Nigel Bird: Dirty Old Town

Hi Nigel, could you please describe yourself in five words?

Stubborn, kind, father, teacher, writer…

What can you tell us about "Dirty Old Town"?

Dirty Old Town is a collection of short stories.  Of the nine, five of them have been published previously in respected magazines/webzines.  They're noir in feel and generally lurk in the shadows.  They're also full of heart. 

There have been fourteen 5-star reviews to date at Amazon.  The one I include here sums up the others.  It's by a man whose debut novel (The Echo Chamber) will be released by Penguin later this year and you can expect quite a fanfare when it comes out.  He says:

"I found these stories perceptive, funny, sad, cynical, daring, true and best of all always thrillingly alive. Perhaps what's most impressive is their sheer variety. Each story inhabits its own theme and voice – even sometimes its own vocabulary – wholly convincingly, and the collection builds into a brilliant whole."

I suspect he says it better than I ever could.

Who's your favourite author?

Difficult to pick, but Paul Auster has been at the top of my list since New York Trilogy and that's quite some time ago now. 

Do you have tips for budding writers?

Seek out criticism from people with a track record and take what they say as dispassionately as you can.  It's learning process and a huge amount of work is needed in rewriting, so consider every criticism and decide whether you're going to act upon it or not.

What are you working on now?

I'm currently working on two main projects.

The first is as an editor.  Chris Rhatigan and I are putting together an anthology of work called Pulp Ink.  A whole host of great writers are creating stories using a line or a track from the movie Pulp Fiction.  So far the standard of what we've been sent is incredible and the variety offered perfect for a collection.  Not only is the content going to be great, we've also got the team from Needle Publishing to put it all together, so we couldn't be better placed.  It should be out as an e-book by the end of summer of this year and I have no doubt that it will be among the strongest anthologies of 2011.

I'm also working on a novel, a third attempt at the longer form.  This one is coming more easily to me than my earlier attempts and I'm hoping that's got something to do with me maturing as a writer.  It's teacher noir, a story based around a Hampstead school where the world spins out of control for a number of individuals.  I'm hoping that is dark and engaging.

I'll also be publicising the new anthology 'Mammoth Best British Crime' as much as I can.  My story 'An Arm And A Leg' is placed alongside the likes of Christopher Brookmyre, Colin Bateman, Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson, Stuart McBride, Allan Guthrie, Liza Cody, Paul Brazill and Alexander McCall Smith (amongst others). It's a great honour to be part of such an institution.

Where can we find you online?

All Due Respect: http://all-due-respect.blogspot.com/2011/03/issue-10-april-2011.html

A Twist Of Noir:  http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/search/label/Nigel%20Bird

Beat To A Pulp: http://www.beattoapulp.com/stor/2010/1121_nb_TakingALineForAWalk.cfm

The Drowning Machine with the prize-winning Beat On The Brat:  http://drowningmachine.blogspot.com/2010/06/wgi-1st-place-beat-on-brat-by-nigel.html

My own blog, Sea Minor, is at http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com .

Dirty Old town is available in the UK at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Old-Town-Other-Stories/dp/B004LROUDG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1302255055&sr=8-2-spell

 in the US at

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LROUDG/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0VN5VCZ9CAAQBCE4PBST&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

and from Smashwords at

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/40287