The most exciting thing that has happened for a very long time is, of course, the release of the film based on my ghost story THE WOMAN IN BLACK. I was not very involved at the start but came to be more and more so as things progressed. Jane Goldman has done a brilliant screenplay which is totally true to the spirit of the novel but is also true to itself as a film.

TO PRE-BOOK a copy THE WOMAN IN BLACK film-tie in signed by DANIEL RADCLIFFE and SUSAN HILL, please click HERE.

Writers sometimes think their book should somehow be put, whole and entire, onto the screen but it can’t work like that. Some things are left out, new ones put in, the story can change –as Jane put it, the screenwriter is changing something book-shaped into something film-shaped but at the end, it is still the same thing that has been changed.

I think the film is wonderful. It looks wonderful too, shot entirely in England, in Yorkshire, East Anglia and at Pinewood. It stars DANIEL RADCLIFFE who is no longer Harry Potter but a mature, convincing, serious and highly talented adult actor. He inhabits the character of Arthur Kipps totally and for him the story is about loss, grief and their aftermath and effect.

I had lunch with Dan before filming started and we met again during filming and publicity. In case you’re wondering, he is utterly unspoilt, charming, funny, fun and very very serious about his future acting, and possibly directing career. Great that being the world’s most famous child-star for ten years doesn’t have to become spoilt and brattish and can also become a seriously good adult actor.

But of course the biggest, strongest bond of al between Dan and me is that we both have and adore Border Terriers and swap regular photos of them. Not only that – we discovered that our dogs come from the same breeder ! What could bring anyone closer ?

This ghost story was first published in hardback in 1983 and has gone on to have a remarkable life over the following decades, in various paperback incarnations, as a set book for GCSE and A Level, and as a play, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt and running in London’s West End since 1988 and round the world.

Signed copies of the handsome new hardback edition and of the film-tie-in paperback, are available.

STOP PRESS. It will be possible to buy a very limited number of copies of the book signed both by me and by DANIEL RADCLIFFE. Dan is extremely busy going round the world promoting the film so it won’t be easy to get books to him and back again. I can’t promise when you will get your copy if you pre-order, or even if you will get one signed by Dan. But if you don’t you will be able to choose either a copy signed just by me or have a full refund.

TO PRE-BOOK a copy THE WOMAN IN BLACK film-tie in signed by DANIEL RADCLIFFE and SUSAN HILL, please use the special Paypal button ONLY.