Category: Matthew Corbett

From Subterranean Press — THE PROVIDENCE RIDER Production Update

We’re deep in production on Robert McCammon’s upcoming historical thriller, The Providence Rider, which means that praise is starting to roll in. We’re only too happy to share the good words with you.

From Joe R. Lansdale:
“Wow, McCammon is back with a vengeance, and he’s riding high with The Providence Rider. Historical, strange, creepy, and engaging as all of McCammon’s work is. I highly recommend it.”

From William Browning Spencer:
“I just finished reading The Providence Rider. It may be the best of the series so far. Beginning with Speaks the Nightbird, Robert McCammon’s only credible competition is Robert McCammon. As is the case, I suspect, with most lifetime readers, I’m somewhat jaded, less likely to be bowled over by a book. But reading The Providence Rider created a feeling akin to what I experienced reading Kidnapped or A Princess of Mars when I was a kid.”

From Famous Monsters of Filmland:
“The Providence Rider is an absolutely brilliant historical thriller that will keep you turning the pages at a feverish pace as Mr. McCammon takes you along on a grand adventure full of action, intrigue, violence, love and friendship… [The Providence Rider] contains the best of what I liked about the first three books, while adding substance and depth to Matthew, and introducing us to some new and interesting characters that I will be looking forward to getting to know better in future tales.”

From Horror Drive-In:
“In The Providence Rider, Corbett is launched quite literally into his most exotic adventure yet. Already targeted by the nefarious ‘Emperor of Crime’, Professor Fell, Corbett is taken against his wishes to an island where the Doctor reigns supreme. Though Fell has previously marked Corbett for death, he now needs the young problem solver to help him with some of his own troubles… What makes this series work so, other than McCammon’s flawless depiction of the past and the exquisite language he conjures it up with, is the basic decency of Matthew Corbett. The young detective is intelligent, tenacious, honorable, and simply a good human being. Yet no man can face the evils Corbett faces in these books and remain wholly innocent.”

On the production end of things, we’re doing quite well. The signature pages are in hand, while Vincent Chong maintained the high marks he set with the art from Mister Slaughter. (You can see full color and black-and-white examples at The Providence Rider page). Rick McCammon is taking his final proofing pass through the book. We are set to publish, right on time, in May.

Posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2012 at 12:11 pm.

The first three reviews of The Providence Rider have appeared on the ‘net.  All are spoiler-free:

The Providence Rider will be published in May 2012 by Subterranean Press.  You can pre-order several editions from Subterranean Press.

 

Artist Vincent Chong recently completed the artwork for the upcoming Subterranean Press release of Robert McCammon’s The Providence Rider, the fourth book in the Matthew Corbett series.  He posted a few examples of the artwork on his blog.  Vincent wrote:

As with Mister Slaughter, I did a number of B&W interiors, but for this one I also provided colour endpaper art (which you can see below) and two colour interiors, one to go with the new story, Death Comes for the Rich Man (another Matthew Corbett adventure), that accompanies this volume.

You can click on the images below to view larger versions of the art. The Providence Rider can be pre-ordered here.

Congratulations to Vincent, who last year received two British Fantasy Awards for ‘Best Artist’ and for ‘Best-Non Fiction’ for his art book Altered Visions. He was also nominated for the 2011 World Fantasy Award for ‘Best Artist’.

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

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

 

Several updates from the past couple of weeks:

  • Japanese illustrator Kazuki Tamada has contributed another piece of artwork inspired by The Wolf’s Hour. You can view a larger version of his art, as well as see his other illustrations, by clicking on the image or here.
  • Publishers Weekly has posted a great review of the Subterranean Press edition of Robert McCammon’s first novel, Baal. You can read it on the PW site.
  • Robert McCammon recently finished signing the tip-in sheets for The Hunter from the Woods, which Subterranean Press is about to send to the printer for its November publication.
  • Mel Odom posted a superb review of The Five on his Bookhound blog.
  • A post about the Matthew Corbett series was posted over on Wisdom of Bookmonkey.
  • Author Laraine Herring posted one reason that Boy’s Life is so effective.
  • A fantastic new review of Boy’s Life was posted on Right2Left.

Stay tuned for some exciting news about Robert McCammon ebooks!

From Subterranean Press:

We have a few great bits of Robert McCammon news to share with you today.

  • We’ve just reached agreement to publish his next Matthew Corbett novel, The Providence Rider. As the novel opens, Matthew is a problem-solver having difficulty negotiating the consequences of his encounter with Mister Slaughter. Readers are going to be thrilled at the Dickensian cast of grotesques and characters in The Providence Rider, from stout friend Hudson Greathouse, to the ever in shadows Professor Fell, to new characters such as Mother Deare, Madame Chillany, the Thacker Brothers, and the turbaned, deadly, Sirki. Perhaps best of all, the signed limited and lettered editions will feature a story from Matthew Corbett’s world available nowhere else. Sign up for our newsletter for more details, due soon.
  • After a bit of delay, the signed limited edition of The Five is in stock and shipping, with the lettered edition due soon. Thanks to everyone for their patience, while we sorted out some difficulties with the slipcases. The limited edition may be sold out, but you can still pick up a signed copy of the first trade hardcover.
  • We’re in the homestretch on The Hunter from the Woods, McCammon’s new collection of linked stories and novellas that features Michael Gallatin, the lycanthropic hero of his classic novel, The Wolf’s Hour. Be sure to check out the long novella from the collection, “The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs”, available on Hunter’s page.
  • All of the work is done on the classic novel, Baal, virtually unobtainable in hardcover at a reasonable price, until now. Our edition of Rick’s first novel is just waiting its place in our production queue.
  • If you didn’t listen to the latest installment of Psycho 60s, then you missed the announcement that Robert McCammon has completed The Hunter from the Woods, the collection of stories and novellas featuring Michael Gallatin, the main character from The Wolf’s Hour. Mr. McCammon reads a few paragraphs from the opening of that book at the end of podcast #4. 
  • Just when I think I know about all of the international editions of Robert McCammon’s novels, I find new ones. I just discovered that MINE, Stinger, and Mystery Walk were published in Bulgaria in the 1990s. Thanks to a Bulgarian reader who posted scans of the covers on a Bulgarian message board, I’ve added these books to the Book Cover Gallery. The Mystery Walk cover is most interesting, as they took the cover of the Pocket Books edition of They Thirst and replaced the vampire…. 

     

  • A friend of mine in Russia recently sent me the new Russian editions of Speaks the Nightbird and The Queen of Bedlam with their matching-theme covers. The covers have appeared in the gallery before, but larger scans showing more detail are now available. 

     

  • Here are some recent blog reviews of Robert McCammon’s work: 
    • Terri Rodabaugh posted a great blog about Boy’s Life 
    • Brian’s Book Reviews posted a review of Swan Song 

      “Swan Song is McCammon at his best and I rank it among the finest novels Ive ever read by any author.”

       

    • Rick Kleffel posted a fun blog about reading The Wolf’s Hour when it was first published 
    • Men Reading Books posted a fantastic review of Mister Slaughter 

      “I find McCammon’s work to be literary works of art. His writing style is the embodiment of an ‘achievement’ in modern literature and it is beyond my understanding why his work doesn’t get more widespread praise and readership.”

       

    • Horror Fiction Reviews also posted a great review of Mister Slaughter 

      “The author’s superb skill and craftsmanship is evident on every page, in snippets of description, in dialogue, in clever turns of phrase. McCammon does with language what every writer should aspire to do he enjoys it, he savors it, he has FUN with it—and he tells a damn good story at the same time.”