 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
                  |
|
  September 2007
Dear Folks, It seems like a long time since I've sent one of these newsletters, so either a) I've been so busy that I haven't had time or b) I've been so lazy that I've had nothing to say. I leave it to you to decide . . . MUSIC COMPETITION After much consideration, the winner of the special limited edition of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS is Dave for his piece on The Clash by The Clash (No 8 on the thread). Well done to Dave, and thanks to all who entered for taking the time to do so. Because I'm such a soft touch, and an incredibly kind and decent person, two runners up will receive prizes of limited edition prints from the special edition, signed by Anne Anderson, the artist, and me. They are Piperlally, for her lovely piece on John Denver (No. 20), and Big Mike for his contribution on Hundred Reasons (No. 37). If the winners would drop Jayne their names (real ones!) and addresses, we can set about sending on their prizes.
The next novel, THE REAPERS, will be delivered to my editors at the end of October, God willing, and should be published in June 2008. It's a little different from the books that have gone before it, as it's essentially an Angel & Louis novel, although Parker plays his part. Below is an extract from the US catalog copy, and to the right an early version of the UK cover, as a teaser. The Reapers are the elite of killers, shadow men who exist only to end the lives of others, and Louis, confidante of troubled private detective Charlie Parker, was once among their number. Now the sins of his past are about to be visited upon him, for someone is hunting Louis, targeting his home, his businesses, and his partner, Angel. The instrument of revenge is Bliss, a killer of killers, the most feared of assasins, and a man with a personal vendetta against Louis. But when Louis and Angel decide to strike back, they disappear, and their friends are forced to band together to find them. They are led by Parker, a killer himself, a reaper in waiting . . . The harvest is about to begin . . . THE CYCLE 
To coincide with the publication of the new edition of NOCTURNES in the UK next month, with its lovely Rob Ryan-designed cover, we've added a new short story, "The Cycle", to the ghost stories section of the website, as that's one of the new additions to the collection, and we don't want to gouge money from those who bought NOCTURNES when "The Cycle" wasn't included. "The Cycle" was originally written for a collection entitled MOMENTS, which was published in Ireland to aid tsunami relief. The brief was that all of the stories should be written by women, but the editor asked if I'd like to sneak one in and see if anyone noticed, and then my story could be used to help with publicity. As it happened, the collection sold out, so they didn't need to reveal the fact that I was one of the authors. Thus I ended up an honorary woman, but without any of the interesting locker-room stuff that my brief deception might otherwise have permitted. Sigh.
TURNDOWN TALES The publication of the anthology TURNDOWN TALES, which contains a new story by me entitled "A Haunting", has been put back to June 2008. GUILDFORD BOOK FESTIVAL APPEARANCE I will be appearing at the Guildford Book Festival on Friday October 19th with Mark Billingham and, I believe, John Harvey to discuss music and crime fiction, in a session to be chaired by Andrew Male of Mojo magazine. Further details are available here. SUSIE Irish newspaper and radio readers may be aware that Susie Long, who was a regular contributor to the forum, is terminally ill with cancer at the moment. She went on Irish radio recently, first under the name "Rosie", and then using her real name, Susie Long, in an effort to highlight the inequalities in the Irish health system. The link to Susie's appearance on the Joe Duffy show is here and the link to her Sunday Tribune interview is here. Susie is currently in Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin 6, Ireland, for those who might like to send her a card or some good wishes. Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers are with Susie and her family at this difficult time. Peace and best wishes to you all, John
May 2007
Dear Folks, Just a short newsletter to update you all on a couple of things, but mostly to post the tour details for the US. US Tour The US tour details are now available to view on the website. The tour will take in Pennsylvania, New York, Washington DC, Boston, Portland ME, Toronto, Seattle, Portland OR, San Francisco/ Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans. Even writing the names of all of those cities down has tired me out. Australia/ NZ/ Hong Kong/ Taiwan The remainder of the tour will take in the places listed above. We'll be posting details a little closer to the dates involved, but the Australian tour will take place in late June, then on to New Zealand, with HK following from the 13th-18th of July and, finally, Taiwan from the 18th-25th July. Keep an eye out in local bookstores for event times and dates as well. The Unquiet Thanks to all of those who turned up during the UK and Irish dates on the tour for The Unquiet, and to those who supported the book by buying it. It's certainly been the most popular of the novels to date, sales-wise, and I'm very grateful to you all. The book went on sale in the US on May 15th and, as I write has entered the New York Times bestseller list at Number 19. 'Into the Dark' CD There was some confusion about the CD that was published with The Unquiet. It was only available in the Hodder & Stoughton editions - including Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa - and not with the US editions. This was simply because the US had been given the first of the CDs with The Black Angel, and logistics and costs meant that it just wasn't possible to put it in both editions this time. Sorry, folks! If I'm able, I'll try to bring some over with me to the US but, frankly, I don't fancy hauling boxes of CDs around the entire country, so we might have to let it rest, or find a way that people can send over a small fee to cover mail and packing so that we can send whatever is left out to them. Watch this space. New Material Finally, for those who have asked if any new material will be published between The Unquiet and The Reapers, the next novel due in 2008, the only story that will appear is called "A Haunting", and it will be published in October in a volume called Turndown Tales. That's it. Look after yourselves, and have a great summer/ winter. Best Wishes, John
April 2007 part two
Dear Folks, Just some late additions to last week's newsletter. TOUR We are adding more and more dates to the tour for The Unquiet, so please keep an eye on the schedule posted on the website. Below are the new Irish dates: Wednesday, April 25th CLARE 1.00pm Ennis Bookshop 13 Abbey Street, Ennis, Co. Clare (tel: 065 6829000) GALWAY 5.00pm Hughes & Hughes Galway Shopping Centre, Headford Rd, Galway (tel: 091 563903) Thursday April 26th DUBLIN 7pm Borders Blanchardstown Westend Retail Park Blanchardstown Dublin 15 Tel: 018235888 COMPETITION! I've decided to run a competition to celebrate the publication of the limited edition of The Book of Lost Things, with one copy on offer to the winner. (We'll try to throw in some runner-up stuff as well, though!) Here's what you should do to be in with a chance of winning. Last year, to coincide with the publication of The Book of Lost Things, we ran a competition inviting readers to nominate a "lost" book, a favourite book that had slipped beneath the radar, or perhaps simply a title that they liked and felt others should read as well. This time, it's music. Simply nominate an album that means something to you, and explain why others should listen to it too. We'll give people until May 20th to post their replies, so you have plenty of time to come up with a suggestion. The best response, as judged by me, will receive a signed limited edition of The Book of Lost Things. The nominating is happening on the Forum! Best Wishes, John
April 2007
Dear Folks, Well, it's that time of year again. A new novel is imminent, a tour is about to start, and there's lots of information to impart. There's the free CD, a party in Dublin, and all kinds of other stuff that will make you a happier person. So pull up a chair, get yourself comfortable, and listen while I unburden myself to you . . .
The new Parker novel, The Unquiet, will be officially published in the UK on May 3rd and in the US and Canada on May 15th. The Irish publication date, of which more below, will be a little earlier than elsewhere, and Irish readers can expect to see it in the shops sometime around April 17th. INTO THE DARK CD As I mentioned earlier in the year, all of the Hodder & Stoughton first editions of The Unquiet will contain the new compilation CD, Into The Dark, which features tracks by 14 artists (among them Sufjan Stevens, Low, Midlake, Jim White, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Hood, and Espers) chosen because the songs feature in the novels, or because their mood or lyrics are appropriate to the books that I write. The full track listing can be viewed here. I hope that you will like some, if not all, of the music chosen. (I recognise that some tracks will appeal to individual listeners more than others!) If you do find something that you particularly like, please drop a line to the artists in question, either through their websites or their myspace pages. There are details on the relevant section of the website. All of the groups involved were very enthusiastic about, and supportive of, the project, and I know they'd like some feedback on their contributions. Once the first edition sells out, there won't be any more CDs available. You have been warned. I do hope to have copies of the CD included in translated copies of The Unquiet, though, to be published later this year and early next year. We'll announce the countries and publishers participating as we confirm them, so watch the website. SPECIAL DUBLIN EVENT FOR THE UNQUIET I was anxious to do something special for Irish readers of my books, so on Thursday April 19th my fellow mystery writer Declan Hughes and I will be holding a special joint event in Dublin. The evening will begin in Waterstone's bookshop on Dawson Street at 6.30pm, with wine and some conversation, and then readers will be invited to join us afterwards at a city centre venue for a complimentary drink and some nibbles. Both Declan and I will be around to chat, answer questions, and make sure everyone behaves themselves. Basically, I wanted to give Irish readers and contributors to the forum a chance to meet up and talk, so I hope that as many of you as possible can make it. It should be a good evening. SPECIAL BELFAST EVENT A special event will be held in Belfast on Saturday May 19th at the Ormeau Baths Gallery in conjunction with the wonderful No Alibis mystery bookstore. As well as being the last signing event for The Unquiet on these islands, it will also be the formal launch of the special limited edition of The Book of Lost Things, the first such publication that I've allowed and the first venture by David Torrans of No Alibis into this type of publishing. It really is a beautiful book, and you can view it and find out more about it here. Finally, the event will also celebrate the tenth birthday of No Alibis, and there will be live music on the night and, I hope, appearances by a couple of other crime writers. Further details are available from david@noalibis.com or from No Alibis at +44 28 9031 9607. THE UNQUIET TOUR The details of the Irish and UK dates for the tour are below. There are two Birmingham events, separated by a week or so, but the first is a book group event dealing only with The Book of Lost Things. The main signing event for The Unquiet is later on! IRELAND Thursday April 19th DUBLIN 6.30pm Waterstones Dawson Street, Dublin 2 (Tel: 01 677 1266) and afterwards at a city centre venue to be announced at the event UK Wednesday May 2nd BIRMINGHAM 6.00pm Discussion of The Book of Lost Things with Waterstone's Birmingham Book Group Waterstones 24-26 High Street (tel: 0121 633 4353) Friday May 4th LONDON 12.30pm Formal signing at Waterstones 6-6A Exchange Centre Putney SW15 1TW (tel: 020 870 2401) Friday May 4th LONDON 7.00pm Talk and signing at Borders with Declan Hughes Charing Cross Road (tel: 0207 379 8877) Saturday May 5th BLUEWATER, KENT 2.00pm Signing at Waterstones Bluewater West Village, Greenhith, Kent DA9 9SE. (Tel: 01322 624831) Saturday May 5th DATCHET/ WINDSOR 6.30pm Talk and Signing at Datchet Library, Montagu House 8 Horton Road, Datchet SL3 9ER Sunday May 6th GUILDFORD 1.00pm Formal signing at Waterstones High Street Guildford (Tel:01483 536366) Wednesday May 9th YEOVIL 1.00-2.00pm Event in Yeovil Library King George Street, Yeovil BA20 1PY Wednesday May 9th BRISTOL 7.00pm Formal event at Waterstones The Galleries, Bristol (Tel:0117 925 2274 ) Thursday May 10th BATH 7.00pm Event at Waterstones Bath(Tel: 01225 448515) Friday May 11th BIRMINGHAM 7.00pm Event in Waterstones with Declan Hughes 128 New Street B2 4DB Saturday May 12th LINCOLN ll.00am Lincoln Festival event with Declan Hughes Central Library Tuesday May 15th LIVERPOOL 12.30pm Formal signing at Waterstones 14-16 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4DS (Tel: 0151 708 6861) Wednesday May 16th STOCKPORT 1.00pm Formal signing at Borders Peel Retail Park, Great Portwood Street, Stockport.SK1 2hh (Tel: 0161 476 3392) Thursday May 17th LEEDS 1.00pm Formal signing at Waterstones 93 Albion Street, Leeds LS1 5AP (Tel: 01132444588) Thursday May 17th WALLSEND 7.00pm Evening event at Borders Unit F2 Silverlink Retail Park, Coast Rd, Wallsend NE28 9ND (Tel: 0191 2634503) Friday May 18th AYR 12.30pm Signing at Waterstones Unit 2 127-147 High St KA7 1QR (Tel: 01292 262600) Friday May 18th EAST KILBRIDE 4.00pm Signing at Waterstones East Kilbride, 38A The Plaza G74 1LW (Tel: 01355 271355) Friday May 18th GLASGOW 6.00-7.00pm Signing at Borders 98 Buchanan Street, Royal Exchange Sq, G1 3BA. (tel:) 0141 2227700 Saturday May 19th BELFAST (WITH DECLAN HUGHES) SPECIAL EVENT CELEBRATING BIRTHDAY OF NO ALIBIS BOOKSTORE, PUBLICATION OF THE UNQUIET AND DECLAN HUGHES'S THE COLOUR OF BLOOD, AND PUBLICATION OF SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION OF THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS, FEATURING LIVE MUSIC 6.00pm 0remau Baths Gallery for No Alibis Details and tickets (#2.50) from No Alibis 83 Botanic Ave, Belfast BT7 1JL, Northern Ireland (tel: 028 9031 9607) USA The US tour dates will be confirmed early next month, but the tour will take in Pennsylvania, New York, Boston, Maine, Toronto, Seattle, Portland Oregon, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, and New Orleans. Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong The Unquiet tour will finish, for the time being at least, in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The tour will take place in the first two-three weeks of July, and details will be available locally, and on the website, closer to the dates in question. 
THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS
The Book of Lost Things has just been published in paperback by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and elsewhere. This edition includes an extra 150 pages of new material compiled by me, including the original versions of all of the fairy tales referred to in The Book of Lost Things, and notes on why they were chosen and the origins of the stories. This material will also be included in the American edition of the book, to be published by Simon & Schuster later this year. For those of you who bought the hardback, much of this material can be viewed on the microsite set up for The Book of Lost Things, although it has been adapted and cleaned up a little since then. THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS CHOSEN BY THE TIMES' BOOK GROUP The Book of Lost Things is the May selection for the book group run by Alyson Rudd in the Books section of the Saturday edition of The Times of London. The book group is open to all, regardless of country of residence, so if you'd like to join up then click here. The Book of Lost Things has also been selected by the online book group run by the very excellent and amiable Mark Billingham through his website. TURNDOWN TALES AND NEW EDITION OF NOCTURNES I've contributed a story entitled A Haunting to a volume of short stories entitled Turndown Tales, to be published in October by Atria Books in the US. Other authors involved in the collection include Dianne Setterfield, Brad Tor, and Jodi Picoult. Next month will see the publication in the UK of a new edition of Nocturnes, with a new jacket designed by Rob Ryan, the designer of The Book of Lost Things. It will include five stories not found in the original hardback edition, including The Cycle, the first time this story will have been available outside Ireland. MYSPACE PAGE I now have a myspace page. In part, this is to enable me to link up with readers, other writers, and bands in a way that just isn't possible on my own website. It also allows readers to contact me directly through the page. Those of you who have a presence on myspace might like to link up to the page, and those of you who don't might like to consider joining. If it's easy enough for a Luddite like me to do, then anyone can manage it. AND FINALLY . . . The next novel, to be published in 2008, will be called The Reapers. It's pretty much an Angel & Louis novel, and I think it will be a little lighter in tone that most of the earlier books. It's early days yet, though. That was rather a lot of news but, like I said, it's that time of year. I hope to meet as many of you as possible over the coming months. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy The Unquiet and thank you, as always, for your kindness and your support for my work. I'm very grateful. Peace and Happiness to you all, John
January 2007
Dear Folks, Happy new year to you all, if it's not too late to say that. I hope it brings you peace and happiness.
The new Charlie Parker novel, The Unquiet, will be published in the US and Canada on May 15th, and in the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world a little earlier, on May 3rd. The prologue to the novel is now available to be read on the website, where the cover art can also be viewed. VOICES FROM THE DARK 2 The UK edition will, all things going well over the next month, include the second volume of the Voices From The Dark soundtrack. A track list is being finalised as I write, but artists confirmed so far include The Delgados, Hood, and The National. We'll probably organise a giveaway of 100 or so copies through the website at some point, so make sure you visit often!
THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS & EXTRA MATERIAL
The Book of Lost Things will be published in paperback in the UK and elsewhere on April 4th 2007. This edition will contain fifty pages of new material in the form of reader notes, original versions of the fairytales referred to in the book, and an author interview. This material will also be included in the US edition, to be published later in the year. 
THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS (LIMITED EDITION)
The Book of Lost Things is also to appear as a limited edition (probably of 125 copies only), produced by David Torrans through his wonderful bookshop, No Alibis, in Belfast. It will be a large format slipcased hardback, approx 32cm by 25cm, bound in goatskin, with new illustrations by Anne M. Anderson commissioned specially for the book. It is set to be published in April, and will cost £200. (And before anyone complains a) I'm not making a penny out of it and b) David will just about cover costs and make a small profit. This edition really is a labour of love.) Limited edition prints of the artwork (there are only 50 of each), signed by Ms. Anderson and priced at £60, are also available. Further details are available from david@noalibis.com or (+44) 28 9031 9607, and some of the artwork, and the book design, can be viewed here. A HAUNTING I've contributed a short story entitled "A Haunting" to a volume called Turndown Tales, to be published in the US and Canada on June 5th in association with Atria, my American publishers, and the Ritz Carlton hotel group. (Hey, I can be a classy guy!) Other contributors include Jodi Picoult, Diane Setterfield and Susan Isaacs. TOURING The UK tour for The Unquiet will commence on May 7th, preceded by dates in Ireland. It will be followed by an extensive US tour in May and June. Dates will be added to the site in April. NEW INTERVIEW A new interview, conducted in South Africa by Joe Vaz, editor of the excellent Something Wicked magazine and website, has just been added to the site. We've included both the magazine version, and Joe's transcript of the original interview for those who want a little more. THE CYCLE BBC Radio 7 will broadcast "The Cycle", one of my short stories, on Monday January 29th from 6.30pm-6.45pm. The story will be read by Michelle Gomez (of Green Wing fame) and will be available to listen to on the BBC's website, www.bbc.co.uk, for seven days after the broadcast. "The Cycle" has been included in the new US edition of Nocturnes, published late last year, and will also be included in the new Nocturnes paperback for the UK, due soon from Hodder & Stoughton. Best wishes to you all, John
Previous newsletters: 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002  |
|
