From: Charlie Memminger ( Nov. 5, 2011)
Charlie sent me the manuscript via email a couple of years ago, and I sent it to James Hall, who in turn sent it to an editor. And here we are.
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Cal,
A Hawaii online news site did a two part interview with me on "Aloha, Lady Blue." I mentioned that you were directly responsible for me ever getting and agent ... and so your name popped up in the story this morning. The link is below.
We've been getting some great national reviews, including a rave "red star" review from Publisher's Weekly. You can see some of the action on my Facebook page. The governor of Hawaii is sending an advanced reading copy of the book to President Obama, his buddy. We're hoping that word will get out that the president is reading this great novel from an unknown writer in his home state.
The publisher will be sending out the first hard-cover copies the book in the middle of December. If you send me your address, I'll make sure you are on the list.
Thanks again for all your help and support!
Aloha,
Charley Memminger
http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/11/29/17754-the-difficulty-of-hawaii-authors-getting-published-on-the-mainland/
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Calvin,
Don't remember if I sent you the news release from St. Martin's Press ... I'm trying to get the word out so if you want to run it on your MacDonald website or send it to any other John D. fans, feel free. I also joined the Mystery Writers of America to help create some buzz before the book comes out. The editor who is handling the book says the more I can get the word out among the mystery readers and MacDonald fans, the better...
Aloha,
Charley
Here'e the release:
Minotaur Signs Two-Book Deal With Hawaii Columnist Charles Memminger
NEW YORK, NY ˆ Minotaur Books has signed a deal with Hawaii-based writer Charles Memminger to publish his first novel, Kahala Road and a sequel. The publication dates have not been set yet.
Memminger is best known as a national award-winning humor columnist and screenwriter who was a staff writer on the final season of Baywatch Hawaii. But he also spent years as a newspaper crime and investigative reporter. He drew on both his experiences in crime and humor to create Kalaha Road, a light tropical thriller set on Oahu. Kahala Road is an homage to John D. MacDonald‚s celebrated Travis McGee series.
I wanted to create a 21st century Travis McGee character set in Hawaii, Memminger said. The result is Stryker McBride, a former newspaper reporter-turned barefoot philosopher who withdrew to a houseboat in Kaneohe Bay after being shot by a rogue cop during an investigation of Honolulu organized crime. In ŒKahala Road,‚ Styker emerges from his self-imposed exile to find himself in drawn into a mystery whose roots reach back to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Memminger has been recognized as one of the top humor columnists in the country by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. His essays and columns have appeared in national magazines, distributed by the New York Times News Service and he was the only writer in Hawaii to be included in Chicken Soup For The Soul of America, written in memory of the victims of 911. He’s had two books of his work published in Hawaii, the most recent being Hey, Waiter, There‚s An Umbrella In My Drink : Tales From The Tropics By Hawaii’s Favorite Humor Columnist)
He is represented by the New York literary agency Inkwell Management.
Minotaur Books is an imprint of St. Martin‚s Press, a subsidiary of Macmillan.
Submitted by Hector DeJean. Associate Publicity Director for Minotaur Books, St. Martin’s Press
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