July 2004

It is quiet.. it is very VERY quiet !
THE VARIOUS HAUNTS OF MEN has reprinted, which is good news. It has had the strangest mixture of reviews I ever saw but I have so many nice letters about it from people who have enjoyed it and want to read the next. THE PURE IN HEART comes out on JUNE 4 2005.. so not long to wait then.
I have been wondering how many more crime novels I want to write about DCI SIMON SERRAILLER and I think at least three more after the first trilogy is finished. He will have to be promoted of course.. but there are so many interesting things to be explored in the genre.
I am also planning another ‘literary novel’ .. though goodness I do dislike the term.

Meanwhile, I’m reading a lot. I was stuck for a book not long ago and asked my friend Joanna Trollope, who reads as much as I do, what she’d suggest. She said, ‘Well, John Steinbeck stands up terribly well..’ I haven’t read Steinbeck for years.. probably 35 years. So I started again, on CANNERY ROW. I had forgotten what a genius he was and above all what a wonderful, magical prose writer.. he writes so simply, so elegantly, with such economy and NO TRICKS… and his style leads you, laconically almost, deep into the heart of the story from paragraph One.
EAST OF EDEN, OF MICE AND MEN…. If you have never read JOHN STEINBECK, join me, start now, let’s have a Steinbeck summer.

MY publisher’s hat is back on now, as I have just had the first finished copies of
E IS FOR EATING, AN ALPHABET OF GREED by TOM PARKER BOWLES… there will shortly be a dedicated website for the book.
It is illustrated in full colour by the genius MATTHEW RICE, he of the Calendars, little boxes, greetings cards and above all of BRIDGEWATER POTTERY, - he is married to EMMA BRIDGEWATER.
E IS FOR EATING will be everyone’s MUST-HAVE stocking filler this coming CHRISTMAS. TOM PARKER BOWLES is our leading up and coming young food writer – he has columns in THE MAIL ON SUNDAY and TATLER.
So .. watch out for the book from OCTOBER….
I’ll be busy looking after someone else’s book for a change..

Meanwhile THE WOMAN IN BLACK has completed its latest UK TOUR and has moved on to SINGAPORE and INDIA.
It also continues at THE FORTUNE THEATRE, LONDON, and is in its 16th year there.

HAVE A GOOD SUMMER. ENJOY READING JOHN STEINBECK. And if you’re a student, FORGET ABOUT YOUR RESULTS FOR AT LEAST 4 WEEKS !!

SUSAN HILL