Nice interview at CNN.com talking THE RIDGE, possible adaptations with Chris Columbus and Scott Silver, and good music!

If nothing else, check out the music picks. I assure you they won't disappoint.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/06/05/author.michael.koryta/index.html?iref=allsearch

Chris Columbus and 1492 Pictures to adapt THE CYPRESS HOUSE

Thrilled to report what has already been widely reported: Chris Columbus, the acclaimed director of the first two Harry Potter films, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, and countless other fan favorites, has acquired film rights for THE CYPRESS HOUSE. Columbus will write the script himself and produce via his 1492 Pictures company with production partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe.

The New York Times reviews THE RIDGE

And we even got a great little sketch of a cat face on the moon! Nice work by Christoph Niemann.

Says Marilyn Stasio of the NYTBR:

It’s almost summer, so let’s get serious about those vacation reading lists. On second thought, let’s save the 600-page historical sagas and thickly plotted espionage thrillers for another day and kick back with something weird and wonderful — like a supernatural mystery.

Michael Koryta, who previously staked out that territory with “So Cold the River” and “The Cypress House,” takes it to loftier elevations with THE RIDGE (Little, Brown, $24.99), a freshly imagined and elegantly constructed variation on the dead-of-night ghost story. Set in an abandoned mining region in the foothills of rural Kentucky and drawing deeply on Koryta’s affinity for spooky places, this eerie tale hinges on a chapter of local history forgotten by all but Wyatt French, an eccentric old coot who lives alone in a lighthouse he built in the woods to keep the dark away. “So if you got a light, hold it high for me / I need it bad tonight, hold it high for me,” goes a sad poem hanging over his bed.

French becomes unhinged and commits suicide when a wildlife sanctuary for lions, tigers and other “massive, uneasy cats” moves into this remote area, intruding on his solitude and awakening nightmarish notions that something wicked is living up on Blade Ridge.

But before he kills himself, the old man passes on his forebodings to two of Sawyer County’s presumably more stable citizens, Chief Deputy Kevin Kimble, who is hopelessly in love with a woman currently doing time for killing her brutal husband (and taking a shot at Kevin), and Roy Darmus, who lost his job as the county’s official storyteller when the regional newspaper shut down. Although their sleuthing efforts establish a realistic baseline for the novel’s supernatural events, readers are swept along by Koryta’s narrative voice, which is surprisingly soft and low and poetically insinuating, considering the horrors he’s relating.

The presence of the great cats threatens the spirits of the woods, which are “heavy with the feel of magic.” And when a preternaturally powerful black cougar named Ira jumps the fence to take up the watch on these haunted hills, the scene is set for a battle that will either restore the balance of nature or plunge the whole region into darkness. Not to tip the ending of this extraordinarily imaginative story, but I’d put my money on Ira.

Stephen King recommends The Cypress House

Pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly tomorrow for some summer reading tips. Stephen King includes THE CYPRESS HOUSE in his suggestions, saying, "Gangsters, a silent but heroic drifter, and one whopper of a hurricane. How can you go wrong?"

In the same issue, Michael Connelly points readers toward THE RIDGE, saying, "Since he's moved from mystery to horror things have gotten spooky -- and better with each book."

RIDGE CAPTION CONTEST

We judged this week based on heart and passion. And, yes, a vague sense of fear. Either way, we want to make this guy happy. So the winning caption is:

"If I don't get a signed copy of THE RIDGE for at least one of
my caption contributions I'm gonna F#$&&$# eat somebody."

Alan P. from...from a place we hope has really good police.

With Alan satisfied and my chance to sleep at night restored, let's move on to the new week's photo. I took this one while watching the rescue of three tigers who will now live out the rest of their days at the EFRC. This big guy is named Cash. At this point in the day he'd already traveled a couple hundred miles and wasn't particularly interested in going the 100 yards left to get him to his much-nicer new home.

Send your entries to cypresshousevp@gmail.com