by Debbie Burke
Back in 2022, I interviewed an energetic, dynamic 77-year-old Blackstone Publishing executive and author named Rick Bleiweiss. Rick’s debut mystery Pignon Scorbion and the Barbershop Detectives was due to release in February of that year.
Author Rick Bleiweiss
(all photos courtesy of Rick)
Four years later, an August article in People.com announced Rick’s upcoming mystery will be the first novel published under Blackstone’s new imprint, WhoopInk, led by Whoopi Goldberg. I emailed Rick to congratulate him, and he wrote back. Seemed like a good time for a catch-up interview about Rick’s exciting new adventure, embarked on in his 80s!
Here’s an introduction to Rick:
Rick Bleiweiss has been a touring/recording musician, music industry executive working with many superstar music acts & major film soundtracks, GRAMMY-nominated record producer, educator, entrepreneur, newspaper and magazine columnist, and publishing executive. As an author, his first novel Pignon Scorbion & The Barbershop Detectives won multiple international book awards and was #1 on Amazon in five categories. The second book in the series, Murder in Haxford, also won multiple awards, as did his political satire Ronald The Grump (written under a pseudonym) which was named Best Short Fiction Self-Published Book of the Year by two literary organizations. Rick was nominated as Author of the Year, was given the Career Changers Award for Authors, and hosts a popular YouTube series, Rick Bleiweiss’ Chapter & Verse, in which he interviews major musicians, actors, authors and other entertainment figurers. In 2025, at the age of 81, he wrote, sang and played all the instruments on a rock & roll record One Night Man by Captain Rick’s Retrorockit, which went to #4 on the World Indie Music Charts.
Debbie Burke: Welcome back to The Zone, Rick! Glad to reconnect.
In your professional life, you have always looked forward, pioneering new concepts in music, audio, publishing, and entertainment media. Yet as a novelist, you chose to travel back in time to 1910 with your Pignon Scorbion series that’s set in the quaint English village of Haxford. What prompted you to explore that era and setting?
Pignon Scorbion
Rick Bleiweiss: I have always been a fan of mysteries set in that era and in England, especially Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot (and the Murdoch Mysteries set in Canada though), and I wanted to write books featuring a new detective who would be a contemporary of theirs and solve cases in a similar manner – yet be a unique character of his own. Scorbion is just that, being a man of color (Haitian and Egyptian heritage), somewhat of a dapper fellow, and working on his cases by interviewing and questioning suspects and witnesses in a barbershop assisted by a colorful group of deputies including three barbers, a shoeshine man, a newspaper reporter, and a brilliant female bookshop owner.
DB: Blackstone Publishing published your first two Pignon books in 2022 and 2023. The third book, The Cupid Killer and Other Murderers, is also part of the series but will come out under the WhoopInk imprint of Blackstone. Is the process different working within an imprint? In what ways?
RB: I was surprised, thrilled and literally astounded when Whoopi Goldberg told me she loved the first two books in the series, and asked if I was writing another, When I told her I was, she asked if it could be on her new imprint, and of course, I said yes! What an honor it is, not only to be on Whoopi’s imprint, but to be the first novel released on it. Wow. Being on WhoopInk I still get all the power of Blackstone Publishing behind the book, but get Whoopi as well, and that is priceless. The difference in the process from the first two books, was keeping Whoopi aware of and involved in what I was doing, and having her be behind the book. And as a side note, Blackstone has moved the first two books onto the imprint as well.
DB: Is there a fourth Pignon mystery in the works?
RB: I have just started writing it. While each book can stand on their own, each follows the chronology of the summer and fall of 1910, and the next book will be no different. I plan for it to start with the kidnapping that was referenced at the end of The Cupid Killer and Other Murderers having Julius Caesar the beagle be a central figure in that crime. I am also planning to have Scorbion travel to London to assist Scotland Yard solve a case, and of course, Pignon’s and Thelma’s relationship will deepen. Could there be nuptials in the book?
I’m also putting the finishing touches on two books – one an adventure story about past life regression and the need to find something in one of those past lives, and the other, a comedy involving seniors living in a foster home who are harassed by a young gang of toughs who learn how to fight back, that’s sort of what it would be like if Home Alone met The Best Marigold Hotel. I’ve even written a screenplay for the last one – my first one. I find trying new things to be quite enjoyable.
DB: In our email exchange, I jokingly asked you what kind of vitamins you take. Do you have an exercise routine, diet, or other activities to stay healthy, active, and energetic in your 80s?
RB: Indeed, I do. I work out with a personal trainer twice a week, walk and use a stationary bike an average of 50 miles a week (walking my 16 year old Havanese, Gracie, is a huge part of that), I take many supplements and vitamins, and I avoid most grains, gluten, dairy and fried foods, and limit my intake of sugar and red meats which aren’t grass fed and finished, and my loving and caring wife Deborah makes sure I eat a lot of healthy vegetables. I am blessed to have both energy and good health in my 80’s and I’d like to keep it that way well into my hundreds.
Another thing I do is find time to relax and enjoy a myriad of different things. Among other things I enjoy playing word and number video games, playing Mahjong, being on committees in the community in which I live, spending time with friends and my family, and making music. In fact, I wrote, performed and played every instrument on a rock and roll record I recorded in my apartment last year which went to #4 on the Global World Indie Music Charts! It was called One Night Man by Captain Rick’s RetroRockit. At 81, Take that Mick Jagger!
DB: [Laughing] Rick, I’d rather see you in concert than Mick!
When we last visited, you reiterated it’s never too late to try something new or to follow your dreams. You certainly embody that philosophy. Did a particular person or event Influence you to adopt the attitude and way of life?
RB: Yes, I do regularly tell people of my generation (or of any age) that if you maintain your health and have energy and passion for something you are never too old to have a dream and follow it. While there was no specific person or event that influenced that attitude it was created by a combination of mostly unrelated factors. Both of my parents were brilliant and entrepreneurs who were involved in many different ventures and activities while I was growing up and later in their lives, which gave me the confidence and examples to try something whether it worked out or not. I also have read a lot and things various celebrities and writers have said and written impacted me and often confirmed my thinking. Quotes by Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Betty Friedan and many others were very confirming that the worst thing a person can do is not try something. Many of my friends are retired and enjoying their lives. I tried retirement and got bored out of my mind. I guess it confirmed a biofeedback session I had many decades ago which indicated that I was more at ease when I was problem solving than when I was trying to relax.
DB: Are there any dreams on the horizon you haven’t yet followed?
RB: A few years ago, I created and put out a rudimentary Pignon Scorbion “Find the Hidden Object” video game, which in retrospect was a valiant attempt that was not very good. Today the woman who owns the company that is assisting me market and publicize this newest Scorbion book is creating a truly outstanding video game featuring Scorbion as the host. Combining that with a new trailer and a unique film in which I’ll be interviewing a CGI version of Scorbion which Blackstone is doing, I believe the words fun and exciting lie ahead for me.
I’ve been involved in meditation and manifesting for many years, and the two things I’ve manifested which haven’t come to pass yet are having a book on the New York Times bestseller list and being a guest on a major network national TV show. I’m hoping both of those can happen now with this new book.
I must add that I get extreme pleasure in my role as a publisher in helping deserving authors have their books brought to the reading public, and I’ve been fortunate to have acquired at least 4 books that have been New York Times bestsellers in the past few years. And having more of those is certainly something I relish for the future.
DB: Any final thoughts you’d like to share with TKZ readers?
RB: Don’t be afraid to try new things. Know that most new things fail, so if what you try does fail, don’t be discouraged – try something else. Whatever you do, and no matter the outcome, enjoy the journey. Keep reading, singing, playing and doing whatever it is that gives you enjoyment in your life.
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Rick, this line especially resonated with me: “…if what you try does fail, don’t be discouraged – try something else.” Great advice for writers!
Thank you for coming back to The Zone to share your wisdom. Hope you achieve that dream of a New York Times bestseller!
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TKZers: What plans and dreams are ahead for you as a writer? Did any of Rick’s suggestions jump out at you?
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The Cupid Killer and Other Murderers is available for preorder at: