Around the World

It feels like a global kind of week.

On Friday, THE WATCHER (which is the UK title for IN THE DARK) should be available in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.  So I'm alerting my readers in those countries about the new book.  I'll also be calling in to a radio program in Adelaide next week.

I've exchanged e-mails with my editor in Taiwan, where the Chinese edition of IMMORAL will be released in March.  (We also had an edition available on the mainland back in 2006.)

And, of course, we'll be anticipating a variety of overseas editions of book four as the year progresses.  Never let it be said we don't look for every avenue of marketing.  So here's a friend of ours highlighting the Spanish edition of STALKED, which was released last year as ACOSADA.

In-Between Times

Things are a little bit in limbo right now -- not in a bad way, but as a time when everything is in-between.  I've submitted the fifth Stride book to my editors and will be diving in on editorial work shortly as I get their feedback.  I'm plotting the sixth book but have only just started that project and won't do any real writing until we put book five to bed.  Meanwhile, we're still awaiting the release of the fourth book, IN THE DARK, on March 31, as well as the release of my little surprise project on February 3.  We also have a proposal in for another book along the same lines, but haven't heard anything back yet.

So -- in-between times.

I had a call-in discussion with a library book club in Niceville, Florida last night.  As always, it was great to hear the questions that readers have about specific books and characters.  They had read STALKED, which must have been an ice-cold book for all that Florida warmth.  I've invited libaries around the country to invite me to participate in book club discussions by phone, and I'm happy to see them starting to take me up on it.  That's true of private book clubs, too:  Please feel free to invite me to join the discussion of one of my books.

Readers continue to find me on Facebook, which has proven to be a terrific venue for readers to connect with me on a day-to-day basis about new book projects.  Hopefully, they also feel closer to me personally, as I do to them.

STALKED: Now in Paperback

Just in time for the new year -- and for those holiday gift cards -- the paperback edition of STALKED has arrived in U.S. stores.  Most readers have told me that STALKED is the best book yet, which is always my goal with each new novel.  The Chicago Tribune calls STALKED "a perfect blend of psychological suspense and crime fiction."

For readers who haven't tried my books before, STALKED is a great place to start to get to know the settings and characters.  As if this winter isn't cold enough, the book will take you deep into the heart of a Minnesota blizzard.  In fact the sections of the book that take place out on the ice (I won't give away more than that) are among my favorite dramatic writings.

For those of you who are waiting for the next novel, STALKED includes a little bonus:  the prologue of the fourth book, IN THE DARK (which arrives in stores on March 31).  After you've read the prologue, you can also find Chapter 1 of IN THE DARK on my web site.

If you have friends who haven't yet met Jonathan Stride, I hope you'll send them to bookstores now to get their copy of STALKED in paperback.

Happy New Year!