Nigel Bird's Blog, page 47

Dancing With Myself: KATH MIDDLETON interviews KATH MIDDLETON

Dancing with myself?
That’s a laugh for a start! I was educated in an all-girls’ school and as I’m tall, I had to ‘be the man’ so I can only lead – I can’t follow.  It never goes down well when you shove a bloke around the dance floor!
Who are you and what are you doing on the Sea Minor blog?
I’m Kath Middleton, new to published writing but I’ve been a reader since I was three. As to Sea Minor, I’ve always been a D Major girl, really.
What have you had published?                                                                                           
To date I have my first novella out on kindle.  It’s a 40k word story called Ravenfold, which is set in mediaeval times and filled with unpleasant things but laced with hope. I am continually amazed and astonished at how humanity can rise above adversity.  We are amazing people! 

How did you come to write Ravenfold?
I wrote a 500 word story for a competition run by Michael Brookes.  His prompt for the story was a box-tomb and a rave. A friend who looked at my story said I had more to say about it. The word limit was inhibiting me.  Usually I work hard to get up to 500 words!  I thought about it for a minute or two.  I have a very short attention...  Oh look!  A starling!So I filled in the story and there you have it!

Any thoughts on writing a full length novel?
My other published work is a few short stories in anthologies and a slack handful of drabbles (100-word stories) contributed to Jonathan Hill’sIf someone produced an audio book of Ravenfold, who would you like to narrate it?
Oh, Derek Jacobi, please!  I love his voice.  He could read me the telephone directory and I’d still be fascinated!
What genre would you not write in unless you were paid a lot of money?
Whatever I say I’m going to upset someone now, aren’t I? However, I don’t think there are funds enough anywhere to make me write (let alone read) paranormal romance!   What’s that about?  “I love ghosts, me!”  Does not compute!
If you wrote an erotic novel, would you publish it under your own name or a pen name?
Erotic fiction doesn’t really appeal to me.  I’m not that sort of Granny!  I do find some writing deeply erotic but it’s not usually flagged up as such.  I like the things that aren’t self-consciously erotic.  I find tender scenes more arousing than rumpy-pumpy which I’m afraid I often find risible.  So I don’t think I’d write it, but if I did, I’d be prepared to stand by it under my own name. 
So, with the books.  Are there any more books on the horizon?
Yes.  I have a second novella, shorter than the first, which is written but will be re-visited in a few weeks’ time to give it a good old editing.  I hope to have both those novellas out in paperback too.  I’ve also begun a third book.  The latter two are set in the present day and the work in progress is possibly the best candidate for being a novel.  At the moment.  Probably!
And in the immediate future?
Home-made spaghetti bolognese!  


Ravenfold is available here!

Dancing With Myself : JIM WINTER interviews JIM WINTER

   
 COMPLEAT NONSENSE

SO WHAT IS THE COMPLEAT WINTER ?
 The Compleat Kepler is a collection of all my short stories that are not Nick Kepler.
 DOES THIS MEAN THE END OF NICK?
  Not yet. Nick’s not quite done. But there’s more to crime than just a PI skulking about looking in people’s windows.
 AND GETTING LAID MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE. Well, Nick is generally not wanting for company, but that company usually gets him into trouble. These stories are about people finding more creative ways to get into trouble.
 SUCH AS…?
 Well, we have a band manager stick his hand in the band’s collective cookie jar, not really catching on the guitar player and the drummer not only hunt, but they know a good place to bury the body.We have a good cop make a righteous kill, only it’s the son of a sitting mayor.We have a chronic loser getting ambitious when he sees an armored car. WHICH ONES ARE YOUR FAVORITES? I’m particularly fond of “And on the Seventh Day…” That one came about one morning when a street corner preacher called me out for carrying Ken Bruen’s American Skin instead of The Bible. It’s a nice piece of revenge fic. Then there’s “Frank, Jr.,” which came from a challenge by Patty Abbott. I took her literally and wrote about Frank Sinatra, Jr.’s kidnapping from the point of view of the two accomplices. YOU RIFF ON EDGAR ALLEN POE, TOO.Yeah, someone challenged me to rewrite a classic short story from another point of view. I picked Poe’s “The Confessor.” The premise was a story in and of itself: Who the hell is Montressor talking to? IS THERE ANYMORE KEPLER TO BE HAD? There’s one out making rounds now. WHAT ELSE IS IN THE CAN?I spent last spring rewriting Holland Bay, which is best described as 87th Precinct meets The Wire with a female Carella/McNulty. (Actually, I think she’s more like Bunk in the Carella role, but we’ll see.) YOU HINT THAT YOU’RE WRITING SOMETHING ELSE UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME. ANY HINTS? The truth will come out when it comes out.

Untreed Reads Free Book Bonanza :)

Untreed Reads have had their fingers on the e-book pulse for a long time. As a consequence of their knowledge, experience and hard work, they've put together a huge and varied catalogue that includes some brilliant books.

They're also doing something rather special this year. It's the offer of a free book for every month of 2014, up to the value of $5.99 (US) /£3.56. All you need to do go across to their page via this link here and email them your details. It's explained much better on the page, but it's simple and catch free and is really unmissable if you like a bargain and a good book (they're 2 of my favourite things, to putting them together is orchestral).  

If you did need any tips, I can tell you that Discount Noir has some of the finest around in there. Paul D Brazill has his excellent 13 Shots Of Noir; Kaye George and Jack Bates publish with Untreed; Grimm Tales in another anthology, featuring some amazing talent and a foreward by Ken Bruen; and I've got a few of mine there too. That's only a taster - there's a mass to choose from and you'll definitely find something to your taste I can pretty much garuantee.

Check it out and enjoy.

Best,

nigel

You've Got Mail - or at least you might have...

Remember that great advert about saving energy that had the tag line 'There's plenty of fish-in-the-sea', or some similar great pun on efficiency anyway.

I'm going to try and become more efficient in life this year. Call it a New Year's resolution if you like.

What I'm going to try and do is a little less web-surfing and a little more writing.

This means I'll be less visible. To some of you, this will be a very good thing. To a few others, you might feel like seeing me around. If you're in the latter camp, you might want to sign up to a mail list I've just created. All you need to do is enter your details in the right-hand column here.

What I intend to pass on is interesting information about the books I've read and the books I'm writing or have written. The truth is that I'm not entirely sure how it will shape up. The only thing I can promise subscribers is that I won't be a heavy user (in spite of my OCD).

We'll see how things play out.

Hopefully, you'll sign up and give it a try - there'll always be the option of unsubscribing at a later date.

Thanks for playing.

And Happy New Year folks. See you soon.

xx

Sherlock Holmes - a little tip

I love Sherlock Holmes in many of his forms.

Last night, I thoroughly enjoyed his return in the latest interpretation, Sherlock. It's impressive stuff.

I do hope that people will decide to read the books on the back of the success of the series, but I also understand that not everyone loves reading or has time for it. Here's a possible solution.

I recently took out an audio-book from the library, a collection of Sherlock's stories. They're brilliant in themselves, but the voice of an audio-book is hugely important. In this case, the books were read by Derek Jacobi.

Derek Jacobi's voice is perfect for the work. He gives his characters accents that fit to a tee, adds colour, flavour, atmosphere and humour in a way that many actors wouldn't be able to pull off. It's superb stuff.

The edition I listened to doesn't seem to be available, but check out e-bay and do the Sherlock / Jacobi search and you'll find them aplenty on CD.

If you love Cumberbatch and Freeman, I think you'll love Jacobi. Seriously.

End of tip.

ps Does anyone know anyone called Sherlock? Or Shylock for that matter?

Happy New Year - Free and Super Bargain books.

In a few hours, I'll be running into the sea for the New Year's dip. It's a crazy thing and I'd avoid it if the family pressure wasn't so huge. After that it's hot soup and a little social time, followed by a chillax.

The New Year's resolutions have been sketched out, but aren't very interesting and aren't worth sharing.

I'd like to share a few reading opportunities with you though, so you can start your reading year off with a bang.

Best of the lot is the Barney Thomson box set. It's going for a staggering £1.09. I was telling some people to buy it and my wife pointed out that cheap doesn't necessarily mean good. She's right, but I put her right in this case - there are seven books here and the first is soon to be made into a film which will be a hot topic when it's released. Wouldn't you want to be able to say you were there before everyone else? Now's your chance.

Blasted Heath are also running a few other titles at discounted prices. I'm really pleased that they have Smoke in the pile. I think it might be my best work and really feel it deserves a place on a kindle that does't mind brutal fiction.

If you look in the sidebar here, you'll notice that Hymn From A Village is free today. It's a short story collection and I'm proud of it. Imagine a best-of and you're almost there.

Blackwitch Press has so many freebies that I'm not going to list them. Paul D Brazill's done that already and you can check it out by following the link.

I'm pretty excited about Willy Vlautin's new one, The Free. It's to be released at the end of January, but you can pre-order if you're as curious as I am.

Also very well worth a list is the list of favourite reads from last year over at Jen's Book Thoughts. It's a tasty looking list and I'm intending to pick up all of them (one of those resolutions I didn't share). Take a careful look and buy some of her tips - you won't be disappointed, I'm pretty sure.

And that's it for now.

Happy New Year to you - I hope nice things happen to you and the wind's always at your back.

xx

One Man's Opinion: THE BANK MANAGER AND THE BUM by DARREN SANT

Before starting in on this treat of a book, I'm hoping to ask a favour. Yes, again (sorry).

My novella Smoke ('Grim, but really good' - Ian Rankin), ISBN - 9781908688293 and published by Blasted Heath, is now available for libraries via OverDrive. If you're a member of a library, would you please consider sparing 5 minutes or so of your time and requesting a copy (usually done online at your libraries site) so that they'll consider buying one? The reward for you is only a small glow of having helped out, but I'd really appreciate your kindness.

Big thanks on that.

Now to today's big read.

I’ve really enjoyed Darren Sant’s short fiction as it has a heart in the middle of all its sharp edges. I’d heard that The Bank Manager And The Bum was magical realism and that meant I didn’t really know what to expect from this one, even though I was looking forward to it. I think Bicycle Thieves was all I could picture in the genre.
What I found was that it is magic and it is realistic, so I guess that the tag was right.

A homeless man and his dog spend the night by a bank and take a kicking from a gang of thugs. It’s a serious beating and there’s some of that Darren Sant hardness in the description. Next day, along comes the bank manager,
Giles, to open up. He spots the damaged pair and calls for an ambulance. While doing this, he witnesses the curing of the dog as the bum of the title lays on his hands and emits a light, healing energy that does the job.
As the dog gets better, the bum’s condition gets worse; that’s part of the healer’s dilemma.

It turns out that Giles also has a problem. More of a catastrophe, really. He finds out his young son is dying and this causes a domestic crisis. As time goes on, the idea that the bum Giles had helped might be able to save his boy grows and takes root and, eventually, it’s the path Giles and his wife decide to take.

The slight problem for them is that there’s a gangster in the vicinity who also wants the bum’s healing powers and he’s prepared to go to any length to make sure he gets what he wants.

There’s a seedy underbelly that’s cut into, scalpel like, by Sant, but for me it’s the magic that wins.

How realistic does it feel? At the point when my first question arose, it was to do with the bank manager’s taste in music rather than the healing, which should say a lot about how well the whole thing is handled. As for that musical taste, it exposed more about my own musical snobbery and my speed at putting the guy into a pigeon hole because of his profession, more than anything else.

It being Christmas, I felt it was the perfect time to be reading this book. It has a festive joy to in, in spite of the difficult sections. I’d recommend that, if you’ve been thinking about this one, you take the plunge over the holidays ahead. It’ll be more than fitting.

I also have a thought for the author. I’d really love to see this story adapted for older children – same plot with less sinister action – as I think that would really work wonderfully and bring him a whole new audience. If it happens, I’ll be banging the drum.

One Man's Opinion: NORTHLINE by WILLY VLAUTIN

After reading Lean On Pete a short while ago, I had to get another shot of Willy Vlautin.
This fix came with the title Northline and it got straight into my nervous system in the same way that happened with Pete.
Allison has a drink problem and that’s the least of her worries. She has a drink problem to help her to cope with the world (‘She’d calm down first. Calm down as much as the $17.70 in her wallet would let her, and then she’d decide where to go.’) and has picked up a boyfriend who really needs locking up. The boyfriend is a neo-nazi who has very faint shades of liberal sensibilities. He does speed, booze, violence and bully really well. Needless to say, he doesn’t do boyfriend so good. Sadly, his sperm works and Allison runs away to escape her life and her man and to face up to her pregnancy and her demons.
As she settles down in Reno, she meets some great people. There’s her new boss and the crowd at the diner at which she works. They treat her well and allow her to mess up from time-to-time. This is the Karma Allison deserves – she’s kind to folk and makes sure she does her good turns when she thinks nobody’s looking.
It’s a tremendous book. Full of power and emotion. I read it very quickly as it had me in its grip, but I did need to put it down at intervals to catch my breath and to avoid crying in public (seriously). The stories of Allison’s life are gently told, but relay the most brutal experiences and despair. It’s completely painful at points and very challenging, yet there’s always the tiny slither of hope that Vlautin manages to weave in through the work.
There are some wonderful conversations and images that demonstrate pain. Here’s a little interaction between Allison and a customer of hers:
‘ “I have the worst thoughts. I always thing I’m going to get run over by a bus or murdered. That I’ll get a terrible disease or go to jail forever. And the crazy thing is that when I think those thoughts, sometimes it makes me happy. I don’t know if happy is the right word. Maybe relieved. I don’t know. But she [my sister] doesn’t have thoughts like that.”
“I get thoughts like that. Everyone does. I think. Maybe it takes the pressure off. If something like that happened, then you’d be done. You wouldn’t have to try anymore.” ‘
Other than the alcohol, Alison has a number of other coping mechanisms. One of them’s self-harm. Another is the writing of letters to herself, which she immediately destroys. Another is to talk to Paul Newman.
Newman appears to her in the way that Bogart comes to Woody Allen in Play It Again Sam. He’s a friend, confidant and advisor. When this first happened in the book, I was taken aback, but was able to go with the flow. I did wonder about the need for him. Whether this tool worked for the story or not. As it went on and the appearances were explained, I was just glad he was there; it made complete sense.
Reading and recommending this book are other things that make sense. No doubt about it. Willy Vlautin’s a bright star in the sky. Long may he shine. He makes me feel like I've been through a mincer and come out in bits with a smile on my face.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - a year in older books

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a selection of my favourite reads of 2013 from the new and newish books I've enjoyed.

Today, I'm posting some of my favourite reads that includes books that were written a while ago, in some cases quite a while.

Among other things, I think is shows me that my habits have changed slightly. Turned back a little to where they might have been in the past. Over the previous 5 years I'd read little but crime fiction, and here there's been a little deviation. I didn't make a conscious decision to vary my diet, it just seemed to be a natural path to take. It's a path I've really loved being on and can't wait to see where I get to next.

OK. No particular order.


THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE 
If you're like me, you may not have bothered to read this because you know the story from the screen or from the number of times you hear the book discussed. Not reading it is a mistake, I promise you that. It's only when working through the wonders of the story-telling that you can fully appreciate the genius here and the reasons for the story's longevity.



FAHRENHEIT 451
I thought I knew this one too. Again, it was a thrill to read the words on the page. There's such a lot to digest and think about and it's rather special.



I WAS DORA SUAREZ
Possibly the most unsettling book I've read. Very dark and visceral. Also incredibly told and the boys at the Factory have to be met. I'll be back.

 
A FEAST OF SNAKES
Remember that Carry On line, 'I tried it once. I didn't like it'? I'm glad that's not who I am. I tried a Harry Crews. Didn't like it much. But people kept pointing me in his direction and I dived into Feast Of Snakes. Really brilliant stuff.


BRAZZAVILLE BEACH
When I think of my favourite authors, I'm not sure William Boyd gets much of a look in. Thing is, he probably is one of my faves.  Brazzaville Beach tells of conflict within a scientific community as they study primates. There's a civil war, madness, sex and human despair and nothing is ever ordinary. 




RUMBLE FISH
I wanted to put in 2 SE Hinton's, but that would have taken up an extra slot. Profound, simple in the telling and a fantastic story. Gangs and growing up with a page-turning energy that's hard to beat. I loved the way the film (one that stamped itself hard into my psyche) took so many of the lines directly from the book, which meant I was never disappointed.

 
COCKFIGHTER
A man who has sworn that he won't speak until he's the champion cockfighter stays silent for a very long time. Gripping from the off. Fantastic.



MULLINER NIGHTS
For light relief, this is so funny it'll make you laugh out loud on a very regular basis. Number 8, I know, but it gave me so much pleasure.

One Man's Opinion: CORROSION by JON BASSOFF

I really enjoyed Corrosion. It’s a stylish novel that tells a number of stories that merge together to create a nightmarish tale.
As an opening, an Iraq veteran becomes stranded in a small American town when his car packs up on him. The veteran has a scarred face – totally scarred – and this has an impact upon all the interactions he has. It’s not long before he gets mixed up with a classic femme fatale. He’s pretty switched on about the way he’s being treated, but goes along for the ride with a compulsive need for a woman he needs but barely likes. As this story picks up, the veteran gets himself in a whole barrel full of scalding hot water.
This story in itself would have probably satisfied my requirements from the book, but Bassoff doesn’t stop there. He takes us to another place. Another corner of the world where things are utterly dismal. 
A woman is dying in bed. Her husband has been experimenting for many years to find a cure for her. He has found the Christ Rat. The rat in which he can pin all his hopes. 
This couple has a son. He’s pretty much been forced to bring himself up, missing out on school and on social norms. As such, he’s forced to live in the margins, not just of society but within his own household. Accompanying him while he shifts from bad decisions to unfortunate events to the sick-bed of his mother makes very uncomfortable reading. Thank goodness for Constance, the waitress who offers a shaft of light in his dreams. 
Poor Constance.
For a while in the book, I was taken to the movie Angel Heart. The echoes that took me there were the war-vet who has only a loose grasp of his identity and whose credentials are brought into question as the story unfolds. An uneasy sense that the man isn’t all he thinks he is gives the book a strong and original edge. Unlike Angel Heart, there’s no need to shift into the realms of trickery and all of the connections are very plausible. There is a Lou Cifer of sorts, only in this case, the devil is merely a human being.
One of the things I particularly enjoyed here was the speech. There’s no punctuation for it and it takes a page or so to get used to. When I clicked with this, I really loved it. To my mind, it must have made the author work that little bit harder, but it was well worth it for the streamlining it offers and the hard edge it gives to the dialogue. It really does work very well indeed. 
Congratulations Jon Bassoff for an excellent debut. I’ll be looking out for more.