Nobody told me...

... but way back in May I was Editor's Choice in the New York Times.

Russian Policmen kiss.

I love this image. Unfortunately, as reported in today's Guardian, the Russian culture minister, Alexander Sokolov, does not. He's banned it. Well, weirdly, he's banned it from being shown in Paris, although it's already appeared in Russia, at Moscow's state-owned Tretyakov gallery, no less.

His reason for not giving the kissing policemen (and 15 other artworks by Russian art collective Blue Noses ) permission to leave the country is: "If this exhibition appears [in Paris] it will bring shame on Russia. In this case, all of us will bear full responsibility."

Ah well, Mr Sokolov, I'm afraid to say that by preventing this image from appearing in one Parisian art gallery you may have provoked its dissemination to millions of computers around the world, via the power of the internet.

I'm hoping to visit Russia next month, to coincide with the Russian publication of my Russia-set novel A Gentle Axe. I can't begin to express how thrilled and honoured, yes honoured, I am that a Russian publisher is willing to embrace my own vision of 19th century St Petersburg, influenced as it is by one of their greatest writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky. It seems to me to be an act of great magnanimity and open-mindedness on their part. It will be interesting to see how the book goes down with Russian readers and critics. I expect there will be some who take against it (Mr Sokolov, for one?) though I've had some good Russian responses to the English edition so far.

Don't forget, while we're on the subject of all things Russian, there's another double bill of Eisenstein at the Curzon Mayfair on Sunday. The highlight is Battleship Potemkin with Ed Hughes' stunning score. Ed will be fielding questions afterwards. I have one for him: "Don't you feel it's presumptuous of you to take one of the masterpieces of world cinema and put your own score on it?" And if he comes back with "A case of the pot calling the kettle black" I won't be offended!

I love it! (But then, I would, wouldn't I?)

My thanks to Edward Pettit at the Bibliothecary
for alerting me to the existence of R. Sikoryak's comic book adaptation of Dostoevsky's masterpiece Crime and Punishment. At last! Someone who has risked the wrath of the purists even more than me! And if you follow this link to a feature in Brian Hughes' Again with the Comics blog, and check out some of the comments, you'll see that a fair amount of spleen has been predictably spent.

Well, I left my own comment, in support of the venture, of course. After all it looks like it could deflect a fair amount of flak from me, as it's far more irreverent than anything I would have dared. Possibly. I mean, I only had the temerity to imagine Porfiry Petrovich investigating other cases. Sikoryak goes so far as to depict Raskolnikov as Batman? He even, I believe, transforms Sonia into Sonny, a cross-dressing Robin-style sidekick. It sounds... brilliant.

What people forget is that Fyodor had a great sense of humour. I think he would have loved it. But I would say that, wouldn't I?

Spot the difference.

I've discovered today that the cover for the UK mass market paperback is now up on Amazon. My name got bigger I notice! Though actually I think it's just that the book got smaller.


Interesting anyhow to compare it to the original large format trade paperback.



And the American paperback.



If anyone can explain these subtle differences to me, I'd be very grateful.

Still no sign yet of a cover for this one.

Russian films at Curzon Cinemas.

Being a bit of a Russo-phile, I was very interested to discover that the Curzon chain of cinemas are screening a festival of Russian films. It so happens that my friend Ed Hughes has composed, and recorded, full scores for two of the films in the season - Strike and Battleship Potemkin both by Eisenstein.

The films, with Ed's fabulous music, are available in a boxed set of dvds from Tartan Video. But, naturally, the chance to see the films on the big screen is not to be missed. Strike will be shown on Sunday October 7 in a programme with another Eisenstein film, October, at the Curzon Mayfair from 12 to 4 pm. Battleship Potemkin will be screened the following Sunday, October 14, double-billed with Alexander Nevsky. Ed will take part in a Q&A after the screening.

I will be there!

What book are you?

Find out by doing the Book Quiz.

Here's what it came up with for me:

You're Mother Night!

by Kurt Vonnegut

Nobody knows what to believe about you, and you know least of all. You
spent most of your time convinced that the ends justify the means, but your means were,
well, downright mean! And the end is nigh. Meanwhile all you want is to travel back in
time, if not to change, then to just delight in the way it used to be. You are who you
pretend to be. Oh yes, you're the great pretender.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

P-day for David-I

Last week I wasn't concentrating very hard so I missed the official publication date of Shock and Awe by David Isaak. But that's okay. As David himself suggests, official publication days are fairly nominal things.

David is a special guy for many reasons, but in publishing terms he's special for being the first US-resident American author published by Macmillan New Writing (nice banner there, by the way, David). The twice published Michael Fuchs may be a yank, but lives here in London. I know because I've seen him wandering the streets.

David is a generous supporter of other authors, as well as being an extremely well-read, charming and civilised chap. He's given a lot of thought to the art and craft of writing, and regularly shares his thoughts on his blog, which I wholeheartedly recommend. I first made his acquaintance online, as so often is the way these days, at a website called Absolutewrite. I was coming under attack for signing with MNW, which was seen by most of the absolutewriters as the devil's own imprint. Single-handedly, David came to my defence. Of course, he had a ms in submission there himself, so that may have had something to do with it. But his open-mindedness, patience and good-humour were obvious.

When David was over in the UK earlier this year, he took time out to venture to the wilds of north London to come to a bookshop event I was doing. We fell into a pub afterwards and had a good old chat. It was great to meet him in person at last.

I wish him the best of luck with Shock and Awe. I'm looking forward to picking up my own copy next week, and getting stuck into it as soon as I have got the proofs for my next 'un out of the way. (Yes, that's what I should be doing instead of being here blogging.)

I heart Lorraine Kelly

Some time ago I learnt that perky GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly studied Russian at university, and in fact listed Crime and Punishment as one of her favourite books. So I sent her, via her agent, a copy of my book, A Gentle Axe, which features Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate from Dostoevsky's masterpiece.

I thought nothing of it. But during my extended break from blogging, a letter arrived, with the London Television Centre frank mark on it. Of course, I got wildly excited, imagining insanely, that some producer wanted to buy the TV rights. I'd completely forgotten about sending the book to Ms Kelly.

Instead, and perhaps even better, the envelope contained the following letter:



Just in case you can't read that shot, it says that Lorraine really enjoyed my book and thinks Fyodor would have approved. You'll notice she also signed off with a kiss.

My wife thinks I've gone all starstruck. Well, maybe. But I still think it was a nice thing of her to do. I mean she even wrote the envelope herself.

And I just can't help wondering if Lorraine is mates with Richard and Judy.

Bookslut! Bookslut! Bookslut!

Steady on. It's just a literary website, a rather good one, mind. And there's an interview with me in it.

My thanks to Kelly Spitzer for some brilliant questions. Mind you, if you've ever checked out her regular Writer Profiles, you'll know that Kelly has cornered the market in author interviews.

Bookslut, though. What a great name.

Podcast interview thingy on the Writing Show.

Many thanks to Paula B for inviting me on the show.

Skyped by Debby Reynolds!

A few days ago I received a skype message from someone called Debby Reynolds, requesting my details so we could talk. I couldn't honestly think of anyone I knew called Debby Reynolds, so I ignored it. But the message kept coming back. I told Rachel about it. I believe it's best to be open about these things if, as a man, you find yourself being contacted by strange women. Then if it ever gets to the bunny-boiling stage, you can say, "But you remember, I told you all about it."

Anyhow, as Rachel's been paying a bit more attention to the TV news than me, she pointed out that someone called Debby Reynolds, with that same spelling, is the government's chief veterinary officer - and is the person at the centre of the current foot and mouth storm.

Could it be the same person?

Well, I took my mystery to a writers' group discussion board and someone (thanks caro55) pointed out that there is a top New Zealand expert on foot and mouth, a certain Professor Roger Morris, who is the government's adviser on the disease!

This has absolutely nothing to do with books, except that it occurs to me that Debby Reynolds might think The Gentle Axe is a book about a more humane method of slaughtering?

This is all true, but of course the reason I mention it in my blog is... well, those of you who know my devious promotional methods can probably work it out.

Gentle Reader's guide

Those good folk at Penguin US have now posted a set of reader's notes together with an interview on the Penguin website. You'll find it here.

Novidades!!!!!

The Portuguese (Brazilian) edition of Gentle Axe is now out, published by Planeta. No nifty little animated adverts, but a Brazilian friend has read the first chapter and tells me it's "very good".

In other novidades, it seems that there's now a paperback edition of Taking Comfort available on amazon.co.uk. All they're asking is £6.24. Bargain!

Polish ad for my book

You saw it here first. Probably. Unless you've already seen it somewhere else.

And there's another one here.

Thanks to Wydawnictwo Literackie, my Polish publishers, for making the effort.

Oh, it's raining with biblical force. There will be more floodings. We live in a valley. Shit.

My name is Roger and I'm addicted to...

... googling myself. To be fair, it's not so much myself as my book titles that I go a-googling.

Why do I do it? Because I'm a vain, self-obsessed ego-monster desperate not to miss out on his fifteen minutes of cyber-fame, of course. I can justify it to myself - just about - on the grounds that I'm doing it for professional reasons. You know, checking up on the internet buzz. It's a gauge of something, surely, if A GENTLE AXE has been acquired by the Penang Club Library. Not sure quite what, though.

Also, I'm interested to know which reviews present themselves in what order at any given time to anyone who goes looking for me. I like it when the good ones come first. Perhaps I can even manipulate this by clicking on the good ones obsessively, and totally ignoring the - uh, how can I put it? - less enthusiastic ones, hoping thereby to consign them to the very outer circles of cyber-hell.

I get forwarded review links and quotes from my publicity people (sounds a bit grand that, doesn't it?) and I'm more than happy to share them with all you good folk. But I have to accept that Maggie (Penguin) and Anna (Faber) are simply not as obsessed with me (or my book) as I am. And frankly, they never will be. If I don't google me, no one will.

So I go hunting just to see if someone somewhere has mentioned my book. Of course, sometimes, I find stuff that I wish I hadn't. Like the South African journalist who accused me of all manner of crimes.

But sometimes, you stumble across something that is so unexpected, and pleasing, that it makes the long hours of joyless trawling seem worthwhile. One such discovery was this mention in the Journal of the Police Association of South Australia. Somehow the idea of all these Ozzie coppers rushing out to buy a copy of my book just tickles me pink. Bonza, as they say.

How many writers does it take to fill a bookshop?

I'll be taking part in a 'Bodies in the Bookshop' event in Heffers, Cambridge, next Tuesday, 17th of July, if anyone is in those parts and interested.

Won't just be me. In fact, here are the writers scheduled to appear:

Stephen Booth, Gianrico Carofiglio, C. J. Carver, Mary Andrea Clarke, Barbara Cleverly, Vena Cork, Paul Doherty, Ruth Downie, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Jane Finnis, Elena Forbes, Christopher Fowler, Ariana Franklin, Seth Garner, Paul D. Gilbert, Jason Goodwin, Dolores Gordon-Smith, June Hampson, Suzette Hill, Lis Howell, Claude Izner, Alison Joseph, Lee Jackson, Jim Kelly, Patrick Lennon, Adrian Magson, Nigel McCrery, Jenni Mills, R. N. Morris, Martin O’Brien, Andrew Pepper, Christine Poulson, Ann Purser, Caro Ramsey, Linda Regan, Mike Ripley, David Roberts, Alex Scarrow, Simon Scarrow, Zoe Sharp, Veronica Stallwood, Rebecca Stott, Frank Tallis, Lesley Thompson, Rebecca Tope, Jill Paton Walsh and Laura Wilson … so far.

Be nice to see a few crime readers among all those crime writers.

Susan Hill on sequels and follow-ups

Susan Hill has written a piece about presumptuous, jumped-up writers like me who take on the characters of a great author and produce their own tribute books. Actually, and refreshingly, she's all in favour of the practice. But having written a sequel to REBECCA called MRS. DE WINTER, it's perhaps not surprising.

Read the whole thing here. There's also an article on the Penguin blog about the forthcoming Sebastian Faulks' James Bond novel, DEVIL MAY CARE.

WSJ? Whassa' then?

My US editor emailed me with news of, in his words, a "fantastic review in the WSJ". Naturally, I was pleased. Any good review is gratifying. Though I did have to admit I had no idea what the WSJ is. I was rather embarrassed to learn that it's The Wall Street Journal. Somehow, I feel I ought to have been able to work that out.

I haven't seen the whole review and I can't find it online (think you have to be a subscriber). But here's the quote that Scott sent me:

"English writer R. N. Morris has produced perhaps the most audacious police-inspector novel of the season with "The Gentle Axe."....The tale hums along with controlled excitement, as if written by a Russian minimalist and rendered by a fine translator. The psychological and spiritual themes seem worthy of Dostoyevsky; there are traces of Gogol and Gorky, too. Such an accomplished book transcends pastiche."

In other news

Last week (I think it was last week - no maybe it was two weeks ago!) I went to see a screening of Strike, the 1924 silent movie by Eisenstein, at the Barbican. It was being shown with a new sound track by my friend Ed Hughes. It was a wonderful experience and Ed's music was fantastic. The dvd is going to be released by Tartan Video on July 16th. It will also contain Battleship Potemkin, also with a new soundtrack by Ed, and a propaganda film called October, which does not have Ed's music on it.

I've also made a short (very short!) film which uses Ed's music. It's the following trailer for my novel Taking Comfort.

taking comfort

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Ed contacted me this week to let me know that a project we worked on many years ago, a short one-act opera called The Devil's Drum, is going to get a new performance. It has been picked up by a young director called Poppy Burton-Morgan and she is putting on a production at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney, on Monday August 20th. I'm very excited about that, as there is nothing quite like the thrill of live performance.

Oh, yes, almost forgot... an old story of mine, called 'The Tender-hearted Man', has been published in Libbon, the short story magazine. My thanks to the editor David Soulsby, for picking it out.

Anybody speak Polish?

I have a feeling the Polish edition of A Gentle Axe has now been published and may look something like this:



Here's a link to the publisher's page.

Uhm, hi.

First, apologies for the long break (if anyone has noticed or cares).

There hasn't really been much to report, though I find now that I have an event looming next week. I'll be at the Muswell Hill Bookshop, 70-72 Fortis Green Road, N10 on Wednesday the 20th at 7.00pm. I'll be there with Andrew Martin, author of Necropolis Railway, The Lost Luggage Porter and Murder at Deviation Junction, amongst other books. We'll be giving brief readings and chatting about our work. I guess. I dunno. What usually happens at these things?

Another review to report, this time in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Edward Pettit (a National Book Critics Circle member,no less) writes: "Morris' sequel is firmly encamped in the mystery genre. Petrovich is the sleuth who must catch the killer. But Morris' use of a generic form does not dilute the idea of human suffering that Dostoyevsky wished to explore. Morris' twist is investigating the suffering of the investigator, not the criminal. In identifying with the killers he chases, Petrovich bears the terrible weight of suffering in the world. His profession forces him to perpetually wander the Siberia of his own soul. Morris' novel is a book not about the metaphysics of murder, but rather the metaphysics of the investigation of murders. As such, The Gentle Axe proves a worthy sequel."

Read the whole thing here.