David Moody's Blog, page 54

The Black Fang Betrayal – Booktrack competition

Remember THE BLACK FANG BETRAYAL? It’s a great collaborative novel that I co-wrote with a host of incredible authors last year. The book was put together by James Thorn, and featured connected stories from TW Brown, Michaelbrent Collings, Mainak Dhar, J.C. Eggleton, Glynn James, Stephen Knight, T.W. Piperbrook and J.R. Rain. BOOKTRACK are running a BLACK FANG Halloween competition you might be interested in. Click here or on the image below for more information. You can win a heap of goodies, including a writing class with Thorn and a few free Booktracks written by some guy called Moody…

Have you heard of BOOKTRACK before? It’s a really cool concept. Described as a movie-style soundtrack for ebooks, it adds a whole new level to your reading experience. It’s something I’m very excited about, and I’m even more excited to announce that the first wave of Infected Books Booktracks will be live on the site shortly. More news coming soon.

The Black Fang Betrayal – Booktrack competition is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

HATER – US and Canada ebook price drop

Not read HATER yet? Need to get into the series in readiness for the new books coming soon? Want to read the story again ready for next year’s movie? Now’s the perfect time to do it. The price of the ebook version of the book from St Martin’s Press has just been slashed to $2.99! Get in quick! Get it from Amazon, B&N, or iBooks.

HATER – US and Canada ebook price drop is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Announcing THE FRONT

When things are quiet here, it’s usually because I’m working hard on stuff in the background (honest). Right now I’m dividing my frustratingly limited writing time between a few major projects: ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING (HATER book #4), a huge Infected Books initiative for 2016, THE SPACES BETWEEN and this one.

A short while ago, top writers and good pals TIM LONG and CRAIG DILOUIE invited me to contribute a book to a brand new three volume World War II zombie series called THE FRONT. How could I refuse? I can’t say too much about it right now, so I’ll just let the cover of volume one do the talking. Tim’s writing this one, and it should hit the shelves in December. My book will be next up in the early part of next year.

Exciting, eh? So I’m sorry if I’ve neglected the site a little recently, and I apologise if I’m taking far too long to reply to any emails or messages you’ve sent this way, but at least it means 2016 should be filled to capacity with apocalyptic horror. I can’t wait.

If you want to hear more about this and other projects, don’t forget to come and see WAYNE SIMMONS and I in conversation at Waterstones, New Street Birmingham on 30 October at 7pm. Full details are here.

Announcing THE FRONT is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

There’s more to zombies than the Walking Dead…

Thanks to the staff at Waterstones Merry Hill for their kind words (and equally kind pimping) of AUTUMN. Much appreciated!

There’s more to zombies than the Walking Dead… is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

TOO YOUNG TO BE OLD – final parts available to read now

Just a very quick post to let you know that the final two parts of my 5TH WAVE story – TOO YOUNG TO BE OLD – are now available to read at Wattpad. If you remember from my last post, I was approached by Wattpad and Sony Pictures to write a UK-based story as part of the publicity campaign for the forthcoming 5TH WAVE movie, and this is the result. I hope you enjoy it.

The 5TH WAVE movie hits the screen worldwide in January 2016.

TOO YOUNG TO BE OLD – final parts available to read now is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The 5th Wave – London Under Attack

Have you heard of THE 5TH WAVE? It’s a wildly successful apocalyptic YA book series by Rick Yancey. The novel first caught my eye thanks to a pretty spectacular trailer which accompanied its release back in 2013, and a big-budget movie adaptation (starring  and ) hits the screens early next year. When WATTPAD and SONY PICTURES asked me to write a UK-based short story about the first wave, I leapt at the chance.

You know, I think I’m generally pretty hard on my characters (and let’s face it, most of them deserve it), but I have nothing on Yancey. The 5th Wave deals with an alien invasion where the invaders inflict the titular apocalyptic waves on the planet in quick succession. The first wave – lights out – is an electromagnetic pulse which knocks out all electricity around the globe. That’s swiftly followed by literal waves as a series of tsunamis are triggered. As if that’s not enough, a devastating pandemic is then unleashed. The fourth wave is more subtle but no less deadly as the aliens appear among us, disguising themselves by taking human form. And the fifth wave…? Who knows. All will soon be revealed. The final book in the series is due out next year.

The first two parts of my story (called TOO YOUNG TO BE OLD) are available to read right now at Wattpad. Please head over and check them out or use the widget I’ve embedded below. The final two parts will follow later this year. It would make me very happy if you’d read, vote, comment and share the story.

And to get you in the mood and whet your appetite, here’s the trailer for the movie:

And here’s the story:

The 5th Wave – London Under Attack is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

SCREAM issue 32

I owe my friends at SCREAM MAGAZINE an apology. I’ve been meaning to post for a while to let you know that issue 32 is out, but various things have conspired to get in the way and I’ve not had chance to put anything together until now.

As usual, this month’s issue is filled with great articles including a feature on the classic Hammer horror films THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and TWINS OF EVIL – known collectively as The Karnstein Trilogy. There’s something timeless and unique about Hammer movies. This box set is one of my prized horror possessions, and I’d recommend it without hesitation to anyone with even a passing interest in the horror genre. Required viewing.

Back to the mag and, as always, the team behind SCREAM have proved their horror credentials. Where else could you find an interview with Mike Christopher aka Hare Krishna zombie in .

From the earlier days of the zombie sub-genre to the bang up to date. SCREAM 32 includes a piece on FEAR THE WALKING DEAD which features interviews with Robert Kirkman and others. I recently watched the first episode of FEAR and was completely underwhelmed. if you’ve been watching, answer me this: should I stick with it?

To get hold of SCREAM, visit www.screamhorrormag.com. You can also pick up the magazine from any branch of HMV, Forbidden Planet, or any of the newsagents listed here. SCREAM is also available digitally as iSCREAM!

SCREAM issue 32 is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Event update

Remember the huge Infected Books event I told you about recently? I need to let you know about a slight change of plan. It’s still on Friday 30 October at 7pm, it’s still going to be a cracking evening, we still want you to come in Halloween fancy dress if you’re up for it… we just need you to go to a different Waterstones store.

For those of you who know my home town of Birmingham, we have (for a short while longer) two large branches of Waterstones. We were originally scheduled to be in the High Street branch, but we’re relocating to the very beautiful New Street store instead, just a five minute walk away. This makes me happy: it’s an amazing building, and it’s where – three years ago this month – I got to interview one of my writing heroes, the legendary James Herbert (photographic evidence below). The store’s closing soon, so this is a great way to send it off in style.

As well as launching Wayne Simmons‘ new novel VOODOO CHILD and (hopefully) interviewing the book’s co-author Andre Duza via Skype, I’ll also be reading from the next HATER novel and talking a little about the upcoming movie.

We’ve space for over a hundred folks, but places are filling fast. If you’re intending on coming along, please send an email to the store (birminghamnewst@waterstones.com) or tweet @WstonesNewSt to let us know you’re coming along.

Event update is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The second HATER trilogy

I’ve got some more HATER news for you: I’m writing a new HATER book. Actually, I’m writing three.

For me, the original HATER series was nicely self-contained. Although the whole world had gone crazy and imploded, the books were first and foremost Danny McCoyne’s story. I resisted even thinking about writing other books for a long time because I’d told all of Danny’s story and without a damn good reason to go back to the world of HATER, I thought any additional novels would just be a cynical cash in.

Enter Ed Barratt.

I introduced you to Ed last week. He’s the producer of the new HATER movie, and over the last few months he and I have talked extensively about how, if the first movie is successful, we’d want the rest of Danny’s story to be adapted for screen. The second HATER trilogy is a direct result of those conversations.

Details are pretty sparse at the moment, but click the link and I’ll tell you what I know.

As I’ve already said, in HATER I turned the whole world upside-down, but we only really ever saw what Danny McCoyne saw. What’s unique about this series, I think, is that we’re watching things from an unusual perspective: we’re rooting for the ‘bad guys’. But what keeps drawing me back to the HATER world is the fact we don’t really know who those bad guys are. Pretty much everyone – Haters and Unchanged alike – believe they’re doing the right thing for the right reason, no matter how vile or inhuman their actions might prove to be.

I guess what I’m saying is there’s two sides to every story. It would be easy for me to retell the story from the perspective of the Unchanged, but it always felt like that would be a cop-out (still, rewriting the same book from a different viewpoint clearly works for the occasional unfathomably popular shit-peddler). The new HATER books WON’T just be a rehash of the first three.

I don’t know when they’ll be released or by whom. If I decide to take the Infected Books route, expect to see the first novel sooner rather than later (early 2016, I hope). Whatever happens, I’ll keep you updated.

So having already told you that I can’t tell you much, is there anything I can say? The short answer is yes, but I don’t want to go into too much detail for fear of giving away too many surprises. For today I think I’ll just leave you with the titles of the upcoming books and a fact about each one:

ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING

The first new book feels to me like a cross between HATER, a slasher movie, and THE THING. It’s very claustrophobic. It’s also very different to HATER.

THE OTHER HALF

Is a parallel sequel to DOG BLOOD (same place, same time). The title has a double meaning.

THE LAST SUMMER

Bridges a gap between DOG BLOOD and THEM OR US. Danny McCoyne (probably) won’t appear, but you’ll definitely recognise a few other names and faces.

Exciting, eh? I’ll tell you more about the books as things progress. And in the next couple of weeks I’ll also update you on my other new series, THE SPACES BETWEEN.

The second HATER trilogy is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

THE HATER MOVIE

Right… I think that announcement is long overdue. The all-important press release follows. There will be opportunity to ask me questions in the coming weeks, and there will be ANOTHER HATER-related announcement next week. For now, here are the facts:

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Hook Pictures producer Ed Barratt and David Moody announce a deal to bring Moody’s classic novel of violence and paranoia – HATER – to the screen.

David Moody independently released HATER onto an unsuspecting world in 2006, and within a couple of short months the movie rights had been snapped up by Hollywood. The production was fast-tracked and attracted some big names. Then, as is frequently the way, the project stalled.

Moody and his fans were left in limbo.

The novel went on to be republished by St Martins Press in the US, Gollancz in the UK, Goldmann in Germany and by numerous other publishers around the world. Two well-received sequels – DOG BLOOD and THEM OR US – followed.

But still no movie.

Enter Ed Barratt and Hook Pictures. Ed said “From the first page of the series I could see the potential for Hater to be adapted into a defining piece of British cinema; that I’m now working with David towards that end is almost as big a thrill as the books themselves”.

Ed and David are thrilled to announce that the development of the HATER movie is now underway from a script by Moody.

“I’m delighted to be working with Ed on this project,” said Moody. “The buzz of having Hollywood interest in my work never really wore off, despite the film not reaching the screen, but there was always a part of me that regretted selling such a small-scale, gritty and uniquely British story to a huge production company. I met with Ed and was immediately impressed by his enthusiasm for the books, and it quickly became apparent that we share a common vision with regard to how this story should be told on screen. When the opportunity to take back the rights and work with Ed arose, I took it without hesitation.

“The central theme of HATER is, I think, more prescient than ever. It deals with some major sociological issues in a unique and confrontational way and I’m confident we’ll create a wildly original movie the likes of which hasn’t been seen before. HATER is a collision between the normality of day-to-day life in the UK today and a full-on apocalyptic nightmare.”

HATER is currently in development for a late 2016 shoot.

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And I’d like to introduce you to Ed:  Hook Pictures was founded in 2012 as a vehicle for creative producer Ed Barratt to continue to work with fresh and ambitious writing and directing talent to create critically and commercially successful feature films.

Hook Pictures’ debut feature film was Rowan Athale’s The Rise (aka Wasteland) – completed in 2012 – which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before screening at London, Rotterdam and Santa Barbara Film Festivals whilst selling to distributors around the world and being nominated for several awards. Ed Barratt was recognised by BAFTA as a Breakthrough Brit for his work on the film.

Hook Pictures has a strong slate of projects in development and relationships with some of the UK’s most exciting new writing and directing talent. Three films are slated to enter production in 2015/16 and the company is venturing into new and original IP by launching comic book publisher Ninth Man in association with leading graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero.

THE HATER MOVIE is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER