tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39820186123996449792024-03-18T00:32:29.880-07:00Criminal-EAllan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-25402604793862556002013-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:002013-10-25T06:45:06.878-07:00Top Five Crime Novels #2: Nate Southard<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Second up in this series in which writers choose their top five crime novels is Nate Southard, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pale-Horses-Nate-Southard-ebook/dp/B00FUMPYN6/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Pale Horses</a>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKauYwdzvf2QdDltyQf-8pP6Ipn0xfauIpC1FuiczG683FNLlwdhMvgFJvdaCmYbm4l9deQAAqbyiZPymzwapvVbJeBYTJ-3917hrrehiYOpav0j54D4UyKZv5PMNbU8AeDJSoCR5VOYo/s1600/PaleHorses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKauYwdzvf2QdDltyQf-8pP6Ipn0xfauIpC1FuiczG683FNLlwdhMvgFJvdaCmYbm4l9deQAAqbyiZPymzwapvVbJeBYTJ-3917hrrehiYOpav0j54D4UyKZv5PMNbU8AeDJSoCR5VOYo/s1600/PaleHorses.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pale-Horses-Nate-Southard-ebook/dp/B00FUMPYN6/?tag=noiroriginals-21" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Amazon UK</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;"> | </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pale-Horses-ebook/dp/B00FUMPYN6/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Most days, Sheriff Hal Kendrick can remember his wife’s name, but what frightens him are the days he can’t. When a local woman is found dead, naked and dumped on the banks of the Ohio River, Sheriff Kendrick is determined to solve the crime before Alzheimer’s disease destroys his ability to reason. No matter the cost, he will leave his county better than he found it, but murder is only the beginning, a spark that ignites a firestorm of violence, betrayal, and deceit. </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Most mornings, former marine Korey Hunt can remember the previous night. Other times, he only remembers darkness. When a body is found on his family’s property, Korey wants to believe he’s incapable of murder. Deep down, however, killing is all he knows. </span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Death rides a Pale Horse, and no one in its path escapes unscathed. </span></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Nate Southard's Top Five Crime Novels</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-5-</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Little Sleep</i> by Paul Tremblay</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Sleep-Novel-ebook/dp/B002GYI93S/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Sleep-Novel-ebook/dp/B002GYI93S/">Amazon US</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6S7q4f1SNPKz2yvWnT6yZ3JYuVGLJyU6rVz6LbnC7VMGZQnUMjphyphenhyphenTw761yYzRhZ2GrFdDHM4O5jmuLZaXbl9HmmqVWa2Jq8Gh6FGhtLRtxuHrYnM7U2A3FSQ7R4SDghN8UAcQBvRk4o/s1600/paul-tremblay-the-little-sleep1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6S7q4f1SNPKz2yvWnT6yZ3JYuVGLJyU6rVz6LbnC7VMGZQnUMjphyphenhyphenTw761yYzRhZ2GrFdDHM4O5jmuLZaXbl9HmmqVWa2Jq8Gh6FGhtLRtxuHrYnM7U2A3FSQ7R4SDghN8UAcQBvRk4o/s1600/paul-tremblay-the-little-sleep1.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nate says:</b> Tremblay, who once wrote an absolutely terrifying story about balloons, injects
a fun bit of surrealism into the PI story with <i>The Little Sleep</i>. See,
private investigator Mark Gevenich is narcoleptic, and his condition causes
hallucinations. The resulting story is
full of twists, absurd exchanges, and that twilight feeling where you can’t
tell what’s real and what isn’t, like the teen reality show contestant in the
opening chapter who wants help finding her stolen fingers. If you’re looking for something hardboiled
but a little different, check out this one.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-4-</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Much Mojo</i> by Joe Lansdale</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mucho-Mojo-Joe-R-Lansdale/dp/0575400013/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mucho-Mojo-Leonard-Vintage-Lizard/dp/0307455394/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEOKLMDOswSyE_m5STASb6RIkUzLQWcQHZSeGU0n2VbfEdYJpvERRdgE8IgrVkbyBXSBxNUxrlidVKXa1wgBF-6MdX8WbdMH1Yj3HanXa3ZHpQUjObuUMmTj4noGxEOzLP26cuCaIwPk/s1600/JOE-LANSDALE-mucho-mojo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEOKLMDOswSyE_m5STASb6RIkUzLQWcQHZSeGU0n2VbfEdYJpvERRdgE8IgrVkbyBXSBxNUxrlidVKXa1wgBF-6MdX8WbdMH1Yj3HanXa3ZHpQUjObuUMmTj4noGxEOzLP26cuCaIwPk/s1600/JOE-LANSDALE-mucho-mojo.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nate says:</b> The second of
Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard series is my favorite by a country mile. Still licking their wounds from the events of
<i>Savage Season</i>, Hap and Leonard appear
more vulnerable than in some of their other books. The voice Lansdale uses to tell the tale
makes you feel right at home, like Hap Collins is telling you the story with
one arm around your shoulders and a beer in his free hand. A few of Lansdale’s horror tendencies shine
through, but it all works. I read the
climax of this one while pacing back and forth in my living room.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-3-</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Slippin' Into Darkness</i> by Norman Partridge</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slippin-Into-Darkness-ebook/dp/B005CM1RPS/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slippin-Into-Darkness-ebook/dp/B005CM1RPS/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2JkI_91YXslpQ_S-T24GyB4fJFwP8nbowuxU2e649v3jyVUjvfR_DZaCW93Md72cButmZqBqdF2zsHEjOTLMkYjuOELeX0AvHo_DqBs6K8qvq0jBuIfLL0s1ypLdbcHtr1OyWkXYHU8/s1600/e_partri01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2JkI_91YXslpQ_S-T24GyB4fJFwP8nbowuxU2e649v3jyVUjvfR_DZaCW93Md72cButmZqBqdF2zsHEjOTLMkYjuOELeX0AvHo_DqBs6K8qvq0jBuIfLL0s1ypLdbcHtr1OyWkXYHU8/s1600/e_partri01.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nate says:</b> New Norm Partridge books don’t come around often, but they’re always a cause
for celebration. His first novel is a
masterpiece of, well, darkness. A former
cheerleader-turned-prostitute kills herself, and her death brings together those
whose lives she affected. The jocks
visit a pornographer who still has a film reel of the cheerleader’s rape. A lonely drunk hurls beer bottles at her
headstone in the middle of the night.
There’s something particularly horrible involving an eight ball. Everything spirals together, and the climax
is controlled chaos at its finest. Through all of it, Partridge writes with a
style that crackles around the edges.
His characters latch on and refuse to let go. This one might be hard to find, but it’s
worth tracking down. It should be
required reading for all writers of both crime and horror.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-2-</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Sharp Objects</i> by Gillian Flynn</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharp-Objects-Gillian-Flynn-ebook/dp/B002U3CCF6/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Objects-ebook/dp/B002U3CCF6/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAGVIWSzFOYbs39LD9I6VZkfigT9uJxpEnNvhYk9aHdZCruzPghh6844lxk1o6mKMgFemYgLgKh4KjVQEvRHLRVAi3ZL7tmBHL-XtRQ-4BIt5SOVGNnaLObF0bILjzjkj82AcjrPN2Vk/s1600/sharpobjects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAGVIWSzFOYbs39LD9I6VZkfigT9uJxpEnNvhYk9aHdZCruzPghh6844lxk1o6mKMgFemYgLgKh4KjVQEvRHLRVAi3ZL7tmBHL-XtRQ-4BIt5SOVGNnaLObF0bILjzjkj82AcjrPN2Vk/s1600/sharpobjects.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nate says:</b> I know
it’s marketed as a mystery, but <i>Sharp
Objects</i> is easily the best horror story of the last decade. The last two chapters are some of the most
terrifying words I’ve ever read. Before
you get there, however, you’ll meet Camille Parker, newspaper reporter and
cutter. There’s something so real and
relatable about this character, a woman with only a few inches of her body
unscarred, and the family she reunites with as she investigates a child murder
in her hometown. Years before she wrote <i>Gone Girl</i>, Gillian Flynn proved to be a
master with <i>Sharp Objects</i>. </span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-1-</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Every Shallow Cut</i> by Tom Piccirilli</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Shallow-Cut-Tom-Piccirilli-ebook/dp/B007MB55U0/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Every-Shallow-Cut-Tom-Piccirilli/dp/1926851102/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTndIPxODohbZaghMR5CNMeu10UC_3ElfYG1Goexsf1jYI0ynxfcbUCsJv9cs6jSo-1zRSz4zo1NiIc3ZAbDsY7iWjCapWx_tbnzhAeoH6kNK3-2jw1dsmV39Cat9wckEHN29u_p43aY/s1600/EveryShallowCut05_for-big-thrill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTndIPxODohbZaghMR5CNMeu10UC_3ElfYG1Goexsf1jYI0ynxfcbUCsJv9cs6jSo-1zRSz4zo1NiIc3ZAbDsY7iWjCapWx_tbnzhAeoH6kNK3-2jw1dsmV39Cat9wckEHN29u_p43aY/s1600/EveryShallowCut05_for-big-thrill.jpg" height="320" width="220" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nate says:</b> No one writes with the confidence and skill
I’ve seen from Tom Piccirilli. With this
novella, Pic writes the meanest, most heartbreaking story I’ve ever read. A nameless writer has nothing left but a gun
and a loyal dog, and what he embarks on takes him through his past and hurtling
toward a dead end. The meat of things is
how Pic makes us feel for the guy. We
experience every dash of hopelessness, anger, and sadness. We know this won’t end well, but we can’t
look away. I’d tell you more, but this is a book you need to read before
discussing in any form. Piccirilli is a
master, and this is his best work. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">For more information about Nate Southard:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">website: </span><a href="http://nateshouthard.com/">nateshouthard.com</a> | Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/natesouthard">https://www.facebook.com/natesouthard</a></span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com217tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-49917400737818867282013-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:002013-10-17T07:39:16.822-07:00Top Five Crime Novels: Seth Lynch<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today sees the start of a series in which select crime novelists choose their top five favourite crime novels.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First up is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Seth Lynch, author of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salazar-ebook/dp/B00E7HZZ16/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Salazar</a>. </i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDc1Y9y6xSRW7xU2r_QQlfD03j3VW-AJFTlu7-XsqrtIbZSvp2rFPcx_bKXbB36sERok4U3W0qdjRAON6lanpS_NkI8on01Z7nCwwWGDI9IPFn1G_vkNXeqBeUUWlRInCGv5KaTquEs74/s1600/Salazar+cover+smallest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDc1Y9y6xSRW7xU2r_QQlfD03j3VW-AJFTlu7-XsqrtIbZSvp2rFPcx_bKXbB36sERok4U3W0qdjRAON6lanpS_NkI8on01Z7nCwwWGDI9IPFn1G_vkNXeqBeUUWlRInCGv5KaTquEs74/s320/Salazar+cover+smallest.jpg" height="320" width="230" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salazar-Seth-Lynch-ebook/dp/B00E7HZZ16/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Salazar-ebook/dp/B00E7HZZ16/">Amazon US</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">Paris. 1930. An English detective haunted by his experiences of the Great War, Salazar whiles away the days playing chess and taking on as little work as possible. When the alluring Marie Poncelet hires him to find a missing man, Gustave Marty, it's a case he'll soon wish he'd refused.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Because finding a missing man isn't anything like finding a man who doesn't want to be found. And Gustave Marty has covered his tracks with a smokescreen that will push Salazar beyond the limits of physical endurance and to the edge of insanity.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">As he's drawn ever deeper into the shadowy underbelly of the City of Light, Salazar's closed, structured world is blown apart by the arrival of a friend from his pre-war youth, the beautiful Megan Fitzwilliam, whose tenderness and love of life is a stark contrast to the brutal violence that lies within him.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">When that violence threatens to engulf them both, Salazar must seek redemption or lose that which has finally made his life worth living.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Seth Lynch's Top Five Crime Novels</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-5-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Talented Mr. Ripley</i> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Patricia Highsmith</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Talented-Ripley-Patricia-Highsmith/dp/0099282879/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Talented-Mr-Ripley-Patricia-Highsmith/dp/0393332144/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ouUHcYmt726Z-_kl4lZ4Oxoi4bh3wfv18tNJQ1hjzZIUmOYUWZ08nWZg4RWJnGBWh6GnNsNYYBfe6REmu2NRtsjbwNqWMoiFI0OTB4ds1Yn3jpcLBKObjNe61yoUHQWlWT-ZiaIy5OI/s1600/ripley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ouUHcYmt726Z-_kl4lZ4Oxoi4bh3wfv18tNJQ1hjzZIUmOYUWZ08nWZg4RWJnGBWh6GnNsNYYBfe6REmu2NRtsjbwNqWMoiFI0OTB4ds1Yn3jpcLBKObjNe61yoUHQWlWT-ZiaIy5OI/s200/ripley.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over. </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he's willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seth comments:</b> Not the best written or most convincing of novels but one of the most memorable characters. Unlike that fella from my #1 choice, you can't help rooting for Ripley, yet they're probably equally as nasty. I'm not sure why these books aren't available on the kindle in the UK but I hope that'll change soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-4-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Murder In Memoriam</i> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Didier Daeninckx</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Memoriam-Five-Star-Paperback/dp/1852427957/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Memoriam-Melville-International-Crime/dp/1612191460/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXjJwByYC0yR8sqFdRylHGoPdN4MP3CxaitfU5_14G9DoJhHiQw96Ji4bfi91_sdJfJzHH0XGAUosAdnEXcuZJhP5obXP4BWaZ7bexDkLBA9cjSiQb6tS4taSkDyD7G9pwY-XVwRDSUM/s1600/murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXjJwByYC0yR8sqFdRylHGoPdN4MP3CxaitfU5_14G9DoJhHiQw96Ji4bfi91_sdJfJzHH0XGAUosAdnEXcuZJhP5obXP4BWaZ7bexDkLBA9cjSiQb6tS4taSkDyD7G9pwY-XVwRDSUM/s200/murder.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Didier Daeninckx's chilling novel created uproar when it was first published in France in 1984. It is set against the backdrop of a demonstration in Paris in 1961, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Algerians at the hands of the police. In Daeninckx's story, Roger Thiraud, a young history teacher, is also mysteriously killed during this demonstration. Twenty years later, Bernard, his son, is murdered in Toulouse while on holiday with his girlfriend. To find the connection between the murders, Daeninckx's hero Inspector Cadin must delve into the secret history and devastating compromises of wartime politics. Murder in Memoriam is a tense and unsettling indictment of France's hidden past.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seth comments:</b> A good story which also puts the spot light on the less commendable aspects of French History – in this case the killing of hundreds of Algerian demonstrators by the police. Daeninckx only has two books in translation, the other is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Profitable-Melville-International-Crime/dp/1612191843/?tag=noiroriginals-21">A Very Profitable War</a>. They are both good but this one has the edge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-3-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Stain on the Snow</i> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Georges Simenon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stain-Snow-Crime-Masterworks/dp/0752853783/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stain-Snow-Crime-Masterworks/dp/0752853783/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqi7Xv6tnw4kIY_06asNwPQMxBWVSxJ1eZ114fimb-II5Xk-Akaw_8Tg2TmLcoD8v23E-yH82GU7TtpvbXRBkbiLRygiNEWKUfEhJFTZMttgI9DlLMQanRPIiLEfae0GV56fPUXSKjRQ4/s1600/stain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqi7Xv6tnw4kIY_06asNwPQMxBWVSxJ1eZ114fimb-II5Xk-Akaw_8Tg2TmLcoD8v23E-yH82GU7TtpvbXRBkbiLRygiNEWKUfEhJFTZMttgI9DlLMQanRPIiLEfae0GV56fPUXSKjRQ4/s200/stain.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.390625px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.390625px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>At nineteen, Frank Friedmaier is thief, pimp and murderer. He has never known his father, his mother keeps a brothel. His mind is cold and inhospitable. But Simenon reveals the obsession with self-torture that lurks within it, and explores the intricate psychology of a young criminal, even lending the repellent Frank a chilling grandeur as he faces remorseless interrogation and his fate. A bleak and brilliant masterpiece from Simenon at his superlative best.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seth comments:</b> One of my favourite writers. In fairness this isn't one of his greatest books but I like the question it poses over personality. The first part is seriously gritty the second part more meandering. For a one-man book factory Simenon churned out some fantastic works. Next month Penguin are going to start releasing Maigret for the kindle – it would be good to see the rest of his books on the UK kindle too.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-2-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>120 Rue de la Gare</i> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Léo Malet</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/120-Rue-Gare-Leo-Malet/dp/0330313223/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/120-Rue-Gare-Leo-Malet/dp/0330313223/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw65gS56eL-eH0SUrZuy2TDmZb94o6sxQWzaZj7eQrJ38_rwvtiW4JihvXCeqv5hdHzW9u54pX9-g8edOyA73Q7Sp9oN32cMs8LNR5GEqhSDF8pw9AVNhAodN1tdsTNGUXbKRexEwi79E/s1600/malet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw65gS56eL-eH0SUrZuy2TDmZb94o6sxQWzaZj7eQrJ38_rwvtiW4JihvXCeqv5hdHzW9u54pX9-g8edOyA73Q7Sp9oN32cMs8LNR5GEqhSDF8pw9AVNhAodN1tdsTNGUXbKRexEwi79E/s200/malet.jpg" height="200" width="118" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Nestor Burma is a witty French crime detector with lots of savoir-faire. Chief of the Fiat Lux detective agency, he operates in the Paris of the 1940s and 50s and is assisted by Helen, his secretary. In this mystery, dying men keep mouthing the same unknown address, 120 Rue de la Gare.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seth comments:</b> Not the greatest writer but he's my Raymond Chandler. This is the first in a series of books featuring the detective Nestor Burma, it's also one of the better ones. They're credited with being the first French Noir as opposed to previous imitations of the Americans. I love Malet's cynical sense of humour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-1-</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Brighton Rock</i> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Graham Greene</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brighton-Rock-Vintage-Classics-ebook/dp/B0044XV5S0/?tag=noiroriginals-21">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brighton-Rock-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0142437972/">Amazon US</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNNLDVE5QI4SwfG0cofscSAAxbhDBvi2DmFQpINvg777hsLpkhOwbs9wLxzUPKF5ORUWvacjfVxyqTxikt4-0H-1ayZQefNUFpyuJ8OgciWea5K2dhXBfr6xePruMIpBLMACHlgpKgZo/s1600/0099287366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNNLDVE5QI4SwfG0cofscSAAxbhDBvi2DmFQpINvg777hsLpkhOwbs9wLxzUPKF5ORUWvacjfVxyqTxikt4-0H-1ayZQefNUFpyuJ8OgciWea5K2dhXBfr6xePruMIpBLMACHlgpKgZo/s200/0099287366.jpg" height="200" width="125" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seth comments:</b> Pinkie. What an evil son of a bitch. If you haven't read this you ought to.</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more information about Seth Lynch and <i>Salazar, </i>check out his blog </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">at <a href="http://salazarbooks.com/">Paris Noir</a> or follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/SethALynch">Twitter</a> (</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">@sethAlynch )</span>. </span></div>
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-73884374586837310832013-01-16T14:52:00.000-08:002013-01-16T14:52:08.554-08:00Kill Clock: Revised And Expanded <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIbzWDZtIJfRmNWfUT_lwXazKjZxaEDikBYMsOk0Bs2zVb1exiDklcDQuSs-kKJ_4W1lKcetuvlPkx9XH8r3Md0maHA6W2mtcPvk7syapuiSS669g5t4gpVePp4J-K_MaV6T77eTHCzY/s1600/KILLCLOCK-250x350-FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIbzWDZtIJfRmNWfUT_lwXazKjZxaEDikBYMsOk0Bs2zVb1exiDklcDQuSs-kKJ_4W1lKcetuvlPkx9XH8r3Md0maHA6W2mtcPvk7syapuiSS669g5t4gpVePp4J-K_MaV6T77eTHCzY/s1600/KILLCLOCK-250x350-FINAL.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kill-Clock-extended-edition-ebook/dp/B00B0MTIYQ/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Clock-extended-edition-ebook/dp/B00B0MTIYQ/">Amazon US</a> | <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Kill-Clock-extended-edition/book-eejBnek8DUmNH3RAmCNeEg/page1.html?s=0C_joNELu0C3mjyinUOlEg&r=1">Kobo</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Kill Clock </i>is a novella of mine first published in 2007 by Barrington Stoke. It features Edinburgh hard man, Gordon Pearce, who first appears in <i>Two-Way Split, </i>and then in <i>Bad Men </i>(aka <i>Hard Man</i>)<i>, </i>and his three-legged Dandie Dinmont terrier, Hilda (<i>Hard Man </i>and <i>Hilda's Big Day Out</i>). This revised version represents an extensive overhaul of the original, for which a huge shout-out must go to <a href="http://www.stuartmacbride.com/">Stuart MacBride</a>, <a href="http://www.thesaturdayboy.com/">Ray Banks</a> and <a href="http://nigelpbird.blogspot.co.uk/">Nigel Bird</a>, all of whom were kind enough to risk breaking their backs with some very heavy editorial lifting. Thank you, gents, and I hope everyone likes the result.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Gordon Pearce is a nice enough sort of guy. Just as long as you don't get on his wrong side.</i></span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">One evening while he's taking his dog for a stroll, a double-crossing ex-girlfriend turns up out of the blue with a couple of scruffy toddlers and a tall tale involving loan sharks, death threats and something called a 'kill clock'. She begs Pearce for help. Claims he's her last resort. But he's convinced she's trying another one of her cons. Last time he saw her, she fleeced him good and proper, and he's not going to let that happen again.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But as the night goes on, doubts start to creep in. Problem is, Pearce can't afford to believe her. Because if she's telling the truth, he has until midnight to rustle up twenty grand in cash or he'll have another death on his conscience.</span></span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-70597022611122590782012-11-08T09:27:00.000-08:002012-11-08T09:27:02.280-08:00New from Crime Wave Press: Mindfulness And Murder and Dead Sea<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQutp1EK40VzhJUwUgX_DEZVFTISWFWMnHBegunPypZOUbYUcH7eqEA5QOCjbkFUFsY1U6Zf1cSOvRqaYUDDeGWNiqldZVk-jlwfNVQP5z9JQQGb38bibf3Zt7Flgd5M1FzamOcO6bl8/s1600/Mindfulness&Murder2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQutp1EK40VzhJUwUgX_DEZVFTISWFWMnHBegunPypZOUbYUcH7eqEA5QOCjbkFUFsY1U6Zf1cSOvRqaYUDDeGWNiqldZVk-jlwfNVQP5z9JQQGb38bibf3Zt7Flgd5M1FzamOcO6bl8/s1600/Mindfulness&Murder2.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-and-Murder-ebook/dp/B009SMJ65Q/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-and-Murder-ebook/dp/B009SMJ65Q/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong>Mindfulness and Murder by Nick Wilgus</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Published 17th Oct</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
When a homeless boy living at the youth shelter run by a
Buddhist monastery turns up dead, the abbot recruits Father Ananda, a monk and
former police officer, to find out why. He discovers that all is not well at
this urban monastery in the heart of Bangkok. Together with his dogged
assistant, an orphaned boy named Jak, Father Ananda uncovers a startling series
of clues that eventually expose the motivation behind the crime and lead him to
the murderers. "Mindfulness and Murder" is the first in the Father Ananda
murder-mystery series.<br />
<br />
An award-winning movie based on Mindfulness and
Murder was released in 2011 by DeWarenne Pictures in Bangkok and nominated for
Best Screenplay by the Thailand National Films Awards 2012. <br />
<br />
Praise for
the Father Ananda series:<br />
<br />
"A gripping read peppered with fascinating
insights into the day to day life of a Buddhist monk. Nick Wilgus's Mindfulness
and Murder puts a new spin on an old genre." -- UNTAMED TRAVEL
MAGAZINE<br />
<br />
"Wilgus ... has a good fix on temple boys, the precepts of
Buddhism, the jaundiced eye with which the populace regards the constulabary,
the vendors, the weather, the air pollution." -- BANGKOK POST on Garden of
Hell<br />
<br />
"Nick Wilgus' first novel is great. May Buddha protect Father Ananda
and send him many other exciting adventures." Livres Hebdo</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><em>Nick Wilgus</em></strong> lived and worked in Asia for many years. His "Father Ananda" books
have been translated into French, German, Spanish and Italian. An award-winning
movie based on the first book, Mindfulness and Murder, was released in 2011. He
is currently the editor for a small newspaper in Mississippi.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptwjCpnQBKI_2TIbtr5C_SD-BQk4hLNodqgo9f8yIhzYURSaeSucZJdUQYKK_cAJxpfHFvelGc2yxSVke64iItm_YomZBtBKf_Dyx5YN7ARoBKw5e8cXs4oVQL6wvkhUpWc3aZIawbA4/s1600/Dead+Sea+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptwjCpnQBKI_2TIbtr5C_SD-BQk4hLNodqgo9f8yIhzYURSaeSucZJdUQYKK_cAJxpfHFvelGc2yxSVke64iItm_YomZBtBKf_Dyx5YN7ARoBKw5e8cXs4oVQL6wvkhUpWc3aZIawbA4/s1600/Dead+Sea+cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Sea-ebook/dp/B009GIOJ8Q/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Sea-ebook/dp/B009GIOJ8Q/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong>Dead Sea by Sam Lopez</strong></div>
<div>
Published 18th Sept</div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<div>
Down and out Luke and high-class Tara, linked intimately by a violent incident
in London’s seedy King’s Cross, run away to the Philippines to escape their
sordid pasts. But the tropics can be unkind to kids on the lam. On a remote
island in the South China Sea they soon face more trouble than they can handle –
with each other and the local criminal elements. Only a mysterious Englishman
with a luxurious dive boat can spring them from their new predicament, with an
offer of high seas adventure that has to be too good to be true. But Luke and
Tara are in no position to refuse…</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<strong><em>Sam Lopez</em></strong> is the pseudonym of two well-travelled writers based in Britain who, for reasons best known to themselves, prefer to remain anonymous.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com82tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-68561820387162236452012-11-07T07:05:00.000-08:002012-11-07T07:05:46.554-08:00Darragh McManus interview: Even Flow<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-t-cfySZrXfPDe6L5X0TdbwPW_XZedLy0xvsvQ2besJa36Aqu0mPLEsBC_WB3L8n8U4dZPGj4eaa3KXEs-m-8k1vfc6nV2l0_C4e5fUbIM3EhQx520OCY4E7hrvLu3CH_E6j-BfEHkI/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-t-cfySZrXfPDe6L5X0TdbwPW_XZedLy0xvsvQ2besJa36Aqu0mPLEsBC_WB3L8n8U4dZPGj4eaa3KXEs-m-8k1vfc6nV2l0_C4e5fUbIM3EhQx520OCY4E7hrvLu3CH_E6j-BfEHkI/s1600/temp.jpg" height="320" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Even-Flow-ebook/dp/B009H1KELI/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Even-Flow-ebook/dp/B009H1KELI/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Even Flow</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> is Darragh McManus’ first crime novel; a second, <i>The Polka Dot Girl</i>, will be published on January 25, 2013. He’s also released the comic novel <i>Cold! Steel! Justice!!!</i> as an e-book, under the name Alexander O’Hara. As a journalist he’s written for several papers, including the Guardian, Sunday Times and Irish Independent, for over a decade.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Can you sum up <i>Even
Flow</i> in no more than 25 words?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">An action-packed,
cinematic and provocative thriller, set in NYC, about the 3W Gang: vigilantes
who are bringing the pain to misogynists and homophobes.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What's unique about it?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I think the vigilantes
themselves make it unique, for a few reasons. First, they’re inspired by
feminism and gay rights, not the usual anti-crime or “bring down the system”
stuff (admirable as those are). Secondly, they’re doing it out of a point of
principle. These aren’t people who’ve been personally hurt, or seek vengeance:
they’re inspired by a sense of fairness and justice, no different to Civil
Rights marchers etc. Third, they’re pretty cool! They blend irony, humour,
sarcasm, pop culture, high-brow culture, politics, feminism, post-modernism –
and a willingness to use violence – into a sort of “vigilantism as performance
art”. I wanted them to be an alternative to the cliché of feminists as
emasculated weirdoes, and gay rights activists as over-sensitive wimps. These
guys are thoughtful and compassionate, but also brave and ruthless and
ass-kicking. They’re sexy, witty, daring. Basically, they’re like the
grunge/Generation X aesthetic made flesh – and made angry.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What are your expectations for the book?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To be honest, I haven’t
got a clue what to expect. I’m long enough in the tooth to expect nothing…but
hopeful/deluded enough to expect a lot. I think it’s the kind of book could
either really strike a chord and sell very well, or totally tank. Don’t know if
there’ll be a middle-ground. Either way, I expect some fairly strong reactions
to its themes/contentions, both for and against. So, should make for
interesting debate.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How important is talent?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It should be the only
thing, really, but sadly it’s not; we don’t live in a meritocracy. I don’t mean
it’s all cronyism and nepotism, but luck has an awfully big part to play in
terms of success in this life. Why does one book catch fire and another not?
Couldn’t tell you. For instance, in terms of crime fiction, Stieg Larsson (and
with all due respect to the dead): poorish writer telling a sort-of diverting
story that would make an alright afternoon TV drama. Whereas there are
literally thousands of really well-written crime novels, telling great, fresh,
inventive stories with skill and élan, and nobody’s ever going to read them.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Please provide a youtube link to a song you'd like to
be the title track to the movie adaptation of your book.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Please sir, may I make it two? This for the opening credits, spliced with the opening scene: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oM7bdiamYDU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">And this for the closing
credits and (literally) title song: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CxKWTzr-k6s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Who would you like to direct the film adaptation?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ooh…I think Neil Jordan
would make a good go of it. I think he’d “get” it, you know? Plus I really like
his movies (although Ondine didn’t work for me at all). And he has form in
vigilante material with The Brave One, which I thought was very underrated and
quite powerful.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you were able to co-write a novel with any author
of your choosing, who would it be?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don DeLillo, because the
man is a god of writing, the greatest novelist I’ve ever read. Don’t think I’d
be able to do any work, though! I’d just be pinching myself and gawping at him.
“Holy shit, I’m sitting at a desk with Don DeLillo…”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What's the worst piece of craft advice you've heard?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I sent <i>Cold! Steel! Justice!!!</i>, a comic crime
novel, to one genius of a literary agent, who referred me to another book on
“the conventions of thriller writing”. I pointed out that, considering my book
had a whole FIVE exclamation marks in the title and was about a deranged
Irish-American mayor who planned to execute criminals on live TV, I would have
thought it was fairly clear it was a spoof, and therefore not a “thriller” in
any accepted sense. She didn’t reply. Depressingly, that’s a true story. I have
the emails as proof.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What are you reading now?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My author copy of <i>Even Flow</i> – yes, I admit it, checking
for typos; can’t help it, it’s the sub-editor in me. Also a collection of
essays by Milan Kundera, an Ed McBain shortish novel as part of a set, and
battling my way through <i>One Day in the
Life of Ivan Denisovich</i> by Solzhenitsyn. Hard going, which is funny because
I loved <i>Gulag Archipelago</i> – honestly
– and flew through it.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What's the book you've recommended most to friends?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Probably <i>Wild Palms</i> by Bruce Wagner. Graphic
novel from the early nineties. Oliver Stone made an apparently crappy TV series
out of it – trying to cash in on the <st1:place w:st="on">Twin Peaks</st1:place>
phenomenon – but this book is fabulous. A menacing undertone bubbles
throughout, a palpable sense of dread and panic. It’s a horribly vivid
realisation of a hellish LA dream-world, which insists that life is always
weirder and less comprehensible than we imagine.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do you write outside of the crime genre? If not, would
you like to?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I do, and I like to! As
mentioned below, I’ve done a Young Adult book, currently out with an agent, and
have ideas sketched for a possible sequel (or two!), plus three very different,
standalone YA works. Also written some literary fiction – novel, short story
collection – which were summarily rejected by the publishing world. Got a few
nice comments, though. And I’ve had some stuff published in literary journals.
At the moment actually I’m writing a Douglas Coupland-type book about a bunch
of slackers in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cork</st1:place></st1:city>
city in the mid-90s. Nothing really happens, but it’s fun to watch it not
happen.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What question would you most like to be asked in an
interview? What's the answer to it?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“How does it feel to
outsell Stephanie Meyer!” And I’d answer, in this magical dream-world, “Pretty
goddamn fantastic, actually. JK Rowling – I’m coming for you…”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do you have any other projects on the go?</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, another crime novel
called <i>Polka Dot Girl</i> is being
published in late January 2013. This is my spin on the Chandler-style noir
mystery, with a unique twist: all the characters are female. I thought it would
be interesting to take this macho environment, instantly recognisable to all of
us, and make all the players women. So you have the iconic, almost
stereotypical, <i>noir </i>characters – world-weary detective, self-destructive
victim, femme fatale, psychotic killers, etc – and they’re women, every one.
They act and talk like these characters always do – tenderly, violently,
bitterly – but they’re women. There is an intriguing tension between the
darkness and edge of <i>noir</i>, and the fact that the protagonists are
female. Stylistically it’s probably more lyrical and reflective than
hard-boiled. It is in part an homage to classic mystery fiction, but with its
own aesthetic and distinctive voice. But it incorporates many of the elements
of a classic <i>noir</i>: a shocking murder to open, a serpentine plot,
unlikely coincidences, outlandish deeds and characters, a mystical-religious
sub-plot, hints of a larger conspiracy. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chandler</st1:place></st1:city>
in lipstick and a dress!</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve also written a Young
Adult urban fantasy novel, based on Irish mythology, which is currently with an
agent. I will be ecstatically happy if she takes it on. I’ll say no more for
now!</span></div>
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-10369899427744675992012-11-05T06:51:00.000-08:002012-11-05T06:51:32.400-08:00Gary Carson interview: Hot Wire
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuivWypdCXb4wTATiJ_yFyXPapb2I5oFK2PnjnChOGcVETXgpGWrId_8_o-mPIwzq5TNAKgQaysgsyFz227Vv5vhM6B_oYn0RgzQL1XU8fclBpqsKZVGWHT5D2jfdMeJkhv9YzbUHn7g/s1600/HotWirex500x72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuivWypdCXb4wTATiJ_yFyXPapb2I5oFK2PnjnChOGcVETXgpGWrId_8_o-mPIwzq5TNAKgQaysgsyFz227Vv5vhM6B_oYn0RgzQL1XU8fclBpqsKZVGWHT5D2jfdMeJkhv9YzbUHn7g/s1600/HotWirex500x72dpi.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Wire-ebook/dp/B008THBL4K/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Wire-ebook/dp/B008THBL4K/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Can you
sum up <em>Hot Wire</em> in no more than 25 words?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">A female car thief steals the
wrong car and finds herself the target of dark forces colliding over a sinister
government conspiracy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">What's
unique about it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Hot Wire</em> is a cross-genre suspense
novel, a fusion of noir crime and political conspiracy thriller inspired by the
mass paranoia and institutional corruption of 21st Century Amerika. A
fast-moving and at times darkly comic story of hot cars, organized crime and
black operations spiralling into chaos, the novel is narrated by one of the
more unusual protagonists in crime fiction, the 19-year-old professional car
thief, Emma Martin, aka "Little Bo Peep." An impulsive, scrawny
little runt with glasses and a ponytail, Emma's worries about her job security
lead her to jack the wrong car from the wrong people at just the wrong time,
triggering a series of events that cascade to an explosive conclusion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">What are
your expectations for the book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Writing is a difficult racket to
break into and I try to be as realistic about my chances as possible. Taking
into account my own failings not only as a human being but as a writer, I
figure that <em>Hot Wire</em> will probably be a huge commercial success and make me
rich and famous. I expect the novel will be picked up by a major <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state> publisher and
become a runaway bestseller translated into a dozen different languages. Like
<em>The Da Vinci Code</em>, one of the masterpieces of modern literature, <em>Hot Wire</em> will
be the focus of reading circles and book clubs around the world. Housewives
will meet in their suburban living rooms to analyze the book and drool over my
photograph on the back cover, and the novel will be optioned by HollyWeird
after a frenzied bidding war that will drive the price into orbit. I will then
purchase the last surviving Foo Fighter and retire to New Swabia in <st1:place w:st="on">Antarctica</st1:place> where the lingerie model Kate Upton will tend
to my basic physiological requirements.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">What did
you learn while writing it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">During the course of writing <em>Hot
Wire</em>, I learned that 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute,
resulting in nearly eight years of content uploaded every day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">D</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">o you
bear the reader in mind while you're writing? If so, how does that affect the
way you write?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Considering the fact that my only
reader lives in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region></st1:place>, I decided to write all of my books
in English instead of my native language,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gnomish. Also, since my reader is a member of the <st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype>
Of <st1:placename w:st="on">God With Signs And Wonders</st1:placename>, a
snake-handling cult in the <st1:place w:st="on">Blue Ridge Mountains</st1:place>,
I try to keep my language as clean as possible. If I'm compelled for artistic
reasons to use particularly blasphemous or filthy words or phrases, I translate
them into Spanish or Russian using Google. For example, instead of saying
"Fuck a Jesus," a phrase I picked up from my bail bondsman, Charlie
Brooker, I'll say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mbwa</i> instead. This
baffles my reader and gives him the illusion that he's reading High Literature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">How
important is talent?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Talent is over-rated and
considering the quality of most of the dribble on sale in my local Barnes &
Noble, completely unnecessary to the creative process. Writing is a craft like
making a pipe bomb or using a Fleshlight and a writer has to master several
basic skills that have diddly-squat to do with talent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">You have to be able to multitask,
to work under pressure and ignore distractions. For example, a professional
hack can write a three-way sex scene between two lesbian meter maids and an
intelligent power drill while smoking a White Owl cigar and drinking a jug of
Ripple wine with the Craig Ferguson show on TV and Ozric Tentacles blasting
over the stereo, all with a headful of methylenedioxypyrovalerone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">To be productive, you have to know
how to locate the browser icon on your computer and the snooze button on your
radio-alarm clock, and you should have a basic knowledge of auto-erotica. And shoplifting
skills are essential to be a successful writer. You should have enough
knowledge of electronics to build your own EAS (Electronic Article
Surveillance) tag proximity deactivator and it's important to know that most
people never pay any attention to anything that's going on around them. The
best way to avoid capture is to deactivate those tags, then wheel your loaded
shopping cart out the door like you own it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Nobody will notice. Guaranteed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">What's
the worst piece of craft advice you've heard?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Don't get me started on this. Most
writing advice is worthless, especially the swill you get in college
"writer's workshops" where a bunch of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>iGeneration douche-bags sit around in a circle
and criticize each other's work while the professor sits behind his desk, playing
with himself. After all, if the douche-bags knew anything about writing, they
wouldn't be taking a class to learn about writing, would they? And the gibberish
found in most writing-craft books in your local book barn isn't much better.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">There's so much bad advice
floating around that it's hard to pick the worst, but "write what you
know" has to be in the Top Ten. If everyone followed that piece of wisdom,
we could eliminate most science fiction, murder mysteries, crime novels,
thrillers, horror stories and historical fiction, just to name a few
categories. All we'd have left would be books about writers drinking too much,
arguing with their teenage children, going to work for insurance companies and
sacrificing cheerleaders to Cthulhu in the middle of the night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">"Write a draft, then give it
to a friend who can review it and advise you." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Mbwa. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I don't know about you,
but most of my friends are illiterate hillbillies who don't know jack about
writing and don't even read. In fact, the only person I know who reads anything
runs a small-town beauty salon and likes "Inspirational Romances."
Once I mentioned to an old hippy friend that I was writing a novel and he said
"Oh, you want to be the next Tom Robbins." The guy hadn't cracked a
book since he read the Cliff Notes version of <em>Even Cowgirls Get The Blues</em> back
in 1976.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">There seem to be two schools of
writing: "important" literary academic bilge that focuses on language
and "irony," and commercial fiction written by actual writers who are
trying to make a living. The literary crap is surrounded by a smog of
platitudes about "muses" and "cultural significance" and
"finding your inner voice" that reeks of motivational seminars and
self-help manuals. For instance, I read one article that advised writers to
"honor the miraculousness of the ordinary," whatever the hell that
means. But the worst advice I've stumbled onto recently goes like this:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">"Remember: writing doesn't
love you. It doesn't care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable
generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others and pass it on."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In the real world, the writing
business works like this:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/jngsEQVs_d0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/jngsEQVs_d0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/jngsEQVs_d0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Put these
in order of importance: language, character, plot, money.</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Money. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">To what
extent do you view writing as a business?</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Writing is strictly a
business as far as I'm concerned. My heroes are the old pulp writers who
cranked out thousands of books under various pseudonyms at two cents a word in
order to pay the rent. Guys like Erle Stanley Gardner, for instance. The
ultimate hack, he dictated all of his Perry Mason novels on an ancient
dictaphone while lying around on a couch at his ranch in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Temecula</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state></st1:place>.
He produced dozens of paperbacks every year, employed a small army of
secretaries to transcribe his stuff and was one of the most successful
novelists in the world at one time. Now, that's what I call a business.
Unfortunately, I have a hard time seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">myself</i>
as a business since businesses are supposed to make money. If this was 1930, I
don't think I'd have this problem.</span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-91730310892930667452012-11-03T08:53:00.000-07:002012-11-03T08:53:17.275-07:00New from Dutton Guilt Edged: The Devil Doesn't Want Me and Noir(ish)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZV5gSKIULjC0Xn1CnnO2QyC9X_htggsvtPdw2NBOcpEgDfaSkji5NFvk17IC_xm_KBOmO-wiiB3WPyib0Kpu6gzb8JpC4u8G-J9a5R4uNeT0mGZkKK1SHGFqKd1gDoONsdiTlPEkb-Y/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZV5gSKIULjC0Xn1CnnO2QyC9X_htggsvtPdw2NBOcpEgDfaSkji5NFvk17IC_xm_KBOmO-wiiB3WPyib0Kpu6gzb8JpC4u8G-J9a5R4uNeT0mGZkKK1SHGFqKd1gDoONsdiTlPEkb-Y/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Doesnt-Want-ebook/dp/B00938UIK2/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Devil-Doesnt-Want-ebook/dp/B00938UIK2/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Devil Doesn't Want Me by Eric Beetner</strong><br />
Pubished 23rd October<br />
<strong></strong><br />
A hit man with a crisis of conscience faces his biggest challenge yet:
protecting an innocent victim against deadly forces during a desperate run for
the coast in Eric Beetner's thrilling novel.<br />
<br />
For the last seventeen
years, Lars has been on a job for a prominent East Coast crime family. His task:
kill Mitch the Snitch. Mitch is living in witness protection and has eluded Lars
for almost two decades. But changes are afoot in the family back east, and a
young gun named Trent has been sent to replace the aging gun for
hire.<br /><br />With his old boss gone, Lars realizes he has lost the desire to
kill his long-time target. When things come to a head with Trent, Lars must go
on the run with Mitch's teenage daughter Shaine, trying to stay one step ahead
of angry and vengeful mobsters as well as his own dark past.<br /><br />With Trent,
FBI agents, and even more hired muscle on their trail, Lars and his new sidekick
must stay one step ahead of their pursuers by any means necessary, creating a
cross country trail of wreckage and mayhem from Albuquerque to L.A.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQSI6KvjS8R7BifFCpP_phnfXQkA_dksGLgq0UEspER3Ijsui3npAr7mBeGQfwYWC3n6OFJ4sgN_5KwWKGr3Vlx5e38Hpr5w6G-Piy71AT26QtBOyo7ipIdL8lvUVgrxtm2aw2tmcRPM/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQSI6KvjS8R7BifFCpP_phnfXQkA_dksGLgq0UEspER3Ijsui3npAr7mBeGQfwYWC3n6OFJ4sgN_5KwWKGr3Vlx5e38Hpr5w6G-Piy71AT26QtBOyo7ipIdL8lvUVgrxtm2aw2tmcRPM/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Noir-ish-Dutton-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0095ZP0ZG/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noir-ish-Dutton-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0095ZP0ZG/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Noir(ish) by Evan Guilford-Blake</strong><br />
Published September 18th<br />
<strong></strong><br />
An entertaining foray into the dark world of film and fiction noir—with a
detour into the realm of the fantastic—by Evan Guilford-Blake. <br /><br />It’s
Los Angeles. June, 1947. In the wake of mobster Bugsy Siegel’s violent murder,
Private Investigator Robert Grahame is confronted with a case unlike anything
he’s ever faced before. Lizabeth Duryea, a stunning yet peculiar young woman,
hires Grahame to find her brother, Dan Scott, and leaves him with a small,
mysterious package for safekeeping. But Grahame’s investigation becomes much
more complicated when another mob big shot gets an anonymous tip that Grahame
killed Siegel and hid the evidence in his office. <br /><br />With the help of
LAPD’s only female detective, Lauren Stanwyck, Grahame tries to discern the
truth behind his mysterious client’s improbable story and find out who really
killed Bugsy Siegel—haunted by his lost love at every step. As he stares into
the face of his own cloudy past and the face of the fantastic, Grahame--in the
classic noir tradition--is tempted by a femme fatale, followed by a shadowy
figure, beaten up, accused of murder, and threatened. Ultimately, he uncovers a
most unexpected plot, one which jeopardizes his way of life and puts him in
mortal danger.<br />
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-19752362976502275132012-10-25T15:17:00.000-07:002012-10-25T15:17:21.097-07:00New releases: Hard Bite and Moondog Over The Mekong<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7t0mmfGs6Ra9Vpkh2GLX4f6vYbQHzcec56XTEMrdQWMMp2_jlNTr_6l24N21vv09JXK_TotJGCi4FXsrilQK243uvDuRKZAv3IMwPXjkAQie2Al7LOFXRt1hnHl_aH25gFe7G_wGt2w/s1600/hardbitex750x72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7t0mmfGs6Ra9Vpkh2GLX4f6vYbQHzcec56XTEMrdQWMMp2_jlNTr_6l24N21vv09JXK_TotJGCi4FXsrilQK243uvDuRKZAv3IMwPXjkAQie2Al7LOFXRt1hnHl_aH25gFe7G_wGt2w/s1600/hardbitex750x72dpi.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Bite-ebook/dp/B009UFDXAU/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Bite-ebook/dp/B009UFDXAU/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Published 25th October<br />
<br />
"HARD BITE is outlandish in every way—a crazed noir excursion into an
unprecedented heart of darkness. From the opening line on, it challenges and
confronts, attacks and confounds. Violent and sometimes funny, always
entertaining."<br />— T. Jefferson Parker, three-time Edgar Award winner, author
of THE JAGUAR and THE BORDER LORDS<br /><br />The hit-and-run driver took
everything—his wife, child and legs. Now a paraplegic, Dean Drayhart unleashes
payback on suspected hit-and-runners in Los Angeles with helper-monkey Sid as
his deadly assistant. Dean's gentle, doting nurse knows nothing about what he's
up to and when Sid tears out the throat of a Mexican Mafia member, Marcie gets
kidnapped in order to force Dean's surrender. Armed with nothing but his wits,
Sid, and a sympathetic streetwalker named Cinda, Dean manipulates drug-cartel
carnales and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in a David-against-Goliath
plot that twists and turns to a heart-pounding finale.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFo4d1MVNzV1RkBKeYn68BZ_33Ijx-uSEspROdvbb2BoskjVf4oWwo_FKf9qYAdAFllcoa-SW6c5XlT8wffQQveOHQRJ5JmIF6N_dlbD6h9FFR6aQxjPrju-Cx5jhg5U5XoXkoQuG6Lgo/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFo4d1MVNzV1RkBKeYn68BZ_33Ijx-uSEspROdvbb2BoskjVf4oWwo_FKf9qYAdAFllcoa-SW6c5XlT8wffQQveOHQRJ5JmIF6N_dlbD6h9FFR6aQxjPrju-Cx5jhg5U5XoXkoQuG6Lgo/s1600/temp.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moondog-Over-the-Mekong-ebook/dp/B009SFWPRO/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moondog-Over-the-Mekong-ebook/dp/B009SFWPRO/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Published 17th October<br />
<br />
MOONDOVER OVER THE MEKONG: stories of guns, gambling, girls and general mayhem
that redraw the borders of crime. This globe-spanning collection rockets you
from dirt-road trailer parks to the slums of Bangkok, the gangster underbelly of
Tokyo to a postapocalyptic Old West. There's girls on the run from Russian
mobsters in the sex capital of Asia while a retiring crank cooker's ill-gotten
fortune goes up for grabs on a Wyoming backroad. And a whole lot of territory in
between. These ain't your typical crime stories.<br />
<br />
"Spanning the slums from Thailand to Wyoming,
Moondog embraces the plight of the downtrodden as it exposes an underworld
seldom seen. These are the stories of the beaten-down and betrayed who have been
pushed to the brink, the street urchins and mob underlings who claw and scrape
and fight like hell when presented with a way out; and Merrigan captures these
liminal moments with blinding lucidity, and in the process pulls off the nearly
impossible: extracting hope from what was once hopeless." -- Joe Clifford,
author of CHOICE CUTS and WAKE THE UNDERTAKER<br /><br />"A dagger in the guts and a
jaunt through the back alleys of Southeast Asia. Where else can you get both for
$2.99?" -- Jake Needham, author of KILLING PLATO and other best-selling Asian
crime novels.<br />
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-34218335027420648642012-10-22T16:06:00.001-07:002012-10-22T16:06:45.115-07:00Ian Truman interview: Tales of Lust, Hate and Despair<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAjdAjl0SfPdYVjoSB18wIg3oj07BaRoETr_VBeaBXTih9xVEVTwdaKTI26raPJtpR3v6cZrji6jKyoKpFnVaA6x5W2gibI1II2oDRDIe4VnBAY_JKRcodzPkMOZtuQJU1feTc-bb_Pk/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAjdAjl0SfPdYVjoSB18wIg3oj07BaRoETr_VBeaBXTih9xVEVTwdaKTI26raPJtpR3v6cZrji6jKyoKpFnVaA6x5W2gibI1II2oDRDIe4VnBAY_JKRcodzPkMOZtuQJU1feTc-bb_Pk/s1600/temp.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tales-lust-Hate-Despair-ebook/dp/B008FQ1ASW/">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-lust-Hate-Despair-ebook/dp/B008FQ1ASW/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ian Truman was born
in Montreal, Quebec, in a French-Canadian family. His dad is a welder; his mom
is an office clerk. How he ended up studying English and creative writing is
still somewhat of a mystery. He still lives in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Montreal</st1:city></st1:place> with his spouse Mary and his
daughter Kaori. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Website: <a href="http://www.iantruman.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.iantruman.wordpress.com</span></a></span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Can you sum up Tales
Of Lust, Hate And Despair in no more than 25 words?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"></table>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">It’s a realistic story about a group of underdogs who
can’t seem to escape their situation. It’s gritty, sexy and violent. AKA, a
hard-boiled novel.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What's unique about
it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I guess there are a few things that will set it apart from what we could
call the “generic” mystery novel. The plot’s not linear, which, of course is
nothing new to literature, but as far as I know, it is not something you see
all that often in mystery. (Maybe I’m wrong.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The second thing that makes it unique I guess is the tone. I am a huge
fan of hardcore music, and if you know a little bit about it, then you know
that it is not only heavy and straightforward, but also incredibly smart, with
sharp lyrics. Of course there are a lot of horrible bands in hardcore, but
those I like have been an inspiration to me. My style has been described as low
key and raw. I like realist depictions, regardless of what I try to write. For
example, the violent moments in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales </i>are
not overdone, the protagonists are not super-heroes. You know? That <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one </i>blow can leave you on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The third thing that is unique about it is the location. A lot of
mystery novels take place in <st1:city w:st="on">New-York</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">LA</st1:state>, <st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state> or <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>. I don’t know
anything about these cities, so why would I write about them. <st1:city w:st="on">Ottawa</st1:city>
(our capital) would have been far too boring of a town to write about, so I
figured, “Why not write about <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>?”
I know the city very intimately and I used this to great extent in the novel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What have you
done/are you doing to market it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Everything I can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I did a blog tour launch and worked the social networks as much as I
could. The only problem was that the company I used to book the tour was mostly
specialised in YA and romance. The work was very professional and the reviewers
did take the time to give a proper review, but my novel is a heavy hard-boiled
novel and I guess it was kind of an odd match. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Aside from that I am (still) building my social networks. I am from a
working class family and we’ve had computers for as long as I can remember, but
for the longest time, I believed that using Facebook and Twitter was the worst
use of my free time imaginable. Things have changed nowadays. So I started my
social networks from scratch and I am slowly building it up. I started a blog
and try to do as many guest posts as I can. I also go to as many artistic and
literary events as possible (book fairs, zine fests, theatre evenings, etc…) I
printed a few paper copies of my novel to sell at these events. I don’t expect
to make much money out of them, but I am still setting the foundation for my
career so I’m not worried. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your
expectations for the book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Enough sales for a house on the lake, a downtown condo and enough money
to finish all the tattoos I’ve ever wanted to have. What else would you expect?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nah! Seriously. I really use the novel as a business card. Of course,
sales and money would be nice (I like to eat as much as the next human) but for
now I am really trying to get my name out there, maybe score a good publishing
contract. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For a while, I felt like, “fuck agents and publishing houses,” but as I
grow and as my knowledge of the industry is increasing, I figured that it’s not
necessarily about agents or publishing house, but more about deals and
contracts. If ever I get a deal that is to my advantage, I have learned from
poverty that I sure as shit am going to take it. This is why I wanted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales </i>to look professional, so that people
would take me and my work seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What did you learn
while writing it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I have learned that I know so very little about the English language (I’m
not kidding.) Seriously, I am from a French-Canadian family and I grew up in
Montreal, so I grew up speaking English as much as anybody else in this city,
but when I decided to write novels in English (actually, I write in both
English and French but that is besides the point) it was a steep hill. I did
the classes but I will be honest, I still need the help of good editors, so I
tried to stay in touch with two persons from my writing classes at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Concordia</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>. They agreed to be hired as
editors for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales </i>which made the
novel a much, much better novel. (Their names are Sarah Needles and Alex
Manley).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you bear the
reader in mind when you're writing? If so, how does that affect the way you
write?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’d like to think that I’m writing for the working and middle class. I don’t
know if that has any implication in terms of the language I use. My English is
by no means high-English (or even literary English I would say). I don’t mind a
swear and a slur, that’s just how I speak. But as far as “how the reader affects
the way I write,” I guess that I want to write something that the “proles” will
either relate to or enjoy reading. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How important is
talent?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I will refer prospective writers to a poem by Charles Bukowski, “So You
Want to Be a Writer.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16549"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16549</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Basically, if it’s not in you, do something else. There are plenty of
professions out there that will satisfy almost anyone. A writer’s talent is
based on how well he/she can adapt a certain vision of reality, transforming it
into a compelling story. Talent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> necessary.
This might sound arrogant, but be reminded that any sport, art form, business
or craft requires talent. My dad is a very good welder; my father-in-law is a
very good carpenter. These kinds of crafts weren’t in me just like it wasn’t in
me to play drums as well as Dave Lombardo from Slayer. That doesn’t make their
talent less important than mine because I’m a so-called “author.” Writing is
something that came naturally to me, so I ran with it. There’s nothing else to
it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Provide a youtube
link to a song you'd like to be the title track to the movie adaptation of your
book.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/NeV29BpD_3o/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/NeV29BpD_3o&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/NeV29BpD_3o&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Granted, this would be used for the end credits, but I will admit I
actually wrote and paced the final scene of the novel so that a visual
adaptation would fit perfectly with this song. (Fear And Sickness by Neurosis.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Who would you like
to direct the film adaptation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I would like to do it myself. Given a minimal budget and a bit of free
time, which really is just money in another form, I would be filming right now.
I took the liberty of imagining the cast and crew of the movie. If I had it my
way, Sage Francis would play the Biker, Ian McFarland (of Blood for Blood)
would be the DOP, Mike Ness would appear as the signer in the club. Oddly
enough, I still have no clue as to who would play Sam, Josie or Alice (the
three main characters).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What's the worst
piece of craft advice you've heard?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“You really should find yourself a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i>
career and just write as a hobby. That’s what it is anyway, isn’t it?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To what extent do
you view writing a business?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I take the business side of writing very seriously. Maybe it’s my
background, but I literally can’t afford not to take it that way. By no means
would I consider myself poor in terms of worldwide poverty, but I am still well
below the average Canadian income.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I first started writing novels when my hardcore band broke off a few
years ago. I had too much debt, a shitty job and a crappy apartment, so I had
no money to tour (in fact, I sold my fender guitar to pay the rent.) A few
weeks later, someone broke into my apartment and stole everything I owned. (I
was living in Hochelaga, which is/was arguably not the nicest part of town.) It
was not the best time in my life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So basically, I started writing novels because it was cheap. I bought an
old computer for $35 and a screen for $10 and started typing. I was also happy
that it could run Civilization II (I’m not kidding). That was seven years ago.
I have since found a better job and a good woman, but when you were force to
pick up loose change in your couch to buy a “no name” can of peas for supper,
that teaches you a hard lesson about life and finances. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Begging and stealing was not my thing, so I worked harder. I promised
myself I would never be hungry again and I intend to keep that promise so it’s
is no secret that I want to make a living out of this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Put these in order
of importance: language, character, plot, money.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Character, Plot, Money, Language. Yes! Language is last. Dead last in
fact. The proper workings and appropriate grammar of the English language are
not as important to me as the tone of the characters, the story I’m telling, the
local accents, words and flavour of the different origins or cultural
background my characters have, etc…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Which writer do you
most admire?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I would have to say David Fennario. He is a playwright from working
class <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>,
and I would put him way up there with Beckett in terms of talent. Of course,
they have a very different style, but the quality of Fennario’s writing is
inspiring to me. I mostly know his early work so I would recommend you look for
“Nothing to Lose”, “On The Job” and “Balconville.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What do you do when
you're not writing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I work full time and I have a young daughter. So I pick up a lot of
clothes, do a lot of dishes, go to the park. I don’t write nearly as much as I
would enjoy to, but when I do it is appreciated so it keeps it interesting. Aside
from that, there are a few videogames that I like to play. I train at the gym
when I can. I keep busy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you
dedicate to writing? How much time would you like to spend writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I try to write an hour a day, regardless if it is a blog, promotion,
interview or novel. That is sincerely as much as I can write on a daily basis.
If the week goes well, I’ll have two or three hours on a Sunday when my
daughter is taking her nap so I can drive home something like 1800 to 2000
words in a small burst. I don’t think I could top more than that per day even
if I didn’t have to work on the side. Maybe (maybe) 3000 words a day, but that
would mean I could put out a full size novel every two months or something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you
dedicate to promotion?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The upkeep on my social networks is something like half an hour a day.
It can be more if I write blogs or interviews, but I take that as “writing” as
well, given my schedule. I really do prefer events to online media, but these
are more occasional. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What was the last
book you bought and how did you find out about it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I just picked up this thing called “Dog Blood” on my lunch hour by
author David Moody. It was in the bargain bin and it had blood on the cover,
that’s how I found it. So far it’s not disappointing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your
ambitions for the next year?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If I could have an agent or a publishing deal by Christmas, that would
be nice, otherwise I just keep working, keep doing interviews and keep writing.
I am 42000 words into my third novel and I wanted to finish the first draft
around October so that I have enough time to do a re-write before I ask any
colleagues to take a look at it during the Christmas brake. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your
long-term ambitions?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think that three books every two years is possible. I really want to
make a living out of this. Hopefully, I’d make enough money to support myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I also carry this idea in the back of my head to re-open this thing
called “L’x room” which was a youth-oriented community centre in downtown <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>. It closed down
a few years ago and since I spent most of my young adult weekends there, (the
place literally saved me from killing myself when I was 18) I wish I could
organize something similar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you write outside
of the crime genre? If not, would you like to?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yes I do. My third novel, “A Teenage Suicide” is far from being a crime
novel. It’s not a YA novel either. I don’t know yet how to categorise it beyond
“Literature” but I really like it. I apply the same kind of tone, descriptions
and dialogue to the novel as I would to a crime piece, but it was a somewhat
different topic that was close to my heart so I really wanted to get it down on
paper. I like crime and noir as much as the next guy, but every now and then, I
feel like I got to do something else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Where do you write? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In my bed (I have no office), on the city bus, in the metro (subway), at
work etc… most of the grunt work is done at a local café because it is the only
place I can have a table to myself. I would get absolutely no work done without
a laptop. We share a two bedroom apartment me, my wife and kid (plus two cats),
and we have absolutely everything we need, (including a playstation and a large
television) unfortunately, we are both, Mary (a visual artist) and I,
absolutely short on workspace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you have any
other projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Oh! Yeah! I have plans for my next three novels. As I mentioned earlier,
I am in the writing phase for “A Teenage Suicide.” I also plotted out most of my
next crime novel, “Memoirs of a Hitman.” And my fifth novel, “Glory Days” will
be about a bunch of hardcore kids from Notre-Dame-De-Grace here in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’ve got this collection of Bukowskian poems I’ve been writing and
losing here and there. There was a day when I wanted to put them into a book
and call it “Waiting to Die.” I haven’t done it so far. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Also, if you are from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>
(or around) and theatre is one of your candy. Me and my wife organize a yearly
event with MainLine Theatre called, “The Mainline Gala for Student Drama.” which
gives students of the dramatic arts a chance to perform in a real theatre. This
way they can have this “industry experience” that is so fucking necessary to
get any sort of grant here in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That’s pretty much it. If you managed to get through all of that, I am
both grateful and sorry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Take care of yourselves, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ian</span></div>
Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-1403708026097791322012-08-01T07:17:00.000-07:002012-08-01T07:17:07.435-07:00Tom Vater interview: The Devil's Road To Kathmandu<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfCjjrCZ6uhwV-uhSIbGWcfcbxGAu9FXEIf6a6E-qCrv2IC1CTNLvu4pt6SPZSU3gxasKSM7sBu_TuBWbeiMMICcabRWwTHuFSx0P5w8n-ovm4Wdlw3YPG9jW8xvSCZcf4s1jMHSUxko/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfCjjrCZ6uhwV-uhSIbGWcfcbxGAu9FXEIf6a6E-qCrv2IC1CTNLvu4pt6SPZSU3gxasKSM7sBu_TuBWbeiMMICcabRWwTHuFSx0P5w8n-ovm4Wdlw3YPG9jW8xvSCZcf4s1jMHSUxko/s320/temp.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Devils-Road-Kathmandu-ebook/dp/B008E71INO/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Road-Kathmandu-ebook/dp/B008E71INO/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Can you sum up your book in no more than 25 words?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A
kaleidoscopic pulp thriller, following two generations of drifters embroiled in
a saga of sex, drugs and murder on the road between <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city>
and <st1:place w:st="on">Kathmandu</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What's unique about it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The brief window for counter culture travellers between Europe and <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>, now known as the overland hippie trail existed from
only the late 1960s to 1979, the time of the Iranian revolution. During those
heady days, countless alternative deviants travelled from Europe to the
Subcontinent overland and indulged in the traditional hospitality of <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country>, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Iran</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country> and <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country>. This
all ended with the revolution in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country>. I travelled the same route in
1998, through a much changed, meaner and harder world, and I also met and
talked at length to travellers who did this trip over and over in the early
1970s. Those were truly different and freer days, almost unimaginable today. I
tried to bring this period back to life and in this sense <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Devils Road to Kathmandu</i> is a historical thriller with a
subject matter that is rarely touched upon in (crime) fiction.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your expectations for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Devil's Road To Kathmandu</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I expect it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
to do well. The original print edition got great reviews. And I am biased of
course; first I am the author; secondly, as part owner of <a href="http://www.crimewavepress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Crime Wave Press</span></a>, a new <st1:place w:st="on">Hong Kong</st1:place> crime fiction imprint, I am also the
co-publisher of this particular edition of the book and this is the publisher’s
first product on the market.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How important is talent?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Talent is obviously important, but skill and experience are just as
necessary if you want to make a living as a writer. I have been writing for a
living for the past 15 years and at the beginning of my career – besides
fiction, I write journalism, documentary screenplays, non-fiction books and
guidebooks, all on subjects connected to <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>
– I functioned on pure energy and enthusiasm. My early articles and books burn,
burn, burn but lack in general writer</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cordia New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-language: TH;">’s</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">
savvy. It</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">s a long hard road
to becoming an accomplished writer</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> who can make a sustainable living from his craft. Learning to
write is a bit like learning to speak a language. You get by with pidgin and
signs for a while, but then, to express complex ideas, the nitty-gritty of
technique and knowledge is absolutely necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What do you do when you're not writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I don’t </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">have
much spare time. I am currently setting up a new crime fiction imprint with
publisher Hans Kemp of Visionary World. <b><a href="http://www.crimewavepress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Crime Wave Press</span></a></b> is a Hong Kong
based fiction imprint that endeavors to publish the best new crime novels from
Asia and about <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place> to readers around the
globe. <b>Incidentally, Crime Wave Press is currently looking for authors.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Besides
writing, I travel a lot on magazine assignments around <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>.
In my spare time, I go trekking, scuba diving and read, read, read.
Occasionally, I play guitar in Rock'n'Roll bands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much do you read?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I read a lot, several novels a month, as well as numerous non-fiction
titles and countless articles. It comes with the job, reporting on culture,
travel and politics in <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>, I constantly
absorb information to be able to provide information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I read
fiction vociferously – especially noir crime fiction like Jim Thompson, David
Goodis, Ross MacDonald and Massimo Carlotto, as well as more general fare,
anything from Joseph Conrad to Graham Greene to Philip Kerr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you dedicate to writing? How much time would you like
to spend writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I write pretty constantly and 16-hour days are no rarity. I also travel
a fair bit and write while I travel. Right now I am in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">France</st1:country> writing my third novel, which is set in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Laos</st1:place></st1:country>. I am also
editing someone else’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">s
novel which is set in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Thailand</st1:country> and <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Laos</st1:place></st1:country>. I have
just completed a magazine assignment on street food in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:place></st1:country>, am
preparing a pitch for an illustrated book, and am discussing a screenplay with
a documentary director.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you dedicate to promotion?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dedicate a fair amount of time to promotion. I run two blogs (<a href="http://www.tomvater.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.tomvater.com</span></a> & <a href="http://thedevilsroad.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://thedevilsroad.com</span></a>), three facebook
pages and contribute to many other blogs. I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">d say I am fairly tireless and promotion is an
integral</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> part of the
job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In July 2011, I published a book called Sacred Skin (<a href="http://www.sacredskinthailand.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.sacredskinthailand.com</span></a>), the
first English-language book on <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thailand</st1:place></st1:country></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cordia New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-language: TH;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">s spirit tattoos.
The title has become something of a bestseller, especially in <st1:place w:st="on">Southeast
Asia</st1:place>, and has garnered more than thirty rave reviews, including
three pages in TIME Magazine, as well as positive coverage stuff on CNN, in El
Mundo, Die Zeit, Courier International and many other publications. The book
has been the subject of two documentaries. All this PR was time-consuming, but
in the end, the solid sales seem to make it worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How effective is social media as a marketing aid?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">s very hard to say.
I must say I am not totally convinced by its effectiveness, in terms of PR for
my work, of sites like facebook. But I leave nothing to chance and contribute
regularly to fb, google + and goodreads.com. My blog <a href="http://www.tomvater.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.tomvater.com</span></a> gets some 20,000 hits a
month and has landed me assignments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you write outside of the crime genre? If not, would you like to?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yes, I am a widely published writer with a focus on <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>.
I write for the British broadsheets, the Asia Wall Street Journal and countless
other publications. Together with director Marc Eberle, I write documentary
screenplays, including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fLE6LqXNOg"><span style="color: blue;">The
Most Secret Place on Earth</span></a>, a seminal film about the CIA</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cordia New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-language: TH;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">s largest covert
operation, in 1960s <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Laos</st1:place></st1:country>.
Together with photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat I have published a number of
illustrated books, most notably <a href="http://www.sacredskinthailand.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Sacred
Skin</span></a>. See above for further details.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you have any other projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Cambodian Book of the Dead </span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cambodian-Book-Dead-ebook/dp/B008GDT8QU/"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon
UK</span></a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cambodian-Book-Dead-ebook/dp/B008GDT8QU/"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon
US</span></a>)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">,
my second novel, is out now as a Kindle eBook with Crime Wave Press and made it
into the Top 100 Hardboiled novels on Amazon within three days of publication. It</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">s the first Maier mystery. I am
currently working on a second Maier mystery, due out next year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">German
Detective Maier travels to Cambodia, a country re-emerging from a half century
of war, genocide, famine and cultural collapse, find the heir to a Hamburg
coffee empire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">As soon
as the private eye and former war reporter arrives in Cambodia, his search for
the young coffee magnate leads into the darkest corners of the country’s
history: A beautiful, scarred woman with a mythical and frightening past, a
Khmer Rouge general, an ex-pat gangster, an old flame, a man-eating shark and a
gang of teenage girl assassins lead the detective back in time, through the
communist revolution to the White Spider, a Nazi war criminal who hides amongst
the detritus of another nation’s collapse and reigns over an ancient Khmer
temple deep in the jungles of Cambodia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Maier,
captured and imprisoned, is forced into the worst job of his life – he is to
write the biography of the White Spider, a tale of mass murder that reaches
from the Cambodian Killing Fields back to <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>’s
concentration camps – or die. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
print edition of<b> The Cambodian Book of the Dead</b> will be launched at the
UBUD Writers and Readers Festival, one of Asia’s largest literary events, in <st1:place w:st="on">Bali</st1:place> in October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-83989355296370145132012-07-13T07:22:00.000-07:002012-07-13T07:22:24.429-07:00O'Neil De Noux interview: Enamored<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcePcRS4b2fW6OjzMKJfDc-JStPxFxhyZXw-wJinlfaK1Q943BtUiZ1we6hFIjoyyODBZkQ8NcobVFeZUXAW-VWZlSYjonwd1Dvq1_oW9gOccoksKD8IPYc8CdZCD9MEJuwqLL1R9nZ4/s1600/Enamored+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcePcRS4b2fW6OjzMKJfDc-JStPxFxhyZXw-wJinlfaK1Q943BtUiZ1we6hFIjoyyODBZkQ8NcobVFeZUXAW-VWZlSYjonwd1Dvq1_oW9gOccoksKD8IPYc8CdZCD9MEJuwqLL1R9nZ4/s320/Enamored+cover.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Enamored-Lucien-Private-Novel-ebook/dp/B007H06EMO/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enamored-Lucien-Private-Novel-ebook/dp/B007H06EMO/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can
you sum up your book in no more than 25 words?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A case of
obsession and murder that will baffle New Orleans Private Eye Lucien Caye,
intrigue him, make him fall in love – three times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What’s unique about it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beyond
the setting – I don’t know anyone who is writing crime fiction set in 1950 <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ENAMORED </i>is the most character-driven
book I’ve written. The book was taken over by its characters early in the
process and I let them run with it. I stuck to the plot, knew where it was
going and manage to get there. It is certainly a lot more about the people than
the case. I let them surprise me and they did.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are your expectations for <em>Enamored</em>?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">would like to happen</i> is for the people
who made my Lucien Caye short story collection <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NEW ORLEANS</i></st1:city></st1:place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> CONFIDENTIAL</i> my best selling book to
give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ENAMORED</i> a shot, then spread the
word. Maybe someone will realize Lucien was made for TV. What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">expect will happen</i> is what happens with
all of my books. My loyal fans will buy it, some others will try it and I’ll
pick up more fans thanks to amazon.com, but the sales will remain low. I’ve
been a low list writer since I started in 1988 and I don’t see anything
changing. I’m not complaining one bit. This is the path I chose. Success isn’t
in sales, it’s in the quality of the writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What’s the worst piece of craft advice you’ve heard?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ve been
given almost the same line by agents and editors again and again – “Write for a
specific audience, or write for a certain editor, or write for a particular market.”
I believe that’s wrong and Robert Frost was correct when he said, “No tears in
the writer, no tears in the reader.” I write what moves me. I write what I want
to write. I began with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city>
police crime fiction novels because I was a homicide detective and knew the
effects of violence on victims and police officers. I moved on to private eye
fiction and historical fiction because it was what I wanted to write about at
the time. I still write police crime fiction but each novel I write, each short
story I write is for me. I’m happy others like to read some of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Put these in order: language, character, plot, money.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I used to
think plot was first, but a critic described my crime fiction as
character-driven and he was right. Character is first for me. Language is next
because dialogue and exposition are the coolest part of a book. Plot is next
because without a plot, without a storyline, all you have are talking heads.
Money is not a consideration. I hope to get as much as I can but it’s not up to
me. Like most writers, I write the best I can and hope to make a buck. Until I
took control of my career and morphed into a Indie writer, I went around with a
tin cup for years, begging editors to give my work consideration. Now it’s up
to the readers. At least my stuff is available.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Who designed your cover?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I
designed the cover of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ENAMORED</i>. It is
a sexy book that needs a sexy cover. I am fortunate to have an excellent model
with great legs. I was trained as a combat photographer in the army and worked
in computer graphic design for a number of years, so I put the talents
together, taking my mentor Harlan Ellison’s advise about covers. Use one strong
image, prominently display the title and writer’s name and say one thing about
the book or writer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much time do you dedicate to writing? How much time
would you like to spend writing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I work
full time as a police officer. I also work full time as a writer. That’s about
eighty hours a week. I don’t do much else. I plan to retire from my police job
to concentrate on my writing as soon as possible, but that’ll be a few years
away. The only way to get it written is to write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much time do you dedicate to promotion?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Not
enough. I don’t have time. My wife is my business manager and my friends (fellow
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city>
writers, my agent and copy editor) help. I wish I did more promotion. Then I might
not be a low list writer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Where do you write?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mmbtABbHit-_-WW-V8EBXCYFEcysPJqt__DOZyEvIR34S-T4zs3hgd7KhqEK1oZ5vjugnp9J8So-Ej7vUOfWm8dC4EHarSpXHKj3xaWqUohdLnKb_tysweS9-beop1azTu19h9sAmDU/s1600/Harri+Helps+7-28-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mmbtABbHit-_-WW-V8EBXCYFEcysPJqt__DOZyEvIR34S-T4zs3hgd7KhqEK1oZ5vjugnp9J8So-Ej7vUOfWm8dC4EHarSpXHKj3xaWqUohdLnKb_tysweS9-beop1azTu19h9sAmDU/s320/Harri+Helps+7-28-11.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have a
home office and I work on two Macintosh computers, a desktop and a laptop that
I take to coffee shops and other places on occasion. I usually design covers
and layout the books on one computer and type manuscripts on the other. I get
help, as you can see, from my cats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you have any other projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Always.
I’m in the middle of writing a companion novel to my historical epic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BATTLE KISS </i>and have laid out the next
novel, which will be a right-after-Hurricane Katrina crime fiction novel. I
always start a novel as soon as I’m finished with the one I’m writing now. As I
write the novels, I also write a few short stories. I started <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ENAMORED</i> the day after I finished <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BATTLE KISS</i> and was able to finish it in
eight months.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-52631617799063777202012-07-04T03:15:00.000-07:002012-07-04T03:15:57.293-07:00Karl Vadaszffy interview: The Missing<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNFBDChs-KQ4p1SNEcjMS6doeIVAddSMWs2nv18DUpgJrLfNntKidCNMQTk2ycAbPCYFGJ5FUtxSZ7KASm4-lxetILtEZ-jZ6j-Zoog78jPKoCKDs2gSvbL_-0un7nbUuScw5SYvSFn8/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNFBDChs-KQ4p1SNEcjMS6doeIVAddSMWs2nv18DUpgJrLfNntKidCNMQTk2ycAbPCYFGJ5FUtxSZ7KASm4-lxetILtEZ-jZ6j-Zoog78jPKoCKDs2gSvbL_-0un7nbUuScw5SYvSFn8/s320/temp.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Missing-ebook/dp/B0089XYNCQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1341356933&sr=1-1">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Missing-ebook/dp/B0089XYNCQ/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you sum up your book in no more than 25
words?</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">John Simmons’ girlfriend disappears, but
the police doubt she ever existed. Is she a hallucination, or the next murder
victim of a serial killer?
</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What have you done/are you doing to market it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The Missing</em> has been
reviewed by a number of bestselling authors, including Glenn Cooper, Matt
Hilton, James Becker, Elly Griffiths, Scott Phillips, Patrick Lennon, CM Palov
and Thomas Perry. Their blurbs have been really effective in persuading readers
to take the chance with an unknown author. I’ve also used social media a lot –
its Facebook following is increasing and I’ve managed to get a lot of retweets
by celebrities and well-known authors. I think it’s primarily because of these
that <em>The Missing</em> broke the Amazon UK Kindle top ten.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you bear the reader in mind when you're
writing? If so, how does that affect the way you write?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yes. I’m a keen
reader, so I pay attention to how I feel while I’m writing. There were several
moments while writing <em>The Missing</em> when I felt incredibly tense, so I took that
as a good sign. I knew I had to keep the story moving fast, so I thought very
carefully about what needed to be included in the narrative and what was
superfluous. Yes, I wanted character development and a sense of place, but I
didn’t want to labour any point.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Who would you like to direct the film
adaptation?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think author Scott
Phillips answered this question best with his blurb about <em>The Missing</em>: </span><span lang="EN-US">"It's a shame Hitchcock isn't around to film it, it's exactly
the kind of story he did best." Ok, so Hitchcock won’t ever be possible,
so a contemporary director I think builds tension excellently is Bryan Singer
(The Usual Suspects).</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you were able to co-write a novel with any
author of your choosing, who would it be?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are so many
answers to this question, but if I’ve got my crime thriller hat on I’d have to
say Sophie Hannah, the author of <em>Little Face</em>, which inspired <em>The Missing</em>. She
really knows how to put a character in a situation that seems impossible to
escape from, her characters are vividly presented and the tension she builds is
palpable. Hers are amazing books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Put these in order of importance: language,
character, plot, money.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The English teacher in
me says language, but when you consider what’s popular, language is often one
of the last things of importance. I think it starts with the plot, then you
build your characters around it, then you tell their story in a way that’s as
well written as possible, and if you make any money out of it you’re incredibly
lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How would you describe your taste in books?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Varied and
unpredictable. The only thing I can say with any degree of certainty is I can’t
stand Jane Austen’s books. I enjoy crime thrillers very much – Sophie Hannah,
Harlan Coben and John Harvey to name a few – but I’m also a huge fan of darker
character-led dramas such as Ian McEwan’s <em>The Cement Garden</em>. I also enjoy reading
plays, particularly those by Tennessee Williams. And I’m not afraid of a
classic or two. Wilkie Collins is high on my list.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are you reading now?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I always have three or
four books on the go – and rarely have enough time to read them for the amount
of time they deserve. At the moment, I’m reading <em>Birdsong</em> by Sebastian Faulks
(for the A Level course I teach), <em>Guilt By Association</em> by Marcia Clark (for
entertainment) and Bram Stoker’s <em>Dracula</em> (I always have a classic in the pile).
I’ve just bought <em>The Fear Index </em>by Robert Harris to add to it. Not long ago, I
finished <em>The Woman in Black</em> by Susan Hill – atmospheric and chilling. Susan
Hill and I actually have the same literary agent and <em>The Woman in Black</em> plays a
part in <em>The Missing</em> (we didn’t share a literary agent while I was writing <em>The
Missing</em>, so this is entirely coincidental). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which writer do you most admire?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Again, there are many,
but the writer who’s had the greatest impact on me is Ian McEwan. I remember
reading <em>The Cement Garden</em> when I was eighteen and thinking this amazing book is
like a literary car crash: you know you shouldn’t look, but you can’t stop
yourself. It’s a captivating story, expertly told, and it made me want to
write. So I wrote my first book, <em>Full of Sin</em>, as a direct result. I wanted to
create my own car crash; I wanted to shock the reader, yet find a way to make
them want to read on. Then Harlan Coben drew me to crime fiction and Sophie
Hannah inspired me to write <em>The Missing</em>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are your ambitions for the next year?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The next book has to
be written. My agent, Sonia Land, and I have been discussing it recently. It
has a unique selling point and we think it has the potential to be a really
interesting spin on the crime genre. There will also be some elements in it
that will have very close links to my family’s past. I’ve started it and hope
the first draft will be completed by the end of the summer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are your long-term ambitions?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Be a writer. Make
enough of a living out of it to survive. I don’t need to be rich from writing –
I just want to see my books on the shelves in Waterstone’s and WH Smith, and
abroad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you write outside of the crime genre? If
not, would you like to?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yes. <em>Full of Sin</em> isn’t
a traditional crime story, although there are elements of the crime genre in it.
It’s more of a dark human drama. It follows a character, Sean, who is born into
a desperate life and it focuses on his journey towards rehabilitation after he
sins too much. I’d like to write more novels like <em>Full of Sin</em>, while also
writing more crime thrillers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-65233202222267696692012-04-06T09:43:00.000-07:002012-04-06T09:43:24.131-07:00Ian Ayris interview: Abide With Me<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5Kvf_TvtSVxbEA3U_mHpsd2WHm3m6QH5-UAL7ySxGvdgYrITPLsVPBxIlJWz-D2OwSqeT8YqDRF6WKL65QCA-LUs6G1lqIf8DvAIDUhAZhypt0SYsW3KdYw1g8Q0D3ocJyVOGoIPFYE/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5Kvf_TvtSVxbEA3U_mHpsd2WHm3m6QH5-UAL7ySxGvdgYrITPLsVPBxIlJWz-D2OwSqeT8YqDRF6WKL65QCA-LUs6G1lqIf8DvAIDUhAZhypt0SYsW3KdYw1g8Q0D3ocJyVOGoIPFYE/s320/temp.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abide-with-Me-ebook/dp/B007M2GIFU/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Abide-with-Me-ebook/dp/B007M2GIFU/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you sum up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abide With Me</i> in no more than 25 words? </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">'Of Mice and Men' set in <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city>'s <st1:place w:st="on">East End</st1:place> during
the seventies and eighties, incorporating football, gangsters, and biscuits.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What did you learn
while writing it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The entire book is written
in the first person vernacular of an <st1:place w:st="on">East London</st1:place>
lad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing I learnt whilst writing
the book is vernacular has its own very strict rules of grammar, just like any
other language or dialect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be
convincing, everything has to be spot on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Consistency is paramount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
missed letter, one dropped ending from the wrong mouth – each character speaks
a slightly different way in the book – and the whole thing crumbles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Caffeine Nights copy-editor for AWM was
the brilliant Julie Lewthwaite – a Geordie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Talk about a clash of cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, bless her, she did a fantastic job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Provide a YouTube link
to a song you'd like to be the title track to the movie adaptation of your
book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9bqrRNowf1Q?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To what extent do you
view writing a business?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was always one of those
writers who believed business has no place in writing, that a writer's job was
to write, and it was the publisher's job to look after the business side of
things. But, I was so wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blimey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See, as soon as I'd finished ABIDE WITH ME
and started sending it out to publishers and agents, I'd become a businessman –
pitching my product,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>seeking the most
profitable connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn't see it
then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see it now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I was just a writer wanting people
to read my book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, bless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the submission process is the tipping point where writer becomes
businessman – where writer needs to become businessman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is the promotional aspects of the
job of a writer, the interviews, the social networking, the blog posts – all of
these are to advertise your product, to pull in the punters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A writer needs to be both
writer and businessman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether he/she
likes it or not, once you've sent you precious darling out into the world
you've become a businessman.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What do you do when
you're not writing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I work twenty-two and a
half hours every weekend in a residential care home for adults with learning
difficulties and mental health issues – so that's my weekends shot to pieces,
writing wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the week, I play
the part of house-husband – with varying degrees of competence, it has to be
said – and I am also currently completing an Open University degree in English
Lit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apart from these admirable
pastimes, the remainder of my time is filled in with eating chocolate, drinking
coffee, and staring out the window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh,
and following the fortunes of the Mighty Dagenham and Redbridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take away the coffee, and I could be ten
years old again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little disturbing,
that, thinking about it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much time do you
dedicate to writing? How much time would you like to spend writing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I implied in my
previous answer, my writing time is pretty limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to that my complete inability to organise
myself, the writing happens in fits and spurts, as they say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of ABIDE WITH ME was written in my head
waiting in the playground for the kids to come out of school, walking the
littl'un round the park in her push-chair, or waiting in the queue at
Tescos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much time would I like
to spend writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'd like to say, 'My
whole life,' but the honest answer is I need a degree of pressure, a degree of
emotional rawness to be able to write the stuff I write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a feeling given all the time in the
world and a massive study, instead of no time and a place in a corner covered
with the kids' bits and pieces, last month's bills, and dust, I wouldn't write
a single word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What was the last book
you bought and how did you find out about it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The last book I bought was
Nick Quantrill's latest Joe Geraghty novel 'THE LATE GREATS'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Myself and Nick are both with Caffeine
Nights, and we exchange emails almost daily about writing and other odds and
ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've had the pleasure of seeing
TLG birth from an idea to what is a brilliant novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really has been a privilege.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How effective is social
media as a marketing aid?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As a marketing aid, I
think social media has its limitations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a writer, it can very quickly become an exercise in either
advertising to other writers or preaching to the converted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facebook is great for building relationships
– for me, the essence of good marketing – whereas Twitter appears to me to be a
better forum for spreading the word, although the relationship thing there is
still key.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How do you feel about
reviews?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I love reviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good, bad, or indifferent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as they're honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's what matters most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you have any other
projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have almost completed my
first novella, entitled JASON DEAN, due out later this year through Byker
Books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've also begun my second novel, and
hope to have another collection of short stories out by the end of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-1084489556583164322012-03-21T10:24:00.002-07:002012-03-21T10:24:42.107-07:00Nick Quantrill interview: The Late Greats<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1CWaqIPhBUnAB19s8PUnS3uTLzvE_ZZBKlAHYkMOYRY7Y1MA5oS4CUWTxYnEJaoImB2Yr_t9Vpyqr1aXFvQsoYHEBa9It0l663pgKD3ziJgaXDWpcXPuPaRoBATx8c9GOe23r_IZ_U0/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1CWaqIPhBUnAB19s8PUnS3uTLzvE_ZZBKlAHYkMOYRY7Y1MA5oS4CUWTxYnEJaoImB2Yr_t9Vpyqr1aXFvQsoYHEBa9It0l663pgKD3ziJgaXDWpcXPuPaRoBATx8c9GOe23r_IZ_U0/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Late-Greats-Geraghty-ebook/dp/B007M2GFEE/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Late-Greats-Geraghty-ebook/dp/B007M2GFEE/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>*** FREE ON KINDLE MARCH 20th-25th ***</strong></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; page-break-before: always;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; page-break-before: always;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Nick Quantrill is a crime writer
from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hull</st1:place></st1:city>. His
Joe Geraghty novels are published by Caffeine Nights. His short stories have
appeared in volumes 8 and 9 of “The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime.”<br />
</span></span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you sum up your book in no more than 25
words?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joe Geraghty is
employed to look after a reforming band. It goes wrong. It’s a story about
friendship and what really constitutes success in life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you provide a YouTube link to a song you'd like to
be the title track to the movie adaptation of your book?</span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s an easy one!
“The Late Greats” is a song by Wilco, who are one of my favourites. It’s about
an imaginary band, so it tied in nicely to the backdrop of the book.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/2r8onitYt9c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are you reading now?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ve just finished
“The Impossible Dead” by Ian Rankin. The premise for the book is great, but the
conclusion seemed a bit off the money for me, which is unusual for Rankin. Next
up is “Murder Mile” by Tony Black. DI Brennan is an excellent character. A
little snappier than most fictional police officers, shall we say?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What do you do when you're not writing?<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I gave up the day job to look
after my daughter, so that’s exactly how I spend my time. She’s a handful. It
was a decision taken to benefit all of the family, and it’s working out well,
if being more demanding than I ever thought possible. Other than that, I’m a
pass-holder at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hull</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>. That keeps the anger
levels nicely topped up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you dedicate to writing? How
much time would you like to spend writing?<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As much as possible, really. I
get child care help a couple of days a week from my mum and my wife obviously
does her share when she’s not working. I do something every day, at least a
couple of hours a night. Weekends and school holidays I do more. I suspect even
if I had a free run at writing, I’d still think I wasn’t spending enough time
working at it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What kind of promotion has most effect?<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I don’t think you can really
look beyond the mainstream media. I always see a noticeable bounce in sales when
I’ve been on the local radio or appeared in the newspaper. The obvious trick is
to try and spread that wider and further afield, which is no easy task for a
writer with a small press. Online, where it’s a slightly more level playing
field, I wouldn’t really be able to draw any firm conclusions. Personally, I’d
rather write a guest blog post or something similar, rather than just sling
Amazon links up for my books. I think the more engaging you are, the more
willing people are to take a look at your work (hopefully). The key is maybe
not to get too fixated with outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What kind of promotion doesn't work?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Where to start…relentless
spamming (boring), emailing Kindle files attached to generic emails asking for
a review (that person will remain nameless…), tit for tat review swapping
(looks obviously false)…I don’t think anyone has yet found a magic formula, but
I think it comes down to your own personal boundaries. Just try and be a decent
person first and foremost and remember that your main job is to write.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are your long-term ambitions?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I suspect like
everyone who writes, I’d love to make a living from it. I’ve had a taste of
freedom away from the 9-to-5, and I’m in no desperate rush to go back to it. Obviously,
making a living from writing is no easy task. It’d be great if my novels
sustained me, but more realistically, I’m working with arts professionals in
different fields and I’m looking to develop what I can offer organisations as
an individual. If I can get up in the morning and look forward to the day,
that’ll do for me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which author should be much better known?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I keep going back to him, but
I do think Ray Banks is a class apart. His work so far is such an evocative
telling of contemporary <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
and as I’ve said before, I’m sure he might just have a story in him that goes massive,
maybe even the next “Trainspotting”. I hope so.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you have any other projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I certainly do. I’m hard
at work on the third Joe Geraghty novel, which has the working title, “The
Crooked Beat”. There’s a Kindle-only novella, “Bang Bang (You’re Dead)” coming
later this year via Byker Books and I’m involved in a screenplay project with a
group of <st1:place w:st="on">Yorkshire</st1:place> writers, including David
Peace. I’m thinking about the next novel, which will probably be a little bit
different and I’ve got an idea to develop for another novella. Plenty to be
going on with!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-26427429009020959022012-03-17T01:28:00.003-07:002012-03-17T01:28:55.741-07:00Steven Torres interview: The Concrete Maze<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxF5VbH3Lq09DIrnbzGIeoGBr0uHS9o2oomwKFOKcZq59KxGWLJUHJiI16wNg3HTsTLoPIO-Z8b4Nd8upjw0vrmOvFZfVZMN-cWv0HrbnWIEMaIcAGsJcc-hLQEtZE2PFSA1qv1ISsug/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxF5VbH3Lq09DIrnbzGIeoGBr0uHS9o2oomwKFOKcZq59KxGWLJUHJiI16wNg3HTsTLoPIO-Z8b4Nd8upjw0vrmOvFZfVZMN-cWv0HrbnWIEMaIcAGsJcc-hLQEtZE2PFSA1qv1ISsug/s320/temp.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_584321419">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://amazon.co.uk/">Amazon.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>*** FREE 17th/18th March ***</strong><br />
<br />
<i>Steven Torres was
born in the Bronx, spent part of his childhood in Puerto Rico and has
authored six previously published novels. He teaches English in
Connecticut where he lives with wife and daughter.</i>
<br />
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Can
you sum up </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>The Concrete Maze</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
in no more than 25 words?</span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Jasmine
Ramos, 13, goes missing from a skating rink in the Bronx, and her
father, Luis, will do anything (to anyone) to get her back.</span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
was your motivation for writing it?</span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Many
things, but part of it is that I was involved in the periphery of a
similar real life story when I was a teenager. I had long wanted to
say something about the Bronx in the early 1990s when New York City
suffered through a half dozen murders daily. To the outsider, New
York probably looked like a cesspool, and it would have been except
for one fact – people suffered. I mean, if there were two thousand
murders and nobody cared, that would have been a cesspool. But people
cared. Desperately. I wanted to show that. Luis Ramos searches the
streets of a city that could be incredibly cruel for his daughter.
Compelling and true. I don’t know that a writer needs more than
that as motivation.</span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">How
long did it take you to write?</span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">The
book was started while I was spending three weeks of January in
Puerto Rico. I wrote about the first fifteen thousand words between
trips to see family and to the beach. Then I set the book aside for
about a year and wrote the other sixty thousand words during a spring
semester. I can’t for the life of me remember what other writing
projects I carried out in the time between starting the book and
taking it up the second time. There wasn’t any problem with the
book itself. It had been going swimmingly; I just ran out of vacation
time, started the semester of teaching, worked on other stuff for the
rest of the year and never returned to THE CONCRETE MAZE again until
the next winter break. Then I picked it up again without missing a
beat – like I’d just stepped away to fetch a soda from the
fridge. Probably the best writing experience of my life. </span></div>
Sent early mock-up
copies to all the best hardboiled noir type authors I could think of
– Ken Bruen, James Sallis, Megan Abbott, Sara Gran, Russel McLean,
Al Guthrie and the list goes on. Everyone had kind words, and I knew
I’d done something good.
<br />
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? </span></b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
write action and dialogue well. Those are my strengths. I am also
getting better at the architecture of a novel – juggling character
and narrative arcs so that one becomes the other seamlessly. Oh, and
I’m usually pretty good at proof-reading my work.</span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hmmm, weaknesses? Is
this where I put down “too much humility”? I’m not sure it’s
a weakness, but I have been trying to write a full-on thriller for
several years now and so far it has been dud after dud. There is
something about the architecture of the thriller that I’m not
getting. Not sure what. They say a thriller is just putting two
trains on a collision course – preferably one carrying a load of
orphans and nuns and the other carrying a doomsday device – but I
guess I’m just not working the formula right.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
crime book are you most looking forward to reading? </span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB"><i>Claire
DeWitt and the City of the Dead</i></span><span lang="en-GB"> by Sara
Gran. I think she did something extraordinary with her novel </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Dope</i></span><span lang="en-GB">,
and I’d love to know if she managed the feat again.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
makes you keep reading a book?</span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">There
are a variety of things that can keep me reading – compelling
characters, tightly woven plot – but perhaps the one that gets the
least attention is an attention to language. The individual words
that get selected and the phrasing of sentences. Economy in language.
I just read a couple Edgar Allan Poe stories and the man was an
absolute master of this economy. You might think 19th century writers
tended toward being verbose – they got paid by the word – but not
Poe. He was a mean one. Read “The Tell-Tale Heart” or “The Cask
of Amontillado,” and there’s not a word wasted. Everything is
doing something. Perhaps harder to sustain in a novel length work,
but where you find this, you treasure it. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course, I don’t
mean that every sentence has to be clipped. Megan Abbott has a
luscious prose style – long sentences, poetic passages – but
never a word that didn’t need to be there. Ken Bruen may not have
the same overall style – tending toward shorter sentence, sometimes
the entire sentence is just a heavily weighted word – but every
word earns its keep. Write this way, and I’ll read.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Ever
tried your hand at screenwriting?</span></b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
have. It’s wicked difficult for me. I think it’s that I haven’t
read nearly as many scripts as I have novels. Novel and short story
writing seem like much better fits for me as a writer, but I think
that’s practice. My first screenplay – great concept, sci-fi,
space opera, but the execution needs a lot of work. I’ve done bits
and pieces of other stories, but I’ve got a story in mind for a
relatively quiet movie, and I’m collaborating on a Nazi mad
scientist story. We’ll see where that goes. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It is a curious process
– writing without getting into the character’s minds or even very
much description. It stretches the writing muscles though I’m not
sure how much of those skills can be brought back into the
novel-world.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Do
you read outside of the crime genre?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Absolutely.
As an English professor, I really don’t have a choice. I could just
teach the same stories, poems, and plays each semester, but that
would be dull to me and I have no doubt that boredom would be picked
up on by my students. I try to add new works to the syllabus each
semester. Just read a short play by Terence McNally called “Andre’s
Mother.” It’s not new, but I’d never heard of it before. Ten
minutes on the stage, but devastating.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Not to say that
non-crime is better than crime. Some of the best stories out there
are about crime and punishment including, of course, <i>Crime and
Punishment</i>. <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, <i>The Great Gatsby</i>,
Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” they’re all crime stories.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-76841507746344990302012-03-16T02:10:00.002-07:002012-03-16T02:10:57.589-07:00Doug Johnstone interview: Hit & Run<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbz5ohio0TXv3PjFOP5YgR9w2-CnvrfdIkEQwsbfXPidZLOELLFeB6I-4cy4X-E-s8HreZq-5uAf2FeMTo0xwUeYWYFGpqbRusfBi0ZAf5b8HsVwfWbRpirR2huExmE78xgBFHTNVQgs/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbz5ohio0TXv3PjFOP5YgR9w2-CnvrfdIkEQwsbfXPidZLOELLFeB6I-4cy4X-E-s8HreZq-5uAf2FeMTo0xwUeYWYFGpqbRusfBi0ZAf5b8HsVwfWbRpirR2huExmE78xgBFHTNVQgs/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_691223410">Amazon UK</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hit-and-Run-ebook/dp/B006K6MVNM/"></a><b>Can you sum up <em>Hit & Run</em> in no more than 25 words? </b><br />
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
‘<span lang="en-GB">You
hit. You run. But what if you have to go back?’ It’s J.G.
Ballard’s <em>Crash</em> meets <em>Shallow Grave</em>. Set in Edinburgh. </span>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Do you
bear the reader in mind when you're writing? If so, how does that
affect the way you write?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">You
have be your own ideal reader, don’t you? Otherwise, what the hell
is the point? I began writing fiction primarily because I didn’t
recognise the world around me in the books I was reading. And that
made me furious. It seemed like my experience wasn’t worthy of
literature, which is bullshit. In the end, I always write something
that I would want to read. The irony of that is, it’s really hard
to read your own work without being hugely critical of it – all you
can see are the mistakes and shit bits.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Provide
a YouTube link to a song you'd like to be the title track to the
movie adaptation of your book.</b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/lrBZeWjGjl8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Boards of Canada: 'Dayvan Cowboy'</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Why anyone
would want anyone else to do the soundtrack for their movie is beyond
me. The first time I ever heard them I felt physically sick with
emotion, like they were tapping into something I recognised, but on a
subconscious or purely gut level. Genius.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>If you
were able to co-write a novel with any author of your choosing, who
would it be?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Raymond
Carver. Although I get the feeling he was never a writer to
collaborate on anything, very single-minded and driven. Imagine
trying to harness that weird black magic he had, his ability to say
so much with so few words, and work it into a novelistic plot, that
would be something, huh? He claimed he never had the patience for
writing or reading novels. I’d like to have had the chance to
change his mind about that.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Put
these in order of importance: language, character, plot, money.</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Does
anyone ever put money anywhere but last when they answer that? If
they do, they’re dicks. For me it’s probably character, plot,
language, money. Having said that, I agree with that thing Stephen
King said, about how no one ever asks him about his use of language.
Just because a book is easy to read and uses simple language, does
NOT mean the writer didn’t sweat over every single word in there.
At the start of his poem ‘The Blue Stones’, Carver quotes
Flaubert: “If I call stones blue it is because blue is the precise
word, believe me.” That quote says it all.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What do
you do when you're not writing?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">When
I’m not writing fiction I’m hustling for journalism work or
teaching work, when I’m not doing that I’m being a househusband,
doing the school run, the nursery run, cooking the tea, cleaning the
house, separating the squabbling kids, when I’m not doing that I’m
trying to make music, when I’m not doing that I’m trying to find
time to chill out with my wife, when I’m not doing that I’m
drinking whisky and playing guitar and watching shit films and
tweeting about it to wind down.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
are your ambitions for the next year?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">To
still be alive and writing by the end of it.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Which
author should be much better known?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Willy
Vlautin.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
question would you most like to be asked in an interview? What's the
answer to it?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Which
author would you most like to bare-knuckle box with? There are too
many to choose from. Doris Lessing, maybe? Not because I don’t like
her writing, I just reckon I’d have a pretty good chance of getting
a result against the 92-year-old Nobel Prize winner. Although I bet
she was a scrapper in her day. The real answer is Martin Amis.
Because I want to punch him.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How do
you feel about reviews?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
feel like I’m gliding through the fucking Matrix, and all the
lowlife quisling fucks cannae touch me. Not really, but I have got
pretty Zen about them in recent years. I genuinely don’t give a
shit either way. I’m quite surprised at myself about that, I have
to admit. I read each one once, then throw them up on my website for
others to look at. I gave up reading newspapers a few years ago, and
the increase in my mental health was huge. It’s just people’s
opinions, after all, and like my granny used to say: ‘Opinions are
like arseholes, everybody’s got one.’</span></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-50307387902474448742012-03-10T03:41:00.000-08:002012-03-10T03:41:17.345-08:00Anthony Neil Smith interview: All The Young Warriors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPOMkrMBrzMBnhFXxU79MsDSj0sYe0coT9b95MTYlCXSPsIDq27np8NPeLJomk5kN9ei8vOb6nLNiwwRmHtzFZ_5rUX8aa9m-cFFAlVB3Y1PMEC1Sh015KlfarHCN19xncEBBZm6gvBE/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPOMkrMBrzMBnhFXxU79MsDSj0sYe0coT9b95MTYlCXSPsIDq27np8NPeLJomk5kN9ei8vOb6nLNiwwRmHtzFZ_5rUX8aa9m-cFFAlVB3Y1PMEC1Sh015KlfarHCN19xncEBBZm6gvBE/s320/temp.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-The-Young-Warriors-ebook/dp/B005ZMHX2G/"><strong>Amazon UK</strong></a> |<strong> </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-The-Young-Warriors-ebook/dp/B005ZMHX2G/"><strong>Amazon US</strong></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>*** Free 10th/11th
March ***</b><br />
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Can you
sum up your book in no more than 25 words? </b>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Two young
Somali-American men leave a trail of dead in Minnesota as they head
to Mogadishu to join a terrorist army. A heartbroken cop joins the
father of one of those boys, himself a former gang leader, to bring
them to justice.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So the
answer is no, I can’t do it in 25 words.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What's
unique about it?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The blend
of the Minnesota and Somali settings, digging into the astounding
story of the Minneapolis “lost boys”—Somali-American men being
drafted to go back to Africa and terrorize those left behind.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
did you learn while writing it?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Since the
“lost boys” concept was the story that initially caught my
attention, I spent a lot of time then researching the current
situation in Somalia itself, since I knew I wouldn’t be able to
visit. The Somali connection to the Twin Cities is an unusual one.
Somehow, that’s where the most Somali immigrants have decided to
make their home, and it’s a wonderful story. But then there are the
Somali gangs creating havoc in the Cities, too. You take the good
with the bad.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How
important is talent?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Very
very important. But it can only take you so far. Once you discover a
talent for writing, you’ve got to </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>read</i></span><span lang="en-GB">,
man. You’ve got to find out how it works. You’ve got to turn your
ideas into sweat, tears, and blood (or ink. Or something).</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Craft
is more important than talent. Craft is what it takes to make a
sturdy story. Talent can help make it artful, more in-depth, more
stylish, more affecting, but you can still get away with a well-told
story and let the reader supply the rest.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Who
would you like to direct the film adaptation?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I’m
sticking with Tony Scott. I can just feel it.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>If you
were able to co-write a novel with any author of your choosing, who
would it be?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">How
about Toni Morrison? That’s, like, money </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>and</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
prestige. Can’t say I really liked the books of hers I have read,
but maybe I can teach her a few things about pulp and clear, direct
writing, and she can teach me a few things about being a Nobel Prize
Winner and national treasure.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What's
the worst piece of craft advice you've heard?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“Elmer’s
Glue should work just fine.”</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How
would you describe your taste in books?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Spotty. I
like science books, crime, high-minded sci-fi (like China Mieville),
weird literary fiction, thrillers, old pulp novels, and whatnot.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
was the last good eBook you read?</b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYycEi-49PX3uJEZaOQzBqqua-KKRV2RI7KZ2fSNGvPl5a-rajkRORhXfJtQ3wcfBTfdtXW2CzJl_0YmL6rzZZyNF0wRA4ZId-rESk_DTq-uL5-jaC3WeeGutxVwsA0sOUPErpXD9xx-c/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYycEi-49PX3uJEZaOQzBqqua-KKRV2RI7KZ2fSNGvPl5a-rajkRORhXfJtQ3wcfBTfdtXW2CzJl_0YmL6rzZZyNF0wRA4ZId-rESk_DTq-uL5-jaC3WeeGutxVwsA0sOUPErpXD9xx-c/s320/temp.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Unburied-Dead-ebook/dp/B0074EW5J4/">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Unburied-Dead-ebook/dp/B0074EW5J4/">Amazon US</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">Okay,
so I’m cheerleading for the Blasted Heath team here, but I’ve
been just floored by Douglas Lindsay’s </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>The
Unburied Dead</i></span><span lang="en-GB">. It reminds me quite a
bit of Ed McBain’s 87</span><sup><span lang="en-GB">th</span></sup><span lang="en-GB">
Precinct, Ken Bruen’s Brant novels, Joseph Wambaugh, and Irvine
Welsh’s </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Filth</i></span><span lang="en-GB">,
but told with such a boldness and gonzo tilt that it stands out from
the crowd. Kudos.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
are you reading now?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I’m
reading a book called </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Brenner and God </i></span><span lang="en-GB">by
Wolf Haas, a German writer who is crazy popular in Europe, but is
getting launched in the US by literary publisher Melville House, who
have been doing excellent work in crime fiction, including a new run
of the Derek Raymond Factory novels. It’s a weird book. I like
weird.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the
past week I’ve read two Richard Stark novels and a Jean Patrick
Manchette.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What do
you do when you're not writing?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I watch a
lot of TV. I eat food I shouldn’t eat (because of the diabetes). I
change the kitty litter. I walk my puppy, Herman. I hang out with my
wife. I try to get away from the town where I’m living to go
prettier places like Lake Superior. I teach. I direct the Creative
Writing Program at Southwest Minnesota State University (for a few
more months. After that I’ll be Chair of the English Dept.), which
is a really sweet job. And I sleep.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How
much do you read?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Not
enough. I’m pretty slow. Takes me weeks to read a long novel. And
yet in the last few weeks, I’ve blazed through some books.</div>
<br />
<b>How
much time do you dedicate to writing? How much time would you like to
spend writing?</b><br />
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When I’m
not teaching, I try to give it three or four hours a day. When I am,
I still try for one hour. But if I had the freedom to just do four
hours every day, yeah, I’d do that.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
are your ambitions for the next year?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I want to
write a few books. I want to be on the Ed McBain/Richard Stark
schedule. I want to write faster. Let the revising carve out the
rest.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What
are your long-term ambitions?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I just
want to write and find more readers. I like being a crime writer, so
I’m not looking to cross over into literary fiction. I think the
work I’m doing deserves some literary attention as is, so it’s
not like I want to “pretentious up” my stuff.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And if I
stumble across a good thriller that sells millions, cool. But the way
my mind works, I doubt it.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How
effective is social media as a marketing aid?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I’ve
found it to be brutally effective. The word gets out, people support
each other, and the readers give new writers a shot based on all the
buzz. Happy to see it work like that. It’s almost like that elusive
“word of mouth” we hear about (I’m cribbing from Smudge now).
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How do
you feel about reviews?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I’m fine
with them. I like to make fun of my bad reviews. Just too tempting
not to. But I don’t take them as anything more than personal taste
unless they’re from a pro. And the pro might be playing to
particular audiences, or a particular critical slant. So you just
have to take it in stride. I do. Sort of.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Do you
have any other projects on the go?</b></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I’m
trying to finish up the third Billy Lafitte novel, which is ever
closer to being done (first draft at least), and I’ve got a partial
manuscript of a new book featuring Mustafa and Adem from </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>All
the Young Warriors</i></span><span lang="en-GB">, but I think it’ll
take a bit of time to finish. In between, I think it’s time to work
on the second Octavia VanderPlatts novel. And also, I’ve been
signed to work on a Dead Man novella as part of that great series
from Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. Very cool stuff, and I’m
excited to be a part of it!</span></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-20607167902318862532012-03-01T05:56:00.000-08:002012-03-01T05:56:45.477-08:00John Barlow interview: Hope Road<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD_ez9vhiNvyEiC_P0jyslJX3F_K_SgEY0EU4VZ2p4AjDOEQiO-Y4akRo2S9DJ9N8tIQ8ikOdzJdqhWGZ4fIdn8xmvDgNv7jvZqJpbcdHWP5DakJRM3bA5a1D_zCCIZPYPjqvoXVA5yQ/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD_ez9vhiNvyEiC_P0jyslJX3F_K_SgEY0EU4VZ2p4AjDOEQiO-Y4akRo2S9DJ9N8tIQ8ikOdzJdqhWGZ4fIdn8xmvDgNv7jvZqJpbcdHWP5DakJRM3bA5a1D_zCCIZPYPjqvoXVA5yQ/s320/temp.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Hope Road by John
Barlow</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>95p | $1.50 | £2.22
| $2.99</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOPE-ROAD-ebook/dp/B006LWJ75K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330554210&sr=1-1">Amazon
UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/HOPE-ROAD-ebook/dp/B006LWJ75K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330554277&sr=1-1">Amazon
US</a> | <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/HOPE-ROAD-LS9-crime-mystery/book-rnmeYquIhU2oz6METLKAKQ/page1.html">Kobo</a>
| <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/115581">Smashwords</a></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
John Barlow was born in
Leeds, West Yorkshire, but now lives in Spain. He won the Paris
Review Discovery/Plimpton Prize for his first published work, and
since then has published fiction with HarperCollins and non-fiction
with FSG. His books have been translated into six languages. His
website is at: <span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.johnbarlow.net/">http://www.johnbarlow.net/</a></u></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Can
you sum up Hope Road in no more than 25 words?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">HOPE
ROAD is a psychological mystery. It’s about the son of a career
criminal who’s been ‘straight’ all his life, but who gets
involved in a murder investigation.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What's unique about
it?</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">It’s
an amateur sleuth story with a police </span><span lang="en-GB">procedural
running in parallel. But I’ve also tried to explore the way that
crime affects human relationships, in particular the relationship
between the sleuth (the son of a career criminal) and his girlfriend
(a young police detective). That’s the ‘psychological’ element,
a term I adopted after an early review pointed out the
character-driven nature of the book.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What are your
expectations for the book?</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">My
aim is to take the crime family at the centre of the novel and write
a whole series of novels. </span><span lang="en-GB">It’s set in
Leeds, and I’ve had some very gratifying comments about how I’ve
evoked that city. My dearest hope is that someone will say, ‘It’s
a bit like Kate Atkinson’s STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG, but
grittier, and it delves a bit deeper into the soul.’</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
did you learn while writing it?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">On
the practical cr</span><span lang="en-GB">ime side I learned two main
things. First, I discovered that my uncle John had been an arms
dealer, and was found dead on a flight from Amsterdam with his throat
cut. The UK police were after him for the theft of munitions from the
British army, and he was suspected of various other arms-related
crimes. That, of course, partly explains why I am so interested in
the issue of crime and families... Then, I was lucky to get a contact
which eventually led me to a real money counterfeiter (HOPE ROAD
involves a subplot about fake money). That was really great research.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Do
you bear the reader in mind when you're writing? If so, how does that
affect the way you write?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
try and write in such a way that the reader never notices that
</span><span lang="en-GB">there’s an author there. I want to story
to be told as naturally as possible. I do loads of rewrites, each one
trying to make the prose simpler and smoother. I try and become a
reader every time I return to the text, coming at it from different
angles, re-reading in different ways. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Can
you provide a youtube link to a song you'd like to be the title track
to the movie adaptation of your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/FHO6a2H-pqY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
And So It Goes, by
Billy Joel</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
...so I will choose to
be with you</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
As if the choice were
mine to make</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
For you can make
decisions too</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
And you can have this
heart to break.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
And so it goes and so
it goes</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
And you're the only one
who knows...</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
HOPE ROAD is really
about why we lie to those who love us most. It’s about the pain but
also the normalcy of deception. A love story, I guess. ‘And So It
Goes’ perfectly captures the underlying melancholy of the main
character.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Who
would you like to direct the film adaptation?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Michael Winterbottom</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">To
what extent do you view writing as a business?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">It’s
my job. I write my own </span><span lang="en-GB">books, and I also
work as a ghost-writer (financial thriller at the moment!). In
addition, I do some journalism and also work as an academic editor
and occasional translator. So, one way and another writing is my only
business. Writing my own fiction is special, though; I could stop all
the other stuff tomorrow, but not my own writing.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">How
much do you read?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
read and/or write all day, every day.</span><span lang="en-GB"> The
only respite is that I do the occasional feature for a food magazine,
and these involve travelling to report on some food producer or
other. Reading for pleasure? Less that I used to, but a fair bit.
More crime than anything at the moment.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">What
are your ambitions for the next year?</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">I
aim to finish the follow-up novel to HOPE ROAD, which will explore
the background to my uncle’s arms dealing activities more deeply. I
also have a YA novel. I’m probably going to sign with an ambitious
new e-publisher for the YA book, which will be a new and exciting
departure for me.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>What are your
long-term ambitions?</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-GB">My
primary aim is to see how the ebook market develops and to try and
position myself somewhere within it. </span><span lang="en-GB">One
way or another, I’ll be staring at a screen all day, that’s for
sure!</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="en-GB">Hope
Road by John Barlow</span></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>95p | $1.50 | £2.22
| $2.99</b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOPE-ROAD-ebook/dp/B006LWJ75K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330554210&sr=1-1">Amazon
UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/HOPE-ROAD-ebook/dp/B006LWJ75K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330554277&sr=1-1">Amazon
US</a> | <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/HOPE-ROAD-LS9-crime-mystery/book-rnmeYquIhU2oz6METLKAKQ/page1.html">Kobo</a>
| <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/115581">Smashwords</a></b></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-76908935130256084212012-02-26T07:59:00.001-08:002012-02-26T07:59:33.882-08:00Ten Things That Happened While I Was In Bath<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3CYYKdxhzF7eWS49n-fRSAKsklbM4RNH7ae7OJke5wDGt4WMDXFuNtDhmUCuMRX_g14-cMf2YXfYn9Mxh3jXunj7G3UEvTM4RyLktq9OhzovLC9oVsGPv5RI2t12levq0bio_ZP34b8/s1600/bath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3CYYKdxhzF7eWS49n-fRSAKsklbM4RNH7ae7OJke5wDGt4WMDXFuNtDhmUCuMRX_g14-cMf2YXfYn9Mxh3jXunj7G3UEvTM4RyLktq9OhzovLC9oVsGPv5RI2t12levq0bio_ZP34b8/s320/bath.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bath in a bookshop in Bath <br />
photo by Janet McKnight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just back from a short and most pleasant visit to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath,_Somerset">Bath</a>. Still catching up but here's a few things that happened while I was gone:<br />
<br />
I: Bloody Scotland launched its <a href="http://www.bloody-scotland.com/authors/">website</a>, and very pretty it is too. There's also news of a <a href="http://www.bloody-scotland.com/competition/">short story competition</a> that could see you published in a Blasted Heath ebook anthology.<br />
<br />
II: Dead End Follies listed <a href="http://www.deadendfollies.com/2012/02/ten-literary-people-on-web-that-you.html">Ten Literary People On The Web That You Absolutely Need To Know</a> and were kind enough to mention me. "I suspect Allan has eight pairs of arms, six brains and needs about twenty minutes of sleep a night for optimal functioning." I wish.<br />
<br />
III: Anthony Neil Smith made his excellent <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Choke-on-Your-Lies-ebook/dp/B004K1F96A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330168138&sr=1-1">Choke On Your Lies</a> free for Kindle on Friday. It goes back to 'paid' on Monday so grab it while you can.<br />
<br />
IV: Liberties Press has reduced the price of Declan Burke's Irish Book Awards-shortlisted <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolute-Zero-Cool-ebook/dp/B005FTA7DG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330258637&sr=1-1">Absolute Zero Cool</a> to £1.95. <br />
<br />
V: Speaking of Dec, here's a piece <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2012/0221/1224312113036.html">on ebook pricing</a> he wrote for <em>The Irish Times</em>. And here's another interesting piece on ebook pricing from <a href="http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/kdp-select%e2%80%99s-impact-on-amazon-com%e2%80%99s-book-sales-price-point/">Digital Book World</a>, specifically in relation to the impact of Amazon's KDP Select.<br />
<br />
VI: Here's a chance to win Gerard Brennan's chapbook: <a href="http://crimesceneni.blogspot.com/2012/02/chapbook-giveaway.html">Possession Obsession And A Diesel Compression Engine</a>.<br />
<br />
VII: <a href="http://www.noircon.info/">NoirCon 2012</a> looms ever closer, with distinguished guest Lawrence Block and keynote speaker Robert Olen Butler (this I'd love to hear: Butler's book on writing fiction, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-You-Dream-Process-ebook/dp/B0015KGWEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330259089&sr=1-1">From Where You Dream</a>, is a mind-blower).<br />
<br />
VIII: Benedicte Page gave Blasted Heath's February titles. Ray Banks's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Tickets-ebook/dp/B0077AMYL4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330259709&sr=1-1-spell">Wolf Tickets</a> and Douglas Lindsay's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Unburied-Dead-ebook/dp/B0074EW5J4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330259826&sr=1-1">The Unburied Dead</a> a nice shout-out in her <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/23/ebooks-roundup-satires-serials-shorts?newsfeed=true">ebooks round-up</a> in The Guardian.<br />
<br />
IX: eBooknewser lists <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/10-pinterest-boards-for-ebook-fans_b20511">10 Boards For Ebook Fans</a> from new social networking site, Pinterest.<br />
<br />
X: Some much-appreciated and very inspiring Amazon customer reviews have appeared for a few of my books. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RSSX49B6JRAWG/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005890S3C&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode="><em>Two-Way Split</em></a><em> </em>is described as having "a gut-knotting finale that unfurls with the inevitability of all great tragedy
and the best nasty sex ever" (thanks, Maya!); <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2JFZINEI156BN/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B006T5JCGS&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=">Savage Night </a></em>is described as being "Shakespearean in scope and theme, unrelenting, tragic ... a
powerful revenge tale, in which violence, fate, love, hate and even humor
commingle like blood and wine, one barely distinguishable from the other" (thanks, Marilyn!); and finally "the writing quality is high, the stories are top notch, and this piece is worth
your attention" (thanks, Pearce!) is a terrific response to <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2DB8MVIXZD8YV/ref=cm_cr_dp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B006T8404Y&nodeID=133140011&tag=&linkCode=">Hilda's Big Day Out</a>.</em><br />Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-4765242168401416332012-02-15T06:30:00.000-08:002012-02-15T06:30:32.805-08:00Barry Graham interview: When It All Comes Down To Dust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPNxnICYGznxhM38twPzXLeL6b6blYvq7D8UwkvMpUlMtq9PiReAOT0f-bIBNpPDs4iU0N1T-Qy99-WAYN-rqJmlKai6uMDXSujYr9Ai32jASr3CZMY775PEuoHEHfZZi1mOd8Z4YC7c/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPNxnICYGznxhM38twPzXLeL6b6blYvq7D8UwkvMpUlMtq9PiReAOT0f-bIBNpPDs4iU0N1T-Qy99-WAYN-rqJmlKai6uMDXSujYr9Ai32jASr3CZMY775PEuoHEHfZZi1mOd8Z4YC7c/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When It All Comes Down To Dust by Barry
Graham<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">£2.59 | $3.99 | $3.99 | $12<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006VFGCMS"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon UK</span></a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/When-Comes-Down-Dust-ebook/dp/B006VFGCMS/"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon
US</span></a> <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/122248"><span style="color: blue;">| Smashwords</span></a> |
<a href="https://www.createspace.com/3699564"><span style="color: blue;">Paperback</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><em>Barry Graham is an award-winning novelist, journalist and Zen teacher.
He is the author of ten books, including his most recent, </em>When It All Comes Down to Dust<em>. Born and dragged up in <st1:city w:st="on">Glasgow</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Scotland</st1:country-region>,
he currently lives in the urban war zone of Phoenix, <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:state>.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Can you sum up your book in no more
than 25 words?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A neo-noir tale of love, sex and murder in which a woman confronts a man
who did unspeakable things to children – including her.</span><br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What's unique about it?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Without giving anything away, I’ll say that the characters, the
situation and the way it turns out all combine to make it a book that’s unlike
anything else you’ve ever read. All my other books have been preparation for
writing this one. The French magazine Transfuge called it “one of the great
post-realist novels” - and it hasn’t even been published in French yet!</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What have you done/are you doing to
market it?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sending out press releases, appearing at book festivals and various
venues where I’ll recite chunks of it from memory. Posting on social media, and
mentioning it on my blog and website. Asking bloggers to review it.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your expectations for the
book?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’m not sure, but I’m fascinated to find out how it does. I walked away
from a likely offer from a major publisher, because I sincerely think this is a
great book, and I got tired of waiting for them to decide what to do about it.
Responses from readers so far suggest that I’m right.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What did you learn while writing it?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That when I looked in the darkest and most frightening places I could
imagine, what I found there was compassion.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you bear the reader in mind when
you're writing? If so, how does that affect the way you write?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Never. I don’t write for the reader, and I don’t write for myself - I
just write. I write at the service of the story. When the story is as good as
it can be, I thank it for what it taught me, and then I put it out there and let
it find its readers.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How important is talent?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Considering the amount of drivel that’s published by the big houses, I’d
say talent isn’t important at all when it comes to getting a deal with them.
When it comes to writing a good book, I think some talent is necessary, but
work and perseverance and honesty are more important.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Provide a YouTube link to a song you'd
like to be the title track to the movie adaptation of your book.</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/aBjw7ov_q7Q/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aBjw7ov_q7Q&fs=1&source=uds" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aBjw7ov_q7Q&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Western Wind by The Heroes Are Horses</span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Who would you like to direct the film
adaptation?</span></b><br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Jean-Luc Godard.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To what extent do you view writing as a
business?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I view writing entirely as an art, and I view publishing entirely as a
business. I write for love, and publish for money.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How would you describe your taste in
books?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Very broad. I read everything from pulp crime to critical theory to
history to philosophy to Japanese and Chinese poetry.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What was the last good eBook you read?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Your novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slammer</i>. But, to be
honest, I don’t think it’s a good book. I think it’s a terrific book.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are you reading now?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Black Hornet by James Sallis. A weird, brilliant novel.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Which writer do you most admire?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That’s a tie between Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Alain Robbe-Grillet,
Jean-Patrick Manchette and Nakagami Kenji. When it comes to living writers,
it’s a tie between Daniel Woodrell, Larry Fondation and Elmore Leonard. In
nonfiction, Michel Foucault. He’s probably influenced how I write and think
more than any other.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What do you do when you're not writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Practice and teach Zen Buddhism, read, watch films, cook, hang out with
my girlfriend and our cats, watch boxing, go and hear live music, wander around
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Phoenix</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Arizona</st1:state></st1:place>
while carefully watching my back.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much do you read?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At least two books a week, usually more. I don’t watch TV at all.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you dedicate to
writing? How much time would you like to spend writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I write every day. My fiction and my blogging probably add up to eight
or ten hours a day. I’m satisfied with that amount.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How much time do you dedicate to
promotion?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’m not sure. I use Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus almost every day,
and I send out mass emails letting people on my list know what I’m doing. I
blog every day, and have a lot of readers, though I’m not sure how that impacts
book sales, or even if it does. I also do performances of my work just about
anywhere they’ll have me.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your ambitions for the next
year?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To finish another novel and publish it, and to publish a collection of
my journalism.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What are your long-term ambitions?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To keep writing, be as kind as possible, and see where this life takes
me.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Which author should be much better
known?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Larry Fondation and Lynne Tillman. </span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What's the book you've recommended most
to friends?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins, my favorite novel ever.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you write outside of the crime
genre? If not, would you like to?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">My first novel was a horror novel set in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:city> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/dogobarrygraham/of-darkness-and-light"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #000099; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://sites.google.com/site/dogobarrygraham/of-darkness-and-light</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">). My next three
weren’t in any genre, though I’d say all of them have a kind of noir
atmosphere, and all contain crime and violence. I don’t know how to write about
this world without writing crime fiction. I also write poetry and essays.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Where do you write?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In a recliner in a corner of my living room (see photo)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwCo6abE_c-5mb9HX75TWF7hOBEaJkf8yZ_N7sedN9T02AYCvDX4h55-Dp-Rt0Z-LqX0swb267hrTIUEUgCTBcvGU2KyrRQUX27mfIBzrPAR3B7vMWZvcbE4MSwz8PoryFDbiMCA6vyY/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwCo6abE_c-5mb9HX75TWF7hOBEaJkf8yZ_N7sedN9T02AYCvDX4h55-Dp-Rt0Z-LqX0swb267hrTIUEUgCTBcvGU2KyrRQUX27mfIBzrPAR3B7vMWZvcbE4MSwz8PoryFDbiMCA6vyY/s320/temp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How do you feel about reviews?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Anything that lets people know about a book’s existence is good. I don’t
understand writers who get upset about bad reviews - it’s a review of your
book, not of you. I’ve bought books after reading bad reviews of them, because
the book sounded like my kind of thing. I’ve read good reviews of books and not
bought the books, because the book didn’t sound like my kind of thing. I’m
grateful for any.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you have any other projects on the
go?</span></b></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’m writing a short novel, a sort of techno-thriller. Then I’ll finish a
sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When It All Comes Down to Dust</i>.
I’m also putting together a collection of talks I’ve given at The Sitting Frog
Zen Center, where I serve as Abbot. The next book I publish will probably be my
collection of reporting and commentary, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your
Doctrines I Must Blame</i>.</span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><strong>When It All Comes Down To Dust by Barry Graham</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">£2.59 | $3.99 | $3.99 | $12<br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006VFGCMS"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon UK</span></a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/When-Comes-Down-Dust-ebook/dp/B006VFGCMS/"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon US</span></a> <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/122248"><span style="color: blue;">| Smashwords</span></a> |<a href="https://www.createspace.com/3699564"><span style="color: blue;">Paperback</span></a><o:p></o:p></span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-31595508221562173332012-02-06T04:27:00.000-08:002012-02-06T07:49:20.318-08:00Bonnie Kozek interview: Just Before The Dawn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_fKS-CjbBOfvABjCCA8u255HG4ZAN6WdcX-kYhcMu0_WwxamohQRBO0xwQJ2171-Sua885hSB9xFRyu5m-Qv8ri0ePaifkHMSFNPej6To89V94bbHnzTVX__wfmfn1u8MItzzj0lLR0/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_fKS-CjbBOfvABjCCA8u255HG4ZAN6WdcX-kYhcMu0_WwxamohQRBO0xwQJ2171-Sua885hSB9xFRyu5m-Qv8ri0ePaifkHMSFNPej6To89V94bbHnzTVX__wfmfn1u8MItzzj0lLR0/s320/temp.jpg" width="213" /></a><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just Before The Dawn by Bonnie Kozek</span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Honey-McGuinness-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005C6CD34/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Amazon
UK</strong></span></a><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">|</span></strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Before-Honey-McGuinness-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005C6CD34/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Amazon
US</strong></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Bonnie Kozek is the author of the Honey McGuinness hardboiled grunge
thrillers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Threshold-A-Hard-boiled-Thriller-ebook/dp/B001VMATQ6/">Threshold</a></i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Before the Dawn</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">Kozek has received awards from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learn more about her work at: </span></em></span><a href="http://www.bonniekozek.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.bonniekozek.com</span></a><em><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> or contact her at:
bk@bonniekozek.com<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you sum up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Before The Dawn</i> in no more than 25
words? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Psychedelics, psycho-killers, and a lethal XXX-Rated
nightmare of biblical proportions: Welcome back to the twisted world of Honey
McGuinness.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What was your
motivation for writing it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Truth is often unearthed in the most unexpected places,
utilizing the most unconventional methods, which requires an author to be
willing to get her hands dirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like getting
my hands dirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like plunging the
depths of a damaged psyche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Noir grunge
fiction provides me a perfect vehicle and offers a bottomless pit of grime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a match made in heaven, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, it’s a challenge – like having a dinner
party and serving T-bone steak without the meat on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stripped of the traditional pulling of
heartstrings – stripped of prettified, multisyllabic, adjective-laden language
– I have to try to deliver a bone so tasty that my guests won’t notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not so easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, I’m always on the lookout for a concept, a core –
something around which I can construct a story and use the vernacular of the
genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps surprisingly, for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Before the Dawn</i>, I found that
kernel in a small book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prophet</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Written by the great Lebanese poet, Khalil
Gibran, I read these words: “ . . . when good is hungry it seeks food even in
dark caves, and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I thought: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bingo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s it!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See, I’ve got this protagonist, Honey
McGuinness, who’s so starved that she could actually travel that road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I set out to test her limits –
physically, emotionally, ethically and morally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In all these areas, I tried to explore the depths to which she would
allow herself to sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to take
her to – or let her hover just above or below – that “point of no return.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to answer the question: Could Honey
descend to a place so dark and deep that she couldn’t claw her way out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How long did it take
you to write?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">About four years total.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I put it down for a number of years and then came back to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much difference
does an editor make?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Working with an editor is detrimental to my mental and
physical health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s why: </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I had a literary agent and editor at a distinguished <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state> agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things went swimmingly for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He used words like “remarkable” and
“brilliant” about my work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He awaited
each new chapter with bated breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
said he loved the novel (which, by the by, is yet unpublished) and was certain
he could get it published by a well-respected house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We worked closely over a two-year period –
speaking daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time he
suggested editorial changes, which I made without fuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the two years, when the book was
finished, he decided to have his new assistant read the manuscript, explaining
that the work needed “fresh eyes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
reading the manuscript, this prepubescent moron told his boss that he “couldn’t
follow the story” and his boss, my agent/editor, sent me an email saying that
he had decided he couldn’t sell the book, ending the email with one word:
sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immediately after receiving the
email I fell down two flights of stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later that day I drove my car into a ditch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following night I walked in a zombie-like
state into the home of complete strangers and proceeded to join the bewildered
little family at their dinner table where they were just about to partake of a
really nice home-cooked meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Unbelievably, they let me stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oh, the kindness of strangers.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll take a good proof-reader over an editor any day of the
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a proof-reader fails to catch a
mistake, it may be temporarily embarrassing (i.e. “Ghengis Kahn” instead of
Ghengis Khan”), but at least it’s not permanently disfiguring. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Who designed your
cover?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cornelius Drake, which may or may not be a pseudonym for a
designer/photographer who may or may not make his or her bread and butter by
designing the covers of children’s books.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much difference
does a good cover make?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A good cover can’t “make” a book, but it can help get a book
into the hands (virtual or actual) of a potential reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No question about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conversely, a lousy cover can definitely
“break” a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My philosophy is: if
you’re going to invest some serious money, this is the place to do it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How important is a
good title? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A title can be of greater or lesser consequence, depending
on the content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Before the Dawn</i>, the title was
crucial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of the XXX-Rated adult
content, I wanted to prepare and caution the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted the title to be unambiguous: “You’ve
been forewarned!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter at your own
risk!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What's the best piece
of business advice you've been given?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My father only gave me one piece of advice: Even the
grandest ideas start with a small spark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the greatest fortune starts with a single dollar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, when you find a passion for something,
start small – even if it means starting in your garage or your basement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What's your favourite
part of the writing process?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m obsessed with words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re powerful and endlessly mysterious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that each and every single word has
a secret code – something that lies beyond its obvious meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key to breaking the code is finding the
right word and then finding the right word to follow that word and then the
next, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I adore spending time
finding just the right word – even when it takes me days or weeks, which it
often does.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also, writing grounds me to the earth – to time and space –
which fulfills a hunger I have for terrestrial connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny because, theoretically, fiction
writing wouldn’t seem a natural conduit to “reality” – yet somehow it works for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are your
strengths and weaknesses as a writer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think people become artists for varying reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are born with immense talent, others
make art to survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The two-time
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author J. Anthony Lukas once said, “All
writers are, to one extent or another, damaged people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing is our way of repairing ourselves.
”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lukas, diagnosed with depression ten
years earlier, hanged himself in 1997.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s fair to say that I started out as a member of the latter
category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a less intellectual
approach – at least in the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the risks are titanic, because talent not wholly inborn is learned
and earned through the sweat of the flesh and the letting of blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in the beginning, I fought demons on the
battlefield of the written page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
has changed over time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that
knowing why I write is my strength.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My weakness is that when it comes to writing I’m a “one verb
at a time” type of gal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I’m writing
I can’t take breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t take a
walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t answer the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t interact with other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t make any type of plan – even if it’s
something in the far distant future. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What aspects of
marketing your book do you enjoy?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">None.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As a reader, how
would you describe your taste in crime fiction?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I don’t read really scary, gory books – books with deranged
killers or the likes – or any mass-market crime fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than that, I’m open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are you reading
now?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
“<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Magic</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Mountain</st1:placetype></st1:place>” by Thomas Mann</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you had to re-read
a crime novel right now, what would you choose?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“The Burnt <st1:place w:st="on">Orange</st1:place> Heresy”
by Charles Willeford</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What's the best
collection of short stories you've read?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“When the Messenger is Hot” by Elizabeth Crane</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ever tried your hand
at poetry?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
I have one book of published poetry, “Mania” – which has
original artwork by the American/Dutch artist, Jan Frank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lately, I’ve been writing rhyming poems,
which I’ve found to be surprisingly un-childlike. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you read outside
of the crime genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For a long time I only read and related to really tortured
writers, poets, artists: Baudelaire, Rimbaud – the usual suspects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember reading an interview from 1919
with the writer Djuna Barnes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
interviewer asked her why she was so morbid and she answered, “Look at my
life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, that’s what I related to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I like rhyming poems <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i>
Artaud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the noir crime fiction genre
of the Honey McGuinness books, I’d say my favorite writers are Jim Thompson,
Charles Willeford, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Chandler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside of this genre?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, there are so many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among contemporary writers I’m crazy for
Jeanette Winterson, Jonathan Lethem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
read Alice Munro, Carl Hiaasen, Walter Mosely, David Foster Wallace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there’s Jean Rhys, Virginia Woolf, Anais
Nin, Henry Miller – that crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Steinbeck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Gabriel <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Márquez, Thomas
Mann, Alexander Dumas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure I’ve
missed some but as you can see, my stock is eclectic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you clean house, there’s room for </span>everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like that.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you enjoy writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beyond words.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you have any other
projects on the go?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m currently working on a novel (the working title<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: The Woman Who Was Good Enough to Eat</i>),
which was inspired by the true story of a 55-year old woman who met a 30-year
old man and, two days later, married him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before the honeymoon was over he ate her, literally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just Before The Dawn by Bonnie Kozek</span></strong></o:p></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Honey-McGuinness-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005C6CD34/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Amazon UK</strong></span></a><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">|</span></strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Before-Honey-McGuinness-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005C6CD34/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Amazon US</strong></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-63533415665178146752012-02-04T05:45:00.000-08:002012-02-04T05:45:55.934-08:00Free For TwoThese two very fine books are free on Kindle over 4th and 5th Feb.<br />
<br />
The Unburied Dead: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Unburied-Dead-ebook/dp/B0074EW5J4/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328362857&sr=1-2">Amazon UK</a>|<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Unburied-Dead-ebook/dp/B0074EW5J4/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328362896&sr=1-2">Amazon US</a><br />Yellow Medicine: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yellow-Medicine-ebook/dp/B004XWQ0DC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328362670&sr=1-1">Amazon UK</a>|<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yellow-Medicine-ebook/dp/B004XWQ0DC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328362933&sr=1-1">Amazon US</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCxoTXoYBFPI5Sa9doo3WKEYZTgY4pysgCXE87OEyl8M2bL5BuZPQaAkZ54NhFRwRmJe6hb1mQ-gv3zFazDC08VNZTX8-m2O3eqpcdJSQQTogKVwlBGBgNOiL0kz2PlN0jTSsZUKQR5g/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCxoTXoYBFPI5Sa9doo3WKEYZTgY4pysgCXE87OEyl8M2bL5BuZPQaAkZ54NhFRwRmJe6hb1mQ-gv3zFazDC08VNZTX8-m2O3eqpcdJSQQTogKVwlBGBgNOiL0kz2PlN0jTSsZUKQR5g/s320/temp.jpg" width="213" /></a><strong>A stark and edgy new police thriller from the creator of the Barney Thomson
series.</strong><br />A psychopath walks the streets of Glasgow, selecting his first
victim. He sees his ex-girlfriend everywhere, and he will have her
back.<br /><br />When a woman is savagely murdered, her body stabbed over a hundred
times, the police know from the nature of the crime that the killer will strike
again. DCI Bloonsbury, the once-feted detective, is put in charge of the
investigation, but as the killer begins to hit much closer to home and an old
police conspiracy starts to unravel, Bloonsbury slides further into morose
alcoholic depression.<br /><br />In the middle of it all is Detective Sergeant
Thomas Hutton, juggling divorce, deception, alcohol, murdered colleagues, and
Dylan. He could use a break but the dead will not rest and the past will not be
buried until he can catch the latest serial killer to haunt the streets of his
city.<br /><br />Praise for Douglas Lindsay:<br /><br />"The plot, Russian
literature fans, is a modern spin on Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. The
bloody ending, movie buffs, is pure Reservoir Dogs." <br />– The
Mirror<br /><br />"This is pitch-black comedy spun from the finest writing.
Fantastic plot, unforgettable scenes and plenty of twisted belly laughs." <br />–
New Woman<br /><br />"This chilling black comedy unfolds at dizzying speed... an
impressive debut novel." <br />– Sunday Mirror<br /><br />"A flawless follow-up to an
impressive debut, this is extremely well-written, highly amusing and completely
unpredictable in its outrageous plot twists and turns."<br />– The
List<br /><br />"Lindsay’s burlesque thrills offer no sex, no drugs, no desperation
to be cool. Just straightforward adult story; fantastic plot, classic timing and
gleeful delight in the grotesque. With more talent than Irvine Welsh could dream
of, Lindsay has crafted a macabre masterpiece where content lives up to style."
<br />– What’s On<br /><br />About the author:<br /><br />Douglas Lindsay is the
author of the Barney Thomson crime series, which begins with THE LONG MIDNIGHT
OF BARNEY THOMSON, and is currently seven novels and a novella (THE END OF DAYS)
strong. He is also the author of LOST IN JAUREZ. THE UNBURIED DEAD is his most
recent novel. Douglas lives in Somerset.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor6yLi8PswNwhubSAbwbmbkFqhaTryCQhIZuBj7BHCWm-SKQXijp0i4IZpmLabizcdwdU9hHdmH8f15Yj7TJcCBeRbBWyfLQxWCuihn72OdnWQRFa88Cktp1jDz_3Cp9nFVeApEW7K3A/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor6yLi8PswNwhubSAbwbmbkFqhaTryCQhIZuBj7BHCWm-SKQXijp0i4IZpmLabizcdwdU9hHdmH8f15Yj7TJcCBeRbBWyfLQxWCuihn72OdnWQRFa88Cktp1jDz_3Cp9nFVeApEW7K3A/s320/temp.jpg" width="213" /></a><strong>Deputy Billy Lafitte is not unfamiliar with the law</strong>—he just prefers to enforce
it, rather than abide by it. But his rule-bending and bribe-taking have gotten
him kicked off the force in Gulfport, Mississippi, and he’s been given a second
chance—in the desolate, Siberian wastelands of rural Minnesota. Now Billy’s only
got the local girls and local booze to keep him company.<br /><br />Until one of the
local girls—cute little Drew, bassist for a psychobilly band—asks Billy for help
with her boyfriend. Something about the drugs Ian’s been selling, some product
he may have lost, and the men who are threatening him because of it. Billy
agrees to look into it, and before long he’s speeding down a snowy road,
tracking a cell of terrorists, with a severed head in his truck’s cab. And
that’s only the start.</div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-82449569140783451332012-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:002012-01-28T10:04:45.466-08:00Ten Short Bits Of News And Info1: If you're in Glasgow and free on Mon 30th January, I'll be giving a talk at the University of Strathclyde. This is open to the public, entry is free, and kicks off at 5pm. More details can be found <a href="http://www.strath.ac.uk/events/campuscalendar/january2012/">here</a>.<br />
<br />2: Blasted Heath has launched a new daily book recommendation with the bewitching acronym of #broth (Book Recommendation On The Heath). You can join in too. Check it out<a href="http://blastedheath.com/?page_id=4901"> here.</a><br />
<br />3: You may have noticed that Criminal-E has been on something of an interview hiatus. Well, that's about to end very soon. I have some fine ebook crime writers lined up who will be revealing all. Well, maybe not all. Although that's an idea...<br />
<br />
4: A while back I created a highly indulgent list of my <a href="http://www.allanguthrie.co.uk/pages/noir_zine/articles/200_noirs.php">top 200 noir fiction titles.</a> It stops in 1997. My new Italian publisher, <a href="http://www.revolverlibri.it/category/autori/">Revolver</a>, has asked if I'll update it with a list of the best noir since then. Looking forward to this.<br />
<br />
5: More Blasted Heath news. Next month sees the launch of <a href="http://blastedheath.com/?p=5394">The Unburied Dead</a> by Douglas Lindsay and <a href="http://blastedheath.com/?p=5358">Wolf Tickets</a> by Ray Banks, stonking books both.<br />
<br />
6: And more events: Stuart MacBride is at Blackwell's in Edinburgh on Thu Feb 2nd (free, 6.30pm) and Len Wanner will be grilling Tony Black at Mayfield Library in Dalkeith on Sat 4th Feb (free, 6pm).<br />
<br />
7: Will the big publishers drop DRM? Nice to see it being advocated at least. <a href="http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/bookseller-backed-by-big-publishers-advocates-abandoning-digital-rights-management/">Bookseller Backed By Big Publishers Advocates Abandoning Digital Rights Management.</a><br />
<br />
8: There's some pretty interesting information to be gleaned from Verso's <a href="http://www.versoadvertising.com/DBWsurvey2012/">2011 Survey of Book-Buying Behaviour</a>.<br />
<br />9: I'm very happy to say that the excellent <a href="http://twitter.com/ConniePhoebe">Connie Haag</a> is translating <em>Bye Bye Baby </em>for the German digital market.<br />
<br />
10: And finally, I'm currently revising <em>Kiss Her Goodbye</em>, which will be the next of my novels out on Kindle. Here's a first look at the cover. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip40nf6bsS3X23naE-dswsqGmiZPWPMZ4W7KeoUEicQSkO7Ie7Bakhbd1wombuhguh8NYFGipYJemJdY9L_CDi4Ji1yzzxIwAvF8b8-6LanI0SxqrB9xLJCGtm6K8UXsFYijQJ4mQqvys/s1600/KISSHER-500x700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip40nf6bsS3X23naE-dswsqGmiZPWPMZ4W7KeoUEicQSkO7Ie7Bakhbd1wombuhguh8NYFGipYJemJdY9L_CDi4Ji1yzzxIwAvF8b8-6LanI0SxqrB9xLJCGtm6K8UXsFYijQJ4mQqvys/s320/KISSHER-500x700.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<br />Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-16871169005010520102012-01-06T18:28:00.000-08:002012-01-07T10:12:59.251-08:00Big Day For Hilda And A Savage Night Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MUC5P2_MyOtdDldhXlpyM5uZ4t95uO4KdVzJ_VRrHLheMDgUbaN48_Evq4z_tzikhqLfzhDD0h_1wLhdRkPhFl93phhGdHukknHKTiRLg_o8ldssaPNhUztPjE4qobPXxOMU2wM7YhE/s1600/hilda-250x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MUC5P2_MyOtdDldhXlpyM5uZ4t95uO4KdVzJ_VRrHLheMDgUbaN48_Evq4z_tzikhqLfzhDD0h_1wLhdRkPhFl93phhGdHukknHKTiRLg_o8ldssaPNhUztPjE4qobPXxOMU2wM7YhE/s320/hilda-250x350.jpg" width="228" /></a><em>Hilda's Big Day Out</em> was commissioned by the Sunday Mail as its seasonal short story and published in the newspaper on Jan 1st. I've made it available on Kindle FOR FREE from now thru Jan 10th. You can get it by clicking on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hildas-Big-Day-Out-ebook/dp/B006T8404Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325819398&sr=1-1">Amazon.com</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hildas-Big-Day-Out-ebook/dp/B006T8404Y/">Amazon.co.uk</a>. </div>
<br />It's a tale of violence, abduction, and pilchards, told from the perspective of a Dandie Dinmont terrier called Hilda, who's whisked away from a deserted Edinburgh beach by a skinny stranger on New Year's Day. (You may recognise Hilda as Pearce's dog from <em>Hard Man </em>and <em>Kill Clock). </em><br />
<br />
Also included are three bonus stories: <em>Your Mother Should Know </em>(from the <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/PULP-INK-ebook/dp/B005HB3TDW/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325902576&sr=1-1-spell">Pulp Ink</a> </em>anthology); <em>Bye Bye Baby </em>(from <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shattered-11-Crimes-Victims/dp/1846971276/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325902630&sr=1-1-fkmr0">Shattered: Every Crime Has A Victim</a></em>) and <em>Call Me, I'm Dying </em>from <em><span id="goog_962101001"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir<span id="goog_962101002"></span></a>. </em><br />
<br />
Nigel Bird (the man behind the excellent collection <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Town-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B004LROUDG/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325959088&sr=1-1-spell">Dirty Old Town</a>) has some very kind words to say about <em>Hilda</em> over at his <a href="http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-mans-opinion-hildas-big-day-out.html">Sea Minor</a> blog, as does McDroll (the talent behind <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kick-It-ebook/dp/B005ZMTZBI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325959187&sr=1-1">Kick It</a> and co-editor of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Children-Charity-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0061HAG6Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325959187&sr=1-3">The Lost Children</a> charity anthology) at her <a href="http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com/2012/01/free-stuff.html">I Meant To Read That</a> blog (some other great freebies mentioned there too from Anthony Neil Smith & Victor Gischler, Heath Lowrance and Fingers Murphy).<br />
<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Savage-Night-ebook/dp/B006T5JCGS/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325902876&sr=1-8" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXG-MpXqvwWblsBT7rfNVHyXY_Afne8uS0xKGSuFiAkbCiyEsu0u5OxPT-L9K4e_77yn4nFE5EeHTwrCGKuA6k7yOXJvSK_nW2f3tBQzWVmIhaSmaioqrC6CNOxHs-EuOM1Ufgx8TOZL0/s320/sn-250x350.jpg" width="228" /></a>Also just published on Kindle for the first time is a revised version of<em> Savage Night</em>, my Tarantino-inspired tragi-comic crime thriller about a blood feud. This was the prequel to the novella,<em> Killing Mum.</em> </div>
<br />
You can download <em>Savage Night</em> from Amazon.co.uk <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Savage-Night-ebook/dp/B006T5JCGS/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325819890&sr=1-8">here</a>, (not available in North America where my erstwhile publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, controls the ebook rights, sorry). It's currently 99p.<br /><em></em><br />
<em>How much blood would you spill to avenge those you love?</em><br />
<br />
Andy Park passes
out at the sight of blood, but he thinks he’s discovered a way to make his
family’s enemies pay. He isn’t prepared for the fallout, though. Before long,
his teenage son is in mortal danger and his daughter and her fiancé are forced
to carry out his dirty work.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, a masked man known only as Mr.
Smith is blackmailing Tommy Savage—for what, he has no idea. And after an
attempt to gain the upper hand has near-fatal results, Tommy and his brother,
Phil, find themselves heading to a graveyard with only a couple of swords and a
bag of cash for company.<br />
<br />Will they survive the night? Will
anyone?<br />
<br />With equal parts blood phobia and blood lust, <em>Savage Night</em> is a
cinematic tragi-comedy of love and violence that unfolds over six short
blood-blind hours in Scotland’s capital city.<br />
<br />According to the Observer, <em>Savage Night </em>is "a black comedy akin to the work of Christopher Brookmyre and Douglas Lindsay..." and "if you have a robust sense of humour, you'll love this." I hope so!<br />Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982018612399644979.post-60626356181930549972011-12-12T16:43:00.000-08:002012-01-08T08:43:15.867-08:00The Paperbacking of Bye Bye Baby<i>Bye Bye Baby </i><span style="font-style: normal;">is
police thriller that tells the story of a very unusual kidnapping. It
may be a novella, but it's the most important book I've ever written.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">It</span> was originally scheduled for publication in July 2010. A
few months after I handed in the finished manuscript, that date was
revised to July 2011. Then, sometime during 2010, I was advised that
the publication schedule had changed again and <i>Bye Bye Baby</i>
wouldn't be seeing the light of day until 2013. <i>Damn and blast</i>,
I thought. Or words to that effect. Who'd have thought it would turn
out to be one of the luckiest breaks I've ever had as a writer?<br />
<br />
Barrington Stoke very
kindly offered to let me have the rights back in case I wanted to
publish elsewhere. I didn't, because I like what they do, and I'd
enjoyed writing <i>Kill Clock</i> for their <u><a href="http://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/search.asp?cid=12762"><span style="color: blue;">Most
Wanted</span></a></u> series for reluctant readers, and was stoked at
the thought of <i>Bye Bye Baby</i> being part of the same series.<br />
<br />
So I asked if they were
planning on doing anything with the digital rights, and if not, could
I have those and Barrington Stoke could keep the paperback rights.
They were delighted with the idea, and so began my foray into
e-publishing.
<br />
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'd observed the
success of John Rector, one of my JBA authors and one of the
self-publishing Kindle pioneers. I'd seen his US sales figures for
<u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Grove-ebook/dp/B003ODIZLG/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323202766&sr=1-4"><span style="color: blue;">The
Grove</span></a></u> and was duly impressed. But <i>Bye Bye Baby</i>
was a short novella, a Scottish police procedural, and the Kindle was
in its infancy in the UK, so my expectations for sales of my own wee
effort were minimal. (Plus, I'm no John Rector. Check out his books,
you'll thank me for it).</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I uploaded the ebook
version of <i>Bye Bye Baby</i> to Amazon in Aug 2010. Between August
and November, inclusive, Kindle sales were even more minimal than I'd
anticipated. I sold 13 copies.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Undaunted (in fact, I
was extremely daunted – 2010 was not a good year: my primary
publishers on both sides of the Atlantic had dropped me,
unsurprisingly, since my sales figures were mince; and having mince
for sales figures makes it extremely difficult for a new publisher to
welcome you on board), I decided to throw everything into giving <i>Bye
Bye Baby</i> a real shot at selling a few copies. I was my own
publisher after all, and I should be doing what publishers do,
instead of sitting around moping.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'd also acquired the
digital rights for <i>Killing Mum</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
a</span> novella published in print by Crime Express in July 2009. I
e-published it at the start of December, and then started looking for
ways to sell <i>Bye Bye Baby. </i> First obvious strategy was the
world's oldest publishing promotional tool: price. I dropped mine
from $2.99 to 99 cents. That meant a royalty cut from Amazon (70%
down to 35%) but given that I'd been selling only half a dozen copies
a month, I was hardly running the risk of throwing away a fortune.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I spent a long time on
the various ebook forums, finding the <u><a href="http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php?board=60.0"><span style="color: blue;">Writers
Café</span></a></u> section of the Kindleboards in particular a
goldmine of useful advice, stats, tips, warnings, new opportunities,
etc. I posted on the <u><a href="http://www.kuforum.co.uk/kindleusersforum/"><span style="color: blue;">UK
Kindle Users Forum</span></a></u> and <u><a href="http://www.mobileread.com/forums/"><span style="color: blue;">Mobile
Reads</span></a></u> and others. But I got most traction from a
thread on the <u><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sv_kinc_6"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk
Kindle forum</span></a></u> that eventually ran to over 70 comments.
I set up Google alerts for all the successful indie authors. They led
me to new ebook-interest sites. I read their interviews. I read their
blogs. I adopted their strategies where they seemed applicable. I
sent off a lot of review copies. I gave lots of copies away. I tried
everything to bring <i>Bye Bye Baby </i>to the attention of new
readers in the hope that the more people who read me, the more likely
it would be that some of them might enjoy what they read and tell others. I allocated two hours a day to engage in marketing
and promotion, and I didn't rule out anything (well, apart from
Facebook: gotta draw the line somewhere!).
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The result of all that
activity? I got lucky. December Kindle sales for <i>Bye Bye Baby
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">jumped to </span>232. Quite a
difference. I kept up the marketing into January, trailing off
halfway through. By then, the Amazon recommendation algorithm had
kicked in. I was unaware of its enormous impact at the time, but my
guess is that much of my marketing efforts resulted in only a few
sales. Getting those early sales in volume during December was
crucial, though, because that's what triggered the subsequent
recommendations. (For more on the Amazon recommendation algorithm,
<u><a href="http://agents.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~yjhsu/courses/u2010/papers/Amazon%20Recommendations.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">check
this out</span></a></u>).
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
January Kindle sales of
<i>Bye Bye Baby </i><span style="font-style: normal;">totalled</span><i>
</i>2071.</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I did very little
marketing in February, during which <i>Bye Bye Baby</i> was in the
top ten in the Kindle store for most of the month. It peaked at #6.
Sales for the month were 9379.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By that point, <i>Bye
Bye Baby </i>was my best-selling book. And that remains the case
today, with sales of well over 35,000 copies. <i>Killing Mum</i>,
which I never pushed much beyond a few mentions on the forums,
reached #25 in the Kindle store. Best guess is that was as a result
of being recommended to customers who'd bought <i>Bye Bye Baby.
Killing Mum </i>has now sold over 11,000 copies.
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If it wasn't for
Barrington Stoke postponing publication of <i>Bye Bye Baby</i>, I'd
never have self-published. And if I'd never self-published, I'd have
had no chance (or desire, even) to persuade Polygon, publisher of my
backlist novels, to let me sub-license the Kindle rights to <i>Two-Way
Split </i>and<i> Slammer</i>, which are now out in new, improved
editions. If I hadn't had experience in self-publishing ebooks, I
would never have hooked up with Kyle MacRae, and Blasted Heath would
never have been born. There would be no <a href="http://www.blastedheath.com/?page_id=4147">Blasted Boxset</a>!</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And a final side-effect
of publishing the digital edition of <i>Bye Bye Baby </i>– and the
reason for this extremely long-winded blog post – was that it
helped bring forward publication of the paperback edition. I'm
delighted to say that <i>Bye Bye Baby </i>is now available in print.
And a lovely little book it is too. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyvUYwXAKw8u3FXeW9_LdV_W7YCJU3zB6Vh5D4tydX-Gbj6pso8C2aDY5tQcgOPoPwaJN7VJ2WWR9vG5wv1rX396BWdpT2J4uji20uyNSSyluM7qzWoIur0akdkgouZBPj86nyG-RBEzY/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyvUYwXAKw8u3FXeW9_LdV_W7YCJU3zB6Vh5D4tydX-Gbj6pso8C2aDY5tQcgOPoPwaJN7VJ2WWR9vG5wv1rX396BWdpT2J4uji20uyNSSyluM7qzWoIur0akdkgouZBPj86nyG-RBEzY/s1600/temp.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
"a quick, taut thriller... not a word is wasted" – Ian Rankin</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
"a terrific read and a great premise from an excellent writer" – Stuart MacBride</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
"A story that moves
quickly, in short chapters of crisp prose, with plenty of plot turns to hold the
attention, and characters you can love and others you can hate... Like Guthrie's
full-length novels, <em>Bye Bye Baby</em> is sly, noir as all hell (more noir than some,
actually), and it just might bring a tear of pity to your eyes. It's a police
procedural filled with incident and back story, and man, what an
ending." – Detectives Beyond Borders</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
available from</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bye-Baby-Barrington-Stoke-18/dp/1842998730/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323735751&sr=1-1">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/alan+guthrie/bye+bye+baby/8630506/">Waterstone's</a> | <a href="http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9781842998731">WH Smith</a> |<a href="http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Bye-Bye-Baby-Alan-Guthrie/9781842998731">The Book Depository</a> </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
and other fine bookshops</div>Allan Guthriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180691451683542466noreply@blogger.com9