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 Ever so often a professional writer will open
the blinds on the creative process and unveils what lies behind the writing of a
book. Peter Straubs wonderful new book Sides has several essays which uncloak the mystery of the writing
process. Straub has won multiple awards for his fiction that includes horror,
science fiction, fantasy, and mainstream fiction. ...
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Posted: 8/15/2007 4:46:12 AM |
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Price of most things is related to their scarcity. As most of the English
editions of my books have been published by Heaven Lake Press in Thailand and
are not widely available outside of the Kingdom, it isnt unexpected to find the
relative scarcity reflected in price. When you buy a second hand edition,
though, make certain you know what you are buying. Most of my novels have gone
through many editions. For example, A
Killing Smile has gone through 8 different print runs. Only the original
White Lotus edition 1992 is a first edition. If you pay for a first edition and
it is a later edition, youve overpaid. I have yet to see a special edition of
A Killing Smile or Gambling on Magic on offer. The main point: if you are buying
a second hand copy make certain you understand that price is correlated to
whether the book is a first edition or a later printing....
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Posted: 8/9/2007 12:22:01 AM |
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 The Altantic Monthly hardback edition of The
Risk of Infidelity Index is scheduled for release in the United States and
England on 21 December 2007. You can pre-order your copy from amazon. If you are in England, you can pre-order from amazon.uk.
RISK will retail in bookstores for $22.00. The
Amazon.com price is $14.96 -- a 32% discount, and less expensive than the trade
paperback edition in Thailand. The UK price is £9.66. This is one of the many
advantages of having a large print run by a major publisher.
What is
important for any author is the support of his publisher. Grove/Atlantic have
made The Risk of Infidelity Index their lead title in the Winter 2008
catalogue. No writer could ask for a better show of faith in a book. For an
author to have the full backing from a major publisher means a huge amount of
effort will go into the promotion and distribution of the book....
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Posted: 8/9/2007 12:06:35 AM |
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 The Thai version of Pattaya
24/7 is available in bookstores throughout Thailand. Though I suspect
you will have to find it at a Thai language bookstore. I doubt whether the
English language bookstores in Thailand will have it on sale.
The Thai
edition of Pattaya 24/7 is on sale for Baht 200. Below is the cover
art. Lots of bullet holes, lots of leg; all the elements required to catch the
eye. The neon signs advertising entertainment establishments in Pattaya should
also attract attention. ...
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Posted: 8/6/2007 3:52:40 AM |
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Kevin Burton Smiths 100 Eyes of the Mystery Scene Era has been published in
the 100th issue of Mystery Scene Magazine. Vincent Calvino is listed under
#9.
9 VINCENT CALVINO (Christopher G. Moore)
A transplanted New York
shamus is our man in Bangkok,
doing the ex-pat shuffle. This is the world
calling.
Kevin observes that the list is in alphabetical order as any
other sort of order would surely led to madness. ...
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Posted: 8/2/2007 12:15:17 AM |
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This is the final posting about Semana Negra 2007. A few more photographs give
an idea of the journey, the city of Gijon and some of the highpoints along the
way.
On the Black train from Madrid
to Gijon with publicist Marta Oliva 6 July 2007
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 On 14th July 2007 I was scheduled for a presentation of the
Spanish edition of Zero Hour in Phnom Penh. It was to be held in the main
venue at 9.05 p.m. About twenty minutes before I was to go on, I notice that
Marta, the publicist who had worked the entire festival arranging interviews,
was smoking more than usual and pacing. About 10 minutes before show time, I
slipped away to the restroom. I was back five minutes later and Marta was a
nervous wreck. I was surprised to see about 250 people inside. No sooner had I
stepped into the room a member of staff pulled Marta and I to chairs toward the
front. A couple of minutes later Paco Taibo announced the Premier Book Award for Samana Negra 2007. ...
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Posted: 7/23/2007 5:46:03 AM |
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There were many other authors from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and Columbia. It
was a good chance to meet authors and artists from around the world. Here are
some names to watch for in the future as I expect that their books will find
their way into English. I discovered Argentina author Ernesto Mallo (La Aguja
En El Parjar), Columbian author Antonio Garcia Angel (Recursos
Humanos), and Mexican author Miguel Cane (Todas Las Fiestas de
manana).
Paco Ignacio Taibo II leading
the guitar players in song.
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Entrance to Semana Negra 2007
Gijon, Spain
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My Spanish publisher has bought the Spanish rights to Spirit
House . They plan to bring it out early in 2008. Ediciones Paidos
Iberica has already published the Spanish edition of Zero Hour in Phnom Penh .
 On 3rd
July I am off to Madrid to assist in the promotion of the Spanish edition of
Zero Hour in Phnom Penh . As previously mentioned on this
blog, I have also been invited to attend the 20th anniversary of Semana Negra or Black week. On 6th July, I will board the
black train in Madrid along with other writers, publishers, journalists, and
artists that will deliver us to Gijon on the Atlantic coast of Spain. There is a
full program involving a lot of writers. The festival
kicks off with the arrival of the black train from Madrid on 6th and ends on
15th July. After the festival, I will fly to Barcelona for media interviews. ...
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Posted: 6/27/2007 5:27:12 AM |
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Many of us have that dream of riding the space shuttle above the earth and
looking down at the blue planet. To see the world as a whole spinning through
space, and to appreciate how small, fragile and beautiful it is. To find the
language to convey those images would challenge anyone. To find the language to
talk about the next best thing for a writer the big publishing deal is also
difficult. I still have that same unreal experience thinking about Calvino being
delivered to a much larger world.
The United States and Great
Britain
The dream of every writer is to be published by one of the
top publishers in New York. Anyone involved in publishing knows that the odds
are long for such a publishing deal. There are many interconnected factors,
including timing, the perceived market, the quality of the writing, the genre of
the book, the track record of the author, and so on. Then one day it happens to
you. Out of the blue a substantial offer comes from your literary agent. And if
that isnt a writers dream come true, it is time to roll over and stop
dreaming....
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Posted: 6/19/2007 1:18:38 AM |
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From J.K. Rowlings to J.R.R. Tolkien, publishers are finding that collectable
editions have a good market. Galleycat
pointed out that Michael Chabons The Yiddish Policemans Union and Chuck
Palahnuiks Rant (and reviewed on this blog recently) have collectable
editions at $150.00 a pop.
The Wall Street Journal did a story about the
collectable edition trend and the market for such books. The articles goes on to
note, In Britain, a limited, signed edition of Ian McEwan's new novel, "On
Chesil Beach," has almost sold out at nearly $200 a copy; one is now being
offered on eBay for as much as $370. ...
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Posted: 6/12/2007 6:04:21 AM |
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 People who work the dead end jobs in offices,
factories, amusement parks, and restaurants haunt Chuck Palahnuiks world. Or
they have no job at all. They occupy the dead zone of the modern urban world.
His characters The Fight Club, Survivor, Choke, and Diary (are the previous
novels I have read) share a common trait: they are cut loose from the
mainstream, and drift along with their head just above the water line. In Rant, one character says, What if reality is nothing
but some dream? Most of his characters fold up in a world of self-absorption,
self-hatred, self-mutilation, and self-destruction. A self preoccupies them
that is empty of content and their lives are spent seeking to pour some meaning
into that empty vessel. They have nothing to lose but blood and guts, and the
gore splattered wide and far somehow redeems them....
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Posted: 6/7/2007 12:17:56 AM |
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I have been asked by Terry Fitzgerald whether the painting by Galileo Chini
(1873 1956) mentioned in RISK was a product of my imagination or actually
exist. Chini was a real painter and did spend time, at the invitation of King
Chulalongkorn, as a guest in Siam.  Until my wife
and I visited Florence last year, I had been unaware of Chinis painting. I
studied his Bangkok New Year painting carefully. Chini captured some of the
exotic magic of the time, and provided me with an opportunity to develop more of
the back-story of Calvinos personal connection with Bangkok.
Here is a
reproduction of Chinis painting of Chinese New Year, Bangkok dated 1912.
The Gallery Francesca Antonacci in Rome is holding a special exhibition
of Chinis paintings 16 May 30 June 2007. For more details:
info@francescaantonacci.com - www.francescaantonacci.com ...
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Posted: 6/4/2007 4:04:10 AM |
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On Friday 8th June I am being interviewed on Tom Mintiers talk show. Tune in to
True Channel UBC news cable station at 22.10. The program last an hour. My
interview will last about 20 minutes.
I will be talking about my books
as well as discussing my deal with a New York publisher that will see the
Vincent Calvino series launched in both North America and Great Britain. Thats
right, no need to read that sentence again, Vinny will be coming out in New York
and London starting with two-books in January 2008. ...
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Posted: 6/3/2007 11:34:04 PM |
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By Christopher Hitchens
 For a large
part of humanity mankinds faith has been shaped by religious text that emerged
from tribal desert dwellers who lived around 2,000 years ago. The poison of
which Hitchens writes is an old and potent brew. It makes us stupid to the
reality of the world and has killed many of us as well. The religious view of
the origins of the universe or the nature of man was and remains much closer to
the thought processes of Cro-Magon than modern, secular people. Their strange
dietary taboos, hamlet raids, child abuse, racial hatreds was only exceeded by
their ignorance and untiring commitment to blood sacrifice and violence. But
they were clever enough to commit their ugly crimes under the authority of a
superior being who they claimed spoke directly to them. ...
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Posted: 5/29/2007 11:46:15 PM |
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A recent essay has suggested that novelists have lost their way by moving away
from the comedy aspect of life and plunging instead deep into tragedy. Julian
Gough in his essay on Divine Comedy has argued: Yet western culture since the
middle ages has overvalued the tragic and undervalued the comic. We think of
tragedy as major, and comedy as minor. Brilliant comedies never win the best
film Oscar. The Booker prize leans toward the tragic.
What caught my
attention was his spot on description of what happens when a novel is done
right: ...
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Posted: 5/21/2007 10:03:11 PM |
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Keeping a pulse on political, economic and social developments in Thailand is
never an easy task even if you live in Thailand. A certain skill is needed to
read between the lines of not only what is said but what has not been said. I
have another purpose. Often I will come across an article about a place or
person that sends me out the door to investigate for possible material to be
used in a novel. Many of my novels also have a political angle and it is good to
have a wide source of opinion and information about the fault lines that
characters seek to avoid. Often news from the political world reads like noir
fiction and that makes it all the more compelling to form part of a crime novel.
The leading English language newspapers are: ...
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Posted: 5/21/2007 1:03:42 AM |
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Who The Hell Are We Fighting? The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam
Intelligence War, C. Michael Hiam, Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press (2006), 326
pages, biblio., index.
Who the Hell Are We Fighting? is a biography
about Sam Adams, an intelligence operative who fought to convince his superiors
at the early stages of the Vietnam war that the number of Viet Cong were two to
three times greater than the politically inspired MACV figures. Sams story
illustrates how domestic American politics and the narrow vision of generals and
politicians became the driving force. Their determination was enough to dismiss
contrary evidence based on Sam Adams in depth knowledge about culture, history
and nationalistic feelings in Vietnam. Denial of the truth, as we have seen in
Iraq, is guaranteed to produce a disaster. ...
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Posted: 5/18/2007 1:12:29 AM |
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Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Sui Kyi, by Justin Wintle, Random
House (2007) 450 pps, with photographs. Available at all bookstores in Thailand
through amazon.
 On
Monday evening 14th May, Justin Wintles political biography of Aung San Sui Kyi
was launched at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. The author said
Aung San Sui Kyi had been influenced by her mother, by Buddhism, by the
principle of non-violence, and her time working in the UN. All of these factors
had shaped her worldview. A ten-minute documentary was showed. The documentary
was about Aung San Sui Kyis brush with death in 2003 when her motorcade was
attacked by a hired mob in Burma. Many people were killed in that confrontation.
Though the exact figure remains a subject of controversy. There never has been a
government inquiry into the clash....
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Posted: 5/15/2007 6:22:42 AM |
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