Interview with Warren Murphy and Jim Mullaney

It's finally here! The members of DestroyerClub had sent the two Destroyer authors questions. I think they held off until they could announce the name of the new publisher. It was put up on the site at midnight. You can read the interview here

I'm also going to copy Brian Murphy's announcement about the new publisher here. Some of that info (except for the name) had been known by Dclub members prior to the interview, but will be news to anyone who hasn't been checking the site.

Brian's announcement:

Warren Murphy announced today the signing of a multi-book contract with Tor Books, part of the St. Martin's publishing group, for the publication beginning in 2007 of the long-running Destroyer series.

The books will be written and bylined by Murphy and by James Mullaney who has written some twenty books in the series.

Murphy said the new contract is a departure from the past Destroyer contracts which generally called for four new paperbacks each year. "This contract," Murphy said, "calls for paperback and hardcover books and also plans on the release in trade paperback form of some of the earlier Destroyer novels."

"As such," Murphy added, "it's something new for us and for the Destroyer series. But it's a far different publishing world out there than the one we started out with and you either grow or go away. We've decided to grow. That'll no doubt entail startup pains and getting used to a whole new set of systems and procedures but Jim Mullaney are I are looking forward to the challenge."

The Destroyer series was begun by Richard Sapir and Murphy back in 1971. Its first publisher was Pinnacle Books, followed by N.A.L. Signet and then, for the last ten years, by Harlequin Gold Eagle of Canada. During that period, Destroyer sales reached 45 million copies worldwide and at its height, the series was published in fifteen different countries. In addition, the books are now under option in Hollywood for a new feature film.

Gold Eagle sought a book contract renewal from Murphy but he declined because, he said, "I didn't like the direction the books were taking."

The final Gold Eagle Destroyer, #145, is due out in October. The first Tor book is scheduled for release in April 2007. "We're still working on scheduling and other details but the goal is to maintain our publishing frequency as much as possible."

Murphy called himself "highly delighted" over the new contract with Tor which he called "one of the serious big-time publishers. We've been doing the Destroyers for thirty-five years and who knows? Now, as part of the Tor family, we might be doing them for another thirty-five years."


For questions or to comment on the state of the series, please utilize our forums @ www.warrenmurphy.com and www.DestroyerClub.com.