2009-11-21 — An update from Robert McCammon: The Five Hi all, I wanted to say that I finished the new book about a month ago, it went to my agent on the 29th of October, and it will start making the rounds of publishers after Thanksgiving. I have no idea where it's going to wind up, so we'll see. The title is The Five, which is also the name of the band. The image is one I put together just for fun to send out with the manuscript. I enjoy playing with graphics and fonts, so I thought I'd do this "mock cover". By no means am I a graphics professional, but I decided I'd do it anyway after I finished writing the book. The manuscript came out to 523 pages, a little longer than I'd anticipated but they always seem to come out longer than I think they will. The last two weeks of writing were really tough, as I had to finish before I went to the writers' conference in Vancouver. I'd made plans back last March or so to go to Vancouver, and I realized in September that I was going to crash into the conference date and not be finished unless I picked up the pace. I could've gone without finishing, but (at least for me) when I'm so close to the end of a project my sleeping schedule goes crazy and I can't do anything without having the book foremost in my mind, so I would've been bumping into walls in Vancouver and not been much good for anything. Any writing project to me is like a slow-motion marathon. It's going to be nine months, and you have to be careful not to "kick" too early or you'll burn out before you finish. I kicked early on this one, and I was running full-out trying to finish and so the world went away from me for awhile and, likewise, I went away from the world. But now, happily, The Five is done, I'm very excited and pleased with it and in a way it represents a new beginning (again!!) for me. A new agent, a new publisher, and (we hope) a new opportunity. As I mentioned in another post, The Five is a contemporary novel, which I've not done for awhile. I'm going to give myself a few months to recuperate and then I'll start on the next Matthew book. As I've also said, I'm planning on going back and forth in the next few years between doing the Corbett series and writing more contemporary books. I'm very pleased about the quality of my writing in The Five. I think it's way beyond what I've done before, and I have to credit Matthew Corbett for that. I believe that writing the historical series—and being somewhat constricted in language, yet having to be as painstaking and imaginative with language as you're able to be—has helped my abilities. I have great fun with the language in the Corbett series, and I found in writing The Five that I didn't have to "think" quite so hard to find the right way to say or describe something. It just seemed to flow much more smoothly, and I do credit Matthew for that. So...Mister Slaughter comes out in January, The Five will be after that (who knows when, but I hope it won't be too long) and I'm planning on finishing the new Matthew book, The Providence Rider, next autumn. Actually, probably around October. And also probably very near the time I told the good folks up in Vancouver I'd come to the conference again! Well, the wheels of the bus do go round and round. Thanks again for your interest in my work, and thank you for the time you spend in checking on the website and keeping up with my writing. I'll let you know later on as things progress. Best Wishes, Robert McCammon

2009-11-19 — Another great review of Mister Slaughter Reviewer Clayton Bye has posted his review of Robert McCammon's Mister Slaughter. The review contains plot spoilers. The highlight from the review: "Mister Slaughter is Robert McCammon doing what he does best. His descriptive abilities take us back to a world that is a composite of 30 some years of development in New York City (1700-1730). His characters, always larger than life and ever so quirky, never cease to entertain. And his story is complicated enough that Matthew Corbett can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot."

2009-11-16 — Blog reviews of Mister Slaughter and Swan Song Author Chuck Wendig has posted his review of Robert McCammon's Mister Slaughter. The review contains a few mild spoilers. In the review, Chuck states, "I haven't enjoyed a book like this in years." The maintainer of the blog eReader1 has posted about the Kindle release of Swan Song. The review concludes with "...in all that bleakness, McCammon gives us a beautiful message of love, hope & faith. That the purest of souls can be the most powerful."

2009-11-14 — SIWC 2009 panel notes In October 2009, Robert McCammon attended the Surrey International Writers' Conference in Surrey, BC, Canada. Author J.J. DeBenedictis posted a blog summarizing the panel "Bestsellers Deconstructed," which featured Robert McCammon, Michael Slade, and others. Ms. DeBenedictis graciously granted permission for the reproduction of her blog here. "Bestsellers Deconstructed" @ SIWC 2009

2009-11-10 — Swan Song trade paperback and eBook releases! The new Pocket Books trade paperback edition of Swan Song should be available in stores now. It can also be purchased online from Amazon, B&N, etc. Swan Song is also now available as an eBook for several different readers. The list price for the eBook is $7.99, but Amazon has the Kindle version for only $6.39. Purchase the Swan Song trade paperback from Amazon.com Purchase the Swan Song Kindle edition from Amazon.com Purchase the Swan Song ePub edition from Pocket Books

2009-10-24 — Surrey photos, new (old) fiction, and new blogs Anthony Nadeau sent in some photos from his meeting with Robert McCammon this evening at the Surrey International Writers' Conference in Surrey, British Columbia. You can view Anthony's photos here. Since it's Halloween week, this seemed like a good time to post Robert McCammon's last horror short story, "The Miracle Mile," from the 1991 HWA anthology Under The Fang. I've also posted McCammon's introduction to the anthology. Introduction to Under the Fang "The Miracle Mile" The original shared-world premise for Under the Fang James Reasoner recently posted a McCammon-related blog entitled Forgotten Books: Baal - Robert R. McCammon. The maintainer of the blog "All There Is" recently posted About a terrifying book called The Night Boat.

2009-10-19 — Publishers Weekly reviews Mister Slaughter! Publishers Weekly has posted their review of Mister Slaughter. Mild plot spoilers.... Mr. Slaughter Robert McCammon. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $24.95 (440p) ISBN 978-1-59606-276-4 Murder and ghoulish mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller McCammon's colorful third thriller featuring problem-solver Matthew Corbett and his escapades in early 18th-century America. After confronting a criminal mastermind in The Queen of Bedlam (2007), Matthew finds himself a celebrity whose exploits have become sensational fodder for colonial tabloids. This heady attention contributes to a bad lapse of judgment when he and his senior associate, Hudson Greathouse, accidentally allow a brutal murderer, Tyranthus Slaughter, to give them the slip while they transport him to prison in Philadelphia. The rousing narrative details Matthew's dogged pursuit of the indestructible Tyranthus as the killer cuts a bloody swath through the Pennsylvania wilderness. McCammon shows a sure hand balancing scenes of Matthew's quiet contemplation with the cold-blooded carnage that makes his quarry's name so appropriate. (Jan.) There's now a Robert McCammon channel on Twitter! Note that this is the channel for this website; tweets will be posted by Hunter.... @RobertMcCammon on Twitter

2009-10-17 — Conventions, reviews, blogs, and discussions Robert McCammon will be a Special Guest of ConFusion 2010 (and Subterranean Press) in Troy, MI, January 22–24, 2010. Information about the convention can be found on the ConFusion 2010 website. Also, a reminder that Robert McCammon will be attending the Surrey International Writers' Conference next weekend, October 23–25, 2009, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. There is a signing event that's open to the public. Another review of Mister Slaughter has been posted to Bev Vincent's Onyx Reviews website. The review contains many spoilers for the novel's plot, so be careful about reading it. The review ends with this statement: The book is a fine installment in a series whose charming protagonist has a lot of life left in him. If you live in the Suburban Chicago area, the Fremont Public Library book discussion group will be discussing Boy's Life on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. BookMarkers Book Discussion: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, Fremont Public Library, 1170 N. Midlothian Road, Mundelein. "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon will be discussed. Call (847) 918-3206 or visit fremontlibrary.org. Author Chuck Wendig recently posted a blog in which he ranks his favorite Robert McCammon novels. It's a fun read, but may not be for everyone. You can read the blog on Chuck's Terrible Minds site.

2009-10-01 — Mister Slaughter reviews and blog posts The first full review of Mister Slaughter has been posted by Mark Sieber at Horror Drive-In. A link to his starred review, as well as great, early comments by Brian Keene, Mark Justice, and Wayne C. Rogers can all be found on Matthew Corbett's World. Steve Berman of the blog GuysLitWire recently posted a fantastic essay on why Boy's Life is one "of the greatest reads. Ever." You can read the essay here.

2009-09-15 — An excerpt from Mister Slaughter The first chapter from Mister Slaughter has been posted on Matthew Corbett's World. Also, don't forget that video and audio of Robert McCammon reading a different chapter from Mister Slaughter is available here.

2009-09-09 — Video and audio from The Big J Read now available Thanks to the recording efforts of Stephen Ellison, Mat Grau, and Jason Giaccone, we now have video and audio of Robert McCammon's visit to Jesuit High School in August for the culmination of The Big J Read community reading project. Robert McCammon @ The Big J Read

2009-09-01 — An Update from Robert McCammon Hi everyone, I wanted to give you an update of what's going on, and tell you a little bit about my recent trip to Jesuit High School in New Orleans. First off, I'm about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and forty pages away from finishing the new book. Still looking to finish it up in (late) September, because as I near the end of a project I start writing faster. I'm doing my ten p.m. to six a.m. schedule right now. I've gotten a few questions I'd like to answer. One was about why I don't do a book about The Lady from Boy's Life. I actually did start on a book about her before I wrote Boy's Life, but for one reason or another I wasn't satisfied with it. I got about two hundred pages in. It just wasn't coming to life for me, though, so I put it aside. It did have some pretty interesting bits: a swamp snake that travelled with her as her companion and hated all other humans due to the murders of her "children," a town of half-submerged antebellum mansions, a shadowy New Orleans maskmaker who created masks for criminals and murderers that actually became the person's new face...but I couldn't make it go. I think I was conflicted about whether to portray "voodoo" as fantasy or reality. Another question is why I didn't—or wouldn't—do a sequel to The Wolf's Hour. I actually had planned on doing a sequel, or more than one sequel, but Irwyn Appelbaum, who was the honcho at Pocket Books at the time, shot the idea down. I usually don't listen to honchos, but he said he thought my primary audience was women, and he didn't think women liked "war books." Hmmm. I wonder now if he ever read the book? But anyway, I was off on the next book at the time, so I didn't worry about it. As for doing a sequel now, it might be interesting, but my plate is pretty full. If I was to do that, it would be a long way down the road, and for the present, the Matthew series suits my need to do action/adventure. Speaking of New Orleans, it was a great trip. I spoke to a gathering of parents on Monday night, and then on Tuesday spoke to the students in two sessions. Everybody there was fantastic, I think I was able to connect with the guys (you can make up your own mind on that if and when you see the videos) and it was just really fun. One thing: if you see the video of the first session, you will see terror leap into my eyes at the beginning of the question-and-answer session when I realize I can't hear the questions being asked. Yow. So I was able to take the microphone down to the floor and both hear the questions and answer them more "face-to-face." You always think what hideous thing might happen when you're in front of an audience like that, and 8th to 12th grade young men are a tough audience. I had the mental image of tumbling down the steps leading from the stage to the floor, either to land on my face or on my backside, which would've made a memorable trip and a great YouTube vid. The gentleman who serves Jesuit High School as the Director of Alumni, Mat Grau, posed two questions to me a couple of weeks before I left Birmingham for New Orleans. They were "Who is Cory today?" and "What is he becoming aware of?" So, as you'll see and hear in the videos, I wrote Cory a letter and asked him, and he was kind enough to write me back. He wrote: Hello Rick, I hope everything's good with you. The family's doing well. My daughter is really getting up there now. Twenty years old! Can you believe it? Well, I'm glad you haven't forgotten your old bud. We do go back a ways, don't we? I haven't been to Zephyr for a long time. The interstate has a way of speeding you right past the turnoff, but that's okay because I always know that when I'm ready to go back to Zephyr, Zephyr is always ready to welcome me. I've given some thought to the questions you asked. I am both the same as I was and different too. Aren't we all? It seems to me that this is part of the challenge of life—to try very hard to keep some inner part of yourself flowing pure and clear and strong, while the world throws everything it can at you to muddy your river. I have to admit—my river has known some turbulence. It has been tested over rough rocks and daunting falls. It has at some places in its journey been darkened by silt and sullied by garbage. But I have tried—and still try—my best to keep it flowing strong toward the sea of its ultimate destination. Wherever that may be. I have a road I walk. I call it "my road." I particularly enjoy it in late August, in the fading blue light of summer, betwixt and between the sun and the moon. I think of many things on this road. I remember, I dream, I imagine. I give thanks for what I have, and what I have to look forward to. Often on this road the cicadas of late summer sing in the trees. I never fail to hear them say, from either side of that long and twisting road— Zephyr...Zephyr...Zephyr. I know where I've been. I don't know exactly where I'm going. But I do believe that when I get there, it will be a wonderful place. Thank you for your letter. Take care. Your friend, Cory. P.S. You'll never believe what I found the other day on eBay. I bought it. It's not in style anymore, but it sure is a pretty bike. I wonder if it might be the very same one. And if it would remember me, and wake up like a lamp turning on in the dark. Now that would really be magic, wouldn't it? As always, thank you for your readership, your comments, and your interest in my work. Like I said, I hope to be finished with the new book soon, and in this household that will be a very happy day. Best Wishes, Robert McCammon Webmaster's note: We hope to have audio and video of the Big J Read events posted here within the next week or so. 2009-08-28 — Mister Slaughter ARC giveaway! We're giving away five (5) Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) of Robert McCammon's Mister Slaughter! Visit Matthew Corbett's World for details! 2009-08-18 — Reports from McCammon's presentations at Jesuit High School Robert McCammon visited Jesuit High School in New Orleans, LA, on Monday and Tuesday, August 17 and 18, 2009. His visit was the culmination of the Big J Read, a summer community reading project centered around McCammon's award-winning 1991 novel Boy's Life. The following was taken from the Jesuit High School website. Blue Jays Meet the Big J Read Author: Boy's Life Robert McCammon Author Encourages Blue Jays to Read, to Think, and to Learn from Life's Challenges In his talk with the school community, Boy's Life author Robert McCammon shares his experiences as a writer to teach the value of overcoming challenges and disappointments. Above, Mr. McCammon answers a question from senior Paul Mickan (right). Big J Read: Tuesday's Author Visit Photo Gallery Jesuit Parents, Alumni & Friends Prove an Enthusiastic Audience as Boy's Life Author Robert McCammon Describes the Intricacies of Writing Novels An audience of almost a hundred parents, alumni, faculty, and friends pay rapt attention Monday evening (August 17) to Boy's Life author Robert McCammon, who is visiting Jesuit High School in connection with the Big J Read project. Mr. McCammon shared the pleasures and difficulties of the writing process, including conceiving ideas and bringing them to fruition, character and plot development, and even the delicate art of negotiating with the publisher the inclusion of profanity in books such as Boy's Life. Following his address, Mr. McCammon graciously answered questions,  signed his books, and chatted with several Blue Jay bibliophiles.    Big J Read Monday Night Photo Gallery Best-selling author Robert McCammon is giving Jesuit High School's inaugural Big J Read a huge shot in the arm. His appearance Monday evening at Jesuit was the opening of a double-header that attracted an enthusiastic audience. The second half of the double-header takes place on Tuesday (August 18) when Mr. McCammon talks about writing Boy's Life and his numerous other  novels with several hundred Blue Jays. Author Robert McCammon on the stage of Jesuits Auditorium on Monday evening. Boy's Life, the winner of the 1991 Bram Stoker Award and the 1992 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, was selected by a faculty committee as Jesuits first Big J Read project in which the entire Blue Jay Community reads a single novel over the summer for the sheer pleasure of reading. Boy's Life is a coming-of-age novel, a whirlwind voyage into the realm where innocence and evil are on a collision course a tour de force of magic and wonder, a journey that is at once joyful, unrelentingly mysterious, and hauntingly poignant, according to the book's dust jacket.             Mr. McCammon says he is greatly honored by the selection of Boy's Life as the first Jesuit Big J Read and recalls fond memories of addressing Blue Jays back in 1994 when he was the featured speaker at the school's bi-annual Visiting Authors program. Fifteen years ago, he still remembers the perceptiveness of Blue Jays in their questions and comments about his book. In his recent letter to the Jesuit Community, Mr. McCammon admits that Boy's Life remains somewhat of a mystery even to him. "I put down the words, I arranged the sentences, I guided the plot along until I reached The End and there were no more words to be written," Mr. McCammon writes in his letter. "Yet...Boy's Life continues to amaze me, because it seems to be more than words and sentences and line of plot. For some readers, it has no End, for they read it over and over again. They draw comfort from it, and they see it as a window into the world of wonder. Sometimes I think that even though I wrote Boy's Life, I was just along for the ride, for I had no idea how the book would touch so many people in so many countries, and across so many generations." Once again, Jesuit High School welcomes Robert McCammon to New Orleans and Carrollton and Banks! Read the entire Letter from Robert McCammon 2009-08-05 — Mister Slaughter ARCs have arrived! The Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) of Robert McCammon's Mister Slaughter have arrived. The ARCs are sent out to reviewers and booksellers ahead of publication. Thanks to Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press, we'll be giving away copies of the Mister Slaughter ARCs in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on Matthew Corbett's World for details! 2009-07-28 — An Update from Robert McCammon Hi everyone, I wanted to check in and again say thank you for your comments and observations. I believe I mentioned to you guys last time about how much I value your presence, so I thought this time I would talk a little bit about the new book and some other things coming up. First off, I'm on track to finish the new book in September, and I'm really looking forward to that because it's so intense. I'm into my late night work now, staying up until five or so in the morning most days. If you don't know, the book is about a rock band on their final tour across the Southwest who decide to end their "run" together by writing a communal last song. I can't say the name of the book because it's also the name of the band, and I don't want that getting around just yet. It has a strong supernatural element, but I can't really say it's "horror," unless you consider the horrific things people can do to each other. I've been interested in music pretty much all my life, particularly in the retro keyboards and combo organs of the '60s, but this book is set in 2008 and hopefully does a good job of illuminating the day-to-day (or gig-to-gig) trials and tribulations of working bands. One thing, the language is very rough, really a lot rougher than I'm used to writing, but I think it's true to life. I'm actually writing some "songs" for this, which is also something I've never done. Well...lyrics for songs, that is. Writing in the voices of people in their mid-twenties instead of my real age has been a challenge, too. But, hey, a writer has to be something of an actor, too, so I put that down to necessary stagecraft. Another interesting thing is that I've needed to come up with a lot of fictitious names for bands, though I do reference many real ones. I can't tell you how many times I've thought I had come up with a cool band name nobody else could've conjured, and then I go to Google to check it and...WHAM!...there's a real band with that name. Anyway, a September finish for that one. Here's something I'll throw at you from the book: Stone Church. (Not the title nor the name of any band in the book.) As I understand it, there's a January pub date for Mister Slaughter from Subterranean Press. The artwork that's going to be in there is awesome. Bill Schafer of SP gave me the opportunity to suggest one more piece of art than was initially slated to be in there, and I hope I picked out a good one. (At least it sure does look good to me!) I'll have to spill the hotspur peas and tell you that Matthew does survive Mister Slaughter, though I can tell you it's a close-run item. In fact, he survives it to appear again in the following book (title can't be revealed yet) that begins in New York and goes to one of the Bermuda islands. I'm currently researching the fascinating subject of underwater diving suits, diving bells and such in the early 1700s. Did you know that somebody had already built a working submarine by 1620? It was powered by twelve oarsmen, the oars sealed up against the inrush of water by tight leather sleeves. I'll be starting this book probably in February. After that, I'm planning on doing another more modern book (well, set in the 1930s) that takes place in New Orleans. Then back to Matthew again. So, I just wanted you guys to know what's coming up. I appreciate so much the comments and well-wishes, they are very much needed sometimes around four in the morning. Thanks for checking in with the website! Best, Robert McCammon July 27, 2009 2009-07-16 — New fan artwork New fan artwork based on Robert McCammon's novels has been added to the Fan Artwork page. "Drowned Skull" by Olivier Frot The Night Boat "Drink with Me" by Candra They Thirst "Change" by Jordan Blake The Wolf's Hour A technical issue with the Guestbook has been corrected. Apologies to anyone who couldn't post over the past few weeks....