After a hurricane-delayed landing into New York City a few years ago, Brett Battles had just 10 minutes to make his connecting flight to Zurich.
And that’s when the novelist saw a message from his literary agent: Call me.
But Battles didn’t have a moment to spare, making it on the plane as the doors closed behind him.
“I couldn’t even make the call; I had zero time,” says Battles during a Zoom interview. “Once I got to Europe, I had to wait another six hours because now she was asleep.”
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Battles, a novelist with more than 40 books to his credit, including his Jonathan Quinn thriller series, had served as a co-writer on a Stuart Woods’ novel, “Obsession,” about former CIA operative turned Hollywood producer character Teddy Fay.
“I wrote spy books and I worked in Hollywood,” says Battles of how he came to co-write the Fay novel. “We worked together to do that book. … Two weeks after I turned it in, Stuart passed away in his sleep. I honestly thought that was it; I wouldn’t be playing in his universe anymore.”
Bestselling author Stuart Woods is seen here signing books on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. The late Woods, then 75, was on tour with his 52nd novel, “Unintended Consequences.” In 2024, novelist Brett Battles published “Stuart Woods’s Smolder,” a continuation of the Stone Barrington stories. (Tom Benitez/Orlando Sentinel)
So as he strolled around Lake Zurich with friends, Battles tried to stay awake and stave off jet lag until he finally connected with his agent and got the news: Stuart Woods had been working on a new novel in his popular series of books about lawyer Stone Barrington when he died. Would Battles be willing to come on and write the rest of the book?
“They were interested in having me finish it. So that was a very shocking moment for me. And of course, I said, ‘Well, yes, please, I would love to do that,’” says Battles, who immediately got to work on what would be published as 2023’s “Near Miss.”
“This was October and they needed it by December 15. And, of course, I was at the beginning of a two-week trip also. I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ … Who’s going to pass up on that opportunity?” says the low-key author.
Battles threw himself into the challenge, reading Woods’ drafts and listening to the audiobook versions of the novels while on his trip. “I’m making notes, I’m listening to books and going on tours with everybody when I can,” he says. “And then came home and just got to work.”
It sounds like his traveling companions were an understanding bunch.
“Very understanding. They think more highly of the fact that they have a friend who’s an author than I think they should.” he laughs.
Into the Woods
Battles’ first solo Stone Barrington novel is “Stuart Woods’ Smolder,” which is in stores on June 4. The thriller, which includes stops in New York, Los Angeles and Santa Fe, involves art, arson, forgery, fraud, revenge, romance, and the legacy of Barrington’s mother, a painter.
If you’re unfamiliar with Barrington and his previous 60+ adventures, he seems in the mold of well-to-do crime fighters such as Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage, Batman, and “The Thin Man” duo Nick and Nora Charles. Barrington is a wealthy lawyer with charm, good looks and important friends. These include several former U.S. presidents, the heads of MI6 and the CIA, and his sometime girlfriend, who happens to be the sitting president of the United States.
“It’s a really fun world to play in. Stone has enough money to do whatever he wants, or whatever he needs to do, but he still works,” says Battles. “The jokes and the quips and everything – that’s the charm of the novels … they’re enjoyable and just keep you entertained.”
“It’s a very rich world,” says Battles, referring to its creative possibilities before joking about its high-end appeal. “And then it’s also a very rich world.”
Despite collaborating on a book while Woods was alive, Battles says his face-to-face interactions with the author had been brief.
“I had in person only met him twice,” says Battles, who explained that they’d been on a panel at a festival and then later appeared together at a Skylight Books event. “We may have passed and shaken hands, but that’s about it.”
When it comes to bridging his own efforts with all the stories that came before, Battles says he scoured the novels, taking note of anything he might be able to refer or call back to. In “Smolder,” for example, a beach house briefly mentioned in an earlier novel plays a role in the new adventure, which is one way of connecting Battles’ work to Woods’.
“It’s his stuff, but I like to think I’m keeping it alive,” says Battles.
In his own world
Battles and this reporter, full disclosure, first met briefly more than 15 years ago when we both worked for the same company and he signed a copy of his first Jonathan Quinn novel, “The Cleaner,” for me in my office. Last year, we ran into each other at Bouchercon, the mystery writers’ convention in San Diego, and caught up.
Battles, who had worked on various Hollywood projects over the years, told me that he’d always known what his calling was.
“I always wanted to be a writer. In fifth grade, I was telling people I was going to be a novelist. And that was always what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know exactly how to get there. So I went to Cal State Northridge and got a degree in television & film because I also liked film,” he says.
But after working at a TV studio, a graphics company and a cable TV channel, he began to wonder if he’d ever achieve his dream. “I had just kind of fallen into this whole visual arts portion of entertainment while all the time I wanted to be a writer.”
So he decided to get serious about making it happen.
“I actually lived very close to the office so that I could walk and have more time to write in the mornings,” he says. “And then after work, I’d write for an hour or two.”
“In three years, I wrote three books while working,” he says. “That’s always what I wanted to do. I was starting to think I’d never get there and so that’s why I put on the turbo to get stuff done.”
Battles, who is contracted to do more Teddy Fay and Stone Barrington titles, says he’s also currently at work on two related series of his own, which will take him into some new territory. “I love apocalyptic fiction and so I just kind of wanted to play with that a little bit and see what would happen,” says Battles. “I can do it – so, why not?”
Continental draft
As he was working on his next Woods’ novel, Battles says he felt a bit of déjà vul. While making it clear that it was no one’s fault, just a scheduling quirk, he says his deadline for the manuscript changed so the due date coincided with, yes, a vacation overseas.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll work on the trip.’ So I’m on another river cruise, getting up early and working on that,” he says. “I literally finished the draft of that book in the airport 45 minutes before we boarded the plane to come home.”
“Maybe I should not go to Europe anymore,” he says. “That’s the message I’m getting.”
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