Hello! Michelle Paver here...

There's a lot to tell you about this month!  The 15^th Birthday edition of DARK MATTER is finally out! I’ve written a special Afterword for it, in which I talk about the truly astonishing breadth of readers’ responses to the story over the years, particularly to Jack, and go into detail about how I wrote the story - plus my views on ghosts. Also, the multi-talented Simon Pegg has generously written a fascinating piece in which he shares many thought-provoking insights into both Dark Matter and ghosts.

Talking of ghosts, I’m a long-term fan of Danny Robins and his Uncanny podcasts and television programmes: I love his mix of real-life supernatural stories, measured analysis and wild enthusiasm. (In fact, over the summer I became slightly addicted to late-night binge-listening sessions of Uncanny repeats on BBC Sounds: the challenge was, could I listen in the dark? Answer: only for about five minutes.) I’m therefore delighted and honoured that in October I’ll be discussing Dark Matter with Danny online, as part of the Hay Festival Book Club (it’s a free online live event: reserve your ticket now).

And now to Rainforest, which comes out on the 9^th October. And a big thank-you to all those who’ve managed to get hold of a proof, and have been so enthusiastic in your responses (Ryan and Valda spring to mind, but there are many more).

You might be wondering why I chose to set my next supernatural story in a rainforest, after the Arctic wastes of Dark Matter, the extreme altitude of Thin Air, and the watery fens of Wakenhyrst? Well, the answer is that I didn’t really choose the rainforest, it chose me. The idea for the setting erupted from my unconscious after that nasty bout of writer’s block I mentioned in a previous newsletter – and when something like that happens, and with such power, I’ve learnt not to waste time asking why. I simply give it its head and see where it wants to go.

Over the years I’ve been to many different rainforests – in the Amazon, the Caribbean and Costa Rica - so I’ve plundered my experiences to make Rainforest real. I want to take you deep into the eeriness of that teeming, hallucinatory world, where westerners really don’t belong.

I remember feeling that sense of otherness myself very strongly the morning after I arrived at a remote eco-lodge in the Amazon many years ago. I was chatting to my guide, a delightful young indigenous man who’d grown up there (and knew everything about it), and as I casually leant against a tree, I put my palm on its trunk. My young guide politely suggested that I might want to remove my hand – and I saw with a shock that I’d nearly planted it slap bang on the biggest ant I’d ever seen. It was a bullet ant, and it got its name because its sting is so agonising it makes you feel as if you’ve been shot. Yikes. A timely reminder that I didn’t know the first thing about this place – and I most definitely did not belong.

The hero of Rainforest, Simon, is a westerner and a scientist, and he too finds himself in a world of hidden menace. He’s a complex character, and as with Dark Matter, I’m anticipating quite a range of reader responses to him. The story is very much told from Simon’s point of view; so when it came to finding someone to read Rainforest for the audiobook, I knew we’d need an actor of great depth and subtlety. I was therefore over the moon when Richard Armitage agreed to do it. I’d been an admirer of his work long before he found international fame with the Hobbit films, and I knew he’d be perfect. I wasn’t wrong. He has given us a terrific reading of Rainforest: Thank you, Richard!

On which note, I’ll say goodbye until the next time; and maybe I’ll see you at one of the events I’ll be doing over the next few weeks: see the list at the top of my website.

In the meantime, stay steady - and happy reading!

Best wishes.....

Michelle

• P.S. Rainforest is published on 9 October, but you can pre-order a signed copy today on my website; you can also order a copy of the 15^th birthday edition of Dark Matter, and pre-order The Witching Hour.
• And if you’d like to ask me a question or send me a message, just go to my website and click on "Ask Michelle Anything". I do enjoy hearing from readers!