SAM WORTHINGTON, STAR OF THE BLOCKBUSTER FILMS, AVATAR AND CLASH OF THE TITANS, CONGRATULATES JAMES HOUSTON TURNER ABOUT HIS TWO-BOOK PUBLISHING DEAL.

"It all starts with the writer: film, TV, book -- it doesn't matter -- it all starts with the writer." Sam Worthington

James announces his upcoming Department 13 book tour on the glamorous online entertainment magazine, Artist Interviews, and explains why he calls it his "Too Ugly Tour."

EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW:

AI: You're an award-winning author of suspense thrillers. Your two novels -- Department Thirteen and The Identity Factor -- are about to be launched in the United States with tremendous fanfare and a nationwide media blitz. You have Hollywood celebrities supporting and congratulating you. Why call your promotional tour the "Too Ugly Tour"?

JHT: As many people know, my face is disfigured from an operation I had back in 1991. It was a low point in my life as a writer, where I felt my career was going nowhere and we needed money. So I applied for a customer service job with a large company here in Adelaide, Australia, where we live. I was refused, not because I lacked skills, but because I was too ugly. At the time, it was a kick in the guts. But it was also a blessing in disguise, because if I had been hired, I may well not have persevered with my writing to become the published author I am today. So I decided to call my tour the "Too Ugly Tour" as both a reminder of and dedication to the hard knocks of life that are actually blessings in disguise. So while I will be appearing in bookstores and doing media interviews about my novels, I will also be sharing my story in schools with the hope of encouraging students not to give up when those kind of things happen. Kids today get hit with lots of those same kinds of judgments: you're too fat, too dumb, too poor, too...whatever. If we believe those lies, we become our own worst enemy and are defeated in life much more easily. Don't fall into that trap!

AI: The highs and lows you have experienced! What enabled you to keep going through so many heartaches and disappointments?

JHT: Belief in myself and in my writing. I've worked at all sorts of jobs to support my passion to write. I've shoveled concrete, washed windows, mowed lawns, worked construction and cleaned houses. I cannot tell you how many nails I've hammered or toilets I've scrubbed. I did it because I was willing to do whatever it took to support my family while pursuing my writing. That's because I felt a sense of purpose in what I was doing...that I had beaten the odds and been spared from cancer for a reason...that my books were not just "donut novels" -- all fluff and air -- but stories with a difference...the result not just of my imagination, but my life: the emotions and pain that I've felt, as well as the triumph. Each book contains glimpses into the extraordinary people I've met -- many of them heroes, many of them victims -- and the experiences I've lived, and the places I've traveled. That having been said, my books really aren't about me; they're about my readers. It's about each of them -- each of you -- being able to count on me using every available tool in my writer's toolbox to pack each and every story full of meaty characters, provocative storylines, interesting settings and a satisfying conclusion. I know I won't please everyone all of the time. But I try hard to achieve that high standard...to give my readers something worth reading.

AI: Your international thriller, The Identity Factor, has already been adapted for film and scooped finalist awards in four international book competitions, including the National Best Books Awards and the Eric Hoffer Award. LA's the Place magazine called it "One killer of a thriller...a Jason Bourne meets The DaVinci Code kind-of mystery inside a puzzle." UK book and film critic, Daniel Cann, who loved your new headstrong action hero, Zoe Gustaves, wrote one of the most stunning reviews I've ever read. He said, "Comparisons have already been made with Dan Brown and Robert Ludlum. After reading this novel, I can see why. Turner is a master at creating tension and suspense. Ludlum, Grisham, Patterson, Child...you can now add James Houston Turner to that esteemed list." Accomplished actor, Adoni Maropis, who played the master villain, Abu Fayed, in the hit television series, 24, had this to say: "I love a great villain. Great villains demand great heroes and The Identity Factor has both. This book is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end."  Adoni was brilliant in his role as Abu Fayed, and if anyone knows heroes and villains and how essential they are to a story, it is he. How does all this incredible praise make you feel?

JHT: To be compared with such A-list authors as Robert Ludlum, Dan Brown, John Grisham, James Patterson, and Lee Child is an honor I find hard to articulate. It is very, very humbling. But this amazing praise came ten years after I wrote that book. That's right, ten years. Let me set the stage for you. I finished writing The Identity Factor, which plunges into the heart of Arab/Israeli issues in the Middle East, back in 2001. Hollywood had even expressed interest in it as a film. Then came the attack on the Twin Towers, and virtually overnight, no publisher wanted anything that was Middle Eastern. And virtually overnight, my book was a pariah. Another rug yanked from beneath me. But I refused to give up on the story, and in 2008, decided to publish it myself here in Australia, where it won those awards (which I felt exonerated me for not discarding it like people said I should do). Now, of course, the Middle East is a hot topic of interest and there are all kinds of TV programs, films, and books set there, which is what attracted Adoni's praise as well as the interest of Comfort Publishing, who will be launching The Identity Factor in the United States when it launches Department Thirteen (my retitled 1999 novel) at the University of Houston Clear Lake, followed by a nationwide tour to promote the books. Aussie Sam Worthington, star of the blockbuster films, Avatar and Clash of the Titans, had this to say to me at the G'day USA black tie gala in Hollywood last January, when I told him the good news about my publishing contracts: "It all starts with the writer, mate: film, TV, book -- it doesn't matter -- it all starts with the writer. Congratulations on scoring your deal. You deserve it."

Sam Worthington at G'day USA

Artist Interviews magazine is one of America's first online celebrity magazines and the winner of numerous awards. You may read the entire emotionally-moving interview with James by clicking HERE.

Keep up with all the latest info on James's Too Ugly Tour by visiting www.toouglytour.com, or by following James on Twitter or Facebook.

Additional information on James, including all the latest news and reviews, may be found on his website: www.jameshoustonturner.com.

See for yourself why people are talking! Order an eBook edition of The Identity Factor from Amazon by clicking HERE.

For all of Comfort Publishing's titles, visit www.comfortpublishing.com. 

Honoring Simon Baker and Dr. William S. Bate.

What a privilege to meet actor Simon Baker, star of the hit TV series, The Mentalist, who was honored at the prestigious G'day USA 2010 black tie gala in Hollywood. Wendy and I had flown from Australia to meet with several film executives regarding my screenplay, Big John, a true story based on the life of Big John Levi, the great 1920s Native American fullback from Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

Simon Baker and Wendy Turner at the G'day USA black tie gala

We then topped off the week by attending the gala, where actress Nicole Kidman introduced Simon to the crowd. She told us about the years Baker struggled as an actor, which eventually earned him a Logie Award in his native country of Australia for Most Popular New Talent. But his career never really ignited, so at Kidman's urging, Baker -- a former bricklayer -- moved his family to Los Angeles, where he scored a supporting role opposite fellow Aussies, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, in the 1997 Academy Award-winning film, L.A. Confidential. This was followed by other successful roles, including the popular TV series, The Guardian, the film, The Devil Wears Prada, and finally the blockbuster TV series, The Mentalist.
Baker was affable and accessible and enjoyed meeting fans. Which may not continue for long given the shocking behavior of some people. Wendy and I were speaking with him at the gala when several young women in sprayed-on cocktail dresses shoved their way to the front and burst into the conversation.

Sam Worthington

Two of them held digital cameras my way while talking with him effusively. I snapped pictures, after which they grabbed them abruptly away and shoved their way toward Aussie actor, Sam Worthington, star of Clash of the Titans and Avatar, who was standing a short distance away. Sorry about that, Sam.
One of the highlights of the evening was Nicole Kidman's introduction of Baker with husband Keith Urban. With Kidman

Wendy Turner and Keith Urban

dancing around on the stage, Urban sang a humorous tribute to Baker to the tune of Men At Work's iconic Australian classic, Down Under. Some of the lyrics include, "From a small town in Tasmania, in the rugged country of Australia, came a little boy with wide-eyed wonder, destined to rise up from Down Under. And his name is Simon Baker, surfer dude, home renovator... he's a sexy baby maker, and secretly your laptop screen saver. He's a straight-up guy, no bullshit taker. He's CBS' big money-maker, The Mentalist, a ratings breaker." Baker then donned his "rockin' Buddy Holly glasses" to shouts of approval from the crowd. Urban's song brought down the house and you can watch it on YouTube here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CsuFwYbsk). Other honorees at the gala were golfer Greg Norman, who was introduced by the legendary John Travolta, and actress Toni Collette.
Toni was introduced by the gorgeous and zany Cameron Diaz who, after witnessing the roof-raising introduction of Simon Baker by Keith and Nicole, said to the audience: "After that, I looked at Toni and she looked at me, and I said, 'We are so f#*ked!' " The crowd went wild with laughter.
But as spectacular as the black tie gala was, by far the greatest highlight of our trip was seeing Dr. William S. Bate, whose cancer diagnosis helped save my life back in 1991. After a missed diagnosis by another doctor in San Diego, I was examined by Dr. Bate, whose biopsy confirmed what he suspected simply by looking at the swollen mass on my jaw: a malignant tumor was eating its way into the bone. Not having health insurance, we were forced to fly to Australia for medical help, where a team of surgeons excised the tumor, by that time the size of an orange. We had to pay for the operation, but $17,000 was a lot less than the $200,000 required in San Diego. I was given 18 months to live. It will soon be twenty years!

James Houston Turner and Wendy Turner

So imagine Dr. Bate's surprise when I walked into his office to say thanks. He and I had not seen each other since 1991 and he did not even know that I was alive. He asked where I had gone for my treatment and I told him. He said, "There are few places in the world better than Adelaide, Australia, for what you had done. They did a magnificent job."
We shook hands and a beaming Dr. Bate said I had made his day. I told him he had made my life.
Thanks to Dr. William S. Bate, Dr. Dan Hains, Dr. James Katsaros, Dr. Peter O'Brien, and Dr. Liz Coates, James Houston Turner continues to write thrillers from his home in Adelaide, South Australia. You may visit him at www.jameshoustonturner.com.