Category: The Five

From Subterranean Press:

 

We’re pleased to announce The Five by Robert McCammon, a contemporary thriller with a supernatural backbeat.Read on for instructions on how to receive an inscribed copy of McCammon’s epic new novel.

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Robert McCammon, author of the popular Matthew Corbett historical thrillers (Speaks the Nightbird, Mister Slaughter), now gives us something new and completely unexpected: The Five, a contemporary novel as vivid, timely, and compelling as anything he has written to date.

The Five tells the story of an eponymous rock band struggling to survive on the margins of the music business. As they move through the American Southwest on what might be their final tour together, the band members come to the attention of a damaged Iraq war veteran, and their lives are changed forever.

The narrative that follows is a riveting account of violence, terror, and pursuit set against a credible, immensely detailed rock and roll backdrop. It is also a moving meditation on loyalty and friendship, on the nature and importance of families—those we are born into and those we create for ourselves—and on the redemptive power of the creative spirit. Written with wit, elegance, and passionate conviction, The Five lays claim to new imaginative territory, and reaffirms McCammon’s position as one of the finest, most unpredictable storytellers of our time.

Lettered: 26 Deluxe bound hardcovers, housed in a custom traycase: $250

Limited: 274 signed numbered copies, in slipcase, including several color plates not in the trade hardcover: $125

Trade: Fully cloth bound hardcover edition: $26.95

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Important News: When The Five is published, we plan to fly Robert McCammon to our warehouse here in Michigan, where he will inscribe copies for everyone who has preordered.

If you would like your copy of The Five inscribed by Mr. McCammon, please follow these instructions:

  • If paying via Visa/Mastercard, please include the name to which you would like the book inscribed (first names only, please) in the comments section of the order form.
  • If paying via PayPal, please send a separate email to [email protected] letting us know which name to include in the inscription.

We regret that we cannot take requests for specific phrases or quotations to be included in the inscriptions.

On January 15, we’ll draw five names (appropriately enough) of customers who’ve preordered The Five and send each of them an Advance Reading Copy. Very few ARCs end up in private hands, so this is your chance to read the novel months before its May release.

Some of you may recall the video we posted of Timo “The Doc” Heikkinen’s song “Boy’s Life,” which put music to Robert McCammon’s poem found at the beginning of Boy’s Life. You can see a video of a live performance of the song on the Video page.

Timo’s band, newly-christened The Doc, has released their first studio CD, The First Cut, which includes the song “Boy’s Life.” The song and/or album can be purchased in MP3 format from cdbaby. For more information about The Doc’s album or to purchase the song, visit the The Doc’s The First Cut on CDBaby.

 

  • Subterranean Press has posted the following update on their site:

    It’s rare for Publishers Weekly to review $75 limited editions, but they made an exception in the case of Robert McCammon’s WWII werewolf adventure, The Wolf’s Hour. We’re glad they did, as the review fairly jumps off the page with superlatives: “Originally published in 1989, this powerful novel fuses WWII espionage thriller and dark fantasy. Richly detailed, intricately plotted, fast-paced historical suspense is enhanced by McCammon’s unique take on the werewolf myth…. The limited edition hardcover reissue includes color illustrations from renowned artist Vincent Chong as well as a never-before-published companion novella, `The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs,’ which will raise interest in a planned collection of stories featuring Gallatin. McCammon’s fans will cherish this lovingly produced reissue of a werewolf classic that deserves to be unearthed and rediscovered.”

  • Italian website Carmilla has posted a new interview with Robert McCammon about Mary Terror, the Italian translation of MINE. You can read the Italian interview here or an English translation via Google Translate here.

Robert McCammon will be a guest at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, from October 22–24, 2010. While the conference is geared toward writers, there is a signing event that’s open to the public on Saturday, October 23, 2010, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.

This year, Mr. McCammon is scheduled to conduct two workshops and to particpate in a panel discussion.

 

  • Page One
    Speaker: Robert McCammon
    Time: Friday 1:30pmHow to (really) get started. What do you need? How far along do you need to be on an outline or plot? Time to stop wasting time and get started on your writing project…but exactly how? And how important is Page One, anyway? That’s what we’ll be covering. (Come prepared to write in class).

     

  • An Eye and an Ear For Dialogue
    Speaker: Robert McCammon
    Time: Sunday 9:30amDialogue can make or break any writing project. How do you know it’s any good? Learn to see good dialogue on the page as well as hear it in your head. Come prepared to write in class.

     

  • A Sense of History
    Moderator: Jeffery McGraw
    Panel: Anne Perry, Jack Whyte, Robert McCammon, Diana Gabaldon
    Time: Friday 3:30pmWriting historical fiction poses unique challenges and offers unique rewards. Our panel gives some insight into the process of crafting stories set in the past that appeal to modern readers.

Hi everyone, and as always thank you for taking the time to check in, see what’s going on and make comments on my work. Your input is always appreciated.

I’d like to talk about a few subjects near and dear to me this time out. First up: work-in-progress. I’m very excited about what’s coming up in the future, namely the really beautiful edition of The Wolf’s Hour and of course The Five, which I believe (or would like to believe) is the best book I’ve ever written. So I personally am “stoked” about what’s ahead.

I guess you know by now about the new Michael Gallatin novelette, The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs. Well, I had a lot of fun writing that and I started thinking…you know, Michael’s story is far from being told.

So…while The Wolf’s Hour is fresh on my mind, I’m doing a new book of short stories about Michael Gallatin. The reason (well, one reason) I never went back to do a Wolf’s Hour sequel is that I figured I’d said everything that needed to be said. I mean, really, The Wolf’s Hour is packed with just about every World War II situation I could think of. What else could I write that wouldn’t be repeating myself?

I started thinking…maybe short stories would be the way to go. And I’m not usually into writing short stories because I prefer the longer form, but in this case I was thinking I could do some different things in different (and experimental) ways and see what happens. So right now I’m doing this book of Gallatin short stories and including probably another novelette. I hope also in this book to answer some of the questions that have been posed about…well…about a lot of Michael Gallatin’s past and future.

Okay. That said, I’m working hard also on the next Matthew book. So don’t worry, The Providence Rider is trotting along.

Now…another thing near and dear to me. The podcasts.

Oh, the humanity! Also…listen to all that silence in the room.

Guys, the podcasts are really mostly for me because I enjoy doing them. If I hadn’t become a writer (and I didn’t have much of a choice on that one), I probably would have gone into sound production and become a recording engineer. I really, really do enjoy working with music and sound. Also, for me it’s a bigtime stress reliever and I do need that.

So…I’m going to do two more Psycho 60s podcasts (the last one being our time machine trip to the Northern Soul dance club in July) and then shift the format to what I call Radio 678. I’ll be broadening the focus of the show to include songs from the 70s and 80s. I plan to do one of these a month.

Guys…I’m not taking any time away from my writing. I know you don’t necessarily want to hear music or hear me talking about music on the website, but this is all for the good, believe me. So I hope you give them a listen and I hope you enjoy them and…you know what?…you might glean from them some better understanding of me and why I write what I do.

Now, I have to address a comment that was made by an Irish gentleman on Facebook. The comment being that I am arrogant because I don’t want the first four (actually, I believe it’s the first three) books I wrote to be re-published. The idea is that I’m arrogant because I say they’re not good enough to be published again and I supposedly should let the readers decide that.

Well, the books are available. They’re on eBay and other places, I’m sure. They’re in used book stores, yes they are. I’m not trying to destroy all the old copies of those books. They’re out there. I just think my writing has progressed over time and I don’t think those books need to be published in large quantities with my name on them saying I’m the writer of the Matthew Corbett series or The Five or some future novel. Those books are starter novels. They got me going, but I’d like to think I’ve come a long way since. In essence, they’ve done their job.

Am I arrogant for this? For deciding that readers should not buy those early books expecting the quality of the new work? I’m trying to save people some money! Is that arrogant?

Gee, I kinda got my feelings hurt over this one.

If deciding that I require excellence in my work now, and that if someone sees my name on a book they know they will hopefully get as close to an excellent experience as I can give them…yeah, I’m as arrogant as I can be.

And I guess I’m proud to be arrogant.

See, I made the decision that these books are not up to my current standards so you guys wouldn’t have to.

Sir, when I come visit Ireland you owe me a brew.

Onward.

Summer’s here! Have fun and keep reading!

Best Wishes,
Robert McCammon

Where I’m “At”

Hi everyone, and as always thank you for taking the time to check in, see what’s going on and make comments on my work. Your input is always appreciated.

I’d like to talk about a few subjects near and dear to me this time out. First up: work-in-progress. I’m very excited about what’s coming up in the future, namely the really beautiful edition of The Wolf’s Hour and of course The Five, which I believe (or would like to believe) is the best book I’ve ever written. So I personally am “stoked” about what’s ahead.

I guess you know by now about the new Michael Gallatin novelette, The Room at the Bottom of the Stairs. Well, I had a lot of fun writing that and I started thinking…you know, Michael’s story is far from being told.

So…while The Wolf’s Hour is fresh on my mind, I’m doing a new book of short stories about Michael Gallatin. The reason (well, one reason) I never went back to do a Wolf’s Hour sequel is that I figured I’d said everything that needed to be said. I mean, really, The Wolf’s Hour is packed with just about every World War II situation I could think of. What else could I write that wouldn’t be repeating myself?

I started thinking…maybe short stories would be the way to go. And I’m not usually into writing short stories because I prefer the longer form, but in this case I was thinking I could do some different things in different (and experimental) ways and see what happens. So right now I’m doing this book of Gallatin short stories and including probably another novelette. I hope also in this book to answer some of the questions that have been posed about…well…about a lot of Michael Gallatin’s past and future.

Okay. That said, I’m working hard also on the next Matthew book. So don’t worry, The Providence Rider is trotting along.

Now…another thing near and dear to me. The podcasts.

Oh, the humanity! Also…listen to all that silence in the room.

Guys, the podcasts are really mostly for me because I enjoy doing them. If I hadn’t become a writer (and I didn’t have much of a choice on that one), I probably would have gone into sound production and become a recording engineer. I really, really do enjoy working with music and sound. Also, for me it’s a bigtime stress reliever and I do need that.

So…I’m going to do two more Psycho 60s podcasts (the last one being our time machine trip to the Northern Soul dance club in July) and then shift the format to what I call Radio 678. I’ll be broadening the focus of the show to include songs from the 70s and 80s. I plan to do one of these a month.

Guys…I’m not taking any time away from my writing. I know you don’t necessarily want to hear music or hear me talking about music on the website, but this is all for the good, believe me. So I hope you give them a listen and I hope you enjoy them and…you know what?…you might glean from them some better understanding of me and why I write what I do.

Now, I have to address a comment that was made by an Irish gentleman on Facebook. The comment being that I am arrogant because I don’t want the first four (actually, I believe it’s the first three) books I wrote to be re-published. The idea is that I’m arrogant because I say they’re not good enough to be published again and I supposedly should let the readers decide that.

Well, the books are available. They’re on eBay and other places, I’m sure. They’re in used book stores, yes they are. I’m not trying to destroy all the old copies of those books. They’re out there. I just think my writing has progressed over time and I don’t think those books need to be published in large quantities with my name on them saying I’m the writer of the Matthew Corbett series or The Five or some future novel. Those books are starter novels. They got me going, but I’d like to think I’ve come a long way since. In essence, they’ve done their job.

Am I arrogant for this? For deciding that readers should not buy those early books expecting the quality of the new work? I’m trying to save people some money! Is that arrogant?

Gee, I kinda got my feelings hurt over this one.

If deciding that I require excellence in my work now, and that if someone sees my name on a book they know they will hopefully get as close to an excellent experience as I can give them…yeah, I’m as arrogant as I can be.

And I guess I’m proud to be arrogant.

See, I made the decision that these books are not up to my current standards so you guys wouldn’t have to.

Sir, when I come visit Ireland you owe me a brew.

Onward.

Summer’s here! Have fun and keep reading!

Best Wishes,
Robert McCammon