Writer's Block
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Many consider Block's works more than mere detective fictions, in which cracking cases is the only purpose of the character. Scudder, an ex-cop and alcoholic, also had to quit drinking and redeem himself from a failed marriage and career.
"It is certainly a delicate balance," said Block, "I'm interested more in the characters than the plot as a general rule. So I tried to concentrate on the case that Mathew Scudder is involved in but let him emerge during this as a fully developed person who goes through continuing problems and changes."
"It seems to be true, if I get the story write and I write honestly, that Scudder would evolve in an interesting manner," he explained.
After finishing All the Flowers Are Dying in 2005, he thought he was done with the character. "I thought at the time, if a series had to end, that was not a bad book to end it with."
But later he realized chronologically there was a gap in Scudder's life story between Eight Million Ways to Die which concludes with him ready to stop drinking and being six or seven years sober in Out on the Cutting Edge. So he got the idea of a story taking place during that time while bringing in elements of Scudder's earlier life.
"I was struck by the fact that I was writing a book set at a time when there was no personal computers, cell phones, Google or Wikipedia. How would we ever find out anything?" Block recalled of the process.
Such great changes were also evident when Block revisited Beijing after first coming 20 years ago. "It's a whole new city here," he marveled.
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