Reader: THE
DEAD ROOM is your most popular novel. More writers have ripped off this title
than any book I've ever heard of, including the romance writer, Heather Graham,
who should have known better. A movie came out last year, a really bad movie,
ripping off the title. In my bookstore, THE DEAD ROOM by Robert Ellis, is still
the best selling thriller they've ever had on their shelves. Did you expect this
kind of success when you wrote this novel?
Robert: If
you had asked this question last week or even last month or last year, I would
have said that THE DEAD ROOM was definitely my most popular novel. But now,
with CITY OF ECHOES and THE LOVE KILLINGS, that's just not true anymore! CITY
OF ECHOES and THE LOVE KILLINGS are actually a single story that took two books
to tell. Once everybody figured it out, these two novels caught fire and
changed everything for me.
Don't get me
wrong, the Lena Gamble novels are my most critically acclaimed work to date,
and I'm so proud to have created these stories and this wonderful female
detective. If I was writing detective fiction like Michael Connelly, I would
have continued with Lena's character until the end. But I write thrillers, not
detective stories. Thrillers work and move so much differently, and it's just
not possible to continue with a single character for very long. Once a
character gains experience, they lose vulnerability, which is the key to anyone
who writes and reads and loves a great thriller. While I may find a way to work
Lena back into a story with Detective Matt Jones or even the defense attorney,
Teddy Mack, someday in the future, it's still not on the map.
But getting
back to THE DEAD ROOM, I believe that in crime fiction there are only a few
writers pushing the genre forward. I dedicated THE DEAD ROOM to my father
because he introduced me to one of them, Thomas Harris, and his masterpiece,
RED DRAGON. THE DEAD ROOM will always be
special for me because it was more or less an attempt to push the ball one step
further up the mountain. From the overwhelming response, we succeeded. But even
more, the story is set outside Philadelphia in the towns and neighborhoods
where I grew up, so it feels very personal. And then, of course, LAPD Detective
Matt Jones brings it all back in THE LOVE KILLINGS by returning to Philadelphia
for another series of particularly gruesome
murders in places I walked as a child and young man.
THE DEAD ROOM will always
be special, but right now, everything on the stove has come to a boil because
of CITY OF ECHOES and THE LOVE KILLINGS. While some critics believe that the
Lena Gamble novels, CITY OF FIRE, THE LOST WITNESS, and MURDER SEASON are my
best work, LAPD Detective Matt Jones in CITY OF ECHOES and THE LOVE KILLINGS
are my two favorites right now. And yes, I'm working on Matt Jones's third case
as we speak and it's going well!
R O B E R T E L L I S W R I T E R S B L O G
I've very excited about returning to the Pequot Library in Southport, Connecticut! Half of the first Lena Gamble novel, CITY OF FIRE, was written at a table in this library! Hope to see you there! Sunday, November 19th, 4-6 pm.
READER:
OMG! I just read CITY OF ECHOES and THE LOVE KILLINGS back to back for the
third time. I took notes and have started writing my first novel, but can't
seem to get anything done. Running errands that don't need to be run, cleaning
closets that don't need to be cleaned ... You're working on your eighth novel,
the next Detective Matt Jones thriller, so I'm sure you know where I'm going
with all this. I've spent two weeks doing everything except writing. Is this
writer's block? And if so, how do I get rid of it so I can start and finish my
first novel?
