Spargel and springtime

29/5/2015

This month's Swiss and German book tour is on the last lap, after a terrific reading last night night in the spa town of Bad Salzhausen, where 120 people gave such an enthusiastic reception that the bookstore ran out of Bruno cookbooks to sell.

Many of those coming to get their books signed showed photos of their own holiday visits to Perigord. Some even had pictures of themselves with my friend Pierrot, our own policeman, who inspired the idea of mystery novels set in the Perigord and featuring a charming village policeman who loves to cook.

The German-speaking world is heaven for writers; people love books, enjoy coming to readings and enjoy hearing stories of life and food and wine in the Perigord. And the booksellers are very imaginative. Many evenings involved a culinary reading around a 3 or 4 or even 5 course dinner, usually based on Perigord recipes from my cookbook.

Because they now know my fondness for fresh Spargel, asparagus, many evenings feature a dish of white Spargel, Hollandaise sauce, new potatoes and a glass of dry Riesling. May is Spargel season in Germany, which is another good reason for making May my month for a reading tour.

27 Comments

Kerrie Roberts

30/5/2015 06:20:24 pm

Sounds as though you are having a wonderful time, a just reward after all the hard work of writing. Which brings me to the question, when can we expect the next book ? You know we are all impatient for our next 'fix' of Bruno. We took our australian visitors to Le Bugue and to Julien de Savignac's cave recently. They were very impressed. Enjoy your summer in the Perigord.

Martin link

30/5/2015 10:03:52 pm

Where in the world are you based? Release dates vary from country to country, but most places have a book come out between spring and summer.

Christian

30/5/2015 09:06:54 pm

Hallo Mr. Walker,
Ihre Buchvorlesung am 16.05.2015 in Pinneberg war einfach klasse! Es war mir eine Ehre Sie kennenlernen zu dürfen, meine Bücher von Ihnen signieren lassen zu dürfen und ein Foto mit Ihnen zu machen. Ich liebe Ihre Bücher und Ihre Mischung aus britisch-französich-deutschen Humor, den ich an diesem Tag kennenlernen durfte. Ich hoffe, dass Sie noch ewig weiterschreiben und dass Ihre Romane bald verfilmt werden (ähnlich wie Donna Leon´s Commissario Brunetti. Im deutschen Fernsehen auf ARD zu sehen). Ich glaube, dass Ihre Filmreihe ein großer Erfolg in Deutschland warden könnte. Am Ende habe ich noch eine wichtige Frage: Glauben Sie, dass das Tischtuch zwischen Bruno und Isabelle für immer zerschnitten ist, oder dürfen wir uns über ein Happy End dieser Lovestory freuen? Mit Ihrem aktuellen Buch Provokateure bin ich fast durch und freue mich bereits jetzt schon riesig auf den neuen Bruno.
Hochachtungsvoll und mit ganz lieben und norddeutschen Grüßen,
Ihr
Christian K. (28 Jahre)

Martin link

31/5/2015 05:50:26 am

Danke schon for ihre brief and fur ihre sehr freundliche worte.
ZDF und ARTE haben zusammen recht gekauft ein fernsehen serial zu machen und sie beginnen im Herbst im Pergord zu filmen.
Uber ein Zukunft fur Isabelle und Bruno ich wisse nichts; Bruno hat mir zum heite nicht gesagt.

Tchuss,

Martin

Janet Bishop

31/5/2015 02:35:35 am

Any word on when the Bruno cookbook will be out in English?

Martin link

31/5/2015 10:10:14 pm

Nothing to report yet, I'm afraid!

Janet Bishop

1/6/2015 12:06:14 am

That's a shame, but I will keep looking for it.

daisy

22/9/2015 01:06:05 pm

Just heard on NPR,that you will publishing it in English in the "near future". I am so excited to learn about your novels, too. Can't wait to start reading them. You think they could be made into a "show"? I also enjoy"Brunetti" on MhZ network.

Martin link

23/9/2015 06:47:17 pm

They are working on a TV series of Bruno in Germany, such is its popularity over there, but I don't think there are any plans afoot for an English language version. It's like the cookbook saga all over again!

Roger Dowdy

31/5/2015 10:10:49 am

MARTIN, thanks for the reply RE: Children of War/The Children Return. I echo another Bruno follower's post....the US Publ delays and titling are not likely within your domain. All of us will be patient and wait with high expectation for the next is the series.

Martin link

4/6/2015 05:07:15 am

Thanks for being so understanding!

Roger Dowdy

6/6/2015 01:56:28 am

Martin, last clarification....
I have been searching for (Bruno) "Marketplace" but cannot locate its publication.
I see on Foyle's of London: "The Dying Season" (UK release date July 9, 2015). Are these #8 & #9 in the Bruno series?.

Martin link

11/6/2015 08:35:17 pm

Book #9 is The Dying Season/The Patriarch (depending on territory), and book #8 is Children of War/The Children Return, again depending on territory.

I hope that clears it up!

Janet Bishop

31/5/2015 10:28:05 am

Roger, Thanks for the info. I had bough both books, happily anticipating two Brunos. I now will be more patient and alert waiting for the next adventure

Anthony Duignan

11/6/2015 09:15:50 pm

Martin/Bruno,

I live some 12kms from Le Buge and love reading your Bruno books depicting our lovely countryside and your enthralling stories. I would like to invite Bruno/Self to play a round of golf at Le Marterie, on the road to La Douze from Le Buge. Please invite your other golf players in the novel, lunch included. I live in Rouffignac St Cernin and will provide furthers details should you accept the invitation. Please continue to write more about Bruno........please give him a good wife and family soon. Kind regards, Tony Duignan

Martin link

25/6/2015 07:51:55 pm

Thank you for the invitation, but I must be one of the few Scots who doesn't play golf! I fear that if I did, Bruno would never get written...

Tony Duignan

26/6/2015 08:50:18 pm

Martin, Pardon me because I repeated this message on another blog entry, missing the reply you sent. What a pity Bruno is too busy. It is an addictive game for sure. Please keep the stories coming my wife and I live locally and we feel we are in each of the books you describe so well the local countryside and people. Warmest regards.

Tony Duignan

Richard Ashby

25/6/2015 05:05:18 am

I very much enjoy listening to the Bruno books on CD whilst driving down to my house at Cap Ferret on the Arcachon Basin which could make for an alternative crime scene novel for Bruno whilst visiting say the Chief of Police for Bordeaux at his holiday villa and may be a murder centred around the lighthouse and (restored) German Bunker or perhaps a mystery involving an abandoned boat discovered out on the sand bar at the mouth of the the Basin.

Martin link

20/7/2015 08:09:58 pm

Now there's a thought! With scope for a few more wines, too...

Pat Macholl

20/7/2015 04:45:59 am

Dear Mr. Walker,
We are spreading Bruno's popularity even as I write. I wrote to you a few months back, hoping to meet you at some point during my food/wine trip to Northern Spain/Southern France in September/October and mentioned your books to my fellow travelers. One of these is a retired chef from The Bohemian Grove in Northern California, who has been happily cooking from Bruno's descriptions (yes, when will we get the cookbook in English?) and searching out the various spirits with gusto. Ray cooked for 5 Presidents (U.S.) and his food is well worth any effort to get to it. I love when he hosts the planning & reunion get-togethers for both his spectacular food and his great company, so it's with particular pleasure I tell you of his enjoyment of your books. When last we wrote, you thought you might be on tour in September/October, but I am hoping I might be able to connect in person sometime, to thank you for the pleasure I get from your books. It looks as if we will be close to your neighborhood between 9/21-25, so hope your schedule may permit a little time. In any event, please know you've got lots of San Francisco, CA based fans, so if you're in OUR neighborhood, please let us know....maybe to introduce the English-language cookbook?

Martin link

20/7/2015 09:23:32 pm

Thank you for your extremely kind remarks! The English-language version of the Bruno cookbook will appear once the various publishers sort out who pays how much to whom for the photo rights, which are owned by the German publisher.

I shall be presenting the new Bruno at the Metropolitan Club in San Francisco on September 30, almost at the end of the US tour, before I fly to Germany for the European tour.

Pat Macholl

21/7/2015 03:52:01 am

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I am sorry our paths will not cross this trip, but I have taken the liberty of forwarding your reply to Janet Rudolph and Bill Gottfried, who are mystery fans extraordinaire in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as known around the globe. I'm hoping a contingent of our mystery reading groups will come to see your presentation in September, although I will be in France at that time and cannot join the crowd. Bill Gottfried, with Adrian Muller, began what is now Crimefest in Bristol years ago, at which I am told you have been featured in years past. Hope your U.S. tour is wildly successful and enjoyable for you.

Maggie

8/8/2015 08:03:53 pm

Please bring cookbook in English out before Xmas!Let me know. If poss.Have read the whole series and passed them on .

Janet Bishop

8/8/2015 09:45:48 pm

That would be great if they did.

Martin link

10/8/2015 05:15:26 pm

That's what I'd like to see! Progress is being made at last, and we hope to have some news for you soon.

Janet Bishop

24/9/2015 05:15:23 am

Martin, please keep after them about the English version of the TV series - we count too !! and enjoy Bruno just as much.

Martin link

24/9/2015 06:54:48 am

All I can do for now is hope, I'm afraid! Unlike the cookbook, I can't take a TV show in hand - none of the strong women in my family know how to produce television, whereas they've all been involved in publishing at one point or another...

Spargel and springtime

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