This is my second nomination for this award. STRIPPED was also a finalist back in 2006. Should I wonder about the irony? The two books I've written that were NOT set in Minnesota have both wound up as finalists for a Minnesota award!
Big congratulations to my fellow finalists, authors Richard Thompson, Michael Stanley, and Kent Krueger.
]]>My agent just informed me that pirated editions of the Spanish book club translations of my novels have been widely distributed at free download sites. The direct cost to me: likely cancellation of contracts that would have brought books three and four to Spanish bookstores, loss of thousands of dollars, and extreme disruption in one of my most important markets.
Note to pirates: I'm not Sony or Disney. This is not stealing from "faceless" corporations. This is stealing from a real person who's just trying to make a living in a very tough business.
]]>In the Netherlands, THE BONE HOUSE will be released on Tuesday January 24 under the title BRANDMERK (Burn Mark). This is my sixth novel available from The House of Books, and I can't wait to get it in reader hands. You can see the cover and buy it at BOL at the following link: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/nederlandse-boeken/brandmerk/1001004011517890/index.html.
It's also a busy time in France. My fourth book LE VOYEUR is one of 10 finalists for La Plume du Thriller International at the wonderful French books site, Plume Libre. The winners are selected by YOU -- the readers -- and voting is not limited to readers in France. So if you're a fan of IN THE DARK (called THE WATCHER overseas), just click over to the Plume Libre site and cast your vote: http://www.plume-libre.com/concours/plumes2012/Plumes2012.php.
Meanwhile, THE BURYING PLACE is due out in France on February 9 under the title JE T'AURAI. (It means I WILL HAVE YOU.) My French publisher also signed on this week to release my next two books, THE BONE HOUSE and SPILLED BLOOD, over the next two years.I'm also awaiting the release of THE BURYING PLACE in Poland soon, so it's a hot winter in Europe for Brian Freeman books. Yay!
Meanwhile, closer to home, there will be plenty of news about SPILLED BLOOD very soon -- plus a special Jonathan Stride story in February. Stay tuned!
]]>"The Souls of the Ships" is one of my personal favorites among my stories. It's set up in "Stride country" in Duluth, and it's the haunting tale of two strangers who meet by the shore of Lake Superior on Christmas Eve to learn about the power of loss and love. I hope that you and your whole family enjoy this little gift from me, Blackstone, and Joe Barrett...and I hope you will share the link with your friends, too.
To receive your free download, just click on this link to Blackstone and sign up with your e-mail address. Blackstone will automatically send you a link to download the story in MP3 or M4B format -- absolutely free.
All of my novels are available in audio editions read by Joe Barrett, and Blackstone is also offering a 25% discount on the CD audio books between now and the end of the year!
Merry Christmas! I'm sending you and yours my warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season and a happy, prosperous 2012.
P.S. Look for news from me early next year about a special Jonathan Stride short story, as well as more information about my seventh book SPILLED BLOOD - due out this spring!
]]>Oh, and the title? Sleuths can find it online, but I'll wait and reveal it when you can see the covers, too.
When will it arrive in stores? Book seven will be available in the UK starting 1 March 2012 and in the US starting May 1 2012. Okay, I know, it seems like a long time! However, it will be worth the wait, I promise. This new book -- my second stand-alone following The Bone House -- will take my brand of psychological suspense to the next level. I can't wait to put it in your hands.
Don't worry, though, I'm hard at work on my eighth book -- the new Stride novel -- right now.
In the meantime, my Portugese readers can enjoy the long-awaited arrival of my fourth novel, O VOYEUR, starting today. I also filmed a brief video clip about the book in Duluth, which you can see in English (with Portugese subtitles) at the book's web page on the site for my Portugese publisher: http://www.presenca.pt/livro/o-voyeur/.
More very soon...happy reading!
]]>Obviously, I create drama. Wherever I go, I drive up the crime rate. It makes me wonder if the people in places like Duluth or Door County really want me coming back, because I bring nothing but murder, abuse, and dysfunction to their lovely communities. The world of my books isn't "real" -- you wouldn't want to live anywhere that had such things going on all the time. You also probably wouldn't want to read books that captured the reality of life in the criminal justice system, which all too often is about paperwork. If John Grisham wrote about the real day-to-day life of a lawyer, for example, he wouldn't sell too many books.
On the other hand, I crave authenticity in my characters in terms of their emotional experience. I want real people -- not super-heroes or super-villains -- who are drawn across terrible lines. I'm interested in the motivations that lead people to make bad choices, and I'm interested in the emotional toll that crime can take on the people who try to solve it. I hope that's why readers relate to my characters, and I always hope that my stories honor the police by making them genuine people, not cartoons.
Both worlds, real and fictional, affect each other, sometimes in unexpected ways. If anything, science and technology make it harder on a fiction writer, because you can't get away with a crime quite as easily as you could in the past. Your cell phone calls and locations can be traced. Your DNA can be tracked. You're constantly passing cameras that record your movements. You leave electronic footprints everywhere. It makes a writer long for the old days when you could be anonymous! Creating a plausible drama in that kind of world is a challenge, because there are simply fewer "mysteries" that can't be readily solved by the tools we have today.
On the other hand, those tools take time and cost money. Prosecutors bemoan the "CSI effect" in which juries expect every trial to involve DNA and verifiable science, even though most criminal trials still rely on old-fashioned fingerprints more than anything else. Similarly, police on TV (and yes, in books) usually get their lab results back in hours...rather than months or even years, as is common in real life. Imagine the sheer time an investigation takes when you wait nine months to get a DNA sample tested. Victims, families, juries, don't always understand the realities of criminal work, because they are fed a steady dose of fictional drama.
If there is one thing both worlds share, though, it's the importance of story in reaching people. My books are designed to keep you turning the pages until the wee hours, because you can't put down a good tale that keeps you fascinated and surprised. Similarly, the real world of criminal justice relies on the power of stories -- understanding why people behave the way they do, and making others (including juries) understand how the pieces of evidence fit together to form a believable narrative. In the end, we are all storytellers.
]]>You can look for me in Angola, Indiana and Ann Arbor, Michigan (for the Kerrytown Book Festival) on the weekend of September 10-11. Then I'll be in Stevens Point, Wisconsin later in September. In October, I have two stops in Minnesota at libraries in Cambridge and New Prague. All the details are on the Events page of my web site.
If you're located in the upper Midwest, and you'd like me to visit your area, be sure to stop by your local library and ask them to extend an invitation. I try hard to travel as widely as I can and visit new areas. If it's within easy driving distance, I can often add it to my roster.
The trick about touring for authors these days is that it's mostly on our own dime. So the airfare, rental car, hotel, food, etc. -- we pay for all those expenses ourselves. As a result, it takes me a while to get to places that are outside the Midwest. Over the past six years, I've visited Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Arizona, and California...so I do get around! If I haven't made it to your area yet, just be patient with me, and I'll try to get there. (And I'll try to make it back to places I've visited in the past, too.)
Meanwhile, I'll have more details soon about the release dates of book seven in 2012!
]]>My sixth book THE BONE HOUSE and my upcoming seventh novel -- due out in the spring -- are both stand-alones. (Of course, fans of THE BONE HOUSE can expect to meet Cab Bolton again in another book.) I've enjoyed the opportunity to tackle all-new characters, and the response from readers has been wonderful. As for book seven, well, my editor says it took her breath away. So I can't wait to put that one in your hands.
However, I've missed Stride, Serena, and Maggie...and I know all of you have been anxious to see what happens next in their lives. I've got the story all ready to go, and I'm very excited about it. Now I just need some creepy locales, and I'll be haunting the streets of Duluth for several days to find the best settings for every chapter.
I'll also be back at the Bookstore at Fitger's on Wednesday, August 3, for a meet-and-greet with readers between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. So if you're in the area, stop by and say hello -- and don't forget to bring your books to be signed.
Yes, it'll be awhile until you can read the new Stride novel. After all, I have to write it first! However, I'm hoping to include a long (15,000-word) Stride short story with book seven. That way, you can get a little "Stride fix" while you wait for the new book.
]]>We teamed up a couple years ago to write THE AGENCY, which one reviewer described as a "delicious mash-up of chick-lit and thriller." It was a sassy, sarcastic look at London publishing with a female, first-person narrator -- nothing at all like my dark, emotional suspense novels.
Since then, fans have been asking: Will we see another book from Ally O'Brien? Short answer: yes! It's taken us a while to put on our Ally hats again, but the good news is that we just wrapped up the draft of the second Ally novel. For those of you who loved THE AGENCY, this new book is every bit as funny as the first -- with a big heart and lots of drama. Ali and I think you'll love it.
So when will you see it? Oh, you know the world of publishing -- it always takes forever. I imagine it will be next summer before the book arrives in stores. But we'll give you little hints and previews along the way, and it will be worth the wait. So as they used to say in the James Bond credits, Ally O'Brien Will Return.
]]>For those of you who are wondering -- and writing to me -- yes, book eight takes me back to Duluth and Jonathan Stride!
So as I sit and write, here's what's news close to home and around the world:
Meanwhile, stay tuned for announcements soon about the release of my seventh suspense novel in both the US and UK! My editor says it took her breath away. That's what I love to hear.
]]>One of our stops took us to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the wonderful Aunt Agatha's mystery bookstore is located. As we were heading west, we stopped for the night near St. Joseph, a picturesque town on the shore of Lake Michigan. For me, it was like coming home.
I grew up in Chicago in the 1960s and early 1970s, before my family moved to California. While we lived there, my parents had a small cottage a few miles north of St. Joe, which we visited on summer weekends. I hadn't been back to see the cottage in many years, and I was curious what we would find.
To my surprise, it was as if time had stood still. It may as well have been 1973, the last time we set foot inside the small home. Nothing had changed. The roads were still unpaved. Peering in the windows (yes, I'm a voyeur), the rooms were much as they'd been in those years, with furniture still covered for the winter season. Only the trees had grown larger to soar over the area. If I closed my eyes, I could have been ten years old again, and I haven't felt that way in a long time.
Why is the cottage important? It's because much of what I write traces to those days. When we moved to California, I missed the Midwest - but it wasn't really Chicago that I missed. It was Michigan. The cottage was my image of the Midwest, with its lonely rural roads, its deep woods, its open fields, and the looming presence of the great lake. Sound familiar? Yes, it sounds a lot like the environs you'll find in most of my novels.
I went to college in Minnesota because I wanted to get back to the Midwest I remembered. That's still the Midwest you'll find in my books.
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