News - Michelle Richmond

The Marriage Pact wins Palle Rosenkrantz Prize for the best crime novel published in Denmark

I’m so excited to share the news that The Marriage Pact (Til Doden Os Skiller) has received the Palle Rosenkrantz Prize for the best foreign crime novel published in Denmark in 2017. I’ll be attending the 2018 Krimimessen Horsens (Horsens Crime Book Festival) in March to meet some of my Scandinavian crime writing idols (hopefully I can keep my cool around Arne Dahl) & receive the prize. And the festival is even held in an historic prison. Huge thanks to my wonderful Danish translator Ninna Brenøe, and to my publisher, Klim.

Truman Capote Prize

I am honored and so happy to share the news that I have received the Truman Capote Prize for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Short Story, from the wonderful Alabama Center for the Literary Arts and Alabama Writers’ Symposium.

I will write more in a later post on why Truman Capote’s work and this award mean so much to me. I’ve had the pleasure of attending the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville in the past. Monroeville was the childhood home of Truman Capote and Harper Lee, and each year at the symposium, a local theatre group stages a production of To Kill a Mockingbird in the old courthouse upon which Lee modeled the courtroom scenes in her classic novel.

It is a special event and a welcoming, wonderful gathering of authors and readers.

About the prize:

The Truman Capote Prize for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of Literary Non-Fiction or the Short Story is selected by an anonymous committee of literary scholars and writers organized by Dr. Don Noble. This award is made possible through a generous donation by Dianne Lawson Baker of Tuscaloosa.

The 21^st Annual Alabama Writers Symposium will be held April 19-20, 2018. To register for the Alabama Writers Symposium, contact Alisha Linam at 251-575-8271 or Alisha.Linam@CoastalAlabama.edu. For more information, visit http://www.CoastalAlabama.edu.

The Marriage Pact hits the Sunday Times bestseller list

Last week, The Marriage Pact slid onto the Sunday Times bestseller list in the UK at number 10! We celebrated at home with a Twelfth Night Cake. I made the cake from a box (Duncan Hines devil’s food cake), my husband made his exceptionally good frosting out of nothing but heavy whipping cream and a hint of sugar, and we didn’t have a nut to put in the cake so we used a blueberry instead. We never found the blueberry–it was absorbed by the cake–so no one gets a prize or everyone gets a prize, we haven’t decided yet.

This week, it moved up to number 9! So we will celebrate with another cake, or maybe my husband’s famous chocolate chip cookies. (If we are super duper extra lucky and get a third week, I’m going to have to shift to celebrating with something that doesn’t involve brown sugar and butter).

Here’s a photo of The Marriage Pact along with the other fabulous Richard and Judy Book Club selections at Gatwick Airport in London. How long is your flight? Grab more than one!

The Marriage Pact is the new Richard & Judy Book Club Thriller

I’m over the moon that The Marriage Pact is one of 8 books selected for spring 2018 Richard and Judy Book Club. The biggest book club in the UK, Richard & Judy Book Club editions are sold at WH Smith stores and feature additional content for book clubs.

Richard says, “The Marriage Pact is at once a genuine love story and grim contemplation of the real nature of marriage: possession, jealousy, and control. It’s extreme but grippingly though-provoking.”

Judy says, “You know the kind of thing: make sure your spouse knows you love him by giving him a thoughtful gift from time to time; always answer the phone when he calls; make sure you go away together on frequent small romantic breaks. Sounds sensible – but be afraid. Be very afraid.”

If you’re in the UK, you can pick up the Richard and Judy Book Club edition at WH Smith or the airport. If you’re not in the UK, you can still read Richard & Judy feature content online:

Richard & Judy’s review of The Marriage Pact

WHSmith Book Club Questions

5 Companion Books (and one great film) to go with The Marriage Pact

I’m working my way through all of the selections, and I’ve yet to be disappointed! Here’s the complete Richard and Judy Book Club list for spring 2018:

Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell

The Thirst, by Jo Nesbo

How to Stop Time, by Matt Haig

The Child, by Fiona Barton

The Marriage Pact, by Michelle Richmond

The Heart’s Invisible Furies, by John Boyne

The Witch Finder’s Sister, by Beth Underdown

Close to Home, by Cara Hunter