Monday 17th August

[Steven Hague]

Blood Law attracted some coverage in the national press this week, when the Daily Mirror newspaper ran a short and sweet review. Here’s what the Mirror had to say:

'Zac Hunter's welcome return in the sequel to Justice For All. This time the ex-LAPD cop infiltrates the gangs of south central to find the kidnapped daughter of a former grass. Gang warfare is about to kick off big time.’

Further publicity came from an interview I did with Rafe McGregor, which was posted on his influential blog ‘Crime Stories and Weird Tales’ on Wednesday 12th August. Rafe is a critically acclaimed author of historical crime fiction, and you can read the interview here (about halfway down the page):

http://rafemcgregor.blogspot.com/

In an effort to reach as many people as possible by electronic means, I also run pages on Facebook and MySpace (and please feel free to join me on either), and I was recently contacted by the manager of up and coming ska band Kid British on MySpace, who had this to say:

‘I look after the band Kid British and really as a literature fan just wanted to wish you good luck in your new profession, I have great respect for people that pursue their dream profession and turn their back on the 9 to 5 as it is a VERY brave decision, and I wish you all the best - as an avid crime fiction reader myself I will definitely give your novels my attention. Good luck and kind regards, David’

I’m not sure about it being a brave decision, more an insane one, but messages such as this are incredibly heartening, and I’d like to thank David for taking the time and trouble for spreading such good vibes.

Next, a heartfelt thank you to all those that came along to my signing at the Norwich branch of Waterstones on Saturday. There’s always an element of nerves ahead of an event such as this, as you’re never sure who’s going to show up (the thought of sitting at a table on my own for an hour keeps me up at night), but I was chuffed to see a steady stream of familiar faces enter the store and it was great to make a few new friends as well. I signed lots of copies of Blood Law plus a few of its predecessor, Justice For All, and the fact that the events manager, Ben was still smiling when I left (despite the fact that I’d managed to spill coffee all over his Waterstones branded tablecloth!) signalled that the signing was a success. Thanks to Ben and the team for inviting me in and making me feel so welcome, and I hope to see them all again soon. If you’d like to check out a few photographs of the event, please click here.

And finally, I’d just like to report that quite a few of the people that came to the signing commented on how much they like my website. All credit for this goes to my web designer and dear friend Christine Woods, who does a fantastic job creating and maintaining all that you see in front of you. Thanks Chris – you’re a star!

Cheers,
Steve

What’s Steve been listening go this week?

Avenged Sevenfold – by Avenged Sevenfold
The Bronx II – by The Bronx
Runnin’ Wild – by Airbourne