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Peter's blog
Saturday, March 06, 2010 Dead Like You - The Trailer Of The Book! Dead Like You from Peter James on Vimeo. I'm thrilled to show you this very evocative trailer that my publisher Pan Macmillan have put together for the sixth Roy Grace novel, Dead Like You, which is out in June. I think it's beautifully shot and suitably dark and moody - what do you reckon? It gives a nice taste of what a future TV series might look like... posted by Peter James at 3:37 AM 6 comments
Sunday, February 28, 2010 Peter James Does Time! Well, I suppose it had to happen one day - that I would fall foul of the law.... and here are the pictures below to show the whole sorry saga....!  Arrested  Charge being read out: "Crimes against sartorial elegance and wearing loud socks"  Being processed...  Languishing behind bars  Time to reflect on my crimes... especially as my cellmate is not too chatty...  Time continues to drag... and I've only been here half an hour. Feels like a life sentence already...  Peter James Charge Sheet What these photos do not show is that I was not alone! Also in the cells were Dame Vera Lynn, Martin Richards, the Chief Constable of Sussex, The Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove, The Chief Executive of The Albion football club and the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex! What terrible misdemeanours had we all committed???? This was a fund-raising event for Sussex Crimestoppers, of which, along with Dame Vera, I'm co-patron and for the wonderfully restored Old Police Museum. (this incidentally has some real history - the old Brighton Police Station is where the only serving Chief Constable in the UK has ever been murdered!) In order to be released we had to raise a minimum of £500 from phoning friends. I'm pleased to say we were all successful, and my generous mates stumped up almost £3,000 - mind you there were several who offered to pay a lot more if I was kept inside!!!!! The event was a huge success, raising over £12,000 on the day towards a target of £20,000. Not many people realise the vital role Crimestoppers play in the fight against crime - not that it is almost totally funded by donations. Crimestoppers give the public the ability to report crime totally anonymously, without any fear that they will subsequently be dragged into court as witnesses. The classic example is a resident who believes a particular address in their street is being used by drug dealers. If they phoned the Police there is a risk that the dealers would find out who reported them and make reprisals. Crimestoppers guarantees absolute anonymity. It is a cause that is hugely worth supporting. I have to say, being processed and incarcerated is a truly horrible experience. That sudden loss of liberty, even though I knew it was only for a short time, is very scary, and it is incredibly how quickly you start to feel "institutionalised". I'm really quite pleased to be out. I'm going straight from now on, I promise....! posted by Peter James at 1:51 AM 4 comments
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Fundraising For Baby Ethan I don't normally use my blog to raise funds for causes but this one is special to me. Ethan is the son of Nicky Mitchell, who was brilliantly helpful to me during my researching of Dead Tomorrow - she worked for the debt collection agency that is the model for the one my character Lynn worked in. They allowed me wonderfully open access, and Nicky helped so much to bring that element of the book alive for me. So this link is my way of saying thank you to her - and to Ethan. And it is a fabulous cause. You can make a donation by visiting Nicky's page on JustGiving.com Nicky Mitchell writes: "I am currently fundraising for The Royal London Hospital Children's Ward after giving birth 16 weeks early. My baby, Ethan, was born on October 23rd 2009 weighing just 1lb 11oz and has had no end of problems from the start, from chronic lung disease to serious infection of the bowel. The Staff at The Royal London Hospital have been fantastic and have never given up on him, despite admitting to me recently that they did not think they would be talking to us about taking Ethan home. Ethan is now 5lb 12oz, and breathing with a little help of oxygen. We will be moving him to a local hospital this week (week beginning 22/2/10) in order to prepare to bring him home. How do you thank people who worked tirelessly to save your child's life, even before it was supposed to have started? Somehow a box a chocolates and and thank you card did not seem enough, so we are raising money for the Childrens Ward to help them provide equipment for the many other children they help every day. Please visit the Justgiving page to read his story and donate even a few pounds to help us say thank you." posted by Peter James at 3:33 AM 2 comments
Saturday, February 20, 2010 The Perfect Murder - My New Novella As you might have already seen elsewhere on this website, my novella, The Perfect Murder, is going to be published very soon. Although the book is not officially on sale until March 4th, it is not embargoed to a specific date, like the Roy Grace novels, and a number of retailers, including Amazon, are already starting to sell it. This short book, part of the Government "Quick Reads" initiative, is a darkly humorous story, set in Brighton, about a husband who is planning to murder his wife, and doesn't realise she is planning to murder him...  The Quick Reads initiative works like this: every year ten authors from different genres, fiction and non-fiction, are commissioned to write a novella, to be launched on World Book Day (March 4th) for the Literacy Trust, which encourages people who do not normally read books to have a go at one. The brief is that the stories should be typical of the writer's work, in the same genre, but must be easy to read - there are restrictions on long words and the typeface is larger than normal. One of the target groups are prisoners who, in the UK, have a startlingly low reading age of just 9, on average. "The Perfect Murder" is my contribution to the Quick Reads initiative. But, although I have avoided long words, I think that all my current readers might enjoy it. It has a great quote from the current Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards, at the start: A couple of years ago when I met him for the first time, I asked him what he thought would be the perfect murder. He gave me the wonderful reply: "The perfect murder is the one we never hear about." Ths book is "noir" with some dark humour, and whilst a murder story set in Brighton, which I think will appeal to all my Roy Grace fans, it also has some elements of supernatural, which those of you who like my earlier books may also enjoy. posted by Peter James at 6:12 PM 4 comments
Thursday, February 18, 2010 The Peter James Scholarships  Peter James Scholarships As a token of thanks to Brighton University for awarding me an Honorary Doctorate last year, my publishers, Pan Macmillan, decided it would be a nice gesture to fund two annual scholarships for English at the University. Recently, Geoff Duffield, Group Sales and Marketing Director of Pan Macmillan, and I, attended a lunch to celebrate with one of the first two scholarship winners, the very delightful and extremely bright Victoria England. Pictured from left to right are Professor Raf Salkie, Professor of Language Studies, David House, Vice-Chancellor, Geoff Duffield, Victoria England, me, and Ulla Spittler, Principal Lecture/Programme Leader in Language and Cultural Studies. Victoria told Geoff and I that she was interested in a career in children's publishing. As Geoff has only recently been given control of the Pan Macmillan children's list in addition to the adult lists, this lunch might turn out to be a good career move for her!!! posted by Peter James at 8:50 AM 5 comments
Sunday, February 14, 2010 My New Career As A Photo Journalist!  I accompanied 40 Police officers last Friday on a raid on three flats in central Brighton where the occupants were suspected of drug dealing on a large scale. It was a real adrenaline rush! It started with a 7am briefing at Hove Police Station. Then we were all shipped in vans, instructed to switch our mobile phones off and keep totally silent. It was just like a military operation, and looking at the armour many of the police were wearing, I was very glad of my stab vest! As there were no press present, the police appointed me their official photographer for the raid! On a given signal, shortly before 7.30 we charged in, up several flights of stairs, and divided into pre-arranged groups. The police knew entry was not going to be easy, as the council had recently put new doors on (solid, reinforced doors with heavy duty locks) so all groups were equipped with hydraulic rams to push the door hinges apart, in addition to the "bosher" or battering rams. It was real shock-and-awe tactics, with the police hammering on the doors, yelling "POLICE. STAND CLEAR OF THE DOOR. POLICE! STAND CLEAR OF THE DOOR!" desperate to get in before the occupants were able to flush much of the drugs inside down the toilets. Fortunately the operation was a success. Two of the suspects jumped out of windows, one breaking his ankle. And my photograph, as shown above, was used by The Argus newspaper in this story! Double result!!!  7.15 am ready to rock and roll...  7.30 - gathered outside the apartment block  In we go!  Through the side entrance...  Up the stairs and down the corridor  Forcing entry!  Aftermath!
Sunday, January 31, 2010 PJ Tops Brighton Library Loans! I was delighted to learn that I was the most borrowed author in Brighton and Hove this past year, with Not Dead Enough hitting No 1 and Dead Man's Footsteps at No 5. Let's hope they all get returned! I had an email from a reader to say she had brought one of my earlier, out of print, novels from Ebay, to discover to her horror there was a library stamp inside! But, perhaps I should take theft of my books as a good sign of passion by my readership! Those of you who follow me on Twitter might have spotted this amusing post from a bookseller two days ago: "Sold 2 copies of Host today, to the same lady!1st one got stolen when she tried shoes in House Of Fraser! Thief of taste?!" posted by Peter James at 3:14 AM 10 comments |
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