‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing

The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his quartet of retirement-age detectives will be portrayed on screen by a cast including Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Having grown up in Sussex, Osman started out in TV, where he created and co-hosted the gameshow Pointless. His forthcoming novel We Solve Murders – the start of a new series – features a writer billed as the world’s bestselling novelist, “if you don’t count Lee Child”. Child, the creator of former military police officer Jack Reacher, has enjoyed phenomenal popularity since he left his career – also in TV, where he worked on shows including Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown and Cracker – and started writing, with his first novel published in 1997. Raised in Birmingham, he moved to the US in 1998 and now lives between Manhattan and rural Wyoming. He wrote 24 Reacher novels before announcing in 2020 that he would be handing the series to his brother Andrew.Lee Child I feel that writing is always a second-phase career, or at least should be. It’s that rare thing that not only can you do it when you’re older, but you should do it when you’re older. Pick your cliche: your gas tank is full, your database is compiled. You are a person. You are ready to write.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
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The Book That Lies Behind The Success Of HBO's "True Detective"

HBO's hit new show has catapulted a 100-year-old short-story collection onto the bestseller lists.A collection of strange art nouveau stories by American author Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow has gone virtually unread for most of the past century. The first half of the book is made up of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Tribune Publishing CEO Jack Griffin Wants to Develop Company's Marketing Arm

Tribune Company has named Jack Griffin CEO of its publishing unit, the company said Thursday. His first day is April 14.The publishing unit, which consists of eight newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, was formed last July when Tribune announced its intention to spin... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate signs first of Texan crime series

Canongate has signed world rights to Blackbird, the first in a new crime series by Texan author... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BAM Espresso Pilot A Success, So Far

Books-A-Million’s three-month experiment with the print-on-demand Espresso Book Machine has been a success, but the country’s second largest bookstore chain is not yet ready to take the program beyond the two locations that have been operating EBMs since last November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How "Frozen" Director Jennifer Lee Reinvented The Story Of The Snow Queen

Frozen didn't click until the main characters were reimagined as sisters with a complicated relationship. Co-director Jennifer Lee talks with Fast Company about the collaboration that resulted in the highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time.The fact that Jennifer Lee is a woman isn't... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber signs Richard Ayoade

Faber has signed a three-book deal with comedian and director Richard Ayoade. Editorial... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Talks with Rabbi Amy Eilberg: Building Peace

In "From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace," Rabbi Amy Eilberg offers a practical guide to fulfillment of the Jewish religious commandment to “pursue peace” at all levels of life. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Surprise: men still greatly outnumber women in US and UK arts publications | Soraya Chemaly

Sexism is real and it spills over to our most influential cultural publications. How many times do we have to call for change?Today, as they have every year since 2009, VIDA: Women in The Literary Arts, an organization dedicated to gender parity in the literary arts, released its annual count... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Wants to Move E-book Damages Trial

Apple is looking to escape from New York. In a filing this week, Apple attorneys argue that Judge Denise Cote does not have jurisdiction to oversee its upcoming damages trial. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Major New Arabic Ebookstore Seeing Early Success

Kotobi.com, a major new Arabic ebookstore launched at this year's Cairo Book Fair, has potential to be a gamechanger for publishing in the region. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee settles lawsuit with Alabama museum

Harper Lee, author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' sued Monroe County Heritage Museum for using her name and her book without compensating her. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lynda La Plante writing Prime Suspect prequel

Writer to adapt her new novel, called Tennison, for TV in 2016, the 25th anniversary of the hit ITV drama starring Helen MirrenLynda La Plante is writing a prequel to Prime Suspect which she will adapt for TV in 2016, the 25th anniversary of the hit ITV drama.The prequel will be called Tennison,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rowling crime follow-up out in June

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling will publish another crime novel under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith this summer. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nicolson to write on daughterhood for Chatto

Chatto & Windus is to publish a memoir about daughterhood by social historian Juliet Nicolson... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Richard Desmond's Star magazine enters top ten for women's weeklies

Bauer's Closer, Hearst's Best and IPC's Now, and OK! all record double-digit falls, year on yearRichard Desmond's Star magazine has jumped into the top 10 biggest sellers in the women's weeklies market, after reporting a 16.5% sales surge in the second half of 2013.But there were double digit... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Richard Bach returns with 'part four' of Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Multimillion-selling author also publishing new memoir of encounter with spirit guides after his 2012 plane crashJonathan Livingston Seagull, the adventurous bird who launched a million spiritual journeys in the 1970s, has flown back into view.His creator, Richard Bach, sold millions of copies... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beswick: 'no need to look to US for great writers'

There is no need to turn to the US for great writers, the publisher of one of the Folio Prize-... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Talking Audio with January LaVoy

Accomplished theater and television actress January LaVoy has been steadily building a reputation as an audiobook narrator for the past five years, and in 2013 she was named PW’s Audiobook Narrator of the Year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Duchess of Cambridge writes RAF book foreword

The Duchess of Cambridge has written the foreword for a book which reveals “what life as an... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why this year's Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover is a great leap forward

The annual showbiz gatefold tableau, an Annie Leibovitz shot of the cream of the film world wearing funny-looking clothes, has finally overcome its past shortcomingsAwards season breaks into a gallop with the first peek at Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue, second only to the Superbowl as an annual... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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