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IT'S...
http://www.markbillingham.com
March 2009. It was always my original intent that there would be four of these newsletters each year; that their composition might mark off the passing seasons. A nice idea, I’d thought. I’d idly wondered if each one could somehow reflect the time of year it was sent out. The winter newsletter could be gloomy and chilling, while the one following would see me capering about like a spring lamb. Or some such. As it has turned out, I’m barely managing one a year, which may well be more than enough for some of you. While there may be a few generous souls – those who don’t get out of the house much – counting the hours until my next instalment of gossip and tittle-tattle, I’m well aware there will be many thinking, “For pity’s sake, it only seems like a few days since the last one of these was clogging up my in-box. Why doesn’t Billingham sod off and write a novel or something?” It’s a fair point… In the ten months since I last sent a newsletter out, the world has changed enormously. Obama is in the White House and financially, most of the world is up a certain creek without a paddle. The upbeat talk about how books are recession proof is increasingly starting to sound like whistling as the dark as independent book shops struggle, publishers make cuts, and authors, well-known and otherwise, begin to feel the pinch. Book buyers and publishing houses alike are starting to tighten their belts, and if those that run the industry are going to start (gulp!) being selective, I urge those who pay their wages (the readers) to do likewise. Let’s start a campaign, right here, right now! Come on, rise up and refuse to spend your hard-earned cash on pap, piffle and fol-de-rol. Don’t buy any more misery memoirs. Nothing else called “Oh No, Daddy, Please Don’t!” or indeed anything that has a picture of an unhappy child or someone tied to a radiator on the jacket. Say “no” to ghost-written celebrity memoirs, books supposedly written by former glamour-models and any of the dozen or so novels written every year by a certain big-name author with assorted ‘collaborators’. Instead, why not pick up a crime novel by…me, for instance. You know, just as an example. You’ll be so glad you did, and while doing your bit to fight the credit crunch, you’ll also be keeping two needy children in expensive training shoes. God bless you… Among a number of enjoyable trips of late, was a journey back to Birmingham for a school reunion. It was a fantastic, if occasionally bizarre day and during the time spent at the school itself, I managed to get a look at my top-secret leaver’s report; hidden away in a storeroom with thousands of others. Here is a small selection of teacher’s comments from thirty-something years ago that were…sobering, to the say the least, but will not come as much of a shock to anyone that knows me. “Perpetually seeking attention” “His extrovert antics can sometimes be a little tiring” “He underestimates the importance of discipline” And my favourite: “Always eager to voice an opinion, even though he has made no attempt to inform himself on the subject” Oh well, at least my reviews have got (slightly) better… So, now the headlines… · Books! Books! Books! (Well there has to be some book-related news) · Body Count Soars As Another Children’s Book Is Published. · Thorne on TV: Progress Report. · The Dangerous Business Of Googling. · Tour Dates. · Billingham Appointed Official UK Books ‘Czar’, Despite His Extrovert Antics and Failure To Inform Himself On The Subject. One of the above headlines may not be entirely true… In The Dark and BLOOD LINE. My first standalone thriller – In The Dark – is published in paperback in the UK today (if you’re reading this on March 19th). Stepping away from the Thorne series was a little scary, but ultimately hugely rewarding and the reaction to the book (thank heavens) has vindicated my decision to take a break from the series. You can see me talking briefly about the novel here on Meet The Author: http://www.meettheauthor.co.uk/bookbites/1743.html And in a little more detail, in a longer interview for Bookzone TV. Just put my name into the search engine: Meanwhile, In The Dark will be published in paperback in the US on September 29th. Harper will then be publishing the seventh Thorne novel – Death Message – in hardback, on October 6th. Tom Thorne will be back this coming August in the UK, in the eighth novel in the series – BLOOD LINE. The space afforded me by the standalone meant that coming back to Thorne was exciting and, with this book, it feels as though I’m introducing him all over again. Here’s what it will say on the back of the (very snazzy) jacket: BLOOD LINE It seems like a straightforward domestic murder until a bloodstained sliver of X-ray is found, clutched in the dead woman’s fist - and it quickly becomes clear that this case is anything but ordinary. Thorne discovers that the victim’s mother had herself been murdered fifteen years before by infamous serial-killer Raymond Garvey. The hunt to catch Garvey was one of the biggest in the history of the Met, and ended with seven women dead. When more bodies and more fragments of X-ray are discovered, Thorne has a macabre jigsaw to piece together until the horrifying picture finally emerges. A killer is targeting the children of Raymond Garvey’s victims. Thorne must move quickly to protect those still on the murderer’s list, but nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted… Ooh-er, missus! Probably not one for fans of ‘cats ‘n’ cooking’ mysteries then… Triskellion 2: THE BURNING… …is the second in the trilogy of thrillers for older children written with my friend Peter Cocks as ‘Will Peterson’, which has just been published by Walker Books. American twins, Rachel and Adam Newman, having spent a decidedly freaky summer in the cosy English village of Triskellion, now find themselves prisoners of the sinister Hope Project. Escaping, after a macabre discovery in a secret autopsy suite, the twins are forced to go on the run; pursued across Europe until more horrifying secrets are revealed, deep underground in a cave on the north African coast… There are plenty more bees, and bodies and general spookiness. And a LOT of fire. You can find out more and have a gander at the lovely, shiny jacket here: http://www.walker.co.uk/Triskellion-2-The-Burning-9781406307108.aspx The final instalment in the trilogy, Triskellion 3: THE SWARM, has just been finished and will be published next year. THE BURNING will be published later this year in the US by Candlewick Press. THAT LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THE SMALL SCREEN Readers of these occasional dispatches will know that the journey from page to screen has been an especially tortuous one for Tom Thorne, but I’m pleased to report that things are still looking good. In television, the counting of chickens can be a dangerous game (especially now), so I’m trying not to think about it too much. But it’s hard, with a script as great as the one we have (for Sleepyhead) and a leading actor in the shape of the fabulous David Morrissey who you can see on your screens right now in the amazing RED RIDING TRILOGY. The reaction so far from the broadcaster is unanimously positive, so there’s every reason to be optimistic, but I won’t really believe it’s happening until there are cameras turning over and the actors playing Hendricks, Holland and Brigstocke are queuing up at the catering wagon… I’m also delighted that In The Dark has been optioned for TV by the brilliant Big Talk. That’s the production company behind SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ, not to mention the hilarious FREE AGENTS which is on Channel 4 right now. So, the book could not be in better hands. DANGER: GOOGLING Any author (in fact anybody at all) who claims that they have never Googled themselves, is (A) lying or (B) somebody who cannot work a computer. It’s rather like touching wet paint. Irresistible, but ultimately you will wish you had not bothered. Were it not for the horrors of Google, I would not know for instance, that ‘Mark Billingham’ is this country’s leading Dame Edna Everage impersonator! Oh, yes, an uncannily accurate looky-likey of Barry Humphries’ best-known comedy character. Here he is. Check him out: http://www.shropshirestar.com/2007/09/11/top-prize-for-dame-mark/ I wonder what ‘Dame Mark’s’ school report was like? On other Interweb-related matters, I am finally ‘down with the kids’ in that I now have an official Facebook page. So, become my friend, scrawl on my wall, poke me where I should not be poked, or whatever it is you’re suppose to do with such things. If you’re searching for me on Facebook, I’ll be the one with the strange picture where I appear to be stuck in a box. As opposed to the one wearing ladies make-up, a wig and big glasses. DIARY There will be assorted events and festival appearances to promote BLOOD LINE, but the itinerary 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. Then come along and heckle, or demand your money back. Or stand up afterwards and complain loudly that actually, you’d paid good money to see the country’s leading Dame Edna Everage impersonator… As of this moment, here’s where I’ll be turning up like a bad penny: May 28/29/30th/. The Comedy Store, London. July 23-26th. Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. August 24th. Edinburgh International Book Festival. September 12th. Reading Festival of Crime Writing. With Christopher Brookmyre. October 16 th. Manchester Literary Festival. November 5/6/7th. The Comedy Store, London. Please check the NEWS page of the website for full details of times, addresses, contact details for tickets etc. AND CURRENTLY… I’m about to start work on the next Thorne novel which, as of now, will be called FROM THE DEAD. This may well change, of course. I’m still spending far too much time fannying about on radio and TV when I should be writing, but that’s no great surprise. Remember that school report? ‘Perpetually seeking attention’. Anyone wishing to see just how willing I am to venture an opinion having made ‘no attempt to inform myself on the subject’ can enjoy a good laugh by watching me buzzing, then looking blank on THE BOOK QUIZ on BBC4 this coming Monday (March 23rd) at 8.30. If you miss it, it will be available on BBC iPlayer for a week or so afterwards, I think. Copy it on to DVD and laugh all over again. The website’s forum is still a great place to hang out and talk books, movies, football; anything you fancy. There is a monthly book club, which is always entertaining, as well as regular competitions and even the occasional recipe. All this and more at: If you no longer wish to be kept waiting (sorry) for one of these, please let me know at: mail@markbillingham.com You are welcome, of course, to use the same address to pass comment, say random stuff, or cheer me up by telling me that the teachers responsible for that school report are now dead. All the best, Mark http:/www.markbillingham.com www.markbillingham.com |
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