Things on the Robert McCammon front have been really busy of late, so we thought we’d offer a quick guide to what’s going on.

Baal

  • Limited Edition: All copies shipped and en route to customers or already in their hands.
  • Deluxe Limited: Waiting on slipcases. Projected to ship in Jan/Feb.
  • Lettered Edition: Waiting on traycases. Projected to ship in Jan/Feb.
  • Ebook: Now available for Kindle and Nook.

The Hunter from the Woods

  • Limited Edition: All copies shipped an en route to customers or already in their hands.
  • Lettered Edition: Waiting on traycases. Projected to ship in Feb/Mar.
  • Ebook: Now available for Kindle and Nook.

The Providence Rider

We’ve just approved the rough sketches for the five black-and-white interior illustrations that will appear in all editions of the book. In addition, we’ve given Vincent Chong the okay for the two color plates exclusive to the limited and lettered editions, and the full-color endsheets (about which, see more below). The bonus novella—the first time Matthew encounters the supernatural—has been dropped into the limited edition and is being proofed. The Providence Rider is likely to be our most attractive McCammon production yet, and one hell of a thrill ride of a novel. We expect it to land on many fans’ lists of favorites of 2012, so don’t miss out.

We’ve decided to add the full-color endsheets to the signed trade copies (but not the unsigned trade edition), to make them an even better value to collectors. There are only 1000 of these, unlike the nearly 2000 copies that Robert McCammon signed for The Five, so please get your order in soon.

Two McCammon limiteds that aren’t on our immediate schedule, Bethany’s Sin and Stinger, have already been fully designed, and are working their way through the production process. 2012 is really going to be the year of McCammon here at SubPress.

Feel free to head over to our site to order all but the ebooks, where Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are accepted.

From Subterranean Press:

 

This is our big one for 2012. Robert McCammon’s latest Matthew Corbett historical thriller, The Providence Rider.

For the first time in the Corbett novels, the signed, limited hardcover will feature a long additional story about Matthew, one that cannot be reprinted for two years following its debut in our edition. We’ll also have signed copies of the trade hardcover available, though not nearly so many as we did for his last novel, The Five.

Here are the full details:

The Providence Rider is the fourth standalone installment in the extraordinary series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver. The narrative begins in the winter of 1703, with Matthew still haunted by his lethal encounter with notorious mass murderer Tyranthus Slaughter. When an unexplained series of explosions rocks his Manhattan neighborhood, Matthew finds himself forced to confront a new and unexpected problem. Someone is trying-and trying very hard-to get his attention. That someone is a shadowy figure from out of Matthew’s past: the elusive Professor Fell. The professor, it turns out, has a problem of his own, one that requires the exclusive services of Matthew Corbett.

The ensuing narrative moves swiftly and gracefully from the emerging metropolis of New York City to Pendulum Island in the remote Bermudas. In the course of his journey, Matthew encounters a truly Dickensian assortment of memorable, often grotesque, antagonists. These include Sirki, the giant, deceptively soft-spoken East Indian killer, Dr. Jonathan Gentry, an expert in exotic potions with a substance abuse problem of his own, the beautiful but murderous Aria Chillany, and, of course, the master manipulator and “Emperor of Crime” on two continents, Professor Fell himself. The result is both an exquisitely constructed novel of suspense and a meticulous recreation of a bygone era.

This signed, limited edition of this generous volume also contains a new, utterly compelling Matthew Corbett adventure, “Death Comes for the Rich Man.” This 11,500-word novella, which has never before been published and will not be reprinted anywhere else for at least two years, takes place between the events of Mister Slaughter and The Providence Rider. In the course of this startling tale, Matthew is approached by a wealthy, dying man with an urgent, if impossible, request: to keep Death itself at bay. Filled with danger, mystery, and an almost tangible sense of place, these superbly crafted narratives represent Robert McCammon at his best and historical fiction at its finest and most developed.

Important note: We had a great time hosting Rick McCammon here at the SubPress warehouse, where he signed the better part of 2000 copies of The Five. For The Providence Rider, we wanted to make signed copies available to his fans once again, but make it a bit easier on Rick, both travel- and wrist-wise. There will only be 1000 signed (uninscribed) trade copies of The Providence Rider available. Please get your order in early if you’d like to snag one.

Lettered: 26 signed, deluxe bound copies, housed in a custom traycase
Limited: 474 signed numbered copies, bound in leather, with the bonus novella, artwork not in the trade hardcover, and bound in a custom slipcase
Trade (unsigned): Fully cloth bound hardcover copies
Trade (signed): Fully cloth bound hardcover copies, signed by the author

Robert McCammon’s newest book, The Hunter from the Woods, is now available in ebook format for Kindle and NOOK. The book is a collection of short stories featuring Michael Gallatin, the main character from The Wolf’s Hour. It was also published by Subterranean Press this week as a signed limited edition hardcover.

Buy The Hunter from the Woods for Kindle

Buy The Hunter from the Woods for NOOK

Hunter From the Woods by Robert McCammon.jpgFrom Subterranean Press:

More Robert McCammon is on the way. We’ve shipped about a quarter of the copies of The Hunter from the Woods to those who ordered direct, with more being bagged and boxed every hour. Hunter contains three novellas and three short stories centering on Michael Gallatin, the werewolf hero of McCammon’s classic novel, The Wolf’s Hour. We currently have fewer than 30 copies left available for sale.

We’re turning away tons of orders from our wholesale and large online retailers, so your best bet is to order direct.

Posted on Friday, December 9th, 2011 at 10:59 am.

  • Japanese illustrator Kazuki Tamada sent in his latest illustration inspired by a Robert McCammon novel. The image to the left was inspired by Mystery Walk.  Click on the image or click here to view a larger version of the images and Kazuki’s other illustrations.

 

  • Several new covers have been added to the Book Cover Gallery: the Advance Uncorrected Proof of The Providence Rider, a new Russian edition of Stinger, and a new Russian edition of Best New Horror, which reprints Robert McCammon’s short story “Pin.”  Click on the images below to view larger versions of each.

 




Baal by Robert McCammon Limited Edition Cover.jpg

Posted on Subterranean’s website:

The Signed, Limited Edition of Robert McCammon’s Baal is in stock and shipping. Long the Holy Grail because of its elusiveness and high price, first editions of this classic McCammon hardcover have sold for $600+ on the collector’s market through the years. We’re pleased to bring it out of the darkness, at a fraction of that price.

Our edition features a full-color dust jacket and interior illustrations by Tomislav Tikulin, is smythe sewn, with a full cloth binding. It’s also limited to only 1000 numbered copies, each signed by the author. Please get your order in soon. We already have more orders from our wholesale and large online retail accounts than we’ll be able to fill, but are taking care of our direct customers first.

We’re already at work on Bethany’s Sin, the next in our series of McCammon’s classic titles, and will be able to match numbers with Baal for those who request it.

Limited: 1000 signed numbered hardcover copies: $75

Buy Now

Recorded Books has produced an unabridged audio recording of Robert McCammon’s latest novel, The Five.  The book is read by Nick Landrum.

The audiobook is available now as an MP3 download from Audible.  It’s also available in CD format from Recorded Books. (Just a note: the CD version is not cheap, as it consists of 17 CDs.)

Click the Play button below to listen to an excerpt from The Five.

[audio:https://www.robertmccammon.com/audio/the-five-audiobook-sample.mp3]

Robert McCammon @ Audible

Hi, everyone! Summer has passed, the chill has begun here in the South, the leaves are falling…must be autumn, and maybe time to talk a little bit about where I am and my future projects before the onslaught of winter.

I got back not long ago from the Surrey International Writer’s Conference, held in Surrey, British Columbia, toward the end of October every year. This was my third visit. One of the great pleasures this conference gives me is ‘teaching’ or really rather ‘guiding’ a couple of seminars. The ones I did this year were on the importance and power of names and how to write accents in dialogue. Very much fun. Got to see a lot of old friends and make some new ones. The conference is really worthwhile, because beginning writers get to sit across a table from more established writers at what are called “Blue Pencil” sessions, to show three or four pages of a manuscript and get immediate feedback on their work. So…a little scary for both people involved in that exchange, but again…very rewarding.

I would suggest that if you’re at all interested in learning more about the art and craft of writing, you seriously consider attending the Surrey International Writer’s Conference in October of 2012. I can guarantee you will enjoy it AND take something valuable away with you. Plus Surrey is not very far from Vancouver, which in itself is worth a few extra days. A most beautiful area in a great country.

The website you should take a look at, if you’re interested in this, is http://www.siwc.ca/.

On to other things…

Yes, autumn has arrived and that means intense worktime for me. Before I talk about what I’m working on next, let me say that The Hunter from the Woods is nearing publication and also the fourth Matthew Corbett adventure, The Providence Rider, will be released in (I think) March. I’ll tell you that in this one we leave New York for a while to visit a mysterious island in the Bermudas, and that Matthew comes face-to-face (?) with Professor Fell.

A note also on the title. I have a book that lists all the inhabitants of New York during the timeframe I’m writing about. Some of the names of the townspeople I use are real. So I’m looking through the names and one jumps out at me…Providence Ryder. Is that a great name, or what???

Anyway, that name started my thought process. And the book came out of that, of course. So that kinda goes back to my seminar on the importance and power of names at the Surrey conference, huh?

Speaking of names…let’s touch on Michael Gallatin for a minute. I am so proud and excited about the imminent publication of The Hunter from the Woods. It goes back and forth in time from the Wolf’s Hour period to document several episodes in Michael’s life. It hopefully adds to the character and also answers a few questions that some have posed to me over the years. Does it raise more questions? Of course! I wouldn’t be worth much as a writer if I didn’t leave the “soulcage” open for more of Michael’s adventures. So I have…and we’ll see what the future holds there.

Ah, yes. The future.

I am entering a period where I’ll be writing about the future, as opposed to the era of World War II and of course Matthew’s colonial era. Next up for me is a novella I’m doing for Sub Press, entitled Lawson. It’s set about seventy-something years in the future (though I never say the exact year) and involves a mercenary assassin in a megacity in a world run by corporations. The corporations are always at some level of warfare with each other, thus the need for men like Lawson who will go anywhere and kill any man, woman or child for a few extra “credits”. Lawson’s only friend and companion is his sex-doll robot, and he really doesn’t have much reason to live. Until…he meets the target of his next mission…

Lot more to Lawson, and to Lawson, than I’m telling, naturally. This will have a lot of action in it and I think will emphasize a new, more spare writing style I’m trying to develop. Do not fear…this “new” style will not affect the Matthew books…

Okay…onward to my next “big” project.

Many reviewers of The Five have mentioned that the supernatural element is very low-key and muted. That was done on purpose, to make the human element stronger. I recall I was telling someone I could always have gone the route of having a scene where a guitar comes to evil life and wraps around the player’s throat like a python. I was kidding, but this person’s eyes got huge with delight.

No, no, and no! The Five was not meant to be a special-effects showcase. It was a solid story, and I wanted to keep the book grounded in reality while having a supernatural undertone. But the next big project will be a Hell-On-Wheels extravaganza (I hope!!!).

Next up is a science-fiction/horror novel with a huge scope and I am planning to go over the top with this one. Tastefully, of course! But yes, it’ll have some scenes that I hope will both terrify and haunt and creep-out and resonate and all that good stuff. I may have mentioned the title before. I won’t mention it again, though…just let it sit, and trust that this will be worth the wait. Actually, I’m hoping to finish it up around April/May.

Other things…for all five or six of you who seem to enjoy them, I’m going back to doing Radio 678 shows. Why, you ask? Why should I be doing radio shows when I should be writing? Because I like doing them and I get to use some of my special-effects music equipment. So there you go…Radio 678 is fun for me, so that’s the bottom line.

I will offer you this: the next Matthew Corbett book after Providence Rider will be titled The River of Souls and is set in the Carolina colony. I think it will be two books in one, in a way, with the ideas coming together to form a single story…sort of like streams merging to form a river, yes? So I’ll be working on that when I finish the sci-fi/horror tome.

I get a lot of this: that people think I am a slow writer. Guys! It’s always been the publisher who’s been slow. I’ve always had things sitting on the shelf waiting for publication, or things in the pipeline. I think it’s because I do so many “different” things…I don’t know. But I can tell you that I am working full-speed ahead now, so when I hear somebody say I’m a slow writer…well…let’s just say I try to be “exact” in what I want to say, but usually the projects are stacked up and ready to go.

Okay…this autumn’s tale is nearly concluded. This is where I am and where I’m going. As always, I am pleased and honored to have you along for the ride. I have years of good stuff ahead…can hardly wait to get at some of the ideas, but everything has to “cook” at its own time and temperature.

And speaking of temperature…it’s cold outside. Light the fire and pull up the blanket, get something tasty to drink and lose yourself in an engrossing and involving book…there’s nothing better!

Cheers!

Robert McCammon

 

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, Audible will release an unabridged audio version of Robert McCammon’s Swan Song on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. Thanks to Audible, you can now listen to a 7-minute excerpt. The narrator is Tom Stechschulte. The link mentioned at the end of the trailer won’t actually be active until November 15.

Click the Play button below to listen to the excerpt.

[audio:https://www.robertmccammon.com/audio/audible-swan-song-excerpt.mp3]

Robert McCammon @ Audible.com