Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: noir

I got word that Comet Press who published the paperback edition of THE FALL GUY are closing down later this year.  That means THE FALL GUY is going out of print.  The book will still be available as an ebook and audiobook but the physical book itself won’t.  It’s always sad when a print book goes out of print as it’s tangible proof of existence.  It’s not the first of my books to disappear (and it won’t be the last).  However, a book is like energy.  It doesn’t cease to be.  It only changes form.  So THE FALL GUY may return to bookshelves with a different publisher.  We’ll see.  In the meantime, I’m trying to acquire the leftover stock, so if you’d like a copy, please drop me an email or order one through my website bookshop.

Categories: shelf life

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It’s that time of year, so if you’re looking to give a book for Christmas and you’re going to make it one of mine, bless your heart. If you want to get a book autographed or personalized to that special someone (even if that special someone is you) go to my bookshop. Used the code XMAS20 to get a 20% discount.

Categories: Uncategorized

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A film student in India is going to make a short film based on my CWA Dagger Nominated short story, PROTECTING THE INNOCENT. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. 

I will be posting a link to the movie when it’s finished for everyone to see.

Categories: shelf life

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This month marks a special moment for me. It’s been twenty years since the release of my first novel, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN. That book and I have been on quite a journey over the last twenty years. My first thriller has come of age.  It’s been responsible for a lot of firsts in my writing career:

  • First book I wrote
  • First published book
  • First mass paperback release
  • First book to be translated
  • First book to sell 100,000 copies

When I look over my writing career, this book has been the one that kept my career moving on to the next stage. Although first published by a small publishing house, it picked up a lot of good trade reviews which gave me some legitimacy as a writer. That resulted in the book picking up a contract with a New York publisher. When the NY publisher folded during the credit crunch, it was the book to reboot my career when I relaunched it as an ebook. The sales success of the ebook resulted in an 8-book deal with a new publisher and a new edition. And if it wasn’t for that 8-book deal, I wouldn’t have the success I’ve had with my other books. Whenever I examine my writing career, invariably it all stems back to ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN.

The book has served as a springboard for so much.  When I take stock of where I am today, I’m astounded. I’ve had over fifty book releases in a dozen countries having sold two million copies with my books produced in hardback, softback and audio. It’s bonkers!

Another weird factoid is there are three versions of the book—the 2002 Barclay Books version, the 2007 Dorchester version & the 2011 Thomas & Mercer version.  Each version got revised…and got shorter each time (I got better at being more concise). The Thomas & Mercer version is some 15,000 words shorter than the Barclay Books version.  I don’t think many writers get to rewrite their books…

This book about an obscure, but chilling facet of the insurance industry changed my life.  I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for it.  I will forever be in this book’s debt.

To mark the occasion, there’s 20% off all my titles at my website when you use the code “20TH.” So if you’ve never read ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN or want to grab the other editions or want to catch up on my other books, just go to http://simonwood.net/books/.

Categories: book of the month

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It might be the 4th of July but it’s also publication date of the Hungarian version of THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY aka THE FUGATIVE…so if you have any Hungarians in your life, tell them to buy it!!

This month is very special because it also marks the 20th anniversary of my first book release, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN. This Hungarian book represents my 60th book release and almost my 100th book if you include anthologies and other book contributions in those twenty years.  I am planning to celebrate this milestone with a special event, stay tuned for details.

Categories: new book

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It’s that time of year, so if you’re looking to give a book for Christmas and you’re going to make it one of mine, bless your heart. If you want to get a book autographed or personalized to that special someone (even if that special someone is you) go to my bookshop. Used the code HOLIDAY10 to get a 10% discount.

Alternatively, I can mail out a bookplate or sign ebooks via Authorgraph.com. Just email me with your requests and I’ll do my best to make it happen. All the details are on the bookshop.

Categories: Uncategorized

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THE SCRUBS is another of my supernatural crime stories.  This is also a title of mine which has fallen between the cracks with readers and I hope you will take the time to check it out. I think you’ll find it worth your time.

The Scrubs is what people commonly call Wormwood Scrubs prison, located in west London. It’s an unusual name for a prison, but not as unusual as some in Britain. In Manchester, you’ll find Strangeways prison (although, it has been renamed in recent years because of its bad image). I do like how British prisons have weird names whereas American prisons sound like vacation getaways. Pelican Bay. San Quentin. Soledad. It seems like cruel and unusual punishment to be incarcerated in a place that sounds so idyllic, but I digress.

Wormwood Scrubs was built in the Victorian era and is a typical piece of neo-gothic architecture. The prison strongly resembles a fortress in some ways, except it keeps people in and not out. It’s not very big as prisons go. Less than fifteen hundred people call it home. If you ever take a trip on a Central Line train of the London Underground system, you’ll see the prison as you ride through Acton. If anyone has watched the original version of The Italian Job with Michael Caine, the prison he’s released from is Wormwood Scrubs. But any relationship between the real life prison and the one contained within these pages are purely fictional. I took the prison’s name and its location and ignored everything else.

Anyway, I stopped thinking about Wormwood Scrubs in terms of a name of a prison and started thinking about what the words meant. This is a habit with me. I think about words we all take for granted and break them down. Too often we take words at face value and forget their meanings. Places were named for a reason, not by chance. So I forgot the prison identity and just wondered about Wormwood scrubs. Wormwood is an herbaceous plant. It’s a key ingredient of absinthe. Wormwood oil is poisonous, considered psychoactive and possibly addictive. Wow, what a herb! The word scrubs bolts on nicely onto wormwood. A scrub area or scrubland is an area of stunted vegetation. I wondered whether Wormwood Scrubs the prison had been built on an area of scrubland covered with wormwood.

I liked the concept of a prison built on top of an area covered in a poisonous, psychotropic and addictive plant. It’s just asking for trouble. All we need is a psychotic prisoner with special powers and we’ve got ourselves a story!

I have to admit that THE SCRUBS is a guilty pleasure. It started out as a short story but kept getting bigger as I got caught up in creating this alternate universe for this prison and its inmates. And it’s not going to stop here. They’ll be two more installments—SCRUBBERS and SCRUBLAND. There’s just too much fun to be had playing with THE SCRUBS. Besides, someone has to stop Jeter. I hope you agree and you’ll come back for more.

Categories: Uncategorized

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