Peter James (writer)

Peter James in March 2010

Peter James (born 22 August 1948 in Brighton) is a British writer of crime fiction and film producer.

Life

James is the son of Cornelia James, the former glovemaker to Queen Elizabeth II. He was educated at Charterhouse School and went on to Ravensbourne Film School. Subsequently he spent several years in North America, working as a screen writer and film producer. In 1994 Penguin published his novel Host on two floppy discs (in addition to conventional print formats) as The World's First Electronic Novel. Today he divides his life between his country home near Brighton, Sussex and his apartment in Notting Hill, London. His interests include criminology, science and the paranormal. He also as self-confessed "petrol head", having owned many fast cars over the years, including an Aston Martin Vanquish, AMG and Brabus Mercedes, a Bentley Speed and two classic E-Type Jaguars. He holds an international racing licence, and when not writing competes in the Britcar series in a former British Touring Car Seat Toledo. His website is www.peterjames.com

Work

James has written 25 books, the most recent of which feature Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. His books have been translated into 29 languages. In England they are published by Pan Books and in the US by Carroll & Graf Publishers. James has written supernatural thrillers, spy fiction, Michael Crichton-style science-based thrillers, and a children's novel, as well as the introductions for Graham Masterton's collection 'Manitou Man' and Joe Rattigan's collection 'Ghosts Far From Subtle'.

He also wrote, as 'a labour of love' the children's novelisation for the 1986 movie 'Biggles', which he also produced.^{[citation needed]} James is a lifelong fan of the Biggles franchise, at one time owning the rights to the books, and having translated some foreign editions.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 The Merchant Of Venice, directed by Michael Radford and for which James was executive producer, had a Royal Premiere in the presence of Prince Charles and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Costume Design. In 2006 the film also won the Silver Ribbon for Best Production Design (Migliore Scenografia) from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

In 2007 he made an appearance at the Festival International du Roman Noir in Frontignan, France.

In 2010 Peter made an appearance at Oakmeeds Community College as the special guest of an awards evening to congratulate hard working and high achieving pupils.

On 3 April 2011 he took over as chair of the Crime Writers' Association, a post he will hold for one year.

Awards

• Sitges International Horror Film Festival, 1974, Best Foreign Film for Dead of Night.
• Honorary Fellowship, FHS Emeritus award by the Hypnotherapy Society, 1999.
• Krimi-Blitz, Best Crime Writer of the year in Germany, 2005.
• Prix Polar International, 2006.
• Prix Cœur Noir at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines festival, 2007.
• Dead Man's Footsteps has been shortlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2009.^[1]
• Honorary Doctorate of Letters at Brighton University, 2009.^[2]

Bibliography

Roy Grace Novels

• Dead Simple (2005)
• Looking Good Dead (2006)
• Not Dead Enough (2007)
• Dead Man's Footsteps (2008)
• Dead Tomorrow (2009)
• Dead Like You (2010)
• Dead Man's Grip (2011)
• Dead Man Laughing (2012)

Other Novels

• Dead Letter Drop (1981)
• Atom Bomb Angel (1982)
• Billionaire (1983)
• Travelling Man (1984)
• Biggles: The Untold Story (1986)
• Possession (1988)
• Dreamer (1989)
• Sweet Heart (1990)
• Twilight (1991)
• Prophecy (1992)
• Host (1993)
• Alchemist (1996)
• Getting Wired (1996)
• The Truth (1997)
• Denial (1998)
• Faith (2000)
• The Perfect Murder (2010)
• Perfect People (2011)
• Collected Stories (2013)

See also

Children's literature portal

• Brighton in fiction

References

1. ^ "Shortlist for Theakston’s Crime Novel of the year Award 2009". digyorkshire.com. 2009-06-02. http://www.digyorkshire.com/HighlightDetails.aspx?Article=202. Retrieved 2009-06-17. 
2. ^ "Crime writer Peter James to receive honorary doctorate". brighton.ac.uk. 2009-07-24. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2009/090724peterjames.php?PageId=810. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 

External links

• Peter James his personal website including his own short bio, a bibliography, articles and interviews.
• Review of Dead Man's Grip in Shots Mag Ezine May 2011
• Interview with Peter James in Shots Mag Ezine October 2010
• Peter James on TheCrimeHouse.com Interview published June 21, 2010
• The Deckchair Interview Interview with James by Sarah Hutchings dated 25.5.2007
• Peter James website about the novel Dreamer
• Crime writer Peter James Interview with James in the Sussex Express of 17 August 2007
• Sixty seconds with Peter James... Interview with James on ReviewingTheEvidence.com
• Peter James His entry in The Internet Movie Database
• BBC raw Quick Reads - The Perfect Murder by Peter James
• ABC Talks To: Crime author Peter James Interview with James by the American Book Center in Amsterdam
• Review of Peter James's thriller 'Dead Like You' by Patrick Anderson in The Washington Post 19 December 2010

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Name	James, Peter
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Date of birth	1948-08-22
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