Dan Brown writer and man

by Leigh Russell

At the risk of sounding like a gnat patting an elephant comfortingly on the back, I feel rather sorry for Dan Brown.

I have to come clean. I’ve only read one of his novels. Of the man himself, I know nothing. But it would be impossible to be unaware of Dan Brown the phenomenon. I wonder if he aspired to success on such an unprecedented scale, when he first put pen to paper. (Fingers to keypad doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it? When he first tapped the keys, perhaps.)

There has been some wittering about the delayed publication of his latest book. I’ve read that he dragged his heels finishing it, anxious about critical reaction. I’ve no idea if that’s true. I can only extrapolate from my own experience (as a gnat speculating about the feelings of an elephant).

So far a few thousand people have bought my first book, which launched just over two months ago. My publisher has just reprinted Cut Short (I’m a successful gnat!) and Road Closed, the next book in the series, is with my publisher, en route to the editor. After the fun of writing Road Closed, I’m nervous about the response of my publisher, my editor, and – most of all – the reaction of my readers.

I’m talking about a few thousand readers. The number is growing from a very few thousand to a fair few thousand. All those people have bought my book. An admiring teenager asked me today, ‘Do people recognise you on the street?’ I was sorry to disappoint her, but . . . no, of course not. I’m not a celebrity. In bookshops people are beginning to recognise me. As more people see my video on youtube
a few more people may recognise me. A few thousand now, and perhaps a few more thousand by the end of the year. Perhaps not. It’s small scale and it’s fun. And, even on my small scale, a little nerve wracking.

The internet has had a huge effect on personal privacy. Millions of people know Dan Brown’s face, although they are strangers to him. That sounds uncomfortable to me. As for the idea of millions of people (did I see 40 milllion?) reading my book – I have a sneaking suspicion I’d find that a little unnerving. The thought that everyone I met would have an opinion about my writing would alter how other people perceived me, how I felt towards them, and towards myself. There’d be no getting away from it. I think it would change the way I wrote. I’d no longer be able to sit in cafes unnoticed, an invisible observer.

I’m a very ordinary person. I value my ordinary life. I love who I am. I love being an author. I’m not sure I’d enjoy being a phenomenon. And for Dan Brown, there’s no going back. I wish him luck – with more than a tad of envy for his success. I’d swap places with him on the bestseller list if I could, as a writer, but I’m not sure I’d change places with him as a person.

Dan Brown Day

by Matt Lynn

First, a confession. I really liked The Da Vinci Code. Admittedly, that was in part because I’ve always enjoyed the rich vein of nutty conspiracy theories that it drew upon, but I also though it was a brilliantly conceived and executed thriller. It took two of the strongest traditions of the genre – Sherlock Holmes style sleuthing, and cold-war conspiracies – and brilliantly updated them. It completely deserved all its success.
There’s only one problem with it – and one that is particularly pressing as the tsunami of hype and hoopla over Dan Brown’s follow-up, ‘The Lost Symbol’, threatens to wash away the rest of the publishing industry. Like many really successful books, while good in itself, its consequences haven’t always been quite so happy.
Publishers, inevitably, have been trying to cash in on the book’s popularity.
In the wake of The Da Vinci Code, the Vatican seems to have taken over from the KGB as the stock villain for thriller writers. Where once, every thriller had to have a tense scene with a rogue double-agent at Checkpoint Charlie, now it is just as mandatory to have a few missing pages from the Old Testament to chase, some wacky inscriptions from a church spire to decipher, and a few rogue monks quietly assassinating people.
It works for Dan Brown. But when most other writers try it, it looks a bit silly.
Worse, the publishers are now terrified that the Dan Brown juggernaut means they have to clear all other books from their schedules. But that is probably a mistake as well. After all, lots of people will be going into bookshops in the next couple of weeks to buy ‘The Lost Symbol’. They may well buy something else as well while they are there. So this month is probably a good one to sell a book that isn’t by dan Brown.
Which is why my fellow Curzon writer Richard Jay Parker and I put a short video up on You Tube about the Dan Brown craze. We wish the Dan-ster the best of luck with the new book – there are certainly a lot of expectations to live up to. But publishers and booksellers should remember there are a lot of other good books out there. And the last thing his fans are looking for are pale imitations and rip-offs.