Sometimes the strangest things happen. As most of you who read the books know, DCI Banks loves many different kinds of music, and one of the singer-songwriters he listens to in All the Colours of Darkness is Keren Ann. Late last year I was approached by Keren Ann’s record company, EMI, to write the “bio” for her new album, 101. I had no idea what this meant but soon found out that it’s a sort of description of the songs and music on the album and a little bit of information about how they came into being. Mostly, it goes out with review copies and other publicity-related stuff. Hardly a job for a novelist, I thought.

However, Keren Ann had seen that I had picked one of her songs for a New York Times playlist I was asked to compile a few years ago, and she was curious. As she was looking for something a bit different, more creative, she asked me if i could write a sort of story around the songs, as many of them involve intrigue and even murder. So I gave it a shot. I listened to the music. We emailed back and forth a bit and ended up with something a little personal and a little surreal, but certainly different from the examples of other bios I had seen.

Anyway, 101 is released in the UK on 4th April, and was picked as CD of the Week in the Sunday Times. There’s also a long interview with Keren Ann in the 3rd April’s Observer review section, and a video on the Guardian web site in which she discusses writing the album’s first song, “My Name is Trouble,” and sings a lovely acoustic version.

There are also plenty of Keren Ann videos on You Tube, but for more information check out her web site, www.kerenann.com. You’ll find my bio here.

I’ve just got back from Lyon, where I had a great time at the Quais du Polar festival. It was wonderful to meet so many French fans of DCI Banks, and so many readers who were about to try him for the first time. One of the special attractions of festivals for the writers who attend is seeing old friends and making new ones, and it was great to meet up with John Harvey, Karin Slaughter, Craig Russell, Peter Gutteridge and Martin Solares again, and to chat with David Peace, R.J. Ellory, Arne Dahl, Greg Olear, Brian Freeman, Pierre Lemaitre and Arni Thorarinsson for the first time. The festival organisers and my French publishers Albin Michel did a great job. I wish I had some photographs to post, but I was so busy signing and talking that I didn’t have time to take any! From what little I saw, Lyon looked like a lovely city and I must go back there and see it one day.

Peter has been invited to the Quais du Polar festival to be held in Lyon, France, March 25-27. Among other things, Peter will be discussing the television adaptations of his books, and a trailer for DCI Banks: Aftermath will be shown at the festival.

Peter will be participating in the following events:

Saturday, 26 March, from 2 pm to 3.30 pm at the Hotel de Ville, in Lyon: THE EXILE AND THE KINGDOM: CROSSED LOOKS ON ENGLAND, with John Harvey, David Peace and R.J. Ellory.

Saturday, 26 March, from 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm, in the Tony Garnier Room: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: POLAR AND MUSIC, with Arne Dahl (Sweden), Marc Villard (France), Greg Olear (USA) and Hugues Pagan (France).

After the success of the first DCI Banks adaptation, Aftermath, the first full series of three two-episode dramas is going into production at the end of March, with filming to be made in Yorkshire again. Peter hopes that he can have another cameo appearance in the new episodes. (You did see him in the first one, right?)

The three books being adapted are Playing With Fire, Friend of the Devil and Cold is the Grave. If you haven’t read the books, make sure you do. If you have, you may want to read them again.

Peter would like to share his wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all, and wishes the best for 2011. He has three events planned in 2011, so far, and here is some early info for those who want to make reservations or plan a trip.

From March 25 to 27, he’s going to be at the Quais du Polar Festival in Lyon, France.

From 22 to 29 July, I’m going to be teaching a creative writing course at the Tallinn International Summer School, at the University of Tallinn, Estonia.

From 16 to 23 of October, Peter will be one of the two dozen or so authors participating in a “Murder at Sea” cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, starting at Fort Lauderdale, then stopping at Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. There will be panel discussions, signings, cocktail parties and dinners.

Peter was given the 2010 Harbourfront Festival prize on Saturday, October 30. At the right is Mark Medley, National Post books editor and one of the judges.

As Peter said, “It was a great honour to receive this prize and a privilege to be included among such august company as the previous recipients. Not only is this award an honour for me, but I also hope it respresents a small step forward for crime writers everywhere.”

ITV have announced that the DCI Banks TV series, starring Stephen Tompkinson as Inspector Banks, will continue, with three more books being filmed. Shooting will begin in Spring 2011, and the three books adapted will be Playing with Fire, Friend of the Devil and Cold as the Grave.

For those who enjoyed Aftermath, these three additional dramas will certainly be welcome. If you haven’t read the books, you have plenty of time to do so before the shows air.

If you’ve watched Stephen Tompkinson in Aftermath on ITV, you may now want to read Peter’s novel Aftermath, that the story was taken from.

The book is now available with a TV tie-in cover, showing Tompkinson as Inspector Alan Banks. The book is available at all fine bookstores.

Peter has written an article for the Telegraph sharing his thoughts about the first Inspector Banks TV drama, Aftermath, due to air on Monday 27 September on ITV. He discusses his thoughts about the TV show, the process of getting it made, and even lets out the secret that he has a small walk-on role in the show. See if you can spot Peter when you watch!

Peter has just found out that he has won this year’s Harbourfront Festival prize, “based on the merits of his own published work and the time he has invested in nurturing the next generation of literary talent.” This prize is given by the International Festival of Authors.

Robinson was selected by a jury comprising John van Driel, vice-president of programming operations at Classical 96.3 FM, National Post reporter Mark Medley, and IFOA director Geoffrey E. Taylor. Previous winners include Wayson Choy, Helen Humphreys, Paul Quarrington, and Jane Urquhart. The prize will be presented on Oct. 30, the closing night of the IFOA.

See just below for Peter’s events at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto.