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
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"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
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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
--

Van Gogh self-portraits animation, and Lucifer's Ark

It's going to happen one day: there will be a big budget CGI film made that uses Van Gogh's paintings, no doubt with the artist himself being brought to life on screen. Then a little way down the line there'll be 3D hologram projections, where we can enter the world of Van Gogh, perhaps in the Arles of 1888, and interact with the artist and the townspeople. And, who knows, maybe even have our own portrait painted in the man's vividly explosive style. Until that does happen, however, here's a short film using a morphing computer program to animate Van Gogh's self portraits.
Van Gogh

My previous book to THE MIDNIGHT MAN is LUCIFER'S ARK, a horror-thriller set aboard a ship that carries psychopathic criminals to a foreign jail. Writers work hard to create an entertaining story, but we only know whether we've succeeded when people read the book, we get feed-back, or we see the reviews. A writer's pulse always beats that bit faster when we begin to read the review; will it be a bloody butchery job or will it praise? Recently, I got this one from BookList, and it is one to warm the cockles of an author's heart!
Author: SIMON CLARK

Title: LUCIFER’S ARK

Publication: BOOKLIST

Issue: 1ST MAY 2008


Lucifer's Ark. Clark, Simon (Author), May 2008. 256 p. Severn, hardcover, $28.95. (9780727865809).

Clark, author of several vampire-themed thrillers, shifts gears in his new novel. It’s set aboard a ship owned by a Russian mining company transporting miners’ wives to meet their offshore mates for the Christmas holidays. But unbeknownst to the passengers—in particular, Tanya Rhone, the novel’s central character—the ship is also transporting hardcore offenders who are being sent to a secret prison. Naturally mayhem ensures. Clark is extremely good at this kind of thing, plunking realistic characters into a surrealistic environment and seeing what happens. The novel is violent, but in a clever way that demonstrates the author’s respect for his readers.


The trade paperback of LUCIFER'S ARK is released this summer.

Until next time,

Simon

Severn House Publishers - How to find that elusive tome

I've been getting some e-mails from people who are finding it difficult to get hold of THE MIDNIGHT MAN. It should be available through book-sellers on the web but if it's still proving elusive you should be able to obtain copies direct from the publisher, Severn House here:
Severn House Publishers

Until next time,

Simon Clark

THE MIDNIGHT MAN - DELETED SCENES

Murder your darlings! That’s the advice often given to new writers. Along with: ‘it’s not what you put in but what you leave out.’ When I’m writing a book I invariably find one of the scenes that I think is one of the best has to be axed. It maybe because I’ve duplicated part of the story or it deviates too much from the plot, or it’s redundant in some way. Of course, that’s a painful moment when my finger hovers over the delete button. I find myself bargaining with the part of me that knows it’s for the good of the novel to chop out that unnecessary page. Maybe I can slip the scene into another chapter? Or maybe, after all, it’s best just where it is?

But no. If you’re going to be a professional writer you have to edit your work. And if that means some scene that you cherish has to go onto the cutting-room floor, so be it. Bite the bullet. Hit delete.

The following piece had to go. I was pleased how it flowed when I wrote it. And it seemed a good idea to include a fictional letter written by Van Gogh. After all, much of what we know about the man comes from his letters, so, logically, it would add veracity to The Midnight Man to include some of the artist’s correspondence (even if the letters were ones that I’d composed after carefully studying Van Gogh’s writing style). So, this letter moves the plot forward nicely, and I worked hard to give it a ring of authenticity. However… however… on re-reading earlier chapters I saw I’d already given the relevant information to the reader. So, the missive, I realized sadly, was redundant. And there is that advice to writers: ’Murder your darlings.’ After some soul-searching I wielded the electronic scalpel. The letter was gone.

However, as an example to anyone aspiring to write fiction out there I thought I’d share this with you. In the great scheme of things deleting a page from a work in progress doesn’t register a jot in real human suffering. Even so, after more than ten years as a professional writer when I hit the delete button there’s still a little voice in the back of head that squeaks: ‘OUCH.’

Dear Gauguin, {Arles, July, 1888}

Once I have the house then you will come. Do I have your hand on that? And say no more about my dreams of the red room. I was working when the day light permitted, which meant almost eighteen hours a day in the middle of June. The strain became too much and led to disordered sleep, and the red room dream became a ghost to haunt my head. It is gone now. So I’ll say no more of it.

Did I tell you about Ty? A slight girl, doll-like, with large brown eyes and black hair that descends below her waist. She works at one of the Zouave’s brothels and sleeps at the night café because the landlord’s wife had her thrown out onto the street. I plan to paint her and call the portrait ‘Sacrifice’. Ty is educated and has such delicacy of manners but she has a brother and sister who are barely out of infancy. So she works at the brothel in order to pay for their lodgings so they won’t be taken by the orphanage. The cost of this deprives her of any surplus money for her own roof or food. Lately, I’ve begun to give her a few coins when I can spare them. You will see from the sketch at the bottom of this page my plan for Ty’s portrait. I see her painted in shades of blue before a background of sunflower yellow…

* * *
Until next time, keep murdering your darlings ;--)
Simon Clark