K.A. Laity's Blog, page 39
August 13, 2020
Who’s Afraid of Kathy Acker?
Who’s Afraid of Kathy Acker? Everyone apparently: all the edge lords who should embrace a unique voice of pain and punk ethos; all the punk writers who want to champion a rebel voice and a fuck-you attitude; all the sex-positive feminists who want to celebrate our bodies and the right to express our truths however... Read More
August 7, 2020
Film for a Friday: The Sorrows of Satan
Thanks to Angela (check out her fab writing at the Cultural Gutter), I was introduced to this interesting novel by the famous-but-largely-erased author Marie Corelli. The Sorrows of Satan was a sensation upon its release and a scandalous bestseller, so it’s typical that it has been overlooked despite its broadly appealing topic — Faustian bargains... Read More
August 6, 2020
Tiny Tales Podcast: Chastity Flame 3
Many thanks to Darren Sant at Tiny Tales podcast: as you may know he does short readings of all kinds of fiction and poetry. Now he’s got an exclusive preview of the forthcoming third Chastity Flame novel A Cut-Throat Business which will be out soon from Fahrenheit Press. Chapter one is rather dark, so be warned!... Read More
August 1, 2020
The Seatown Blues: Episode Three – A Gift Horse
Originally posted on PAUL D. BRAZILL:
August’s Issue of the Close To The Bone Magazine is out now with a star studded cast of authors from around the world. The third part of The Seatown Blues is there too! Check it out now! ?
August’s Issue of the Close To The Bone Magazine is out now with a star studded cast of authors from around the world. The third part of The Seatown Blues is there too! Check it out now! ?
July 31, 2020
When Chastity Flame was just a Spark
I know I seem to have a new idea every minute and to change gears just about that often, so it’s kind of funny to see that some obsessions stay with me a very long time. The roots of my Chastity Flame novels are deep. The first novel I wrote in high school was also... Read More
July 27, 2020
#FolkHorror: Lullaby
I have been reading the excellent biography of Shirley Jackson by Ruth Franklin, which of course makes me turn to Jackson’s own writing for various things (some books are still packed in boxes alas, and it is too hot to spend time in the garage looking for them). I decided to re-read this essay which... Read More
July 26, 2020
Mask of the Nice Guy by K. A. Laity
Originally posted on Punk Noir Magazine:
If you know much of anything about Patricia Highsmith, you probably know her love for snails. Okay, maybe it’s not the first thing you learn, but it should be. It tells you so much about her. Smuggling them through customs in her bra – the thought of it makes…
If you know much of anything about Patricia Highsmith, you probably know her love for snails. Okay, maybe it’s not the first thing you learn, but it should be. It tells you so much about her. Smuggling them through customs in her bra – the thought of it makes…
July 19, 2020
Talking to Strangers by K. A. Laity
Originally posted on Punk Noir Magazine:
Talking to Strangers K. A. Laity I do talk to strangers. You don’t mind, do you? I know some people do. They move away from me on the bench, even if it’s raining and they get all wet. Sometimes I can understand. You want a bit of quiet,…
Talking to Strangers K. A. Laity I do talk to strangers. You don’t mind, do you? I know some people do. They move away from me on the bench, even if it’s raining and they get all wet. Sometimes I can understand. You want a bit of quiet,…
July 17, 2020
Playing Ripley by K. A. Laity
Originally posted on Punk Noir Magazine:
I was watching a TIFF interview with Phyllis Nagy who adapted Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt as the 2015 movie Carol directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and Sarah Paulson. Among the bon mots – along with her story of her first fascinating meeting with the author herself –…
I was watching a TIFF interview with Phyllis Nagy who adapted Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt as the 2015 movie Carol directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and Sarah Paulson. Among the bon mots – along with her story of her first fascinating meeting with the author herself –…
July 10, 2020
The Origin of Chastity Flame
When I describe Chastity Flame to people I usually use the shorthand description that she’s like an über-sexy female James Bond. Since Bond rebooted with Daniel Craig that’s a good selling point, although when I started thinking about Chas what I had in mind was the kick-ass heroine of Peter O’Donnell’s comics and novels (and... Read More
