I'm Back
Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 10:09 PM
I'm back in the world of blogging after a short break. This has been a hectic period, and after my thirty day blog marathon, I needed a bit of a rest. So, here's a round up:
New Reviews of THE TWELVE
A review appeared in today's Metro newspaper, which is one of the most widely read dailies in the UK. They said: "Stuart Neville's blistering debut thriller is a walk on the wild side of post-conflict Northern Ireland that brilliantly exposes the suffering still lurking beneath the surface of reconciliation and the hypocrisies that sustain the peace. Neville ceaselessly cranks up the tension ... but it's his caustic assessments of present-day Northern Ireland, penetrating its sad, confused predicaments, that really hit home."
A review also appeared in the Leinster Leader, courtesy of Laura Cassidy, which said: "[Neville's] perfect construction will have the reader flicking ferociously from one page to the next ... a real page-turner. Suspense continues to build throughout the book, culminating in an ending that will both satisfy and surprise. Not since Alex Barclay's Darkhouse has there been such a polished debut thriller from an Irish author."
One thing I've learned in recent days: nothing gives your sales a kick like a good review in a prominent publication. They're golden.
Readings
Last week I attended two book launches in one evening, both within a few hundred yards of each other.
The first was for AFTERMATH by Ruth Dudley Edwards at the Queen's Universty Bookshop. Aftermath is a factual account of the fight for justice by the families of the twenty-nine people killed in the Omagh bombing of 1998. It's an extraordinary story of courage in the face of evil as ordinary people, denied justice in the criminal courts, make world legal history by bringing the terrorists to account in the civil courts.
The other launch was for Adrian McKinty's FIFTY GRAND at No Alibis, which has been receiving praise from all over the world. Adrian travelled all the way from Australia to be in his (almost) home town, and I didn't want to miss it, so I ducked out of Ruth's event early so I could catch it. Beer followed, and I regret to say I wound up a little worse for wear, which was all Gerard Brennan's fault. He forced - forced, I say - me to have that last pint that tipped the balance.
Work in Progress
Finally, at long last, the sequel to THE TWELVE is nearing completion. I'm just at the final showdown. This is always a difficult stage for a novel; the end is in sight, but there's that slight sadness of having to let it go. But I will be very, very happy to see this book finished. More than one author has told me the second novel is the toughest, and my experience bears that out. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, the next time I blog it will be to announce that it's done.
New Reviews of THE TWELVE
A review appeared in today's Metro newspaper, which is one of the most widely read dailies in the UK. They said: "Stuart Neville's blistering debut thriller is a walk on the wild side of post-conflict Northern Ireland that brilliantly exposes the suffering still lurking beneath the surface of reconciliation and the hypocrisies that sustain the peace. Neville ceaselessly cranks up the tension ... but it's his caustic assessments of present-day Northern Ireland, penetrating its sad, confused predicaments, that really hit home."
A review also appeared in the Leinster Leader, courtesy of Laura Cassidy, which said: "[Neville's] perfect construction will have the reader flicking ferociously from one page to the next ... a real page-turner. Suspense continues to build throughout the book, culminating in an ending that will both satisfy and surprise. Not since Alex Barclay's Darkhouse has there been such a polished debut thriller from an Irish author."
One thing I've learned in recent days: nothing gives your sales a kick like a good review in a prominent publication. They're golden.
Readings
Last week I attended two book launches in one evening, both within a few hundred yards of each other.
The first was for AFTERMATH by Ruth Dudley Edwards at the Queen's Universty Bookshop. Aftermath is a factual account of the fight for justice by the families of the twenty-nine people killed in the Omagh bombing of 1998. It's an extraordinary story of courage in the face of evil as ordinary people, denied justice in the criminal courts, make world legal history by bringing the terrorists to account in the civil courts.
The other launch was for Adrian McKinty's FIFTY GRAND at No Alibis, which has been receiving praise from all over the world. Adrian travelled all the way from Australia to be in his (almost) home town, and I didn't want to miss it, so I ducked out of Ruth's event early so I could catch it. Beer followed, and I regret to say I wound up a little worse for wear, which was all Gerard Brennan's fault. He forced - forced, I say - me to have that last pint that tipped the balance.Work in Progress
Finally, at long last, the sequel to THE TWELVE is nearing completion. I'm just at the final showdown. This is always a difficult stage for a novel; the end is in sight, but there's that slight sadness of having to let it go. But I will be very, very happy to see this book finished. More than one author has told me the second novel is the toughest, and my experience bears that out. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, the next time I blog it will be to announce that it's done.
Labels: adrian mckinty, gerard brennan, no alibis, reviews, ruth dudley edwards, writing
posted by Stuart Neville at 10:09 PM
4 Comments:
That seems so weird, that you should be releasing one book at the same time you're finishing another, but I guess--given the huge time lags that are necessary in publishing--that's normal.
meow! you are hotter than the hottest pepper! =DD
Will your next book (after this one you are finishing) continue the saga, or will you go in a completely new direction? Have you given it any thought yet? Still waiting for the stateside release.
So glad to hear the book's getting great play, Stuart.
My copy arrived across the Great Pond last week. Normally, I forbid myself to read fiction while I'm writing it, but this just sounds too good to pass up. Still, I'm gonna be mightily wroth if it makes what I'm working on feel like a dud. :)
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