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Thanks for tracking me down to my web site. Here you'll find information about my books as well as some personal thoughts on writing: see the Storyteller and Heroes. And of course if you want to contact me with feedback - good or bad - please fire your comments or questions to gordonferris@gmail.com.
My big news is that my latest book - The Hanging Shed - has just been shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Award. Winner to be announced on 30 November. This really caps my year, win or lose!
Over the Summer I've been involved in a couple of Book Festivals and hope I bumped into you:
1. Harrogate Crime Writers: New Blood panel chaired by Val McDermid at 12.00 on 23 July
2. Edinburgh Book Festival: Peppers Theatre with Craig Russell at 18.45 on 24 August
3. Edinburgh Book Festival: Blackwell's Writers at the Fringe at 18.00 on 25 August
My latest book – The Hanging Shed – has sold over 150,000 copies in ebook form. It's received a generous accolade from best-selling novelist Val McDermid: 'Writing in the great Scottish tradition of mystery and adventure, Gordon Ferris is the natural heir of Stevenson and Buchan - great feel of authenticity, and a terrific narrative drive.'
I couldn't be more pleased to find myself in the same sentence as RLS and Buchan. Thanks Val!
It's also catching the interest of the press and blogging community. I'm in great company at this top web site: http://thrillers4u.com/crime-thriller_78_gordon-ferris-the-hanging-shed_summary.html
Then there's the New York Journal of books: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/hanging-shed
The Indie: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-hanging-shed-by-gordon-ferris-2240877.htm
and the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/20/hanging-shed-gordon-ferris-thriller-review?INTCMP=SRCH
The eBook version of The Hanging Shed came out on Christmas day and has spent several weeks at No 1 in the Amazon kindle bestsellers. The reviews - mainly five star - are simply glowing, as are the many kind emails. Thank you! For me, that's what counts: that people read and enjoy my books. The hardback appeared on 1 March 2011 and is already in reprint, and the paperback came out on 1 September [all from Corvus /Atlantic Books].
The Hanging Shed introduces my new hero – Brodie. I hope this will be the start of a long relationship. The Hanging Shed is set in Glasgow- my favourite city, and in 1946 - my favourite period. My earlier books set in the same period are Truth Dare Kill and its sequel The Unquiet Heart. Both are riding high in the kindle charts and are available as audio Books for those long car journeys or sleepless nights. Truth Dare Kill was reissued in Hardback by Corvus on 1 October. The Unquiet Heart comes out on 1 December.
Why did I chose this period? I’m fascinated by the post-war years when people picked up their lives in a Britain that had changed forever. It’s an era just out of reach of my own memory, but the old family photos and the Pathe newsreels tell the story. Faces hardened by years of rationing and deprivation, but softened by victory and the promise of a more egalitarian society. Those two great cities - London and Glasgow - both scarred and broken, and wreathed in yellow smog but defiantly regenerating. In other words the perfect ‘noir’ landscapes in which to unleash my tortured protagonists. They’re not me, but maybe I wish they were…
I've always loved the image of the lone, troubled hero trying to do good in a bad world. Tough but fallible, driven and obsessive, yet with a romantic streak a mile wide. He can handle a gun and take a beating, but is melted by a woman’s smile. He’s cynical but not so world weary that he lacks idealism. He’s Le Carré’s Smiley and of course Chandler’s Marlowe.
Thanks and enjoy the reading,
Gordon
email: gordonferris@gmail.com
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