This morning we are welcoming a newcomer to the blog, author Mark Rubinstein, featuring his latest thriller, Assassin’s Lullaby.
A pleasure to meet you, Mark. How do you take your coffee?
MR: I drink Crème Caramel Keurig pod coffee every morning; 2 cups followed by a cup of Hazelnut Mocha from a pod.
Ally: I think I’ll let the magic coffee pot choose one of those. In the meantime, please tell us something about yourself.
After earning a degree in business administration at NYU, Mark Rubinstein served in the U.S. Army as a field medic tending to paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division.
After his discharge he returned to college, went to medical school and became a physician, then a psychiatrist.
Rubinstein’s high-octane thrillers Mad Dog House (2012) and its sequel, Mad Dog Justice (2014), were both finalists for the ForeWord Book of the Year Award. His novella, The Foot Soldier won the Silver award in the 2014 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition, in the Popular Fiction category. His novella, Return to Sandara, (2014), won the gold IPPY Award for Suspense/Fiction. The Lovers’ Tango, won the gold medal in popular fiction at the 2016 Benjamin Franklin Awards. Mad Dog Vengeance (2017), the last book in the Mad Dog trilogy. His most recent novel is Assassin’s Lullaby.
Something unique/unusual that isn’t in your regular bio: “Apparently my thrillers are so realistic that I’ve been asked at author talks if I ever actually killed anyone.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.markrubinstein-author.com
Twitter: @MrubinsteinCT
Email: author.mark.rubinstein@gmail.com
Ally: Are you self-published or traditionally published? How did you make the decision?
MR: I’ve been self-published and traditionally published. With self-publishing I have far more control over formatting, cover design and other elements of publishing. Traditional publishing affords me greater readership and exposure.
Ally: Do you use critique groups or beta readers? Do you find them valuable?
MR: My First Reader is my wife who has a keen eye for dialogue and description. She often reins in some of my wilder excursions into literary pretense. I’ve always said that she’s rescued every novel I’ve written.
Ally: Do people you know sneak into your books as characters?
MR: Yes. People I know sneak into my books as character. I must say that they are all good characters. The evil ones are purely products of my imagination.
Ally: Do you write from an outline?
MR: I don’t use an outline. Rather, I begin by writing down a bunch of disparate ideas and eventually, they begin to form something of a plot, although it’s quite vague. As I write, the plot tends to unfold organically. I often know where the novel will begin and where it will end but have no idea how I’ll get there. That’s part of the creative fun of writing.
Ally: What’s the best writing/marketing advice you’ve received?
MR: The best writing advice I’ve ever been given is to just write. You can’t wait for inspiration. If you wait for inspiration you’re a waiter, not a writer. Just write every single day, even if on any given day you only do it for 15 minutes.
Ally: How many books do you read in a month? Which genre(s)? Favorite authors?
MR: I read about 8 books a month. Mostly suspense thrillers although I do have a fondness for certain literary authors—Philip Roth, William Styron, Ian McEwan, and a few others.
Ally: What three books in your genre (other than your own) would you recommend to readers?
MR: I would recommend, above all, Savages by Don Winslow. Then would come Mystic River and The Drop by Dennis Lehane.
Ally: How do you react to reviews of your books?
MR: I do my best not to read reviews of my books; that includes the favorable and not-so-favorable.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose?
MR:
- memorable book you’ve read: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
- book you’re currently reading: Two Days in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
- an author (living or dead) you’d love to chat with: Philip Roth
- ebook or print? I read both. I even read the print on cereal boxes.
- movie you’ll always remember: Deliverance.
Ally: Thank you for spending time with us, Mark. Before you go, please show us your featured book, Assassin’s Lullaby.
Genre: thriller/psychological thriller
Heat warning: Author reports a romantic scene rates 8 of 10 (without being graphic)
In every life, there lurks catastrophe. So believes Eli Dagan, a 39-year-old man whose traumatic past led to his service as an assassin for the Mossad. He now lives in New York City where, under various assumed names, he’s a contract killer.
Anton Gorlov, the head of the Brooklyn-based Odessa mafia, has a new and challenging assignment for Eli—he wants to leave the country permanently, so all loose ends must be eliminated, and he’s willing to pay $1 million for the task.
The job will involve extreme measures along with unprecedented danger for Eli, who has lived a ghostly existence over the last ten years. Is accepting Gorlov’s offer a subliminal death wish? Or is it a way to reclaim part of his damaged soul?
For the first time since his pregnant wife and parents were killed by a suicide bomber years earlier, Eli Dagan faces challenges that will reconnect him with his blighted past and may yet offer hope for a new and better life.
“With Assassin’s Lullaby, Rubinstein joins the ranks of Daniel Silva and John le Carré. It’s a riveting story, relentlessly paced.” ~ James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Odyssey
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nWEa2y
B&N: https://bit.ly/3cWvdQI
IndieBound: https://bit.ly/2Zt560s
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/assassin-s-lullaby