David Baldacci isn’t in Norfolk to pitch his latest book.
The best-selling author will certainly plug “All In,” his newest novel, which was released on Tuesday and is almost assured to soon be on the New York Times Best Sellers list.
Baldacci encourages audiences to think, engage face to face, and yes, to read. The native Richmonder, who lives in Northern Virginia now, will deliver the keynote address at The Norfolk Forum at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Harrison Opera House.
What the writer will discuss the most won’t be himself, though Baldacci could certainly justify that, having created memorable fictional characters during the last 30 years with Amos Decker, Will Robie and Atlee Pine.
Baldacci, 66, is a Mark Twain aficionado, so it’s no surprise that at the top of the tower of books on his nightstand is “Mark Twain’s Notes About People, Places, and an Incident." It's a read he picked up during a recent visit to the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, where he is on the board of trustees.
“I’m going to tell a bunch of funny stories, and I’m going to try to make some serious points tacked on to those stories,” said Baldacci, who, with his wife, Michelle, underwrites the Mark Twain Voice in Literature Award. “You get people’s attention by making them laugh. Then when you have their attention, you drop the substance on them.”
Baldacci’s roots in writing date to his mother handing his 8-year-old self a blank notebook. He contemplated becoming an author but initially chose another route, completing his undergraduate degree in political science at Virginia Commonwealth University before earning his Juris Doctor at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1986.
Being an attorney bored him, so he gave in to his passion — writing fiction.
His debut novel, “Absolute Power,” was published in 1996 and turned into a Clint Eastwood thriller, igniting an upward trajectory. His books have been published in more than 45 languages with more than 150 million copies sold worldwide.
Baldacci grew up an avid reader, and recently reread a couple of childhood favorites, “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series.
Reading, he said, “is the only possible chance we have to survive.”
Reading connects us, builds empathy, fosters critical thinking, and is essential in a democracy, he said. He's referred to books as "combat armor against bigotry."
He and his wife have created the Wish You Well Foundation, which has provided money in more than 40 states for literacy programs.
“The population that we’re really aiming toward is people who didn’t have the opportunity, who weren’t read to, who have been in a book desert,” he said. “But they want to learn. In order to have a better job, they have to have literacy skills."
Baldacci hopes that learning instills pleasure reading as a regular habit, an uphill road in the age of the smartphone.
“We’re all drug addicts because of our smartphones.”
Ask him about AI, and he's off and running. It’s no coincidence that “All In” shares the initials of artificial intelligence. As the lead plaintiff for the last three years in a class action copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, the former attorney is representing more than 60 authors, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult included.
He has a disdain for ChatGPT. The day it first came out, his son mentioned it was worth a look. He passed until earlier this year. The night before he gave what turned into a nine-hour deposition, Baldacci went down the ChatGPT rabbit hole.
“I couldn’t resist,” Baldacci said.
He asked the free version to write a Baldacci novel, only to get bombarded with questions. Do you want an Amos Decker cerebral book? A Will Robie action adventure? A Camel Club ensemble cast mystery?
Baldacci typed in “Will Robie," a government assassin.
Did he want 80,000 or 90,000 words? Did he want a screenplay? A TV series? Rest assured, the results confirmed, that requirements would be met should he wish to submit the idea to television.
Then Baldacci watched his computer type out words. His words.
“After Chapter 54, three minutes later, I stopped it and started reading some of it,” he said. “Not only had it duplicated my plots and all that, it had actually copied my style of paragraphs, single-sentence paragraphs, just the method and style of how I put my words together.”
Baldacci continued, asking ChatGPT for questions related to his deposition. Within five seconds, he had 150 questions with answers and an offer to compile the motion for summary judgment.
The suit represents The Authors Guild, seeking compensation for those whose works are used without permission or payment. It calls for licensing agreements and, without them, the end to the data mining that threatens the livelihood of writers.
Baldacci doesn’t just fear for writers. Without change, he foresees a substantial increase in data centers and companies unable to make enough profit to justify the expense of building and maintaining them. Another possibility, he contends, is AI not delivering all it has promised, backfiring on the billions of dollars invested in it.
“And our economy implodes,” he said, noting a $1.6 million data center was recently built next to his office.
As prolific a writer as Baldacci has become, he still sees himself as an Atticus Finch kind of guy, meshed with the humor of Herman Munster. He loves nothing better than to walk outside to look for a new idea, and typically writes with a quiet mind, turning down the Janis Joplin music he reveres.
Baldacci tries to visit the places that he writes about. “Geography inspires me,” he said. “Ideas come from answering questions that haven’t been answered yet.”
On occasion, he puts aside his draft to stream favorites such as “Ludwig,” “The Diplomat” and “Slow Horses.” Baldacci has books and plots planned through 2027.
Among his protagonists, he fancies himself most like Decker, an unconventional FBI investigator with a sharp memory.
“He’s a quirky guy,” Baldacci said. "He has many facets to his personality. He’s a brooder. He’s a thinker. He’s an introvert. But then he can do some amazing things because of the memory he was given.”
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