We forecast a Frost arriving

Before his death Inspector Frost creator. R D Wingfield  told the UK press that he would never write another Frost novel because he had lost faith in the police force and didn't think he could write about an organisation he felt was ineffectual. However we have just learned there is to be a prequel to the series written by the pseudonymous James Henry.

I'm a big fan of the Frost books and the new writer has a big task ahead if he is to replicate the feel of the original classics. One can only hope.

Charles Ardai takes over the Archive

Charles Ardai, the driving force behind Hard Case Crime takes over to share some interesting news with Archive readers -

Thought you might be interested in this tidbit of news that broke this morning: Lawrence Block, one of the most decorated and popular authors in the crime fiction firmament (four-time Edgar winner, four-time Shamus winner, MWA Grand Master, New York Times best seller), is writing a brand new book for Hard Case Crime, and it's going to be our debut title when we re-launch the series in September 2011.

Titled GETTING OFF: A Novel of Sex and Violence, the book tells the story of a beautiful and self-confident young woman who sets herself a mission and carries it out with ruthless single-mindedness -- to track down and murder every man she's ever slept with.  (And it's not a small number, especially since she finds herself sleeping with a few more along the way.)  The character is one of Block's most memorable, the first new series character he's introduced since J.P Keller in HIT MAN a dozen years ago.  Like Keller, she first appeared in a short story Block found himself writing, and after she'd stuck around for a second tale and then a third, he realized he had a novel-length story to tell about her.  Thus was GETTING OFF born.

These days, it's hard to describe any book as shocking -- it's 2010, sex doesn't shock us anymore, nor even, really, does violence -- but I promise, this book is shocking.  In the best possible way.  There are moments in the story when I predict even the most jaded reader will find his or her jaw dropping.

And in recognition of the fact that the book is, shall we say, somewhat...spicy...the author has decided it's appropriate to revive a pseudonym he hasn't used in nearly 40 years, under which he wrote seven highly erotic novels in the 1960s and 70s.  Accordingly, GETTING OFF will be published as by "Lawrence Block, writing as 'Jill Emerson'."  As a long-time fan not only of Larry's work but of Jill's, I have to say it's exciting to see her return after too many after decades of Salinger-like silence...

Couple of other bits: GETTING OFF will not only be our re-launch debut title but also our first ever hardcover original.  We plan to bring it out in paperback as well, of course -- but it felt like an occasion like this deserved a hardcover to commemorate it.  The cover is being painted by Greg Manchess, winner of multiple gold medals from the Society of Illustrators and creator of such iconic cover images for Hard Case Crime as FADE TO BLONDE and THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN.  The book will be the first published under our new collaboration with UK-based Titan Publishing and will be distributed in the U.S. and Canada (as all of Titan's books are) by Random House.

This is easily one of the most thrilling announcements I've had the privilege to make since creating Hard Case Crime.  I grew up reading and loving Larry's books, and the idea of getting to collaborate with him to bring a new one into the world is...beyond words.  We're honored that he chose us as the home for this book and look forward to giving GETTING OFF the kick-off it so richly deserves.

True Grit 2010 - first review and it's a good one

Thanks to John Sinclair for the nod on this - the first review can be found HERE

"Another Coen's masterpiece." Yippie!!!!

The Black Horse gallops forward into new territory

This news comes to us, via Keith Chapman,  from Paola Motka who heads up the publicity department at Robert Hale, publishers of the Black Horse western series. Following our report earlier about the new Black Horse eBooks we have learned that the initial four titles are:
Rio Bonito by Abe Dancer
Land of the Lost by Dean Edwards
Rawhide Ransom by Tyler Hatch
McGuire Manhunter by Scott Conner.

Interested parties will be able to find out more information in an update later to the December issue of Black Horse Extra - find it HERE

As Hale pointed out they have had to move quick with their entry into eBooks in order to capitalise on the expected large sales of eReaders this Christmas, and I think the publicity should be handled in much the same way so expect news to come thick and fast over the coming weeks. After all the western is the genre too tough to die and I'm proud to say that The Archive has always shouted this the loudest. And we'll be positively YELLING about the next Wild West Monday this coming January!

"I am delighted to send through the information on our new ebook BHW bundle! Thank you so much for your offer to help us with promoting it!" Paola Motka, Hale publicity.

Archive readers who are unaware of the Black Horse Extra online magazine  really need to head over there and see what they are missing - Black Horse Extra has appeared on a reliable quarterly basis for five years. Every month, it reaches around 800 different visitors (831 November) and more than 2,000 "pages" are looked at (2,280 November). A "page", which is the site's case is a quarterly edition of the eZine, generally consists of three articles of magazine-feature length, plus a dozen or so Hoofprints news briefs. Many of its followers live outside the UK and do not have ready access to the paper-book BHWs. In November, for example, the site had 840 visits from the US and 137 from Australia, compared with only 270 from Great Britain. There are also readers in countries you might not normally expect BHWs to reach -- e.g. Sweden, 30, India, 24, Japan, 82, and the Russian Federation, 98.


The western is truly global.

True Grit - the build up continues

Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY

The Coen brothers may have made, of all things, a family film.

 

 

It just depends on the age of the kids in the family. Fans of Joel and Ethan Coen have been eagerly anticipating their Western True Grit, but few might have guessed it would have more in common with Treasure Island than No Country for Old Men.

A 1969 version of the story, starring John Wayne, also had a light touch, and though this adaptation is decidedly darker, it still has a winking playfulness — and a PG-13 rating.

Even executives at Paramount Pictures weren't certain when the brothers repeatedly promised that their hellfire and gunfire story would fit with a release date of Dec. 22.

"They were contemplating a holiday release, and we thought that it seemed to make sense, because it is a young-adult adventure story," Ethan Coen says.

"Tonally, it's different than what we've done before," Joel Coen says.

Most of the story plays as comedy: A headstrong prairie girl (13-year-old Hailee Steinfeld) bosses the disheveled Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and a dimwitted Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) as they pursue the man who murdered her father.

"That's something people do associate with our movies, by and large: the fact that there is a humorous element," Joel Coen says.

Much of the comedy comes from the grandiloquence of the dialogue, with desperate people communicating with what seems to be comical ceremony, even as they plot murder.

"The only credit we can take from that is we didn't change it from the novel," Ethan Coen says of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis. "The dialogue is taken pretty much entirely from the book. There's a formality to it. And no one uses contractions."

The Coens chuckle at the idea that fathers and daughters might bond over this tale of a vengeance-seeking girl and her paternal surrogate.

They say they wanted to make the kind of movie they used to enjoy.

"As kids we did see the Disney movies and the kids' adventure stories of the day," Ethan Coen says. "It's also like Howard Pyle, the famous illustrator who did pirate stories. That's the stuff we were taken with as kids."

Wild West Monday - Rides Again

We feel another Wild West Monday coming on - the first Monday in January (when I'll be coordinating from sunny Africa) will be the big day. But this time the focus has changed and  we are asking everyone to buy a western eBook on that day. You don't even need an eReading device since all eFormarts can be read on the humble old PC screen. And of course those that get an eReader in the future can always import the file to the device.

Let's send genre sales rocketing and show the massive demand that still exists for the genre...a western fan's gotta' do what a western fan's gotta' do!!!!!

Black Horse Westerns update

Gill Jackson, Managing Director at Robert Hale, informs the Archive that the Black Horse print range will continue as usual and they have no plans to drop the printed books, which primarily sell to libraries. So the Black Horse eBooks will be in addition to the print copies.

  "The eBooks won’t affect the sale of the physical books to the libraries at all and we have no intention of changing our modus operandi for the series." Gill Jackson, Black Horse Westerns.

Initially Hale will publish four Black Horse titles in the electronic format and if this proves successful (as we know it will) then the entire range should eventually become available electronically.

"We will be tracking the reaction to this initial collection and thereafter putting a programme in place for the issue of perhaps another collection and individual titles but our plans are not defined as yet. " Gill Jackson


Gill Jackson also says the eBooks will be in a format that "will encompass all the major devices, from Kindle to the Sony Reader and the iPad"

This is all very exciting news for western readers. There are many series characters among the Black Horse list and maybe future bundles could be themed so that three or four books from a particular author could be offered. The Adventures of Misfit Lil by Chap O'Keefe for instance are very popular and a bundle of these would, I'm sure, prove very successful. That's one of the plus sides to the eRevolution - the format is versatile and new and inventive ways could be tried to market this remarkable book range.



The Black Horse books have a loyal following and yet the hard-covers remain expensive and are often difficult to get hold of, so fans of the series should most definitely support the eBook titles - not only will you be getting a bargain but you will be doing your bit to ensure that one day we may see the entire range with the electronic option.

More news here as we get it...