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