The Sideways Tetralogy Now Available- RexPickettbooks.com

In 1999 I wrote a novel titled Sideways. It would take another five years before it became the hit, award-winning film of the same title. At the risk of immodesty that movie, and my book, have not faded with time. Almost every day I live its fan base's hosannas – in person at events; via social media; email missives; not to mention new openings of the play I successfully adapted it from. In fact, there are times when I think the Sideways fan base has grown since its release in 2004. Especially in the wine industry. I don't know if it's the three-dimensional believability of the characters, the bawdy and sardonic comedy – that we see so little today in movies – the picaresque romance of people going wine tasting in a sylvan, rural setting, or what, but there is no question the book/movie has endured with time.

What a lot of people don't know is that I've written three sequels – with more to come. Last March I issued my Sideways New Zealand. And in July, when Sideways Oregon is re-issued, it will constitute a legitimate tetralogy. I write in first person from the point-of-view of Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti in the movie). Where I go, Miles go. In Book 3 he journeys to Chile. In Book 4 we find him holed up on the south of the South Island in New Zealand. Different than most mystery/detective/crime serieses Miles does show signs of ageing. It's not like Raymond Chandler's iconic Philip Marlowe who stayed more or less ageless for over two decades. But my Miles isn't solving crimes; he's living life and dealing with all the frailties and vulnerabilities and escapades that come with that adventure. He's my alter ego. He, fictionally, goes through everything I've gone through in life: failure; success (in Sideways Oregon); losing his small fortune and having to take jobs he doesn't want (Sideways Chile); wanting to disappear (from fame, from his past) in Sideways New Zealand. In every scene, in every line, is a drop of blood from my soul. I only write what I feel is true to my sensibility. I hold nothing back. I bare my soul for all to see.

Fans aware of the sequels often ask me if they can start with a certain book in the tetralogy and if it would be a stand-alone read, and I like to think they could, but I do strongly feel it helps to have a knowledge of Miles's origins in the original Sideways. From there, I suppose you could leap forward, then go back and fill in the gaps. But, whatever one's approach, the good news is, this coming July, 2024, the Sideways tetralogy will be in its full efflorescence from Blackstone Publishing.