ANDREW BISS

I'm pleased to say that an audiobook edition of The End ofthe World will become available for purchase sometime over the next couple of weeks at Amazon.com , Audible.com (a subsidiary of Amazon), and iTunes . It's being narrated by the scandalously talented Wayne Farrell , who is turning in such a great performance of all the characters in the book. This is no small feat, either. As well as characters of different ages and genders, he's also had to contend with a number of different accents. Wayne, though, has more than risen to the challenge, giving each character its own distinctive voice without ever drifting into the realm of caricature. Hearing his readings of each chapter as they've been completed has almost been like hearing the book again for the first time. From books on tape, to audio CDs, and now MP3 downloads, audio editions of books have for a long time now enjoyed a significant following. They're great for listening to when taking a long car,...

Well, with all of the activity surrounding the release of A Mouth Full of Ashes , I forget to mention something else quite significant that happened just recently. At long last the Audio CD edition of Schism was finally made available for purchase. It's narrated by the frighteningly talented Peter Bishop and is available on Amazon (through Audible.com), directly from Audible , as well as iTunes. Reaction to the book since its launch back in November has been interesting, to say the least. People either seem to love it or hate it. Almost nothing in between. It seems to be rather polarizing and I'm not sure why. I think part of the problem lies in the big free promotion the book had back in March, which resulted in many thousands of downloads. Free promos can be great at helping to get your work out there, but inevitably your book will fall into the hands of those who are not your target audience, and who, when/if they get around to reading it, are most likely not goin...

Conventional wisdom (which, from my experience, is usually anything but) has it that writers should write in one genre and stick with it, gradually building an audience who enjoy that particular genre and who will eagerly await each new release, all the while knowing exactly what to expect. And of course, this does work very well indeed for the Stephen Kings and John Grishams of this world. But that same "wisdom" would have it that to do otherwise is sheer folly, confusing your readers at best, angering them at worst, and making brand building nigh impossible. This thought has troubled me in the past, not least because not only have I never written in strictly one genre before, I also don't think I ever could. But I have come to the conclusion that, for me at least, this will not be a problem, despite the dire warnings from above (the above paragraph, that is, not the Almighty). Everything I have ever written or ever will write comes from a point of inspiration that has (...

I've had two of my books ( The End of the World and Schism ) approved at ACX (and Amazon company) for production as audio books. I'm quite excited about this as I think audio books are a great way of hearing a story, whether it's simply because you just want to settle down somewhere comfortable and let the narrator pull you in (some childhood connection to bedtime stories there I shouldn't wonder), or for people on the go to listen in their cars or portable devices - not to mention the visually impaired. Now I'm waiting to hear back from any potential producers/narrators who are interested in either project. I could narrate it myself, of course, but I'm afraid I'm far too self-conscious to do that any more. I've done plenty of voice work in the past (commercials mainly), but my performer side has long since departed. You couldn't get me on a stage now for all the tea in China. I suppose I could feel comfortable enough narrating someone else's w...

Since The Craft is currently being turned into a short film by Emmy Award-winning editor and filmmaker Andy Lewis , I began to wonder who would play the title character, Horatio Higgins, if Schism was ever made into a movie. Besides all of all the names of actors I thought would make a great Horatio, I also thought of those that seemed the least likely fit for the role, and on top of that list floated the name of Robert Pattinson . But then I thought about it a little more and realized that the idea wasn't as outlandish as I'd originally imagined. After all, take a look at this picture... Now that's an image of someone who could conceivably be experiencing emotional problems, wouldn't you say? He certainly seems quite vexed in my opinion, even if the shot was intended to portray something more akin to glamorous angst or a James Dean-like pout. But then I came across this picture... I think even the most generous and forgiving observer would have to admit that this is...

The day has finally arrived for the release of my new book Schism at the Amazon Kindle Store. It’s a dark, disturbing psychological thriller laced with plenty of dark humour. I do hope you’ll check it out. You can find it at the U.S. Amazon Kindle Store here and at the U.K. Amazon Kindle Store here . Description: As a boy, Horatio Higgins was ignored by the other children, but that didn't stop him having lots of friends...friends only he could see and whom he'd regale with tales of his fantastical exploits. Eventually, though, his parents became concerned at the inordinate amount of time their son appeared to spend talking to himself and took him for treatment, which, in time, proved successful...almost. One friend remained. Unfortunately it was the spiteful one. Years later, living alone in his tiny London flat, Horatio's loneliness is mitigated only by his acid-tongued friend and the company of what he affectionately refers to as "my wife". After losing his jo...

I'm currently hard at work on my next book, entitled "Schism." It's in equal parts humorous, unsettling and tragic, and could be described as a psychological thriller of a different breed. The main protagonist, Horatio Higgins, is, in my humble opinion, one of the most interesting and complex characters I've ever written and I hope to share him with you in the next month or two. Which reminds me...back to work!