https://www.simonstephenson.com/press daily 0.75 2022-10-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/21864e34-9717-4ccc-b28c-f2014410dfd9/Screen+Shot+2022-10-23+at+6.24.18+PM.png Press - The New York Times A true story: when I was 13 I had an early morning paper round in Edinburgh. People mostly got the Scotsman or occasionally a Guardian. Every Tuesday though - because it took that long to arrive - one customer on Marchmont Crescent got a Sunday New York Times. Although it was annoyingly heavy, it also seemed impossibly exotic and on those mornings I used to do my route in a different order so that I could read some of all the news that was fit to print. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/2775e3a3-5e18-4d33-aea7-7ce2e84059b3/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+3.33.47+PM.png Press - The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month for October 2022 ‘The suggestion that a clever killer could operate in a busy hospital is all too believable and the novel is a riveting read, interspersed with intelligent reflections on what might drive a physician to kill.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/ea785995-3307-4cf6-8d37-c35d5c31cc18/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+3.29.13+PM.png Press - The Scotsman I am a huge fan of Stuart Kelly’s work, so it is always a special thrill to be reviewed by him. ‘Why do I adore this kind of novel? It is intelligent, very witty in a very dark way, and does not flinch from serious and difficult questions.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/d92fb643-f51b-4db0-b4b2-8e5516be2e1b/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+3.22.55+PM.png Press - CrimeReads ‘Simon Stephenson’s diabolical and quick-witted medical thriller is not to be missed…’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/738dc7c3-a53d-4c49-96ec-37de0a159df5/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+3.10.34+PM.png Press - BookPage October’s Mystery of the Month: ‘With ten months of 2022 behind us, I am confident this will be a (or perhaps the) best book of the year for me.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/e5b78005-d4e9-46aa-b0f6-d41bb88361fa/Sun.jpg Press - The Sun ‘The dramatic, unnerving story, and incredible writing make for an exceptional read - Five Stars’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/5ac3c0c8-a9fc-42fd-9791-2bd5ad39a4f5/Screen+Shot+2022-10-23+at+6.38.04+PM.png Press - Love Reading A Book of the Month: ‘If you enjoy a dry, whip-smart delivery along with the darkest of plots, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book to you.’ A Book of the Month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/6ed7c600-e0fe-4bc9-a903-50453f135525/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+2.58.40+PM.png Press - Scotland On Sunday The Scotland on Sunday short story competition was where it all began for me in 2001. I spoke with them about my journey since. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/f27fcd67-26d2-41b7-ad26-2a9f259116fa/IMG_6708.jpg Press - The Bookseller Sometimes People Die announced for release on 1st September 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598823915830-MUKHA5RZQ0S1UWZWD1R0/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+2.44.55+PM.png Press - BBC Radio 4 Front Row My deep-quarantine haircut and I went on Radio 4’s flagship arts show to discuss Set My Heart To Five. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598824895311-HODVL8NXF0HM94Z1JGDX/usatoday.jpg Press - USA Today They wrote about five books not to miss. Set My Heart To Five was one of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1599088586391-VV921XLX06GLGTFDEBRX/IMG_1868.PNG Press - Washington Post ‘I have a new literary hero and role model to rank alongside such idiosyncratic, visionary, pure-hearted, albeit sometimes antisocial dreamers as J.P. Donleavy’s Sebastian Dangerfield, John Kennedy Toole’s Ignatius J. Reilly and Joyce Cary’s Gulley Jimson. While not precisely identical to these three, my new idol shares their essential roguish and contrarian nature, a square peg in a round hole. His name is Jared, and he’s the protagonist of Simon Stephenson’s laugh-out-loud funny debut novel, ‘Set My Heart To Five’’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598913537322-I1A6D7U44TSR0TDF43N9/Screen+Shot+2020-08-31+at+3.38.32+PM.png Press - SyFy Wire SyFy Wire interviewed me and ran an excerpt from Set My Heart To Five. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598827274027-K6GBX11YHM0ODGQPTVQ2/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+3.40.47+PM.png Press - The Telegraph Interview in my grandparents’ favourite paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598824168716-CMCV4V47G2MXQ7BJ9ZPQ/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+2.49.15+PM.png Press - Scotland on Sunday ‘You shall read this with unadulterated pleasure. It is the closest thing I’ve read in a long time to Terry Pratchett.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598827039044-ED8H972WPGCKJBQK8JXS/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+3.27.16+PM.png Press - The Observer Review of Let Not The Waves Of The Sea: ‘…beautifully written and unerringly moving…’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598824561093-ZZK0VM3JPDAH6RD2876D/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+2.55.42+PM.png Press - The Herald ‘…only the truly heartless would deny the art at work here, or the attendant swell of pride.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598826738693-2UNYJWKJWNUM78J7EEMZ/Hollywood+Reporter+logo.png Press - The Hollywood Reporter Some exciting film news about Set My Heart To Five! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598825044345-P3T8FRNTESZVM5G107EL/PW.png Press - Publishers Weekly ‘…Jared’s mechanical coming-of-age brings to the forefront the things that make life worth living as Stephenson delivers an amusing commentary on logic, love, and feeling. This entertaining and surprisingly poignant story is a charmer.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598825806418-LSH9OHAF25OJZ0FUEKCI/bookseller.png Press - The Bookseller - Interview ‘…I doubt I’ll encounter a more endearing, more joy-provoking character this year.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598825307382-IGD06OGWVHKMRTORAN5X/daily-mail-square-logo.png Press - Daily Mail ‘…funny, original, thought-provoking debut..wistful and sharp, particularly on what it really means to live.’ https://www.simonstephenson.com/about daily 0.75 2022-10-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/d084223e-bb79-4a26-b320-91b2ae817365/SimonPhotoC.jpg Author - Simon Stephenson I am from Edinburgh in Scotland, but live now in Los Angeles. I have had stopovers along the way in London and San Francisco. I’m a writer and screenwriter, and before I became a full-time writer I was a physician. My latest novel, ‘Sometimes People Die’ was published in September 2022. I have written two other books. ‘Set My Heart To Five’ came out in 2020. The Washington Post review said that I might be ‘Vonnegut’s first true protege’. You’d better believe I am going to be dining out on that for the rest of my life. ‘Let Not the Waves Of the Sea’, my memoir about losing my brother came out in 2012. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, and was serialized on BBC Radio 4. I’ve worked as a writer on various films including Pixar’s LUCA, PADDINGTON 2, and my own THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN. Like every other screenwriter in Hollywood, I have a bottom drawer full of unproduced scripts and forgotten promises. So it goes. https://www.simonstephenson.com/home daily 0.75 2022-03-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1589510075238-I2LVPHUD8T0SIBUGIX2X/emotional-feelings-wheel01.png Set My Heart To Five - The Feelings Wheel had originally been designed to help troubled teenagers process their emotions. BTW I am not, and nor have I ever been, a teenager! Teenagers are the worst! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1589509240552-DAWDJDWS6KVXLYTTIN5J/IdesDiagram.png Set My Heart To Five Mathematics is fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1612907336980-I48UKI0CEHICRVYPM1PG/Set+My+Heart+to+Five+pbk+Twitter+3.jpg Set My Heart To Five US UK https://www.simonstephenson.com/writing daily 0.75 2022-10-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/132191fb-8f89-46a1-8691-c371bb15c0b8/Screen+Shot+2022-10-22+at+9.45.39+PM.png Features - A Doctor, a Deduction and a Death Averted. I wrote for CrimeReads about some subjects close to my heart; medicine, Sherlock Holmes and my Mum. I didn’t write the headline, and if you read the piece you will see who actually saved the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/8c371035-be12-4169-8dcd-3da9b5efd062/Screen+Shot+2022-10-14+at+2.46.57+PM.jpg Features - I left Hackney for Hollywood I wrote for the Evening Standard about moving from Hackney to Hollywood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/e8b4602f-4332-4a95-9f97-ca6bae6117bc/Screen+Shot+2022-08-03+at+3.48.43+PM.png Features - The Mountain Lion is a Lonely Hunter ‘To be forever alone in your own kingdom seems a unique kind of heartbreak.’ I wrote about Los Angeles’ favorite big cat and my spiritual brother, a mountain lion named P22. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598822033330-D24U3B7NS6KYN3FNTGOM/HeraldCover.jpg Features - Los Angeles, No More I visited Long Beach’s inimitable Scotsfestival and got predictably maudlin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598823101325-XQYWWJMBBVI71130VQK8/Screen+Shot+2020-05-17+at+4.58.54+PM.png Features - Two Little Boys I wrote for the Guardian about my brother, Dominic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/e7649147-3ab5-43f7-a004-1af4b5697a03/Screen+Shot+2022-08-03+at+4.16.26+PM.png Features - The Difference is Entirely One of Setting I wrote for Tor Magazine’s That Was Awesome! column about a book with the greatest first line ever written. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598820918323-S01NJFCV9PLHWKEUEYMF/Cel+Spellman%2C+Simon+Stephenson+1x1.jpg Features - Rule One Short Story in Esquire’s 2020 Summer Fiction Issue. Read by Cel Spellman in aid of Unicef’s #GenerationCovid campaign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598821292394-HSJ9NH1Z6BBKDHGPRKX9/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+2.00.57+PM.png Features - Empathy Machines Article for the Guardian about how I learned to stop worrying about the robots inevitably stealing my job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598822533899-ZYM7C56J8U2LNYTRAV0K/Vertigomovie_restoration%281%29.jpg Features - First Take Club: Vertigo I wrote for Empire about the shame of never having seen Vertigo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598821489812-KWI1J0R3FNYB73ANQKOF/Screen+Shot+2020-08-30+at+2.04.18+PM.png Features - Cinema Is My Solace I wrote about missing going to the movies during the pandemic. The cinema in the picture, Los Angeles’ Arclight has remained closed but here are rumors it may reopen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/1598822862287-TFWX0G5FY5U5JFE61VHA/TrueRomance.jpg Features - Picture Palace I wrote about the magic of the going to the movies for Total Film Magazine, and they ran the article with a still from one of my most beloved movies, which was shot in my most beloved cinema. (The Vista, here in Los Angeles.) https://www.simonstephenson.com/new-page daily 0.75 2020-08-30 https://www.simonstephenson.com/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-30 https://www.simonstephenson.com/sometimes-people-die daily 0.75 2022-10-24 https://www.simonstephenson.com/about-3 daily 0.75 2022-05-06 https://www.simonstephenson.com/new-page-3 daily 0.75 2022-08-03 https://www.simonstephenson.com/sometimes-people-die-1 daily 0.75 2022-10-27 https://www.simonstephenson.com/let-not-the-waves-of-the-sea daily 0.75 2022-08-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/070134fc-e7bf-4a37-98d0-a93dbc136880/LNTWOTSlarge.jpg Let Not the Waves of the Sea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/9c620ab6-98e4-41eb-b0fc-883a5f762dc7/SimonAndDominic.jpg https://www.simonstephenson.com/new-page-2 daily 1.0 2024-10-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/dbcdf2ee-6a62-4edf-8fd8-ab49793f6c29/Snowman-Code-packshot-1080a-768x768.jpg https://www.simonstephenson.com/the-snowman-code daily 0.75 2024-10-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/466d08a7-6497-42d7-8bf4-b544ba61c3ec/Albert-and-Blessing-1080.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebcc1b5eccabc00901674d9/c835b763-e281-4ea0-8ce2-8dbc95674c94/Snowman-Code-packshot-1080d.jpg https://www.simonstephenson.com/new-page-4 daily 0.75 2024-10-11