Author Gary Grossman talks new novel, juggling, El Coyote margaritas
By Aoife O’Connell
“I sometimes write at El Coyote,” Gary Grossman told the Chronicle at Le Pain Quotidien on Larchmont Boulevard. “The reason is they just serve coffee at Starbucks. El Coyote serves margaritas. My writing seems so much better if I’m doing something with a margarita.”
“THE MIDAS TOUCH,” Grossman’s novel, was released June 2.
A resident of Hancock Park and the surrounding area since 2001, Grossman is a print and television journalist, Emmy-winning television producer, and novelist. His latest book, “The Midas Touch,” was released on June 2, and was written in collaboration with creators of the 2004 film “National Treasure,” Charles Segars and Oren Aviv.
Segars pitched the idea to Grossman shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting a novel focused on gold and the Rosetta Stone. “That was all he needed to lay out for me, and then my mind started just racing,” Grossman said. “I said, ‘See ya, I’m gonna start writing.’”
The book follows CIA cryptographer Brady Donovan as he travels the globe searching for an ancient alchemical gold formula—the Midas touch.
Grossman grew up in Hudson Valley, New York, where he began a rock ‘n’ roll show at his local radio station. “That got me involved in having a voice and getting out there,” he explained.
After graduating from Emerson College in 1970, Grossman became more involved in journalism, working as a freelance writer for The New York Times and doing a stint at the Boston Globe. But he had fallen in love with fiction. “There’s something special about writing and putting words to paper and creating characters,” he said. “It’s … [a] weird and magical process to write.”
Over the past several decades, Grossman has watched readership trends change. His experience in television has given him the opportunity to adapt. “The pace of a book is much quicker now than it used to be,” he said. “The pace of our lives is quicker… [and] the pace of movies is quicker. That’s come over to writing as well. … I like a very clipped, cinematic kind of writing, but I also am writing shorter sentences and shorter chapters.”
To Grossman, “The Midas Touch” is a treasure hunt, incorporating fictional elements and historical realities. “We don’t know what happened to the missing pieces, but we create a story out of it,” he explained. This process required extensive historical research and collaboration to create a logical historical basis for the story, according to Grossman.
“I did the principal writing, then Charles and Oren gave notes,” he said. “The great thing about a good collaboration [is that] you let go of ideas that aren’t as good as somebody else’s.”
A publishing deal was signed last spring with Fayetteville Mafia Press, and the novel went into production in September. The pitch, according to Grossman, was unusually successful. “I said, ‘Here’s the book,’ and I gave the pitch in about 30 seconds, and the publisher said, ‘We’ll take it.’”
Following its release, Grossman’s days have been filled with marketing, reaching out to podcasts, local television, and radio to advertise the book. “It’s juggling,” he said. “When I was still living in Boston… I taught myself how to juggle physically, because I had so many things getting in the air. I don’t do knives, I don’t do fire, and I don’t do saws, but I can do lemons over the bed.”
The book’s release coincides with the nation’s 250th anniversary this July 4, a unique marketing opportunity for the trio. “People will be talking about the 250th of the country and the Declaration of Independence, the subject of National Treasure,” Grossman said.
“The Midas Touch” is available hardcover and paperback, and is 356 and 250 pages, respectively. “The book is for everybody,” Grossman said. “It’s a quick read.”
Category: People
