We have a few updates on Robert McCammon'sMister
Slaughter to share, in no particular order:
1. We have ordered the slipcases for the limited edition,
but are still a good 4-6 weeks away from being able to ship that version. We'll
post more info (and send it out in our newsletter) as soon as we have it.
2. The first edition copies, only available direct from
SubPress at this point, continue to dwindle.
3. Some online retailers have gone through their inventory
on the book and are waiting for more copies. Second printings are en route to
those who've ordered, so shipping status at Amazon, etc. should be back to
“Ships in 24 hours” very shortly.
4. Over at Matthew Corbett's World, the
site that Hunter Goatley runs for the series, he's recently posted a list of
characters from the Corbett novels—with descriptions to follow—along with a
copy of the actual
map that McCammon works from when writing the novels.
Finally, here's another fine review of the book, this time from
Sense of
Wonder: “Combining the best elements of detective, historical, horror and
conspiracy fiction, this is a book and a series that deserves a wide
readership.”
Posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 11:38 am.
2010-02-02 — Robert McCammon to participate in Read Alabama! program
Robert McCammon will be participating in this year's Read Alabama!
program at Bevill State Community College in Jasper, AL, along with other
Alabama authors.
On Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 4 PM, Robert McCammon will give a brief
talk and will sign copies of Mister Slaughter and his
previous novels. The event will take place at Bevill Auditorium on the
campus of Bevill State Community College. Admission is free to the
presentation and to the preceding reception at 3:30 PM.
Russian publisher ACT is releasing their third hardcover edition of
Speaks the Nightbird, this one featuring matching art for their release of The Queen of Bedlam.
Two days. That's how long the second printing of Robert
McCammon's historical thriller, Mister
Slaughter, lasted, so we've ordered a third printing to keep our wholesale
and large online retail accounts supplied.
We have held back a limited number of first edition copies for direct sale.
However, that quantity is dwindling. If you're interested in a first edition,
please order direct from us, and we'll see that a well packaged copy is send out
your way. And while we're at it, thanks to everyone involved for making this
project such a success for us here at SubPress. We really appreciate the
support.
Michael Nehs of Frontsight Productions contacted me yesterday to report that
the Blue World movie is alive again. He wrote:
2009 was a difficult year in the film industry but we are back on track with
Blue World. The film is on its way to major packaging agents and
financiers as we speak and is officially scheduled for production fall of 2010.
We are very excited to produce this wonderful story this year. Thanks to you,
Robert and the fans for the patience on this project.
Here is the updated casting information. Mr. Nehs also stated,
"Father Lancaster has been difficult. Would love to hear ideas of
Blue World fans for this lead role." If you have suggestions, you
can mail to me at webmaster@robertmccammon.com and
I'll forward them to Mr. Nehs.
Original Music by Grammy-Nominated musician Carlos Villalobos
Music Supervisor/Composer — Pinar Toprak
Production Manager — Carrie Holt DeLama
Producer — Michael Nehs
Director — Charley Rivkin
If you missed out on Subterranean Press's signed copies of Mister
Slaughter that were briefly available last week, The Alabama Booksmith
still has signed first printings of Mister Slaughter available, as
well as signed copies of the hardcover
edition of Speaks the Nightbird and the trade paperback editions of
Swan Song, Boy's Life, Gone South, Speaks the
Nightbird, and The Queen of Bedlam. You can find them at AlabamaBooksmith.com.
2010-01-28 — Subterranean Press update: signed books, The Earwig, Limited Edition news
Subterranean Press posted this update on their website this morning:
We recently hosted Robert McCammon at a local convention
(see his website for photos). While
he was here, Rick was gracious enough to sign a number of trade hardcovers for
us. These are all first edition copies, and only available directly from
SubPress. Mister
Slaughter is already in its second printing, which copies we're using to
fill a huge backlog of wholesale and large online retailer orders.
Quantities of the signed hardcover are quite limited, so please don't delay
if you're interested in picking up a copy.
As a little added bonus for McCammon fans, you can read the front page of The
Earwig, the newspaper mentioned in the novel. Our thanks to crack
researcher Gwenda Bond for unearthing this little tidbit for readers.
Finally, we approved the slipcase prototype for the limited edition earlier
this week, which means we should be shipping finished copies to customers in
eight weeks or so.
2010-01-25 — Photos from Robert McCammon's book signings
Photos from Robert McCammon's book signings last week are now available for
your viewing pleasure! Thanks to Dave King and Laura Thorpe for sending in
their photos, and thanks to everyone who said hello at the Ann Arbor signing.
Thanks to Subterranean Press for inviting us to ConFusion! We had a great
time.
For those of you who can't make it to a signing but would like a signed copy of
Mister Slaughter, you can order one by mail from the Alabama Booksmith.
They also have hardback copies of Speaks the Nightbird and the trade
paperback editions of Boy's Life, Gone South, Speaks the
Nightbird, The Queen of Bedlam, and Swan Song. All signed
books will ship on Thursday, January 21. To order any of those, just use the
Alabama
Booksmith page for Mister Slaughter and add the other titles under
"Special Requests."
If you attend the signings, we'd love to have photos for the site!
A few months ago, we posted a link to YouTube video of
Timo "The Doc" Heikkinen
performing an original jazz composition featuring the opening
poem from Boy's Life. A newer recording of the song has been posted
on YouTube. This clip was filmed in the #1 live music club Tavastia in
Helsinki, Finland, in November 2009. It's a great song!
Another uncollected Robert McCammon short story is now available for your
reading pleasure, and it's a real chiller!
"On a Beautiful Summer's Day, He
Was" was originally published in the anthology
The Further Adventures of the Joker in 1990. Junior will give you the
creeps!
Robert McCammon was a guest of the Blog Talk Radio show The Funky Werepig on
Sunday, January 10, 2010. The show can be downloaded in MP3 format
here.
2010-01-08 — Robert McCammon answers your questions!
Hi everyone,
As I'm waiting for the official pub date of Mister Slaughter,
I've been going back over comments and questions that some of you guys
have posed over the last few months, and I wanted to respond.
First off, I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have loyal readers.
Telling a story and communicating with people is what it's all about,
and I have to say that looking back over all the comments I feel like a
very lucky person indeed. I've always said that I first write a book for
myself because it's a story I want to read, but knowing that other
people are enjoying the books, understanding the characters and what I'm
trying to express...it's really a great feeling, so I wanted to thank
all of you very, very much.
I really enjoy reading your comments. I'm so glad my work has given you
pleasure and, in a way, become a part of your life. What more is there
for a writer, than to reach out and be accepted? Again, I'm a very
fortunate man.
To the comments and questions:
Jean-Frederic Chaleyat asks about movie rights to The Wolf's
Hour, and what's going on there.
I can answer that the movie rights have been optioned and there's a very
good chance the movie will actually be made...but, as always, we'll have
to wait and see.
Paul Taylor asks if there's any way the "hardcore" can read
The Village.
You know, I took The Village out of its box not long ago and
re-read it. I think I probably need to tighten it up some, but it
wouldn't be such a difficult task. The problem—and I think this is
also part of why it was never picked up by a publisher—is that it
concerns a part of World War II that most Americans know nothing about.
(And probably don't care much about, either!) Namely, the partisans
fighting in Yugoslavia against the Germans. There's really more to it
than that, but it's told from the viewpoint of the Russians and...well,
it's a pretty complicated plot. Plus it's very bloody and violent.
But...I might at some point clean it up and put it out there, so The
Village is certainly not dead. It's just that right now I have so
many other things going on.
Frederic Doss asks how he would find out about acquiring the film rights
to Gone South.
Years ago, I got a telephone call in the middle of the night from a
young man who'd just won a big lottery jackpot. He'd gotten my number
from the operator by saying it was an emergency call. But, anyway, he
wanted to use some of his newfound money to option one of my books and
make a movie.
I spent about an hour talking him down to earth. I told him to enjoy his
money and not throw it away, which is exactly what he would've been
doing if he'd tried to get into the movie-making business.
The film business will gladly eat any amount of money you wish to throw
at it, burp and ask for more. Without hugely deep pockets and a studio
behind you—and even with these things—you would likely have
nothing to show for the money you've spent.
I hope someday Gone South becomes a movie. I hope others of
my books become movies...if they turn out to be any good. Because,
really, even spending multiple million dollars on movies doesn't mean
they're going to be watchable. It's just feeding the beast.
So, Frederic, thank you for asking, but please keep your money, go out
to good dinners, enjoy some bottles of wine and nice trips and have fun
with your cash. Even if you had millions to throw away, I would say
don't go down that movie road. There's a reason most movies are put
together by conglomerates and financial companies using other peoples'
money!
Wayne Rogers wants to know what happened to my hair.
Okay, here's the mathematical formula to explain it: Life as a writer +
dealing with the publishing business + fatherhood to a teenaged
daughter x the trials and tribulations of 2000 to 2009 = WYSIWYG!
Lisa Schneider asks if I might be coming to Southern Cal for a signing,
and Jodi asks if I might be coming to NYC for a signing.
Not anything planned right now, but I think we have to see how Mister
Slaughter does.
If I could work out some book signings in both places, that would be
fun.
Carmella Dillman asks if Speaks the Nightbird will be released as
an ebook.
Working to figure out if that's possible right now. Also working on
getting some other titles into ebook formats.
Kyle Bakke asks if I'm not proud of Swan Song, and why I never
talk about it.
Kyle, I'm very proud of Swan Song, but when it first came out it
was blasted by some critics who said I was trying to copy King's The
Stand, and much of the heat directed at me over that book was pretty
hot. Over time, Swan Song has stood on its own, but I guess it's
still a sore spot for me. One of the reasons I wanted to do historical
work was that for awhile some of these same critics were saying that
everything I was writing was ripping off King. I remember somebody
talking on a forum about MINE, saying that they'd heard it was an
idea King was going to do and that I must have ripped it off before he
could write it. Another person said I'd ripped the Wolf's Hour
character off from the werewolf in The Talisman.
But the deal is, the last King book I read was The Dead Zone. I
just stopped reading him, because of the very cutting criticism I was
getting. Somebody even said the monster in Stinger was like the
monster in IT, which I never read.
So if I don't talk about Swan Song, it's not that I'm not proud
of my work...it's just that it was not really recognized as my
work until enough time had passed to cool some fires.
Some news:The Five is making the rounds of publishers right now
and I'll be starting the next Matthew Corbett book, The Providence
Rider, pretty soon. I'm putting the plot together now, and tying
some things together with things that happened in Mister
Slaughter. Going to be interesting to get my head back in the flow
of 18th century language as opposed to modern.
Again, thank you very much for your comments. I'm so glad you all have
your favorite books.
This sounds like a cliche, I know, but my favorite book is always the
one I'm working on.
Thanks for sticking with me.
I wish you a great and happy beginning to 2010, and I look forward to
your continued comments and questions on the website.
Best Wishes,
Robert McCammon
2010-01-06 — Mister Slaughter update from Subterranean, new interview
Also available on the Subterranean Press site is an exclusive new interview
with Robert McCammon, along with a 171-page excerpt from Mister
Slaughter! Check their
site for all the details.
So what happens when you make a deal with the devil? Things go wrong. We all
know that. McCammon strings it out, lets us meet people and like them and all
the time Slaughter is being malleable and friendly and you're just waiting for
it to go wrong. When it does, it's sudden and shocking. Brilliantly handled by
the author... Put simply, if it doesn't contain a copy of Mister
Slaughter, your book collection will be sadly lacking.
Finally, here are a few recent blog mentions of McCammon works:
Subterranean Press kicks off the new year with this exciting shipping update:
Mister Slaughter (Robert McCammon) — The trade hardcover of this much
lauded historical thriller should be in our offices on January 6. We'll
begin shipping all orders immediately. Please note: We've already
ordered a second printing of the trade hardcover, which means first
editions may be scarce on the ground before long. Also, the limited
edition will take roughly six to eight weeks longer to produce, as we
wait for the slipcases to be produced.
If you haven't ordered a copy yet, you can do so by clicking on the image to
the right or by clicking here.
2009-12-27 — Robert McCammon interviewed by Pod of Horror
A new audio interview with Robert McCammon can be found in the latest
installment of Pod of Horror.
The interview was conducted a couple of weeks ago by Mark Justice.
You can download Pod of Horror #58 from the Pod of Horror page at Horror
World or from iTunes.
2009-12-22 — Robert McCammon book signing in Birmingham!
The first launch event for Robert McCammon's Mister
Slaughter will occur at
The Alabama Booksmith in
Birmingham, AL, on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, at 6 PM Central.
Mr. McCammon will sign copies of Mister Slaughter, which will be
available for purchase at the event. You are welcome to bring other McCammon
books to get them signed, of course.
As they've done in the past, the Alabama Booksmith will also be offering signed
(and personalized, if desired) copies of Mister Slaughter by mail.
Please see the bottom of the Signings Schedule for
details.
For a complete list of signing events, please see the Signings Schedule. We hope to add more dates and
locations soon.
First off, the Library
Journal review for Robert McCammon's Mister Slaughter is just
in, and we couldn't be happier. As they note, "Fans of dark historicals
will enjoy this thrill ride, but they should be ready for some heavy-handed
violence with a balance of historical context and intrigue." Yes,
Mister Slaughter is one bloody, suspenseful ride, but you shouldn't
expect less from the tale of a pre-Colonial era serial killer, and the heavy
moral choices he presents to his pursuer.
The second bit of good news is that we've received enough orders to put the
trade hardcover out of print on publication. We'll allow the first printing
copies to make their way into bookstores, libraries, and large online
retailers, but chances are very good that we'll be headed to a second printing
very shortly. So if it's important to you to be assured of getting a first
printing, the only way to be absolutely guaranteed of one is by ordering
direct. Whatever printing you end up with—or the limited edition for that
matter—we're sure you'll enjoy this thrill-a-minute historical excursion. Just
be sure to wear your bloody apron.
Robert McCammon will be a guest of the Blog Talk Radio show The Funky Werepig on
Sunday, January 10, 2010, at 9 PM ET. The show will air live at that time and
will be archived on the site afterward.
Mark Justice recently interviewed Robert McCammon for an upcoming episode
of Pod of Horror.
We'll let you know as soon as the show is available for download.
A number of new-to-the-site book cover images have been added to the Book Cover Gallery. These include:
As previously noted, Robert McCammon will also be attending
ConFusion 2010 in Troy, MI that
weekend (January 22–24, 2010).
As expected from this week's earlier announcement, Subterranean Press has
officially sent Mister Slaughter off to their printer.
2009-11-24 — Lengthy excerpt from Mister Slaughter on SubPress site!
Subterranean
Press has posted a
171-page excerpt from Robert McCammon's upcoming novel, Mister
Slaughter. From the Subterranean Press website:
As we're within days of sending Robert McCammon's manhunt
masterpiece, Mister
Slaughter, to the printer for its January release, we figured now was a
good time to post a huge excerpt from the novel to the SubPress site. Head over
to the book's page and read the first 171 pages of this explosive thriller, but
be warned, the excerpt ends with a cliffhanger, so you'll need to order the
novel to see how the plot threads are resolved.
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
"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."
2009-11-10 — 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.
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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
2009-07-28 — 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.
Check the links at the top of the page for all sorts of information related to the works
of Robert McCammon.
Introduction
Robert McCammon is the award-winning author of 17 novels and numerous short
stories. In the 1980s, McCammon's horror novels were among the most popular
published, including such bestsellers
as Swan Song,
They Thirst, The Wolf's Hour, and
Stinger. In the 1990s, McCammon's
work turned toward the mainstream, with such novels as the phenomenal
Boy's Life, MINE, and Gone South.
After a ten-year hiatus, Robert McCammon returned with Speaks the
Nightbird, the first novel in the Matthew Corbett series, a new historical
fiction series set in early 18th-century America.
This web site is the official Robert McCammon web site. In addition to
information and news related to the Matthew Corbett books and other new novels,
you'll also find short fiction, a bibliography, interviews, and lots more.
2009-09-01 — An Update from Robert McCammon
2009-07-28 — An Update from Robert McCammon
