The
Dead Room, No. 1 in France for 54 Days
Since February 7th, more
than 54 days ago, the French translation of The Dead Room, entitled Les
Écorchées, has been a No. 1 bestselling thriller in France. It has been an
awesome experience to watch! And I think it’s time to thank three people who
either inspired me to write this novel or were directly involved in helping me
make the story what it became.
First, much thanks go to my
father who turned me on to Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon. My father only read
history, so when I came home from school and saw him bouncing off the ceiling
with excitement over a work of fiction, I was surprised beyond belief. I can
still hear him saying, “Bobby, you’ve got to read the wheelchair scene!”
I also think it’s important
to mention the influence that Michael Connelly has had on my writing. I’ll
never forget attending one of his signings at an independent bookstore in
Pasadena. He said, “I write what I like to read.” And when asked what his
favorite books were, Red Dragon was in the top ten. As if writing two
masterpieces like The Last Coyote and Angels Flight weren’t
enough, Michael Connelly wrote another one of my personal favorites, The
Poet. I was stoked when I heard that this novel was coming out, and since
it has, I’ve probably read it ten times. The atmosphere and mood, the story,
everything about this novel is that good.
Of course, I’m saving the
most important influence on my writing for last. I don’t think that The Dead
Room would have been The Dead Room without the help and guidance of my
friend and mentor, John Truby. From the very beginning, we met once a week to
talk about this novel. The Dead Room was meant to be a tribute to my
father, the city and neighborhoods where I grew up, and like Michael Connelly
said, the novels I liked to read most. But even more, the goal was to have this
story spin on a dime. To end the story in such a way that it kept the reader
going until the very last page without the need for any exposition or
explanation, just the shock of that last page. John Truby helped me achieve all
this and more. I should add that John was the story editor on 21 Jump Street,
and the author of two terrific, if not essential, books about writing, The
Anatomy of Story, and his latest gem, The Anatomy of Genre. Both
books are “must reads.” What I’m trying to say is how grateful I am to John. I
realize now that he was the key player in overseeing my transition from being a
writer who worked in the dark, to becoming a storyteller. Cheers to all three
of these wonderful people and their work and influence on me, and to Thomas
& Mercer and the French translation of The Dead Room, Les Écorchées, which was, at the time I’m writing this, still No. 1!
Link to The Dead Room on Amazon US
ROBERT ELLIS WRITERS BLOG
4/11/23
