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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. 
Dear Folks, Well, the great Atria Mystery Bus Tour has come to an end and nobody died, or killed anyone else. With that in mind, we can now offer the remaining copies of THE REFLECTING EYE special edition for sale to anyone who wants one, but be warned: we have only a limited number left, so put your order in fast! The books are small hardcovers printed without dust jackets, 5" x 7", bound in scarlet with mahogany spines and stamped in gold. They are numbered and signed by both me and the artist, David Wolfe. The text has been revised from the original story that appeared in Nocturnes, so this is the first-ever publication of the novella in its current form. Much more about this book, including its introduction, is here. As before, all profits from the book will go to the stores involved as a way of supporting independent bookshops, and orders are limited to TWO copies per customer. The stores involved will be happy to ship books anywhere in the world. In Ireland/the UK Because we have to ship the books from the US, the price for each copy will be 25 Euro, or 21 Pounds Sterling, plus mailing costs. The three Irish independent bookstores that will be taking care of customer orders are:
Gutter Bookshop
Alan Hanna's Bookshop
No Alibis In the US/Canada The book is priced at $30/copy.
Anne's Book Carnival
Booked for Murder
Book'Em Mysteries
Murder by the Book
The Mysterious Bookshop
Mysterious Galaxy
Mystery One
Mystery on Main Street
Once Upon a Crime
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Sleuth of Baker Street Please get in touch with your selected store as soon as possible so that we can figure out the logistics of shipping, and thanks in advance to those who are lucky enough to secure a copy: it'll make a lovely addition to your shelves but, more importantly, you'll not only be supporting independent bookstores, but expressing your faith in, and affection for, the printed book. Oh, and I nearly forgot: congratulations to Victoria L. Petty Nawrath, winner of the signed lettered edition of THE REFLECTING EYE, who wrote to say that what he/she would really like was a signed copy of . . . "THE LOVERS by John Connolly." Well, that's very flattering (and I honestly didn't mean for people to name a book of mine, and was a bit mortified that so many people did)—but I hope THE REFLECTING EYE will do! Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.
Coming this Autumn: THE WRATH OF ANGELS and BOOKS TO DIE FOR If you're having a little trouble keeping up with the deluge of titles heading your way, I can only beg your pardon and ask you to imagine two manuscripts, four sets of page proofs (since the books are being published by both Hodder and Atria, in the UK and US respectively), and two publication schedules on opposite sides of the Atlantic. I shall have to start tattooing things on myself, like Guy Pearce in Memento . . . 
THE WRATH OF ANGELS, the 11th Charlie Parker novel, will be published in the UK on August 30 and in the US on October 2, with copies likely to be available a little before August 30 in Ireland. A synopsis of this book, which is more or less a sequel to THE LOVERS, is now online, and we'll post an excerpt very shortly. BOOKS TO DIE FOR, the anthology co-edited by Declan Burke and myself, will also be published in the UK and Ireland on August 30 and in the US on October 2. We asked more than 120 of the world's best mystery authors to recommend their favorite crime novels, and have assembled those essays into a collection that every fan of the genre must have. Michael Connelly on The Little Sister, Sara Paretsky on Bleak House, Kathy Reichs on Silence of the Lambs, Ian Rankin on I Was Dora Suarez—it's the book for the reader who thinks he or she has already read everything. We are organizing a special event at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention (Oct. 4-7), where we hope that many of the contributors will be available to sign the book, so stay tuned for more information about that.
Upcoming Events Later this month, I'll be checking in with the YA Book Club on Goodreads.com, which is reading THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS this month. I'll be answering questions there on May 15, so feel free to drop in and say hi! As mentioned previously, I'll be in Germany in June for the following events:
Monday, June 4 at 10:00 a.m.
Monday, June 4 at 11:50 a.m.
Tuesday, June 5 at 9:00 a.m.
Tuesday, June 5 at 11:00 a.m.
And at the Edinburgh Festival in late August, although those details are still being finalized. You will also find me here:
Friday, July 20 at 9:00 a.m.
Friday, July 20 at 5:00 p.m.
October 4-7
And So On And now back to something resembling normal for a few weeks, I hope. Thanks to all who came out to say hello during the Bus Tour, which was really quite an extraordinary undertaking on the part of everyone involved. If you missed my daily reports from the road, they're all on the blog. Do stay in touch by Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to tune in to ABC to XTC, my weekly radio show on RTE 2XM. It airs on Tuesday nights at 10:00 pm Dublin time and again on Saturdays at 9:00 pm, but you can listen back to recent shows at any time through the RTE Player. Upcoming shows even include a few listener requests. See, I do listen to you . . . Thanks for your support, as always. Enjoy the summer (or the winter) as it begins, and remember: non-glare screens or not, in direct sunlight, paper books are easier to read.
Best wishes,
Dear Folks, Just a quick note to share some last-minute details before I leave the comforts of home and hearth for the better part of a month. During that month I hope to see many of you—at the events listed below—well, a lot of you, as some of you I'm not sure about. I've been reading Stephen King's Misery for the first time (don't know how it got away from me) and, frankly, I'm sure I've seen a disturbing gleam in the eyes of certain readers, and I don't want to be hobbled with a hammer, or have my feet amputated. Seriously. I'm not kidding. I really don't... Still, rest assured that you are never far from my thoughts, and the form for the restraining order stands ready in the kitchen drawer. Onward . . . The Atria Mystery Bus Tour 
The first order of business is, of course, the Atria Mystery Bus Tour, during which three fellow authors and I will tool around a fair amount of the United States in celebration of my U.S. publisher's 10th anniversary. I'm happy to be dropping in on some old friends, and even happier to be seeing some parts of the United States I've somehow missed during earlier trips. My companions on this trip will be William Kent Krueger, Edgar-award winning author of the Cork O'Connor series; bestselling Swedish author/publisher Liza Marklund, whose Annika Bengtzon series is being introduced to the U.S. with Red Wolf; and author/marketing maven M.J. Rose, whose latest, The Book of Lost Fragrances, is an IndieNext pick. We don't really know each other, so it will be quite the adventure, and possibly fodder for someone's future Ph.D. thesis in anthropology, as well as potentially the source of some form of police attention. ("And you say Mr Krueger hit you with a hammer because you took some of his Milk Duds, even though they weren't actually marked as his Milk Duds? But Mr Krueger claims that he is the only one on the bus who eats Milk Duds, and therefore they could ONLY have been his...") Details of stops are on the tour page, but we kick off in New York on April 12 and wind up in Chesterfield, Missouri on April 19. In between, we'll be stopping in Madison, CT; Framingham, MA; Brattleboro, VT; Albany, NY; Dayton, OH; Forest Park (Chicago), IL; Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Kansas City, MO; and Chesterfield (St. Louis), MO. If anything changes along the way, the Facebook author page and the Twitter feed (@JConnollyBooks) will be the best source of new information. If you come out for any of the tour events and take pictures that aren't gruesomely embarrassing, please share them on the Facebook page!
THE REFLECTING EYE—A Special Edition As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, I've organized a special limited edition of THE REFLECTING EYE, a Charlie Parker novella, specifically for this tour. I felt bad that I didn't have a new book to promote—THE INFERNALS comes out in trade paperback on April 10, and the hardcover of THE BURNING SOUL is still in bookstores, but you've already bought those books already, haven't you? (Er—haven't you? It's my accountant who's asking, you understand...) THE REFLECTING EYE was first published in 2004 as part of the NOCTURNES collection (which is still available, should you want to see it in its original form). It finds Charlie Parker between the events of THE WHITE ROAD and THE BLACK ANGEL, living with his partner, Rachel, in relative tranquility as they await the birth of their child. THE REFLECTING EYE introduces the character of the Collector, a shadowy figure who has appeared in several subsequent books, and plays a central role in THE WRATH OF ANGELS, the next Charlie Parker novel. It has never been published independently in English. Strange as it seems, almost eight years have passed since THE REFLECTING EYE was published. In that time, I hope I've learned a great deal more about Charlie Parker, the Collector, and writing itself. This being the case, I could not resist the opportunity to revisit this story—and so the version of THE REFLECTING EYE published in this limited edition differs from the version in NOCTURNES in several elements. (I hasten to add, there's nothing in this revised version that you'll need to know in order to appreciate THE WRATH OF ANGELS. But longtime readers may enjoy spotting the differences between the original and this version.) The point of the Atria Bus Tour, and of this limited edition, is to get people into their local independent bookstores—because if we ignore them, they will go away, and that would be an immeasurable loss for all of us. Therefore, this edition will be available for sale only to people who present themselves in person at these events, and purchases will be limited to two per customer. I do not want to see copies of this book, published at my own expense, on eBay or ABEBooks.com or (God forbid) Amazon Marketplace. We're not making money on this book: our price to the store just covers costs. It's socialism in action! "But wait!" you cry. "I don't live in Dayton, Ohio! I have to work during the day when you're in Chicago! How am I supposed to get to Vermont when I live in Australia?" Those of you who live outside the route of the Atria Bus Tour will have a chance to buy any remaining copies of THE REFLECTING EYE in May, after the tour is over. We'll publish detailed ordering information in the May newsletter. 
The limited edition is 7"x5" and clothbound in scarlet without a dust jacket, with a mahogany spine embossed in gold. It includes a woodcut illustration by noted Maine artist and bookbinder David Wolfe, and all copies are signed by the artist and me. This edition is limited to 700 copies, and priced at $30/copy. Separately, David Wolfe has run a set of 100 numbered prints of the illustration from THE REFLECTING EYE, signed by both David and me, which are available directly from him at $85/print. You can order prints through David's website, which is worth a visit in any case. And, because I'm generous like that, I'm giving away one of a handful of lettered, leatherette-bound editions of THE REFLECTING EYE as a prize. To enter, you don't have to answer a question as such, but just provide a little nugget of information: out of curiosity, just let me know one book that you'd love to own in an edition signed by its author. Simple as that. Answers, please, to contact@johnconnollybooks.com by April 30th. The competition is open to all.
In Other News In other news, THE BURNING SOUL will be available in paperback on June 21 in the UK and on June 26 in the US. The manuscript for the eleventh Charlie Parker novel, THE WRATH OF ANGELS, has been submitted to my British and American publishers, for release in late August/early September. Look for an excerpt and cover art to be posted to the website at the beginning of June. Essays are pouring in for BOOKS TO DIE FOR, the anthology I'm editing with Declan Burke about mystery novels the world's best crime fiction writers think you should read before you die. There have been some interesting choices, a number of great personal anecdotes, and the book will provide plenty of fodder for arguments (drunken or otherwise) with fellow readers. We'll share much more about this book in early summer, when it will have its very own website. For now, mark your calendars for late September/early October, when the book will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and by Atria in the US. I'm still planning to be in Germany for some events in early June, but am waiting on details. I'll be at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate in July, and at the Edinburgh Festival in August, but details of those events are also pending. They'll be posted to the tour page once they're available, but the Facebook author page will always be the first source of breaking news. The weekly radio show, ABC to XTC, has changed its schedule. The Tuesday show now airs at 10:00 pm Dublin time on Tuesday night and at 9:00 pm Dublin time on Saturday night, on the Internet station RTE 2XM. Shows are available through the RTE player for 28 days after they air, and each week's playlist is posted on my website by the following week. Requests are always welcome, and upcoming shows may well include one or two. Send your suggestions to contact@johnconnollybooks.com, with a word or two about what the song or band means to you. I will use this information only for good, I promise. No judgments... Thanks, as always, for your interest and support. Please come say hello, if you live anywhere along the Bus Tour route, or stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter. I worry about you, you know. You don't eat enough...
Best wishes,
Dear Folks, What's rare is wonderful, they say, so a quick word to say I hope your year has started off well, and that spring (or autumn, as the case may be) is off to a gentle start in your part of the world. Many things going on, and much to report—including details of a very lovely signed edition of THE REFLECTING EYE—so off we go. Mind your heads, hands inside the car as the train leaves the station. No drinking, no smoking, and no inappropriate contact with members of either sex unless someone asks you nicely...
P-CON IX, QUAIS DU POLAR, AND THE ATRIA MYSTERY BUS TOUR Every year I say I won't be touring as heavily this year, or doing as much publicity, but this year I really mean it. I do. Honest. So, except for France, Germany, the UK, the US, a bunch of stuff in Ireland, and wherever else happens to insist upon my presence in 2012, I'm going to be as close to a hermit as makes no difference. You'll have forgotten that I ever existed. Hell, I'll have forgotten that I ever existed. Right (deep breath)...
So if you're in Dublin at the beginning of March, you can find me at the Ninth Annual Phoenix Convention, an Irish literary science fiction event happening at the Irish Writers' Centre, Parnell Square, Dublin 1. The program runs Saturday and Sunday, March 3 & 4, and I'll be on two panels on Saturday:
At the end of March, I'll be in Lyon, France at the international Quais du Polar festival, March 30—April 1. This link takes you to the program in French, but you'll find a link to a downloadable English-language version at the bottom of that page. I'll be doing two panels on Sunday, March 31: one at 11:00 a.m. on crime fiction as heir to the Western, with Belinda Bauer, C.J. Box, and Craig Johnson, and one at 3:00 p.m. about European writers who set their books in the U.S. and vice versa, with Lee Child, Chattam Maxime, Jonathan Rabb and Maud Tabachnik. In April, I'll be in the United States for 10 days for Atria's Great Mystery Bus Tour, USA, celebrating my U.S. publisher's tenth anniversary with my fellow authors William Kent Krueger, Liza Marklund, and M.J. Rose. We'll be making more than a dozen stops, and we'll have some special things for the nice people who come out to see us. It will be an adventure, to say the least.
Thursday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, April 13 at 12:00 noon
Friday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 14 at 12:00 noon
Saturday, April 14 at 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Monday, April 16 at 12:00 noon
Monday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17 at 12:00 noon
Tuesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. Details on the German tour, which will take in Cologne and Frankfurt during the first week of June, will follow in the next newsletter, as will further details about my appearances at Harrogate, the Edinburgh Festival, and various Irish dates. And then I really am home for a while. I swear. I've got books to write, you know... and a book to edit, of which more below...
THE REFLECTING EYE—A SPECIAL EDITION One of the main purposes of the Atria's Great Mystery Bus Tour is to encourage people to visit their local bookstore because, folks, if you don't give custom to local businesses then local businesses will cease to exist. Enough bookstores have closed already, and it's too late to do much to help them once they're gone. With that in mind, I've created a special signed edition of THE REFLECTING EYE, the Charlie Parker novella that featured in the NOCTURNES collection, and which has never appeared in hardback. It will be part-bound in leather, with a new introduction, and will feature a woodcut illustration by Maine's own David Wolfe, commissioned specially for the book. To begin with, THE REFLECTING EYE will ONLY be available at the bookstores that the tour bus is visiting, and can ONLY be purchased by people who attend in person, and we're limiting it to two copies per person. (As we're unlikely to be able to make a selling arrangement with the B&N stores that we're visiting, we'll take the email addresses of people who want to buy copies, and pass them on to one of the independent stores who will fulfill the order.) Here's the thing: I wanted this to be an affordable edition, something that people could add to their collection without breaking the bank, but I also wanted the booksellers to make a little money on it. Therefore, we're just charging the bookstores the cost of production for each book, and should be able to hold the price of the finished copy to no more than $30. For those of you who are already saying "But I don't live anywhere near those stores, and I don't know anyone who can go along and buy a copy for me!", any remaining copies will be sold afterwards, and we'll send out a short email with details of how to get your mitts on one after the bus tour has concluded. Now about the other books that will have my name on them this year...
BOOKS TO DIE FOR The first of these is BOOKS TO DIE FOR, which I am co-editing with my fellow author, critic and man-about-town Declan Burke. BOOKS TO DIE FOR is being described as "the most ambitious anthology of its kind yet attempted," and we think it's a book that every mystery lover will want on his or her bookshelf. We've asked more than 120 of the world's top crime writers to recommend the one book that all fans of crime fiction should read, and we've been overwhelmed, to put it mildly, at the response. The collection includes Michael Connelly on THE LONG GOODBYE, Sara Paretsky on BLEAK HOUSE, Ian Rankin on I WAS DORA SUAREZ, Kathy Reichs on THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and much, much more . . . BOOKS TO DIE FOR will be published more or less simultaneously this autumn by Hodder & Stoughton in the U.K. and Atria in the U.S., and will be launched at Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention) in Cleveland in early October. It'll make a perfect Christmas gift for anyone who's ever asked, "What should I read next?" We'll provide further details over the coming months, including news of how you can get signed hardback copies.
THE WRATH OF ANGELS Meanwhile, I'm just finishing yet another draft of the 11th Charlie Parker novel, THE WRATH OF ANGELS. It'll be out in late August/early September, and I'll post an excerpt sometime in March. Check the Facebook author page for the link once it's live.
AND EVERYTHING ELSE That Facebook author page and my Twitter feed are the best ways to connect with me online, now that the website forum is honorably retired. My deepest thanks and best wishes to the lovely Jayne Doherty, who looked after it for so many years. Jayne is moving on to make wedding plans, and I wish her every happiness for the future. My personal Facebook page has hit its limit of 5,000 "friends," and the truth is I'm not very good at keeping up with it (as you may have noticed—sorry!). Over the next couple of months, I'll be phasing that page out and focusing on the author page, which sets no limits on the company I keep. The weekly radio show, ABC to XTC, continues on RTE 2XM every Tuesday morning and Saturday night. Shows are available through the RTE player for 28 days after they air, and each week's playlist is posted on my website by the following week. If you'd like to make a request—for a song, I mean, not something strange involving gimp masks or whips—then you can do so via Twitter or Facebook or, best of all, via contact@johnconnollybooks.com. If you can, let me know why the particular song or band means something to you. People like to hear these things, you know. They bring us closer together.
OH, AND SOME WORDS ON MARK KOZELEK, SUN KIL MOON, AND GENERAL FANBOY CHUFFEDNESS Last (but by no means least), I suggest that you all mark your calendars for May 29, which is the release date of Among the Leaves, the fifth full-length album by Sun Kil Moon, one of the musical incarnations of the gifted songwriter Mark Kozelek. The title of Among the Leaves comes, according to Mark himself, from a line in The Whisperers: "the shape of the next, almost invisible now among the leaves..." This would be flattering at any time, but is even more so considering my own longtime admiration of Mark's work; Red House Painters, another of Mark's projects, featured on Voices from the Dark, the companion CD to The Black Angel. If you haven't yet explored Mark's work, do yourself a favor and start as soon as possible. Retrospective by Red House Painters is a fine overview of that band's career, and Admiral Fell Promises, 2010's Sun Kil Moon album, is quite exquisite. Further details about the release of Among the Leaves, and Mark's other work, are available at www.sunkilmoon.com And I think that's enough to be going on with, for now. Thanks, as always, for your interest and support, and I look forward to seeing many of you—or at least some of you—in the months ahead.
Best wishes,
Dear Folks, Just a quick word at the end of the year to wish you all a very happy holiday season, and say thanks once again for all your support. It's been an unusually busy year, what with the two releases of HELL'S BELLS/THE INFERNALS six months apart, and the publication of THE BURNING SOUL around the English-speaking world in September. It feels as if I've spent most of the year on the road, and I'm very grateful for the warm welcome I got from readers, booksellers, and librarians along the way. Fair warning, then, that I plan to spend most of next year a little closer to home. In fact, I'll be keeping a very low profile indeed for the next three months, as I make headway on the next Charlie Parker novel, to be called THE WRATH OF ANGELS. I know it's really Charlie you want to see, anyway...
In addition to THE WRATH OF ANGELS, I'll also be co-editing a non-fiction anthology, of which more in the New Year. For now, it's just fun to tease you with the promise of things you can't have yet. Still, you're all adults, and you should be comfortable with delayed gratification by now. If you're not, you're probably reading this in jail...
Coming Up in 2012: Did I say I'd be staying closer to home next year? Well, I won't be entirely missing. If you have a new calendar, you can mark a few dates:
March 30 - April 1
April 12-19
July 19-22
October 4-7
ABC to XTC: The Year-End Special Thanks to everyone who wrote in to suggest songs for my special year-end edition of my radio show, ABC to XTC. Congratulations to Cathy Howe, the randomly selected winner of a Burning Soul t-shirt for her recommendation of Bonnie Raitt's "Love Me Like a Man." The shows featuring your choices of the best songs of the 1980s, will air on January 3/7 and January 10/14 on RTE 2XM, although as the list is quite long the specials may extend into a third week. In the meantime, a really nice festive edition of the show goes out for the first time on December 20, featuring Durutti Column, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, Galaxie 500 and all kinds of other seasonal goodies. Regular editions of ABC to XTC air online on RTE 2XM at 10:00 am GST on Tuesdays, and again at 9:00 pm on Saturday nights. If you're not near your computer at either of those times, you can now listen back at any time with the RTE Player, which can also be downloaded to your mobile device. Just choose "2XM," search for "ABC to XTC," and the past month of shows will be available for your listening pleasure!
And an Apology . . . Like almost every other author these days, I have a presence on Facebook—in fact, as I discovered not too long ago, rather too much of a presence. Somehow or other I wound up with two personal pages in addition to the Official Fan Page, which I encourage you all to "like." (Like me! Please like me!) One of those personal pages had been sadly neglected, and in fact overtaken by the other personal page, so we've deleted it. It doesn't mean we're not friends anymore! But the truth is that I have very little time to spend on Facebook, or even on keeping up with email. (My nearest and dearest will tell you it's hard enough to get a response out of me in person when I'm writing.) If you've sent me a personal message via Facebook, chances are good that I have not responded to it in a timely manner, or at all. I'm very sorry about that, but I can't promise that I'll do any better in the future. It's much easier for me to respond to quick comments on the fan page wall, or via Twitter, where you can find me at @jconnollybooks. Thanks for your forbearance and goodwill! That's all I have for now, except to say that I hope the God of your choice continues to bless you all on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever holidays you may be celebrating in your part of the world. A very happy 2012 to all of you, and special best wishes to the lovely Jayne, whom many of you know as my longtime forum administrator (and now administrator of the Facebook fan page), who is recovering from some surgery at the moment. I feel very fortunate to be able to make a living doing what I love, and it's all because of you. And you. And you. And especially you . . . okay, well, maybe not you. So thank you very much, and I'll see you next year.
Best wishes,
Dear Folks, Me again . . . yes, yes, I know, but after this newsletter I promise I'll leave you alone for a while. No, really. No restraining order necessary. But hey, what can I say: I missed you. Really. Feel the love. Not literally, obviously. That would just be odd . . .
Thanks to all the booksellers and readers in the U.S. who offered a warm welcome to THE BURNING SOUL and its author last month. Signed copies are still available at many of the stores I visited. If I didn't make it to your town, keep reading, because I'll be back for a longer tour for THE INFERNALS at the end of this month. This Library Police podcast touches on several of the topics I talked about on this tour—or if you'd prefer video, check out this interview with Sarah Swistak of central Pennsylvania's WTAJ or this live appearance from Portland's own Great Lost Bear, with Kathleen Shannon of WCSH.
But First! Two Nights with M.R. James Before I head back across the Atlantic, I'll be doing two special events in Belfast and Dublin in honor of that master of the ghost story, M.R. James. My good friend, the wise and witty Dr. Darryl Jones of Trinity College Dublin, has edited the definitive collection of M.R. James' ghost stories, and to mark the occasion we'll spend two evenings discussing M.R. James' lasting influence on many modern authors and filmmakers, including myself. Both events will feature a screening of some kind; details are pending for Dublin, but in Belfast the evening will include a screening of the classic 1968 BBC adaptation of "O Whistle and I'll Come to You," directed by Jonathan Miller and starring the late Michael Hordern. Lovely hardback first editions of the anthology will be available to be signed on each evening, suitable for Christmas gift-giving or your own collection (because no home should be without one).
Thursday, October 20 at 8:00 pm
Friday, October 21 at 7:00 pm
THE INFERNALS: Coming to the US soon!
Americans have many fine and admirable national traits, but even the most ardent patriot will admit that patience is not one of them. Thus I am glad, not to say relieved, to announce that their long wait for the sequel to THE GATES ends on October 18, when THE INFERNALS arrives in stores everywhere. This is the same book, barring some minor additions, that was released earlier this year in Ireland, the UK, and Australia as HELL'S BELLS. There's a nice new cover, too, and you can play "spot the changed cultural allusion" if you're bored. (Americans, for example, are unfamiliar with "wine gums.") For those of you who skipped over the description in an earlier newsletter, THE INFERNALS continues the adventures of young Samuel Johnson and his faithful dachshund, Boswell, as they flee the wrath of the demonic Mrs. Abernathy, still nursing her wounds after the events of THE GATES. In fact, this time around, Samuel and Boswell wind up within the vast wastelands of Hell itself, along with two confused policemen, an ice cream truck, and some very obnoxious dwarves.
Early reviews for the book have been more than generous; in fact, I'm two-for-two from Kirkus Reviews this year, which makes me a bit nervous. They called THE INFERNALS "brilliantly funny, often touching, with enough action to keep adventure fans on the edges of their chairs, this novel combines top-notch writing with cutting wit." And the discerning critics at Publishers Weekly said THE INFERNALS was "a joy to read . . . Despite the terrors of Hell, this highly enjoyable, often funny adventure is buoyed by optimism and the possibility of grace." Much obliged, with perhaps a little blushing, and some abashed shuffling of feet. Readers who come to events for THE INFERNALS will receive special souvenir packets of buttons with designs from the book. A limited number of these will be available at each store on the tour, so if you pre-order a book, ask whether they can send you a packet of buttons as well. We'll also be raffling one limited edition THE BURNING SOUL t-shirt at each of the formal events, because we just can't stop giving.
Wednesday, October 26 at 12:00 noon—Seattle, WA
Thursday, October 27 at 12:30 pm—Portland, OR
Thursday, October 27 at 7:00 pm—Portland, OR
Friday, October 28 - Sunday, October 30—San Diego, CA
Monday, October 31 at 7:00 pm—San Diego, CA
Wednesday, November 2 at 1:00 pm—Thousand Oaks, CA
Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 pm—San Mateo, CA
Friday, November 4 at 7:00 pm—Scottsdale, AZ
Saturday, November 5 at 4:30 pm—Houston, TX
Sunday, November 6 at 4:00 pm—Austin, TX
Monday, November 7 at 5:30 pm—New Orleans, LA
Tuesday, November 8 at 7:00 pm—Alpharetta, GA
Thursday, November 10 at 7:00 pm—Asheville, NC
Friday, November 11 - Saturday, November 12—Muskego, WI
Sunday, November 13 at 1:00 pm—New York, NY
Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 pm—Portland, ME
Wednesday, November 16 at 7:00 pm—Milford, NH
Friday, November 18 - Saturday, November 19—Miami, FL
Oh, and One More Thing . . . The episode of "Celebrity Masterchef" featuring five Irish authors as part of the celebration of Dublin's status of a UNESCO City of Literature will air on BBC1 on October 19 at 2:15 pm. Episodes are available online after the airdate in some regions, so you can see John Boyne, Eoin Colfer, Cathy Kelly, Sinead Moriarty and myself eat and drink and act like gourmets with the City of Dublin's Jane Alger at your leisure. ABC to XTC, my weekly celebration of all things New Wave, punk and synth, continues on RTE 2XM on Tuesday mornings and Saturday nights. In fact, in preparation for my year-end show, a question: what's your one favorite song from 1977-89, and why? Send your choice to contact@johnconnollybooks.com before October 31, and we'll draw one name at random at the end of the month for a special, limited edition THE BURNING SOUL t-shirt. Thank you! Thanks, as always, for your support, and your messages and comments on the Facebook fan page and Twitter. Hope to see many of you in the weeks ahead. Be well—and happy Halloween!
Best wishes,
Dear Folks,
Just a quick note between the UK and US legs of THE BURNING SOUL tour, to say thanks to everyone who came out to the events in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, and special thanks to the booksellers who welcomed me along the way. Thanks to their support (and yours), THE BURNING SOUL hit the Sunday Times bestseller list last week at No. 3, and went straight to No. 1 in Ireland. The reviews, too, have been very kind: the notoriously fastidious Kirkus Reviews called it "an intelligent, plausible thriller, both harrowing and memorable." Let the celebrations begin! In fact, I have no doubt that celebrations will occur in St. Louis late this week, as Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention) starts on Thursday and runs through the weekend. If you're there, please keep an eye out, and say hello if you see me.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Kavanagh of Arklow, County Wicklow, and Joe O'Leary of Maynard, Massachusetts, who were the lucky winners of signed copies of THE BURNING SOUL because they knew that Charlie Parker's dog was named Walter. Almost 90 people knew the answer to that question and took the time to write in—so thanks very much to all who entered the contest, and we'll obviously have to come up with a more difficult question next time... I managed to lose my phone on tour in the UK, but thanks to all who Tweeted and left kind messages on the Facebook fan page, and apologies for not being able to respond in a timely manner. When I do have my phone, Twitter and Facebook are really the only way to communicate with me, so I'm replacing the little machine, and will do better in future if I can. To save us all some time, however, I'm posting the most common question I've gotten in the last two weeks—apart from "Does it make your hand hurt?", which, frankly, can be taken any number of ways—with the answer:
Q: Are you coming to [my hometown]? We'll post reminders to Twitter and the Facebook fan page page as I go, but this is the whole tour. I'll be back in the US from late October through mid-November for THE INFERNALS, and we'll send that schedule out at the beginning of October; but in the meantime, I'm not keeping anything secret, so if you don't see your town on this list, I'm sorry! Until I master the art of bilocation, I can only be in one place at a time...but if you'd like a sample, you can listen to my radio interview with John McCarthy on BBC Radio 4's Excess Baggage program here, or watch my chat with the lovely Siobhan and Mark on Ireland:AM here. There's even a free sample of the US audio recording of THE BURNING SOUL, read by George Guidall, here.
Thursday - Sunday, September 15-18
Monday, September 19 at 7:00 pm—Denver, CO
Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00 pm—Longmont, CO
Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00 pm—Chicago, IL
Thursday, September 22 at 7:00 pm—Minneapolis, MN
Friday, September 23 at 7:00 pm—New York, NY
Saturday, September 24, 10:00 am - 5:30 pm—New York, NY
Monday, September 26 at 7:00 pm—West Chester, PA
Tuesday, September 27 at 7:00 pm—State College, PA
Wednesday, September 28 at 7:15 pm—Portland, ME The last U.S. event for THE BURNING SOUL will be a celebration at www.greatlostbear.com, the bar that employs Charlie Parker when he needs the extra income. Books signed there will have a special GLB stamp, and everyone who buys a book at the event will receive a free BURNING SOUL/Great Lost Bear t-shirt. While supplies last, these shirts will also be available with books ordered in advance from Portland's Longfellow Books, 207-772-4045, which will serve as bookseller for this event. Quantities will be limited, so place your order early! The full US tour schedule for THE INFERNALS will be posted to the website later this month, and will go out in a newsletter at the beginning of October. Stay tuned! Finally, don't forget the October events in Dublin and Belfast to celebrate the publication of the Oxford University Press's definitive edition of the collected ghost stories of M.R. James, edited by the erudite, and all round good egg, Dr. Darryl Jones of Trinity College Dublin. Each event will include a screening of the classic 1968 BBC adaptation of "O Whistle and I'll Come to You," directed by Jonathan Miller and starring the late Michael Hordern, followed by a chat about ghosts and ghost stories between Dr. Jones and my good self. If you've never seen "O Whistle...", you must, and if you have seen it, then you'll want to see it again. In Belfast, I believe there will also be the option of attending a further screening of "Night of the Demon," Jacques Tourneur's 1957 film of the James story "The Casting of the Runes." Lovely hardback first editions of the anthology will be available to be signed on each evening, and they'll make fantastic Christmas presents. Every reader should have an anthology of M.R. James in his or her house. You have been warned! Thanks, as always, for your support, and I hope to see many of you in the US in the weeks ahead. Well, most of you. Okay, some of you. You know who you are . . . Best wishes,John
 August 2011
Dear Folks, 
While those of you in the Northern Hemisphere enjoy summer—unless, like me, you live in Ireland, in which case you simply coat yourself in waterproof sealant and hope for the best—here in my writing garret it's just work, work, work, and it's all for you. Just when I think I can't give any more, I somehow find another reserve of givingnessitude upon which to draw (hey, if Shakespeare and Sarah Palin can make up words...). I just have too much love for you all. It's a blessing and a curse.
So, as I beaver away on the as-yet-untitled 11th Parker novel, and another project about which I cannot yet speak for fear of jinxing it, preparations are underway for the release of the tenth Parker book, THE BURNING SOUL, in stores in Ireland, the UK and Australia on September 1, and in the U.S. and Canada on September 6. That starts what promises to be a very busy autumn indeed, with short tours of the UK and the US, several special events, a conference or two, and maybe even some giveaways along the way. Much to convey and much to discuss, so keep reading... 
THE BURNING SOUL 
Twelve years ago, Charlie Parker left the New York Police Department after the murder of his wife and daughter, and began a journey that has uncovered things he couldn't have imagined about the world and himself. Those revelations continue in THE BURNING SOUL, which the kind and discerning souls at Kirkus Reviews have called "an intelligent, plausible thriller, both harrowing and memorable."
As a teenager, Randall Haight and a friend murdered a 12-year-old girl. Tried and sentenced as an adult, Haight got a new name and a new life upon his release. He wound up in the small coastal town of Pastor Bay, Maine. Now, almost 30 years later, another young girl has disappeared... and someone knows Randall Haight's secret. Parker reluctantly agrees to look for the blackmailer, but can't help being drawn into the larger search for 14-year-old Anna Kore. He doesn't want to keep Randall Haight's secrets—but he doesn't know all of those secrets himself. I'm hoping THE BURNING SOUL will reward longtime readers, while being accessible to readers who are new to the series. It's similar in tone, perhaps, to THE UNQUIET, but I very consciously set out to write a book that used violence very sparingly, and relied more on a sense of threat and unease. It's a book about identity, I suppose, and you can read an excerpt from it here.
BUT FIRST! You read more than two books a year, don't you? Of course you do. And because you do, you will be interested to know that I'll be at the Gutter Bookshop on Wednesday, August 10 at 6:30 pm to help launch ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, the new book by Declan Burke, man-about-town and host of the essential Crime Always Pays blog. Mr. Burke, who edited the fine anthology DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS (about which more anon), describes ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL as "a whimsical black comedy about blowing up hospitals," and the brilliant Scott Phillips called it "A harrowing and yet hilarious examination of the gradual disintegration of a writer's personality." Come along and say hi. There'll be wine! If you can't make it to the launch, you can order a signed book directly from the Gutter Bookshop. They ship all over the world. John will also be in Norway for the release of the Norwegian translation of DARK HOLLOW. Tuesday, August 16 at 7:00 pm John Connolly in conversation with Jo Nesbø Litteraturhuset, in Amalie Skram Wergelandsveien 29 Oslo, Norway 22 95 55 30 www.litteraturhuset.no
THE NEVERENDING TOUR, IRELAND/UK The Irish launch of THE BURNING SOUL will happen at Easons, O'Connell Street, Dublin at 7:30pm on Monday August 29th. This will be the ONLY Irish event for the book due to its near-simultaneous publication worldwide, and may take the form of a public interview. Easons have been great supporters of my work ever since EVERY DEAD THING, and this is the first opportunity I've had to do an event like this for them. As always, if you're not able to get to any of the tour events, your best source for signed copies of THE BURNING SOUL will be my two "home" stores: The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin and No Alibis in Belfast. Both have already begun to accept orders, both will have hardback first editions and, as always, we'll include a little extra something with their books as a thank you for supporting independent booksellers. Oh, and do check out details of the special event in Maine on Wednesday, September 28th, should you happen to be in that part of the world, or fancy bagging a t-shirt!
Monday, August 29 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, September 1 at 6:00 pm
Friday, September 2 at 12:30 pm
Friday, September 2 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, September 3 at 12:00 noon
Saturday, September 3 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 4 at 12:00 noon
Sunday, September 4 at 4:00 pm
Monday, September 5 at 12:30 pm
Monday, September 5 at 7:00 pm
Tuesday, September 6 at 11:00 am
Tuesday, September 6 at 1:00 pm
Tuesday, September 6 at 7:00 pm
Wednesday, September 7 at 12:30 pm
Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00 pm
Thursday, September 8 at 12:30 pm
Thursday, September 8 at 5:00 pm
Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 pm
Friday, September 9 at 12:30 pm
Friday, September 9 at 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 2 at 11:00 am
THE NEVERENDING TOUR, USA The US tour for THE BURNING SOUL is quite short, but will be followed by a longer stay in October—November, after the publication of THE INFERNALS (the sequel to THE GATES, published elsewhere as HELL'S BELLS.) Details of that tour will be posted to the website in September, and will be included in a later newsletter. 
Note that I'll be part of "Down These Green Streets," a day-long showcase of Irish crime writing at New York University's Glucksman Ireland House on Saturday, September 24. This is a program dear to my heart, co-sponsored by Glucksman Ireland House and Imagine Ireland, an initiative of Culture Ireland. Several of the contributors to DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS will discuss various aspects of Irish crime writing; confirmed participants will include Declan Burke, Declan Hughes, Arlene Hunt, Stuart Neville, and Professor Ian Ross of Trinity College, as well as myself. We're confirming a couple of other Irish authors, and more details will be coming in September's newsletter.
Thursday—Sunday, September 15-18
Monday, September 19 at 7:00 pm
Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00 pm
Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00 pm
TWO SPECIAL EVENTS: HALLOWEEN WITH M.R. JAMES When people ask me—as they sometimes do—about my influences, a name that always comes up is M.R. James. Then people say, "Elmore James?" and I have to explain that no, it's M.R. James, the Oxford scholar who is now best remembered as the author of some of the creepiest ghost stories ever written. M.R. James' short stories were a direct influence on several of the pieces in my own NOCTURNES, and the stories are just as frightening now as they were when he first read them aloud on a Christmas Eve at the turn of the last century. My friend Dr. Darryl Jones, a gentleman and scholar in his own right, has edited the definitive COLLECTED GHOST STORIES by M.R. James, to be published in October by Oxford University Press, 528 pages of sheer shudder-inducing wonderfulness. To celebrate, I am delighted to join him for two special Halloween events to celebrate this book, each of which will include a screening of the classic 1968 BBC adaptation of "O Whistle and I'll Come to You," directed by Jonathan Miller and starring the late Michael Hordern. If you've never seen it, you must, and if you have seen it, then you'll want to see it again. In Belfast, I believe there will also be the option of attending a further screening of "Night of the Demon," Jacques Tourneur's 1957 film of the James story "The Casting of the Runes." Lovely hardback first editions of the anthology will be available to be signed at each event, and they'll make fantastic Christmas presents. Every reader should have an anthology of M.R. James in his or her house. You have been warned!
Thursday, October 20 at 8:00 pm
Friday, October 21 at 7:00 pm
THE ONLINE CONVERSATION Several years ago, back in what seems like the early days of the Internet, I set up a discussion forum on my website so readers could talk to each other—and to me—about my books, other books, and anything else they liked. We were on the cutting edge, right up there with 8-track tape and Betamax, or so it now seems. Over the years the forum has been a lively place, moderated with grace and humor by the wonderful Jayne, and I'm not the only one who's made lasting friends there. Since the forum's creation, however, the rest of the world has discovered how much fun it is to chat online, and now we have a rather bewildering array of choices about how we do that. Although several stalwart members have stayed loyal to my forum, the vast majority of readers are now hanging out in places like Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google Circles, LinkedIn and other places I don't even know the names of. All of this presents a serious dilemma for an author such as myself, whose computer time is devoted, as much as possible, to writing. I'm not revealing any secrets when I say I love to talk to readers. After all, I spend about a third of the year on tour, meeting readers in bookstores and at conferences and other events. But that makes it even more important that I get my writing done when I'm at my desk. There's a certain irony in the fact that the electronic message I get most often, by Facebook, Twitter, email, etc., is "When is the next book coming out?" My only possible response is, "I'm writing as fast as I can." Since I am, I have to be pretty strict with myself about the time I spend online. Twitter works well for me, since the 140-character limit allows for speedy hit-and-runs; Tweet at me and you're likely to get a response, short and sweet though it may be. The Facebook fan page, too, has been an easy place for me to check in, respond to quick questions and see what everyone else is talking about. The fan page includes a tab for discussions—so I've made the decision to shut down my own website forum, in hopes that the lively debate that once flourished there will be revived on the Facebook fan page. Jayne will serve as moderator there as well. As the Facebook fan page becomes more active, I'm going to spend less and less time on my personal Facebook page, with the goal of phasing it out altogether over time. That page is getting very close to the "friends" limit Facebook imposes, and if you've sent me a message through that page, you know how long it can take to get a response. I'm simply not able to keep up with it, and rather than delegate that task to a minion—as some authors do—I'd rather be honest about my own limitations, and communicate with you directly when I can. For now, the ways I feel best able to do that are on tour, through the fan page, and on Twitter. You'll occasionally see items on both the Facebook fan page and the Twitter feed that aren't posted by me. These will always be identified by the initials of the poster—either Jayne [JD], or my US publicist, Clair Lamb [CL], or, on rare occasions, my webmaven, Maddee James [MJ]. These are most likely to be administrative in nature: announcements of events, reminders about the radio show, and so forth. Otherwise, you can be confident that the wild-eyed rants and indiscreet mutterings are all my own. Thank you all for your patience and goodwill as I navigate this process. Your reward, I hope, will be a steady, uninterrupted stream of new books to read—and isn't that what you really want, anyway? Thanks to Jayne for having taken such good care of the forum, and to all the members who have visited over the years. I hope you'll all come over and continue the conversation on the Facebook page.
AND IN OTHER NEWS: NEW EDITIONS 
I always say that THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS is a children's book for adults, rather than really a book for children, but young people find their own truths in it. That pleases me very much, and I'm delighted that my U.S. publishers are issuing a new paperback edition, especially for children, at the end of this month. It's the first time the book has been available in the U.S. in a mass-market paperback edition, so if you've been waiting for a more affordable copy, here's your chance. The cover art is quite wonderful, too.
Simon & Schuster's Children's Books will also be releasing a new mass-market paperback edition of THE GATES, just to give American readers one last chance to read the first Samuel Johnson adventure before the sequel, THE INFERNALS, comes out in October. There will be a quiz...
DON'T SAY I NEVER GIVE YOU ANYTHING And now, just to make sure you still like me, a giveaway. I'll give away signed first editions of THE BURNING SOUL to two lucky readers, chosen at random, who can tell me the name of Charlie Parker's dog. Send your responses to contact@johnconnollybooks.com before August 31, and please don't enter if you've won something from me in the past 12 months, because you're just too darned lucky and you should really be spending your time filling out lottery tickets instead. And that's all I've got for now. Well, it's not all I've got, but this newsletter's already nine pages, and did I mention I was writing a book? Hope to see many of you next month, and if you can't get there in person, you can find me online (as above) on Twitter and Facebook. The radio show continues as well—ABC to XTC, Tuesdays and Saturdays on RTE 2XM. RTE will shortly be introducing a playback option that lets you listen to shows you've missed, but in the meantime you can check out the archived shows here. Thanks, as always, for your support, and I hope the rest of the season—summer or winter, as the case may be—treats you well. The sun's always shining somewhere or, if you live in Ireland, the sun is always shining somewhere else... Best wishes, John
June 2011
Dear Folks, 
The official tour for HELL'S BELLS ended on Friday, with a last appearance under the Big Top, appropriately enough, at Listowel Writers' Week. Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello, and to the valiant booksellers and reps who smoothed my path along the way—and most of all to Kerry Hood, who has publicized my books for Hodder since the very beginning, and without whom, as I have said more than once, I would be very lost indeed.
If you missed the tour, signed copies of HELL'S BELLS (with button badges!) are still available from these fine booksellers: Goldsboro Books 23-25, Cecil Court London WC2N 4EZ| Tel: +44 (0) 207 497 9230 www.goldsborobooks.com Gutter Bookshop Cow's Lane, Temple Bar Dublin Tel: +353 (0) 1 6799206 www.gutterbookshop.com No Alibis Books 83 Botanic Avenue Belfast BT7 1JL Tel: +44 (0) 28 9031 9601 www.noalibis.com BUT WAIT—THERE'S MORE!
While I think people have seen just about enough of me for a while, I will be making one last appearance tomorrow at The Gutter Bookshop at 6:00 p.m. for a very special event: the launch of DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century, a collection of essays edited by Declan Burke and including contributions from just about every important name in the Irish mystery world. Tomorrow night's event will feature Eoin Colfer, who's officially launching the book (and has just written his own mystery novel for adults, PLUGGED), as well as Mr. Burke and contributors Tana French, Ken Bruen, Arlene Hunt, Declan Hughes, Gene Kerrigan, Alan Glynn, Alex Barclay, Eoin McNamee, Brian McGilloway, Niamh O'Connor, Jane Casey and Gerard Brennan. Oh, and me. We'll all be signing softcovers and a very limited number of hardcover copies of the book. Softcovers are €19.99, hardcovers are €25 while supplies last.
Signed books, including a limited number of hardcovers, will also be available from the fine No Alibis bookstore in Belfast, which is hosting its own launch on June 18 at 6:00 p.m.. If you want to attend that event, book your spot in advance, as they expect it to fill up. I won't be there, sad to say, but many of the book's contributors will be, including a few who won't be able to get to Dublin. DON'T MISS ME... And that's it for me for a couple of months, while I get a real start on the next book. But chin up! You can catch me every week on RTE's digital radio station RTE 2XM, where ABC to XTC, my celebration of the music of the 1980s, airs on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. BST and again on Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. BST. Keep an eye out, too, for the episode of "Celebrity Masterchef" featuring several prominent Irish writers and myself, celebrating Dublin's designation as a UNESCO City of Literature. Not sure yet when that will air, but I will announce it on the Facebook fan page, Twitter, and the website forum. Those three places are, in fact, the best way to keep up with any new appearances, interviews, etc. Finally, apologies to anyone who turned up at the Hay-on-Wye Festival expecting to see me. There was some confusion over dates, and the organizers should have removed me from the programme, but didn't. Any inconvenience or disappointment caused is very much regretted. Have a wonderful summer, folks—or winter, as the case may be—and don't forget to do your summer/winter reading. I'll quiz you when I get back... Best wishes, John
April 2011
Dear Folks, It's summer, when most people's thoughts turn to holidays, and warm days spent with glasses of cheap plonk on the patio. On the other hand, my thoughts turn to children's events in Leicester, and how much wine Londoners can drink over ninety minutes. A lot, I suspect. Anyway, only a few days until HELL'S BELLS hits the shelves in Ireland, soon to be followed by appearances in stores in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and anywhere except Canada and the US, where all you nice people will have to wait until October for the slightly different THE INFERNALS. To make it up to you, we'll have a special little gift just for you. Because we love you. Really. You're lovely . . . Until then . . .
Where to Buy HELL'S BELLS
Keep reading for a list of places I'll be making appearances and signing books—but you can always order signed or inscribed copies from the very fine Gutter Bookshop in Dublin and No Alibis in Belfast. In the U.K, Goldsboro Books will also have signed copies and the special bonus giveaway items, while supplies last. Independent bookstores are great, so keep them in mind.
For UK and Irish readers wishing to buy HELL'S BELLS, it will be available in some but not all Waterstone's, in their children's sections. It's very much down to the discretion of the individual shops and their children's books specialists, so please do ask them if you can't find it. Otherwise, you can buy it through Amazon or another online retailer; or you can support the independent booksellers who have taken the book to heart. They're listed on the tour schedule, and all will be happy to secure a signed or dedicated copy of the book for you, complete with the limited edition set of badges, and mail it to wherever you are. I'm very fond of HELL'S BELLS, by the way. It's a little darker than THE GATES—well, it is set in Hell, after all—and a bit more epic in scale, insofar as a book that features a band of dwarfs masquerading as elves while traveling through the infernal wastelands in an ice-cream van that permanently plays "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?" can be considered epic. So, not very epic then, but still . . .
Special Bonus Giveaway Items! What's that? Caught that mention of "special bonus giveaway items," did you? Free stuff? I could be advertising free contagious diseases and some of you would still sign up, as long as you were sure they were free. Nevertheless, while supplies last, I will be giving away sets of four custom-designed button badges, featuring images inspired by the book.    
No, I'm not going to explain the ice cream cone with devil's horns. You'll just have to read the book. Quantities of these badges are very limited, and once they're gone, they're gone . . .
Where I'll Be (with the Bonus Giveaway Items) Events for HELL'S BELLS begin in Dublin, continue in the UK, and conclude with an appearance at the Listowel Writing Festival at the end of the month. IRELAND, NORTH AND SOUTH Thursday, April 28 at 6:00 p.m. A Series of Unfortunate Events, No. 1 Featuring John Connolly and Derek Landy Eason & Co. 40 Lower O'Connell Street Dublin 2 01 858 3800 info@eason.ie Friday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. Event with Brian McGilloway No Alibis 83 Botanic Avenue Belfast 028 9031 9607 david@noalibis.com Saturday, April 30, 2:00—3:00 p.m. Informal signing—bring the kids! Gutter Bookshop Cow's Lane, Temple Bar Dublin +353 (0) 1 6799206 info@gutterbookshop.com Tuesday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. Peregrine Readings Series with Kevin Barry and Alex Barclay Irish Writers' Centre Parnell Square Dublin 1 +353 1 8721302 info@writerscentre.ie Wednesday, May 4 at 1:00 p.m. Waterstone's Bookstore 69 Patrick St. Cork +353 21 4276522 manager@cork.waterstones.com Wednesday May 4 at 7:00 p.m. Peregrine Readings Series with Kevin Barry and Alex Barclay The City Library John's Quay Kilkenny +353 (0) 56 7794160 Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. Peregrine Readings Series with Kevin Barry and Alex Barclay Shannon Oaks Hotel St. Joseph's Road Portumna, Co. Galway +353 (0)90 974 1777 There will also be quick drop-in signings on the 5th and 6th at O'Mahony's Bookshop, Limerick; Eason, Limerick; The Ennis Bookshop, Ennis, Co Clare; Hughes & Hughes, Ennis, Co. Clare; Dubray Bookshop, Galway; and Eason, Galway. If you'd like to reserve a signed or dedicated copy, just let the bookstore in question know and the staff will do the rest. You'll also get your button badges! Thursday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. Listowel Writers' Week The Arms Hotel Ballroom Listowel Arms Hotel Listowel, Co. Kerry +353 68 21500 Admission: € 15/€ 12; registration information Friday, June 3 at 10:00 a.m. Listowel Writers' Week—Children's Programme John Connolly presents HELL'S BELLS "Big Top," Fossett's Circus, Market Place Listowel, Co. Kerry Free of charge—no booking required! ENGLAND & SCOTLAND Friday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m. Goldsboro Books 23-25 Cecil Court London +44 (0) 207 497 9230 Saturday, May 14 at 3:00 p.m. Waterstone's 153-157 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow 0843 290 8345 Sunday, May 15 at 2:00 p.m. Blackwell's 52-63 South Bridge Edinburgh 0131 622 8222 Monday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. Seven Stories Ouseburn Valley Newcastle upon Tyne 0845 2710777 Tuesday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. Carlisle Library 11 Globe Lane Carlisle, Cumbria 01228 227310 Wednesday, May 18 at 5:00 p.m. Waterstone's 91-93 Deansgate Manchester 0843 290 8485 Thursday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. "The Killer Inside You: Horror in Crime Fiction" A Twisted Tales event with John Connolly, Steve Mosby and Charlie Williams Tickets #2, redeemable against the purchase of a horror or crime novel that night Waterstone's Liverpool One 12 College Lane Liverpool 0151 709 9820 manager@liverpoolone.waterstones.com Friday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. Waterstone's Unit 32-33 Castle Quay Centre Banbury 0843 290 8127 Monday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. Swindon Central Library Regent's Circus Swindon 01793 463238 Tuesday, May 24 Waterstone's 1/5 Bridlesmith Gate Nottingham 0843 290 8525 Thursday, May 26 Jarrolds 5 London Street Norwich 01603 660661
A Look at THE BURNING SOUL While HELL'S BELLS is foremost in my mind, I know that some of you are already tapping your fingers, just waiting for the next Charlie Parker novel. You'll have to wait until September, but in the meantime, my UK publishers have come up with a rather stunning cover...
Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl.
Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor's Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop. But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor's Bay, and the missing girl's family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police, the FBI, a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris, and Randall Haight himself. Because Randall Haight is telling lies... THE BURNING SOUL will be available in Ireland, the UK and Australia on September 1, and in the US on September 6.
The Radio Show My tribute to the music of the 1980s, ABC to XTC, continues on RTE 2XM on Tuesdays and Saturdays—and through the miracle of technology, the show plays even when I myself am not in Dublin. Tune in on May 10/14, when author, playwright and legendary man-about-town Declan Hughes may drop in to make the case for why Rush should not be denied an entry visa into Ireland. That's if we can work it into his busy schedule. Our people are talking to his people at this very moment, so it'll go to the wire, I'm afraid. If he can't make it, though, I'll try to find something suitably fantastic with which to replace him, but it won't be the same. It's Hughes or nothing, really. The show airs online at 10:00 a.m. GMT on Tuesdays and 9:00 p.m. GMT on Saturdays. If you miss it, playlists are available shortly after the rebroadcast on the Radio Show page.
The Discussion Forum—New! Improved! Coming Soon! Forum members may already have noticed a few changes to the format—the addition of my Twitter feed, for example, and some tweaks to the template that go along with much-needed security updates. More changes are coming within the next week or two, as we consolidate the number of discussion topics and archive old threads to make the forum easier to navigate and possibly less intimidating to newcomers. The archives will still be available, and no private messages should be lost. New features to come will include giveaways, a possible revival of the book club, and maybe even some visits from other authors. Thanks again to everyone who made suggestions, and to everyone who participates in the forum.
These People Have Just Eaten Well . . . As part of the celebration of Dublin's status as a UNESCO City of Literature, the BBC's "Celebrity Masterchef" came to Dublin and challenged three celebrity chefs to feed five demanding authors and the lovely Jane Alger, director of Dublin's UNESCO activities. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more prior to transmission of the show this summer or I'll be killed, but contemplating a bit of a lie down, and maybe a small brandy to settle their digestion, are (from left) Jane Alger, John Boyne, Sinead Moriarty, yours truly, Eoin Colfer, and Cathy Kelly.
But Wait! There's More! DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS, a book of essays, interviews and one or two pieces of short fiction, edited by Declan Burke with an introduction by Michael Connelly, and published by Liberties Press, will be formally launched in June with two events. The first will be at The Gutter Bookshop, Dublin on the evening of June 7. The second, with a stronger emphasis on contributors from Northern Ireland, is scheduled for No Alibis in Belfast on June 18. We're hoping that most of the authors involved will be in attendance at one or both of the events. As the book is being released in hardback, it really represents a lovely collectible, and a rare chance to pick up a book signed by most of the major figures in Irish crime fiction. Both stores will be taking advance orders for those unable to attend in person, but if you're free on either night, come along and say hi. More details here. If you can't make it to either of those events—or even if you can—we'll be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky person who sends their name and mailing address to greenstreets11@yahoo.com between now and May 31. Good luck, one and all.
And to Top it All Off . . . No, that's it. I've got nothing. Really, wasn't that enough? Well—if you must have more, check out a couple of recent interviews on the Australian TLC Books blog and the My Bookish Ways blog, where there's even a giveaway. Another giveaway? Even the St. Vincent de Paul Society doesn't give away as much stuff as we do. You're killing us, I'm telling you. We'll be reduced to penury at this rate. Hope to see many of you in the weeks ahead. Until then, be good, and if you can't be good, cover your tracks well— Best wishes, John
March 2011
Dear Folks, How you doing? I'm doing quite well, thanks for asking, especially since I'm just about to hand in the manuscript of The Burning Soul, with the usual misgivings about whether I've managed to fool most of the people most of the time once again. Other, lesser authors might take a little time off after such an event, but you know I am not such an author. No, March is a busy month, and as always, it's all for you.
On the Radio
"On the Anatomisation of an Unknown Man (1637) by Frans Mier," my short story for Amnesty International, will air as a radio show on BBC Radio 7 on Tuesday, March 15. The producer, Lawrence Jackson, is a friend who was responsible for the excellent BBC radio readings of stories from Nocturnes a few years ago. The story will air three times over the course of the day, but you should be able to listen online, both on the 15th and for some period of time afterward. My own radio show, ABC to XTC, continues on Tuesdays and Saturdays on RTE 2XM. I'm excited about the March 15/19 show, which introduces the new feature of guests, starting with the fine mystery novelist and rock-and-roll veteran Paul Charles. Besides writing the Christy Kennedy books, Paul has been tour agent for a galaxy of musical icons, including The Blue Nile, Christy Moore, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills Nash, The Waterboys, The Stranglers, Human League and many more. He's a great storyteller and a lovely man, so don't miss it—the show airs online at 10:00 a.m. GMT on Tuesdays and 9:00 p.m. GMT on Saturdays.
Live and In Person My March schedule looks like a science experiment designed to disprove the impossibility of being in two places at once. Those of you with your own jet-packs can follow me from one place to another, but those without may be able to catch me at an event near you. On Tuesday, March 8, I'll be interviewing the Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbø at Eason's on O'Connell Street in Dublin, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are required; call 018583815 to see if any might be left. On Thursday, March 17, if you're in New York City, keep an eye out for volunteers handing out free books (free! books!) in honor of the first Irish Arts Center Book Day. I won't be there myself, but free copies of THE GATES will be distributed, along with dozens of other titles by other Irish authors, in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Details are on the Irish Arts Center's website here. Thanks very much to my U.S. publishers, Atria, for participating so enthusiastically. The festival circuit starts on Friday, March 19 in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the Virginia Festival of the Book. My panels are free, but other events require tickets; see details at www.vabook.org. Friday, March 18 at 8:00 PM "Death Knows No Boundaries" A panel discussion moderated by Andy Straka Panelists: Louis Bayard, John Connolly, Lee Goldberg & Jenny White Albemarle County Office Building 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA Saturday, March 19 at 10:00 AM "Death: Another Time, Another Place" A panel discussion moderated by Clifford Garstang Panelists: John Connolly, Alan Orloff, Deanna Raybourn & Paul Robertson Omni Hotel, Ashlawn-Highlands Room 235 W Main Street Charlottesville, VA Saturday, March 19 at 12:00 NOON "YA Books: Great for All Ages" A panel discussion with John Connolly, Jacqueline Kelly, Tammar Stein, Valerie Patterson & Steve Watkins Village School 215 E High Street Charlottesville, VA From there I go to New York, to do an event under the auspices of Imagine Ireland, an initiative of Culture Ireland, at the New York Public Library. Tuesday, March 22 at 5:30 PM Author @NYPL Presents John Connolly 67th Street Library 328 E. 67th Street New York, NY 10065 212-734-1717 Then it's on to New Orleans, for the Tennessee Williams Festival, where I'm also participating as part of the Imagine Ireland program. Tickets are required, either in advance or onsite at the event; details are online at www.tennesseewilliams.net. Friday, March 25 at 1:00 PM Writers Read: John Connolly, Declan Hughes & Gerard O'Donovan read from their works Regal Suite, Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans, LA Festival panel pass required Sunday, March 27 at 1:00 PM The Lure of the Irish: Crime and More Crime A panel discussion with John Connolly, Declan Hughes & Gerard O'Donovan, moderated by Diana Pinckley Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant New Orleans, LA Festival panel pass required Sunday, March 27 at 2:30 PM 10 Mystery Novels You Must Read Before You Die John Connolly & Declan Hughes present their "must read" list Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant New Orleans, LA 
Finally, I'll head to Ferndale, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, for the end of Ferndale Reads, a monthlong, citywide program focusing on a single book—this year, flatteringly, THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS. The Ferndale Public Library is giving away copies of the book, and has scheduled an entire month of events related to the book and its themes. They've also put together a series of their own takes on some of the fairy tales referenced in the book, which you can watch on YouTube. Their videos may be funnier than my own stories, which I've spoken to them severely about.
Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 PM John Connolly discusses and signs THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS Ferndale Reads 222 E. Nine Mile Road Ferndale, MI Tickets are required, but free; contact the library for details 248-546-2504
And on the Subject of Schedules . . . It's getting a little complicated around here, what with two new books coming out in various parts of the world between now and the end of the year, and new editions of a few older titles. As much for my own benefit as yours, here's the current list of publication dates: Late April—Mid-May (date to be announced) DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS, edited by Declan Burke; a collection of essays, interviews and short fiction on the subject of Irish crime fiction. Contributors include John Banville, Alex Barclay, Tana French, Declan Hughes, and myself, among others.
May 12: HELL'S BELLS in hardcover and paperback (U.K. & Australia)
June 28: THE WHISPERERS in paperback (U.S.) August 30: THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS and THE GATES in new trade paperback editions (U.S.) September 1: THE BURNING SOUL in hardcover and paperback (U.K. & Australia) September 6: THE BURNING SOUL in hardcover, e-book and e-audio (U.S.) October 18: THE INFERNALS (U.S. title of HELL'S BELLS!) in hardcover (U.S.) Got all that? I'll be testing you. No, not saying when. Just be ready . . .
The Discussion Forum Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions for changes to the website forum. We've taken them all to heart, and will be unveiling a new, improved forum sometime around the beginning of April. Congratulations to Shane Mawe, who won the signed copy of CINEMA FUTURA—and if you submitted a suggestion and have not yet received your Charlie Parker/Great Lost Bear bumper sticker, please send your name and mailing address to contact@johnconnollybooks.com posthaste, so that Minion Clair can apologize appropriately and take care of that. Whether it's spring or fall where you are, I hope the winds blow gently and the sun shines warm. Thanks for all your support, and be well. Hope to see several of you soon— Best wishes, John
February 2011
Dear Folks, It's a little late to wish everyone a happy new year, and a little early for Valentine's Day, although that does not mean that each and every reader is not beloved. Well, most of you are beloved. Some of you I've met and, well, I'm sure you'll understand when I say that I don't love you as much as the other readers. Don't get me wrong: you're lovely people, but I just don't feel that way about you. Can't we just be friends? It's not you, it's me. Actually, no, it is you . . . A few items to report . . .
WHISPERERS in Paperback! 
THE WHISPERERS is now out in paperback in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia, and you may have seen an advertisement for it on television. Unless, of course, you are the kind of person who records television programs in order to skip the advertisements, in which case, you can watch the advertisement right here.
I'm sorry, but American readers will need to wait until June 28 for THE WHISPERERS in paperback—although you can still buy the hardcover in the meantime, should impatience overcome you. There is probably a downloadable thingy too, but that's not really a book. Sorry, it just isn't.
New US Paperbacks of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS and THE GATES
American readers will finally be able to buy THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS and THE GATES in mass-market paperback editions on August 30. Both books have been available in trade paperback, but these new editions will be smaller, and the new edition of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS won't include the supplemental material that's now part of the trade paperback version.
It'll be good to have these books available in a less expensive format, especially for younger readers. And I very much like the new cover art for THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS.
THE INFERNALS!!!! HELL'S BELLS!!!! You can choose your favorite!!!! Buy both!!!! And get four exclamation marks free!!!!
The sequel to THE GATES will be published under two different titles in the UK and the US. In the UK, it will be known as HELL'S BELLS, and will be published in May. In the US, meanwhile, it will be called THE INFERNALS, and will appear in November. I quite like both titles, and THE INFERNALS was one of the working titles for the book. We'll let you see cover artwork for the US edition after we've seen it ourselves. Meanwhile, the first chapter of HELL'S BELLS/THE INFERNALS will go up on the website in the first week of February.
THE BURNING SOUL: Charlie Parker returns The next Charlie Parker novel, THE BURNING SOUL, will be published in the UK and in the US in the first week of September. I'm still in the process of rewriting it at the moment, but here's a little teaser . . . Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl. Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor's Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop. But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor's Bay, and the missing girl's family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police, the FBI, a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris, and Randall Haight himself. Because Randall Haight is telling lies . . .
DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS: A very nice signed edition DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS, an anthology of essays and stories by Irish crime writers about Irish crime writing edited by the wonderful Declan Burke now has a publisher, Liberties Press, and will hit the shelves in April, initially in a rather nice hardback edition. To coincide with publication, we'll be organizing signing events in Dublin and Belfast, to be attended by as many of the contributors as we can possibly round up with the promise of cheap booze. Those contributors include: Declan Hughes, Arlene Hunt, Niamh O'Connor, Tana French, Gene Kerrigan, Eoin McNamee, Adrian McKinty, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Brian McGilloway, Stuart Neville, Alex Barclay, Ken Bruen, Cormac Millar, Professor Ian Ross, Cora Harrison, Paul Charles, John Banville, Ingrid Black, Colin Bateman, Kevin McCarthy, Jane Casey, my good self, and more. We'll give you further details as soon as the signing dates are confirmed. Incidentally, the introduction has been written by Michael Connelly, who is a gentleman of the highest order, if you didn't already know that.
ABC to XTC: Taking Fandom to the Next Level ABC to XTC, my digital radio tribute to the music of the 1980s, continues on RTE 2XM on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. GMT, with a rebroadcast on Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. GMT. My goal for 2011 is to bring live guests on to the show, and I'm hoping that among them will be one of my favorites, Wang Chung. If you'd like to add your own invitations, they're on Facebook, Twitter, and have their own website at WangChung.com. Be polite, please; no harassing, as I want them to like me, and come on my show to reward my many years of fandom. Thanks for helping make a young man's dreams come true. Additionally, if you've got other suggestions for guests or would like to request a song, send your hopes and dreams along to contact@johnconnollybooks.com, or leave your requests on the "Radio Show" forum thread. I make no promises, but am a benevolent despot. Meanwhile our first guest will be the lovely Paul Charles who, as well as being a rather good mystery author, has been responsible for touring everyone from The Buzzcocks to Elvis Costello, and Jackson Browne to Tom Waits. He'll be discussing his adventures on the show on March 8th, with luck, but we'll send out a gentle reminder once it's all confirmed.
The Forum My website has an online discussion forum for people of like minds to chat about books, music, and whatever else may capture their attention. It's become a little slow over recent months, as people chat on Facebook and Twitter, but I'd like to restore it to past glories. It's overdue for some security updates and general rehabilitation, so while we're planning these changes, I'm asking for feedback. Are you now, or have you been, active on the forum? If so (or even if not), what changes would you like to see? What categories should we keep, and which should we avoid at all costs? Send your ideas to contact@johnconnollybooks.com with the subject heading "Forum suggestions." As an incentive and thanks for your help, everyone who includes their name and mailing address with a suggestion before February 15 will get their very own "TELL THEM CHARLIE PARKER SENT YOU/Great Lost Bear" bumper sticker, and one lucky person, chosen at random, will receive a signed copy of CINEMA FUTURA: Essays on Favourite Science Fiction Movies, which includes my essay on the 1958 film The Voyage of Sinbad. Thanks!
The Festivals of March Virginia Festival of the Book Events
March 16-19
Friday, March 18 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 19 at 10:00 AM
Saturday, March 19 at 12:00 NOON
March 23-27
Friday, March 25 at 1:00 PM
Sunday, March 27 at 1:00 PM
Sunday, March 27 at 2:30 PM
March 2011
Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 PM Besides all these, I may be doing an event or two at branches of the New York Public Library, sometime the week of March 21. More information as events develop.
And that's all for now. Back to work, as there is no rest for the wicked or their minions although, admittedly, minions do have to work harder. There really is no point in having minions otherwise. Be well, and if you need any ideas for Valentine's Day, I refer you to an old article I wrote on the subject, here.
Stay well,  |
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