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  October 2006
Dear Folks, The first month of touring for The Book of Lost Things is now complete, and thanks to all those who turned up at the events in the UK and Ireland, and to all of the booksellers and readers who have been so kind towards the book, and so supportive of it. US PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS The Book of Lost Things goes on sale in the US on November 7th, and the first event of the tour will take place that evening at the fantastic Black Orchid bookstore at 303 East 81st Street, NY. Further details from Borchid@aol.com. 
NOCTURNES
A new edition of Nocturnes has just been published in the US, with a fabulous new cover by Rob Ryan, who designed the cover for The Book of Lost Things. This edition contains five additional stories, three of which were included in the limited edition Coda volume published in 2004. The other two stories are "Mr. Gray's Folly" and "The Cycle". The latter story has never been published before outside Ireland, and will be one of five stories read on BBC 7 Radio as part of a series entitled The Lunar Effect later this year. THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS: THE WEBSITE The website for The Book of Lost Things has been significantly expanded. There are now free screensavers and desktops to download, and a Behind The Scenes feature which includes an examination of many of the myths and fairy tales that inspired the book, as well as the original versions of some of those tales. SOUTH AFRICA The South African tour dates for this month have now been confirmed, and can be viewed on the website. The US dates are currently being finalized, and will be posted, we hope, by next week, but the schedule as it stands already includes events in New York, Boston, Milford N.H., Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Boulder, Phoenix, and Atlanta in the first half of November, and we plan to add events in Philadelphia, Camp Hill PA, and Portland ME to the tour before the full schedule is put on the website. That's it for now. Hope all is well with everyone. Best wishes, John
August 2006
Dear Folks, Well, it's that time again. The new book is about to appear, which means a new newsletter, a new tour, and new jokes (maybe. . .) The Book of Lost Things The Book of Lost Things is already out in Ireland, and will start to appear in stores in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere by the week beginning September 10th. The US and Canada, meanwhile, will have to wait until November 7th. To be fair, though, the Americans and Canadians get lots of things before we do: proper dental care, The Sopranos, er, the latest Paris Hilton gossip, so fair's fair, I suppose . . . BOLT WEBSITE To coincide with the publication of the new book, a separate Book of Lost Things microsite has been set up. Over the coming weeks, we will be adding a lot of additional content to the site, including a screensaver, extracts from the novel, original versions of the folk tales used in the book, and notes, reading suggestions, and background information for those who would like to delve a little deeper into the world of the book. The site address www.thebookoflostthings.com. TOUR SCHEDULE I will be touring The Book of Lost Things throughout September, October, November and December, visiting towns and cities in Ireland, the UK, South Africa, the U.S.A., and the Netherlands. The main Irish event will be in Dublin on Thursday September 7th from about 7.30pm, when I will participate in a public interview at the National Library, Kildare Street, with wine etc. to follow. Copies of the book will be on sale and, effectively, this will be our public launch for readers, so it should be a good evening. Entry is free, but seats are limited and attendance has to be booked in advance with the National Library by calling (01) 603 0317. Further details of other Irish dates, and all UK events, are now on the website. We've had some nice gilded cards done up to serve as bookmarks, and they will be given out at signings. Over the next month we'll add dates for South Africa and the U.S.A. The American tour will take in New York, Boston, New Hampshire, Maine, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Denver, Boulder, Scottsdale, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Camp Hill, P.A. during the month of November. The South African tour takes place from Oct 16th - 22nd, and, again, we will post details as soon as we have them. 
NEW EDITION OF NOCTURNES
Nocturnes will be released in the US in mass-market paperback for the first time on October 10th, complete with a new cover by Rob Ryan, who designed the cover for The Book of Lost Things. The volume will contain five new stories, two of which did not appear in the UK paperback edition: "Mr. Gray's Folly" and "The Cycle". An expanded UK edition, also with a Rob Ryan cover, will appear early next year. THE UNQUIET The Unquiet, the next Charlie Parker novel, will be released world-wide in the first week of May, 2007. Over the coming months, we will post the cover, and a synopsis, on the website, and the first chapter will follow shortly after. At the moment, we are in the early stages of planning a second Voices From The Dark CD to go with the book, but this is only likely to be available in the UK first editions. You have been warned. DISCUSSION FORUM AND BLOG Thanks to all those who continue to contribute to the discussion forum, particularly those who took part in the competition to create 'The List of Lost Books'. Although the competition is now finished, we will unlock the thread so people can continue to post their nominations for books that have fallen under the radar, but are still worth finding and reading. I will also continue to post my blog although, given the upcoming tour, it may become a little irregular for a month or two. Best wishes, John
August 2006
Dear Folks,
With the first publication of The Book of Lost Things drawing ever
closer, we thought we'd give away a special copy to whet your
appetites. Basically, we are running a competition for which the
prize will be a very rare signed hardback proof of The Book of Lost Things. Publishers don't usually do hardback proofs, but Hodder &
Stoughton produced 90 numbered editions of TBOLT, and we have one of
them on offer this week.
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is nominate a 'lost' book, a book that might not be very well known but that means a lot to you. I mean, you may have liked The Da Vinci Code or The Silence of the Lambs, but neither hardly qualifies as 'lost', or as a title that could do with a little more exposure. We'd prefer you to pick something a little less well-known and, in one paragraph or, if you prefer, ten paragraphs, to tell us why this book matters, and why you think others should read it. I've been thinking about possible candidates myself, and I suppose I'd go for a book like Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier, or i: sixnonlectures by e.e. cummings, or even Lost In Music, Giles Smith's fabulously funny book about growing up with popular music. The problem, in fact, didn't lie in coming up with potential 'lost' books, but in limiting my selection to just one. Thankfully, I don't have to narrow it down. You do. The closing date for receipt of entries is August 25th, and we'll announce the best one in this column the following week. Just go to competition, enter your suggestion, and good luck! Oh, and by that date, details of the UK and Irish events on The Book of Lost Things TOUR will also have been posted. South Africa and the US will follow soon after. Best always, John
June 2006
Summer is here, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and it seemed like an appropriate time to drop you a line before you got caught up with holidays or, for you southern hemisphere types, the search for winter clothing. THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS
We have posted the first chapter of The Book of Lost Things on the website, and over the coming months we'll be adding more to it, and also linking to an external site dedicated entirely to the book. The publication date in the UK is September 7th, and November 11th in the US, although it will be available in late August in Ireland and at the Edinburgh Book Festival. It was actually quite hard for me to post the chapter on the website, as I'm probably more nervous about this book than any of my novels since Every Dead Thing. Still, at least it will give you some sense of the book, if you choose to read it.
TOURING There will be quite extensive tours of the UK, South Africa, and the US to coincide with publication, as well as a number of events in Ireland. We'll post more details later in the summer, but for the present the following dates have all been confirmed: Friday July 21st - Sunday July 23rd Harrogate Crime Writing Festival Harrogate, Yorkshire Friday July 21st, 3.30-4.30pm Unique Voices panel, with Stella Duffy, Shane Maloney and Charlie Williams, chaired by Marcel Berlins Sunday July 23rd, 11.30-12.30pm John Connolly in conversation with Jeffery Deaver Further details are available at www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime Saturday August 26th, 6.45pm Edinburgh Book Festival Event with Jake Arnott Edinburgh, Scotland Further details at www.edbookfest.co.uk Thursday September 21st Aspects Literary Festival Bangor, Northern Ireland Further details at www.discovernorthernireland.com Thursday September 28th - Sunday October 1st Bouchercon Crime Festival Madison, Wisconsin Further details at www.bouchercon.com THE UNQUIET As revealed earlier in the year, the next Parker novel will be called The Unquiet. We'll post a cover, and some plot details, in the autumn. It will be published early in 2007. DARK HOLLOW Jayne, our splendid forum moderator, has invited readers to vote for their favourite among my books. So far, Dark Hollow seems to be quite some distance ahead, but if you'd like to add your vote, you can do so here. Thanks to all those who contribute to the forum. If you haven't done so, please take the time to visit and to air your views if the mood takes you. That's it. See, we don't take up much of your time, do we? The next newsletter will probably appear in August, and should contain most of the UK, Irish and South African tour dates and venues. In the meantime, I'll continue to post the weekly blog, and I wish you all peace and happiness over the coming months. Best always, John
April 2006
Dear Folks, It's been too long since we last spoke. Still, you look good. . . NEW BOOKS
The cover for The Book of Lost Things, with a hint as to its contents, has recently been posted to the web site. Please take a look and let us know what you think. The book will be published in the first week of September in the UK, Ireland, Australia etc., and in the first week of November in the U.S. Over the next few weeks we'll add the first chapter to the site so that people can read a little of the book in advance.
Meanwhile, the next Parker novel will be published early in 2007. It's called The Unquiet and we'll post the cover and some details on the plot later in the year. TOURING I will be appearing at the Prague Book Fair on Saturday May 6th at 2pm for the launch of the Czech language edition of The Black Angel. The fair is open to booksellers and the general public, so feel free to drop along. The following events have also been scheduled: Tuesday May 9th Waterstones Southampton (with Mark Billingham) Wednesday May 10th Ottakar's Banbury (with Mark Billingham) Friday July 21st - Sunday July 23rd Harrogate Crime Writing Festival Harrogate, Yorkshire Further details are available at www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime Saturday August 26th 6.45pm: Edinburgh Book Festival Event with Jake Arnott Edinburgh, Scotland Further details at www.edbookfest.co.uk Thursday September 21st Aspects Literary Festival Bangor, Northern Ireland Further details at www.discovernorthernireland.com Thursday September 28th - Sunday October 1st Bouchercon Crime Festival Madison, Wisconsin Further details at www.bouchercon.com I will be adding more dates in Ireland and the U.K. (September), the U.S. (November), and South Africa (October) as the year goes on, and I hope to visit both Spain and the Netherlands for the publication of The White Road and The Black Angel respectively. Please keep an eye on the schedule and we'll post the dates as soon as they are confirmed. THE WEB SITE We have revamped our Discussion Forum, partly in order to make it easier to navigate but also to counter the large quantities of spam that were cluttering up the place and making it look untidy. My apologies, therefore, to those of you who might have been considering a) the enlargement of some area of your body through artificial means; b) the purchase of significant quantities of miracle libido boosters; or c) sending your bank account details to the former finance minister of a small African country in order to enable him to transfer his vast wealth to you. You will now have to look elsewhere for the solution to your problems. The changes to the forum mean that people will now be asked to register if they wish to contribute, although all of the contributions can be read without the need to register. The new forum will protect us from spam and allow a greater amount of interaction between contributors. Unfortunately, we've had to ditch all of our old posts during the changeover, so the forum may be looking a little bare for a few days. If you have a moment, and feel the urge to vent your feelings about books, music or pretty much anything else that comes to mind, then please feel free to do so. Jayne will continue to be in charge, so all hail Jayne! AND ANOTHER THING... Finally, I've started posting a weekly column of sorts ("column" because I hate the word "blog") to the website called And Another Thing... It will appear each Monday until I get tired or until you ask me to stop. Thanks to all of you for your continued kindness and support for my books. I'm grateful. Best wishes, John
February 2006
Dear Folks, I would wish you all a belated happy new year, but it's a little late. Still, winter is theoretically over for those of us in the northern hemisphere so maybe I can just wish you the joys of spring instead (or the joys of impending autumn if you're on the other side of the equator). 
The Black Angel has just been published in paperback in the US (cover art to right), and UK publication will follow on February 27th. I'll start touring in the UK for The Black Angel later this month. The dates and venues are listed below. I'll also be doing some events later in the year at the Edinburgh Festival (12th-28th August) and at the Harrogate Crime Festival from July 20th-23rd. Further details are available at www.edbookfest.co.uk and at www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime.
The UK tour dates are as follows: MONDAY February 27 7.00pm Ottakars, Ayr Tel:01292 262 600 WEDNESDAY MARCH 1 7.00pm Borders, Stockport Tel: 0161 476 3392 THURSDAY MARCH 2 7.00pm Borders, Magdalen Street, Oxford Tel: 01865 203901 MONDAY MARCH 6 Noon-2.00 London Book Fair event with Mark Billingham, Karin Slaughter and Mo Hayder MONDAY MARCH 6 3.00pm Signing at Canary Wharf, near Ottakars bookshop, with Sara Paretsky and Karin Slaughter WEDNESDAY MARCH 8 7.00pm Waterstones event, 93 Albion Street, Leeds LS1 5AP With poet and novelist Joolz Denby Tel: 0113 2444588 I'll also be interviewed on the Simon Mayo Book Club on BBC Radio Five from 3.00pm - 4.00pm on Thursday March 2nd. I haven't done it before but I've been told that it involves an interview and then a discussion of the book in which I leave myself to the tender mercies of three critics. Further details can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive, which also provides a live link to the station's broadcasts. We've introduced some small changes to the website. First of all, there will now be a regular blog (although I really hate that word) from me every Monday, or thereabouts, at least while I'm not touring. I felt that the newsletters were a little irregular so it's nice to be able to post some new stuff on a weekly basis. Secondly, there is now a very nice page showing some of the covers of the various books - Parker and non-Parker - currently available in translation, as well as a comprehensive list of all of the books that have either already been translated or are in the process of being translated. As well as showing how non-English language publishers approach the issue of cover art, it will help let all those who read the books in translation know what they can expect to see at some point in the future. Unfortunately, it's a little harder to pin down actual publication dates, but in each case we've given the name of the publisher involved to enable readers to get in touch with them if necessary. Within the next month or so I hope to post the cover art for The Book of Lost Things, which will be published in the UK and US in September/ October 2006, as well as a chapter or two from the book. The Book of Lost Things will be followed early in the new year by the next Parker book. I'll let you know the title once I've run it by my editors. (For more on this subject, visit the blog.) 
Finally, The Underbury Witches has just been published as part of the Open Door adult literacy series along with new works by Roddy Doyle, Nick Hornby, Cecilia Ahern, Patricia Scanlan and Sarah Webb. You can find out more about the novella and the other books in the Open Door series at www.newisland.ie/opendoor/series5/index.shtml.
So that's it for now. Thanks to all those who continue to participate regularly in the Discussion Forum and thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter. Have a great 2006. Peace and best wishes, John
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