
does, which is produce thatmany books a year, trusting a lot
of other writers.
I'm a different kind of writer.
And that's why.
That's why I don't have amansion in Palm Beach.
(14:48):
All right, so let's do thissince we only have 30 minutes.
And that was question two.
And I've got 10.
Let me get moving here.
Not that we have to stick tomy script, but because we often don't.
But I want to talk about theheart behind the action, because
here's one things I've pickedup from your books.
They're always there.
(15:08):
They always have great way toblend big scale cinematic plots,
which is one of the reasons Ilike your writing, because you.
We write similarly, like cinematic.
When I write, I see the picture.
You write the same way, butalso it's the way you embed the very
human relationships.
There's a lot of heart in there.
(15:29):
So I want to, I want you totell my listeners how you balance
that emotional depth with allthat adrenaline fueled pacing, especially
like you did with a prologue.
How do you do that?
What's that?
Talk to me in the simple answer.
It's two things.
(15:49):
You can get complicated if youneed to.
Well, I'm only on question three.
I don't want to like being atelevision writer, being a film writer,
having been in the advertising business.
I don't think plot or Icertainly don't think only plot.
I think character.
And I think two things.
One is what is going on in theheart and mind of my character right
(16:13):
now as I write?
Because if this guy gotpunched in the face in chapter six
and then I didn't get back tohim till chapter 17 and that's been
like two months.
Gotta remember that he justgot punched in the face.
Yeah, he's still like, ow.
And it sounds like, well,wouldn't everybody?
(16:34):
No, a lot of times you just forget.
You start writing what youwant to write, not remembering how
the character feels.
What is going on?
What is the character thinking?
I mean, with Zach and withthis kid Theo, Zack is going, do
I talk to this kid?
(16:54):
He's already happy with thefather he's got.
What do I say?
And the other thing is, yearsand years ago, working in television,
I was asked this question bythis brilliant guy who was very successful,
Richard Dorso.
Why do people come back to thesame show over and over?
(17:17):
And it's simply because theylove the predictable emotional experience
they get from spending timewith those people.
And the example is Cheers orSeinfeld or Grey's Anatomy or any.
The plot changes every week.
But you don't remember allthose plots of the Office.
You just remember that MichaelScott was such an idiot and Pam and
(17:41):
Jim were so in love and theycouldn't express it.
And you know, and Mindy Kalingwas all Mindy Kay.
I mean, it was just.
It's the characters.
I want to see them behaving.
It's like, why do you go outto dinner with the same people when
you have a lot more friends onyour, in your contact?
(18:03):
Why do you like, like to hangon the phone or do something with
this guy or that guy?
It's because you enjoy that experience.
And characters, charactersgive you that experience.
So the emotional hot buttonsthat you feel Is because in the middle
of real life, people are real.
(18:23):
And.
And I can.
I, I.
It's.
I'm going to call it a giftthat I can be in touch with that.
Yeah, well, and it's so funnyto answer that question myself is
as I get older, and especiallyhaving now gone through cancer and
so forth, and it makes yourealize how precious life is without
getting too corny and howlittle time you got.
(18:45):
And so really, when you thinkabout it, and Tammy and I were talking
about this over the holidaywhen we were on vacation, I, like,
we.
We spend most of our timetogether, a very select few people.
I'm going to your point.
So you find something in theircharacter or their personality, the
way they share their life withyou, and you just want to hang out
with them, and that's kind ofthe way that you're saying about
(19:05):
your characters.
Let me move along here.
All right, now let's talkabout the craft of continuity, because
again, eight books in thisparticular series keeping characters
like Kylie and Zach, which, Imean, I love that.
Keeping them fresh, that's noeasy feat.
I mean, come on.
We all know that as writers,but what's your process for tracking
their evolution?
And I kind of.
(19:26):
I was looking at.
I was.
Okay, I was, you know, I wasfollowing you on Instagram and so
forth and on Facebook, and Isee where you were sitting.
You're right.
And I'm like, does he havemaster boards in his office where
he goes, like, here's thecharacters and here's their arc,
and this is where they're going?
And so do you, like, do youtrack their evolution?
Do you keep long time, youknow, in order to keep those longtime
(19:49):
fans satisfied, or do youjust, like, go with the emotion and
what you recall?
How do you keep track of your life?
I mean, how do you keep trackof your friend?
I mean, I remember thebackstories when I was working with
(20:09):
Jim, the editor at LittleBrown would.
The copy editor.
There were no developmental editors.
The copy editor would say, um,well, in book four, they said they
knew each other, you know, for11 years.
And now you're saying 12years, but it only went from July.
(20:32):
So you have fact checkers,that kind of thing.
But also you feel a certainkind of confidence that that's not
what the reader cares about.
If I accidentally, you know,say that, you know, we did this last
year, and it was, you know,you do your best to keep the continuity,
(20:55):
but that's.
That's not a problem.
You.
I mean, you want to know.
So in Red 8, Kylie's husband,legally married husband appears.
And I think he vanished at theend of Red four.
(21:17):
And he was gone through five,six, seven, and he comes back and
then I have to figure out howmany years he's, you know, so you
do a lot of, you know, there'sno AI involved.
It's just police.
It's police work.
Who was I talking to not longago when they were talking about
(21:37):
they.
They.
I want to say maybe it wasKyle Mills.
We're talking about writingseries versus standalones.
And this person, whoever itwas, said one of the biggest reasons
they like doing standalones,it's two big reasons.
One is they don't want to keeptrack of all the characters and the
timelines of a series.
(21:59):
And number two was they said,I have so many fresh ideas at any
given moment, then that whywould I.
Why would I stay in oneparticular pot?
I want to jump out of the potto a new pot.
And I.
And I thought about thatbecause I always thought, well, you
know, you want to, you want todo a series because you know that's
going to sell and so forth.
But really interesting take onthat, I think.
(22:23):
I've written severalstandalones and Don't Tell Me how
to Die, Snowstorm in August,but I think a series because again,
the predictable emotionalexperience of being.
Also, if you go into apublisher and, you know, here's the.
The book of my life where Iwas, you know, resurrected and, you
(22:46):
know, and I won the lotteryand this happened and that happened
and they go like, you have sixmore like that.
Well, no, it was one time, youknow, No, I mean, publishers don't
make a lot of money on thefirst book.
Witness Slow Horses.
Now, all that stuff that thetelevision show has helped the book
(23:10):
catch on the series and nowyou want.
I think from a businessstandpoint, you have a better chance.
If people look at this andsay, this could be a series, that's
compliment to say this couldbe a series.
It means I, I don't care whatthe plot is.
(23:32):
I want to be back with these characters.
They were so much fun.
You took me from page one topage 378 and I still want more of
them.
I love it.
It goes back to your veryopening statement about being character
driven.
And we tune in for thefamiliarity and the attraction to
the characters.
Now let's talk about plottingthe perfect crime.
(23:53):
You've written.
You've.
Well, perfect Being Relative.
You've written complexthrillers that hinge on precision.
And that's kind of one thing Ipick up on.
On your stuff.
And I. I like precision.
I'm telling Tammy all the time.
I like things that are precise about.
I like people who really knowtheir stuff, and they operate within
that world with that same precision.
(24:15):
Now, what's your system forbuilding that layered mystery where
you just stack it up, that itfeels both unpredictable and inevitable?
You've got a really great wayto do that.
I don't know.
Okay.
David.
I'm just damn good at what Ido, and I just jump in there and
I just.
But I think solving a crime inreal life, committing a crime in
(24:41):
real life, and solving a crimein real life takes planning and execution.
And I work with a retired NYPDhomicide detective.
I've mentioned him.
Danny Corcoran.
Danny Corcoran.
And Danny.
I mean, the feedback that I amgetting on NYPD Red 8 is so good
(25:05):
because you did hit on animportant thing.
The intricacy of how thesecrimes are going and how they're,
you know, how it's evolvingand it's really well thought out.
That's because I'm workingwith a guy who spent 24 plus years
in the department, and heknows the ins and outs.
(25:28):
It's why so many cops are fansof NYPD Red and of Lomax and Biggs.
Because I understand MichaelConnolly is great at this stuff.
Oh, yeah.
You know, I mean, there are.
There.
Michael Connelly knows whathe's doing when it comes.
He was a crime reporter, he'sa journalist.
(25:50):
So I think partly it's allthat attention to detail, because
you have to respect that youraudience is going to catch you if
you get it wrong.
And Danny is there to help meget it right and certainly keep me
(26:10):
from getting it wrong.
Yeah, yeah.
And you guys have been pals along time, right?
I mean, he's kind of thereover your shoulder for years.
It was.
Again, you know, he had me at hello.
All right.
Lessons from a career in storytelling.
Let's do this.
You, as you mentioned earlier,you've worn all these creative hats.
(26:31):
I mean, at the young, ripe ageof 49, you've managed to do all of
this stuff, which is just amazing.
I'm going on 126.
I told you.
TV films, novels.
What lessons?
And I'm particularlyfascinated by screenwriting because
I just.
I love that world.
What lessons from yourscreenwriting background?
(26:53):
Let's take that littledeparture, for example.
Most informed.
The way you write a thriller.
Keep it moving.
And just because two peopleare talking doesn't mean they should
just be sitting there.
Talking, Give them somebusiness, put them in a garden, put
them in a diner, put them in acar chase.
(27:13):
I worked in a visual mediumand I do my best to think visually.
That's, that's why I forget.
I, I don't even know whichbook it was.
I, it was six or seven.
It was, you know, they are.
The, the guy thereafter is, isin a blood mobile that was at, at,
(27:38):
you know, Citi Field, met, youknow, where the Mets play.
And he was, you know, takingblood and the cops were after him,
he jumped and he drives thebloodmobile like a maniac.
And I'm thinking like, give mesomething that the best action directors
would want to shoot.
(27:59):
Give me stuff that lendsitself to film.
You make it come alive.
When you make it cinematic.
You're painting the picturewithout telling the reader.
You're painting a picture.
God, you could cut that out.
It took too long.
Yeah, I think I will, becausethat was all right.
If only people were watchingthis far.
(28:19):
But yeah, no, they left a longtime ago.
I want to do a littlereflective thing.
I want to get off your bookfor a second because these are the
kind of questions that justevery once in a while I like to ask
for the pure of it.
If you could go back to your15 year old self and just say, hey,
listen, knowing what you knowtoday, what would you go back and
(28:41):
tell 15 year old Marshall ashe was trying to figure out what
he was going to do with hislife, if indeed he was trying to
figure that.
Out at 15, I would say,schmuck, you like to write, don't
you?
And I write to pen.
I was writing, I was writingshort stories.
My high school English teachertold me.
(29:02):
And yet I had decided thatwhen I would go to college that I
would actually go to collegeto become a dentist.
Because I didn't think there was.
I thought writing was justsomething you did, like you, you
know, nobody pays you to gohome and eat dinner.
Nobody pays you to like, youknow, take a nap.
(29:22):
Right?
It was just.
But I would have really toldmy younger self, this is, this is
not a job.
This is your calling.
Don't, don't dick around foras long.
Now, I did go for dentistry.
I found myself in journalismin college, but I didn't know.
(29:48):
And then I got intoadvertising, which is a business.
I didn't know that the depthof creativity, I didn't know the
well that was there.
And so I spent a lot of years.
It wasn't until I was like inmy late 30s and very successful That
I did that classic, is thisall there is?
(30:10):
You know what I really want todo in life?
I want to write stuff thatpeople listen to people read.
I would tell him that you havesomething that you can haunt.
I used to write stories in myhead when I was five, six years old.
I was actually in.
(30:31):
I was go to sleep and I wasnow reading, reading books.
And I was going to write abook that had cowboys and baseball
players and mystery and HardyBoys and cool stuff in it.
And it was like.
But I never took myself seriously.
(30:54):
And that would be a good thingto have known.
And I don't know if I wouldhave believed my older self, but
that's what I would tellmyself again, you know, hey, schmuck.
And it's so funny.
I was.
As you were telling thatstory, I think of Ted Bell, James
Patterson, both said a similar thing.
(31:16):
We got up close to the top orat the top or over the top and realized,
I mean, this is good and I'mmaking a shit ton of money and I'm
having fun, but there's gottabe more.
And it's so funny that allthree of you said almost the exact
same.
Thing, because in our hearts,we want to write.
(31:37):
Yeah, that's what we want to do.
And yeah, my writing helped mebecome successful and get to the
top of running a huge creative department.
But.
But it wasn't the.
I didn't want to write forcorporate America.
I wanted to write for the restof the world.
(32:01):
The book is NYPD Red 8, the1159 bomber.
But you feel like you're goingto get two books in one because there's
12 chapters at the end, 10,plus two preliminary chapters of
Don't Tell Me how to Die.
So in case you didn't hear ourformer conversation back in March
about Don't Tell Me how toDie, you can start the book here,
(32:24):
read, of course this book andthen go get that book.
So really, you can pre orderthis now, get that book, read them
both back to back becausethat's how much carb you want at
now.
And if you hurry, if you orderbefore midnight, I have these Ginsu.
No, I don't have any Ginsuknives left.
Remember those?
All right, listen, closing comment.
(32:45):
I know we mentioned this backin March, but for the listeners who
have joined the show sincethat show premiered, best writing
advice is kind of the buttonon the end of my show.
Everyone gives their bestwriting advice.
So maybe it's changed sincelast we spoke, maybe it hasn't.
But if someone is sitting athome or driving a car or on vacation.
(33:06):
And they're listening to thisand they're thinking, geez, Dave,
are you going to ask Marshallif he has a best piece of writing
advice?
So give it to me, baby.
Right?
Crap.
Write a chapter of total crap.
Write another chapter.
It doesn't matter.
The only way you're going toget to a book that you can edit is
(33:28):
to have something on paper.
Write every day.
Think about writing.
Don't worry if it's good or bad.
Don't beat yourself up.
Just write.
Don't judge.
Write every day.
And a professional writer isan amateur who did not quit, folks.
(33:49):
You would think his websitewas marshallcarp.com but don't let
that fool you because it'scarp kills dot com, dude.
Closing comment.
I loved the book.
It was so much fun.
Like I said at the beginning,the prologue takes your breath away.
By the way, little sneak peek.
I'm going to give you a little.
The very final chapter, thevery last one before the, you know,
(34:12):
the blurb on Don't Tell Me howto Die is almost equally as good
as the prologue.
So I haven't.
Very seldom do you see thebookends of a story start with a
bang, literally, and end witha bang.
Can I give a shout out to my,my developmental editor, Michael
Carr, who said when I waswriting that last chapter and he
(34:34):
said, why don't you likeparallel it to the prologue chapter?
I went, ah, great, great idea.
I don't see me here in the endof the acknowledgment.
Oh, that's going to be in thesouvenir edition.
Souvenir edition.
No, I didn't know you when.
I didn't know you when I waswriting that book.
(34:56):
This one.
You didn't know me then?
No, I was already finishedwhen we met in March.
Well.
So NYPD9, right?
I will see you again down theroad very soon.
Thank you for your time.
It's always a pleasure.
It's been terrific.
And you know, when we'reoffline, we'll talk.
But I'm a big.
I am.
(35:17):
I am your biggest fan.
You are Me and Tammy, so.
You and Tammy.
And thank you.
Thank your audience and forthose of you who, for those of you
who stayed, look under your seats.
There's a gift certificate toTaco Bell.
All right.
(35:37):
All right.
See you.
Foreign.
Welcome to the Thriller Zone.
Guess who?
Dave Temple, your host.
So nice to have you here ontoday's show.
My dear, dear friend, MarshallKarp has a new book called NYPD Red
8, the 1159 Bomber.
As you can see, I enjoyed it.
(00:20):
Made all kinds of notes.
Marshall is.
He's fast becoming one of mybest friends.
He's just a good dude.
So talented, and we have a lotof fun in today's show.
Now, there are some technicaldifficulties throughout the show,
and this is why I tell peoplewhen they go, Dave, what can I do
to make my show the best?
(00:41):
Your show the best?
Well, here's an idea.
Have a microphone that picksup your voice.
A standalone microphone.
Like, this is a good idea.
Headphones is a good idea.
I'm not wearing them todaybecause I don't need to, because
I'm not talking to anyone.
And.
Oh, WI Fi.
A really good, strong signal,muy importante.
Because if you don't havethat, well, sometimes.
(01:03):
Sometimes it just kind of stinks.
You know what I'm saying?
Anyway, those are just tipshere at the beginning of the show.
But Marshall Carp had a WI Fi challenge.
It comes and goes.
Big deal.
Who gives a.
We're having fun.
This book.
Well, what can I say?
Let's just say it's.
It's a hell of a read, andyou're going to really enjoy it.
(01:24):
But what I need to do is shutmy pie hole and get into the show,
because this one is fun.
Stick around, bear through allthe technical stuff, because you're
gonna learn stuff.
This is one thing withMarshall, I'm always learning something.
So, without any further ado,New York Times number one bestselling
author, Marshall Karp here onthe thriller side.
(01:46):
Enjoy.
Dude.
Yeah.
Long time no see.
Louis, compadre.
How are you doing?
I would say I'm really good.
You haven't changed a minute.
What's it been, a year?
It feels like it's been a year.
Hasn't been.
No, no, no, no, no.
I think don't tell Me how toDie came out on March 4, and you
(02:07):
and I met, like, on March 4and a half or something like that.
Wow.
Yeah.
Oh, it's.
Really.
Yeah.
Well, let's just.
You know, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna put this little propup there.
The subtitle is moreinteresting than NYPD Red 8 has.
NYPD Red has a fan base.
Nobody.
Nobody likes me, but theystill think Jim Patterson writes
(02:29):
the books.
Anyway, it's NYPD Red 8, the1159 bomber, which sort of gives
you.
Oh, this is going to be interesting.
There's a bomber and he startsblowing stuff up at 11:59am One minute
(02:49):
before noon.
On a daily basis.
I'm not going out into thestreet between a quarter to nine
and somewhere around dinnertime, because holy crap, we know
when the bomb's going off, butwe don't know where.
And it goes from neighborhoodto neighborhood to neighborhood.
And I remember when I was akid growing up, we had a mad bomber
(03:12):
in New York City.
And I reference him in the book.
It took the cops 16 years tofind this guy.
Wow.
His name was George Meteski,and he was a disgruntled employee
of Con Edison, the electriccompany who basically, I think, didn't
(03:35):
take care of their employeeswho were hurt on the job.
So.
Yeah, but he was.
He was.
He was crazy.
Yeah.
Well, wait.
He was crazy.
So I'm writing about that.
Yeah, that kind of fits inwith my style.
Yeah, I'm crazy is like mylove language.
(03:56):
Crazy like a fox.
Well, now, hold on a second.
Now we.
We're shooting out of the gate.
I don't want to.
I don't want to shoot out ofthe gate with all this.
We're going to get to this.
Oh, okay, okay.
You know, we're going to getto that.
Okay.
No, well, but you got mestarted, so.
Take two.
Foreplay.
Anyway, I just.
(04:17):
I fucking love to write.
I love to hear from people wholike what I write.
But I'm just having fun.
And I want you to have fun.
I want people to read the book.
I want people to go to thelibrary and take it out for free.
I like to write, and I hope it shows.
All right, so you said earlierthat you would actually.
(04:38):
And you said this under theauspices of kind of like.
I don't really want to saythis, but I would write these books
for free.
So is that you want to go onthe record as saying you'd actually
write, like, for instance,NYPD Red 8, the 1159 bomber.
So are you saying you mightoffer this for free or you're just
saying you would like.
(04:58):
Oh, my problem is that myproblem is always the uncomfortable
balance between art and commerce.
I write a lot of stuff for free.
I don't want to get into thethings that I have written for free,
that have helped people, theworld, whatever, and I do it because
(05:23):
I can do it.
But I now have a publisher whoplunk down money to get this into,
you know, bookstores andlibraries and, you know, all over
the place.
And they're not in businessfor love.
You know what they don't call it?
(05:43):
Show friends.
Jerry.
Right.
One of my favorite lines.
I mean, it's so.
But if you said to me, wouldyou help me write?
Blah, blah, blah.
Oh, I mean, I cannot tell youhow many father of the bride speeches
I have written that, you know,people go, oh, thank you.
You tell me when I write youan email or a text or even an inscription,
(06:08):
you don't feel like I phonedit in.
You feel like, this guy writesto me.
That's right.
Yeah.
Because I want to read anexample of that on the little note
that you put in my book,David, I hope you have as much fun
reading it as I did writing it.
Hugs.
Kisses, Love, Marshall.
Carp right there.
Oh, it says Marshall.
(06:29):
It doesn't say Marshall Carp.
Oh, the printed says, but it'sjust signed Marshall, like, warm.
Am I right?
Well, there's a great bigheart that I was just assuming was
Carp.
No, it's Marshall Hart.
But okay, anyway, so listen,let me.
Jump over here becauseotherwise, if I don't interrupt you,
you'll just be talking toyourself all day long.
(06:51):
So we're gonna go back to you.
And James started the seriesJim Jimmy to his friends.
How did you navigate thatcreative handoff?
Because I don't know if Iasked you this last time we talked,
but I want to know how youhand handle that, that creative handoff
and.
And what was like one of thebiggest creative.
Let's go with creativedifferences and freedoms between
(07:12):
collaborating and writing solo.
And before you answer that, Iwant the reason I asked that.
I was having dinner with abuddy of mine, Jack Stewart, who
came into town last week, andwe were talking about it and I said,
you know, how is it writingwith a collaborator versus on your
own?
And I thought, oh, I'm gonnaask the same thing, a Marshall, because
(07:33):
you're talking about havingwritten with one of the really big
biggies.
And I'm like, that had to havebeen its own unique experience.
But I also have gotten to knowyou pretty good, and you're kind
of an opinionated, thoughtfulguy with lots of.
(07:54):
I don't know if I hit the wordopinions enough, but.
So I'm curious as to what thatwas like, how.
How that handoff was and thepros and cons of duo versus solo.
When you talk aboutcollaboration, sometimes you talk
about like, you know, Rogersand Hart or, you know, Roger Hammerstein
(08:17):
or this guy and that guy.
They're kind of equal.
I was collaborating with an800 pound gorilla.
And that's, that's a little different.
I mean, Jim has a brand, hehas style.
(08:38):
And I knew that brand and heknew how he knew my writing.
And but the interesting islike I came to him with the concept
of NYPD Red, an elite taskforce who jumps in whenever a crime
is committed against, andsometimes by the rich and famous.
(09:01):
He loved his publisher, loved it.
I don't think this is, I thinkI've said this before.
Originally NYPD read the firstbook was going to be by Marshall
Karp, you know, kind ofpresented by James Patterson.
Because I basically wrote thebook and got Jim's feedback on it,
(09:25):
but the publisher was so happywith it that they wanted to make
it more co author and theregoes art and commerce.
So I said yes.
But for the most part, youknow, Jim is producing 30 books a
year.
Some he has to like be moreinvolved with than others, but he
(09:49):
was involved every step of the way.
And so I had done a lot ofthis on my own with him basically
approving or not approve it.
And there were times when Iwould pitch a story and he would
say, no, I don't like that.
In NYPD Red 7, which is thefirst book I wrote without, you know,
(10:10):
just on my own.
Without his, without the gorilla.
Yeah.
You know, and you know, the,you know, we say that affectionately.
I mean he, he's, he's the guyresponsible for the James Patterson
grant.
And I introduced a characterin NYPD Red 7, this 18 year old documentarian,
Theo Wilkins, who may or maynot be the illegitimate son of the
(10:37):
detective who's the hero, Zach Jordan.
Now I had pitched that idea toJim and he didn't want that.
He wanted keep it clean, justfocus on the heroes.
And now in NYPD Read 7, wefind out a lot about that relationship
between Zach and, and, and,and Theo.
(11:02):
And people were writing to mesaying, well, what happens next?
I want to know what happenswith those characters.
Because that's.
Yeah, I was going to say wefind out because when I, Yeah.
That when I got to the end,I'm like, oh snap.
Yeah.
But working with Jim for themost part was easy because we're
(11:30):
both on the same mission.
You don't have to always agree creatively.
I worked in television.
Some people were impossible towork with because they had an agenda.
Most people's agenda is like,oh, please God, don't let me get
fired today.
Especially in the.
(11:51):
Yeah.
And so a lot of people in thebusiness that I worked with were
like, well, I had the head ofcomedy at One point, comedy development
at a studio.
I worked for comedy was.
(12:15):
Had an accounting degree.
And he was promoted frombusiness affairs to head of comedy
development because one nightthey all went out and got drunk and
he was very funny.
I'm not kidding you.
So at least I respect Jim'spoint of view.
The very first book I wrotefor him, which was not NYPD Red,
(12:36):
which was don't, don't, whichwas kill me if you can, I resisted
some of the.
I resisted the Russian mob guywho was having an incestuous affair
with his daughter.
And then, you know, the firstsex scene I wrote that wasn't the
inside.
He goes, nah, I don't like thesex scene.
(12:56):
And, well, he knows whatreaders want in a sex scene.
So we had a glass of wine.
No, I learned a lot from Jim.
And I think if chapter one,321 prologue, 321 pages, grabs you,
(13:17):
you could read those two pagesin a bookstore.
You can read those two pagesin the library.
You go, like, you could callme on the phone and I'll read you
those two pages.
Actually, you would do it better.
But it's a compliment to say that.
And so we got to the pointwhere I really wanted to take over
(13:41):
the series and Jim was nowbranching out.
He was working with PresidentClinton and Dolly Parton and the
estate of Michael Crichton andJeffrey Epstein.
It was like he was beyonddoing, you know, the sequel to NYPD
(14:03):
Red.
So we, I wound up owning the property.
There you go.
And it was.
I mean, he did a video say,from now on, Marshall is writing.
And I can't wait to read itbecause I'm going to be surprised
at the ending.
So it was like, you learn alot and then you go off into business
(14:26):
yourself with the blessing of,you know, I could not do what Jim
does, which is produce thatmany books a year, trusting a lot
of other writers.
I'm a different kind of writer.
And that's why.
That's why I don't have amansion in Palm Beach.
(14:48):
All right, so let's do thissince we only have 30 minutes.
And that was question two.
And I've got 10.
Let me get moving here.
Not that we have to stick tomy script, but because we often don't.
But I want to talk about theheart behind the action, because
here's one things I've pickedup from your books.
They're always there.
(15:08):
They always have great way toblend big scale cinematic plots,
which is one of the reasons Ilike your writing, because you.
We write similarly, like cinematic.
When I write, I see the picture.
You write the same way, butalso it's the way you embed the very
human relationships.
There's a lot of heart in there.
(15:29):
So I want to, I want you totell my listeners how you balance
that emotional depth with allthat adrenaline fueled pacing, especially
like you did with a prologue.
How do you do that?
What's that?
Talk to me in the simple answer.
It's two things.
(15:49):
You can get complicated if youneed to.
Well, I'm only on question three.
I don't want to like being atelevision writer, being a film writer,
having been in the advertising business.
I don't think plot or Icertainly don't think only plot.
I think character.
And I think two things.
One is what is going on in theheart and mind of my character right
(16:13):
now as I write?
Because if this guy gotpunched in the face in chapter six
and then I didn't get back tohim till chapter 17 and that's been
like two months.
Gotta remember that he justgot punched in the face.
Yeah, he's still like, ow.
And it sounds like, well,wouldn't everybody?
(16:34):
No, a lot of times you just forget.
You start writing what youwant to write, not remembering how
the character feels.
What is going on?
What is the character thinking?
I mean, with Zach and withthis kid Theo, Zack is going, do
I talk to this kid?
(16:54):
He's already happy with thefather he's got.
What do I say?
And the other thing is, yearsand years ago, working in television,
I was asked this question bythis brilliant guy who was very successful,
Richard Dorso.
Why do people come back to thesame show over and over?
(17:17):
And it's simply because theylove the predictable emotional experience
they get from spending timewith those people.
And the example is Cheers orSeinfeld or Grey's Anatomy or any.
The plot changes every week.
But you don't remember allthose plots of the Office.
You just remember that MichaelScott was such an idiot and Pam and
(17:41):
Jim were so in love and theycouldn't express it.
And you know, and Mindy Kalingwas all Mindy Kay.
I mean, it was just.
It's the characters.
I want to see them behaving.
It's like, why do you go outto dinner with the same people when
you have a lot more friends onyour, in your contact?
(18:03):
Why do you like, like to hangon the phone or do something with
this guy or that guy?
It's because you enjoy that experience.
And characters, charactersgive you that experience.
So the emotional hot buttonsthat you feel Is because in the middle
of real life, people are real.
(18:23):
And.
And I can.
I, I.
It's.
I'm going to call it a giftthat I can be in touch with that.
Yeah, well, and it's so funnyto answer that question myself is
as I get older, and especiallyhaving now gone through cancer and
so forth, and it makes yourealize how precious life is without
getting too corny and howlittle time you got.
(18:45):
And so really, when you thinkabout it, and Tammy and I were talking
about this over the holidaywhen we were on vacation, I, like,
we.
We spend most of our timetogether, a very select few people.
I'm going to your point.
So you find something in theircharacter or their personality, the
way they share their life withyou, and you just want to hang out
with them, and that's kind ofthe way that you're saying about
(19:05):
your characters.
Let me move along here.
All right, now let's talkabout the craft of continuity, because
again, eight books in thisparticular series keeping characters
like Kylie and Zach, which, Imean, I love that.
Keeping them fresh, that's noeasy feat.
I mean, come on.
We all know that as writers,but what's your process for tracking
their evolution?
And I kind of.
(19:26):
I was looking at.
I was.
Okay, I was, you know, I wasfollowing you on Instagram and so
forth and on Facebook, and Isee where you were sitting.
You're right.
And I'm like, does he havemaster boards in his office where
he goes, like, here's thecharacters and here's their arc,
and this is where they're going?
And so do you, like, do youtrack their evolution?
Do you keep long time, youknow, in order to keep those longtime
(19:49):
fans satisfied, or do youjust, like, go with the emotion and
what you recall?
How do you keep track of your life?
I mean, how do you keep trackof your friend?
I mean, I remember thebackstories when I was working with
(20:09):
Jim, the editor at LittleBrown would.
The copy editor.
There were no developmental editors.
The copy editor would say, um,well, in book four, they said they
knew each other, you know, for11 years.
And now you're saying 12years, but it only went from July.
(20:32):
So you have fact checkers,that kind of thing.
But also you feel a certainkind of confidence that that's not
what the reader cares about.
If I accidentally, you know,say that, you know, we did this last
year, and it was, you know,you do your best to keep the continuity,
(20:55):
but that's.
That's not a problem.
You.
I mean, you want to know.
So in Red 8, Kylie's husband,legally married husband appears.
And I think he vanished at theend of Red four.
(21:17):
And he was gone through five,six, seven, and he comes back and
then I have to figure out howmany years he's, you know, so you
do a lot of, you know, there'sno AI involved.
It's just police.
It's police work.
Who was I talking to not longago when they were talking about
(21:37):
they.
They.
I want to say maybe it wasKyle Mills.
We're talking about writingseries versus standalones.
And this person, whoever itwas, said one of the biggest reasons
they like doing standalones,it's two big reasons.
One is they don't want to keeptrack of all the characters and the
timelines of a series.
(21:59):
And number two was they said,I have so many fresh ideas at any
given moment, then that whywould I.
Why would I stay in oneparticular pot?
I want to jump out of the potto a new pot.
And I.
And I thought about thatbecause I always thought, well, you
know, you want to, you want todo a series because you know that's
going to sell and so forth.
But really interesting take onthat, I think.
(22:23):
I've written severalstandalones and Don't Tell Me how
to Die, Snowstorm in August,but I think a series because again,
the predictable emotionalexperience of being.
Also, if you go into apublisher and, you know, here's the.
The book of my life where Iwas, you know, resurrected and, you
(22:46):
know, and I won the lotteryand this happened and that happened
and they go like, you have sixmore like that.
Well, no, it was one time, youknow, No, I mean, publishers don't
make a lot of money on thefirst book.
Witness Slow Horses.
Now, all that stuff that thetelevision show has helped the book
(23:10):
catch on the series and nowyou want.
I think from a businessstandpoint, you have a better chance.
If people look at this andsay, this could be a series, that's
compliment to say this couldbe a series.
It means I, I don't care whatthe plot is.
(23:32):
I want to be back with these characters.
They were so much fun.
You took me from page one topage 378 and I still want more of
them.
I love it.
It goes back to your veryopening statement about being character
driven.
And we tune in for thefamiliarity and the attraction to
the characters.
Now let's talk about plottingthe perfect crime.
(23:53):
You've written.
You've.
Well, perfect Being Relative.
You've written complexthrillers that hinge on precision.
And that's kind of one thing Ipick up on.
On your stuff.
And I. I like precision.
I'm telling Tammy all the time.
I like things that are precise about.
I like people who really knowtheir stuff, and they operate within
that world with that same precision.
(24:15):
Now, what's your system forbuilding that layered mystery where
you just stack it up, that itfeels both unpredictable and inevitable?
You've got a really great wayto do that.
I don't know.
Okay.
David.
I'm just damn good at what Ido, and I just jump in there and
I just.
But I think solving a crime inreal life, committing a crime in
(24:41):
real life, and solving a crimein real life takes planning and execution.
And I work with a retired NYPDhomicide detective.
I've mentioned him.
Danny Corcoran.
Danny Corcoran.
And Danny.
I mean, the feedback that I amgetting on NYPD Red 8 is so good
(25:05):
because you did hit on animportant thing.
The intricacy of how thesecrimes are going and how they're,
you know, how it's evolvingand it's really well thought out.
That's because I'm workingwith a guy who spent 24 plus years
in the department, and heknows the ins and outs.
(25:28):
It's why so many cops are fansof NYPD Red and of Lomax and Biggs.
Because I understand MichaelConnolly is great at this stuff.
Oh, yeah.
You know, I mean, there are.
There.
Michael Connelly knows whathe's doing when it comes.
He was a crime reporter, he'sa journalist.
(25:50):
So I think partly it's allthat attention to detail, because
you have to respect that youraudience is going to catch you if
you get it wrong.
And Danny is there to help meget it right and certainly keep me
(26:10):
from getting it wrong.
Yeah, yeah.
And you guys have been pals along time, right?
I mean, he's kind of thereover your shoulder for years.
It was.
Again, you know, he had me at hello.
All right.
Lessons from a career in storytelling.
Let's do this.
You, as you mentioned earlier,you've worn all these creative hats.
(26:31):
I mean, at the young, ripe ageof 49, you've managed to do all of
this stuff, which is just amazing.
I'm going on 126.
I told you.
TV films, novels.
What lessons?
And I'm particularlyfascinated by screenwriting because
I just.
I love that world.
What lessons from yourscreenwriting background?
(26:53):
Let's take that littledeparture, for example.
Most informed.
The way you write a thriller.
Keep it moving.
And just because two peopleare talking doesn't mean they should
just be sitting there.
Talking, Give them somebusiness, put them in a garden, put
them in a diner, put them in acar chase.
(27:13):
I worked in a visual mediumand I do my best to think visually.
That's, that's why I forget.
I, I don't even know whichbook it was.
I, it was six or seven.
It was, you know, they are.
The, the guy thereafter is, isin a blood mobile that was at, at,
(27:38):
you know, Citi Field, met, youknow, where the Mets play.
And he was, you know, takingblood and the cops were after him,
he jumped and he drives thebloodmobile like a maniac.
And I'm thinking like, give mesomething that the best action directors
would want to shoot.
(27:59):
Give me stuff that lendsitself to film.
You make it come alive.
When you make it cinematic.
You're painting the picturewithout telling the reader.
You're painting a picture.
God, you could cut that out.
It took too long.
Yeah, I think I will, becausethat was all right.
If only people were watchingthis far.
(28:19):
But yeah, no, they left a longtime ago.
I want to do a littlereflective thing.
I want to get off your bookfor a second because these are the
kind of questions that justevery once in a while I like to ask
for the pure of it.
If you could go back to your15 year old self and just say, hey,
listen, knowing what you knowtoday, what would you go back and
(28:41):
tell 15 year old Marshall ashe was trying to figure out what
he was going to do with hislife, if indeed he was trying to
figure that.
Out at 15, I would say,schmuck, you like to write, don't
you?
And I write to pen.
I was writing, I was writingshort stories.
My high school English teachertold me.
(29:02):
And yet I had decided thatwhen I would go to college that I
would actually go to collegeto become a dentist.
Because I didn't think there was.
I thought writing was justsomething you did, like you, you
know, nobody pays you to gohome and eat dinner.
Nobody pays you to like, youknow, take a nap.
(29:22):
Right?
It was just.
But I would have really toldmy younger self, this is, this is
not a job.
This is your calling.
Don't, don't dick around foras long.
Now, I did go for dentistry.
I found myself in journalismin college, but I didn't know.
(29:48):
And then I got intoadvertising, which is a business.
I didn't know that the depthof creativity, I didn't know the
well that was there.
And so I spent a lot of years.
It wasn't until I was like inmy late 30s and very successful That
I did that classic, is thisall there is?
(30:10):
You know what I really want todo in life?
I want to write stuff thatpeople listen to people read.
I would tell him that you havesomething that you can haunt.
I used to write stories in myhead when I was five, six years old.
I was actually in.
(30:31):
I was go to sleep and I wasnow reading, reading books.
And I was going to write abook that had cowboys and baseball
players and mystery and HardyBoys and cool stuff in it.
And it was like.
But I never took myself seriously.
(30:54):
And that would be a good thingto have known.
And I don't know if I wouldhave believed my older self, but
that's what I would tellmyself again, you know, hey, schmuck.
And it's so funny.
I was.
As you were telling thatstory, I think of Ted Bell, James
Patterson, both said a similar thing.
(31:16):
We got up close to the top orat the top or over the top and realized,
I mean, this is good and I'mmaking a shit ton of money and I'm
having fun, but there's gottabe more.
And it's so funny that allthree of you said almost the exact
same.
Thing, because in our hearts,we want to write.
(31:37):
Yeah, that's what we want to do.
And yeah, my writing helped mebecome successful and get to the
top of running a huge creative department.
But.
But it wasn't the.
I didn't want to write forcorporate America.
I wanted to write for the restof the world.
(32:01):
The book is NYPD Red 8, the1159 bomber.
But you feel like you're goingto get two books in one because there's
12 chapters at the end, 10,plus two preliminary chapters of
Don't Tell Me how to Die.
So in case you didn't hear ourformer conversation back in March
about Don't Tell Me how toDie, you can start the book here,
(32:24):
read, of course this book andthen go get that book.
So really, you can pre orderthis now, get that book, read them
both back to back becausethat's how much carb you want at
now.
And if you hurry, if you orderbefore midnight, I have these Ginsu.
No, I don't have any Ginsuknives left.
Remember those?
All right, listen, closing comment.
(32:45):
I know we mentioned this backin March, but for the listeners who
have joined the show sincethat show premiered, best writing
advice is kind of the buttonon the end of my show.
Everyone gives their bestwriting advice.
So maybe it's changed sincelast we spoke, maybe it hasn't.
But if someone is sitting athome or driving a car or on vacation.
(33:06):
And they're listening to thisand they're thinking, geez, Dave,
are you going to ask Marshallif he has a best piece of writing
advice?
So give it to me, baby.
Right?
Crap.
Write a chapter of total crap.
Write another chapter.
It doesn't matter.
The only way you're going toget to a book that you can edit is
(33:28):
to have something on paper.
Write every day.
Think about writing.
Don't worry if it's good or bad.
Don't beat yourself up.
Just write.
Don't judge.
Write every day.
And a professional writer isan amateur who did not quit, folks.
(33:49):
You would think his websitewas marshallcarp.com but don't let
that fool you because it'scarp kills dot com, dude.
Closing comment.
I loved the book.
It was so much fun.
Like I said at the beginning,the prologue takes your breath away.
By the way, little sneak peek.
I'm going to give you a little.
The very final chapter, thevery last one before the, you know,
(34:12):
the blurb on Don't Tell Me howto Die is almost equally as good
as the prologue.
So I haven't.
Very seldom do you see thebookends of a story start with a
bang, literally, and end witha bang.
Can I give a shout out to my,my developmental editor, Michael
Carr, who said when I waswriting that last chapter and he
(34:34):
said, why don't you likeparallel it to the prologue chapter?
I went, ah, great, great idea.
I don't see me here in the endof the acknowledgment.
Oh, that's going to be in thesouvenir edition.
Souvenir edition.
No, I didn't know you when.
I didn't know you when I waswriting that book.
(34:56):
This one.
You didn't know me then?
No, I was already finishedwhen we met in March.
Well.
So NYPD9, right?
I will see you again down theroad very soon.
Thank you for your time.
It's always a pleasure.
It's been terrific.
And you know, when we'reoffline, we'll talk.
But I'm a big.
I am.
(35:17):
I am your biggest fan.
You are Me and Tammy, so.
You and Tammy.
And thank you.
Thank your audience and forthose of you who, for those of you
who stayed, look under your seats.
There's a gift certificate toTaco Bell.
All right.
(35:37):
All right.
See you.
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