“As Daniel Handler and his editor, Susan Rich, laugh together and share anecdotes about how they launched A Series of Unfortunate Events, it’s apparent that they’re both still gobsmacked by their success. The Lemony Snicket books have sold 46 million copies, and the total is ballooning every day with the release this month of the 12th of a projected 13 in the series, The Penultimate Peril.” Handler actually didn’t start out with the intention of being a children’s author, but after several failed attempts at getting publishers interested in his adult fiction, he pitched his “terrible” idea for the Lemony Snicket series, and in no time, he was one of the hottest commodities in young adult literature.