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 Subscribe to John's mailing list to receive emailed news and information concerning new books, ghost stories, book signings, websites of interest and any other updates. This mailing list is private—your e-mail address will not be shared.   May 2008
Dear Folks, Ten years, ten books. This month I turn 40, and publish my 10th book, The Reapers. Those are disturbing figures in a way, so, as I mourn my lost youth, permit me to distract you (and me) from my encroaching grey hairs with some news. . .
The Reapers, the new novel, is officially published this month. It will appear on shelves in Britain on May 15th, and in the US on May 27th. Readers in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand should already have seen it on the shelves in their local bookstores. For those of you who haven't been paying attention, The Reapers is, for all intents and purposes, an Angel & Louis novel, although Parker does play a significant part in it. THE UNQUIET Meanwhile, The Unquiet came out in paperback in the US late last month and, as I write, is at Number 9 in the bestseller list of The New York Times, its fifth week on the list. I'm trumpeting this fact as it's the first time one of my books has broken into the list printed in the newspaper, so I'm pretty happy about that. Thanks to all those readers, both established and new, who gave the book a try.
To complete a trio of book titles, the next novel will be entitled The Lovers, and will be a Charlie Parker novel. It deals with the circumstances surrounding the death of Parker's father, and the reasons why he killed two young, and apparently unarmed, people before he took his own life. THE NEW DAUGHTER: COMING SOON TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU Last month, I paid a visit to the set of The New Daughter in South Carolina, and very interesting it was too, apart from the part involving being bitten by the assorted insects that had made the nearby swamp their home. The film company had taken over a plantation property near McClellanville as it boasted a house that was perfect as the home of the family at the heart of the action. Kevin Costner is playing the father and Ivana Baquero (Pan's Labyrinth) is the titular daughter. The film was written by John Travis, who has just completed a script based on "Mr. Pettinger's Demon", another story from the Nocturnes collection. The director, meanwhile, is a Spaniard, Luis Berdejo, and a nicer movie person I have yet to meet. In fact, everyone involved was a pleasure to deal with. If you do get a chance, hunt down Luis's short film, La Guerra, on the Internet. After seeing it, I knew The New Daughter was in good hands. The film is due to be released early in 2009. Some photos from the movie (courtesy Gold Circle Films): 
  
BOOK CLUB We've started a book club on the website's discussion forum. I'd like to claim that it was my brilliant idea, but it wasn't. Like most things that are good about the forum, it was someone else's doing. Nevertheless, I do get to pick the books, although I am trying to use my new powers wisely. April's choice was Ross Macdonald's classic The Chill, while May's book is Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. The more the merrier, so if you'd like to join the discussion you'd be more than welcome. A short introduction to each title will be posted by yours truly at the start of the last week in each month, so everyone has about three weeks to finish the selected title. The club won't be restricted to mystery fiction, and will include more general fiction as well as non-fiction titles. TOUR Tour dates for The Reapers have now been posted on the website. The tour will take in Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada and South Africa, although the South African dates have yet to be confirmed. There, that's it, I think. I'm off to contemplate middle age . . . Best wishes, John
January 2008
Dear Folks, First of all, a happy new year to everyone, even those people on the forum who have been unkind about my hair. Let me tell you, some of you have nothing to be boastful about on that front. People in glass hairdressers shouldn't throw, er, shampoo bottles . . . THE UNQUIET THE UNQUIET will be published in paperback in the UK, Ireland and, well, everywhere except the US and Canada, on January 10th. A special edition of the paperback will be available in Waterstones bookstores, bound with a free copy of THE REFLECTING EYE, the Parker novella featured in NOCTURNES. It just seemed like a nice opportunity to allow those who might have been put off by the short story collection to read the novella that works as a kind of prequel to THE UNQUIET. The US paperback will follow in the summer.
Meanwhile, THE REAPERS, the Angel & Louis novel (which also features Charlie Parker) will be published in the US and Canada on May 27th, and in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere a little earlier, on May 15th. The prologue will be posted on the website later this month, so people can have a taste of what's to come. I'm still working on something to go with the new book, which, if it works out, will be offered free (well, except for postage and packing) in advance of publication to those of you who receive the newsletter. More of that when, and if, I get it done. TURNDOWN TALES TURNDOWN TALES, the volume of short stories featuring one of my tales, A HAUNTING, is set to be published on either June 5th, 2008, or October 31st, 2008. I know, that's not very helpful. FILM STUFF Just to keep everyone up to date on film developments, it now looks likely that THE NEW DAUGHTER, based on the short story of the same name in NOCTURNES, will go before the cameras early this year. It's currently in preproduction. The director is a Spaniard, Luiso Berdejo, and it will star Kevin Costner and, in her first English language role, Ivana Baquero, the young actress who was so brilliant in Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. The screenplay is by John Travis and, no, I haven't read it, although I've met John and he's a good guy. From what I know of it, the original short story provides the basis for the first half of the film, and then the writer has taken it from there on his own. Meanwhile, the Irish director John Moore is developing THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS; I'm supposed to working on the script for THE ERLKING (which I am, although very slowly); BAD MEN remains in development; and a short film is being made of SOME CHILDREN WANDER BY MISTAKE, also based on a short story in NOCTURNES. So now you know. Don't say I don't tell you anything . . . TOURS Tour dates for THE REAPERS are still being worked on, but the tour will take in Ireland, the UK, the US, and South Africa. I'll also be in Paris and Istanbul in March for the release of the two latest Parker books to be published in translation in French and Turkish respectively. As things stand, the books are now translated into 27 languages. Which, to quote The Fast Show, is nice. UNTITLED PARKER NOVEL Work has commenced on the new Charlie Parker novel, to be published in 2009. I say it's untitled, but actually its working title is THE LOVERS. So that's it. I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your kindness and support in 2007, and to wish you only peace and happiness for 2008. Best, John
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