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Current News
Translation rights
(March 4, 2010) More translation deals done for Martyr - the publisher Swiat Ksiazki in Poland and Nakladatelstvi Argo in the Czech Republic.
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Moscow bound
(February 10, 2010) Good news from Russia. The Moscow publishing house Veche has agreed a translation deal for Martyr.
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In the charts
(January 29, 2010) Martyr made the UK paperback fiction charts in its first few days of release last week, coming in at number 21. It did even better at WH Smith, charting at number 11. More good news is that the publisher Pegasus Yayinlari is acquiring rights for Turkey.
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In the shops
(January 21, 2010) Martyr is now in UK supermarkets and bookstores (WH Smith has it as The Times recommended Book of the Week). All outlets have good deals on offer.
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The paperback's here
January 20 (2010) The UK paperback of Martyr has arrived in many shops - including WH Smith, where it is nicely displayed as the Times recommended read of the week. Just a few days to go to pick up a copy for £2.99 when you by your copy of The Times.
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The big thaw...
(January 17, 2010) Four days to go until Martyr comes out in paperback in the UK. The snow has almost gone in Norfolk, England. All that's left is the remains of a snow fort, a snow camel and an igloo in our back garden...
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Happy New Year
(January 3, 2010) Happy New year! Martyr comes out in paperback in the UK this month. I believe you will be able to get some excellent deals on the book at supermarkets, WH Smith, Waterstones and Amazon.
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Front Row
(December 17,2009) I was overwhelmed to hear Martyr named as one of the crime novels of the year by BBC radio 4's Front Row yesterday. Many thanks to Jeff Parks for naming the book as one of his six favourites for 2009.
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Revenger cover
November 20, 2009) At last, the UK cover of Revenger drops on my doormat - and I love it. It looks to me like a rain of blood falling from a black sky and washing over the land and sea. Full of foreboding and menace, yet elegant too. I particularly like the late 16th century galleon pendant from the V&A. My thanks to John Murray and their designers at www.edwardbettison.com. The book is due out next April in the UK (late summer in America). Before that, however, I have the British paperback of Martyr to look forward to, in January.
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Mentioned in dispatches
(October 3, 2009) A big thank you to the judges of the 2009 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award for nominating me as one of two long-listed authors 'of Special Merit'.
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Eastward bound
(September 2, 2009) The rights to Martyr have been acquired in Taiwan by InStars Multimedia of Taipei.
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Bookhugger
(August 27, 2009) Bookhugger, the superb website for people who love a good read, kindly invited me to take part in one of their innovative 'author panels' - in which three genre writers talk about their craft and discuss each other's comments. See the results at http://bookhugger.co.uk/2009/08/author-panel-historical-fiction/.
My co-panellists were the historical authors Margaret Elphinstone and Andrea Japp, both pictured here.
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Paperback cover
(August 18, 2009) I have now seen the cover for the paperback edition of Martyr, which is due out on August 18 next year (2010). I really like it a lot. It's rich, beautifully textured and has a nice Elizabethan feel to it. Here it is: hope you like it as much as I do
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Doodling
(August 10, 2009) Been busy doodling in the front of my books for an innovative rare book company called Doodled Books Ltd. I can't claim that drawing is my strong point, but I gave it my best shot, with my very inaccurate version of a 16th century galleon. My artist wife Naomi showed me how it should be done - my effort is on the left, hers is the good one. Have a look at the Doodled Books website - www.doodledbooks.co.uk
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Digital books
(July 28, 2009) I welcome the advent of digital books - but will they ever replace the old-fashioned kind? Talking with friends, I came to the conclusion that there will always be a place for both varieties. The problem with taking Kindle or Sony Reader on holiday is that you are always liable to drop it in the pool or get it jammed up with sand - and that would be an awful lot of money to lose.
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Heffers
(July 7, 2009) Heffers bookshop in Cambridge, England, is a real treasure. I was there yesterday to sign dozens of copies of both the UK and US hardback editions of Martyr. It was a delight to meet first-edition collectors such as David and Nick, who had travelled into the city specially. A big thank-you also to Richard Reynolds for his hospitality. He runs the Heffers crime department and I would guess he knows more about the genre than almost anyone else in the country. I learned a great deal in a few short hours.
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Paterback date
(July 4th, 2009) I am pleased to announce that the UK paperback edition of Martyr will be released next February (2010). Watch this space for further details.
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Holt signing
(June 27, 2009) Many thanks to David Makinson at the Holt Bookshop in Norfolk, England. He has a fantastic customer list, many of whom turned up for my book-signing on Saturday and bought copies of Martyr. It was gratifying to meet such a dedicated group of book-lovers.
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Large print
(June 18, 2009). Large print rights for Martyr have now been acquired - by Thorndike Press in the US and BBC Audio in the UK. Watch this space for publication dates.
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In the shops
Martyr is now on sale in the UK, America and Canada. This is the first book in the John Shakespeare series of Elizabethan thrillers. It's a tremendously exciting time for me, but I realise that publication is not the culmination of anything - just the beginning. I want people to read the book because I think it is a good, entertaining story - but also because I want to shed light on a forgotten tyranny, a time which can tell us an awful lot about the days in which we live.
I have been delighted by the early reactions to Martyr in both America and Britain (see my Books page on this website for a few of the reviews). Now I just hope that the really important people - the people who love to read books - enjoy my first novel. It's the result of fifteen years of plotting, research, hard work and a great deal of fun on my part.
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Upcoming dates
I'll be signing books at a couple of brilliant UK stores in the next few weeks. First the Holt Bookshop in Norfolk on June 27, 11am-1pm, then Heffers in Cambridge on July 6, from 11am.
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2009 Cartier Diamond Dagger award
It was a glittering affair, in a room suitably lit by dozens of flickering candles and furnished with heavy drapes behind which murderous monks and other assassins might lurk.
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No one knows how or when she first heard that her father, Henry VIII, had ordered the death of her mother, Anne Boleyn
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Queen Elizabeth 1st >
He is famous for his decisive action against the Spanish armada in 1588 and for circumnavigating the globe in the Golden Hind (1577-80).
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Sir Francis Drake >
Heiress to a rich west country family, she became Sir Francis Drake’s second wife in 1585 (he was 45, she was 23).
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Elizabeth Sydenham >
He was a controversial figure. Accusations against him included: murdering his first wife Amy Robsart to leave him free to marry the Queen, which she refused to do;
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Earl of Leicester >
When he heard news from France of the 1572 St Bartholomew’s massacre of protestant Huguenots (up to 70,000 men, women and children were slaughtered) he danced for joy in his bedroom.
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Philip II >
Walsingham spent years plotting the death of Mary Queen of Scots, whom he described as a “bosom serpent”.
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Sir Francis Walsingham >
Born plain William Cecil, he rose to greatness under Elizabeth, serving her for forty years as Secretary of State, then Lord Treasurer.
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Lord Burghley >
Among his best friends were his neighbours Hamnet and Judith Sadler, who lived in High Street, Stratford.
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William Shakespeare >
Martyred for his faith, this remarkable Jesuit priest was as well known for his poetry as for his religion.
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Father Robert Southwell, SJ >
Happily admitting his inexperience in naval warfare, he surrounded himself with the best fighters of the age – Drake, Hawkins and Frobisher.
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Lord Howard of Effingham >
The world has always been divided on whether she was a saint or a sinner. Did she conspire to have her cousin Queen Elizabeth murdered?
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Mary, Queen of Scots >
A merchant and sea captain, he was famous for modernising Elizabeth’s navy with the design of the so-called “race-built” galleon
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Sir John Hawkins >
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