I’d like to wish you all a wonderful festive season, and a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2014!
My sincere thanks to all of you who have supported my books over the years and who have contributed to the recent success of The Lewis Trilogy.
2013 saw the trilogy go from strength to strength in the UK and mainland Europe, with an amazing breakthrough in the USA where The Blackhouse was only recently published.
But before I tell you about the highlights of the year for me, I have some exciting news about my next book Entry Island. For those of you who don’t know, Entry Island is set in part on the Isle of Lewis and in part on the Magdalen Islands of Quebec. It was scheduled for release in early January 2014, but…
ENTRY ISLAND RELEASED EARLY
Entry Island will be available in hardback in the UK on Boxing Day, December 26th 2013!
If you want to buy Entry Island online, here are some useful links…![ENTRY-30[1]](https://maypeter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/entry-301.jpeg)
for Kindle UK, click here…
and readers from anywhere in the world can get FREE worldwide delivery of the hardback edition with 15% off the price from The Book Depository.
To buy Entry Island, or any other books from The Book Depository, click here
Of course it’s also available from bookstores such as WH Smiths and Waterstones, or in supermarkets like Tesco, or from your favourite independent bookstores. I’ve heard that books are already appearing in the shops in advance of Boxing Day.
UK and Paris Tour, signings and talks,
January 2014
Also I’ll be coming to venues in the UK and Paris to talk about Entry Island. The full list of dates and venues can be found at the end of this post.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2013
It’s been an extraordinary year which began with The Chessmen spending almost 6 months in the UK hardback best seller charts. There were some wonderful reviews across the board in the UK and The Independent declared that The Chessmen “…completes one of the best-regarded crime series of recent years”.
The summer brought a flurry of nominations for writing awards on both sides of the Altantic. The Lewis Man was in the final shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Blackhouse was shortlisted for a Macavity Award and a Barry Award in the USA.
In September I went to Albany, New York for the Bouchercon Crime Writing conference and was absolutely delighted when George Easter of Deadly Pleasures Magazine announced that The Blackhouse was the winner of the Barry Award for the Crime Novel of the Year in the US.
Me with the Barry Award for “The Blackhouse”
Readers in the USA have had to wait a long time to catch up with The Lewis Trilogy, but I’m glad to be able to tell you that The Lewis Man will be coming to the USA in 2014.
Hebrides, the photo companion to The Lewis Trilogy came out in October in the UK and according to my E-mail In Box, David Wilson’s beautiful photographs will be turning up in more than a few Christmas stockings this year (I hope I haven’t spoiled the surprise for anyone!)
In the summer, I travelled to Lewis with a French film crew to make a documentary about The Lewis Trilogy which will be broadcast in France in January 2014.
I was back on the island a month later when BBC Radio Scotland took me to the Hebrides to record – at locations that appear in The Blackhouse – a special one-hour “Out Of Doors” programme. It was a sensitive and – at times – emotional exploration of the story of the book and my personal relationship and connections with the Outer Hebrides. It was broadcast in the Autumn but is being repeated on Radio Scotland in January. You can hear it broadcast on the internet from anywhere in the world, or you can listen from my website on the ”Latest News” page.
Also, by following the above link to my Latest News page, you’ll find video of me talking about Entry Island and some audio book clips of excerpts from the book to give a taste of it.
Before I go, here are my dates in the UK and Paris, I hope you’ll come along and see me if you can…
ENTRY ISLAND TOUR 2014
EVENTS IN UK
Saturday 11th January
7pm
Event in association with Waterstones, Aberdeen
Venue: MacRobert Lecture Theatre, MacRobert Building, Kings Street, University of Aberdeen
Tickets: £5/£4 concessions
Tel for tickets: 01224 592 440
Email: aberdeen@waterstones.com
Mon 13th January
7pm
Event with Waterstone’s, Inverness
Venue: Inverness Town House. Inverness Town House, Inverness, IV2 4SF
Tickets: £5
Interviewer: Robert Taylor, Editor of Inverness Courier
Tel for Tickets: 01463 233500
Tues 14th January
Late am
Informal signing: Waterstone’s, Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Tues 14th January
12.30 – 2.00pm
Formal signing: WH SMITHS, 53 – 55 Argyle St, Glasgow G2 8AH
Contact: Brian McIntyre, 0141 204 0636
Email: 1148.mgr@whsmith.co.uk
Tues 14th January
7.00pm – 8.30pm
Event with Waterstones, 38 Avenue Centre, Newton Mearns, G77 6EY
Venue: Primavera Bistro, Newton Mearns
Tickets: free (but need to book)
Tel: 0141 6163933
Wed 15th January
7pm
Event with Blackwells, 53 – 62 Southbridge, Edinburgh EH1 1YS
Venue: The Roxy Theatre, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU
Tickets: £5
Tel: 0131 622 8222
e-mail: events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk
Thurs 16th January
11.30am
Informal signing: Waterstone’s, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh
Thurs 16th January
12.30pm – 1.30pm
Formal signing: Waterstone’s George St, Edinburgh
Tel: 0843 290 8309 to reserve a signed copy
Thurs 16th January
6.30pm
In association with Waterstone’s, 35 Commercial Street, Dundee DD1 3DG
Venue: Steps Theatre, The Wellgate, Dundee,
DD1 1DB
Interviewer: Helen Brown, Dundee Courier
Tickets: free but booking essential
Tel for tickets: 01382 200322
Tues 21st January
7pm
Waterstones’ Piccadilly, London
Tickets: £5/£3
Tel: 020 78512400
Email: events.piccadilly@waterstones.com
EVENTS IN PARIS
Wednesday 22 January 2014
Signing 6-7pm
Presentation 7-8pm
Venue: WH Smith,
Address: 248 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
(Metro: Concorde)
http://www.whsmith.fr/evenementsE.htm
RSVP to books@whsmith.fr
Thursday 23 January 2014
18h00
Venue: Librairie L’Écailler
Address: 101 Rue du Théâtre, 75015 Paris, France
Phone: 01 45 75 30 72
Friday 24 January 2014
18h30
Venue: Librairie Maruani
Address: 171 Boulevard Vincent Auriol, 75013 Paris, France
Phone: 01 45 85 85 70
Saturday 25 January 2014
15h00
Venue: Librairie Gilbert Joseph
Address: 26 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris, France
Phone: 01 44 41 88 88
Saturday 25 January 2014
18h00
Venue: Librairie Acacia
Address: 33/35 bd du Temple, 75003 Paris, France
(Métro République ou Filles du Calvaire)
Tél. : 01 48 04 76 52
Thanks again for your support and have a great festive season!
Peter.
Peter May Author 
Dear Peter! A Very Merry Christmas to you from a Swedish reader. I have just finished the three Lewis-books and if I could have one wish on Christmas Eve, it is that you, one day, would return to Isle of Lewis and all the people there that we have come to know so well – and love. I have been to Lewis a couple of times and I can see the landscape before me as you paint it out on your written canvas – it is simply brilliant! I am looking forward to your new book, of course, but my heart stays on The Isle of Lewis!
I am delighted that you enjoyed the trilogy, Elisabeth. But, of course, I do return to Lewis in “Entry Island”. The time period is different, as are the characters, but I am sure you will feel quite at home with them!
It is great news that your new book is coming out soon. I recall vividly reading the Blackhouse in one day, so engrossed was I in the book. This was the one and only time I had ever done that but the book transported me right into the island world so well that I could not put it down. I would actually be interested in reading it in its French version as the language is in my experience more expressive than English and might well make the book seem even more remarkable. Best wishes for 2014 and the new book.
Hi David, and thanks for your kind comments. Delighted you are enjoying my books, and I hope that Entry Island will continue in the same vein for you.