2014: new books by Sarah Waters and Michel Faber

I am really looking forward to 2014: we already have loads of great gigs, a music festival and plays lined up.
I hope to publish my second novel, The Book of Thoth, in December - Matt ArtPix should take over the typesetting for this one, and he has already produced some awesome ideas to add some quirky bits all through the book... we'll see how this goes, but it is exciting! 
I will also work on the promotion of Arcane Publishing and my second-hand book selling venture... 

But I'll also be reading a lot - my "to read" shelf is an ever-expanding monster -and I am really looking forward to new books by two of my favourite authors: Sarah Waters and Michel Faber. 

Sarah Waters's The Paying Guests will be published in the autumn, and is set during the era that fascinates me the most, the 20s! 
I am still hoping that the movie of The Little Stranger, her previous novel, will be made - it was optioned for film a while ago but no news on that front yet...
The Paying Guests synopsis below:

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far, and how devastatingly, the disturbances will reach…

Talking about books made into films, I really want to see Under The Skin, based on Michel Faber's novel. I love his books and writing style - and he seems to be a very interesting guy - and I am very intrigued as to what they've managed to do with it. And it's got Scarlett Johansson in it, and yes, I think she is a very interesting actress. Under The Skin is out in March but will probably be shown in two cinemas in London so I will have to pay attention so as not to miss it. 
It was announced last week that Faber's next book, The Book of Strange New Things, his first novel for ten years, will be out in November next year. I have to say that the subject matter is not really my cup of tea - books about religious belief are a complete no-no for me - but I do trust Faber's writing talent to turn it into an incredible read. 


Watch the trailer for Under The Skin below - cracking soundtrack, I'm sure music-obsessed Michel Faber would approve! 

I do hope that both authors will be promoting their books (and film) in London and do talks, I'll be first in the queue!