Portuguese Rights for Calvino

One of the pleasures of the writing life is when a book is sold for translation into another language. My publisher has sold the Portuguese rights to The Risk of Infidelity Index to a publisher in Brazil. This raises the total of translations from English to 12 other languages. Most of the translations are for books in the Calvino series though foreign language editions of my literary novels have also sold. I look forward to working with the Portuguese translator as he/she works through the book. Inevitably questions arise as to the meaning of a word or phrase. The Spanish translation of The Risk of Infidelity Index is in the works and will be out summer 2009. 

There are enough words used by English speakers in Thailand to qualify for an Expat English, but this requires a careful balance. Peppering a novel with unusual words or phrases is not a way to bring a reader into a story where disbelief must be suspended. The occasional phrase, in the proper context where the meaning is obvious, however, does recreate the speech of locals.

 

 

Monsoon Rains and Crime Fiction

The sky darkened in Bangkok about 1.00 p.m. and the rains came down hard. An hour and a half later, as I write this, the motorcycle taxi drivers below my window remain under a couple of large umbrellas, sticking out their heads, looking at the sky. Driving in Bangkok during such a storm is always an experience. Motorcycles are on the roads, the driver soaked, looking wild-eyed, weaving in and out of the traffic. It is a miracle that there aren’t more accidents in the rain. The sky is clearing this afternoon and by evening it will be as if it never rained.

 

The 10^th Vincent Calvino novel Paying Back Jack has been shipped by Heaven Lake Press to bookstores in Thailand. Copies should be available by the weekend. If you don’t find a copy in your favorite bookstore, go to the front desk and ask the assistant for the book. There is no question that bookstore employees keep records of such customer requests, and if enough people ask for a book, guess what, someone notices and orders or reorders the title.

 

If you live outside of Thailand and don’t wish to wait until October 2009 to read Paying Back Jack, there remain a limited number of copies of the Heaven Lake Press edition that can be shipped. Click here to order your copy. Once you open the page, scroll down to the Vincent Calvino titles and Paying Back Jack is the first title you will find.

 

At the moment, the following signings have been lined for Paying Back Jack:

 

4^th November 2008    The Cactus Bar, Soi Cowboy from 8.00 p.m. (free food night) John’s food isn’t to be missed.

 

24^th December 2008  The Lonestar Bar, Washington Square from 2.30 p.m. (free Christmas dinner, the first Christmas without George Pipas presenting.)

 

January 2009            The Pattaya Expat Club (date and time being arranged)

PREORDER PAYING BACK JACK

Paying Back Jack, the 10th novel in the Vincent Calvino crime series, will be available to ship after 15th November. The first 25 readers who pre-order PAYING BACK JACK, will receive a signed copy. As investments go, a signed copy of JACK may yield a dividend in the future.

Here’s a preview of the new Calvino novel:

 

A retired general had a deadbeat tenant. Calvino is hired and though he get the money, the tenant is filled with the bitterness that only blood can wash away. But this is only the beginning of the bad blood. Rick Casey, an American, is after justice for the man who murdered his son in Thailand. Casey hires Calvino to follow Somporn’s minor wife. He is the allegedly mastermind the murder but he’s untouchable as an influential businessman, running for public office. As a Thai election approaches, Calvino’s investigation draws him into a murky world of private contractors, UN officials, and local politics. Calvino’s on a collision course with a professional team whose goal is to reduce a cosmic debt owed to a dead man named Jack.

 

Only 100 copies of Paying Back Jack can be shipped outside of Thailand. If you miss out on buying 1 of 100 copies of this edition, you’ll must wait until the Atlantic Monthly Press edition comes out in the Fall, 2009 or buy a copy in a bookstore in Thailand. Because of the restriction on the number of copies shipped overseas from Thailand, orders of Paying Back Jack are limited to no more than 2 copies per person.

 

You can pre-order you copy by clicking on: https://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/r1.cgi?4D9

 

Once you click through to the order page, you will find JACK under Latest Releases.

Calvino Publishing Update

My US publisher Grove/Atlantic will release the trade paperback edition of  The Risk of Infidelity Index in January 2009. Here’s a preview of the cover:

Paying Back Jack

The Heaven Lake Press edition of the 10th Vincent Calvino novel, Paying Back Jack, will be out in early December in Thailand. The distribution for this edition is limited to the Thailand. The Grove/Atlantic edition will be out worldwide in the Fall, 2009.

The Risk of Infidelity Index

 

The 9^th novel in the Vincent Calvino series published by Atlantic Books has had substantial support from the UK press. The Tribune Magazine reviewer Peter Whittaker has this to say about RISK:

 

“THE central character of Christopher Moore’s debut crime novel is Vincent Calvino, a disgraced Italian-American lawyer who has decamped to Thailand and reinvented himself as a private investigator. But the word debut here does not mean that either the author or his character is a wet-behind-the-ears neophyte because Moore has written 18 books, all published in Thailand, of which this is the ninth to feature Calvino. Moore offers an explanation of sorts for this state of affairs which casts a not-entirely favourable light on the vagaries of international publishing. That aside, the important questions are can Moore write and is he worth reading? On the evidence of this novel, the answers are unequivocally yes.

 

“Calvino is a sympathetic, doubt-ridden character and Moore can pilot a twisting plot with skill and panache. . . .”

Continue reading

Ranking Monday Morning in Bangkok

Waking up on a Monday morning in Bangkok to find Spirit House on amazon/kindle’s website is a great way to start the week. The price for the book is certainly right. It is a free download for Kindle owners. The promotion will last until the 15th August.Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 304 KB
Print Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic (August 1, 2008 )
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B0013TPWXM
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)
Popular in these categories: (What’s this?)

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Mystery & Thrillers
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Genre Fiction

MACAU TIMES INTERVIEW

Thomas Schmid wrote “Introducing Bangkok’s seamy side: Christopher G. Moore” in the Macau Times on Sunday 3 August. He writes about the publishing background of the Calvino series and the film deal for the books. “His hero Vincent Calvino accomplishes a carefully choreographed balancing act between eastern and western values, which is testimony to Moore’s thorough understanding of cultural differences, an ability which he has nurtured during his many years as a Bangkok resident.”

SPIRIT HOUSE: AMAZON and GROVE ATLANTIC

Most authors understand that without awareness of a book it is difficult to reach readers. Bloggers, some of whom are authors, offer suggestions as to how to break through the noise of the marketplace and attract the attention of readers. It is hardly a science and opinions differ on what works and what doesn’t. The reality is that most books pass an anonymous life to a quiet grave. That fear drives authors to try ways at marketing. I’ve tried as well with my books over the years. An interview here, a review there, and there is a bump in sales. But what all authors wish for is not a bump but a mountain.

My publisher along with Amazon has given me that rare chance to breakout a crime fiction series. The month of August will be a telling one for SPIRIT HOUSE. I could consult a local shaman to read the tealeaves. But tealeaves are better left to brew and the tea drunk. As what happens next no one knows for sure. It is a new experiment. I am told this is the first joint venture of its kind. And it is also an exciting and creative one, finding a way to bring together a traditional literary publisher and with the most significant provider of new technology for reading books. They can see a common interest, and a way forward that honors books and uses technology to expand readership.

Hopefully the results will demonstrate that publishing isn’t a zero-sum game. That an electronic reading devices like the Kindle don’t kill print copy sales; instead, they increase traditional book sales. Or at least that’s the goal. If this works as everyone involved hopes, then publishers and electronic technology providers will have established a common interest beneficial to both.

The deal is Kindle reader can download Spirit House for free for two weeks from 1st August. The trade paperback edition of SPIRIT HOUSE will be released on 28th August in the US.

This is the press release from Amazon and Grove Atlantic

NEW YORK/ SEATTLE, July 30: SPIRIT HOUSE, a novel by Christopher G. Moore, will be made available free to Amazon Kindle customers before its print publication on August 28. The book, to be published by Grove Press, will be available as a free download for Amazon Kindle customers between August 1 and August 15. Kindle is Amazon’s portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, blogs, magazines and newspapers to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper. For more information on Kindle, or to order a Kindle for $359, visit http://amazon.com/kindle.

“Earlier this year, we introduced this internationally bestselling author to the United States,” said Morgan Entrekin, President and Publisher of Grove Atlantic. “We think this innovative partnership is a great way to expand Moore’s audience even further.”

“Amazon is pleased to work with Grove to make Christopher G. Moore’s SPIRIT HOUSE available one month in advance of print for Kindle owners,” said Ian Freed, vice president of Kindle. “We continue to offer unique benefits for Kindle owners while adding to the Kindle catalog of over 140,000 books.”

SPIRIT HOUSE is the second of Moore’s “Vincent Calvino Crime Novels” to be published in the United States. Another book in the series, The Risk of Infidelity Index was published by Atlantic Monthly Press in January 2008.

In the nearly twenty years he has lived in Bangkok, Moore has written nine novels starring the Calvino character, a disbarred American lawyer working as a P.I. in the dark and steamy Thai capital. Internationally acclaimed, the prize-winning novels have been translated into ten languages. Publishers Weekly called The Risk of Infidelity Index a “complex, intelligent novel,” and according to Kirkus, “the darkly raffish Bangkok milieu is a treat.”

CALVINO BOOK NEWS UPDATE

PAYIING BACK JACK, the 10th in the Calvino series will be released in Thailand in December 2008 and in 2009 by Atlantic Monthly Press in New York. ASIA HAND will be released by Atlantic Monthly Press in New York in 2010. Meanwhile I am at the early stages of writing Calvino 11 and that explains for the infrequent updating of the blog.