| Latest Stuff
Hell’s Fire Is Out The novel officially hit book shops on the 15th of May in hardback and large paperback versions – and a few good reviews have already come in. You can read them by clicking on the 'Reviews' link in the 'Hell's Fire' section. The Novel After Hell’s Fire The sequel to Hell’s Fire, hopefully called ‘The Edge’ (unless the marketing people at Orion veto it) has just gone to my editor at Orion. The plot nicely matches the title, since it follows Jon as he desperately tries to find out why someone killed his younger brother, hacked the body into little bits and then stuffed it all into bin bags. Safe to say, as his parents’ marriage and relations with his wife bend under the strain of the investigation, DI Spicer treads ever closer to the brink. Film Clip I mentioned how my library talks involve two actors who perform a scene from ‘Shifting Skin’. It seems to go down really well with the audiences - better than my attempts at reading an extract, that’s for sure. So I was really pleased that a local director agreed to film and then edit the whole thing. It’s come out better than I ever imagined – see what you think by clicking here or paste (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=44pJ86o2Nz8) into your browser and watch it on youtube. The animated trailer for ‘Hell’s Fire’ For those who’ve watched the one for ‘Savage Moon’, please note the ‘Hell’s Fire’ trailer doesn’t have a soundtrack. (So it’s not your computer’s speakers playing up.) This one’s got a really interesting mix of treated photography with pure animation: I hope you enjoy it. To watch, click here. The Influence Of Film To help me develop the themes in my books, I often watch films which achieve similar things to what I’m trying to do with my plot. In the case of ‘The Edge’, it’s a slow and smouldering build up to an explosion of violence at the end. As a result, I bought a copy of ‘Taxi Driver’ and realised it really should have been in my Top Ten film list all along. (I’m sure Mr Tarantino will be really anguished to learn that Pulp Fiction has been bumped. Sorry, Quentin.) The revised list is at the end of this section. Savage Moon Reports keep trickling in from all sorts of publications (see the ‘Reviews’ screen for the book). The animated trailer. Finally it’s here, the prologue of ‘Savage Moon’ brought to life. To have a look, click here. Please note, you’ll need flash to play it. Waterstone’s 25 Some good news. To celebrate ’25 years in books’ Waterstone’s
have, with the input of publishers, agents, booksellers and others in
the industry, selected their twenty five authors for the future. What
a good idea, I thought – made even better when Orion told me I’d
made it on to the list. Article and Interview ‘Killing the Beasts’ made Shots Magazine’s ‘Best Crime of 2005’ selection. For a review and interview article, go to their web site, www.shotsmag.co.uk Favourite Books I’m often asked which particular books have had a major influence on me. So, if I had to name six, I would (currently) pick these – The Collector (John Fowles). Two amazingly written viewpoints in one excellent, but disturbing, book. Perfume (Patrick Suskind). You’d never believe such a fantastic story could be crafted around the sense of smell. The Wasp Factory (Iain Banks). A trip into the mind and hobbies of a very bizarre young person. The Butcher Boy (Patrick McCabe). The story of another very odd youngster, with horror and tragedy mixed in. Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris). So well plotted you really can’t put it down – I devoured it in one go. Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy). Violent and brutal - told in a biblical style to match the epic setting in which events unfold. A few people have used the word ‘filmic’ or ‘cinematic’ to describe the feel of my books. I do very much visualise my plots as if they’re playing out on the screen – I find it helps with achieving pace. As a result I’ve had a few enquiries of ‘What are my favourite films?’ Favourite Films It’s a tough question since sneaking off to the cinema on my own during the afternoon is one of my favourite pastimes. Anyway, in no order of preference, here’s my current Top Ten. (Current because it changes quite a bit.) For those of you who’ve read my books, you’ll not be surprised that most of the films listed below are (apart from one) pretty dark. There are a couple of comedies in there, but they’re…um…dark as well. Blade Runner
|
|||