The time has finally come! No, not your vaccine appointment—the July 27 release of THE LOST GIRL, which introduces new characters to the Alan Jacobson canon, including Mickey Keller, a fixer with a complicated past. Keller finds himself conflicted regarding what his...
I have some experience with racism, including growing up in Queens, NY, during some racially volatile times. I experienced racism firsthand—and was at the short end of black hate against whites (see my bio for some background). I lived through “white flight” and...
Nineteen years ago today, my brother called me in the early morning hours on the west coast and told me to turn the on the TV. He said a plane had flown into one of the twin towers. Having grown up in the city, and worked from time to time in the towers with my...
I met Tom Seaver in 1969. I was just a kid in New York City and he was doing a promotional appearance at a furniture store in Manhattan. My dad had a business in the city and we had just come from a job, so we arrived late. Just about everyone had left except for Tom...
I have been digesting the events of the past week with a heavy heart, deep sadness, and tremendous disappointment. Heavy heart for the family of George Floyd. Deep sadness for our country—we are supposed to lead the world in civil rights, in the rule of law, in...
Someone at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) came up with a brilliant idea: rather than causing or contributing to damaging fires when the weather turns dry and windy, they will shut off power to over 800,000 of its customers. For how long? They don’t know—it...
by Alan Jacobson The following article appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Suspense Magazine. Posted here with permission. The findings have been tabulated and the data parsed. The results of the Authors Guild landmark years-long study on author income trends are...
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to sign an executive order suspending the death penalty. While there hasn’t been an execution in the state since 2006, there are over 700 inmates on death row. How serious is the governor about this? He ordered that...
If there’s one article you read about publishing this year, this should be it ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SUSPENSE MAGAZINE (November/December 2018 issue) By Alan Jacobson and Peter Hildick-Smith USA Today bestselling author Alan Jacobson has been writing novels...
I’ve been a Mets fan for 49 years. (I feel old just typing that.) I’ve seen scores of players come and go. Some made their mark, while most didn’t. David Wright obviously did—not only in the record books but in the hearts of baseball fans, Mets fans, and his fellow...
Choosing the proper names for my characters is something I have focused on my entire career–which now spans more than two decades. I remember reading books early on where the character names were so close to one another that I got mixed up who was who. As a...
Both readers and authors know how important the beginning of a book is: if it doesn’t grab you right away, there are other things you could be spending your time doing. Conversely, the ending is the last impression that you leave the reader with, so obviously that’s...
As part of the ongoing research for my new book, I spent a few hours last week meeting with the Special Agent in Charge at one of the FBI’s busiest, and largest, field divisions in the country. And although I’ve been working closely with the Bureau for almost a...
I saw an article yesterday about Vice President Pence flying cross-country on Air Force Two to attend the San Francisco 49ers game. Only he left during the national anthem–before the game began. And he told his secret service detail to keep the cars where they...
The Darkness of Evil: what happens when a daughter discovers her dad is a serial killer? A couple of years ago I started wondering what it would be like for a daughter to discover that her father is a heinous murderer of women. What would she feel? Denial?...
