Hometown Glory

This should generate some discussion.

I think of this topic because I'm in San Mateo, California, which is the hometown in which I grew up.  Tomorrow, Marcia and I head back to Minnesota, which we've called home for more than 25 years.  We've spent the last 10 days helping my parents through my Dad's knee replacement surgery.  (All went well, thanks.)

But this reflection really isn't about my hometown.  I'm thinking of the music associated with prose.  When readers ask me how I go about editing my books, I tell them that I listen to the music of the words, and that's how I create the style and flow I'm looking for.  It's also why I can't listen to the audio editions of my books.  I hear great reviews from listeners about the CD renditions, but I can't listen to someone else reading my words.  It's not how I hear it.  It's not the music in my head.

I'm trying to create a certain theme, a certain feel, with my books.  One of my favorite songs of late is by the Grammy-winning singer Adele, and it's called "Hometown Glory."  Much of it is her solo voice linked to a hypnotic piano theme.  I've spent some time thinking about why I enjoy the song so much, and I realized it's because the "sound" of that song captures the mood I'm trying to build in my books.  There's a dark, driving power to the piano and a sense of heroism and grief overlaying the music.  That's what I hope you'll find when you read one of my novels.

Check it out on iTunes.  Let me know if you agree.  Of course, you may hear a very different music.  Stride's theme is probably unique to each individual.  But there's a music to books, no doubt about it, and we all hear it based on our own experiences.

THE BURYING PLACE

U.S. readers have a few months to wait, alas, for the release of the fifth Jonathan Stride novel, THE BURYING PLACE.  Those lucky Brits can have it in their hands right now, though.  The book was released in the UK on Thursday.  You can click here to see it on Amazon in the UK.

I've already heard from several readers who have finished the book, and I've been extremely gratified by their responses.  They all talked about its shocking twists and emotional punch -- and that's exactly what I wanted with this thriller.  One reader also alerted me to a great review of THE BURYING PLACE in Friday's edition of the Daily Mail, one of Britain's largest newspapers. 

"Brian Freeman is an excellent writer and as brilliant as Harlan Coben at psychological suspense," the paper wrote.  That's definitely the message I want to see across the UK.

I'll keep you posted as we get closer to the U.S. release in the spring of 2010.  In the meantime, I'm charging along on book six.