On the road again.

I was out at another library event last night, this time at Spennymoor in County Durham. Lovely library and bigger than what I expected. Again I had a lovely crowd of knowledgeable and interested readers who make such events so easy (I prefer interaction with the attendees as opposed to listening to myself waffle on).

One pertinent moment that will stick with me for a long time was when lines from Dead Men's Dust were quoted back to me - now I know how a 'real author' feels. It's funny how you write things that appeal to people but they are pushed to some dim corner at the back of your mind while you press on with new writing. It was nice to be reminded of Joe Hunter's mind set from the first book.

My favourite of the night?  "Best tactic? In fast and noisy, shoot anything that wasn't wearing lip-gloss."

I'd forgotten all about that one and it was a pleasure to be reminded of it. If you're reading this: Thanks Ernie.
Matt

Better late than never

Two days ago I travelled over to the north-east again to a small library event at Bowburn, near Durham. It was a small intimate affair with an equally small but appreciative crowd, and again lovely in that the attendees were familiar with my books. It means that the message is spreading and my name is getting out there. What more can I ask? Nothing. But i can thank everyone for spreading the word. Cheers one and all.

SLASH AND BURN BOOK LAUNCH 31/03/2010

Hi all,
I can now confirm that the official launch of Joe Hunter 3 - SLASH AND BURN - is scheduled for Wednesday 31st March 2010, at Waterstone's book shop, Scotch Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, and I extend an open invitation to all who want to attend.

This is your opportunity to get your first edition copies personally signed by yours truly, a day before the books go on general sale.

The more the merrier folks, tell all your friends

Matt

Brains Vs Brawn

Hi all,
I've just today recieved my panel assignment for this year's Crimefest, taking place between Thursday 20th and Sunday 23rd May 2010 at the Marriott Hotel, Bristol, UK.

My panel is as follows:

Friday, 21 May


2.10 - 3.00

Too Tough to Die: Brains vs Brawn - Action Thrillers & Psychological

Suspense

participants for this panel are:

* Clem Chambers

* Ann Cleeves

* Matt Hilton

* Tim Weaver

Moderator: Sarah Rayne

CRIMEFEST is fast becoming a predominant factor on the crime writing convention circuit. For more info about the convention and participants etc look here: http://www.crimefest.com/

Newton Hall or bust.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of travelling over to County Durham to the allegedly largest single housing estate in Europe. I was attending a library event at Newton Hall, Durham with gritty northeast crime writer, Sheila Quigley.
It was a different event fromothers that I'd done as the people attending were knowledgeable and had actually read my debut novel (a turn up for the books as they say), so instead of having to introduce myself and explain all about Joe Hunter etc, we could get straight into things.
It was a great night, and I enjoyed it very much. Thanks to all that attended and who threw all those intelligent questions at us.
Matt

COMPETITION UP-DATE - IMPORTANT CHANGE

Many of you will have alreay read that I am running a competition to win a signed first edition hardback of Joe Hunter 3 - SLASH and BURN - and the rules can be found by clicking the book cover in the sidebar.

Well, after much thought and deliberation, I decided that you all should have the opportunity to read the wonderful stories being sent in, with the opportunity to read them all and to comment and vote on your favourite.

I thought that this would be a fairer and more translucent process than me picking my favourites (it also dispells any claims of favouritism on my part!!)

So here's how it's going to go now:

I have set up a new blog called 'JOE HUNTER'S FIXERS' and you can find it here: http://joehuntersfixers.blogspot.com/

I will post each story anonymously, so the stories themselve rest on their merits and not on the name of the author. Please do read and leave comments, but if you are the author please don't make it  known by replying to them - yet -you can do that once the competition has ended if you wish.

On the closing date for entries, I will open voting by way of a poll.

The top three (voted for by you and me) will then be posted at Thrillers, Killers 'N' Chillers and here at Matt Hilton Thrills and voting will be re-opened to find everyone's favourite. I will collate the votes from both sites and then announce the winner on 1st April and arrange for the book to be sent to the winner.

Remember, this is just a bit of fun. Copyright remains the property of the individual author and your story is yours to do with as you wish following the closing date. I will of course credit each story with the authors name afterwards. Happy writing - and good luck.

I hope you all agree that this is a clearer and fairer way of judging, and now invite you all to go over to JOE HUNTER'S FIXERS to read the first entries already posted there.

Matt

Popcorn time - we're going to the movies.

Some of you may recall that last year when at Thrillerfest in New York, I took part -along with a group of other top authors - in a discussion on various different aspects of the crime and thriller genres.

If you want to know what is our grisliest death scenes we've written, or how we most resemble our fictional hero or how we'd describe our books in 12 words, then you can find out via the movie links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pek-Q7ga1cc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYnW6wz8r8M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLXAvcjoCV0

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_X9JeA3gIA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN_ZrSNVnR8


Hands up who thought I was about to announce a Joe Hunter movie?