Lindquist had the fortune or misfortune to be associated with the literary brat pack of the 80s, and, over the years, his books have enjoyed blurbs of endorsement from all the big players in that gang: Tama Janowitz, Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney. When the 80s became the 90s, Lindquist once again found himself with a view of the zeitgeist. He was living in Seattle watching the grunge scene develop, out of which came his book Never Mind Nirvana. Lindquist, who was once named by People magazine as one of the most eligible bachelors in America, released his latest novel last month: King of Methlehem. Though continuing Lindquist's fascination with pop culture, this novel is about speed freaks called tweekers, and draws more than any of his other work on Lindquist's day job working as a prosecutor in Pierce County and his life in Tacoma, Washington.

 

None of this, of course, explains why he was in Vegas. Lindquist says: "I asked my publicist to send the book tour through Vegas and she laughed at me. So, I asked her if she could end it in Vegas and I would take care of it from there."

 

When the confused publicist spoke to me she described Lindquist's time in Vegas as some sort of personal trip.  She had no idea why he was here, she admitted. There was obviously no reading for him in Vegas. But by the time Lindquist and I met on Friday,  in a coffee shop at the Rio, I knew exactly why he was here, though we had yet to discuss it at all. In fact, I knew the moment I pulled up to the Valet. There is only one reason someone stays at the Rio this time of year: The World Series of Poker. Still, I asked:

 

Richard Abowitz: So, what brings you to Vegas, if not promoting your book?

 

Mark Lindquist: I came here to relax and play poker.

 

Q: Have you been a poker player for awhile?

 

A: I have been a poker player my whole life. In fact, I missed my regular poker game last night in Los Angeles because I was giving a reading at Book Soup. I gave the reading and then Vegas. But if I wasn't doing the reading, I would have been at my home game.

 

Q: Do you read all of the poker books?

 

A: Not all of them. But I read Phil Gordon's books.

 

Q:  You don't seem like a brat at all. So, which brat pack do you fall into. There is the literary brat pack and then you also wrote movies. According, to the Wikipedia you even dated Molly Ringwald?

 

A: They put that on there? Obviously, I have my own site where I have more control of content. They slap that label on you: the literary brat pack. I guess there were a couple reasons. I had the same editor on my first novel as Bright Lights Big City. That was just a couple years before my book. I was also hanging out with Jay and Bret a lot. And, I guess, that will do it.

 

Q: Do you feel you have affinities with them as a writer?

 

A: We are really much different writers. The common denominator is a fascination with popular culture. I'm a pop culture junkie and Bret is a pop culture junkie. Jay is really a bit more stodgy and a student of classic literature. But his book Bright Lights Big City became this pop culture sensation.

 

Q: So, what made you go to law school in the midst of being a hot writer?

 

A: I always planned to go to law school after college. But I thought I would take a couple years off first to enjoy life. Then I started writing. I became successful very quickly. Much more quickly than I thought. I was liking it. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time.  So, I just kept putting law school off. But I never made my living from my books and freelancing. I made my money as a screenwriter. Eventually, I just burned out on screen writing.  I remember debating if I should go to Europe for a couple years or law school. Law school won out. I wasn't sure I wanted to practice law. But when I stepped into a prosecutor's office as an intern it was like entering a movie. It was so dramatic and energy charged. Criminal law is where the stories are.

 

Q: Is this job as a prosecutor what is behind the new book, The King of Methlehem?

 

A:  What it has in common with my other books is the obsession with pop culture remains. But the drug is new. I had never written about methamphetamine before. We are swamped at my office, and I am often there on weekends reading police reports. I used to think I would rather be home reading a novel. But then as I started reading through the police reports, I realized, this was dramatic, intense and engaging. Most of what I was reading about was crazy tweeker stories. I could fill your tape with tweeker stories.

 

Q: I've met a few, thank you. But the thing about tweekers is that they are sort of all the same to me. The drug becomes their personality. How did you find enough individuality there to create a character?

 

A: I wrestled with that. What I came up with: what if  I took a tweeker who was smarter and more ambitious than the average tweeker? In other words, he shared the addiction but there was something about him that was bigger and smarter. I based the book very loosely on a tweeker I met in my work as a prosecutor who stood out because he was smarter and more charismatic than the other tweekers. You see these tweekers do these crazy things and it is easy to see them as crude cartoon characters, because they act like crude cartoon characters. I wanted to get in there and see what was human about them.

 

Q: So let's talk poker. Did you put up $10,000 or did you enter a satellite game?

 

A: I put $1,500 up, and I am here until I am knocked out.

 

Q: Do you have any expectations of leaving here with a bracelet?

 

A: No. I look at poker as a lifelong game. I tally up at the end of the year. But this is by far is the largest stakes, I've ever played. But I have been to Vegas often enough to know that the $1,500 is gone.

 

Q: Do you have any good Vegas stories from your other trips?

 

A: None that I will tell on tape.

 

Q: You know, I get that answer a lot?

 

A: Well, they are typical Vegas stories. Just think about the things you've done in Vegas. Vegas is a town for adrenaline junkies. And, prosecutors and gamblers tend to be adrenaline junkies.

 

After the interview, I asked Lindquist to keep me in the loop on how he was doing in the tournament.  I got a call from Lindquist to tell me he was eliminated over the weekend from the World Series of Poker tournament. But  he planned to stay in Vegas until this morning. We made tentative plans for me to show him the town. I got distracted by CineVegas and deadlines and forgot to call him. Then a Blackberry message arrived at 2:58 AM this morning: "Playing poker. Did I miss anything?"  I wrote him back: "I guess that depends if you are winning?"