Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Thanks to EW!

It was very nice to see "So Cold the River" selected as one of the "most anticipated books of the summer" by Entertainment Weekly.



Release is -- finally -- drawing nigh, and I'll be blogging a little more about the book in the coming weeks, hopefully answering some reader questions that are sure to exist, such as, 1) How much of the history is true? (most of it) and 2)Why a ghost story? (Because they're fun!)

Anyone who followed my picks for favorite books read in 2009 will remember my high esteem for Dave Cullen's "Columbine." Today is the anniversary of that tragedy, and as I've read news articles about it I find my mind turning again to that fine piece of work. If you haven't read the book, you should. It's now out in an updated, paperback version. www.davecullen.com

Other, more recent, reading pleasures have included Alafair Burke's "212," and the Paris Review series of writer interviews, which is like candy to me. There's a four-volume set of them out now, featuring interviews about the craft with everyone from Dorothy Parker to William Faulkner to Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King. Wonderful stuff. And speaking of King, act fast to receive a limited edition new novella from the master: http://www.cemeterydance.com/

I also thoroughly enjoyed Larry McMurtry's memoir "A Literary Life" but I'm saving that one for a full blog entry at some point. Still trying to honor my promise to be more active on the blog this year!

Friday, April 9, 2010

So Cold The River promo widget Version 2.0

Many thanks to Miriam Parker and the others at Little, Brown and Co. who created this fun little guy.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Early reviews, good news from abroad, and go Butler!

Some nice things to report on this NCAA Championship Monday, less than 12 hours from tip-off of the unlikely Butler/Duke matchup. I don't want to jinx the Bulldogs, so I'll just say that even if they lose it's been an amazing run and people from Indiana can't complain about seeing two teams (Butler and the Colts) play for the championship in a two-month span. Ah, the Colts...(Hands team, Hank Baskett. Hands team! That's the only reason you kept a roster spot and then they give you ONE onside kick all season and you, a WIDE RECEIVER, cannot hold onto the...)

Ahem, sorry. As I said, we can't complain. Too much composure for that.

The first good news comes from the Netherlands. I just returned from a wonderful trip to Amsterdam, and can't thank the people at Boekerij enough. It's a great publishing house in a great country, and, as of last week, also the first publishing house to land a Koryta title on the national bestseller list, with the mass market edition of "A Welcome Grave" (or "Begraven") debuting at #16.
http://www.cpnb.nl/bs/nieuwsbrieven/2010/week-13.html

Back stateside, there's a starred review of "So Cold the River" in the current Publisher's Weekly that will hopefully whet appetites for the new book:

"In this explosive thriller from Koryta (Envy the Night), failed filmmaker Eric Shaw is eking out a living making family home videos when a client offers him big bucks to travel to the resort town of West Baden, Ind., the childhood home of her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, to shoot a video history of Bradford's life. Almost immediately, things go weird. Eric uncovers evidence of another Campbell Bradford, a petty tyrant who lived a generation before the other and terrorized the locals. The older Campbell begins appearing in horrific visions to Eric after he sips the peculiar mineral water that made West Baden famous. Koryta spins a spellbinding tale of an unholy lust for power that reaches from beyond the grave and suspends disbelief through the believable interactions of fully developed characters. A cataclysmic finale will put readers in mind of some of the best recent works of supernatural horror, among which this book ranks.