Month: October 2023

Sidney Sheldon’s Secrets to Writing Page-Turning Novels

Bill Thompson

On just about any list of the best selling novelists of all time you’ll find the name Sidney Sheldon.

In a nearly 40 year writing career – which followed a nearly 30 year television, movie and Broadway career – Sheldon sold over 300 million copies of his books worldwide.

Oh, and about that earlier career? Sidney Sheldon is the one who created The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Hart To Hart.

He started writing novels at age 50.

And if you’re a Sidney Sheldon fan, you know that once you start reading one of his novels, it’s really hard to put it down.

And he made it look so easy! If you ever wondered what makes his books so captivating, well, it may be a once in a generation confluence of skill, talent, and luck.

In my several interviews with him, I tried to draw out his secrets of writing. In 1988, for example, we talked about his novel The Sands of Time. And I got some fascinating insights.

So here now, from 1988, Sidney Sheldon.

Sidney Sheldon died in 2007, just days before his 90th birthday./

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Kathleen Willey’s Accusations Against the Clintons

Bill Thompson

Kathleen Willey was a White House volunteer in the Clinton administration in its first year, 1993. And it was in November of that year that Willey says Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her in the Oval Office.

Mr. Clinton denied her allegations. And Willey’s detractors, including Linda Tripp, questioned her veracity.

Willey then claims that she was subjected to threats and intimidation from the Clintons and their supporters, charges that she elaborated on in a 2007 book period that’s when I had the chance to speak with her.

In November 2007, Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was gathering steam, and I questioned Willey about the timing of her book.

So here now, from 2007, Kathleen Willey.

Kathleen Willey is now 77, and lives in Virginia.

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The USS Cole Attack: Commander Kirk Lippold’s Perspective

Bill Thompson

In 2012 Lippold wrote a book about the incident, and I spoke with him the day before the 12th anniversary of the attack.

It didn’t start with September 11th.

Almost a year before al Qaeda terrorists flew planes into buildings, suicide bombers affiliated with al Qaeda attacked the destroyer USS Cole as it was refueling in Yemen. Seventeen American sailors died in the attack.

The commanding officer of the Cole was Kirk Lippold, a 41-year-old Navy veteran. And even though an exhaustive investigation found nothing to indicate Lippold could have foreseen or prevented the attack, he was subsequently denied a promotion several times.

So here now, from 2012, Kirk Lippold.

Kirk Lippold is now 64. He works for a political marketing organization

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