Brian Freeman's Blog, page 41
July 5, 2012
Northfield Library
Elk River Library
June 27, 2012
The Late Great Video Store
Marcia and I were in the lovely town of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, recently, and we did something we hadn't done in a long time -- go to a video rental store.
You don't see too many video stores anymore. The majority of people now watch movies online or rent by mail through Netflix. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, though, video stores were everywhere, a part of our cultural and social fabric. Sort of like...um...bookstores.
Yes, it was an unhappy reminder of the challenges we face in the publishing industry. It's not that people can't buy books online, or that bookstores have gone away entirely, but bricks and mortar stores are not nearly as prevalent as they once were.
Why does that matter? Well, as we wandered the shelves of the video store, I remembered that visiting Blockbuster or Video World was the principal way that we used to find out what movies were available. We saw all of the current movies (old movies, too) in one place. We picked up the covers and studied the descriptions. We noted who was acting in what movies. Even if we didn't rent a particular movie that day, we made a mental note of it for the future. Without that experience, we just don't know what movies are really out there anymore.
Sure, we could replicate that experience online. There's no information you can find in a store that you can't find at the Netflix web site -- and a lot more. But we just don't do it with any regularity. It's not the same experience.
That's what authors face, too. Yes, people can find all the information about books online that they used to find in bookstores, but for many people, it's just not an ingrained habit (yet). The result is that I think fewer readers know about the wonderful diversity of authors and books that are available. It means it's much harder for authors to find new readers (and vice versa).
There's no point in crying in our coffee, though. The world moves on, even if I do miss video stores, and even if I wish we had as many great bookstores everywhere as we used to have.
But it does mean something for readers and authors alike. Writers now rely on readers more than ever to spread the word to their friends. If you like an author, if you want him or her to keep writing, then tell everyone you can. We may not have as many bookstore shelves to browse anymore, but we still have word of mouth. That's what will keep readers buying books, and that's what will keep writers in business.
June 25, 2012
Wentworth Library
June 13, 2012
Quebecrime
June 1, 2012
Don't Miss It
I've been all across the country in the past month...Houston, Dallas, Vero, Portland, Seattle, Dayton, Denver, Phoenix, and several stops in my home state of Minnesota. It's been a great opportunity to meet with booksellers and readers and chat about my new book, SPILLED BLOOD.
Speaking of SPILLED BLOOD, Booklist -- the national review publication of the American Library Association -- has checked in with a stunning starred review of the new book: "Suspense doesn't get more excruciating than this....Reading this novel is like walking a tightrope in a high wind. Don't miss it." This is a wonderful endorsement from that most important segment of readers: librarians! It's also nice to have that kind of praise in advance of the ALA national convention in Anaheim, where I'll be participating in mystery panels on Saturday, June 23.
There's a lot of activity overseas now, too. My fifth book, THE BONE HOUSE, was just released by Circulo de Lectores in Spain as MARCADO A FUEGO. The book will be arriving in Italian bookstores in just a couple weeks (June 12) as IL DUBBIO. My Italian publisher, Piemme, also did a re-release of my first book, IMMORAL, with an exciting new cover.
My new Stride novel is done and will be released in 2013. I'm about to start work on my ninth novel (hardly seems possible!), which will bring back Cab Bolton from THE BONE HOUSE. Stay tuned!
May 1, 2012
In Stores Now
The long wait is over!
The U.S. edition of my seventh novel, SPILLED BLOOD, is officially available all across the country. So head to your local bookstore, or buy it now at BN.com or Amazon. Or put it on your Nook or Kindle.
Here's what #1 bestselling crime fiction author Lisa Gardner has to say about the new book: "SPILLED BLOOD is everything a great suspense novel should be: gripping, shocking, and moving. Brian Freeman proves once again he's a master of psychological suspense, as he layers one family's crisis with an entire town's drama, building to an epic crescendo of rage, revenge and redemption."
I also have events scheduled around the country in May, including visits to Dallas, Houston, Vero Beach, Portland, Seattle, Dayton, Denver, and Phoenix -- as well as the Twin Cities and Duluth-Superior areas. Full details of my entire tour are available on the events page of my web site. I hope you can join me if I'll be in your area! If for any reason you can't make it, remember that you can always order signed, personally inscribed copies through the stores.
SPILLED BLOOD takes you to a remote part of southwestern Minnesota, amid dirt roads and ghost towns. Here's what you can expect from this latest thriller:
Two teenage girls play a deadly game of Russian Roulette...
It's every parent's worst nightmare. Christopher Hawk's daughter has been accused of murder . . . and she looks guilty as sin. Chris rushes to the rural lands of southern Minnesota, where his ex-wife and his only child, Olivia, now live, determined to defend his daughter.
He discovers two towns at war: Barron, where a chemical company has brought jobs and money, and St. Croix, Olivia's downriver home, where the same chemicals are believed to have brought death: a cancer cluster with mysterious origins. Olivia is at the center of the feud, and so is the girl she's suspected of killing. If Chris is to find out what really happened, he needs to learn everything about his daughter... but he's beginning to realize he hardly knows her at all.
Chris wants to believe Olivia is innocent, but belief is only the first step. Now he has to prove it. And all the while, her enemies are waiting, baying for her blood...
This book will again bring you relentless twists and turns and intense emotional suspense. It's among my very favorite books, and it's a beautiful edition, with a truly extraordinary cover. I hope you will add SPILLED BLOOD to your bookshelves today! Naturally, you can also find my earlier books for yourself or for friends, including THE BONE HOUSE, THE BURYING PLACE, IN THE DARK, STALKED, STRIPPED, and IMMORAL.
Oh, and never fear, the new Jonathan Stride novel will be available in 2013!
April 16, 2012
Tour Time
My seventh novel, SPILLED BLOOD, will be available in the U.S. on May 1!
I'll be doing one of my most wide-ranging tours in several years in May to support the release of the new book. This includes cities and bookstores I've visited in the past -- but not in many years -- as well as new venues around the country.
You can look for me in May in Dallas, Houston, Vero Beach, Portland, Seattle, Dayton, Denver, and Phoenix...as well as my home area, including the Twin Cities, Duluth, and Superior.
Get complete details on all of my tour events by clicking here!
I can't always get to far-flung areas of the country as often as I'd like, so I hope you'll put my event on your calendar if I'll be in your area. Be sure to stop by for the Q&A and get a book signed. If you can't make it in person, most of the stores I'll be visiting will happily take pre-orders, so you can still get a personalized copy.
See you soon!
March 22, 2012
Stride Returns in SPITTING DEVIL
I know that you're all looking forward to the release of my seventh novel SPILLED BLOOD in the U.S. in May. it's already out in the UK, and I've been delighted by the response from readers and reviewers.
Of course, everyone is asking me a question, too...when will Jonathan Stride return? Never fear, I have completed the next full-length Stride novel, and it will be available in spring of 2013. In the meantime, however, you can meet Stride again right now.
I have a new 15,000-word Jonathan Stride short story called "Spitting Devil" that is available as an e-exclusive. In the UK, it's currently available for free in the Kindle store at Amazon UK -- and it has spent a lot of time at #1 this week in the Kindle Free Store. That's a huge honor. You can see the Kindle UK page here.
For those of you in the U.S., "Spitting Devil" is available exclusively through the Barnes & Noble NOOK store. You can see the NOOK page for the story here. The current price is only 99 cents!
You do NOT have to have an actual NOOK device to purchase the story from the Barnes & Noble store. You can download free NOOK apps to run on your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android. Visit the free NOOK page by clicking here.
This story marks the first return of Stride since THE BURYING PLACE in 2010. It's a shocking story of a woman who grows increasingly suspicious that her husband is a serial killer -- and she must decide whether to turn him in. For those of you wondering about the next steps in Stride's love life, you'll also find hints here!
Don't miss it!
