An Interview with Bestselling Author Robert S. Levinson

If you asked Robert S. Levinson why he chose a career in writing, he'd answer that it was much more a case of the career choosing him. Writing runs in the family; it's in his blood.

For years, his father penned "Tales from Off the Street," a weekly column for a Los Angeles newspaper, The Voice, about the characters he met in his day job as a cab driver. What's more, his uncle, once described in the New York Times as "Broadway's most unsuccessful playwright," at times made a few bucks inventing and writing (not so) true stories about well-known sports figures that sportscaster Bill Stern featured on his radio show.

As a young child, Levinson entertained thoughts of becoming a reporter, only to later become executive editor of the Los Angeles Examiner's Scholastic Sports Association Program, then news bureau manager for the Riverside Press-Enterprise. When time allowed, Levinson also freelanced for a score of publications, including the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Westways, Los Angeles Free Press, Written By Magazine, and Los Angeles Magazine.

Later, after a few years of work in the PR business, he founded Levinson Associates, which created and pioneered "independent PR support services" in the music industry, and represented more than 700 high-profile clients such as Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, and The Who.

Then, after several good years in the PR business, and several more writing and producing television specials, Levinson decided on yet another career change: he wanted to become a novelist. And he did just that, crafting the bestselling Neil Gulliver and Stevie Marriner mystery-thrillers, as well as the stand-alone bestseller for Five Star First Edition Mysteries, Ask a Dead Man. His next thriller for Five Star, Where the Lies Begin, will be published in May '06. His short stories appear frequently in the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines and "Best of The Year" anthologies.

Recently, WritersBreak.com had the pleasure to speak with Bob about his life and craft. Here's what he told us.

Why do you write?

Because I have to. (If all else were to fail, I'd be off somewhere scribbling on the walls of public toilets.)

What is your favorite part about writing? Your least?

Favorite—that magical moment where the little light bulb goes off over your head, you smile, chortle, snap your fingers, and shout, "Of course!" Translated: When the solution magically presents itself to whatever story or character element prevented you from moving past the roadblock you created for yourself.

Least favorite—slashing with neither fear nor favor scenes and dialogue that slow down the story telling, always followed by second guessing yourself, aka "writer's remorse," and suffering past the temptation to reinsert the stuff. (Do I still wonder about my decision to pull an entire chapter from Hot Paint? Well, I know it was the right decision and [it] worked out, but…but…but…)

Do you ever experience writer's block? If so, how do you work through it?

Infrequently, probably because I'm from the gut school of writing, developing the story as I go along (versus writers who work from an outline and rarely stray from the route). If and when writer's block occurs, it's usually of brief duration. A couple hours, maybe. Maybe a day. Never longer. I work through it staring at the screen and trying one approach to the next sentence or paragraph, then another, then another, until the mojo starts working again. Sometimes, a shower helps. Sometimes, a drive on the freeway, which unnerves my wife if she happens to be along. (She's an old school type, who believes my mind should be on the road, the traffic, that car I'm inching up on…Sheesh!)

Do you have a writing schedule?

Yes. It developed after I fully committed to writing and pushed my business interests aside. Weekdays, it begins around 6:30 a.m. and continues to 6 p.m., unless brain fatigue has set in, which often happens around 4-4:30 p.m. There are brief pauses for breakfast, lunch and correspondence. Weekends, I start an hour later, and quitting time is closer to noon.

Describe your writing environment.

A nice-sized upstairs bedroom commandeered after my daughter left home. Two desks. The one I work on, top heavy with the computer, the other buried under stacks and stacks (and stacks) of unorganized reference files and folders. Floor to ceiling bookcases full of reference books, mostly about fine art and film subjects. On the walls, some of the signed limited edition prints by contemporary artists collected over the years (e.g., Johns, Hockney, Lichtenstein, Oldenburg, Cuevas, Appel).

Blanketing available surfaces, scads of family photos and, to a lesser degree, photos from my earlier lives, more recent photos with authors I admire and got to meet through my involvement with Mystery Writers of America, assorted memorabilia, (e.g., a "Dear Bob" letter from Bill Clinton, my press pass to a Royal Gala attended by Queen Elizabeth, a photo I took of Muhammad Ali clutching a Bible at a Book Expo). In the closet, a filing cabinet, supply shelves, storage boxes filled with whatever at the time seemed worth saving, although right now I have no clue to contents.

Do you have a favorite book on writing?

Not necessarily one favorite. Among the several I recommend when asked are Lawrence Block's On Writing Fiction and Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, Stephen King's On Writing, Al Zuckerman's Writing the Blockbuster Novel, Thomas B. Sawyer's Fiction Writing Demystified, and Carolyn Wheat's How to Writer Killer Fiction.

Explain the road to publishing your debut novel, The Elvis and Marilyn Affair.

I wrote what nowadays I call my "practice novel," my first stab at fiction and currently gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. It landed me a literary agent, who said it needed considerable work, suggested I put it aside and instead, try my hand at a mystery novel, because they were easier to sell.

I hadn't read a mystery in years, mostly Ellery Queen, Ed McBain, Mickey Spillane, Richard S. Prather. I went to my local independent book store that specialized in mysteries, bought a half dozen bestsellers, and quickly came to realize a "mystery" was pretty much a story that put a dead body in the first chapter.

I played around with several plot ideas that drew on my background, the old "write what you know" strategy. It led to a book built around a newspaper columnist, Neil Gulliver, and his ex-wife, Stevie Marriner, the acknowledged "Sex Queen of the Soaps." Instant success, right? Wrong! Publishers weren't interested and, politely speaking, the literary agent lost interest in me.

I stuck with the concept of Neil and Stevie and ultimately hit on the hook that sold The Elvis and Marilyn Affair—Presley and Monroe in a torrid romantic entanglement (or were they?) while both were on the 20th Century Fox lot, Elvis making his first movie, "Love Me Tender," Monroe making "Bus Stop."

The sale didn't happen overnight. First, I had to find a new agent, one that loved the book enough to put some real hustle behind it. That took about twelve months. Her finding an editor at a publishing house who was similarly enthusiastic took another year. And it was something like fifteen months before "The Elvis and Marilyn Affair" made its debut. So, what's that? Something like three years? But, wonder of wonders, I had achieved my goal of all those years ago: a published novel. That the book marked the beginning of a best-selling "Affair" series starring Neil and Stevie makes the up-and-down-and-up-again effort that much sweeter.

Did your connections in the media world, including your work with high profile artists and others in the entertainment business, help with your pursuit as a novelist?

Not a bit. In fact, it was something of a detriment. I discovered early in the process that many literary agents and publishing houses back east disdain "show business types" as something akin to carpetbaggers, whose experience with scripts and press releases doesn't mean they can string together words that make for a novel. A "show business types" exception (natch!)—almost any high-profile celebrity with the kind of name recognition that can almost guarantee a bestseller (ghost writer optional, but usual).

It's probably why it took so long to make that breakthrough with The Elvis and Marilyn Affair which opened the way for the second book in the series, The James Dean Affair which opened at Number 1 its first week on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.

How long does it generally take to write one of your novels?

On average, four to six months. This includes a two or three week breather between finishing the book and going back to work on edits and revisions with a fresh mind, the down time often filled by writing a short story. Some people think that's pretty fast. It might be. I credit the pace to those years I spent as a reporter obliged to pound out copy—and get the facts right—against an encroaching deadline.

How do you market yourself?

Not as well as I should and certainly not in a way that takes full advantage of my years of experience in public relations and marketing. I make a selective and limited number of in-store appearances on top of a book's publication, mainly at the independent bookstores where I've come to know so many wonderful people. I attend the key conferences, such as Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime, which in a limited way extends the "fan" base. I'm game year-around for speaking engagements at libraries and reading groups, these more often by invitation than solicitation. I'm a member of a couple mystery-type web sites, such as Dorothy L, but rarely post. I produce an occasional newsletter, The Bob Levinson Affair. I have a web site, www.robertslevinson.com, and try to keep it relatively current (the relative being my daughter, the webmistress) with news and scads of photographs. I'm pretty good about responding to mail via boblevinson@robertslevinson.com.

What's your favorite quotation?

John Cheever wrote, "Fiction is not a competitive sport."

What are you working on now?

A couple stand-alone thrillers, one finished except for a last read in another week or so, the other perking along.

What do you think is one of the biggest misconceptions aspiring novelists have of the writer's life?

That it's all fun and games (or, maybe, riches and fame) (or, maybe, fun and games and riches and fame) once the first book is written, an agent connection made, and a publishing contract [is] signed.

What advice would you impart to these aspiring novelists?

There's a wonderful exchange in the Oscar-winning fact-based film Chariots of Fire, where a despondent British Olympics team hopeful tells a lady friend (quoting here from memory), "If I can't win, I won't run." She responds, "If you don't run, you can't win." He runs. He wins. So can you… Don't let rejection get you down or slow you down. Don't ever quit trying.