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Problem was, neither of us had room in our schedule for a honeymoon until the time when we were originally planning to have a wedding. So the trip to Italy had to wait–but let me tell you, it was worth it. Rome, Venice, and our favorite, Florence. We stayed at a fabulous 16th-century palace refashioned as a hotel. Could not possibly be a more romantic location in the entire world, or so it seemed to us. I’ll put some of our photos in the newsletter, but you can see the whole portfolio by visiting either Marcia’s or my Facebook photo gallery.
In June we hosted my annual writing workshop. I’ve been organizing this event since 2005, but I have to say that this was the best one yet, in no small measure due to the presence of Steve Berry and his wife Liz. I’m sure most of you read Steve Berry (if you don’t, you should, assuming you have remaining funds after purchasing several copies of Capitol Offense), but you may not know that he is as good at teaching writing as he is at writing itself. He held the audience so enthralled that I was afraid some people would never go home. His wife Liz spoke on book publicity and I have never heard a better presentation on the subject. My thanks to both of them for making the Workshop a success.
The following week, I taught an intensive one-week seminar for ten students with work-in-progress. This is the third time I’ve taught these seminars and three of my students are now published novelists with major houses. I couldn’t be prouder of them. I’ll be doing both the Workshop and Seminars again next year. If you or someone you know might be interested, please visit my website, www.williambernhardt.com, and click on Writing Programs. 
The highlight of July was the Thrillerfest, sponsored by ITW (International Thriller Writers). Organized by the aforementioned Liz Berry, this annual event has become the most important gathering of authors in the nation. It’s a star-studded event both for writers, aspiring writers, and readers who enjoy quality fiction. At the Saturday night banquet, Marcia and I had a chance to meet with old friends and make some new. I’ve worked with Brad Meltzer, and admired his novels and graphic novels, but never met him till then. Also saw Clive Cussler, David Morrell, John Lescroart, Heather Graham, James Rollins, Lee Child, and many others. For a long-time book geek like me, this was better than being at the Oscars.
In August, we traveled to Honolulu for the Hawaii Writers Conference, a fabulous learning experience presented by John and Shannon Tullius, and then it was back home to get the kids ready for school. Harry is driving now and Alice is on the cusp, so I’m envisioning days when Ralph will be the only child who has to be driven to school. As I write this, Harry is at a job interview, Alice is reading about colleges...and Ralph is playing on the Wii. How will I write without three noisy children in the house? Marcia has assured me she will find some other kind of noise to fill the gap. As I’ve mentioned before, she’s a miracle worker. BEN KINCAID IS BACK! 
After a brief hiatus so that I could write Nemesis, Ben Kincaid will return for his 17th adventure, in Capitol Offense. This series began in 1991. I’ve written 27 more books since, and the world has changed somewhat in the interim. Social networking is the buzz of the publicity and marketing world these days. I have a Facebook page, and I hope you will all log on and click to be my Facebook friends. I’m also on Twitter, and this is the first time I’ve tried to describe a book’s plot in "tweets," which aficionados will know must be 140 characters or fewer.
Do you tweet? If so, you’ll have no trouble following these five tweets to get an idea what Capitol Offense is about: In Capitol Offense, beloved wife & dr Joslyn Thomas disappears. Her distraught husband begs the police to start a MP search-but they refuse. Cops finally search week later. Find Joslyn but it's too late-she's died slowly trapped in car. Husband outraged. "There will be a reckoning!" Husband Dennis Thomas visits lawyer/senator Ben Kincaid. "If someone kills the cop who murdered my wife, could you get them a pardon?" That night, the lead 'tec who wouldn't search is murdered. Guess who the DA suspects? Ben Kincaid has the biggest case of his career, and... Ben doesnt realize these deaths are connected to a much larger conspiracy that threatens the entire nation-unless stopped B4 it’s too late. That’s not so hard to follow, is it? Next time, I may write the whole book in 140 characters. It would save a great deal of time... I am touring some with this book, so if you live near, Tulsa, Springfield MO, Charleston, WV, Washington, D.C., or Scranton PA, or even if you don’t, please check the Events page on my website: www.williambernhardt.com. And at any rate, please rush to the bookstore and give the book a look. And tell your friends. IS THERE A BEN BOOK YOU HAVEN’T TRACKED DOWN? YOU STILL HAVE TIME... Marcia and I are still planning to move. We’re not sure where we’re going yet, but we are sure that there won’t be room for the roughly four kazillion books we currently have. So here’s your chance to get books you might be missing and to help us lighten our load. A win-win scenario! You can get complete sets of the Ben Kincaid books, fourteen of them (all except Cruel Justice, Murder One, and Criminal Intent), for a mere $200, plus $20.00 for shipping. Is that a deal or what? All are hardcovers except the first three Bens (because they never were in hardcover) and Capitol Murder (because I don’t have any). Most are first editions (note: for Hate Crime I have only large-print editions). So what are you waiting for? It’s the perfect gift for that Ben Kincaid lover in your life (even if it’s you). I’ll happily autograph and personalize them, if you wish. I’ll make a similar offer for some of the non-Bens: Dark Eye, Strip Search, Equal Justice, Princess Alice, Natural Suspect, and Legal Briefs. Only $80 here, plus $9.95 for shipping. And you can get individual copies of any of the books, if you don’t want the whole set. If you’re interested in this offer, just drop me an email: wb@williambernhardt.com. You can pay by check or, if you wish to use credit cards, call HAWK Publishing at 918 492 3677. STILL MORE UPDATES My website has had a facelift, courtesy of superb web designer Amy Smith. I think this is the best incarnation of this site yet: www.williambernhardt.com. Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness will be released in paperback the same day that Capitol Offense debuts–September 29.  My DVD lecture series, The Fundamentals of Fiction, is still available on my website. This is five hours of me talking about writing a novel, from inception to completion, covering the initial idea, structure, characters, plot, revision, and many other topics. The website also has my 2010 teaching schedule. In addition to the summer Workshop and several week-long Seminars throughout the year, I’m teaching legal writing and business writing Continuing Education programs. If you’re interested in having me speak to your group, click here. 
Attention Book Clubs: If your group reads Capitol Offense, you can enter a contest on my website. Take a picture of the group holding my book. One will be chosen at random and the winner will receive, well, me. I’ll attend a meeting of your book group, and then you’ll learn all the secrets about Ben Kincaid you never even suspected. You can find all the details on the website.
There’s a complete list of all the Ben Kincaid novels in chronological order on the website, too. The next Ben Kincaid book will be released in 2010. Check my website for more information. I hope you all have a splendid autumn and remember--keep reading! Best, William Bernhardt |
Marcia and I finally took our long-delayed honeymoon in April. You may wonder why that was long-delayed, since in the Nemesis newsletter I said were we marrying in April. Turned out we couldn’t wait that long. Actually, we married the day after I sent out the newsletter. It dawned on us that morning: What were we waiting for? We’re not getting younger, we don’t need a big ceremony. So Nemesis was released on January 13, we were married on January 14...and I flew to Cleveland early on January 15 to start the book tour. Possibly not the recommended nuptial procedure in Bride Magazine...but I’m very glad we did it.
