Proof of Life

Hi all,

author J.J. Cooper, whose soon to be released 'The Interrogator' looks like a sure fire hit sent me these photos of my book on sale in Oz. The books are the trade paperback's (sometimes known as airport books).

If you've got problems to fix speak to Joe Hunter

Hey all,

Joe now has a telephone number where you can speak to him:

From the UK call 0061 458 178 980

(be mindful this call is to Australia where Joe is on a short sojourn - the call does cost and is only a bit of fun so don't call if you're counting the pennies).

Book review at Book-Views.com

http://www.book-views.com/articles/45/1/Dead-Mens-Dust-by-Matt-Hilton/Page1.html

here's another place where you can read a review of Dead Men's Dust written by Gina Metz.

Joe Hunter in Australia

http://www.joehunter.com.au/

Take a look here to see the full Australian Joe Hunter campaign.

These posters are appearing all over Australia in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. People who telephone the mobile number on the photos can hear a recorded message from Joe Hunter (recorded by Razor).

p.s. just click on the photos to see a bigger image.

Another great review of DMD at Bestsellerworld.com

http://www.bestsellersworld.com/reviews/hilton-dead_mens_dust3.htm

This is a link to another great review of Dead Men's Dust, posted by Gina Metz at Bestsellerworld.com.

My unreserved thanks to Gina for her kind words.
Matt

Take a look at this link for something very cool

http://www.hachette.com.au/promotions/deadmensdust/

DMD on sale in Australia

It's just been confirmed by J.J. Cooper, author of The Interrogator, that he has just purchased a copy of Dead Men's Dust in Australia where the book is now on general sale.

The cover has been given a new look for the Australian market introducing Joe Hunter with the blurb 'It's Time For A New Hero.'

Excellent!!!

A big thank you to J.J. for the heads up.

Heart on my sleeve or in my throat?

Throughout the course of this blog I've tried to approach writing it with as much truth and honesty as I could muster. My intention was to keep readers and other writers hoping to achieve publication up to speed with my adventure approaching publication of my debut novel, and I believe I have done so. It's a steep hill, but it's assailable if you are dogged and determined enough just to keep on keeping on.

Sometimes I've worn my emotions on my sleeve.

I'm now only a couple weeks away from the book hitting the shelves and I have to admit to going through a state of flux where I'm both excited but also very much nervous about how my books will be received.

Some people will love it, some will think it's OK, but inevitably, some will hate it. That's the truth and reality of just about everything. The latter hopefully will be a very small minority. My worry - perhaps not the right word - is that sometimes people who hate something are more vocal than those that are satisfied and their griping can put off readers who would have otherwise enjoyed the book judged on their own opinion.

Dan Brown had some terrible criticism thrown his way - unjustified in my opinion. However, I've just been searching Amazon and seen that Mr Brown's next book is the most thoroughly anticipated new release with the most pre-orders of any book coming out in the next few months. So maybe I'm 'worrying' needlessly. Maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity - just publicity.

OK, that's the worry bit over with...now with the excitement.

It has been pointed out to me by Jeremy Duns, another great debut author, whose book Free Agent is just about to hit the stands, that both our books share a table in Scandinavia's largest bookshop in Sweden. They are there alongside some greats like John Grisham, James Patterson
and Jeffrey Deaver, all giants of our 'thriller' genre. To be found alongside some of my literary heroes is an awesome feeling, I can tell you, and yet another huge peak that I've scaled and conquered.

Foreign readers it seems are getting a preview of my book in the large trade paperback format, before the hardback goes on sale here in the UK or in the US. Don't ask me, I've no idea about the marketing strategies of other countries. Can't wait to hear how the books are doing out there in the big wide world though.

Dead Men's Dust will be on general sale in the UK on Thursday 14th May 2009 and in the USA on Tuesday 19th May 2009.

It's a crazy, exciting time and I'm buzzing as I write this. I'd just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has shown an interest for their best wishes and support and for helping me through the process. There are so many I would insult those that I forgot to mention, so I won't even attempt a list - but you all know who you are.

Matt

Cumberland News Story

This is the story appearing in the Cumberland News on-line.


http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/people/cumbrian_man_is_uk_s_highest_paid_debut_thriller_writer_1_545512?referrerPath=features

Cumbria Life magazine now on sale

An article on me and my debut book appears in Cumbria Life magazine - on sale now (May edition).

Cumberland News 24/04/09

This is just a little local news but there is a piece about the impending launch of Dead Men's Dust appearing in the Cumberland News in this weeks edition (on sale Friday).

New cover for UK paperback

Hey all,

how cool is this?

This a new version of the cover of Dead Men's Dust appearing on Amazon for the paperback release of the book in October. Love the new image (loved the old one as well, but this, I think, is even cooler!)

Permission To Kill

http://permissiontokill-books.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-agent.html

With a hat tip to The Rap Sheet, I went over to the blog Permission To Kill to read an interview with Free Agent author Jeremy Duns. This is a book I'm looking forward to reading, set in the 'Dark Age' of the Cold War and which is due for release in the UK 5th May 2009 and in the US in June. Jeremy is a fellow member of International Thriller Writers and a genuinely great guy. There was a little controversy earlier this when when it was pointed out that both our US edition covers featured the same running man and it gets a little mention here again. Like Jeremy I'm thrilled with my cover nonetheless.

If you love Bond and Bourne etc you're sure to love Jeremy's books. Free Agent is the first in a trilogy.

Cumbria Life Magazine

This is just a reminder to my friends in the UK, particularly Cumbria, that I have a piece about me and my debut book, Dead Men's Dust, in the May edition of Cumbria Life magazine - on sale 24th April 2009.

New Zealand Woman's Weekly Competition

http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/giveaways/win-copy-dead-mens-dust-matt-hilton/story/3796859/

For readers in New Zealand, Woman's Weekly magazine is running a competition to win one of five copies of Dead Men's Dust. Sorry, but the competition is open only to residents of New Zealand.

Publishers Weekly review

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6652055.html?industryid=47159

taking the good with the ahem? Weildy plot! Here is a review of Dead Men's Dust at Publishers Weekly.

I'm still chuffed to have got a mention, because on the whole it's darn good.

5* Review at Play.Com

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/8803871/Dead-Men-Dust/Product.html

Cool new customer review of Dead Men's Dust at Play.Com.

Kudos to the anonymous Senseinomore. Big thanks for the kind words.

Senseinomore says:

Joe Hunter - fantastic new Action Hero!


This is a great new series of books featuring the British hard man Joe Hunter. The first book finds Hunter on a journey across America looking for his brother. His path is paralleled by one of the USA's most deadly and vicious serial Killers.
If you like your action fast and furious with a real edge of realism then this book is for you! Hilton is a former Policeman and a high ranking Blackbelt in combat Jujitsu!!! He knows his stuff!
You will read this more than once and will be an instant Joe Hunter (and Matt Hilton) Fan.

New stories at TKnC

http://thrillskillsnchills.blogspot.com/

Hey all,

there are a couple of new stories over at my sister blog at Thrillers, Killers 'N' Chillers.

We have Forum of Fury by Col Bury and This Old House by Paul Brazill. Why not take a look and enjoy. The guys would love to hear your feedback.

Matt

Euphoria!

An important moment in any author's career is the first time he/she sees their name in print. Over the years I've seen my by line alongside a few articles in magazines. Fabulous.

Then I've seen my name against articles on the web and along with a few of my unpublished stories on the web. Equally fabulous.

Next I began to see my name on the covers of the various Advanced Readers Editions/Copies of my first novel, and I can't begin to explain how utterly fabulous that was.

Recently I received delivery of some of the UK trade paperback editions of Dead Men's Dust. It was like Christmas and all my birthdays rolled into one. Utterly, utterly fabulous.

But to be honest, all of these paled in comparison when today I felt my first hardback edition between my fingers. There's just something so magical about a hardback bearing your name that is difficult for me to put into words. It's beyond fabulous. It's euphoric.

I'm now looking forward to seeing and feeling the US editions.

Is there another step beyond euphoria? You can bet there is.

There's enlightenment in the knowledge that people are buying and reading my book and enjoying it.

If PRIDE is one of the Seven Deadly Sins then I'm guilty as charged.

For all you budding writers take faith. It could be you.

Matt

DMD at Booksnbytes

http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/hilton_matt.html

For those of you that have missed it here's another chance to read Pat Reid's excellent review of Dead Men's Dust.

Would you believe it? Less than four weeks!

This is just a less than subtle reminder that it is now less than four weeks until the publication of Dead Men's Dust. The official launch date for the UK is Thursday 14th May 2009, but I am holding an 'unofficial pre-launch' at Waterstone's in Carlisle, Cumbria the evening before.

The book can now be pre-ordered from most booksellers.

Anyone purchasing a copy of the hardback on the night of the launch can have it personally signed for them.

Kirkus Reviews

I was flicking through the various sites where my debut book is on sale and came across this review of DMD by Kirkus Reviews - very influential book reviewers and often quoted on dust jackets. The first and last sentences both gave me pause to think Hmmmm? However the rest of the review says exactly what you get in the tin. Thought I'd share it with you and see what you think.

My feelings were: some semblance of a plot. That's good, at least there's some semblance.
Buckets of gore, not enough nuance to fill a thimble. I'll take the buckets of gore thank you very much.

What do you think? Answers on a new fifty pound note or you can simply leave a comment.

Kirkus Reviews
A debut thriller about an action hero in search of his brother and some semblance of a plot. Joe Hunter, ex-Special Forces agent and ex-cop, trained within an inch of his life, has survived a million rounds of hand-to-hand combat. He's earned a doctorate in lethal. Now a private-security consultant, he regards himself as a problem solver, though others might call him a vigilante. Either way, he's a hard man and not everyone likes him. At the moment Jennifer Tilfer, his sister-in-law, is prominent among his detractors because her husband, Joe's younger half-brother, has decamped, and she holds Joe responsible. When John needed his help, he withheld it, she insists, causing her man to flee from the bottom-feeders who hold his markers. Not exactly, says Joe. He had indeed come up with the cash, but John, a ne'er-do-well with a big-time gambling problem, blew it all on one more last-ditch, get-even effort. Be that as it may, Joe's imperative now is clearly inescapable. With his brother on the lam and his sister-in-law and her kids in the lurch, he has no choice but to locate John and set things right. From the North of England to Little Rock, Ark., and eventually to California, Joe follows feckless John, who's immersed himself in the mother of all messes. Enter the Harvestman, a serial killer with more than 20 deaths, several of them gruesomely described, to his credit. Having incurred his displeasure, John is in serious danger of being harvested by the time the brothers reconnect. So what happens? Joe slays the bad guys and the Harvestman acts out his psychopathology. There's not much else in the way of story until the obligatory climactic duel, in which the antagonists attempt to dismembereach other. Buckets of gore, not enough nuance to fill a thimble.

By the way, the book still gets a five star ranking at Barnes and Noble where the review appears. See link below.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Dead-Mens-Dust/Matt-Hilton/e/9780061717147/?itm=1&tabname=custreview#TABS

Follow The Clue for new review

http://followtheclue.wordpress.com/

Read a review of Dead Men's Dust by Harriet Klausner here.

My thanks to Harriet.

Dead Men's Dust at Euro Crime

http://eurocrime.blogspot.com/2009/04/matt-hilton.html

Over at Euro Crime, the pre-eminent crime blog, my debut gets a good mention, alongside the new book by Lee Child - drawing parrallels in the cover style.

I have great respect for Lee and to be mentioned alongside him is a great honour and privilege.

Book Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngM12lXkQCw

What's Up?

I'm currently counting down the days to the UK launch of Dead Men's Dust which is taking place on Thursday 14th May 2009.

I can't believe that there is less than five weeks to wait until I finally see my book on the stands in the shops. It's more exciting than waiting for Christmas x 10.

Only five days later, Tuesday 19th May 2009, the book goes on sale in the USA. I'm equally excited about the launch in the US, so have two really fabulous milestones to look forward to.

Of course the buzz doesn't end there. I'm having a launch in Waterstone's in my hometown of Carlisle (UK) on the Wednesday evening of the 13th May, the big launch in London on the 14th, off to Crimefest 15th, 16th, and 17th. I can't imagine I'll get much time on the 18th either, then it's the US launch the next day. Whooo!

Do you get the impression that the nerves have kicked in big style?

Keep on keeping on folks
Matt

Here's another location of Pat Reid's review of DMD

http://www.ibookdb.net/isbn/9780340978221

Again you may have read this already, but this is the review at Internet Book Database posted by Pat Reid.

Chapter 11 test

At Central Crime Zone, Jon Jordan has asked bloggers to post the first line of Chapter 11 of the book they're reading, and throughout the blogosphere, readers and writers are taking up the mantle. I thought that I'd do the same test with my own debut, Dead Men's Dust, and see what stands.

So here it is, the first line from Chapter 11:

'Only eight miles from Los Angeles International Airport and thirteen miles from downtown L.A., Santa Monica was pretty much Tubal Cain's most favourite place on the western coast.'

Sense of place? Who's Tubal Cain? Why's Santa Monica his favourite? I suppose that taking a random line like this can get the old grey matter buzzing.

Review at Bestseller World moved.

This is the link to the review at Bestseller World. Dead Men's Dust has been placed on the Home Page. You can still get to the review by the previously posted link, but this one takes you to the front page where the recommended books have a little spot. Quite an accolade, I think.

http://www.bestsellersworld.com/

Links to review

http://www.book-views.com/articles/22/1/Dead-Mens-Dust-by-Matt-Hilton/Page1.html

http://book-critique.com/articles/64/1/Dead-Mens-Dust-by-Matt-Hilton/Page1.html

Same review by Patricia Reid but different locations. But why not take a look, there are other things of interest at both Book Views and Book Critique.

Another link to a review.

http://www.bestsellersworld.com:80/reviews/hilton-dead_mens_dust.htm

This is another link to a review done of Dead Men's Dust by Patricia Reid. Some of you may have already taken a look at Goodreads.com, but, hey, why not take another look anyway? You might have missed something the first time :~)

Dead Men's Dust at CRIME TIME

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/1222

This is an article I wrote for popular crime fiction site - CRIME TIME - on-line now.

My thanks go to editor Barry Forshaw for the opportunity.

Matt

Note to myself.

Hit counter added today - no previous hits counted.

DMD gets another 5 star review at Good Reads

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45767332

Just got an absolutely fabulous review from HappyRuby over at www.goodreads.com

I'm delighted and would like to thank 'Ruby' for her very kind words.

Thanks
Matt

Crime Space page

http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MattHilton

Hi all, this is my new page at Crime Space.

Writing Magazine part two

I've just read the interview that Adrian Magson conducted with me which appears in the May 2009 edition of Writing Magazine. I'm 'chuffed to bits' as we say here in the UK. For many years I've often looked longingly at the debut authors page wishing that it was my face staring back at me - well it is now. A highlight in a huge year of highlights!
Thanks Adrian, and thanks to everyone else for your kind support.
Keep on keeping on
Matt

Col Bury's second at The Rap Sheet

http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2009/04/quick-and-dirty.html

It's great to see my good friend and fellow crime Writer beginning to get the recognition he deserves. Col's excellent interview with Manchester, UK, based Chris Simms has had a mention over at the Rap Sheet. This goes to recognise both Col and Chris' excellent discussion on writing.

Suddenly reality hits!

This is a window display at Waterstone's in Carlisle advertising my pending book launch on 13th may 2009.
Suddenly the reality of the book being published has set in.

New DMD voiceover for America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngM12lXkQCw

This is the brand new version of MEET JOE HUNTER with an American voice over.
Enjoy.

Matt

Joe Hunter thrillers on sale dates 2

Don't forget that this is the image you're looking for when searching for the USA edition of my book Dead Men's Dust

Joe Hunter thrillers on sale dates

These are the dates I have for when my books go on general sale...

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) Hodder and Stoughton 14th May 2009

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) William Morrow and Co 19th May 2009

Dead Men's Dust (Large paperback) Hodder and Stoughton 28th May 2009

Dead Men's Dust (Large print paperback) Harperluxe June 2009

Dead men's Dust (Paperback) Hodder and Stoughton 1st October 2009

Dead Men's Dust (Paperback) William Morrow and Co TBC

Dead Men's Dust (E-Book) Hodder and Stoughton TBC

Dead Men's Dust (E-Book) William Morrow and Co TBC

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) Hachette Australia TBC

Foreign translations:

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) Verlagsgruppe Random House TBC

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) Longanesi TBC

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) Era Media TBC

Dead Men's Dust (Hardback) RAO TBC

Judgement and Wrath (Hardback) Hodder and Stoughton 15th October 2009

Judgment and Wrath (Hardback) William Morrow and Co TBC

Writing Magazine - Debut Author

I've just heard from my good friend and top crime writer, Adrian Magson, that the piece he has done on me and Dead Men's Dust is appearing in the May edition of Writing Magazine. The magazine should be on the stands within the next few days, so be sure to flick straight through to page 42.

For years, as an unpublished writer, I was (and still am) an avid reader of WM and used to look dreamily at the Debut Authors page wishing that I was being featured. Well, here's to dreams coming true. For all you budding writers, take faith. It could be you!

I'm indebted to Adrian for his support.

Why not take a look at Adrian's website. All you have to do is click here http://adrianmagson.com
and enjoy.