By Mike Householder
Associated Press Writer
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- He's two decades past the age when most Americans begin receiving Social Security benefits.
And the Hot Kid's never been hotter.
Elmore Leonard's 44th novel, "Djibouti," hit shelves on Tuesday, a day after he celebrated his 85th birthday. And "Justified," the FX drama based on a Leonard short story and for which he's an executive producer, wrapped up a critically acclaimed first season earlier this year.
Surely, the octogenarian is ready to slow down a bit.
"Nooooo," Leonard says when the dreaded "r" word is uttered: retirement.
"There's no reason to. This is the most enjoyable thing I do," he said during an interview at his home in suburban Detroit. "I've been doing it for nearly 60 years."
The numbers over that time are staggering.
Besides 44 novels, Leonard has written 32 Western short stories and nine produced screenplays. Seventeen of his books have earned a place on The New York Times list of best-sellers, and he's had his work turned into 21 feature films, seven TV movies and three series, the latest of which is "Justified."
That show is at the forefront of Leonard's thoughts these days.
He's writing again about U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a recurring Leonard character who is the centerpiece of "Justified." Leonard's plan is to send along some of the material to the show's producers in the hope it'll end up on screen in the upcoming second season.
"I have written him in two books before and he can carry a book," he says. "There's no question about that. But to get him into situations that would work for 'Justified,' then I'm doing a little bit more than writing a book. I think they will use quite a bit of it."
Leonard's writing process is the same as it's always been.
He settles in at his home office around 10 a.m. behind a desk covered with stacks of paper and books. He lights a cigarette, takes a drag and sets about to writing -- longhand, of course -- on the 63-page unlined yellow pads that are custom-made for him.
When he finishes a page, he transfers the words onto a separate piece of paper using an electric typewriter. He tries to complete between three and five pages by the time his workday ends at 6 p.m.
"Well, you've gotta put in the time if you want to write a book," Leonard says of his shift work that is befitting of his hometown's standing as the nation's automotive capital.
Leonard's father was a General Motors employee who moved his family to Michigan when the future author was a boy.
It was here that he acquired the nickname "Dutch" (which survives to this day) after Emil "Dutch" Leonard, a knuckleball pitcher of the day. The ballplayer's card sits in the writer's study on one of the shelves lined with copies of his books.
After college, Leonard wrote advertising copy for Chevrolet and Westerns on the side.
A decade later, he quit his job and devoted himself to writing full time. But with a family to support, Leonard was forced back into writing freelance advertising. He kept at it, though, and his breakthrough came in the 1980s with "La Brava" and "Glitz," which landed him on the cover of Newsweek.
Since then, Leonard has written about a book a year. His most recent work includes "The Hot Kid," "Up in Honey's Room" and "Road Dogs."
His latest, "Djibouti," features the same deadpan dialogue, unexpected plot twists and morally ambiguous characters that are the hallmarks of nearly every Leonard effort, but the subject matter and locale are a departure.
"Djibouti" follows an award-winning documentary filmmaker who heads to the Horn of Africa to chronicle the activities of Somali pirates. In true Leonard fashion, each character has motivations that aren't always immediately clear and often lead them to operate on the other side of the law.
Leonard says it's his favorite book so far.
But, he says, laughing, "the one I always just finish is always my favorite."
Leonard became interested in the subject in recent years when he came across news reports of modern-day pirate activity.
"I thought, 'These guys are having fun.' They're not hurting anybody. They do have automatic weapons and rocket launchers, but they haven't hurt anybody yet," he says. "They just climb aboard the ship, which is unarmed always -- merchant ship -- and take it over, take it down to one of their ports and anchor it there while they ask for ransom."
Leonard swivels around in his chair, snatches a copy of "Djibouti" off a table, opens it to the final page and reads the closing 11 paragraphs.
When the last word is uttered, the slender, bearded author slams the book shut.
"It's all in fun, you know," Leonard says, cracking a smile.
The novel also meets Leonard's word economy requirement.
He tries to keep books under 300 pages, and "Djibouti" checks in at 279.
"This one time, The New York Times asked me if I would review a Tom Clancy book. I said, 'How many pages is it?' And they said, 'Oh, it's only 400 and some.' I said, 'I don't read books with more than 300 pages.' So I got out of that," he said.
One person who never wants to get out of reading a Leonard novel is Dennis Lehane, who has made a name for himself by taking a page out of the Leonard play book: writing crowd-pleasing crime novels ("Gone Baby Gone" and "Mystic River") that end up on the big screen.
Lehane says Leonard is as relevant as ever.
"It's not just that he's prolific. It's that he's prolific and there's been no marked decline in quality," Lehane says. "His novels remain almost unconscionably entertaining and sharply written, populated by characters I would have loved to have met in the local bar last night, even if they would have mugged me as I left.
"There's a lot of superlatives you could lay at his door, but the one just about everyone I know agrees on is this: 85 or no, he is still the coolest writer working today."
Published: Tue, Oct 19, 2010
