William Peter Blatty, best known for his 1971 book THE EXORCIST, is now 82, but that hasn’t slowed him down any.  He just published a new thriller book, DIMITER, set in the Holy Land in the 1970s, just in time for the Easter holiday.

Blatty, originally a comedy writer and screenplay author of such fun fare as A SHOT IN THE DARK, never figured to get famous from THE EXORCIST.  He thought it would be a one-shot wonder, a thriller to explore his own beliefs in good and evil, but after it was published, it seemed he was now known as the eminent horror writer of all time, and couldn’t get work anymore in comedy. Winning an Oscar for his screenplay of THE EXORCIST seemed to put a nail in that coffin. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself…)

So, for the next 40 years, he’s tried to recapture the amazing popularity of that book, but has never had another success of that magnitude. His books THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (a full-length novel of his earlier novella TWINKLE, TWINKLE, KILLER KANE) and LEGION were both made into movies, but the books were only warmly received.

DIMITER had been in the works since 1974, but bouts with prostate cancer, and the loss of his son in 2006, slowed the writing down.  He compiled notes and ideas, with the stack of paper growing and growing, but it was only 2 years ago that the plot finally crystallized in his mind, and he was able to finish the book.  There’s already talk of turning it into a movie, but don’t expect the gore and goo of THE EXORCIST if Blatty has anything to say about it. He’s on record as being against the current trend of chainsaws, blood and guts of today’s movies, saying in an interview in the LA Times that “The studios have so debased the tastes of kids that that’s all the kids want now.”  He prefers the story to be the motivation, not the special effects. (Of course, once you sell the rights to your book, unless Blatty retained the screenplay rights, too, all bets will be off on DIMITER’S adaption not being bloody…)

And who knows? Maybe for his next project, he could combine his two strengths, comedy and horror, and write the next SCARY MOVIE???  (Couldn’t be any worse than what the first 4 were like… BWAHAHAAH)

Dan Brown’s bestselling THE LOST SYMBOL, featuring Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, will follow THE DA VINCI CODE and ANGELS & DEMONS into theaters, but it won’t be written by Akiva Goldsmith, writer of the first two screenplays.

According to reports in Variety, Steven Knight (Eastern Promises) has been chosen to pen the 3rd movie.  Also, so far, Ron Howard, director of the first two, is currently only attached as a producer, and Tom Hanks hasn’t signed up to repeat his role as Langdon, but it’s hoped that the duo will continue the successful relationship that helped turn the 1st two movies into box office magic.   Hanks himself has said about doing a third movie, “I’d love to if they’re going to do it. I’m not going to walk away from that. If they make it again, I hope they ask me.”

ANGELS & DEMONS did not due as well as THE DA VINCI CODE at the box office.  However, THE LOST SYMBOL was the fastest selling adult fiction book in history (selling 1 million copies on its first day of release back in Sept 2009) so it’s no doubt hoped by Columbia that the new movie will kick the franchise’s revenue back up a notch or two. The new book (and film) take Langdon this time to Washington DC and up against Freemason mythos.  The movie has an anticipated release date of 2012.

Jim Harrison, best known for his book of novellas LEGENDS OF THE FALL which had the title story made into a movie with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, has a new book of novellas out, called THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER.  (And no, it isn’t a dirty jokebook, although it does have some sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll in at least one of the stories.)

This new book includes three stories: THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER, a coming of age tale; BROWN DOG REDUX, a story of the continuing adventures of Brown Dog, a part Native American character from an earlier book; and THE GAMES OF NIGHT, a werewolf tale.

As Harrison’s writing has matured, it has moved more and more towards poetry, his preferred method of storytelling, and away from pure fiction, and this book is no different. In fact, if you’re not used to his style of writing, you may find this book a little hard to read.  It may be better to actually go back and find his earlier works, and read those first,  ”easing” yourself into his current style.

For a long time, I’ve been trying to find software that would let me catalog my books AND help me to sell them.  I finally found one that does pretty much everything I need and for under $50:  Book Collector by Collectorz.com.

It allows me to just type in the ISBN of the book (either the 10 digit or 13 digit version), and it checks multiple sources to bring in the information on the book, such as title,  author, number of pages, publisher, year published, plot and much much more. It even brings in a photo of the cover(s) if available.  It also then allows me to override any of the fields, which is a good thing, as publishers have a habit of reusing some ISBNs, causing the information on some older books to come up wrong, including covers/dust jackets which can change frequently. You can also add some of your own custom fields if needed to cover anything they hadn’t already thought of.

The software then allows me to export my “collection” completely or 1 book at a time to HTML, helping me create quick and easy code for a website or my eBay listings.  If you’re handy with XML/HTML, you can even tweak the templates or create ones from scratch to change the output into whatever layout you need. (Check out my eBay store for some examples of listings where I’ve used the software to create the ads: Books-For-All-Reasons)

If you need something to help you catalog your own book collection, whether for your own personal enjoyment or because you also sell your books, I recommend you check out Book Collector.  They offer a free trial version to help you decide: Automatically Catalog Your Book Collection. Free Trial.

And if you’re an avid collector of other things, such as comic books, DVDs, video games and more, why not test drive their other software for free?:

Automatically Catalog Your CD Collection. Free Trial.

Automatic DVD Database Software. Free Trial.

Automatic Comic Database Software. Free Trial.

Automatically Catalog Your Video Game Collection. Free Trial.

I just got done re-reading the entire DRESDEN FILES series again, only to realize that the new book, CHANGES (Dresden Files, Book 12), won’t be out until April 2010. AAAAAAGH.

I don’t know if I can wait that long. Seems Jim Butcher will finally be bringing back Susan Rodriguez, along with the Red Court vampires this time around and she has one heck of a secret.

Guess this means back to HULU in the meantime to at least re-watch the whole TV series before I go into withdrawal…  ;)

By Nick Daws – Author of Write Any Book in 28 Days – Or Less!

If you’re a writer and don’t have your own website to advertise yourself, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities. How do I know? Well, I’ve had my own site for about seven years now, and during that time it’s brought me dozens, possibly hundreds, of work opportunities. Here are just a few which came my way as a result of people seeing my site…

* Hamlyn Publishing (UK) wanting me to write a couple of two-page spreads for a proposed book.
* A retired gangster living in Ireland wanting me to help write his memoirs.
* A local video company, wanting my help scripting a training video.
* A US publishing house wanting me to ghost-write an exposé of malpractice in the insurance industry.
* A UK publisher, wanting me to quote for producing a series of city guides for publication on the Internet.
* And, not least, White Cliff Computing Limited, whose interest in my work led to me writing two courses for them, “Write Any Book in 28 Days – Or Less! and Quick Cash Writing.

I didn’t actually take up all of the opportunities mentioned above. Sometimes I was too busy with other projects (and I must admit the retired gangster scared me a little…). However, the point is that none of these approaches would have come my way without a website.

There are other benefits as well. If I’m applying for a new writing project or commission, I can simply suggest that the potential client refers to my website if they require any further information. It saves constantly sending out weighty CVs or résumés, and makes me look like a technologically aware, up-to-the-minute sort of guy (this becomes more important when, as in my case, you are no longer in the first flush of youth). The website also helps me keep in touch with readers of my books, and it provides me with an additional (if small) income stream through advertising.

OK, I hear you saying, you’ve sold me on the benefits of having a website, but I’m a writer, not a tech-head. I don’t know how to create my own site, and I don’t have the spare cash to hire someone to build one for me.

Let’s take the latter point first. Getting a website built for you need not be hugely expensive. Freelance writers really don’t need whizzy, cutting-edge designs with Flash animation, online databases, shopping trolleys, and so forth. A basic site which showcases you and your work should be more than sufficient. Try entering “website designer” in your favorite search engine and you’ll get hundreds of potential designers. Approach a few with details of your requirements and see what responses you get. You may well be pleasantly surprised by the quotes you receive. Website design is a very competitive field – and, of course, the designer you use can be based anywhere in the world.

However, if at all possible, I do strongly recommend that you consider building and maintaining your own site. This has all sorts of advantages. For one, you can update it yourself quickly and easily, and you can also create it exactly as you wish. You can add bits, take bits away, try out advertising, start your own newsletter, etc. etc. This is the route I have taken, and although my site is never going to win any awards for its design, it suits my purposes very well.

In my time, I’ve used various programs to create and maintain my website, starting with a program called the CompuServe First Web Page Designer (now, I’m sure, residing in software heaven). If I was starting again today, however, I would definitely invest a few bucks in the Newbie Club First Website Builder. This is a four-volume guide to creating, writing, designing, automating, uploading and promoting your own website, in fully illustrated e-book format. As well as the four beautifully written e-books, you get loads of free software, including the Super Easy Mini Site Wizard, which will build a basic site for you in literally minutes. Check out everything on offer in this product at http://newbieclub.com/builder/?hotproducts. I guarantee it’ll blow you away.

Even if you decide to hire a professional designer to create your site for you, the Newbie Club First Website Builder will show you everything you need to know in order to take over the running of your site and maintain and update it yourself. Incidentally, the Newbie Club, which is aimed at people new to computing rather than IT specialists, also produces a free email newsletter packed with hints and tips for newcomers to computing – you can sign up to it at http://newbieclub.com/?hotproducts if you wish. Although I’ve been using PCs for quite a while now, I still subscribe, and regularly pick up useful hints and tips I hadn’t been aware of before.

Nick Daws is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England.
You can discover his exciting course online at “How to Write Any Book in 28 Days – OR LESS!”

Alec Greven is working on becoming another John Gray (MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS), at least for 3rd graders. In 2007, his class had a writing competition to raise money for charity, and his book was so popular, it was picked up by HarperCollins for mass publication.

Not bad for a Castle Rock, Colorado 9-year-old whose advice in HOW TO TALK TO GIRLScontains such gems as:

– You’ll do better and be happier with a “regular girl” than a “pretty girl.” (Alec’s definition of a pretty girl is one who wear “fancy earrings, fancy dresses, all those shoes.”) According to Alec, “about 73 percent of regular girls ditch boys, 98 percent of pretty girls ditch boys.”

– If you’re shy, a talkative girl would be best for you.

– Don’t be the class clown.

– Impress girls with your skills but don’t be a show off.

– Call the girl but don’t keep her talking too long on the phone. (Two hours, for instance, is too long. Your mother will call you for dinner and you may have to hurt the girl’s feelings by abruptly breaking off the conversation.)

– If a girl ditches you, move on, life is hard. (This last seems a bit adult – wonder what his parents have been telling him…)

Alec says, however, given his own admittedly limited experience, his observations may only apply to his school, Soaring Hawk Elementary School and its play yard. I guess time will tell, eh?

One hit wonder or future top ten writer? Hmmm… (A sequel is already in discussions with the publisher even though the first book won’t be released until November 25th.)

(Already a little heartbreaker, isn’t he?)

In an homage to THE JUNGLE BOOK, Neil Gaiman has come out with another young adult’s/children’s book–only his version is set in a cemetery.   (Typical Gaiman twist. eh?…)

Both books deal with orphans, but whereas Kipling’s Mowgli was raised by the animals, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK’s Bod finds himself being mentored by ghosts.

Gaiman’s said he got the idea from watching his son zip around the graveyard across from their home:  “One day I looked at him, and he looked so comfortable there, and I thought: you know I could write a book kind of like The Jungle Book,” Gaiman said, “Because in The Jungle Book there’s a little boy who wanders into the jungle and is raised by animals and is taught all of the things that animals know.”

Dave McKean, whose artwork has been seen in Stephen King’s GUNSLINGER series and Gaiman’s CORALINE (soon to be a major motion picture), has teamed up once more with Gaiman to illustrate this book.

Even though the book is aimed at a younger audience, a recent preview reading of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman at Cowin Center Auditorium at Columbia University proved that listeners of all ages were held enraptured by the story.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is coming out September 30th.

Jim Butcher has a written a series of books called THE DRESDEN FILES that has become one of my all-time favorites.

I originally got hooked on the SCI FI Channel TV series THE DRESDEN FILES starring Paul Blackthorne as Harry Dresden, watching every episode until they (stupidly) canceled it. Then I went on a book hunt to find the source material (original books) and have been adding each title to my collection as soon as I can get my hands on them.

THE DRESDEN FILES is like the best of Glen Cook’s wisecracking GARRETT, PI series, mixed in with a little Anne Rice, some Laurell K. Hamilton, Dashiel Hammett and a bit of Harry Potter all rolled into one. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is the only Wizard who happens to advertise in the Chicago phone book, trying to use his not-inconsiderable powers for good (and to pay the bills which ARE considerable.) Unfortunately, the good guys don’t want to believe there IS such a thing as the supernatural so why pay to battle it, most of the wizarding world doesn’t trust him and the bad guys, both human and not, just want Harry dead.

These are some of the only books I’ve read recently where I hate to put them down until I get to the very last page, and where I actually burst out laughing from Jim Butcher’s way of tossing in a totally unexpected turn of phrase.

So far, there are 10 books in the series:

STORM FRONT	FOOL MOON	GRAVE PERIL	SUMMER KNIGHT	DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES	DEAD BEAT	PROVEN GUILTY	WHITE NIGHT	SMALL FAVOR

If you like supernatural thrillers that are witty and compelling and with a protaganist you can root for, then don’t miss THE DRESDEN FILES. And if you love James Marsters (aka SPIKE from the series ANGEL and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), check out the Audiobooks of each – he narrates the whole series. (Yeehaw!) Or if you like comics better, then check out THE DRESDEN FILES: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE illustrated books…

Now if only SCI FI Channel would ‘uncancel’ the series, so I could watch Harry’s further adventures while I wait for Jim Butcher to write the next installments, including TURN COAT, the new one due out in April 2009!

Available on eBay:

According to Robert Jordan’s Official Blog site, here’s an update on the status of the final book in the WHEEL OF TIME Series from Harriet Rigney, Jordan’s widow:

“Brandon Sanderson came to see me for a couple of days this week, and he is as terrific as he sounds in the interview. I am really glad that things have worked out so that he can, and will, complete A MEMORY OF LIGHT [Book 12]. He will do a job that Jim would approve, I believe. And I’ll be working with him throughout the writing. And so will Alan Romanczuk and Maria Simons, who have worked Jim through a number of books, and who are both now completely available for Brandon’s support.”

(Note: Jim Rigney was Robert Jordan’s real name)

Brandon Sanderson is the author of ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS, ELANTRIS and the Mistborn Series. He’s been nominated twice for the John W. Campbell Award and currently resides in Utah.

So it looks like fans will get an ending to the beloved series after all! (Given all the TV series that get dropped abruptly with no finish, at least getting an finale to the original series of WHEEL OF TIME books is a nice change!!) And maybe Sanderson’ll be able to continue it the way Roger Zelazny’s Amber series has gotten a second life…