UNCC prof's audio book wins 'best audio book of the year'

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to a young man at a banquet who confided that he might have some book news for me in a couple of weeks. Little did A.J. Hartley realize what great news was heading his way.
Hartley, the Robinson distinguished professor of Shakespeare at UNCC, is the author with David Hewson of their  second re-imagined audio classic, "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel," which has won the Best of the Year from Audible Studios.
Richard Armitage (Thoren Oakenshield in the trilogy of films based on "The Hobbit), draws on his experience with the Royal Shakespeare Company to bring the tale of ghosts, madness and revenge to life.
Hartley is the bestselling New York Times author of the Will Hawthorne fantasy series and several thrillers, as well as Darwen Arkwright books for younger readers.
Hewson is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, including the Nic Costa crime series and a trilogy of books based on the hit Danish TV show "The Killing."
Here's what the  London Times says about Hartley and Hewson's "Hamlet":

"English literature teachers worried about getting their pupils entranced by Shakespeare, should plug them in to this imaginative gloss on Hamlet before starting on the real thing."

To listen:

'Darwen Arkwright': A new book for middle-grade readers

Before he published his newest fantasy, Charlotte’s A.J. Hartley sought the opinion of one critic in particular: His son.

As 9-year-old Sebastian read “Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact” (Razorbill; $16.99), his dad watched his reactions closely to see passages made him laugh, which parts he found scary.

Hartley, a UNC Charlotte Shakespeare professor, is the successful author of several adult thrillers and fantasies. This new novel is his first for middle-grade readers, so Sebastian provided a valuable target audience.

He gave his dad’s novel two thumbs up, by the way. That you might expect, but Kirkus Reviews was similarly impressed, calling the book “an page turner that manages to be by turns spooky, suspenseful and touching.”

Like Hartley, Darwen Arkwright hails from a small town in Lancashire, England. (“Darwen,” by the way, is a town in Lancashire. “Arkwright” is a common local name.)

At age 11, the boy is sent to live with an investment-banker aunt and attend a posh private school in Atlanta. There, already reeling from shock, he discovers a mirror that’s the porthole to a beautiful and dangerous world. Darwen, it turns out, is a mirroculist, a who can see into other worlds through mirrors.

Over the past month, Hartley has visited fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms around the Carolinas, reading from his novel and answering “sensible, smart questions” about where he gets ideas, how he deals with rejection and whether his book could become a movie.

He has also fielded a few questions that adults seldom ask, such as: How much money do you make?

It’s different than lecturing college students, but he’s enjoying it. “Nine is about my mental age,” Hartley says. “I spend a lot of time pretending to be a professor,” but writing about Darwen “gives me the opportunity to be the kid I never grew out of.”

Look for more Darwen adventures. Hartley’s publisher has already committed to at least two more novels. And look for Sebastian to continue as his dad’s first and most important reader.

A.J. Hartley will read from and sign copies of “Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact” 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Morrison Barnes and Noble, 420 Sharon Road, and 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road.

UNCC professor pens "Macbeth: A Novel"

You loved the play, with all its Scottish tragedy. Now check out "MacBeth: A Novel," a new audio book co-written by Andrew Hartley, UNC Charlotte's Russell Robinson professor of Shakespeare studies.

Along with being a Shakespeare expert, Hartley writes fiction. As A.J. Hartley, he's author of several historical thrillers and fantasy adventures.

Hartley and co-author David Hewson have fleshed out "Macbeth," making it a rich work of historical fiction. Audible.com is publishing the novel as an audio book only. It's narrated by Alan Cumming, a prolific actor who appears regularly in CBS's "The Good Wife."

Hartley and Hewson, also a thriller writer, hatched the idea for the novel, which allowed them to tell the Scottish play's story in a new way. (With battle scenes and internal dialogue, for instance.)

"We've also made some fairly bold choices that go beyond fleshing out narrative," Hartley told me. Listen here as Hartley, Hewson and Cumming discuss the novel.