From father to son

Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels sell in the gazillions, a phenomenon that’s almost 30 years in the making. But now that Cussler’s getting on in years–he’s 73 now–the time has come to appoint a successor. And who better than his own son, Dirk, for whom the main character was named for?

The former adman knew the importance of the Dirk Pitt franchise. While

Clive enjoyed collaborating with authors on a handful of series, he

jealously guarded Pitt.

Peter Lampack, Clive’s agent for more than 30 years, sensed the concern.

“How he would step back (from the Pitt franchise) was often a topic of

discussion,” Lampack said. “He wanted to do other things with the life

that remained in front of him.”

But as in a Dirk Pitt novel, our hero couldn’t just retire, abandoning

the next mission for R and R on a pristine tropical beach.

And like a Dirk Pitt novel, the answer occurred to him in the nick of time.

To Dirk, the idea came out of nowhere. Over lunch about a year and a

half ago, his dad simply said, “Why don’t you take a shot at Dirk Pitt?”

Father and son sat across from one another in Clive’s studio, a long,

narrow room crammed with books, looking like a Hollywood set. Together,

they hashed out a plot.

So when Black Wind hits stores on Tuesday, look for Dirk’s name to be in small print on the bottom portion of the cover–just the beginning as he eventually takes the franchise over completely:

He realizes how fortunate he is to be Clive Cussler’s son, as well as

how unfortunate he is (from a writing viewpoint) to be Clive Cussler’s

son.

“I feel like I’ve won the lottery,” Dirk said. “I know there are a lot

of struggling writers out there with a lot more talent than I have. But

it’s a double-edged sword. There’s a pressure to satisfy this big fan

base that doesn’t want Clive Cussler to disappear.”

But Clive will disappear, at least from the Dirk Pitt franchise. The

plans are to collaborate on at least one more book (with each name

being of equal size on the cover) and then have Dirk take it over.

That will give Clive time to finish other projects dear to his heart,

like a coffee-table book on the dozens of collectible cars he owns and

a children’s book inspired by Ian Fleming’s _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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What’s interesting about this article is how up-front the Cusslers are

about the handoff, and also about how Cussler’s made ready use of

co-writers and ghostwriters for other books. And if you have a

franchise, like the Pitt series is, why not pass it down to the next

generation if they are game?