- Clair Lamb
October 2022
Updated: Oct 6, 2022
Dear Folks,
It's October, when a man’s thoughts turn to the question of soup, autumn being very much soup weather. They also, variously, turn to remembering to bring an umbrella, checking to make sure nobody in the house has been turning up the radiators, noting that it's getting dark awful early now, and remarking that his gammy foot should be employed by the weather service, so accurately does it predict rain. I'm telling you, that middle-age bus has arrived with a vengeance.
And no, you can’t have your ball back. Get off my lawn.
Worth the Wait: The American Tour
At long last, the US/Canadian edition of THE FURIES will be in bookstores everywhere and on all the usual North American audiobook platforms on Tuesday, October 11. A short US tour to support the book will start that very same day.
THE FURIES, as you may recall, is not one but two short Parker novels in a single volume. The first, "The Sisters Strange," is a considerably revised and extended version of a story that appeared in serial form on my website during the first year of the pandemic. The second, "The Furies," is itself set at the very beginning of the pandemic, and finds Parker juggling two cases that may prove connected in unexpected ways. THE FURIES was a bestseller in the UK and Ireland, and has gotten kind attention from reviewers — a star from Publishers Weekly, praise from Kirkus for "melancholy and deft touches of dark humor," and Booklist's description as "a must-read for the author’s fans and a good introduction to the series for newbies."
I am delighted (not to say relieved) to get the book in the hands of North American readers at last, and I hope to see many of you at one of these events:
Tuesday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. — Forest Park, IL
7419 Madison St.
Forest Park, IL
708-771-7243
Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 p.m. — Scottsdale, AZ
4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. #101
Scottsdale, AZ
888-560-9919
Thursday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m. — Houston, TX
2342 Bissonnet
Houston, TX
713-524-8597
Monday, October 17 at 6:00 p.m. — New York City
58 Warren Street
New York, NY
212-587-1011
Wednesday, October 19 at 6:00 p.m. — Portland, ME
Monument Square
Portland, ME
207-772-4045
All of these stores will gladly take your orders for a signed copy, and will ship anywhere in the world. Signed copies of THE FURIES will also be available from
Jabberwocky Books, Newburyport, MA
VJ Books, Tualatin, OR
Water Street Books, Exeter, NH
While supplies last, signed books will come with a fine, sturdy tote bag bearing the motto and logo of the Fulci Brothers Security Company LLC.
While you’re reading THE FURIES, you may want to listen to the soundtrack that David O'Brien composed to accompany "The Sisters Strange." It's available to stream or as a download on Bandcamp here. David has made it available for free, but every contribution supports therapy for his daughter Odette, who lives with cerebral palsy.
SHADOW VOICES in the United States!
But wait, there’s more! SHADOW VOICES, my massive love letter to the wonders of genre fiction, will officially go on sale in the United States on November 22 — but — the lovely people at Hachette Book Group are making early copies of this book available to the stores hosting events for THE FURIES. So if the mood strikes you, order a signed copy of SHADOW VOICES when you’re ordering your copy of THE FURIES. (And why stop there? Order two! Order eight and build your own bungalow!) These 200 copies will be exclusively marked as "US Launch Edition," so they’ll be rare as the proverbial hen’s teeth.
SHADOW VOICES offers a sweeping look at the Irish writers who broke ground in fantasy, horror, romance, mystery, and even science fiction, from Jonathan Swift to the present day. It’s a handsome book, if I say so myself, and every signed copy will come with a packet of cards depicting authors and artwork related to the works discussed. All of the stores I’m visiting will be happy to ship the volume.
This weekend in Cheltenham!
Before I cross the ocean, though, I have one last in-person event in the United Kingdom. On Saturday, I'll join Yrsa Sigurdardóttir and Catriona Ward at the Cheltenham Literature Festival for "Stephen King Made Me," a conversation moderated by Leah Davis about how the master has influenced our own writing — and indeed, our own reading. Tickets start at £10 and can be purchased here.
Halloween Event in Dublin
To mark the season that's in it, the Museum of Literature Ireland (MOLI) in Dublin is curating a digital exhibition titled Mapping Dublin Gothic, which rather ties into the some of the subject matter of Shadow Voices. To mark the launch of the exhibition, the Museum is hosting an evening of music and Gothic readings at 8:00 p.m. on October 27th, in which I’ll be participating alongside Sinéad Crowley and Liz Nugent. Tickets are €15.00, and can be purchased here. To get you in the mood, you can check out the Museum's Dublin Gothic Podcast.
Wherever I am in the world, my weekly radio show, ABC to XTC, continues to celebrate the punk, post-punk, and New Wave music of the last century on RTÉ Gold on Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. Dublin time. You can listen via the RTÉ mobile app (it works even in North America, I’m told), or stream the show online, and if you happen to miss a show when it airs, you can listen back for a few weeks.
And that's all for now, I think. Breaking news and last-minute changes will get posted to Twitter and to Facebook. I should have one more letter for you between now and the end of the year, with news about the 2023 publication of THE LAND OF LOST THINGS, the sequel to THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS.
In the meantime, be well, and I hope to see some of you soon —
Best wishes,
John