Malcolm Holt's Blog, page 5

Schedule rescheduled

I have decided to change the publication schedule of my forthcoming 2012 books. 'Bulldozers and Dirt' will no longer be published on April Fool's Day. My next publication will be a novella entitled 'Red Light', featuring the character Slinger. The book after that will also be a novella entitled '27'. The comedy drama and the two travel books will be available later this year, as promised. I will, nearer the time, be publishing some novella spoilers on the blog, to get you all excited. I am keen to build up my stable of published crime books ahead of the annual Theakston Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate in July.
So......next up will be......

St. Patrick's Day Giveaway - Get 'Hard Drive' for free

This coming weekend, celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style.Grab a Guinness... ...and download 'Hard Drive' to your Kindle for free. Yes folks, this coming weekend, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of March, you can get my collection of six gritty crime stories from Tyneside for absolutely nothing. Just follow the links to the Amazon Kindle Store to download my book..
In the UK, here's the link...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Drive-ebook/dp/B0078DIHBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330936882&sr=1-1 
In the USA, here's the link...http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-ebook/dp/B0078DIHBQ/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330936914&sr=1-9 
So, don't miss this great opportunity. Read six gritty stories including two featuring Frankie 'Slinger' Wilson. Go ahead and make my day. You know you'll want to!

A Quick One on The Side - Gregg Hurwitz

Welcome to today's guest writer, Gregg Hurwitz.

Gregg was raised in the Bay Area. He completed a BA at Harvard in 1995 and later completed a Master's Degree at Trinity College, Oxford in 1996. His chosen subject was Shakespearean tragedy. Gregg was given an undergraduate scholar-athlete award of the year at Harvard for pole-vaulting. I bet he took some stick for that one. He also played football (that's soccer to American readers) when he was in England.
Gregg now lives in Los Angeles and still plays football (soccer). Apparently, he frequently manages to injure himself.
Gregg's books have led to various award nominations and have been translated into twenty languages. He has also written and contributed to many screenplays. He was a writer/consultant producer on the ABC successful series 'V'. Gregg is also a prolific comic writer. (That is for comics. He is not a comedian. ) He has written Wolverine, Punisher and others for Marvel, Penguin and Prejudice for DC Comics. He was chosen to write Batman: The Dark Knight. Yesterday, Gregg announced that he is to be developing his Tim Rackley books for US television for Sony/TNT with Shawn Ryan. Shawn is well-known for the series 'The Shield', amongst others.

So, here we go, ten quick questions for Gregg...

Who is your favourite author?
"Faulkner."

What would be your favourite book read?
"Red Dragon."
(Thomas Harris' novel introduced us all to Hannibal Lecter. In 1986, Michael Mann directed the first filmed version of the book. 'Manhunter' featured Brian Cox as Lecter and William Petersen as Will Graham. Of course, Petersen went on to star in 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', playing Gil Grissom. In the later films, Anthony Hopkins took on the role of Lecter.)

Who is your favourite band/group?
"Cold Chisel."
(For the uninitiated, they are a rock band from Adelaide, Australia.)

What is your most listened to album?
"The White Album."
(The Beatles album cover had no graphics or text other than the group's name and it has been popularly known simply as the 'White' album.)

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"The Steve Miller Band, mostly because I was 12 and unchaperoned."

What is your favourite food?
"All of it."

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"London or Brisbane."

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"I once signed 3,250 books at a warehouse."

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"Sigmund Freud."

(Actually, now you come to mention it...)

How often do you get recognised?
"Once in a while."


My thanks to Gregg for answering my ten quickies today.
My next guest writer is Caro Ramsay. Thank you for reading.....

A Quick One on The Side - Meg Gardiner

Today's guest writer is Meg Gardiner.

Meg was born in Oklahoma. (No bursting into song, please) She was raised in Santa Barbara, California. Meg graduated from the Stanford University and studied at Stanford Law School. She practised law in Los Angeles and taught writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Meg now lives near London with her husband and their three children.
Meg has written two series featuring female characters, Evan Delaney and forensic psychiatrist, Jo Beckett. This allowed Meg to fulfil her dream. She once said "I always wanted to write a novel. And it was time to put up or shut up." Meg was awarded a Mystery Writers of America Edgar (Best Paperback Original) in 2009 for her novel 'China Lake'. She also received a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award in 2008 for her novel 'The Dirty Secrets Club'.
Stephen King is a fan. "...when great things are found, it's part of the Big Plan...I need to tell you about Meg Gardiner, who simply must be part of the Big Plan. And if you love great thrillers, you'll want to listen...her five novels (the Evan Delaney series) are simply put, the finest crime suspense series I've come across in the last 20 years." Fine praise indeed.

So, here we go, ten quick questions for Meg...

Who is your favourite author?
"James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard, Stephen King, Sue Grafton, Carl Hiaasen, Annie Proulx, Lee Child, Wallace Stegner, and how could you possibly ask me to choose just one?"

What would be your favourite book read?
"'The Stand' by Stephen King."

Who is your favourite band/group?
"The Foo Fighters."

What is your most listened to album?
"Counting from the time my parents bought it: 'Abbey Road' by the Beatles."

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"The Police at Twickenham Stadium, London in September 2007."

What is your favourite food?
"Mexican. Oh wait-chocolate."

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"Phuket. Or Maui. Or Grindelwald, at the foot of the Eiger. Or my mom's house."
(I've been there. Grindelwald, that is, not Meg's mom's house.)

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"600+"

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"Some parents at my kids' school thought I was the author of 'The Princess Diaries', Meg Cabot. After all, there couldn't be two writers with that first name, could there?"

How often do you get recogonised?
"Never. People have failed to recognise me while I stand in front of them holding a copy of my own novel, with my name and photo visible. Of course, if I ever decide to rob a bank, this could be an advantage. The Wanted posters would be useless."


Here is Meg, sunning herself after her latest bank raid.

Many thanks to Meg for taking the time to answer my quickies today. It is much appreciated.

My next guest writer in the series will be Gregg Hurwitz. Thank you for reading.....

A Quick One on The Side - Linwood Barclay

My guest writer today is Linwood Barclay.

Linwood was born in the United States but when he was aged four years, the family moved to Canada, settling in Toronto. His first newspaper job was with the Peterborough Examiner. He was 22 years of age. In 1981 Linwood joined the Toronto Star, which was Canada's largest newspaper. In 1993 he became the humour columnist for the Toronto Star. In 2008 he 'retired' to write books full-time.
Linwood has written four comic thrillers featuring Zack Walker and his standalone novels have catapulted him into the world of the bestsellers. His novel 'No Time for Goodbye' started his meteoric rise. Linwood is always in great demand for guesting at events and writing festivals and is a highly entertaining speaker. So here we go, here are my ten quickies for Linwood. When I sent him the questions, Linwood replied "These are easy, at least some of them." See if you agree...

Who is your favourite author?
"In my teens and twenties it was Ross Macdonald. These days, there are too many to mention."
(Ross was the pseudonym for the American-Canadian writer Kenneth Millar, who wrote hardboiled novels located in Southern California and featuring the character Lew Archer.)

What would be your favourite book read?
"'American Pastoral' by the American novelist Philip Roth."

Who is your favourite band/group?
"Chicago."

What is your most listened to album?
"'Concert by the Sea' by Erroll Garner, or maybe 'Live in Paris' by Diana Krall."
(American jazz pianist, Erroll Garner's live album was recorded in 1955 in Carmel, Claifornia. Canadian jazz pianist/singer, Diana Krall's live album was recorded in 2002.)

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"About a decade ago, I heard Oscar Peterson play, live. That was pretty amazing."
(You may guessed by now that Linwood is a big fan of jazz pianists.)

What is your favourite food?
"Pasta."

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"Any great, big city. Paris, London, New York, Chicago."

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"500."

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"When I was in my late teens, I looked a lot like Bobby Orr, the ice hockey player. I got stopped a couple of times."
(Canadian, Bobby Orr played for the Chicago Black Hawks and the Boston Bruins.)

How often do you get recognised?
"Occasionally, but mostly in the Toronto area, for the newspaper column and television appearances, I used to."


My thanks to Linwood for taking time out from his busy schedule to join me on my blog today.
My next guest writer will be Meg Gardiner. Thank you for reading...

Coming soon...'27' and 'Red Light'

In the town of Whitemare in the North of England people are dying from alcohol and drug overdoses. The deaths all appear to be unrelated but pathologist Kettle begins to suspect otherwise. It soon becomes apparent that someone is creating their own version of the '27 Club', only the victims are not celebrities. In a race against time Kettle must use his own instinct to find the killer before more people die. '27' is due to be published on Amazon Kindle at the end of March.






The much anticipated return of antihero Slinger is on its way. Frankie 'Slinger' Wilson, a cross between Keith Moon and Dirty Harry, first appeared in 'Drum and Waste' and later in 'Late for Church', both stories appearing in my book 'Hard Drive', a collection of short crime stories from Tyneside. Slinger has left his old bad ways behind and has settled down. Regular drumming gigs and a regular girlfriend have combined to make him a happy man. A driver jumping a red light is set to change all that and Slinger soon finds himself facing his inner demons once more. 'Red Light' will also be published on Amazon Kindle shortly after '27'.

A Quick One on The Side - with Ann Cleeves

My guest today is Ann Cleeves, author of the Vera Stanhope novels and many more.

Ann grew up in the countryside, in Herefordshire and later in North Devon. After school, she went to university but dropped out, and then had a number of temporary jobs. At various times, Ann was a child care officer, a women's refuge leader, a bird observatory cook and an auxiliary coastguard. She subsequently decided to settle down and went to college and trained to become a Probation Officer. Ann started writing when she was a cook on Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. Well, there wasn't a lot else to do there. Ann met her husband Tim, an ornithologist, on Fair Isle. They later settled in Northumberland and now live by the sea in Whitley Bay.
Ann has written a number of series of novels. The George Palmer-Jones and Molly books featured ornithologist George. Ann admits that a couple of these books were "seriously dreadful". She also wrote books about Inspector Ramsay and her Shetland Quartet. Ann won the inaugural Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006 for 'Raven Black', the first of the Shetland Quartet. More recently, Ann's Vera Stanhope novels have been televised by ITV in the drama series 'Vera' featuring Brenda Blethyn in the title role. The series producer, Elaine Collins, discovered Vera when she picked up one of Ann's books in an Oxfam bookshop.

So, here we go, ten quickies for Ann.

Who is your favourite author?
"This is so difficult. It depends what mood I'm in. Georges Simenon for comfort. James Joyce for challenge. Henning Mankell for place. John Harvey and Sara Paretsky for a rattling good crime novel."

What would be your favourite book read?
"I've just read Tim Winton's 'Cloudstreet' and I loved it."

Who is your favourite band/group?
"The Rolling Stones."

What is your most listened to album?
"Bob Dylan's 'Nashville Skyline'."

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"Leonard Cohen in Brooklands in 2009 even though it rained. He was so gracious."

What is your favourite food?
"My husband's lamb biriani. It takes all day to cook and he only does it on special occasions."

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"Shetland in the UK and Tanzania in the world."

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"When I won the Dagger I went to a warehouse in Basingstoke and signed hundreds of copies of 'Raven Black'. Is that cheating?"

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"No!"

How often do you get recognised?
"Very rarely, but twice in one day when I was doing a recce in Northumberland with ITV for 'Vera'. They were dead impressed! I'm very lucky.


The second series of 'Vera' has been recorded and should be aired in the not-so-distant future. Ann can often be seen and heard at various book and crime writing festivals around the UK. She is also a member of Murder Squad, a group of writers from the North of England who banded together to promote their work.
My thanks to Ann for joining me today.

My guest writer next Tuesday will be Linwood Barclay. Thanks for reading.....

A Quick One on The Side - with Ian Rankin

Welcome to today's guest writer, Ian Rankin, who probably needs no introduction, except for those readers who are from another planet.

Ian was born in Cardenden in the Kingdom of Fife. He attended Beath High in Cowdenbeath and later graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to working towards a Ph.D. in Scottish Literature. The subject of his unfinished thesis was Muriel Spark. Ian wrote his first Rebus novel in 1987. He went on to become a highly successful writer, with 17 D.I. John Rebus novels, translated in 22 languages, and two Malcolm Fox novels so far, as well as some standalone novels and short story collections. Ian has numerous degrees, has more 'Daggers' than most villains, was elected a Hawthornden Fellow and was awarded an OBE for services to literature, an honour that he chose to receive in Edinburgh rather than at Buckingham Palace. He is also regular contributor to BBC2's 'Newsnight Review'. Ian is also a regular patron of the Oxford Bar, known locally as the Ox. I must confess that there are parts of this interview that came from conversations with Ian in the Ox during the drinking of the odd pint or two of Deuchars IPA.

So here goes, ten quick ones for Ian.....

Who is your favourite author?
"Muriel Spark."
(The award winning Scottish novelist and subject of Ian's unfinished thesis.)

What would be your favourite book read?
"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark."
(This story of six 10 year old Edinburgh schoolgirls assigned Jean Brodie as their teacher was made into a very successful film featuring Maggie Smith.)

Who is your favourite band?
"The Rolling Stones."
(Ian once travelled to London to get Keith Richards to sign a copy of his autobiography.)
"I'm not sure that he realised who I was."

What is your most listened to album?
"Solid Air by John Martyn."
(John Martyn was once described in The Times as 'An electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues'.)
Ian is a great collector of vinyl albums and singles. He once told me "No, I don't know how many I've got. They aren't categorised and they are in boxes in various locations around the house. It can take me up to an hour to find a specific album, but it's always worth it in the end."

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"The Sensational Alex Harvey Band circa 1976."

What is your favourite food?
"Fish and Chips."

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"Black Isle, Scotland."
(Of course, Black Isle is not an island. It is a peninsula in the Scottish Highlands, just to the north of Inverness.)

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"I occasionally sign 3,000 books in a day at the warehouse when a new book is being launched. In Edinburgh last December I signed 300 books one lunchtime at a bookshop."

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"Iain Banks."
(Iain Banks is also a Scottish novelist born in Fife.)

How often do you get recognised?
"In Edinburgh, it's a daily occurrence. Outside of Scotland I am rarely recognised."


To finish I want to share two of my own favourite stories, with Ian's approval.

In one of the ITV adaptations of one of Ian's Rebus novels, Ian had a small cameo appearance. He was on screen for a few seconds in pouring rain, running up an alley and shouting 'Hey!' During his visit to the Rebus set, Ian met the actor Ken Stott, who played Rebus after John Hannah.
"It was quite funny really. Ken Stott was introduced to me as the author of the Rebus novels and Ken asked me what my day job was."

On the subject of recognition, there was one occasion when Ian was not recognised in the Oxford Bar.
"I was standing at the bar drinking my usual pint of Deuchars and a lady was standing next to me. In conversation, she mentioned Ian Rankin and she asked me if it was true that he really did drink in the Oxford Bar. At the time, I was writing a book and having few engagements, I had grown my hair and had a bit of a beard growing. Even though on the wall behind me there was a picture of me, the lady hadn't recognised me. I told her that it was true that Ian Rankin did indeed drink in the Oxford Bar and usually popped in two or three times a week if he was at home. What followed was an entire conversation about Ian Rankin."
I asked Ian why he didn't tell the lady who he was.
"Well, after several minutes it had gone too far. It would've been embarrassing for the lady if I'd revealed my true identity. Also, there was the possibility that she wouldn't have believed me or thought I was completely mad."

My thanks to Ian for being today's guest on 'A Quick One on The Side'. You can get all the latest new about Ian's books and events via his website http://www.ianrankin.net/
You can also follow Ian on Twitter ( @Beathhigh )

My next guest writer will be Ann Cleeves. Thank you for reading...

'Hard Drive' - Six Gritty Crime Stories from Tyneside

'Hard Drive' is a collection of six gritty crime stories from Tyneside.

'Angel of Mercy'...a decapitated head is found at the foot at the Angel of the North by freelance journalist Philippa Molloy. What begins as a dream find ends as a nightmare.
'Birthday Girl'...For Charlotte Gower the day of her sister's birthday party has arrived. The day is destined to bring to an end seven years of abuse by her father.
'Box of Spiders'...As Phil Devlin finds himself in prison for a murder that he didn't commit, his only alibi disappears. Things are not looking good for Phil and they are about to get worse.
'Drum and Waste'...the first Slinger story. Drummer, Frankie 'Slinger' Wilson discovers that his teenage sister has appeared in a low budget porn film. Slinger is determined to prevent her from appearing in another one.
'Late for Church'...a close friend of Slinger is brutally beaten and raped. He decides to seek retribution on her behalf.
'Sinkhole'...Ronnie Spencer has a lot of buried secrets that need to stay buried. Someone close to him seems determined to change all that.

'Hard Drive' is now available to download from Amazon Kindle. Here are the links for buying the book in the UK and the US.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Drive-ebook/dp/B0078DIHBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329063211&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-ebook/dp/B0078DIHBQ/ref=sr_1_12?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329119761&sr=1-12

A Quick One on The Side - with Christa Faust

Welcome to my new blog series of quickie interviews with well-known writers.

My first guest is the wonderful award-winning author of several novels, Christa Faust. On her Twitter profile it just says 'Writer. Fetishist. Pulp Enthusiast.' Her novel 'Money Shot' was nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Barry awards, and won a Crimespree Award ( Best Paperback original ) and a Spinetingler Award ( Rising Star category ).
Christa grew up in New York City, in the Bronx and Hell's Kitchen. Her biography says that she spent most of her teens on endless subway rides, cutting school and scribbling notes, and she has been making stuff up her whole life. She once worked in Times Square peep booths and later as a professional dominatrix and a fetish model. Christa has also worked in the adult film industry, on both sides of the camera.She is a film noir fanatic, an avid reader of classic hard-boiled pulp novels, a collector of vintage paperbacks, and a tattooed lady. She lives in L.A.
Christa agreed to answer my questions with the caveat that she loves variety and doesn't have one single favourite of anything, so the answers are not really her one and only all time favourites. They popped into her head when I asked her and so they may well be subject to change. So here are Christa's ten quick answers for today.....

Who is your favourite author?
 "Richard S. Prather."
(American mystery writer who created the 'Shell Scott' series)

What would be your favourite book read?
"Sucker Punch" by Ray Banks
(The 2nd Cal Innes novel)

Who is your favourite band?
"Fletcher Henderson. Well, technically he's a band leader, not a band. Does that count?"
(Fletcher Henderson was famous for big band jazz and swing music)

What is your most listened to album?
"I don't really listen to whole albums, just individual songs. But I do like the whole soundtrack for the film 'Crash' by Howard Shore."

What has been the best gig/concert that you have attended?
"Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys. She's naughty."
(Janet plays 'lovely, naughty and obscure music of the 1910's, 20's and 30's. Check out Janet here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiU2lSOn5WY&feature=related )

What is your favourite food?
"Late night street tacos off an illegal Al Pastor cart down in East Los."
(Al Pastor tacos are probably the best you could ever try. They are hard to find since the recipe is such a secret.)

What would be your favourite holiday destination?
"Someplace I've never been."

What would be the most autographs you've ever signed in one session?
"I've never counted, but I've never had a line around the block or anything like that. I've done big stacks of 200+ pages for limited edition books, but I don't think that's what you mean."

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
"No. I'm pretty obviously me. I've tried to pass myself off as Mary Higgins Clark, but no-one believed me."

How often do you get recognised?
"Never on the street but pretty often at writing-related events."

Many thanks to Christa for taking time out to be my first guest on 'A Quick One on The Side'.

You can check out Christa at her website http://www.christafaust.net/ and you can follow her on Twitter (@faustfatale ).

My next guest writer on 'A Quick One on The Side' will be Ian Rankin.