Volume 5, Issue 69: All Due Respect

"That's not a real general from history."

My upcoming novel, Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, will be released on May 20. I believe you will like it. I hope you will pre-order it. Send me your pre-order receipt and I’ll send you a book plate and enter you into a contest to, like, hang out with me. Details here.

Warning: This is the One Month Out newsletter about the pending book release. Might lay it on a little thick today.

Every two years, I write a novel. Because I am a creature of habit—which, deep down, is really just about control—I have a clear schedule for each one.

Summer Year One: Nail down premise of book, sketch out rough plot outline and character summaries, generally estimate word count.

September Year One: Begin writing book.

December Year One: Reach one-third-of-the-way-through benchmark, send to editor with desperately needy plea for encouragement that the book is on the right track.

March Year One: Reach two-third benchmark.

May Year One: Turn in first draft of book.

Summer Year Two: If book is not a total disaster that must be scrapped entirely, do editor-advised revisions.

September Year Two: Turn in revisions.

October Year Two: Lock down manuscript, come up with title, send to copy editor.

December Year Two: Start thinking about marketing plan, send out to potential blurbers, drop hints of pending new book in newsletter and on social media, slowly rejoin society.

March Year Two: Commence promotion. Fret.

May Year Two: Book is released.

Summer Year Two: Process repeats.

I have no idea how long I’ll be able to keep this up. After the success of How Lucky—still my best-selling book—I signed a two-book deal with Harper Books; the first of those books was The Time Has Come (a book I loved but a book that did not connect with readers the way that How Lucky did), and the second is Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, which comes out on May 20 and which I’ll be talking to you about today. The goal is to continue this process as long as both I and my editor are alive, but that does require people to actually buy the books. This is, alas, not an art project, as much as I might like it be.

I have become a fiction writer relatively late—my first published adult novel (no offense, Catch) came out when I was 45 years old—and I have discovered that it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I love it, I’ve gotten pretty good at it, I’ve developed my own little specific fiction voice and I have many more stories I want to tell. I will always write about sports because I love writing about sports—these books could sell 40 million copies and I would still want to write about baseball every week—but writing novels has turned out to be my passion: It might have been what this was all supposed to be about in the first place. I want to keep doing it.

I need your help in this. If half of the subscribers to this—always free, I remind!—newsletter pre-ordered the book, it would debut on the bestseller list. (And get my kids a puppy.) Nobody becomes a writer to sell stuff. (One of the best things about being a writer is that you don’t have to sell stuff.) But every two years, it is simply part of the job. Fortunately: The stuff I have to sell is stuff that I personally made. I’m selling something directly from the heart.

I’m very proud of this new book and think you a lot of you would very much like it. Which does make it easier.

So, as is tradition, when we are a month away from book release, we do an all-encompassing FAQ about the new book. Hopefully this will answer any question you have about it and encourage you to pre-order your copy wherever you buy your books.

Also, this FAQ format also allows me to talk to myself, a lifelong hobby.

So here goes:

Hello.

Hi.

So: You wrote another book. How many is this now?

This is seven.

This is the wall of my father’s garage. I have yet to write a book called “Emerald Coast Cruizin: Panama City,” but give me time.

So what’s this one about?

It is called Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, and it tells the story of Lloyd McNeil, a veteran of the Atlanta Police Department. Lloyd is the son of a controversial Atlanta police chief but is himself a quiet, unassuming beat cop most known for solid, unspectacular work and an affable, self-effacing presence. He is divorced with a 13-year-old son named Bishop who he adores and would do anything for. He gets the opportunity to prove it when, in the scene that opens the book, he discovers he has a glioblastoma, which his doctor informs him will kill him in a matter of months. His despair, for himself and for the son he will leave without a father, leads him to write a series of letters to his son to read after he’s gone (The Ten Gentle Edicts of Lloyd McNeil) and to try to find a way to leave something behind.

He discovers that, if he is killed in the line of duty his police pension will pay Bishop roughly 20 times what his insurance will pay if he dies of his glioblastoma, so he decides to try to die on the job. He ends up throwing himself into a series of dangerous situations, but he ends up surviving them … and being seen as a civic hero. Meanwhile: He is still dying. And people are starting to notice.

Did you like my attempt at writing ad copy? It’s not my strength.

Oy. Yeah. Did any professionals give it a shot?

Fine, here’s the official Harper synopsis.

From the Alex Award-winning and Edgar-nominated author of How Lucky, this twisty, funny, and ultimately uplifting novel follows a father in a race against time to provide for his child.

Lloyd McNeil has just learned he has months to live. He also learns that his twenty years as a beat cop in Atlanta haven’t earned him enough money to take care of his teenage son, Bishop, after he’s gone. But when Lloyd discovers his police benefits will increase exponentially if he dies in the line of duty, he comes up with a plan.

Lloyd begins to throw himself into one life-threatening situation after another to try to get himself killed and to provide for his son . . . but he keeps failing—and surviving. To his shock, his accidental heroics make him an inspirational icon in the community. But time is still running out for Lloyd to get his affairs in order, to teach Bishop the lessons he needs to be a good person, and to say goodbye.

Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride is a surprising, unforgettable blend of suspense, humor, and compassion. It is a novel about what we leave behind and what we learn along the way, a bighearted and stirring story about the depths of a father’s love for his son.

When does it come out?

Tuesday, May 20.

What’s glioblastoma?

It’s an aggressively evil form of brain cancer that, without treatment, will typically kill a person in three months; with treatment, you can maybe make it a year. There is no clear cause, and no cure. (You can read the Mayo Clinic’s description of it here.) My Uncle Dave died of it, as did my parents’ next door neighbor back in Mattoon. A visit I made to see her in February 2020, two months before she died, served as the initial inspiration for the book.

This book sounds depressing.

I understand that, but I promise you it isn’t. It is a story about life, and parenthood, and trying to be the best person, and the best parent, you can be down to the very end. I also was worried a story about a person dying from a glioblastoma would be too depressing, so I made sure to try to make it as funny and lively as possible. Lloyd is a terrific person who is excellent company. I believe you will enjoy it very much.

What books does it most resemble?

Well, I think every book I ever write is a fountain of inventiveness, a completely original creation that has no relation to anything that has ever existed. But I’d say the authors who kept spilling out of my head while writing it were probably Tom Perrotta, Flannery O’Connor, Kevin Wilson, Stephen King and Dave Eggers. On a basic structural and functional level, though, you’ll probably find the first-person, real-time, as-it-happens perspective evocative of How Lucky. Daniel and Lloyd are very, very different people, but the propulsive, direct nature of their storytelling shares some similarities. So if you liked How Lucky, this is probably closer to that for you than The Time Has Come was.

Does this take place in the same universe as How Lucky and The Time Has Come?

Yes. There are references to the events of both of those books in the narrative, and there is one character who has a small part in each of those books who is a major character in this one. (If you have read them, you can very easily guess who this is.)

What were you trying to accomplish with the book? What were you thinking while you were writing it?

Oh, the same things I’m always thinking about in this newsletter. Trying to be a good parent. The insanity of the current times. The fear about the mess that is currently being left to the next generation. What it means to be a decent person in a world that’s not always decent … but I believe wants to be. Life, death, loss, and the power of being able to stay optimistic through all of it. Because of all this, I also seriously really did try to make it as funny as possible.

What have other people said about it?

Here’s a social ad Harper made for it. I don’t know how to make these.

Other people will be saying more about the book in the coming weeks, and hopefully some of it will be good.

What did I hear about you selling movie rights?

It’s true, that did happen.

The “competitive bidding war” was a rather crazy process that I can’t say anything about right now but will surely write about someday. I can say that I’m delighted to be working with a major studio like Lionsgate on the project. The world of movies is an unpredictable one, and surely the process of getting this film made will be difficult, full of all sorts of unexpected detours and cul de sacs. But I’ve been so impressed by their passion for the book and their dedication to make it happen—the whole thing has already been more than I possibly could have hoped for. I’m also pleased that the news came out before the book was released, which doesn’t always happen; it’s difficult for a book to break through all the noise, so every little bit helps.

Also, yes, I will be serving as executive producer on the project, and as soon as I find out what an executive producer does, I am going to work so hard to be so good at it.

Is there an audiobook?

There is! Here’s a clip of it!

The narrator for the book is a man named Chris Andrew Ciulla, who is very talented and, other than his unfortunate Boston sports fandom, is a very nice guy. I actually—as is also tradition around here; we always talk to our audiobook narrators when a book comes out—interviewed him about his career and the book. That interview will run here in the next couple of weeks.

Will there be a book tour?

A small one, but yes, there will be.

I only wish I had someone around with a passion for graphic design who could put together a flyer for me.

Wow, oh my gosh, look, it’s Real Storm’s Wynn Leitch.

For those of you scared of iguanas, here are the dates and locations for the three currently scheduled events.

Wednesday, May 21: Athens, Georgia
Athens Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens GA 30606
7 p.m.

Thursday, June 26: St. Louis, Missouri (with Bernie Miklasz)
Left Bank Books
399 N. Euclid Avenue
St. Louis MO 63108
7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 16: Los Angeles, California (with Jeff Garlin)
Book Soup
8818 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood CA 90069
7 p.m.

If your book store is interested in hosting an event, have them contact me at williamfleitch@yahoo.com and we’ll see if we can work something out. For now, though, these are our primary events.

If I’m a member of the media who would like to write about the book, or an influential podcaster or television producer/host who would like to have you on to talk about the book, whom should I talk to?

That would be the great Kate D’Esmond at Harper Books. You can contact her at kate.d'esmond@harpercollins.com.

I am very excited to read this book.

Well, thank you, I want you to know that I find you handsome, erudite and quite dashing. There’s a very easy way to make sure you have the opportunity to read it at the earliest possible moment: Order the book right now, and it will show up at your doorstep the day it is released. Do it this second, you won’t even remember you did it, it’ll just appear on May 20, as if it is manna dropped from the heavens.

It also seems like it would make an excellent Father’s Day or Mother’s Day present.

The book is very much about parenthood—about being a parent, and being parented—so yes, I would think so as well, thank you for making a point to mention that!

I hope I have sold you on this book. And even if I haven’t, well, this is a free newsletter, and will always remain so, and all it really asks of you is to buy a book every couple of years. This is now your time to do so. If you like this newsletter, you will very much like this book. I’m very proud of it. And I’d like to make more.

Here is a numerical breakdown of all the things I wrote this week, in order of what I believe to be their quality.

1. “Sinners” Will Restore Your Faith in Movies, The Washington Post. In praise of ambition and scope.

2. The NFL Draft Is Boring, New York. Sorry! It is!

3. Is the Team Most Likely to Make the Playoffs … the Cubs? MLB.com. It brings me no joy to say this.

4. Look Who’s Going For a Batting Title All of a Sudden, MLB.com. I know it’d old thinking, but I still like me some batting average.

5. This Week’s Power Rankings, MLB.com. These don’t start feeling like a slog until July.

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch, we discussed “Sinners,” “The Shrouds” and “The Wedding Banquet.”

Morning Lineup, I did Monday’s and Friday’s shows.

Seeing Red, Bernie Miklasz and I are watching the bullpen blow a lot of leads.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday, a post G-Day wrapup.

LONG STORY YOU SHOULD READ THIS MORNING … OF THE WEEK

“The Genius of Jokic,” Michael Pina, The Ringer. Michael was great when I worked with him at Sports on Earth, but he’s even better now. Great piece.

Also, this piece about Trump’s Cabinet acting more like people who do their jobs than actually doing them struck me right.

ONGOING LETTER-WRITING PROJECT!

This is your reminder that if you write me a letter and put it in the mail, I will respond to it with a letter of my own, and send that letter right to you! It really happens! Hundreds of satisfied customers!

Write me at:

Will Leitch
P.O. Box 48
Athens GA 30603

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

“Rearviewmirror,” Pearl Jam. Here’s one of the more washed things I’ve done in a while: I’m seeing Pearl Jam on Tuesday in Atlanta about a quarter of a mile away from where Kendrick Lamar is playing. To be fair, I bought the Pearl Jam tickets before the Lamar show was announced, but that is not stopping my kids from giving me some real good roasting about it. I’ve always been a bit of a Pearl Jam skeptic, to be honest, but I also understand their generational importance and have long thought if you just picked, say, their 15 best songs and put them on one album, it would be one of the greatest classic rock albums of all time. (Though I have to say, the last few albums all sound like Christian rock to me.) With apologies to “Corduroy,” though, I think it’s pretty obvious that “Rearviewmirror” is their best song.

Remember to listen to The Official Will Leitch Newsletter Spotify Playlist, featuring every song ever mentioned in this section. Let this drive your listening, not the algorithm!

Also, there is an Official The Time Has Come Spotify Playlist.

Also, currently working on a Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride Playlist.

Got to my first two Cardinals games of the year this week with Bryan Leitch. The bullpen only blew one of them!

Have a great weekend, all.

Best,
Will