See the trailer for Meet Joe Hunter - Dead Men's Dust

http://www.youtube.com/v/W6y2yfig4JM
http://www.youtube.com/v/W6y2yfig4JM

Hi folks,
take a look at the trailer developed by Hodder and Stoughton to introduce readers to Joe Hunter in Dead Men's Dust.
I think it is awesome.

Matt

Just for fun

http://www.youtube.com/v/bkLr2sSK92U
http://www.youtube.com/v/bkLr2sSK92U

I've been fooling around on movie maker and made a short movie called The Song of Tubal Cain based on characters from my book Dead Men's Dust. If you have a couple minutes of your life to waste, why not take a look?

Cover art for UK edition of Dead Men's Dust

OK folks, the time has finally come. If you hop over to my website at www.matthiltonbooks.com, you can get a look at the cover of the UK edition of my book which will be available in hardback from 29th May 2009, published by Hodder and Stoughton. I'm thrilled by the look of the cover and hope you all like it as much as I do. The cover is displayed on the HOME page as well as in the BOOKS section, where you can also read the blurb. Pretty soon I will be posting the US cover. It is very different but also very good and I can't wait to share it with you.
Keep on keeping on
Matt

DMD

Video trailer for Dead Men's Dust

Pretty soon you will all have access to a video trailer for my book Dead Men's Dust, produced by my publisher, Hodder and Stoughton. In the meantime, here are a few stills to wet your appetite.

Streets of Fear Album

Hey,

forgot to mention: if you like the track, it can be found on the album by the same name released by Fury records.

Name dropping

Hi all,
I got a very lovely personal letter from Dean Koontz in the mail today. Dean is one of my favourite writers and if you like a good mystery, thriller or even horror story you won't go wrong by searching out any of Dean's books. Some of my personal favourites are Dark Rivers Of The Heart, Intensity, The Good Guy, The Face and the Odd Thomas series.
Read them and enjoy
Matt

Streets of Fear - Caldonia

http://www.youtube.com/v/emjHuSilW2o http://www.youtube.com/v/emjHuSilW2o

The above link will take you to montage video against a song I co-wrote with Johnny Scott (Caldonia, Stony Broke, The Shakers etc). Funnily enough even way back then, I must have felt some sort of attraction to vigilante action. No direct link to Joe Hunter, but the fascination must have been there all along. Whether you like rockabilly or not, this tune probably owes something to my later creation to be found in my books Dead Men's Dust etc.
Hope you like
Matt

Instant Justice - short story

Hey all, this is about your last chance to read Instant Justice on my website. It's coming off the free stuff in the next couple of days (to be replaced by other stuff so don't fret!). So what are you waiting for, get yourself over to http://www.matthiltonbooks.com/ before it's gone.
keep on keeping on
Matt

US title for book 1

Hi all,
hot off the press I have learned that the US edition of my book will retain the original plural title of Dead MEN'S Dust. I have my editor David Highfill to thank for this as he has championed my argument all the way and has been in my corner against all those that wanted to change the title. So there should be no confusion now for when anyone is looking to purchase the book, either side of the Atlantic. Did I say it's out 29th May 2009?
Matt

The working day

I've been asked on many occasions how I manage to write so quickly (considering I'm a one finger typist) and the only answer I can give is that I enjoy the creative process so much. It would be so easy to procrastinate, go off surfing other websites etc, but I tend to discipline myself enough to work for 3-4 hours in the morning. I then take a few hours off and do the domestic stuff, spend time with my wife, go visiting etc, then come back to my writing in the late afternoon or evening where I go over 'what I wrote' in the morning and do a line edit and then usually this is enough to get me going again. Sometimes you can find me writing late into the evening (interspersed with answering emails, updating this blog, my website, facebook etc) and I find that the word count builds exponentially. I understand that not every writer has the luxury of the time I have - I certainly didn't prior to giving up full time employment - but it is a case of getting on and doing it. I recently read a line in a book (I think) where someone exhorts another to keep on keeping on - I've kinda adopted this saying as my work ethic.
So...keep on keeping on
Matt

Website changes

Anyone visiting my website at http://www.matthiltonbooks.com/ will notice a few changes over the next couple of days. You may have already noticed that this blog has been moved to the home page under the NEWS banner. Also a couple of the short stories will have disappeared from the FREE STUFF pages. Worry not. I intend to keep this page updated on a regular basis and i will be posting new stuff there in the future. At present there is a Weapons of Choice page and two short stroies featuring another of my characters in a more gothic/horror setting. I hope you enjoy reading them. Very soon on my website you will see the cover art for the UK edition of Dead Men's Dust, as well as a very exciting video introducing Joe Hunter. I'm excited for you!

Keep on keeping on

Matt

DMD US edition and foreign translations.

Sorry, I was remiss to add that my US edition of the books will be published by William Morrow and Company (Harper Collins) a prestigious publishing house with over 80 years of excellence behind them.

Readers in Germany can look out for my book, published by Verlagsgruppe (Random House).

Readers in Italy can look out for my book, published by Longanesi.

Readers in Romania can look out for my book, published by RAO International publishing.

Dead Men's Dust Vs Dead Man's Dust

There is some talk concerning the US edition of the book being renamed as Dead Man's Dust. This is for purely marketing reasons and does not affect the book in any other way. I just hope there is no confusion. For the duration I shall still refer to the title in its plural as that is what is ingrained in my psyche. Although I haven't got an exact publication date, I think it will be contemporaneous with the UK edition which comes out on 29th May 2009.

DEAD MEN'S DUST release Date

Dead Men's Dust, my first Joe Hunter thriller is due for release in hardback in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton on 29th May 2009.

Exciting news about Joe Hunter

While I was in London I attended a presentation at Hodder for truly exciting news on my Joe Hunter thrillers. I can't go into detail for now, but please take it from me that I was blown away with what will be happening in the near future. Don't know Joe Hunter yet? Well you soon will. Believe me.

Merlin - BBC drama

I recently had the privilage of attending the premier screening of the BBC's new Saturday evening Drama MERLIN at the Waterloo, London IMAX Cinema. It was a great piece of TV with superb acting, casting and production values on a par with cinema. Afterwards the red carpet treatment continued at the Brasserie at the OXO Tower on the Southbank. The view across the Thames to St Paul's Cathedral was truly outstanding and the skyline was on a par with anything the world could offer. I met Anthony Head (Uther Pendragon in Merlin but better known as Giles in Buffy the vampire slayer) and his partner, Sarah, who were both very lovely and gracious towards my wife and I. It was a real pleasure meeting them both. I also gave my first autograph (usually these just go on the bottom of bills!!!) to a lovely young lady called Christine. Both Christine and her actress sister - whose name to my shame I missed - were both lovely ladies and I wish them both well in their careers. My thanks to Jane Tranter for the invite.

Col B's New Crime Fiction

http://colburysnewcrimefiction.blogspot.com

Just a nod to all my readers. You may find Col's writing interesting as well. Why don't you take a look for yourself.
Matt

Cool image or what?

Belated thanks

Sorry, should have given my thanks for the foreign translations of my book title to my brother Jim. Jim is also a great writer and you can read some of his short stories at www.jimhilton.co.uk

Latest News

It's still about nine months until publication of my first Joe Hunter thriller DEAD MEN'S DUST but things will begin happening soon as far as pre-publicity is concerned. I will be using this blog to keep everyone up to speed about where I'll be. I'll be moving the blog to the homepgae of my website at www.matthiltonbooks.com to make it easier to find the latest news.

Keep looking at my website for news on the upcoming publications of my books. The artwork for both the UK and US editions have been designed and I think both are pretty darn good. They are both very different styles but both perfectly conjure the material inside. I'll be posting the cover art on my website soon, so keep looking back for a first look.

Dead Men's Dust (DMD) is also being published in German, Italian and Romanian, and I can't wait to see their take on the book and the covers they choose to use.

Check out Dead Men's Dust in the following languages:

Italian:
men' guasto; polvere di s

German:
totes men's s-Staub


if anyone can supply me a translation of the phrase in Romanian that would be great.

Keep reading, keep writing
Matt

Writers' Forum Magazine October 2008 edition

Hello and welcome to any readers joining me after my open invitation in this months Writers' Forum magazine.

Book 3 rough draft

I've just finished the rough draft of book 3. I guess this is when the hard works starts again. The first of many edits so to speak. Now I'll have to go back to the beginning and start looking at all the little foibles that have crept in, the incosistencies and lazy writing that doesn't immediately stand out first time round. But, it is also my first chance to read the book while being slightly displaced outside of it. I'll see the book with an outsiders point of view now. Woo Hoo! Lucky guy that I am I get to read a preview. I just hope that when I'm finished everyone enjoys reading it as much as I have writing it.
Matt

The low down dental blues...take 2

In a previous blog I waxed lyrical about having to have a tooth extracted, but how I even saw that as a good opportunity to think up new story lines. On that occasion it reminded me of a scene from the Marathon Man with Laurence Olivier doing fiendish things with a dentists drill. That got me thinking of a fabulous scene in the same movie where Roy Scheider's character is attacked by an assassin with a piano wire garotte and how I'd love to incorporate a similar scene in one of my books.
Anyway, the point is, I was back at the dentist's again this afternoon and was again trying not to think of the uncomfortable agony of a scale and polish and impromptu filling by thinking up new endings for book 3. I got it. I think this new twist will make the book even better than the original ending I'd planned.
Maybe I should go to the dentist more often?

Matt

Dead Men's Dust

Things have hit a turning point now. I can feel it like it is a high tide on its way. Since the initial rush of the announcement of my 5 book deal with Hodder and Stoughton, and the subsequent 3 book deal with William Morrow and Co (Harper Collins), I have had my nose to the grindstone working very hard. Along the way I've had some great experiences, but for a few months there - other than writing - I didn't seem to be doing much else. Now I've just done a radio interview and am looking forward to attending a premier screening of a new BBC production (what's wrong, I hear you ask, couldn't they get any real celebs?) and the future is looking rosy. I've gained a few new friends recently and got back in touch with some old ones who I'd lost contact with. All down to my burgeoning fame (I know that sounds very fancy an' all). People are coming to me for writing advice. I do like helping others, but I have to caution some people and remind them that it is only my opinion. I'm just learning the trade myself. Any decisions should be their own. Any way, I digress. Things have hit a turning point. I now feel I'm definitely on the slope down to publication and I can't wait. It's still 9 months or so until Dead Men's Dust hits the shelves, but if it's anything like the preceding 6 months it will fly in.

Keep writing and reading

Matt

Dead men's Dust and more

I haven't done much writing over the weekend except for updating various places that I have pages. It was my wedding anniversary (22 years and still extremely happy if you were wondering) and i decided to spend it writing free. So this morning I've been back at the laptop hammering away at book three. I'm approaching the big finale now and looking to make it a ferocious action piece. I'm actually trembling with adrenaline. I hope everyone likes the end product as much as I'm enjoying writing it.
Matt