newsletter: february, 2001
The paperback edition of I Hope You Have A Good Life is being published on March 1 in the UK by Warner Books under the original British title of All That Really Matters. Warner has produced a fine-looking book. (The US paperback is scheduled for 2002.)
Later in March, BBC4 will feature the book as its Book of the Week, a five-piece adaptation. It’s hoped that the fine Scots actor Brian Cox will do the reading. Apart from appearances in films such as Rob Roy, and Miracle Man, he was also the original Hannibal Lector in the movie Manhunter. (Some say his is the more authentic version of that character - and I’d agree.) His stage work is considerable.
Also in March, Corgi Books in the UK will publish the paperback edition of a suspense novel first published last year, entitled Deadline. This is one of those fast-moving twisty stories that skirts the edges of dementia. It was fun to write. I hope the end is suitably unpredictable.
In May, HarperCollins will publish The Bad Fire, the first fiction I’ve ever written that’s set entirely in my home town, Glasgow. It’s a story of family secrets, and old crimes, and a man’s return to the city of his birth. Researching this book was strange, at times disorienting - I visited places that were so fresh in memory and yet in reality they’d ceased to exist. My old school - gone: a vacant lot now, weeds and nettles. An old poolhall that’s a video arcade. A dancehall transformed into a huge supermarket. I felt I was tracking ghosts, and although I could glimpse them I could never confront them. I wanted the city to play a big part in the novel. I hope that comes across.
At the Edinburgh International Book Festival this summer, I’d like to read from The Bad Fire.
contents©2006 Campbell Armstrong
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