It was recently announced that a TV drama series based on Walter Mosley's fictional African American private investigator Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, was in the works for the NBC network.

That news was met with simultaneous joy and disappointment; while most were glad that Mosley's series of books would be getting the screen treatment, some were concerned that, as an NBC product, it wouldn't pack the same punch as if it were instead headed to a cable network like HBO or Showtime; and I agreed with that.

But maybe knowing that Mosley also has a deal in place with HBO, but not for the Rawlins series of books; instead, Mosley's Leonid McGill,, New York City private investigator series.

That deal was original announced in 2010, and, for some reason, we completely missed it; so I'm not certain how widely-known it is, hence this post.

But it's in the works, starting with the first book in the series titled, The Long Fall.

Fast-forward to today, and THIS NPR interview with Mosley, who's most recent work, All I Did Was Shoot My Man, the 4th in the Leonid McGill series, went on sale earlier this week. He was on the show (Talk Of The Nation) to talk about the new book, and more; and he was asked by a caller about turning the work into a movie.

In response, he mentioned his HBO deal for the Leonid McGill book series, and added that he'd pretty much outlined the entire first season, which would be based on The Long Fall, and that he has a meeting with HBO execs next week, during which I assume he'll be handing over what he's done, and they'll further discuss the ongoing project.

And when asked in the NPR interview who his choice is for the starring role in the Leonid McGill series, guess who he named? Jeffrey Wright of course!

I should also note that the TNT network has ordered a pilot episode of Mosley's Fearless Jones series of novels, with plans for an eventual TV series, which he mentions in the interview. 

So, with deals at 3 different networks for 3 different book series, Mosley and fans of his works, should hopefully see one of them go all the way; all 3 would be nice (especially the HBO series), but I'm not greedy 🙂

You can listen to the full 16-minute interview/call-in session HERE, in which he talks about putting out more science fiction books soon, writing post-black characters, another Easy Rawlins novel coming out in 2013, and more.