Mira Gets its Thrills

by Karen Holt -- Publishers Weekly, 1/12/2007

Debut thriller writer Jason Pinter knew what he was getting into, but the paperwork surprised him. "When I got my contract, everything said, ‘she’ and ‘her.’ I thought, ‘is this going to be a problem?’"

So far signing with Harlequin’s Mira Books division has turned out to be anything but a problem. Pinter and I are talking at a pricey Manhattan restaurant, which is closed to the public so Mira can throw a noontime cocktail party in honor of The Mark, the first book in Pinter’s new mass market thriller series, which will be published in July. Pinter is surrounded by women, including his wife, some media types and a lot of Mira employees. The 27-year-old author stands 6’3" inches tall, but has a boyish face that makes him look more like somebody’s younger brother than the guest of honor at a party hosted by a company built on the romantic fantasies of middle-aged female readers.

Waiters are bringing around fancy appetizers, keeping wine glasses filled and offering a pink concoction of raspberry vodka, champagne and Chambord they’ve dubbed the "Mark-itini." How many first time mass market writers get this kind of treatment? Not many, and Pinter knows it from his day job. As an editor, first at Warner, now for Crown, he’s helped bring readers such books as Jewtopia, The New York City Cab Driver’s Book of Dirty Jokes and Haul A** and Turn Left: the Wit and Wisdom of Nascar. It’s safe to say none of these books rated having a fruity cocktail named after them.

Mira has given the author a three-book deal, but this party says as much about the publisher’s desire to expand its reach and sharpen its reputation as it does about its excitement over Pinter’s talent. "People still only think we’re category romance and it’s a little bit frustrating," says Mira executive editor Margaret Marbury.

Mira, of course, has been publishing thrillers for years and has a number of male authors on its lists. Still, Harlequin remains overwhelmingly a company by and for women. Its challenge is to reach male readers—but with books that also appeal to its core audience. That’s where Pinter comes in. "The female character (in The Mark) is great," says Marbury. "Most men fall short on female characters."

The hero of the series, Henry Parker, is a 24-year-old newspaper reporter with a steady girlfriend who is key to the plot. On The Mark’s cover, she’s in tight jeans; he’s wearing sneakers and a t-shirt and carrying a backpack. "An older guy would not wear that," Marbury says, adding. "We wanted it to feel kind of young and edgy."

As the party winds down, I ask Pinter is he’s tried the Mark-itini. He speculates that maybe the cocktail will get a mention in one of the books he’s editing, The Modern Drunkard’s Adventures in Alcohol (not to be confused with one of Pinter’s previous projects, The Barmeister’s Big Book of Drinking Games), but he admits that, no, he hasn’t tried it himself. He’s thrilled with Mira, delighted by the party. But there are limits to how far a guy will go to fit in. Says Pinter, "I think I’ll stick with Jack and coke."