Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 180

Spain’s Awe-Inspiring Hotel Chain

We’re currently driving across Spain via paradores. Paradores can be found in most Latin countries, para meaning to stay or stop. In Spain, the paradores are a network of over 90 state-run hotelsconsisting ofrestored castles, monasteries, convents, fortresses, manor houses and palaces, andare found in some of the most beautiful corners of the Iberian Peninsula. […]

Invisible Ink 6: Michael Arlen

‘For King and cocktails!’ cries Marley, the aristocrat whose futile life is dissected in the novel ‘Piracy’. The world of Mayfair between the wars can make for a stifling read; all those debs and ballrooms, the spiteful point-scoring of titled couples, the calibrated snobbery of the Empire almost on its uppers now provides us with […]

Lost In Europe

I’m in that happiest state – between books. I finished one last week and am not planning to start another for two weeks. In this lacuna it’s time for a break, and Europe is England’s garden, just a short hop to a thousand interesting destinations. But one of the problems I have about European travel […]

Back Into Print: 20 Titles From My Past

On May 12th, the first of my redesigned and reformatted novels make an appearance on as e-books for the low price of 2.99. ‘Roofworld’ and ‘Spanky’ were both big hits for me, but have been out of print for years. There will be twenty volumes in all, including novels and short story collections, featuring new […]

New Tickets For ‘First Monday’ Crime In London

There are crime writing events all around the country, but curiously London hasn’t had many. This is something the lovely people at Goldsboro Books have put right with their First Monday events,which are on their way to becoming London’s key crime writing nights. The event back again on May 9th. The May line up features […]

Films That Didn’t Make My Top 10 List

Choosing ten desert island films for my upcoming event at London’s wonderful Cinema Museum on May 14th (a few tickets still available) has been a nightmare, mainly because I change my mind every ten seconds. (Is it only guys who love making lists?) I finally decided to limit my choice to ten films that directly […]

The Impossibility Of Keeping Up

At a book launch last year, a lady author of middling years said to me; ‘Oh, I suppose you’re one of these people who do The Twitter,’ making it sound like a 1920s dance craze. But I take her point. Since the advent of rolling news, keeping up with trending ideas and tropes has become […]

Invisible Ink 5: Kenneth Anglemeyer

If ever there was a case of adopting an apt pseudonym, Anglemeyer had it. Born into a middle class family in Santa Monica, California, he quickly became the author of his own legend and rechristened himself Kenneth Anger. Setting out to become a child actor and then a filmmaker, he managed to acquit himself after […]

Don’t Call Me Cosy!

On May 19th I’ll be heading to Bristol for the annual Crimefest, where one of the panels should get a bit fighty; it’s about the pros and cons of the so-called ‘Cosy’,a relatively new sub-genre of mystery fictionwhich sex and violence aredownplayed or treated humorously,and the crimes take place in a small, socially intimate community. […]

The Strange Story Of ‘Camp’