UPDATE: The next book will indeed be titled DOOMED. It's a sequel to Damned and it's scheduled to be released October 2013.

When Chuck was in Los Angeles recently for his small tour for the new Invisible Monsters Remix, I had the pleasure of taking him out to dinner.  And while gnawing on some steak (...I was.  Chuck had the salmon), we got to talking about his next book.  And lo and behold... the next novel will be Chuck's first sequel!

Here is a quick synopsis of the book:
(*MILD SPOILERS HERE, if you haven't yet read Damned)

The next novel will follow Madison back to earth as a ghost, doomed to haunting her parents for a year.  In flashback we see her earlier childhood, including the death of the kitten whose dead body subsequently clogged the plumbing of the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel.  That death is not Madison's doing, but another death is.  Whether it's murder or self-defense, as a ten-year-old Madison kills someone horrifically, and that's the most-likely reason why she was damned in the first place.  We also begin to recognize a centuries-long conspiracy engineered to train and test Maddy for her role as the savior of all spiritual beings.

Nope, nothing subtle, here.

Then about five minutes after Chuck emailed me the above, I got another email with this:

Oh, I forgot to mention it but the world ends in this next book. 

So yeah, nothing subtle indeed.

Chuck told me that even the title for the book is in flux right now.  During our dinner conversation it was to be called Doomsday.  Now it might be titled Doomed.  Which one do you like better?

Believe it or not, this book might drop as early as this Fall! It's pretty much in its final editing stages. But these things have a way of changing last minute, so no promises.

Till then, let's hear your thoughts on this. For years, people have clamoured for the much rumored sequel to Rant, yet haven't gotten it yet.  So when Chuck began telling fans that Damned too, would be part of its own trilogy, I think we were all a little skeptical. But alas, the Chuckster is delivering very quickly on this one.  Are you pumped?

If you haven't read Damned yet, now would be a good time.

The November 2nd slumber party event at the University of Oregon, with Chuck Palahniuk, Lidia Yuknavitch and Chelsea Cain, has wrapped up.  The night was a success and a total sell out.  So Chuck wanted to say a few things about how it all went down: 

 

I'm just checking in to thank everyone who made the 'slumber party' event in Eugene a chaotic success.  Chelsea Cain and Lidia Yuknavitch were amazing, as were the zombie babies.  And the hundreds of glowing beachballs were a vision from the stage.

 

In the melee I forgot to thank the University of Oregon Bookstore.  They arranged for use of WOW Hall and sold tickets.  Plus they warehoused my stuffed animals until the evening of Nov. 2nd.  They were heroes, and I snubbed them.  For that oversight I heartily apologize.

 

Chuck also wanted to mention that the University of Oregon Bookstore is still carrying some signed books from the event.  So if you live local, go check it out!

Listen to a pretty great 48 min audio interview with Chuck on my favorite radio show, Opie & Anthony.  You can also listen to it on YouTube.

If you missed the livestream of Chuck's Damned reading at the Cooper Union last tuesday, have no fear.  Livestream has been nice enough to archive the entire event for you all.  The video embed below should show it to you, or, just go to their site and watch it there.

You can also watch the stream at our Facebook page.

Big thanks to Doubleday, Livestream and the people at The Strand for setting this up.

Here's a pretty cool interview for you today that Chuck did for Fangoria magazine.

Click for a larger version read more »

Hell descends upon Earth as Damned takes over the web! With so much media abound, I figured I'd lend a helping hand and round-up some of the bigger interviews and reviews here.  As always, you can find a full list for all of Chuck's books in our Author Media section.  And please, if you find any on the web that you think should be included here, post them in the comments below. read more »

1. Suicide Girls Interview
2. LitReactor Interview
3. NPR Interview - Audio
4. The Wall Street Journal 'Speakeasy' Interview
5. Janet Maslin's NY Times Review
6. Interview Magazine Interview
7. Kirkus Reviews Q&A
8. Mother Jones Interview
9. Dallas Observer Interview
10. A.V. Club Review
11. The Guardian UK interview
12. The Independent UK Review
13. Bizarre Magazine Interview

Update: The 'Damned' tour has begun! See below for all the cities Chuck will be reading at. Some events are ticketed, so read the details carefully.

Couple important details from Random House:

• As Doubleday has done in the past, Chuck will pre-sign all copies of DAMNED and they will be on sale at each event. 
• Portland and New York ticket prices include a signed copy of DAMNED.
• Chuck will also personalize for a limited number of fans in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York and will sign one backlist per person in addition to their copy (copies) of DAMNED. 

Here are the U.S. dates:

• Tuesday, October 18th - Portland, OR
• Thursday, October 20th - Jackson, MS
• Saturday, October 22nd  - Austin, TX - Details updated!
• Tuesday, October 25th - Dallas, TX - *Tickets now available!
• Thursday, October 27th - Pittsburgh, PA - *VIP tickets sold out! GA still available!
• Saturday, October 29th - Philadelphia, PA
• Tuesday, November 1st - New York, NY - *Tickets available!
• Thursday, November 3rd - Portsmouth, NH - *Tickets now available to public!
• Thursday, November 17th - Minneapolis, MN - *Tickets available!
• Saturday, November 19th - Miami, FL - More details to come

Here are the Canadian dates!

• November 28th - Victoria, BC - *Tickets go on sale 10-18-11 w/ purchase of 'Damned'
• November 30th - Vancouver, BC - Tickets Now On Sale

*For more info, check out our Tour page.  And for pictures from past tours, check out  our Flickr Group! read more »

Today is the day, folks!  The day you've all been patiently waiting for since we announced the release date almost a year ago.  DAMNED is now out!  Fans are calling this one of Chuck's best novels in a long time.  Plus, it's part 1 of a trilogy!  What's important is that it's in bookstores right now, and you all need to get off your butts and go get a copy!

As always, we expect pictures and accounts of your trips to the bookstore, and anything interesting that should happen while there.  

If you're partial to ordering your books online, we have links for Amazon, Barnes and Noble and IndieBound here.

Happy reading!

Poland continues to pave the way for new and interesting book covers of Chuck's work.  You've seen our previous features (here and here) on their quirky and unique covers.  Now check out their two latest.

See more at our Galley of Book Covers.

Props to Maciej Żbikowski for sending these along!

In gearing up for promotion of his upcoming novel Damned, Chuck just did an interview with British weekly mag Shortlist.com.

Interview with Chuck Palahniuk on Shortlist.com