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IT'S...
http://www.markbillingham.com
May 2008. I suppose I should begin by apologising for the fact that it’s been almost a year since the last one of these appeared. I could tell you that there simply hasn’t been enough news to bother you with or try a ‘cat ate my homework’ type excuse, but the simple fact is that I’ve been busier than an Austrian social-worker and thought it was probably more important to crack on with the writing than send out a half-arsed newsletter boring you with what I did in my holidays and how my dog is. She’s very well, in case you’re interested. Well, London has a new Mayor, which would be exciting, save for the fact that the capital’s electorate has chosen a floppy-haired buffoon who uses words like ‘pickaninnies’ and whose only qualifications seems to be the fact that he once appeared on “Have I Got News For You” and can speak Ancient Greek. That might come in handy during his Olympic speech, but I can’t see it being too useful on the average estate in Hackney or in the event of a terrorist attack. Having seen an interview with Boris Johnson’s father the morning after his victory, it’s not hard to figure out where our new Mayor gets his smarts from. When challenged about his son’s lack of credentials to lead one of the greatest cities in the world, Johnson Snr said, “Well, I think I’ve known Boris as long as anyone…” No s**t Sherlock!, as my American friends might say. I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the digital revolution and how it might affect the world of books, as my publishers, together with the rest of them, rush to embrace the new technology. The new generation of e-readers has produced some extremely nifty devices, but will they ever really take off? Will the downloading of books ever become as influential as the downloading of songs? Certainly, they can come in very handy. Just imagine this handy little gadget containing all the works of Bellow, Roth and Mailer. How useful would that would be for students of American literature? One loaded up with the novels of Philip. K. Dick and Arthur C Clarke for science fiction fans. Or one containing the collected works of Jeffrey Archer, for soldiers to hand out to inmates at Guantanamo Bay, now that water-boarding has been outlawed. I’m joking, obviously! This collection of metal, circuits and software could never replace the printed works of Mr Archer. Well, it doesn’t burn nearly as well, does it? So, now the headlines… • Books! Books! Books!
One of the above headlines may not be entirely true… Death Message and In The Dark . The seventh Tom Thorne novel – Death Message – is published in paperback in the UK today (if you’re reading this on May 29th) and I can only hope and pray that it sells in many millions all around the world, once Oprah has taken it to her bosom and Richard and Judy decide that the lives of each and every one of their viewers would be immeasurably enriched by owning a copy. Alternatively, a few people might read it on their holidays, which is better than a poke in the eye. As with the previous book, Buried, there is a TV ad campaign in support of the book, and anyone interested can get a sneak preview of the TV commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXl0HHFtA6A I also talked about Death Message and a few other things, on a recent edition of Sky’s “Book Show” with Mariella Frostrup. The entire interview can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7CBKgGyCgE In The Dark , my first standalone thriller, will be published in the UK on August 7th, with publication in the US due a couple of months later, in October. I’m as nervous as I am excited, but hope that readers agree that I’ve made a wise decision in taking a break from the Thorne series. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone I think, but not that far. It’s not a recipe book or a rom-com or anything, but this is a far less procedural crime novel and one which I hope fans of the series, as well as new readers will enjoy… A Deadly Crash
A Dangerous Quest
A Shocking Twist
Well, that’s what it says on the jacket anyway…and a lovely jacket it is too!
Those that recognise the Smiths’ lyric will know it comes from their moody masterpiece “Suffer Little Children” – a haunting song about the Moors Murders. These horrible killings, which cost the lives of five children in the mid-sixties still exert a powerful grip on the public imagination while the couple that carried them out, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, continue to loom large whenever ‘evil’ is discussed. I have been filming a documentary about Brady and Hindley – one which concentrates on the two of them rather than the crimes they committed – in an effort to understand the twisted chemistry that caused this couple to do what they did. It has been a fascinating, if sobering experience, not least reading a letter which Ian Brady sent to me from the prison/hospital where he remains after forty-five years, waiting to die. This is the first in a series of four programmes about couples who have killed and will go out on the History Channel’s ‘Crime & Investigation’ network sometime in October. I doubt that anything I see or hear during the making of the remaining programmes will make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up quite as much as the last words of Brady’s letter: “The ball is yours…”
The journey from page to screen, as far as Tom Thorne is concerned, has been a long and tortuous one, but it seems – I have everything crossed even as I’m typing this – that we may finally be getting somewhere. If I can change analogies mid-stream – now I’m changing analogies and mixing metaphors – I think TV Tom has now moved beyond puberty into an awkward, but rewarding adolescence. His balls have dropped and he’s getting funny feelings he can’t quite explain. I’m not dealing with specifics here because, until a camera starts turning over, I’ll never be one hundred percent convinced it’s going to happen. But I’m about as excited as I can be, as are all the other people involved, from the hugely talented scriptwriters to the fantastic actor who has agreed to play Thorne. Watch this space… PEOPLE DIED FOR YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE! Ok…so it wasn’t actually the right to vote in a competition between crime novels, but the same principle applies. Oh, all right, no it doesn’t, but let’s crack on… I am delighted that Buried has been selected as one of the books in contention for the 2008 Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of The Year Award. It’s one hell of a longlist, but now votes are being cast to whittle it down to a shortlist of six. If you’d like to have a whittle, why not pop over and vote? Go on, you know you want to and it will only take a few seconds. I mean, you don’t HAVE to vote for my book, you know, no pressure or anything, but whose flipping newsletter is this anyway? You can cast your vote here: http://surv.cheetahmail.com/s?n=12&aid=619054499&o=1 As someone a bit scary said, “The ball is yours…”
The tour to promote In The Dark is still being put together and all events, once finalised, will be listed on the NEWS page of the website, so please check to see if there are any in your neck of the woods. Not that I plan to be doing very many events in woods or forests of any kind, but you never know. It goes without saying that I’d be thrilled to see as many readers as possible. As ever, I hope to be doing joint events with other writers – Peter Robinson, Stuart MacBride, John Connolly, Chris Brookmyre, Paul Johnston – the usual suspects – and we’ll be shamelessly whoring our wares in a variety of fine establishments through the medium of cheap jokes, close harmony singing and interpretive dance. We might even read from our new novels. As of this moment, here’s where I’ll be turning up like a bad penny: • May 29th. Borders Bookshop, Coventry. With John Connolly.
Please check the NEWS page of the website for full details of times, addresses, contact details for tickets etc.
I’m working hard to finish a first draft of the next book before In The Dark appears. This will be a Thorne novel called The Life Thief and will be published around a year from now. I’m also trying to finish work on the second book in the Triskellion trilogy, the kids’ books I write with my friend Peter Cocks under the pseudonym of Will Peterson. The first book seems to have gone down pretty well, so we’ve tried to up the ante second time around. Still plenty of bees though, and vicars coming to sticky ends. Not sure why that happens. The forum is still a great place to hang out if you fancy discussing…almost anything. The monthly book group is going great guns, so if you fancy joining in with that, or any of the other topics, you can check it out at: All the best, Mark http:/www.markbillingham.com www.markbillingham.com |
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