Barry Graham's Blog, page 2

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i cut her while she was sleeping

There’s a very short story by daishin stephenson on Dockyard Press’s Harbourmaster’s Loug.

Tony Black short story on Dockyard Press site

Tony Black’s latest Gus Dury novel, Wrecked, has just been published by Dockyard Press. The publisher’s blog, The Harbourmaster’s Loug, has a short story by that gentleman, who’s been lauded by everyone from Irvine Welsh to the Daily Record.

Dockyard Press, a different kind of publisher

Dockyard Press launched today, publishing two new books: Wrecked, the latest in the Gus Dury series by Scottish noir legend Tony Black, and Whoop! Whoop!, a juggalo noir set in Phoenix, Arizona, by Icy Thug Nutz. Mystery Tribune has a review.

Dockyard Press has also republished my entire back catalogue...data-orig-width="1500"/>

Dockyard

Why I pulled my books from Amazon

After reading the latest news about Amazon’s abuse of its warehouse staff, I decided I could no longer live with myself if I sold my books through them, so I withdrew all of them, paperbacks and ebooks, from sale there.

My ebooks are still available at other outlets, such as Barnes & Noble and Apple. All of my paperbacks will soon be reissued by a new publisher based in Glasgow, Dockyard Press. More information about that soon.

Meanwhile, if you want a paperback of any of my books, please buy them from an inde...soon.

Meanwhile,

Back in print: Hoodtown by Christa Faust

After being out of print for too long, Christa Faust’s masterpiece Hoodtown is once again available.

I wrote this essay about it (first published in The Big Click) in 2015:

Lucha Noir: How Christa Faust Wrestles with Reality in Hoodtown

It is written—by me—that the sport of noir is boxing. But noir is a mansion made of many dark rooms, and more rooms are being added as we read and write. One of the most original chambers to be added is the genre of lucha noir, created in a single book—Hoodtown,...

Scotland makes violence against children illegal

Scotland has become the first country in the U.K. to ban adults from using violence on children, which is now a criminal offence.

In the Scotland in which I was a child, the tawse was used routinely in schools, and teachers would also slap children on the head or face, shove them, shake them, even choke them. Corporal punishment was banned (or “phased out”) in Scotland in 1982, but it’s taken 37 years for domestic violence against children to be banned.

In England and Northern Ireland, you can...

Prayer huts in Reykjavik.

Prayer huts in Reykjavik.

According to The Guardian, no Asian has written a good book this century

The Guardian has published its list of the 100 best books of the 21st century. It includes not a single Asian author.

No mention of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (not as great as her masterpiece Out, but come on), The Changeling or Death by Water by Kenzaburo Oe, The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura, or Gene Mapper by Taiyo Fujii.

No mention of Haruki Murakami (his work isn’t to my taste, to put it mildly, but, again, come on!)&hellip...

Path to Autumn. Wyndford, Maryhill, Glasgow

Path to Autumn. Wyndford, Maryhill, Glasgow