Weird Book Italy is thrilled to announce the acquisition of the Italian and English publication rights for Burning Iron, an uncategorisable stand-alone novel written by New Zealand’s double Bram Stoker Award®-winning horror writer Lee Murray and her fellow Kiwi, award-winning science fiction author Douglas A. Van Belle. 
An Agatha Christie-inspired murder-mystery set in deep space, the novel is a mix of horror, humour, science fiction and suspense, that explores intriguing political, social, and philosophical themes, and spices it all up with a good dose of weird.
“Uncategorisable is probably the wrong word, but we are truly at a loss at how to describe a novel that could fit so well into so many genres,” says publisher Luigi Boccia.
“Regardless of what label you might put on it, it is a big universe in a little book that somehow manages to feel expansive even though the whole story fits between the covers of a modest size novel.”
Commissioning editor and translator, Nicola Lombardi says, “Having previously published some of Murray’s fiction, we knew her as a world-class horror writer with a nice touch for mixing in a bit of the bizarre, but we couldn’t even begin to imagine what might come out of her collaboration with an author who likes to throw a fair bit of humour into stories where the science of the science fiction is so accurate that you could use some of his stories in the classroom. That kind of leap into the category-defying unknowable, however, is a perfect fit for Weird Book, and when I saw that both Murray and Van Belle are known for creating strong but flawed female protagonists, I knew we had to have Burning Iron.”
“It’s not just the Kiwi-Italian connection that’s appealing,” says Murray.
“Doug and I outlined the novel by writing a screenplay, and while book-to-film deals are common, it’s rare for writers to approach publishers with a screenplay, but Boccia’s background in film made it an easy decision for us to show him Burning Iron.
We trusted he would see our vision, and we already knew that Weird Book produces a high-quality product. Plus, with the translation adding a layer of complexity, it’s comforting to be working with a close-knit publishing team with our common focus on dark and weird.”
Van Belle, a Senior Lecturer in media and communications at Wellington’s University of Victoria, is looking forward to the next stage of the collaboration.
“No matter how many stories, films and novels you write, you will never perfect the craft and I am really looking forward to all the big and little things I’ll pick up from writing a novel with Lee, as well as from working with Luigi and Nicola.”
Burning Iron is scheduled for release in late 2023.
For interviews in English, please contact Lee Murray: leekiwi@gmail.com, 021 184 3288
