Newsy Stuff

Thriller writer Gayle Lynds believes that one should not make fun of villains. During the Craftfest portion of Thrillerfest 2010, novelist Gayle Lynds outlined "Nine Secrets to Writing Bestselling Thrillers." The article from Galleycat can be found here.

An excellent article in the Irish Times by Declan Burke where he talks about how the world became one big crime scene.

The Wall Street Journal also has an article on crime fiction's global wave.

According to the Daily Telegraph, crime writer Ruth Rendell believes that TV violence is corrupting young people. The Daily Telegraph article can be found here

Book2Book reveal that, Hodder have signed up a former commander of special branch Roger Pearce to write two thrillers. The first book is entitled Sentinel. The article can be found here

According to Variety English "thespians" Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman and Michael Fassbender have joined the cast of the film version Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Quercus have bought the new Stef Penny novel. The novel, The Invisible Ones is her second novel after her runaway best seller and 2006 Costa Award Winning Novel The Tenderness of Wolves which was also published by Quercus. The novel also won the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The article from the Bookseller can be found here.

Former Dr Who star Christopher Ecclestone is due to play a drug lord in a forthcoming BBC Thriller The Shadow Line. The six-part "noir thriller" looks at the impact of an underworld figure on a wide range of characters. More information can be found here.

Newsy Stuff

According to Galleycat – Karin Slaughter has agreed a deal to option her Martin Misunderstood novella into a film. Martin Misunderstood was only released as an audio book in the US. More information can be found here.

According Variety.com the television channel Bravo have bought the exclusive UK rights to the remake of the iconic seventies television series Hawaii Five-O. The article from Variety.com can be found here. This will be sad news for those who do not subscribe to cable or Sky.

Fans of the Harry Potter films will be pleased to note that the official trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been released. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been split into two films and will be darker than its predecessors. Part one will be released in November 2010 with part two in July 2011.

Tommy Lee Jones has joined the cast of Captain America: The First Avenger" as U.S. Army Colonel Chester Phillips. More information can be found here.

With Peter Temple recently winning the Miles Franklin Award, former Chair of the Booker Prize John Sutherland talks to Guardian journalist Alison Flood about whether or not a crime novel could ever win the Booker Prize. The Guardian Article can be found here. Sutherland doesn’t think so and rather sadly neither do I. But I would also like to think why not and hope that it might happen someday, sooner rather than later!

According to an article in The Australian, crime does indeed pay and a number of authors are making a mint as a result of it. The complete article can be found here. According to Australian Nielsen Book Scan it is not uncommon for there to be at least 5 thrillers in the top ten fiction list. At the time the article was written these included Lee Child, James Patterson, Harlan Coben and of course, still dominating, Swedish author Stieg’s Larsson’s three Millennium thrillers.

According to the Guardian English actor Gary Oldman is tipped to play John Le Carré's cold war hero George Smiley in Tomas Alfredson remake of the cold war thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It will be a big screen version of the classic 1979 BBC series which starred Alec Guinness.

According to the New York Times, the Stieg Larsson effect is infectious and publishers are on the look out for more Nordic noir authors to publish. The full article can be found here and here.

China Miéville has added another accolade to his ever growing list. His novel The City & The City won the 2010 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. The full list of winners can be found here.