Kevin McCarthy's Blog, page 4

Up the Dubs! A review of Irregulars on the RTE Ten Website

Spotted a great review of Irregulars on the RTE Ten website today. http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2013/0715/462563-irregulars-rte-ten-review/  It's short enough so I'll post it here.  I have to say I'm delighted.  Irregulars is my own twisted love letter to Dublin and the reviewer really felt the love.
Dublin Coddle...not on tourist menus for a reason.
Looks awful, tastes great!
I love the title (sub heading?) too. New Jackeen City...classic!  (Jackeen, for those who might not know, is slang for a denizen of Dublin.  According to the eminent Dr. Charles Wikipedia its origins are thus:  Jackeen is a mildly pejorative term for someone from Dublin, Ireland. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "A contemptuous designation for a self-assertive worthless fellow," citing the earliest documented use from the year 1840.[1]
   Ice T, Wesley Snipes, a young Chris Rock? A movie charting the rise and fall of
a Dublin drug lord.  Or maybe not...
The review, by Henry Guerin, is printed below.

    New Jackeen City 
Kevin McCarthy's Dublin-set thriller Irregulars has just been published by New Island. Harry Guerin says this case is really worth investigating.
It takes some kind of author to make you see your native city in a new way, but after reading Kevin McCarthy'sIrregulars the streets, alleys and ghosts of Dublin Past will never seem the same again. Long before you finish devouring the chapters you'll be planning a walking tour of your own.Set in 1922, Irregulars tells the story of Seán O'Keefe – ex-soldier, ex-Peeler – who's thrown head-first into a pitch black coddle of missing children, murder, stolen money, Civil War politics and a family debt that must be honoured, with plenty of beatings and bodies before he can.

As O'Keefe goes from front parlours to tenements to lodging houses, he's joined by 'Just' Albert; Monto muscle with a personal interest in the case and an unshakeable belief that he can fix any problem with his hands. After he and O'Keefe pay a visit to the internment camp at Gormanston you're ready to believe him, and that's just one of a number of brilliantly realised set pieces amidst the twists.Like George P Pelecanos with his DC Quartet, McCarthy has made Dublin his own, populating it with heroes, shooters, spies and street urchins who look good for two decades and a dozen books, all far from The Gathering crowd.  4.5/5 stars.

Another Review of Irregulars...or...If You Can't Stand the Heat, Stay Out of the Kitchin...

Another review of Irregulars, this one by author Rob Kitchin over at his great Irish crime fiction blog, The View From the Blue House.  Rob's an author himself and it's always rewarding to be reviewed well by one's peers.  The link to it is here:  http://theviewfromthebluehouse.blogspot.ie/2013/07/review-of-irregulars-by-kevin-mccarty.html

First Review of Irregulars

You hear that some writers don't read their reviews.  Well...with all due respect...bullshit.  What's the old adage about 99% do it and the other 1% is lying?  All of which is to say that the first review of Irregulars was published last week on the fine history website, The Irish Story, and a really interesting review it is, too.  It's very good, mostly, and some of what the reviewer didn't like, I can agree with.  Still, waiting around for reviews can be a bit hard on the auld nerves.  Firstly, you are hoping for any reviews at all.  It's reviews what sell books, for better or worse...even worse, apparently, though I'd not like to test it out.  And of course any reviews you do get, you really want to be positive but then again, bad reviews are part of the job of work that is novel writing.  'It's all in the game,' as the late, great Omar Little once said.  But still, you hope they'll be nice.  Generally, Peeler was well reviewed.  No real negative ones and some fabulous ones but reviewers are kind to first novels, I think, unless they're six figure deals or written by a glamour model or some such.  Second novels, particularly in a series?  The gloves are off, I'd say.  But I will post the bad with the good on here and here's hoping for the good...
I wrote a novel and a hockey game broke out...the gloves are off for the reviewers of Irregulars
Also, there's a cool blog post re Irregulars over at Peter Rozovsky's brilliant blog, Detectives Beyond Borders.  I've written about his blog before but I'll say it again:  there isn't a smarter, funnier or more erudite book blog on the web.  The fact that Peter is a stand up guy only helps.  Check it out here.

Novelist Declan Burke of Crime Always Pays blog
and author of the mega-meta-masterpiece Absolute Zero CoolAnd finally, over on Declan Burke's equally brilliant, Irish Crime Fiction blog, Crime Always Pays, Declan has included Irregulars on a list of books eligible for Irish Crime Novel of the Year 2013.  Now, I've only read two books on that list but am proud that Irregulars is hanging with such a cool crowd.  Honoured, I am.

Irregulars Out Now!!! Get It While It's Hot...or Before the Reviews Come In!

Ok, it's official, I'm the world's worst blogger.  I just see that I've posted nothing on here since May and really, for some weeks there was nothing to report and then, suddenly, now, loads to report.

Firstly, Irregulars, the second Sean O'Keefe novel, is now in good bookshops everywhere or can be purchased also here or, preferably, here at the New Island home site.

We launched it last week at the Gutter Bookshop in Temple Bar.  Booker listed author Ed O'Loughlin was kind enough to shove the book into the world with a speech that was too kind by half and a real honour for me.  I have to say I've been well served by the two writers who've launched my books, Ed this time and Cormac Millar, who launched Peeler in 2010.  A real honour, seriously.  And a word here about the Gutter Bookshop.  If you're ever in Dublin and need a book, go there.  Bob, the owner, took the bold step of opening the shop during the worst recession this country's ever seen and, through a genuine love of books and insider knowledge of the publishing world, has brought the shop from strength to strength.  I love all bookshops, really, and will shop in any one I find myself in, but wherever possible I try to shop in independent bookstores.  They are being eaten alive by those guys I've linked above...the online retailer, not Ed and Cormac...and we still need places that care about art (I'm making no claims for my books, just sayin'...) rather than just product.  And now I'll climb down off my soapbox and tell you that the party then moved next door to the Turk's Head pub for further refreshments and a fine time was had by all...or by me.  And here, let me thank everybody who came out to support the book at the launch.  I really appreciate it and owe you a drink or three.
Myself and Ed O'Loughlin at the launch of Irregulars

Good Evening, This is Phizzfest Calling...

I had the great, good fortune to be interviewed on the Arena Arts Show on RTE radio last night alongside fellow scribbler Ed O'Loughlin.  The show was done live from the Woodstock Cafe in Phibsboro--a great little spot, incidentally; lovely food and hospitality and it's tripping distance (next door to) one of Dublin's finer pubs, The Hut.

The occasion was the launch of this year's fabulous Phizzfest, the Phibsboro Art Festival, at which Ed and myself are doing a gig, titled Crimes of the State.  We'll be chatting about genre, state terror and other stuff brewed up to make a bank holiday weekend just that little bit better.  It's on upstairs in the above mentioned Hut at 5 p.m. on Sunday.  There will be pints after...or during should you need them.  (You just might!)  So, RTE was in the Phib last night with a live broadcast to launch the Fest.


Now, I've done some radio in the past.  Ok, I've done radio twice in the past, the first time being in Aberdeen, Scotland of all places.  The occasion was the Aberdeen International Football Tournament and my team were to play the Aberdeen F.C. junior side.  (Just remembering this now, I wonder was Alex Ferguson then senior manager at Aberdeen...this was in 1985 so...no idea...would have to Goggle it,)  Anyhoo, local radio wanted one of our number for an interview in advance of the match and myself and another lad, a Columbian named Mauricio, were volunteered for the gig.  Mauricio was delighted and told me and everybody else how wonderful he'd be on the radio...in Spanish.  So it was down to me and Mauricio, who piped in now and again with 'Si, si...', to field the questions.  The first one was about the name of our team.  How was it, the presenter asked, that a team from Tampa Florida came to be called Blackwatch Tartan FC?  In my wisdom, I answered that perhaps we were named after the Tartan Lager beer that we had enjoyed on the train up from London.  The presenter laughed.  I laughed.  Mauricio said, 'Si, si...cerveza...' and laughed.  And the next day the warm and welcoming fans of Aberdeen FC showed their warmth and hospitality by showering us with empty Tartan Lager cans every time we took a throw-in or corner.  'Here's yer Tartan Lager, ye wee Yankee strip of shite!'  My teammates, needless to say, thought it was a whole can of laughs, me and my radio schtik.
These hurt when thrown.
The second time was a few weeks ago, on the History Show on NearFM which I linked in the last post.  Needless to say, no one threw cans of anything at me the next day.

All of this to say that radio is fun but nerve-wracking in its own way, particularly live radio.  The presenter is everything on radio and the man behind the mike last night, Arena and Lyric FM's Sean Rocks, made everyone feel at ease.  He's a real pro, as is his researcher, Nuala O'Neill.  So all in all, a fine evening, followed by even finer pints of the black stuff in the Hut.  And no one has thrown anything at me today or called me a 'wee Yankee strip of shite'...yet.  A podcast of the show can be found here.

Ed O'LoughlinIncidentally, the Booker nominated Ed O'Loughlin has just published his latest tome, an Irish zombie political satire cum gorefest, titled All You Can Eat.  He's going all new-fangled and high tech and launching it into the Kindle-sphere himself.  It's a steal at the moment.  Get it here.  I read an early draft and it's bloody, pulpy, and bloody well brilliant.
This is not the cover to All You Can Eat...but it should be!

Radio Daze or Recent Developments and The Terrifying Sound of One's Own Voice

I know, I know, it's been awhile and still no sign of Irregulars .  Like the proverbial boy who cried wolf, I can now safely say that, yes, the wolf is at the door.  Or something like that...

Late May Release DateI spent a week over Easter doing the final galley edits and then there was some waiting for blurbs to come back from the very kind folks who agreed to read proof copies so sadly, Irregulars won't be out in time for my In Conversation gig with Ed O'Loughlin at the Phizzfest  but it will be out in late May , definitely!

We've called the Phizzfest gig Crimes of the State and as the title should tell you, it'll be a ball of laughs! (No, actually, it should be quite funny.  Ed's satire is both razor sharp and quite hilarious.  And sure, what else would you be doing on a Bank Holiday Sunday in May?)

In the meantime, I was interviewed  by John Dorney and Cathal Brennan, both of The Irish Story.com on their fine History Show that airs on NearFM in Dublin.  If you're faced with a choice between Geordie Shore re-runs or something vaguely more edifying, here's a link to a podcast of the show.  I heartily recommend any of their podcasts to history buffs.  John and Cathal know their way around the clusterf...the labyrinth that was the Revolutionary/Civil War period in Ireland and are all round great guys who bring both lucidity and enthusiasm--a rare mix, certainly--to Irish History.  Their show on the 1913 Lockout in Dublin is particularly fascinating.  Here's the link:  https://soundcloud.com/nearfm/the-history-show-episode-15#play


And lastly, RTE Radio 1 Arts Show Arena will open Phizzfest this Thursday, May 2, with a live broadcast from Woodstock...  http://phizzfest.ie/2013/arena-launches-phizzfest-2013/...the cafe in Phibsborough not the farm in upstate New York, though I was thinking of playing Purple Haze in lieu of rambling on about using crime fiction as a Trojan Horse of sorts to address the use of terror in the founding of nation states yadda, yadda, yadda....  Listen in if you've the time or inclination.  Or, click the link on Purple Haze above and listen to Jimmi playing it at Woodstock...the farm, not the cafe...

I'll be back in the next week or so when I've a firm date of release and launch details for Irregulars, information on pre-orders etc.  Until then, enjoy the sunshine...(alright, I know...that's not funny, I've crossed a line there...)

Go Ahead and Judge a Book...Part Deux

So here it is, the cover for the new book.  I have to say, I'm delighted with it.  The skyline you can see through the open window is, in fact, Dublin.  I love this fact.  It brings what's inside the book and what you see on the cover together in some way I can't explain but which works.


I'll say it again:  Emma Barnes, the cover designer over at Snowbooks is a pro.  We went through four or five drafts total, with New Island kindly letting me look over each one and kick in my two cents.  Some of what I suggested was taken on board, some of it wasn't and thank God for that!  I suggested adding blood, a la Peeler. Bad idea.  It's not that kind of book, though it is bloody in places...  I suggested this font or that font.  I was ignored.  Rightly, properly, and strategically ignored.  But isn't it my work?  Shouldn't I know what's best in a cover enshrouding my precious work? No, actually.  Not at all.

You see, writers write.  I know something about writing, something about what's inside books--novels, anyway.  When it comes to cover art, I know what I like, as the saying goes.  But what book designers/cover artists and publishers know is why I might like what I like. It's not an exact science, obviously, or every author would have sales like James Patterson or JK Rowling, but there is much expertise employed in the presenting of the product being sold in the form of the packaging.  I know, I know, I hate that way of speaking about books, novels in particular.  They're art, they expand the consciousness, tap the senses, mine the emotions and...they only do these things if people bleedin' buy them.  And people buy books based on the cover art.  Not always and not alone this, but often.  I do it and you do it too.  The packaging is important and, though I know what I like, I really know nothing about what sells books or why.  So I leave that to the experts at New Island and Emma Barnes over at Snowbooks.  Blood you say?  Ummm, yeah...we'll look into it...

Go On...Judge A Book By Its Cover...

So, it's February and you might be wondering where that promised follow-up to Peeler is.  What?  You weren't?  Not to worry.  It's coming, next month.  April at the latest.  Irregulars, it's called and I've been beavering away at corrections and editorial suggestions as of late.  We're expecting galleys back soon for a big, old final peruse and just yesterday I received a first draft version of the cover design which was very, very cool.  I won't post a pic of it up just yet as it is in early form.  (No more would I publish any of my own work in draft form.)  When we get a more finalised version, I'll post it up.  Needless to say, it's always a great moment when you're sent cover art for your book.  It makes it all seem real somehow, cheesy as that might sound.

I think I've mentioned cover art before, but I'll say it again here:  it's really important in selling a book, whether in print or ebook form.  New Island were kind (and savvy) enough to accede to my request to once again use cover designer Emma Snow of Snowbooks in the UK for the cover.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  She's exceptionally talented and if you're in the market for a cover, get in touch with her at the above linked sites.

Featuring a modified(?) Banksy...must've cost a bomb.My friend Ed O'Loughlin's most recent novel, the brilliant Toploader, published by Quercus, has my favourite cover of recent years on any novel, featuring a booby-trapped version of Banksy's iconic donkey/soldier image from the West Bank Wall/Barrier to great effect.  Read the novel and see how apt the cover is.

[image error] Cover art for Declan Burke's
Absolute Zero Cool is...well, cool [image error] Same designer for Slaughter's Hound... I've also recently been hugely impressed by the covers on Declan Burke's novels for Liberties Press.  They're hip, retro and indicative of the wiretight mayhem on the pages inside.  (Is that possible?  For mayhem to be wiretight?  Hmmmm...)  Anyway, they're great.  I was told the name of the woman who designed them but for the life of me I can't remember it.  When I figure it out, I'll post it here.
[image error] ...and Eight Ball Boogie
Anyone know of any recent crime novel covers that have impressed?

So, it's February and you might be wondering where that p...

So, it's February and you might be wondering where that promised follow-up to Peeler is.  What?  You weren't?  Not to worry.  It's coming, next month.  April at the latest.  Irregulars, it's called and I've been beavering away at corrections and editorial suggestions as of late.  We're expecting galleys back soon for a big, old final peruse and just yesterday I received a first draft version of the cover design which was very, very cool.  I won't post a pic of it up just yet as it is in early form.  (No more would I publish any of my own work in draft form.)  When we get a more finalised version, I'll post it up.  Needless to say, it's always a great moment when you're sent cover art for your book.  It makes it all seem real somehow, cheesy as that might sound.

I think I've mentioned cover art before, but I'll say it again here:  it's really important in selling a book, whether in print or ebook form.  New Island were kind (and savvy) enough to accede to my request to once again use cover designer Emma Snow of Snowbooks in the UK for the cover.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  She's exceptionally talented and if you're in the market for a cover, get in touch with her at the above linked sites.

Featuring a modified(?) Banksy...must've cost a bomb.My friend Ed O'Loughlin's most recent novel, the brilliant Toploader, published by Quercus, has my favourite cover of recent years on any novel, featuring a booby-trapped version of Banksy's iconic donkey/soldier image from the West Bank Wall/Barrier to great effect.  Read the novel and see how apt the cover is.

[image error] Cover art for Declan Burke's
Absolute Zero Cool is...well, cool [image error] Same designer for Slaughter's Hound... I've also recently been hugely impressed by the covers on Declan Burke's novels for Liberties Press.  They're hip, retro and indicative of the wiretight mayhem on the pages inside.  (Is that possible?  For mayhem to be wiretight?  Hmmmm...)  Anyway, they're great.  I was told the name of the woman who designed them but for the life of me I can't remember it.  When I figure it out, I'll post it here.
[image error] ...and Eight Ball Boogie
Anyone know of any recent crime novel covers that have impressed?

The Joys of Research

Lodge Trail Ridge as seen from behind the picket at Fort Phil KearneyBeen a long time, folks.  In mitigation, I've been working on a new novel, reading and research mainly.  I've done some writing, scenes here and there, snippets of dialogue that may or may not make it into the book when I start writing in earnest, the odd character outline.  But mostly research, research, research.  It's one of the great, fun, fascinating things about writing historical fiction, the research, but it can also be a slog at times.  A lot like homework when you were a kid, Sunday night looming and that Monday-due essay unfinished (in my case, mostly, unstarted) in the bottom of your school bag.  'Damn, I have to go upstairs and read that woman's account of her trip up the Bozeman Trail in 1865...or do I?  I could finish this newspaper and then watch Match of the Day 2 and read that dull, dull and oh so prim and romanticised account tomorrow...'  Some of it's like that, the books you feel you have to read because somewhere in them will be that gem, that phrase or detail that will open up wide vistas, change the plot, make a character or scene more authentic.  Others, most really, are fascinating.  You wouldn't be writing about the period or subject matter if you weren't interested in it in the first place.  Currently I'm reading primary and secondary sources, diaries (as above) of soldiers who served in the American West, Indian accounts, histories etc.
The arid western side of the Big Horn mountains.
It was 110 F
when we took this photo.
 But the best part of research, by far for me, is actually visiting the places where the events in the planned novel happened (or will happen in your fiction).  With out giving too much away, the new novel will be set in the Powder River country of what is now Wyoming.  Here are some photos I took on a trip my wife and I made there this past summer.  My lousy photography aside, it is truly one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in America, if not on earth.  Sadly, you can see why men (and women) would fight and die to keep/claim it.
The scene of the Wagon Box Fight at dusk, the Big Horn mountains (eastern side) in the background. There is a herd of antelope in the distance in this photo.  Take my word for it, they're there.