The Midnight Man video

Vincent Van Gogh lived in London for a while in his youth. His experiences there in that turbulent, and sometimes mysterious city, one that Van Gogh likened to a ravenous beast, became the inspiration for THE MIDNIGHT MAN, published by Severn House. It's a story of murder, madness and ghosts. Blending fact and fiction, it imagines the dramatic events that engulfed the artist in 1888.

Here is the link to THE MIDNIGHT MAN video that features the extraordinary maze of streets that Van Gogh would have known - and which would become the haunt of Jack the Ripper.

The Midnight Man video

This follows on from the post below this one. The link to the video isn't working, but if you visit YouTube and enter 'The Midnight Man wmv'in the search engine it should take you right there. Maybe the ghost is already in the machine...
By the way, the photo is of a Whitechapel street - a place Van Gogh would have known in his youth.

The Midnight Man video

To mark the imminent release of THE MIDNIGHT MAN in paperback I've made a short film that looks at the London streets that were familiar to Van Gogh in his youth. I talk a little about the writing of the book and there is a short reading. To view the film hit the link:

Writing the novel was a labour of love, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who've written to tell me how much they enjoy the book, including some who have told me this is their favourite Simon Clark novel of all. Cheers and thanks again.

It's been a busy few months. There will be an update on THE MIDNIGHT MAN before too long. In the meantime, here's copy of my mailer. Where do the months go!
What's New on "Nailed by the Heart" / 22 October 2008
=========================================================
"Nailed by the Heart"


HORROR ROCKS! MUSIC, FILM, FICTION, NOVELS & SHOOTING STARS

This time there are some unusual extra items to report, come to that
they are probably unique.

First off: Severn House has just released the paperback of LUCIFER'S
ARK. This is a hard-hitting horror-thriller about psychopaths being
secretly shipped to an overseas jail. The book was inspired by my
conversations with real-life mass-murderers in maximum security jails.

Secondly: Leisure have reprinted a number of paperbacks that haven't
been available for a while. These are my first novel NAILED BY THE
HEART, the Zombie-esque STRANGER, and DARKNESS DEMANDS, a
phenomenally popular story of supernatural suspense.

Thirdly: This is where we journey through the unusual into the
downright unique. The visionary publisher Steve Clark of Tasmaniac
has boldly created some fantastic items. He has published a novella
of mine, STONE COLD CALLING (Introduction: Kealan Patrick Burke; art:
Vince Natale). The story involves a group of treasure hunters in
search of a valuable meteorite. The downside for them -- it has been
located in a remote valley that is the site of a new dam. They must
race against the clock to find this chunk of cosmic rock before the
entire countryside is flooded. There is, however, much more to this
meteorite than meets the eye. The book is in two formats: a
paperback, and a special limited edition, which comes with a fragment
of real meteorite. The special edition has already sold out but the
paperback is still available from Tasmaniac and other outlets.

The VIP room at the Tasmaniac website is also playing host to a
unique e-package, THE CALLING & OTHER WRAITHS. Priced at just 99c
this comprises THE CALLING, a 9,000 word short story, set in the same
stretch of wilderness as STONE COLD CALLING. With that comes MAKE ME
FRIGHTFUL, an article containing some secrets for writing horror. And
finally THE HAUNTED PAGE. This is a short film I made which
illustrates some of the tips in the article. The film has a rocking
soundtrack courtesy of John B. Ford and Steve Lines -- you'll be
humming it for days.

For more about these special Tasmaniac publications and the e-package
visit: http://www.tasmaniacpublications.com

To order the STONE COLD CALLING novella in the UK drop in here:
http://www.jeffnjoys.co.uk/

With longer hours of darkness in the Northern Hemisphere it's a good
time to spot shooting stars of your own. So keep watching the skies!
And if you do see a meteorite fall, go grab it. Some are literally
worth their weight in gold!

Simon Clark
--


'Nailed by the Heart' - the official Simon Clark website
---------------------------------------------------------------

Haunting version of Starry, Starry Night...

Hey, just a quick look what I found item. For a guitar instrumental version of McClean's Starry, Starry Night cut and paste following into your browser bar. Chet Atkin's version of the song is both haunting and mellifluous


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsePsTEgiqU&feature=email
I was watching an interview with one of my favorite musicians, Bill Nelson, when he mentioned that Atkins was one of his inspirations. Once your appetite's been whetted the temptation is to go over to YouTube and find a clip.

Coming soon on the blog: another 'murder your darlings' entry where I'll reveal a scene from The Midnight Man that didn't make it to the final edit.

Until next time, take care.

ALL ABOARD THE FIREBALL EXPRESS!

This is a hugely belated entry. A looming deadline for a new novel meant I had to devote every working (and waking) moment to completing it. Now that's done I can catch up on e-mailing, gardening, car-washing, blogging - you name it.

A few weeks ago I needed to take a trip from my home here in Yorkshire to London. Usually it's a straightforward ninety minutes or so by train. Only this time the huge express train was just half an hour from London when suddenly it went from thundering through the countryside at 120 mph to stopping, juddering, brakes screaming in the middle of fields, miles from the nearest town.

Then stuff happened. I noticed passengers were looking out of the window asking things like 'Why is the train driver running along the track?' 'Why do the conductors look so worried?' 'Why has one jumped off the train with a fire extinguisher in his hands?' Then the train driver returned to his cab to announce over the PA, 'There's going to be a delay, I'm afraid, because the rear motor unit has caught fire. Staff are evacuating the end carriage.' Foul black smoke rolled up into the sky. 'We're off-duty firefighters,' said two men in the seat in front of mine. They collected more fire extinguishers from the carriage and went to battle the flames. Not that I saw any from my carriage. Black smoke, however, was still rolling spectacularly across the meadows.
Instead of pandemonium the passengers sighed stoically, pulled out their phones and: 'Jeff, inform the boss I'll be late.' And from others: 'Can you tell the people in my office the meeting will be this afternoon?'And a woeful: 'I'll be late for the wedding, Laura. No, I'm not calling the wedding off. The train's on fire. No, it's not just an excuse. I love you. I really do love you...' And so on.
It's what the British call 'the Dunkirk spirit.' Plenty of jokes, and quiet gumbling, but we'll get there in the end. After an hour there were cheers when we were told over the PA that the firefighters were almost here. Ten minutes after that there were groans when we were told the fire engines had got bogged down in soft mud. Then more cheers moments later when, from our carriage, we saw a dozen firefighters in full kit, helmets and respirators gamely jogging through meadows, climbing fences, leaping over streams to reach us and put out the flames. Once the fire was out the remaining engine doggedly got the train to London. Where I was spectacularly late for my meeting.

But later in the day I managed to drop in at the National Gallery and see the Van Gogh paintings they have there. The most famous is Sunflowers. To see an original is nothing less than awe-inspiring. It blazes from the frame like the summer sun. However, my favorite is the little-known Long Grass With Butterflies. It's a deceptively simple composition of grass, the bottoms of tree trunks, insects. It's almost like looking through a window into a field. But there's a sense you're are looking back through time; you could almost step through the frame into the summer meadow of more than a century ago. A glimpse of path looks as if it wants to lead you to a mysterious destination.

<
After that I had to rush to catch my train. As I neared the Tube station that would take me back to Kings Cross Station I first noticed lots of broken glass in the road, then the sounds of hundreds shouting. An anxious guy in spectacles called out to me, 'Whatever you do, don't go any further down that road. Football fans are rioting. It's carnage.' Fiery locomotives, raging riots. Thankfully, I knew another route. Half an hour later I was on my train homeward bound. My only problem now was deciding what kind of cake to have with my coffee. 'I'll have chocolate cake, please?' The steward flinched as if I'd uttered something dreadful. 'Ah, sir, we've had a problem with the chocolate cake. Can I let you into a little secret?'

Let me tell you, it was lovely to get home...

Take care, whether traveling or taking it easy at home.

Simon

The Midnight Man - website mailer

I've had messages asking about the background to THE MIDNIGHT MAN. I covered a lot of the background, inspiration and so on in my website mailer, so here it is again in full.
THE MIDNIGHT MAN - VAN GOGH, GHOSTS, MURDER AND MADNESS. A FUSION OF
FACT AND FICTION.

I've looked forward to this moment for the last five years. Today,
I'd like to make an announcement that means a great deal to me. The
novel I've been working on, which features that troubled, cursed and
blessed genius Vincent Van Gogh, has now been launched.

THE MIDNIGHT MAN is published by Severn House in hardback; it's
released in the UK in April and the U.S. in July. It should be
available in the rest of world by the late Spring.

When I came across Van Gogh's work and life-story as a teenager it
was one of those revelatory moments. I've been a fan ever since. His
visionary power and ability to be just so astounding in what he did
was an inspiration. Van Gogh became a kind of magic touchstone for
the way I wrote.

As well as THE MIDNIGHT MAN drawing on a crucial part of Van Gogh's
life and imagining the circumstances that led to the shattering
breakdown in late 1888, I wanted to evoke what was, I believe, one of
the most important eras in our history.

1880-90 is the decade that bore witness to the birth of the modern
world. A profound change was in the air. It wasn't a decade of global
wars or major political revolutions, this was the revolution of the
human mind. All of a sudden, people saw the world differently.
Popular newspapers of that time start being written in the style of
the modern press. They aren't stilted or old fashioned. Photography
became part and parcel of everyday lives. Baird was born in 1888, the
inventor of the first mechanical TV system. Daimler and Benz's motor
cars were appearing on the roads. Family life became a lot like ours,
working 9-5, school for the kids, then the commute to a suburban home.

In 1888, Van Gogh lived in Arles in the famously yellow house. Like a
satellite dish he appeared to be picking up this emotional and
intellectual evolution in human beings. Through that alchemy, which
art possesses, he expressed this transformation in life-style and
'mind-style' into paintings of such visionary power that they enchant
millions today. But it's more than brilliant sunflowers and
incandescent portraits, we still sense there is a code within the
pictures that speaks to us. Of course, his passion to capture the new
spirit that electrified the Western World was too much for him.
That's where the biography of Van Gogh is transmuted into legend.

So, these two elements have fascinated me for years: the story of Van
Gogh in 1888, and the story of humanity's transformation during
possibly the most important decade in history. Now that, truly, is a
story that MUST be told. With Van Gogh's work to inspire me I've set
out to attempt just that. THE MIDNIGHT MAN is, for me, one of the
most personally satisfying novels I've ever written. I must add that
I wrote about the artist with love and complete and utter respect. I
trust I've done this great man, who saw the world's transformation
before anyone else did, justice.

By the way, I've launched a 'making of' blog that features background
information to the novel. It also serves as a gateway to web films
about the artist and to a virtual tour of the Yellow House in Arles.
Here's the blog link http://midnightmannovel.blogspot.com/

THE MIDNIGHT MAN - ISBN: 9780727866370

The book's description: 1888. The Yellow House, Arles: Vincent van
Gogh paints works of transcendent genius, while in London a killer
launches a reign of terror. Nidabi is attacked by her sadistic master
but is rescued just in time by saintly Pastor Hux, a man who
befriended Van Gogh many years ago. On a mission to help those most
in need Hux is relentless in his attempts to save the souls of those
he rescues. In Arles, Van Gogh is helped by prostitute Ty and they
quickly form a special relationship. Both are outsiders and she
struggles to protect the artist as his passion to create threatens to
shatter his mind. But why are these two men haunted by the spectre of
failure? How can loyalty endure in the face of evil? Soon a deadly
momentum will draw two old friends back together - into a withering
storm painted in madness, fear and death.



That's all for this time. Thanks for your patience in reading this
longer than usual message. You can tell this book has a big, BIG
place in my heart. Take care.

Simon Clark
--