East meets west: author C.J. Box in Cleveland

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - The news that western mystery writer C.J. Box was going to be in Cleveland (actually south of Cleveland) at the Cuyahoga Public Library sent me catapulting in that direction on 24-hours notice with editor, promotions director (and wife) Sylvia Fox.

With C.J. Box - gotta love the hat

Box has been a favorite writer since I stumbled across his novel Endangered earlier this summer at the Watkins Glen Public Library.

Since then, I've studied his work more carefully and love the way he winds environmental themes in with police work all in tightly written novels.

His talk was great. It took him years to get his first book published, but then things took off fast.

His best story/anecdote was how he went to a writers' conference and was meeting with a book editor,  telling his tale of woe about not getting his first book published yet.

The book editor asked who the agent was. When Box told him, the book editor replied, "He died four months ago."

Although getting to have any real one-on-one time wasn't realistic, I did manage to slip Box copies of both The Fracking War and Fracking Justice, along with a brief note, asking if he could pass along word to his very much alive agent, Ann Rittenberg that I need literary representation.

And we did get a nice photo taken together.

Now it's back to the draft of Jack's Boat.