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| May Update (11 May, 2012)
Dear all, Well, I am back from my trip to the United States. It was a great trip, both professionally and personally. It was the transition I was looking for. I did some Hollywood meetings in LA and played some golf in Arizona. But the main reason for my trip was to attend a series of public-private seminars in Washington DC at which some heavy-hitters in the government/military world spoke off-the-record (yes, that means I cannot use any of it in my novels!). Some highlights of my trip: Second best speaker: General David Petraeus. He is now the Director of the CIA. So impressive. Best speaker: a most impressive young Czech woman named Petra who spoke at the Indonesian Embassy about her remarkable efforts building schools and kindergartens in disaster-ravaged countries like Indonesia and Haiti. Amazing. She just blew me away. Some people are really doing incredible things out there. Most fun golf game: I met up with some great golfing buddies in San Francisco and played The Olympic Golf Club (which will be hosting the US Open in a few weeks). Best golf story: on one golf course in Scottsdale, Arizona, I encountered a couple of not-so-good golfers and gave them some tips (I play off 2). We then played the last few holes together. Turned out, they were the chief executives of a major eco-friendly German corporation named Schuco – now I might play golf with them in Germany later this year! And all because I gave them a few friendly tips! All in all, I have returned home with a little more hope than I left with and this is a good thing. I still shed tears: sometimes when I read something, sometimes for no apparent reason at all. Wearing reflective sunglasses helps. I still see something and think, “You know, I should tell Nat about that when I get home” and then I realise that that cannot happen anymore. But I may have learned to hope again and this could be the best thing that has happened to me these last six months. To paraphrase my good friend, Scarecrow, I might even be ready to get back to work (I have accepted some invitations to speak at some regional libraries and will appear at Supanova Sydney and Supanova Perth in June). My very best to you all, Matthew Reilly |
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| Hi all, Well, I’m back with an update. I feel like a “turn a corner” every couple of weeks. Turned some big corners this last month, including:
I laughed wholeheartedly for the first time. (Thanks Simmo.) I had fun for the first time. (Thanks to Chris and Greg, my VPC teammates and my new American friends.) I had genuinely creative thoughts for the first time, including one great new idea for a novel. And I did some more writing on some smaller projects. When your life is shattered into a thousand pieces, you slowly set about picking them all up and putting them back together. You rebuild yourself. This means “re-learning” many things: like laughing, or how to have fun, or how to be alone with your thoughts. Thanks to everyone who commented on this Facebook page – I read every post and I was genuinely moved by the wisdom, decency and sheer kindness that was shown to me. I even printed out a dozen of the comments and stuck them above my desk. Thank you. I’ve decided that this will be a last “sad” post I will do. When I return to posting more regularly, I will be posting about more upbeat things: books and stories and getting back out there in the world. I will be in Burnie on March 13-14, and I am determined to put on a good show there. I am on my way back. Matthew Reilly |
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| Dear everyone,It has been a month since I corresponded with you all, so I thought it was time to send out an update.
First, thank you all for your lovely Facebook comments and emails. They were thoughtful, kind and inspirational, and they gave me strength when I really needed it. Every author should have fans like you in his corner (or, as many of you put it, “Mothers”). With the incredible support of family, friends and colleagues in the book industry, I have spent the past two months rebuilding my mind and my life. At first, even the smallest thing—like just walking the dog—was painful. (God, I can only imagine what the people of my neighbourhood thought about this ghost of a guy, with headphones in his ears and his head bent, walking aimlessly with his little black dog.) But slowly, gradually, I have started to see the world again and even, occasionally, smile. Some of you have asked about my UK book tour for Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. Sadly, it has been cancelled. The decision was made because of recent upheavals in the UK book industry but it was probably going to be a stretch for me anyway. This is a double shame, as my previous UK tour in January 2010 was foiled by the unusually heavy snowfalls then. My UK publisher, Orion, has promised to bring me there for my next novel, the mystery-thriller set in the 1500s. As for Australia: late last year, before all this happened, I committed to go to the lovely town of Burnie, Tasmania, in March. I will honour this commitment. It will be my first public engagement since Natalie’s death, but if anyone will look after me, it’s the good people of Burnie. Oh, and a few days ago, I started writing again…and I actually enjoyed it. I grow a little stronger every day. Thank you. Thank you all. I’ll get back to you on the 1st of next month. Matthew |
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| Dear allA few of you have noticed that my website, Facebook and Twitter pages have all gone silent over the past month. I also cancelled the last eight signings of my Australian book tour.
The reason is that in early December, my beloved wife Natalie died. She was 36. I am devastated and trying to come to terms with this awful event. I am not sure when I will resume public book duties, but I am sure you will all understand if I take a break from online communications for a while. Thank you. Matthew Reilly |
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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! A BIG RELEASE AND EVEN BIGGER SIGNING QUEUES! – 31.10.11 |
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| My sincere thanks to everyone out there for making SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES the biggest book release in Australia this year! THIEVES has just recorded the biggest opening week of sales for ANY book in Australia this year.Times are tight and I know that you could choose to spend your hard-earned money on other things. This is why I worked so hard to ensure that THIEVES delivered everything you would expect from a Matthew Reilly book — it’s big, fast, thrilling and fun. The response has been fantastic.A big THANK YOU also to everyone who has come out to the book signings! I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the turnouts — the lines this year have been bigger than ever before and I have had to scribble madly to keep up with the ever-growing queues!! The long lines have literally stopped shopping malls (one mall had to stay open late since the line was still massive when the mall shut!).Thank you, thank you, thank you. Matthew |
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JACK WEST JR TV SERIES – 07.09.11 |
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| ABC US Network Television has just bought the rights to the Jack West Jr. books that are going to be made into a TV series by ABC US Studios. The producer is the powerhouse Mark Gordon (Speed, Grey’s Anatomy) and the writer is Michael Seitzman (North Country). | ||
| ABC Buys Action Adventure Drama From Michael Seitzman and Mark Gordon | ||
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