Introduction. I want to mention that cspan is here. Covering this event so were all being videotaped and be able to see it on cspan which is i always find really fascinating so so this program is presented in corporation with lisp fest a Great Organization to check them out online and see other programs you havent already been going to them. The organize percent founder is doing this for a while but sort of a new part of our cinema family and already presented some great, great programs here and were looking forward to a bunch more in the future. So to get the show on the road it gives me great, great pleasure to introduce founder claudia coppering. [applause] thank you. Hi everyone. Im claudia. You know how they say slippery when wet turns its true. Thank you for being here tonight. Im superexcited for this evening this is a long island fest event featuring nelson and conversation with representative steve israel. Yeah its really exciting, and just to fell you a little bit about who i am im founder of long island fest were long island first Literary Festival were now entering our fourth year we usually hold our full day program in the spring, and its a full day of author readings and workshops, and talk and book signings and its really fun and exciting so come to our website for information and other events that we do as well. I want to thank for ho our event and hope to host more of these in the next month so please go to our website sign in and get a new location with information and find out whats going on and what were doing. Website is what you should receive in a copy of your book and before we begin, if you check under your seats and you find an extra bookmark we have a special surprise tonight of cuban fair tshirt to give away to whoever has a bookmark under their seat take a look. Whos got it . All right. Great. Congratulations. Please see me afterwards and well give you your tshirt. And [laughter] just a little bit of housekeeping for those tonight, were going to have a conversation knolled by audience q and a and ask all of the questions you would like and following that there will be a book signed by mr. Demille all of you who want your book signed not personalized please go to the front of the line and youll youll be taken care of really quickly. And a now, it is my pleasure to introduce steve israel currently serves as chair of the Long Island UniversityGlobal Institute and a University Writer and resident in 2014 israel published satire of washington called global war on mars. Apartmently based in National News during his ten year in congress. His second novel big guns will be published in 2018 by simon, and israel was a member of congress for 16 years and president bill clinton called him one of the most sought members of congress. He served as a regular political commentator in cnn. He graduatessed from George Washington university with a b. A. In Political Science and home is in oyster bay and New York Times best selling author of 20 novels six of which number one New York Times best sellers. Now will include tonights cuban affairs. Radiant angel charmful, the gold coast and general daughters which was made into a major Motion Picture starting John Travolta written book review and articles from magazines and newspapers and nelson was a combat decorated u. S. Army veteran, a member of mens poet and writers in Authors Guild and member in past president of mystery writers of america also a member of the International Thriller writers who honored him in 2015 aside thrill master was year and he also lived on lited with his family. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you to representative steve israel, and Nelson Demille. [applause] hello. There you go. Hear me now thank you claudia nobody says im a measure but i want to retest on that. [laughter] but thank you for that. Thank you all for being here. Lets give a big hand to Nelson Demille for his extraordinary writing. [applause] also on the issue of not wanting to be retested you heard claudia kindly repeat bill clintons line of me one of the most thoughtful members of the United States congress have you been watching the United Nations congress . [laughter] [inaudible conversations] nelson. First i want to thank you for being here. One i hardly but i think on favors now this is good tonight. But sheave, i mean, such a generous man, he we have a buddy by the book and one said he was at the party discover israel and speak at his class and congressman israel said yes only if your teacher doesnt give you home work that night and he read are it on a Business Card to o my son who forgets but he remembers not doing homework the night congressman israel speaks to the class. So generous thank you for being here. Lets establish before 25 minute or so confers and q and a we have to ask an important question how many of you have is read the cuban affair . Nobody. Okay. All right because we dont want to give anything away. In this evening so let me get right to the first question this is a by the way extraordinary book heres whats going to happen. Im going to predict youre going to get it tonight. Nelson will sign it. And youre going to ask yourself around christmas and hanukkah well why didnt i get another five signed book for all of my relatives so after this get your book and then go to the book review and buy more. [laughter] because this is a book and fans dont want to miss. This is not just a book about risk. Its actually i thought a risky book because you basically retired the character of john court. He was so john he was making money for you as the author making money for your publisher. People were comfortable with him and now you invent a entirely new character decidedly different i think from cory, and put him in a new setting how much of a risk was it for you to depart from john cory . Well you know you publish and you know how they operate. They want you to do the same thing every time same time as working. But i door after 30 maybe 35 years with my prier publisher, i finally left and my first book they kind of surprised me i thought therm actually buying john, of the series because it was doing so well but theyre actually buying me and they said no do is Something Different, and it took me back but i look the idea because that john was starting to get on my nerves a little bit, and i remember that kind of deal Sherlock Holmes absolutely hated Sherlock Holmes so finally killed him. By having him push over the fall in switzerland but the outrage so much of the fans that he had to bring the guy back from the dead an five or six years ago went to the floor you dont survive that but they can survive that fall but that i, the risk was and i dont know if i would have taken it myself thats the big question but publisher was very much behind me with a new character. The point earlier book will stand alone only thing i ever done which was john querrey the first book in the series. But it became a series so i went book to my root system and credit a stand alone book. Dan Mack Mccormick is the main character having read every one of your books and dont give me a quiz on them but having read read every [laughter] congressman peter king has a great line whenever were together he said you know between peter has written three novels. Ive written one and another one coming out and says between Nelson Demille and steve israel we sold 35 million. You dont want to know how equation breaks down but so mack i found him to be a departure from the john cory character he seems more restless and less grounded how difficult was it for you to divorce yourself from this about character and create a new character . Your question too. I mean, the character Mack Mccormick you have to build these guys from the beginning, and mack has one with of the reasons i should back it up and one of the reason are the publisher wanted me to coming up with a new character it was suggest that a lot of my older characters are ready for social security. And medicare and internal crinology of the book even if you looked at it you realize these even john was getting on his, so they scdz me to coming up with somebody they actually dont and only requirement of this guy should be if 35. Which kind of the sweet spot i think in hollywood. And in literature. So 35 years old too young for vietnam and iraq and made him afghan war veteran. In portland maine, and whole thing but one they go to the college, good college, good family, solid family. Went to war second to in afghanistan got wound od came back. Kind of a drift doesnt know what he wants to do with himself this man came from a solid background but world kind of changed so in the book page one we see Mack Mccormick in the green in key west how many have been there. Right thats opening scene and now three years a fishing boat captain and build a fishing boat and west mac and hes got a quarter of a Million Dollar bank loan and things are not going quite right but waiting at the green fair for a customer, with and man named carlos is got a first name carlos is cuban miami lawyer and carlos has a deal for the back. And of course mack turn it down within a book would be three pages long. So does turn it down and in fact first three chapters you have the book now. First three chapters online on my website anybody go to Nelson Demille dment so three chapters for free. So yeah, i had to come up with the man romantic history had his parents the whole thing and world and didnt know any 35yearolds so my son who was 36 when i started writing the book so i called him and he told me about 36yearolds. [laughter] much of which you department want to know. Because it reminded you of you at 36. [laughter] by the way, sunday was an important day. On sunday this book phs number one best seller in New York Times. How about that . How about that . So lets talk about cuba ive been to cuba several years ago. You were there. Why cuba, did you have the idea for the book and then visited cuba or did you visit cuba where you have the idea for the book and tell us about your trip there and how it informed the book. Yeah, good question, i mean, i needed again new publisher, asked me to come up with not only a new character but, obviously, a plot that would you know, be interesting. [laughter] we have ideas that we sit down toy them, but cuba was in the news because Obama Administration opened up cuba. And Political Science major and political junkies so following cuban floor, and a lot of cuban americans this south florida most of miami and down a block from me escaped from castro and revolution and lost everything. So kind of on back of my mind but mostly because it was in the news so im thinking about it. And that was where like early 2015 and then one day, in the mail i get this brochure from the Educational Group my son worked in the conversation. But come to my house [laughter] he doesnt live there but they know where they have my address. I said you know, why not . This is like a son. I should really go to cuba. So i said do you want to go to Cayman Islands i didnt say cuba. So she said yeah, sure. Sounds good but thats not whole story. He was close native john kerry traveled friend of mine and roommate of john kerry at yale they graduated together in 66, and he said do you want to go and it is going to be fun and it was going to be but sounded like it could be fun so let me call harvey a nephew and those of a certain age remember george as a special assistant to john kennedy, and very involved with the invasion and the cuban missile crisis. But you never seen cuba and he wanted to o see where his uncle screwed up. I dont know, i guess. But trip wasnt until october but i realize i have to stop my book and i couldnt wait until october so i began the book then. But the book, you know kind of took shape and didnt come to life until i went to cuba and spent it was 13 to 14 gays there and because of john because of harvey they spoke to john kerry and we got what amounted to a get out of jail free card incase youre ever busted for something, and we carried this wherever we went and jeffrey acting am bees door and kind of interesting. American embassy which as you know attacked by sonic waves, illegal but maybe the hankover, but it was interesting experience. So i think anybody who is going to write a novel needs to go to the place because thats what really inspires you when you feel like youre not a fraughted but youve really done this and thats the way it felt when i wrote about vietnam been there in 67 but 68 and set in moscow and i went there. So you know its good to feel resources as a yir. Writer to go and i finished a book i dont know why but finished and they published it and concern there we are. So potes elapse time from inception to publication was almost two years. What i thought was remark public you spent 10 days in cuba but your but im sorry. Two years. 12 ghast cuba but your description of places in cuba your description of the [inaudible conversations] your description ofs hemmyway house as if you grew up in these places, so how do you pull that off . You were a tore through cuba with with a and may be a spy or spying on spies and spy spying on spies spy of spies. Your dripses were just extraordinary how do you do that . You know, you have to make some of it up. But most of it was accurate but im known in the business for being a stick particular for accuracy and i do my research which is why my books come out every two years opposed to every year. Or so every three months. In fact, i just called Jim Patterson the other day. [laughter] and he said oh, sorry hes writing a book i said thats okay. Ill hold. [laughter] a jock. I didnt realize he writes his own books. What what in cuba did you learn that you would say effected trajectory of the book . You know, you can do i did a lot of Book Research before i got there about april when i proposed the book in october before i went. There were things that really surprised me and you were there. The nightlife how vibrant it was in a countries that was very poor and with a totarianism regime been to eastern europe, and you know, those time grimness about the people but the human people have a lot of life dc the music and art and dance was absolutely fabulous this has not change haded since, you know 1955 but the poverty was almost inpresencable everybody in cuba you probably know this. You do everybody makes 20 a month thats the official salary 20 a month and books that are not food available with the racial books sometimes. And so, you know, theyve fallen back to broader system so it is very primitive almost, and a system of block market. Which is the sub economy had is only thing that keeps people going. So poverty was, you know you know hair about poverty when you see it it is kind of jarring and you know american you feel a little bit guilty. It doesnt have the appearance of a police state. I think he might have felt the same thing one of my characters in the pook like any tropical paradise and police say it is not always apparent but must be careful and this is that question felt that we needed we needed to be careful. Do you foal best selling author driver and cuban authorities did you foal that you were being watched at any point . Not watched but we felt we could be victim of a scam at any point. Theres a lot of scams going on. Or you know when the political winds blow for some way for some reason talking back stage you might know alan gross was arrested in cuba back in 08 he was working for mjo doing communicationwork work in cuba all over the world he was arrested and charged with espionage by the government and spent a year before the trial and tried sentenced to 15 years and spent five years on a cuban jail for nothing. It was totally innocent so i reason i knew, i mean, we were able to read about it. But when it came out of jail he was nice and said thing to the effect publicly that when he was able to get books Nelson Deville books kept him going and i met him in a city but finally met him in washington a couple of weeks ago, and we did a thing in atlanta together. But knowing that story, im soying you know thats what i mean about get out of jail tree but you dont know whats going to work. The fact that im with two guys who are roommates of the secretary of state, you know, i thought maybe that will keep us out of jail or get us in jail. You know, get around behind the scenes what theyre trying to do at moment see the the reels better and make it divorce so thats a place dont want to go like that. Theres a fascinating character in the bock who is youre really familiar to fans of Nelson Demille. He is a best selling author [laughter] who is doing research on cuba. Based on anybody we know . For some reason which i cant why i put myself in the book i have no idea. [laughter] it just seemed you know, whether we know the same that we see the great woman marries rich i give her a shoutout and i thought for sure she would take this out me putting myself into the book, and she thought it was funny and i said maybe i should take it out only reason i did it was because the part of the book has to do with the group that went with. And i put them in the book as kind of a way for mac and you know this wol that hes with to get into cuba kind of undercover because hes a group tour. And made u fun because i was talking about deal requesting tuition from my son you know, and i made merciful some of the things and to make fun of myself a little bit too. And got to even it out. On topic of humor, and having fun, the first novel i did when i sent it to o my agent she sent it back and said, its, its too funny, you have to learn to it shall where it belongs and where. Doesnt. She said this is every paragraph is a punch line the marv