Off the chain!

This Stieg Larsson thing is going nuts — who knew this would be the "hottest book on the planet"? And how often do you see a book on the cover of EW? Pretty good article, though the main emphasis seems to be on speculation about the casting of the upcoming Hollywood version of TGWTDT.

My vote? Brad Pitt for Blomkvist, old enough yet still a believable babe magnet and an actor with a great range; for Lisbeth Salander, I tend to agree with Roger Ebert that they should just hire Noomi Rapace to do it in English, but I know she's done with that role.

Who will it be? Someone less than 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and not with a cute round face like some of the possibles being mentioned. Do it right, people, choose an unknown with the right edge!

Abbondanza!

Shot at Costco, Albuquerque in April.

Stieg cleans up at Bouchercon

Stieg Larsson's first novel picked up 4 awards at Bouchercon in Indianapolis last week. First a Macavity Award for Best First Mystery; then a Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel of 2008 (shown in the pic above – and it didn't have to be British, just published there first). At the Anthony Awards presentation on Saturday it took one for Best Cover Design, then one for Best First Novel. Too bad I couldn't bring any of them back home with me, but at least I got a chance to say a few words to the crowd about Stieg's pro-feminist message in the Millennium trilogy and mention the website devoted to his partner Eva Gabrielsson.

Both fans and crime writers were extremely kind and enthusiastic about Stieg's work, and I received many compliments on a job well done. It was fun to meet so many people who love the books, even though the 3rd one isn't out in the States yet. But booksellers were filling that need with the imported UK edition, and I was persuaded to sign a whole bunch of copies, so if you want one they are available from some vendors specializing in signed first editions of crime fiction on the Web. (UK first editions of TGWTDT were going for $1000 and up, unsigned.)

Both Tiina and I are looking forward to Left Coast Crime in L.A. in March, and next year's Bouchercon in San Francisco. It will be gratifying to return home to the Bay Area with some translation successes to show for all my years away.

Maps of Hedeby Island in English available

I'm sorry that the publishers did not include the two maps of Hedeby Island in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They make the plot much easier to follow! So if you want paper copies in English, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Fjord Press, PO Box 14630, Albuquerque NM 87191. U.S. stamps only, of course. If you're not located in the U.S.A., you can check the postage rates to your country at www.usps.com: click on Calculate Postage, then on Calculate International Postage. Choose your country, click on Letter, and enter 0 pounds, 1 ounce. It looks like airmail postage to most countries is $0.98, so if you don't have stamps just put a dollar bill in with your SASE.

I'll keep sending out maps until it the copying gets too expensive, so please copy them and pass them around to your friends who are Stieg Larsson fans.

Update 28 Nov 2009: The maps are now available for download on a fan site under "Books." Mange tak, Chris!

Here comes the first U.S. paperback!

Just found this cover shot of the new U.S. mass market paperback on the Barnes & Noble site. Looks like Vintage Crime/Black Lizard has set a pub date of June 23rd. The book has that clean, cold, Swedish look reminiscent of the UK Camilla Läckberg covers, but with distressed type. (Are those trees from Sweden or upstate New York?) This should help keep Stieg's fans cool on the beach this summer. Fighting global warming one thriller at a time...

Reg Keeland on the blogosphere

Hello all you readers of Stieg Larsson in English! Reg Keeland here, and I've finally figured out how to blog. I welcome any comments or questions you might have about the Millennium series, and I'll do my best to answer them. Languages that are welcome on this blog are English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German, and Spanish, but I'll usually be replying in English.

Step right up, and let the blogging begin!