Back in Action

[Timothy Hallinan]

. . . and in Asia. I'm here to write the fourth Poke Rafferty Bangkok thriller, THE ROCKS. And the third, BREATHING WATER, is due to come out this August/September from HarperCollins. I don't usually weigh in on the quality (or lack thereof) of my books, but I have to say that I think BREATHING WATER is the best yet.

And the people at Morrow agree, to the extent that they made up special bound manuscripts and sent them out in advance of the ARCs in the hope of developing quotes from some good writers that will be on the ARC cover. So far, the responses are actually sort of embarrassing.

If I remembered how to add an image, I'd include the BREATHING WATER jacket, which is killer.

So now all I have to do is write another one.

[Timothy Hallinan]

Hi, Dana, Hi IJ -- And thanks for the nice words. Feels good to have finished BREATHING WATER because it almost killed me -- it's the only book (out of 16, counting some that didn't have my name on them) that I nearly abandoned.

IJ, do you have an address for Mark Schreiber? THE FOURTH WATCHER was named one of the Japan Times' Best Asia Books of 2008, but that wasn't the name of the reviewer and I'd love to make sure the book goes to the right place. You can e-mail me at [e-mail]. (And I have some names and addresses of online reviewers that you might find useful.)

Dana, I like the beard. I think beards suggest trustworthiness.

[I. J. Parker]

Fantastic news, Tim. When your publisher gets behind you, you're on your way. And so well deserved, as I know. I'll make a note of BREATHING WATER (great title) and the whole Bangkok series.
Send an ARC to Mark Schreiber. He reviews fiction set in Asia for the Japan Times.

[Dana King]

The first two Rafferty books set the bar pretty high. I'm looking forward to BREATHING WATER, and glad to see your trip was safely made.