She is going to be racing out of there. I can start chapter 1. 20 years i have been doing it. But to me i said dont do it, dont start the book until you have at all. It will make a better book. In 1898. And john wilkie was put in charge of the secret service. Harry houdini loves doing magic tricks. The magician was in control of the secret service. And dont just want to force facts in our vomiting up information. Couldnt figure it out. And then i look at houdinis life. Harry houdinis secret service, fantastic idea, so many tricks, he was going to virginia and that was the week before. And locks ran the jail doors and harry says lock me up in your jail and i will get out. He always had the inside information. The secret service gave the answers and i need to get secret service. I want my own too and Harry Houdini was upset with death. Never got over the death of his mother, never. When i look at Harry Houdinis life the escape artist shows it looks like hes going to die and he gets out, that is the escape artist but the other part of the show, i didnt realize were to spend time defrauding and showing what fakes these mediums were and people who assailed his work. This is the time after world war i we lost many sons in the war. It sounds so silly but there were people who would say your son sent me a message from beyond the grave and wants to talk to you if you pay me 5. Sounds so obvious but back then they didnt know. Taking advantage of spiritualism all the time and Harry Houdini hated it, that they were trying to do that. Part of his show was dedicated to pulling out these people and showing they were frauds. One thing that i love, Harry Houdini was so obsessed with death he gave secret codewords to his family and friends that if they die and there was a seance and he came back as a ghost, he is like i dont believe any of this nonsense but in case i am wrong here is your code word in the secret code word Harry Houdini gave to his mother, the woman whose death he never got over was simply this one word. Forgive. Forgive. Such a simple idea. I knew i had he had a hole in his life, the artist had a hole in her life and Harry Houdini had a hole in his life and all of us, every person watching has something that puts him in that whole. It may be addiction or abuse or loss of a loved one. We all have a moment when we are in that crater and have to get out and come back to life. Truly come back to life. It was Harry Houdini who taught how to do it, forgive especially starting with your self. When i learned that, the escape artist fit together and form the picture and that is when i started the book and that is where the escape artist comes from. For me that is the book and the thrill of it and i love that i get to talk about it but what do you learn . What do you take away . I never talk about this but in virginia especially when i think about my dad, we all have our rituals especially around the magicians, i want to tell you for 20 years now this is my ritual. When i was first writing in washington dc, i sent out my first book, i got 22 rejection letters, 24 submissions, waiting for 23 and 24. The good news is the two editors said to me they liked the book. I met with them, they really liked it. My agent told me go and sit at your place, wait by the phone, talking to both of them today, call you whatever time it was and tell you what their offers are, they will bid against each other and have a bidding war. I was in debt at the time, and this was it, this was my moment. I never forget. I was excited to hear how well we did and i picked up the phone, and sorry, kiddo, every day for 20 years, before i touched a keyboard before i do anything i repaint the entire moment, what phone i was holding, the wires inside. On my left, the swivel lamp every college kid has, picture the bed, no headboard or anything, bed or mattress because that is what we had, in washington dc in the parking lot, the station had 3 doors and i saw the words myself, sorry, kiddo, sorry, kiddo, sorry, kiddo, 20 years and going. Every single day, as hungry as i was when i was 24 years old living in this town, i never want to think im done or made at the moment and finished, so hungry i put out my best work, that is how you learn. You do the same things we do in life every day. Many of us are so good at our jobs, so good at doing it, who wants to do the same over and over . Like a magician we need to reinvent ourselves and have a moment we say i have done it this way and like it even better. Dont have to change it but have to think about it, sorry, kiddo, sorry kiddo, sorry, kiddo. You cant even make this up. Just the way we were going, drove past the fire station and staring at the fire station and here it is, sorry, kiddo. I love this town brings it back to me. They changed the door the last two years and in my minds i. That is my introduction to the escape artist. I want to take questions, you can ask about anything, the kids books, for those who dont know, i was tired of my own my loudmouth athletes thinking i was a hero and so we started with Amelia Ehrhardt and abraham lincoln, those biographies. I am jackie robinson, and the hero is not someone who scores a lot of points. Here is jackie robinson, what hero looks like. My daughter, i wanted to have a female entertainment hero, it is okay to be different, spectacular and she loves our dog. My youngest is our creator and for him i deny him jim henson and i can tell you when i was 5 years old on sesame street dimensions that you can use your creativity to do good in this world. If i do nothing else, im trying to use my creativity in this world. That is all i aspire to do. The amazing parts, quick update on kids books is as the election was approaching in november, we saw something happen with kids books and two heroes started talking up better than anyone. I am Martin Luther king jr. And im George Washington and the whole theory started selling like crazy and in publishing just about everything, we have cspan here, they still support the written word, they support the most important and most dangerous and valuable thing in the world, ideas. The book is full of ideas and i love that part of it. Books are down and movies are down and ratings are down, so many things we are looking at, netflix begging for your attention, the internet and facebook kids books were selling like bananas and you realize what it was. Everyone was tired like i was, wasnt a democrat or republican thing but they were all tired. Turn on the television and see politicians, the difference between a leader and a politician and was we need to do is teach our kids and nieces and nephews and they are not just there yet to help ameliorate him lincoln or gandhi or sacajawea, i love that they are using the i am books to build a library of real heroes with kids and grandkids and nieces and nephews. I love any person wearing our tshirts, you get an extra hug from me. Appreciate that. You can ask about tv, comics. I will repeat it. You focus on amelia air hard, a great inspiration. A book on carol burnett. I will tell you this about Amelia Ehrhardt. With this book we can get there. We are working on a leg on Amelia Ehrhardt set. Here is the thing. We went to lego ideas which has a rule, you get 10,000 people to vote for your set they will consider making it, that is how the ghostbusters set got made and all these different sets that come out, good ideas. We are at 8200, or 8300, 8400, when we get to 10,000, we have 30 days to go. Go put the words lego amelia air into google. It will take you a second to register, put a vote in there and tired of buying for my kids based on toys or barbies or superheroes or things like that. I would love to give them a real hero in the lego set. When youre standing around dont talk to the person who will make friends, dont do that. Go lego amelia air hard, thank you for reminding me of that. Do i make government sources nervous . You just made every one from the government nervous. We do. The best part of these events, all the spies and people who work in the Intelligence Community tell me secretly you never know who they are, i will never pick correctly. Whoever it is is wrong. A woman came to me last night and you were totally the grandmother. And she is like nolan is a badass and im like wow. I love the Intelligence Community is so supportive. The question deserves a serious answer. I am not an Investigative Reporter. I am a storyteller and when i look at Dover Air Force base and tried to figure out how to get in, try going in the front door but if not i will try to go around the back and i went through and knocked and says i want to write a book, have Great Respect and see what happens into their credit they were kind to let me in, gave me 3 years of an president access. Trump has shut it down, no one gets in anymore. The escape artist, you just cant see and got access to places you cant go and i knew i had done research with president bush and got help from president clinton but the reason they talk to me is the same reason the secret service talks to me. I worked with the secret service for 16 years and every acronym was over and over again and they will say to me i can tell you this thing right here but you cant write about it. You can write about this and in those 16 years i dont break my word. Many things i can put my name in the paper will be the good thing but dont want to do anything to undo the safety of the country where the security of the country and there are things, stories we talk about because they are interesting or add a Party History and there are those that are just there and will put someone in danger, through danger and i want no part of it. Any book when you see something that sounds cool, security protocols are always changed on purpose, you say it is a men thing. I changed it. I know it is coming. I know what it is but i dont want to show you and i take it seriously. The reason they help me, most important is i write about what i love, not what i hate and that is it. I am not an Investigative Reporter to make you look bad and i said to them i love what you do at dover. You take care of our fallen troops, honor and dignity and respect and i want to show the world this amazing universe that is here. They took me into this room, an incredible room that has all the uniforms that you see and you have gamete gummy bears and gummy worms, there are dozens of them. Four mannequins and the whole room almost as big as the one here, every metal and every ring you can imagine, all of them, medal of valor and all these things. When you step into that room you feel the entirety of it. How many people we are talking about here. You see the ultimate sacrifice, army, navy, air force and marines, here we go. Every uniform, a machine that can in grave nameplates and their they all are and another room i wont ruin in the book. All the things they leave behind when they die. And and they sent a the heartbreaking ones. The star of david and you will see things in their where you see it is a wedding band or the heart most heartbreaking one of all, an unfinished letter that will never get finished, writing to their son, their daughter, tell them what they are thinking or how much they are missing them. Finish midsentence, it is the perfect metaphor. A life unfinished. It is heartbreaking and these people deserve all the love we can give them. We cant experience a pain but we can make sure they are treated with honor and dignity and respect and they knew when i came to them that is the story i wanted to tell and how many people are ready, i never knew about this and i so admire it. That is why i dont make people nervous but very fidgety. I see a young man, question in the back, shout it out. Our artist on the book. A great place to meet people is on the internet. Can we gather a round of applause, to hear about dead bodies, that is the nicest part. I appreciate it. Every parent is going home with the best questions from their children at night. Chris has a great question. Chris and i have one of the i am books. I met chris, the reason i love him, the cross between always looked to me like peanuts meets calvin and hobbes, did it over and over again. It is easy for a cartoonist to do but he can do hard and i want my kids to be off their phones and screens. The only way you can do is give him Something Better and i gave them credit. Im not a secret weapon. Chris is the secret weapon. Chriss art you kids are falling for. I knew if i gave them that, i want to learn more and these are secret weapon. I met him truly on the internet. He followed me on twitter and he is a history nerd and we have mutual fans who introduced us, dont talk to people on the internet, that is a joke. Like i need this lawsuit. This town is bringing the lawsuits. You know they are. Every person is a lawyer. I know, i know. I met chris and we hit it off with the love of history and it was an easy choice and we have been having a great time since. What is your timeline for the release of i am the next couple works so we know what to buy, i appreciate that. Wants to know about the next kids book, lets talk about them. In two months in may, i am gondi, the graphic novel which is the same text as the kids book but when the election happened i was just finishing i am gondi, i have a 16yearold son, the country was ripping each other apart. Remember Election Night . They were killing each other and i was having none of that and you need to read this book to see we are stronger when we dont hate each other and put good into the world instead of anger. I had them read the script and made me realize my son needed this, middle school and High School Kids and those who are i brought on board everyone from david mack. And marvel and dc. Heres an Amazing Group of artists. It match the graphic novel format. It is the piecing gondis mission in may, right after that i am doing superman for action comics number 1000 which i am so excited about because they are bringing back supermans red trunks. We all want to wear underwear on the outside. Superman is coming back. My youngest is like i dont like it like that. You are wrong, go to your room. Daddy is bringing it back. Superman wears his underwear on the outside and he wrote action comics number 1000, we didnt know they would give us the okay for it so i wrote to john cassidy the we dont have an okay yet. If they dont give us the okay, never draw him from the waist down because he is going to be wearing those trunks. No matter what happens i am in. I can hide it with the cape and after that, Neil Armstrong is the next i am book. I am Neil Armstrong comes out in september. The artist has been begging to do Neil Armstrong since book one. Wants to do it more than abraham lincoln. He finally drew every rivet on every rocket, made it so detailed, sent it to a friend who used to work at nasa and we are nervous about this. When we did i am Martin Luther king jr. We did top lieutenants, the writers of march, representative lewis read the book for us because he was a, this is what we have to do. When john lewis is reading your book i hope i dont mess it up. Send it to the guys who used to work at nasa and you guys are such nerds. You are going to love the book and i will tell you this secret, dont tell anyone. A National Television audience is watching this, no one knows this, when you read i am the armstrong, i will not solicit any other signing, that scene when he gets to the moon and looks back at the earth i wanted to be just immense, to feel his big as it looks. When we drew it it wasnt working so what i did was asked Something Special in the book. When you look back, it folds out both ways it is a giant spread like this and you see the entire earth from space and it is beautiful. I am Neil Armstrong comes out and one of the new projects no one knows about is in january i am doing my first adult nonfiction book. I found a story about George Washington. George washington during the revolutionary war there was a secret plot against George Washington, a secret plot against George Washington. When washington found out about it he gathered 20,000 troops, the guy who plotted against him, executed him in the largest public execution at that point in north american history. George washington brings down the hammer. That is what you do to me . Put me on the dollar bill washington, out. He is amazing, that is actual real dialogue historically. I just want to point it out. He said he old dollar but it is exactly the same. George washington app store is the first conspiracy the first conspiracy the secret plot to kill George Washington and the birth of the counterintelligence movement. You see how counterintelligence operations started out. When someone took a shot at the big man we started fighting back and that is where it begins so the first conspiracy the secret plot to kill George Washington comes out in january. A couple more questions real quick. You usually put in the character from the next book and i wanted to know which character would be in the armstrong. I am hidden in every book. Where is waldo and hide the number 27. We hide superman but if youre the dc lawyer, it is not superman or clark kent. We always hide the next hero in the next book we do if you read i am Harriet Tubman you find Neil Armstrong. Who should i be looking for . Very tricky of you. You are the intelligence person in the crowd. We are making them younger than ever. I am not telling you but a good try. In the back. Your books becoming movies, if not yet, would you want that, if so which book would you pick . Making any movies, what are you doing . Doing movies or tv, we might be doing tv. Someone knows we are doing something, we are not announcing it yet but we will be doing it soon. It is not what you think. When the time comes, i love secrets. I can keep a secret. I can tell he is going to get them. I would love them to make a movie. I dont see anyone casting it. Everyone says you look like that doctor on er and i always say cluny . Thanks for laughing at my handsomeness. Appreciate that. Go with it. I love to tell stories, i have been able to tell these stories. Whether they make the film or not, hollywood messes up everything anyway. Other quick questions . Way way back forever came to the sign, the supermarket and the craziest place i ever signed, no question, the white house. That is where it is. I got invited, not where all the reporters get to go but for private dining room of the president. I got invited to go there. We are in the lincoln bedroom, that is where they live. No secret service up there, just you. It is a big deal and you sit down and dont just pick your seat, we got it and they dont trust you to do that and there is a little card engraved with a picture, brad meltzer, the most beautiful card you have ever seen. I am totally stealing my card. Mrs. Bush, first lady at the time leaned over and said all the novices try to steal their cars and i was like mrs. Bush, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and totally took my card and my card is in my house, i got it, i stole it, signing books up there is bananas. When bill clinton was president i was walking through the west wing and we were doing a book party, we put it on his desk, my one regret is we didnt. It would have been worth getting in trouble. The only other place, and going to south africa, in south africa, somewhere far. 50 copies of the book and on every seat. And they will be stuck. And it was a good talk. One last question and we will find some books. You will be the last. Vivian thomas, Henrietta Lacks for your i am books or medical heroes. They have a list of demands. Everyone you picked you did not pick the obvious ones. You cant make this stuff up. This is what occurred last night brought me and it is going to be worth it. Almost there. Where did it go . This is what the kid asked for last night. It is to sign. The only thing that was great, totally crazy and the second to last person about beethoven i told him dont tell him otherwise. Doing every single one on their. You got it. The next question. Mine 9yearold wonders, the writing contest for kids to collaborate. A contest for kids or collaborate with them. I am not paying them. I would never pay a child. With my own kids what my kids wanted to do my daughter said to me i want to write a book and im like i waited my whole life to hear my child, my offspring tell me she wants my job. We are going to write a book together. We are ready. We made the title, my dog and we had a title and she had drawn a picture of a dog and put the authors name on the front and brad meltzer on the bottom. Maybe we leave your name out. You are going to be an agent. Cut me out of the knees, would Never Working with children again. They will turn on you in a dime but i like that idea. There are a lot of books to sign. The only thing i need to say. Thank you for letting me have this. When i look at this life, it is not my midlife crisis, trying to look and say how do we get better, it sounds so crazy that in a book that focuses so much on loss and end of life that you can find. And just because you are not the doesnt mean you are alive. And someone said so smart, going through a battle you know nothing about, be kind of. He came back to life, escape. We think escape means runaway, you want to be an escape artist but it is not about running away. It is about starting with forgiveness, turning on your self and joining us in the land of the living, think about my father and the loss i suffered when he died. It was an amazing story. My dad was struck by lightning and his father was struck by lightning. When my dad would tell a story, seems like nonsense, to people in the same family struck by lightning, my dad was a kid when it happened. It is he said at his funeral and when i wrote his eulogy i dont know if it is true but i love the story. My dad got struck by lightning and a few weeks after, a guy writes to me through email, through the website and someone passed along what you wrote for your father and didnt know if he got struck by lightning and i want to tell you he did because i was there that day. I was there and 5 and it happened to me, exactly how my father told it. In that moment this email this man sends me, a stranger sent out to me became the most important doing the easiest thing, showing some kind this and reaching out and he reached back. And i love every Single Person who supports this book, i love those who help me escape and the best way, not running away but running together and thank you for supporting the i am books and every crazy idea we have especially the new one that is coming but thank you thank you thank you. This one is for you, love you. Weeknights this month featuring booktv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on cspan2. Starting at 8 00 eastern New York Times journalist Nikita Stewart reported on a girl scout troop that was started for girls living in a homeless shelter in new york city to spark the creation of similar troops around the country and American Interest contributing editor, on how some americans moving away from traditional religion. Erica barnett looked at addiction in america and discussed her own struggles with alcoholism. Enjoy booktv on cspan2. You are watching booktv on cspan2 every weekend with the