You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?

Watch You Drown by Chris Rhatigan.

2012-02-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

If ever there was an American equivalent of the Brit Grit writings of, say, Nigel Bird or Luca Veste, then it must be the stories in this fantastic début collection.

With Watch You Drown, Chris Rhatigan mixes up micro fiction, flash fiction and short stories that show us slices of life that are far from cosy and that pull a tattered rug from under the protagonists without a moments notice.

Rhatigan shines a torch on people at the bottom trying to dig themselves out of a hole and only getting deeper and deeper under. People with no hope. People with messed up ideas. And people who can't help but screw up. Crime, noir, social realism, black comedy and more. Just like in life.

Watch You Drown is a dark, realistic and funny collection of tarnished gems from a very talented craftsman. Highly recommended.

Short, Sharp Interview: Carrie Clevenger

2012-02-11T01:35:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

CC: A vampire intended for nefarious plans is freed by an immortal of a different sort.

(Blood and Fire)

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

CC: I recently read Trailer Park Noir (Ray Garton) and devoured three seasons of Being Human (UK) on Netflix. Both of these I enjoyed tremendously.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

CC: Sure, we have to turn our internal editors off sometime, and just let the mind absorb and consume. On the other hand, I do tend to be a bit more critical of what I read. I just contradicted myself. It’s hard to explain.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

CC: Honestly? No. Not unless something of mine needed to be adapted to film, and even then I’d rather let a pro have a hand in it.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

CC: Tons. From determining local plant life, to the weather for a set of months, to how many cubic inches make up the trunk space of a 1967 Camaro, I try to be as accurate as possible. There’s always someone that will check on facts and I want them to find my work satisfactory.

Some of the odder bits of research I’ve done lately:

Determined how far a certain type of motorcycle could go on a tank of fuel and how many tanks it would take to arrive at a certain destination.

The measurements of a full-sized shovel, to make sure it would fit in the backseat of a car.

How to get oil stains out of clothing.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

CC: Social media has made my writing career. If it weren’t for #fridayflash on Twitter, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Most of my referring links come from Twitter and Facebook; take those away and I’d be lucky to get twelve hits a week, and all by sheer accident or blog follows.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

The biggest thing I’ve got going in 2012 is my novel, Crooked Fang, due out in August from Lyrical Press. It’s the story of a bassist that lives in a tavern that happens to also be a vampire. I intend to make it the first in a series of at least three books.

I want to let everyone know that Blood and Fire, my latest collaboration with Nerine Dorman, is available on Amazon, and for this weekend only, free to download. Blood and Fire features my vampire from Crooked Fang, Xan Marcelles in a crossover novella to introduce you to both the Crooked Fang universe and Nerine’s Inkarna universe. Inkarna is due out in May of this year from Dark Continents.

Links for Blood andFire on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-and-Fire-ebook/dp/B006SD3F2S/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-and-Fire-ebook/dp/B006SD3F2S/

Like my book page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CrookedFang

Nerine’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nerine-Dorman-author/173330419365374

SNIFTERS- SIX-WORD STORIES, FIFTY WORD STORIES, MICRO FICTION, FLASH FICTION.

2012-02-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

So, I've reposted some of my rinky dinky stuff here under the Snifters heading.

Have a gander if you need a little eye opener.

Short, Sharp Interview: Paul D Brazill

2012-02-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's me talking cobblers at Kevin Lynn Helmick's The Write Room.

The Mammoth Book Of Body Horror

2012-02-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Mammoth Book of Body Horror

Twenty-Five Stories of Transformation, Mutation and Contagion

Edited by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan

Editors of the bestselling and British Fantasy Award-nominated Hellbound Hearts

A very special and unique anthology celebrating the sub-genre of ‘Body Horror’, tracing its origins right up to the most modern exponents of the form. Featuring a veritable ‘who’s who’ of horror literature, and including the stories those classic Body Horror movies – The Thing, The Fly and Re-Animator – were based on, this promises to be a groundbreaking and landmark release in the history of the genre.

Full Table of Contents below:

TRANSFORMATION by Mary Shelley; THE TELL-TALE HEART by Edgar Allan Poe; HERBERT WEST: RE-ANIMATOR by H.P. Lovecraft; WHO GOES THERE? John W. Campbell; THE FLY by George Langelaan; TIS THE SEASON TO BE JELLY byRichard Matheson; SURVIVOR TYPE by Stephen King; THE BODY POLITIC by Clive Barker; THE CHANEY LEGACY byRobert Bloch; THE OTHER SIDE by Ramsey Campbell; FRUITING BODIES by Brian Lumley; FREAKTENT by Nancy A. Collins; REGION OF THE FLESH by Richard Christian Matheson; WALKING WOUNDED by Michael Marshall Smith; CHANGES by Neil Gaiman; OTHERS by James Herbert; THE LOOK by Christopher Fowler; RESIDUE by Alice Henderson; DOG DAYS by Graham Masterton; BLACK BOX by Gemma Files; THE SOARING DEAD by Simon Clark; POLYP by Barbie Wilde; ALMOST FOREVER by David Moody; BUTTERFLY by Axelle Carolyn; STICKY EYE by Conrad Williams.

Introduction by Stuart Gordon (Director of Re-Animator and From Beyond)

Published 1 March 2012, £7.99

Short, Sharp Interview: Kyle Minor

2012-02-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Kyle Minor's brilliant In The Devil's Territory is one of the best short story collections that you're likely to read.

His equally ace short story, The Truth And All Its Ugly, is available for your Kindle now.

I had a quick natter with him.

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

It's a novel titled The Sexual Lives of Missionaries. It's almost done. First ten pages appeared last summer in Guernica:http://www.guernicamag.com/fiction/2863/kyle_minor_7_15_11/

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

The Shield, The Wire, Big Love, The New Girl, Breaking Bad.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

It's not possible for anyone to be an objective reader. Reading is an exercise in subjectivity. Writing, too, and also thinking.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Yes.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

For the one I'm finishing, I spent a lot of time in Haiti. I see the research trajectory rising from here on. It's too useful not to do a lot of it.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

Social media is not important for me as a writer, but it is important for me as a person who wants people to read what I have written, so I've invested pretty heavily in it. One not-small side benefit is that I've met a lot of good people and made a few good friends along the way.

Find out more about Kyle Minor here.

BLOOD AND FIRE - FREE !!!

2012-02-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

BLOOD & FIRE by the splendid Carrie Clevenger & Nerine Dorman.

Here's The Buzz:

'Bassist and all-round slacker Xan Marcelles spends his nights at a remote tavern in Pinecliffe, Colorado. But there’s something else, he’s also a vampire, and although he reckons he has a handle on this secret, he’s not prepared for the day when people he thinks are the FBI drug him and haul him away.

Ashton Kennedy isn’t human anymore and, as a member of a race of beings known simply as Inkarna, exists through the aeons by stealing bodies. At first his mission seems simple enough: break into the stronghold of a rival Inkarna House and liberate an artifact. He doesn’t bank on discovering a vampire, bound and tucked away neatly in a sarcophagus.

The two unlikely allies are thrown together in a house of mysteries, and have to battle overwhelming odds against an implacable enemy. The question is, can they overcome their differences long enough to make it out alive, or undead? '

Blood and Fire will be FREE February 10, 11, and 12, which is this coming

weekend.

You can get it from

AMAZON

AMAZON UK

Here's what GOODREADS have to say about it.

Sounds great, eh? And what a beaut of a cover!

Drawing Dead by JJ DeCeglie

2012-02-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

Jack Andrelli is a private eye but he is far from being a knight in tarnished, let alone shining, armour.

Andrelli is a booze-sodden, big-mouthed, gambling addict with a death wish, who is haunted by the suicide of his teenage girlfriend and in hock to a gangster, whose goons would be all to happy to shut Andrelli's smart mouth for good.

And then he meets a femme fatale who offers him a case that he thinks will solve all of his problems once and for all.

J J De Ceglie's Drawing Dead is a whirlpool that drags you down into a delirious take on a classic private eye story, as told through the bleary eyes of a half-mad barfly.

Smart, funny and completely addictive, Drawing Dead is like staggering into a booze and piss stinking alleyway for a knee trembler and a mugging all at the same time. Yes. it's that good!

You can read my recent interview with J J De Ceglie here, if you fancy.

OUT NOW!!! UNLCE MILDRED AND OTHER STORIES BY IAN AYRIS

2012-02-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

Meet Uncle Mildred, Jonathan Sideboard, Len Munch, George Wafflemaker, and various other unnamed ne'er-do-wells and heroes in fifteen gritty crime/noir short stories, characterised by a twist and a quirk and a wayward bent.

Enjoy :)

All proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Cancer Research UK and The Breast Cancer Charities of America.

GET IT HERE!!!

JASON MICHEL ROCKS DA HOUSE!

2012-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Pulp Metal Fiction's mastermind has a cracking interview with Richard Godwin.

And he gets The Dirty into Old Lurk!

WORD!

Short, Sharp Interview: Jim Winter

2012-02-01T23:30:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

JW: Northcoast Shakedown: Sex, lies, and insurance fraud. insurance investigator Nick Kepler takes a couple of cases he shouldn't and find himself entangled in Cleveland's dark underbelly.
PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

JW: I almost always start the year with Ken Bruen's latest, and Head Stone blew me away. It's amazing how much Taylor can embrace the darkness, and he keeps coming back for more. Although this time, it literally took a piece of him. Several, actually.
PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

No, you get too involved in the story. The best a writer can do is to put the piece away for a time, then come back and look at it when they're not as attached to their work.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

I can't see myself writing for television or films simply because the politics would do bad things to my blood pressure. That said, I do plan to write one project on the slate as a screenplay first, just to see if I can do it.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

It depends. These days, you can look anything up on the Internet, and as long as you've got a good bullshit detector, you can most of it there. Still, if an opportunity to ask someone about something relevant to my work arises, I ask them.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

I started out as a Twitter hater. I thought it was annoyed, but over time I've come to enjoy using it as a promotional tool and means to interact with readers and writers. That, and I use it to issue edicts for #wheniamtheeviloverlord

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I plan to release a short story collection later this year as well as the follow up to Northcoast Shakedown

Short, Sharp Interview: Michael Young

2012-01-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

I've seen this bit and lots of people just cheat:

The Sky Might Fall is a short novel out now for Kindle. A hardboiled PI playing the Englishman abroad tries to save an almost innocent schoolgirl embroiled in an international conspiracy. In Hong Kong, mostly. With guns and girls and car chases and stuff. A noir-flavoured thriller, really.

49 words, never mind.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

I'm quite behind on TV. The only shows I've watched regularly over the last year or so are Walking Dead and Dr Who. Sopranos will be started soon enough (told you I was behind), but I'm wary of how boxsets can take over your life. Also, I really want to check out that Atlantic City thing, Boardwalk Empire? And that old David Lynch one with rabbits, can't remember what it's called. Looks pretty crazy, although I'm not sure it was ever actually broadcast on TV.

In movies, I'm getting pretty tired of wading through Hollywood's shit to find the gems. Most recently, Drive was pretty good; I thought it caught the mood and style of the book really well. Tarantino, Lynch and Cronenberg are about the only modern directors who regularly float my boat, and they don't make anywhere near enough movies.

Out east I like Park Chan-Wook in Korea and Takeshi Miike in Japan. Okay, pretty obvious, but they make classy intelligent films, and hunting down Miike's back catalogue always throws up some interesting stuff. Those two both feature in Three...Extremes (2004), a pretty cool and bizarre little horror triple bill I saw last week, also featuring Fruit Chan from Hong Kong, who I've never heard of but has a really nice name and tells a fantastically sordid story in his segment.

My reading has always been random, sporadic, and varied. Right now I'm liking Josh Stallings, Ray Banks, Allan Guthrie, Christa Faust, Anthony Neil Smith. The new pulp masters, you might say. There's a lot of young talent getting a chance through the likes of Untreed Reads, or self-published, and I'm a huge fan of New Pulp Press, and Hard Case, of course, especially now they're on Kindle. Also, I am thrilled by the resurgence of the novella in ebooks.

But I try to keep it varied. There's always some Bukowski, JG Ballard, Bulgakov or Hemingway that I haven't read, as well as others. And one of my favourite hobbies is to drink prodigious amounts of cheap rum and read aloud from Finnegan's Wake until I pass out. Aaah, good times.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

Yes, but ebooks rushed out on the net can make it difficult. It's not so much the writing as the editing. "Ooh," I'll think, "Someone should've caught that typo."

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

I'd love to see my own books turned into movies, but I'd rather have some pretentious and ultimately useless role in the project. Stick me in a Hollywood apartment for 6 months, call me a script editor and I'll complain about what the writers are doing to my work until the movie's finished. Then I'll bitch about it at the premiere, while downing all the free booze.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Details, mostly. I like to have my facts straight about things that exist in the real word. With guns and cars, for example, I like to know all about them so I don't make some basic error. Even if I don't specify the model in the book, I want to know that the car I'm thinking of really is available in metallic British racing-green, and what capacity magazines are available for the CZ-75. So most of my research is writer's block by another name. At some point I have to look in the mirror and shout 'Get on with it!' like an extra from The Holy Grail.

Research is most important for science bits, historical fiction or countries you've never been to, and I don't write any of that. Anything else you can make up.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

I'm here aren't I? Go, people, go buy my book. It's only 99 cents on Kindle for goodness sake. Buy another one for your brother-in-law's birthday, he'll love it!

No, I'm not on twitter or facebook. But I do have a bit of a blog.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I have a sales target in mind before I write a sequel, but there could be one out by the end of summer. It was so fun to write (even though it was heartbreaking) that I know I could produce another pretty damn quick. I've kinda been thinking in terms of a trilogy, but with nothing quite concrete yet. Also, producing the cover was really fun. I'd like to put out another self-published book just to do that again. A few other interesting projects are underway, so we'll see what happens to them.

Meanwhile, The Sky Might Fall is out now for Kindle. 99 cents, 77 pennies or 0,87 euros. And thanks very much for having me!

http://harry-vee-pi.blogspot.com/

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Trestle Press/ Brit Grit/ Drunk On the Moon - UPDATE!

2012-01-31T14:26:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:

I sent this letter to Trestle Press yesterday.

'I would like to request that the following Ebooks that I have authored - and have been published by Trestle Press- be removed from sale:

Drunk On the Moon

Brit Grit

I would also like to request that the story 'When The Moon Falls' ,that I recently sent you, not be included in the print Drunk On The Moon anthology or published in any other form by Trestle Press.

With regard to the charity anthology, Brit Grit Too, that I edited,I will discuss this matter with the writers involved as to whether they would like the book withdrawn.

As you are aware, I own the rights to all of my writing and would like this matter dealt with as of now.

Thank you.

Paul D Brazill'

So, that's how it stands. I'll let you know more about a new home for my Drunk On The Moon and Brit Grit stories at a later date.

Short, Sharp Interview: Chris Knopf

2012-01-31T01:48:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

Re-release of The Last Refuge – my first book, suddenly in demand because of subsequent books in the series. We have a cleaned-up trade paperback and Kindle version. (Okay, 27 words.)

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

I don’t participate much in popular culture, regrettably (two books a year and a full time, intense job…) So I don’t get out much. But I did see and loved Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. My favorite espionage novel, re-read dozens of times. I once ripped off aspects of the ending, but in which of my books remains top secret.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

No. I’m constantly editing what I read. I tend to whipsaw between appreciation and criticism. That said, I can still get lost in a story, which is the proof a great work.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Absolutely. I’ve written lots of TV and radio commercials. I have no fear of scripts. Hey, Hollywood, make me an offer. I’m all ears. (We’re constantly “in discussions.” Someday, maybe something will drop).

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Very little until the new standalone, Dead Anyway, due out in the Fall of 2012. It’s a mystery/thriller involving lots of digital technology, financial shenanigans and identity theft. Before this book, I could draw on all the stuff I’ve learned in my business and through personal interests (some might say obsessions). Wikipedia is my new best friend.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

Very, in that it keeps me in touch with people in our mystery community. It’s also good for promoting new releases. It’s the future, might as well dive in with both feet.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

Ice Cap, a Jackie Swaitkowski mystery out May, 2012 from Thomas Dunne/Minotaur. Dead Anyway a standalone out Fall, 2012, from Permanent Press.

(more Chris Knopf here)

Short, Sharp Interview: Mike Evers

2012-01-30T06:30:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch The Chaosofier in 25 words or less?

A humorous, fast-paced fantasy adventure involving Chaos Theory and the philosophical concept of bifurcation. It features small, magical creatures and a troublesome chaos lord.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

I haven’t had as much free time since my baby son was born. The Shawshank Redemption was repeated on the telly the other night and I was thinking – now this is good story telling. Book wise – Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle really got me hooked with its interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast. I tend to read historical stuff a lot nowadays, especially stuff by Antony Beevor, Norman Stone or Stephen Ambrose.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

I’m sure it’s possible. It all depends how caught up you are with a story or piece of work. However, I must say I’m finding it increasingly difficult because nowadays I usually analyse (fiction, especially) for interesting ways of using words or structuring a text.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Blimey! I think any writer would love to have their work adapted for such things, but I’m not sure how I’d manage with having to adjust to a screenplay or script format. That would be a whole new ball game. However, I reckon The Chaosifier is just crying out to be made into a musical – but that’s just me.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

The Chaosifier is a fantasy (or urban fantasy) story and so I guess the raw materials were predominantly my imagination and prior knowledge of some locations. Also, some of the ideas are based on research I did during a Masters’ paper about the epistemological problems of predicting events. However I did use things like Google Map (and Street View) to check out locations – what a resource! Wikipedia, and the Web generally, is also incredibly useful for doing research and I’ve been using it a lot lately. My new book features some historical accounts which I want to be fairly accurate.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

I’m just discovering the importance of having an online presence as a writer, so I’m Tweeting (spamming?), Face-booking, and blogging like the best of them. This is time which could actually be spent writing, of course.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I’m excited about my new novella, which is now well underway. It’s indirectly linked to The Chaosifier in that it’s set in the same fictional Yorkshire town of Hopfield. However, it involves completely different characters and a very famous person from English legend, who just happens to be buried down the road from where I live (apparently). I’m hoping that it’ll be published round about late spring early summer. Watch this space…

You can check out The Chaosifier on Super-e-books: http://super-e-books.com/2012/01/the-chaosifier-by-mike-evers/

A character from this book also happens to run this intriguing blog: http://mountain-lord.blogspot.com/

Stories For Sunday:Rhatigan, Brennan & Brown.

2012-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm too hungover to write anything constructive but these stories are beut. Honest.

In the Hard Nowhere by Chris Rhatigan is a great opener to a cracking collection.

McDojo by Gerard Brennan is big fun at the mega Shotgun Honey.

Bacon by Cormac Brown is an old story but brilliant.

Right, I'm off to play BubbleWitch.

Short, Sharp Interview: Jill Edmondson`

2012-01-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?
Jill: Yes I can! "The Lies Have It" (released in November 2011):

From bondage to ballots to bullets. (6)
There's a new party whip in town. (7)
Politics makes for strange bedfellows indeed! (6)

Hmmm... six words to spare... Toronto politics meets kinky sex!

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

Jill: Books, books, books! I recently read a great true crime/history book called “The Killer of Little Shepherds” by Douglas Starr. It’s about a a serial killer in France and the early days of forensic sciences/the developing days of criminology as a discipline. The book is full of all kinds of fascinating facts and interesting bits of trivia. Just think about solving crime before DNA, ballistics, or even fingerprints! In earlier days, they used ear identification charts and did autopsies without gloves!

Between 1876 and 1893, an Italian University Professor named Lombroso, who was considered a leader in the nascent world of criminology, published a few books expounding on his theory that there were physical markers of “born criminals,” such as a low forehead, jug ears, thick eyebrows (unibrows), and long arms. And of course, ALL epileptics were born criminals, or so Lombroso claimed. It’s incredible to think about how much has changed in <150 years.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

Jill: I don’t know about other writers, but ever since I began writing mysteries, I can hardly read them. I am plodding my way through a whodunit right now, first time I’ve picked up a mystery in ages, and it’s by an old familiar fave author... As I read it, I can’t help but think to myself “why did the author say this or that, use this word instead of that one...?” I’m not sure I’ll finish reading it. Kind of sad, actually.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Jill: Well, the Sasha Jackson Mysteries have been optioned for development as a TV series, so YES, I do have an interest. I have never even tried scriptwriting, so who knows if I can learn it and learn it well. I’d sure like to try though.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Jill: As it happens, either a little or a lot. Book 1, Bloodand Groom, required virtually no research; Book 2, Dead Light District, required a ton; Book 3, The Lies Have It, required very, very little; and Book 4, Frisky Business, will require a helluva lot of research.

Dead Light District is about a missing prostitute (and so much more, but I don’t want to spoil it!) The idea for the book was spawned by a paper I did when I was working on my Master’s. The essay was for a course in Equality & Social Justice, and my paper was on Human Rights and the Sex Trade. I came up with so much jaw-dropping research, but for various reasons had to cut it from the essay... The leftover essay research became fodder for a novel.

Frisky Business will have a similar gestation. The plot, about a murdered porn star, was inspired by Chapter 2 in “Empire of Illusion” by Chris Hedges. I’ll dig through Hedges’s references and sources and come up with a whodunit based on what I find.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

Jill: Very! It’s interesting how different media lead to different relationships or offer different benefits.

I have had a number of book reviews that came about via Twitter; I have connected with a number of other authors via my blog; and Facebook seems too be where and how readers connect with me (or me with them). It’s interesting to see who’s drawn to what.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

Jill: I really want to get the next Sasha Jackson books done! And I am curious/anxious to see what happens with the TV option... Maybe this time next year, we can do an interview live from my Caribbean villa ;-)

Meet Jill Edmondson here:

On Twitter @JillEdmondson

Website www.jilledmondson.com

The Lies Have It on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Sasha-Jackson-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B006VXOMKY

Publisher www.IguanaBooks.com

Facebook: SashaJacksonMysteries

Vic Watson Interviews me ...

2012-01-28T03:32:00.000-08:00

... over at ELEMENTARYWATSON.

Where I talk about Brit Grit, 13 Shots Of Noir and all sorts of cobblers.

POP OVER IF IT TICKLES YOUR FANCY.

Short, Sharp Interview: Chris Rhatigan

2012-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

Watch You Drown is a collection of short crime fiction that will leave you lost, sad, and craving alcohol to numb the pain.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

Julie Morrigan's Show No Mercy rocked my world -- her short stories are structured so well. Right now I'm reading Lawrence Block's The Burglar Who Though He Was Bogart, which is delcious.

In terms of TV, I'm a big fan of comedy. Portlandia is hilarious -- they make fun of hipsters in a refreshingly acerbic way. They're also bringing back absurdity in sketch comedy reminscent of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

As for movies, loved Young Adult. It's by the same writer who did Juno, but it's kind of an anti-Juno. It's got a thoroughly despicable, yet really interesting, main character. And the way it portrays Midwestern America is pitch perfect.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

Yes. I read mostly for pleasure (or pain). I'll analyze something I read if it's really good but I can shut off that part of my brain when I feel like it.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Yes. I'd love to write comedy. Though I haven't tried at all. I'd probably write a novella or novel first.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

I do very little research. I like to mine things from my past, screw around on Google a bit. The rest is imagination. That's where I think the good stuff happens. For this one story idea, I took a whole day out and did field research. Then the story didn't pan out at all -- I could have spent that whole day writing instead!

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

Very. It's how I connect with other writers and readers. In a way, I'm closer with some of my online friends than the people I know. Most of my experience is on Facebook and at my blog, Death by Killing.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I just took over All Due Respect. I'm reading submissions for that and editing already accepted work. Founding Editor Alec Cizak did a fantastic job selecting strong crime fiction and I plan on following in his footsteps.

I have a couple of short stories I'm kicking around, too. And Pulp Ink Vol. 2 might be on its way in the near future...

(More Chris Rhatigan here)

Short, Sharp Interview: Jason Michel

2012-01-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

PDB: What the hell is And The Streets Screamed Blue Murder!?

It is the tragic history of Alfie Lime.

Bad things happen to good people.

An act sends poor old Alfie into the dark & surreal underbelly of Paris.

He meets some colourful characters.
Snowflakes fall.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

Plowing my way through A Song Of Fire & Ice series, which is completely engrossing & been digging a lot of China Miéville.

KILL LIST definitely needs another spin. Not before doing any DIY though.

TAKE SHELTER was a phenomenal piece of cinema.

Recently enjoyed HANNA too, oh & talking of spy flicks watched Funeral In Berlin again.

As for TV, well, I watch the American stuff for the drama & since The Wire's done, then Breaking Bad has got me by the balls.

For comedy, I've been chuckling my way through Trailer Park Boys & Garth Meranghi's Dark Place.

Oh, & the new BBC Sherlock is fun.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

Absolutely. I don't read to judge, I read because I enjoy reading. I'm no academic. If something floors me, it's NOT because of their use of the subjunctive.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Would bloody love to. Never been asked.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Well, for the last, seeing as Alfie was a journo, I thought I'd better ask one how he approaches this & that. So,Chris Rhatigan was kind enough to put up with my pestering.

As for the rest, well, I live in the suburbs of Paris & have wandered its streets quite a few times. All the other stuff is just pure interest & fascination. Fortean phenomena, gnosticism & conspiracy theories ... what's not to like?!

PDB: How useful or important is social media for you as a writer?

I know it's important & I do try but often I just can't be arsed with it. There's not enough time in the day, too many books to read, movies to watch, ideas to play with.

I'm a shit self-publicist.
PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

PULP METAL MAGAZINE will keep on putting stuff out when I get 'round to it & will probably go quarterly as of the next issue.

PULP METAL FICTION has a wonderful collection of Chris Rhatigan's short stories out now & I'm also putting out an anthology of Richard Godwin's MUSTARD MAN series with two unpublished stories to boot!

As for the writing, well, I'll continue working on the Stories Of Old Lurk which will tie in with a follow up to ATSSBM!

(MORE JASON MICHEL HERE)

Short, Sharp Interview: R C Bridgestock

2012-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

I had a quick natter with the husband and wife crime-writing sensation that goes by the name of R C Bridgestock ...

PDB: Can you pitch your latest publication/ project in 25 words or less?

‘Consequences’ The intricate piecing together of a puzzle allowing the reader to feel the inner workings of a police investigation, which very few books do.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

Our daughter and son-in-law bought us the boxed DVD first series of ‘Dexter’ for Christmas – we’re hooked!

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

As co-authors we are lucky enough to be able to question each other’s thoughts, ideas and responses so I guess we automatically use the same method when reading.

However it would be impossible not to be objective in respect of police procedurals, when between us we have spent nearly fifty years working within the police force. We are totally honest though about our affliction and understand the need for entertainment.

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

Yes, we do. In fact since we started writing the DI Dylan series we have had many remarks from professionals in the industry that it could quite easily be adapted.

One quote from well known script writer Peter J Hammond said about Deadly Focus, ‘It's both witty and harrowing, and the dialogue and characters are great. It also reveals so much about working coppers' problems with the system. I know this sort of thing has been dealt with in previous police stories, but you bring a deeper insight to it without being preachy or pretentious.

Most importantly, the police characters are believable and one cares about them. The mortuary viewing scene with the dead child is heartbreaking. In fact, it's a difficult book to put down.

Another from Carol Dove, Chief Executive Propellor TV (SKY) Winner of Hotbirds Award in 2008 said, ‘The novel takes you on a gripping venture into a criminal world that most of us are fortunate enough never to encounter.’

Sam Taylor – Creative Director says, ‘It’s good, and in current climes the more people who can get a 1st hand account of what being a police officer really means, the better. Nicola Harris, Editor/Assistant Director said, ‘‘Deadly Focus’ is very gripping and hard hitting. I think it would make an amazing film.’

White Lilies the third in the series is with our publisher Caffeine Nights Publishing, book four Snow Kills is in the process of a re-write and book five and six are in their infancy - there is plenty more material where they came from for a new TV/Film detective!

Who knows what the future holds?

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Whilst obviously a vast amount of our writing is based on our own personal life experiences within the police service we still have to do a lot of research. Systems are continually being piloted and changed within our police forces to aid the police officers to detect and catch the criminal for instance, and we have to keep abreast of those as DI Dylan and the crimes he investigates are very current. We write however from the heart, through the eyes and with the feelings of those who have been there and got the T-shirt as you might say. Our main research in each novel is done on the sub plots at the moment.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

What did writers do without it? Social media was an eye opener for us. In the first instance just seeing a book trailer made us ready to buy - we are believers! We consider online tools to be the fastest and easiest way for an unknown writer to begin building his/her audience, get better at their craft and network with others. Cut to the basics – you need to promote your books in order to get readers.

In such a short time we have built up a following of over 9,000 on our Facebook sites (one with 172 waiting to join), including our ‘Deadly Focus’ Group site @ http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/57681551283/. Over 678 on Twitter and 500+ contacts on Linkedin to name a few. We have had 1,642 hits on our two Youtube interviews with Calendar TV and Caffeine Nights and the Anchor woman Christine Talbot of ITV News even re-tweeted this fact yesterday!

Through these sites we have also met our new Literary Agent who is representing us in South Korea and Japan.

So, if you haven’t jumped into social media yet, now’s the time!

Embrace the social media. The future has arrived.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

Oh, gosh it’s amazing! 2012 as we have already said sees the publication and launch of ‘Consequences’ the second in the DI Jack Dylan series, quenching the thirst of our followers who are forever asking us for updates of publications and book signing events.

We are setting out on two book signing tours, one already scheduled from April 12th – 24th this year in Yorkshire, and since we now live on the Isle of Wight we are travelling back to the Island and completing our tour at Stratford-Upon-Avon for ‘World Book Night,’ and the anniversary of Shakespear’s death when they hold a week full of events in the historic town.

We also run a small writing circle on the Isle of Wight and we annually organise two writing competitions on the Island each year to inspire others to read and write – especially children. The monies raised go to local charities so it’s a real community affair. You can read all about it @ www.iowwritingcircle.co.uk; see pictures of past events and presentations as well as read winning stories.

The ‘Crime & Intrigue’ competition involving the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary will be launched in March and a presentation will be held at our Island’s Newport Minster in June to fall in line with ‘National Crime Writing Week’.

In June/July we are hoping to do a southern book tour, and in between this we are booked to do talks on the ‘Life of a Senior Investigative Officer – what it’s like to take charge of murder,’ which we do for local groups in aid of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, where we also help the very dedicated fundraising team when we can.

Last November we did a talk at CSI Portsmouth Bookfest with the likes of Mark Billingham, John Harvey and Michael Ridpath and this year we are hoping to do this again. In August we are expecting a grandchild! What more could anyone want?

Thank you so very much for giving us the chance to be interviewed on your very popular blogspot Paul!

To all our readers; everyone has a story to tell. Why not tell yours? Look at us – who knows where it will lead? You can read more about our journey @ www.rcbridgestock.com & www.caffeine-nights.com

(Find Out More about R C Bridgestock here)

Short, Sharp Interview: J J De Ceglie

2012-01-24T04:07:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch Drawing Dead in 25 words or less?

Uh, this is gonna be a little over...fuck it right?

Jack Andrelli's life - a quick checklist.

Dead girlfriend...check

Alcohol problem...check

Gambling debt...check

Looming death...check

Committing fraud...check

Throw in the most beautiful woman Jack's ever laid eyes on and the fact that she's trying to play him like a fiddle and you're starting to get the picture.

Yeah, Jack Andrelli is fighting for his life, and he's gonna crack wise and drink booze right up until the reaper has him by the balls.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

Books: I read Dan Fante's "Fante: A Family's Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving - A Memoir". I thought it was fantastic (like everything he has written). A loving, raw tribute to his father John. Some snapshots of his troubled brother. A genuinely moving story about fathers and sons and writing. Much hell, much redemption.

I know Fante is writing a crime novel, "Point Doom", I bet my balls that it'll be a cracker.

Also read James Sallis' "Drive". Brutal, simple, sometimes poetic. Just a ripping read, only a novella really, about a stunt car driver who also expertly drives for robberies. It is an exercise in existential noir, the lone human agent making his way in a absurd world, and it has a real sense of place, the grit and sun and air of California comes to life in between the lines. Along with much driving it has a second act full of psychotic savage revenge. I found myself not really wanting the book to end.

Films: I made a list of the ten I really liked in 2011 the other day, Tree of Life, Take Shelter, Drive, Midnight in Paris, Yellow River (Korean), I Saw The Devil (Korean), Rampart, Limitless, Warrior & Submarine.

TV: Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire. Love'em both equally, like a man does his children.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

I think so...definitely. Otherwise the enjoyment disappears somewhat. If you sit reading in judgement of the prose at all times you are tending toward asshole territory aren't you...aren't you?

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

I do...I wrote a script last year and have had some interest, and have a couple of other things I'm working on with some people too. Hopefully something comes to fruition in 2012.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

Depends...for "Drawing Dead" not so much, I wrote it from the gut, though for "Damned Good" I went over each poker hand with a Pro to make sure they were absolutly legit and believable at an elite level of high-stakes poker.

So yeah, it depends...mostly I write what I know, or think I know, and make measured extensions from that.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

I'm new to it, so I'm still green, but what I am learning, and learning very quickly, is that it helps, it helps very, very much.

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I have a start on a new crime work, about 10, 000 words, another psycho noir type of deal, and I have a bunch of notes planned out for another work, but I'll keep that under wraps.

There'll be some more Kindle releases of previous works, "Damned Good" with the original ending, and also works that have been stuck in transit like "Princes Without Kingdom".

And here's hoping I get a script sold, or made, both would be best though huh.

(more J J De Ceglie here)

Short, Sharp Interview: Pearce Hansen

2012-01-23T01:21:00.000-08:00

PDB: Can you pitch Stagger Bay in 25 words or less?

A street paladin’s bloody vengeance spree, where all his moral choices only seem to increase the body count. A father’s return to his estranged son.

PDB: Which books, films or television shows have floated your boat recently?

'American Horror Story' surprised me -- give it a chance past the first couple episodes, the writing was surprisingly good, and there was actually *gasp!* a discernible story arc. I haven't seen 'Driver' yet, but I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD release.

I'm in the middle of reading Cody Goodfellow's 'Radiant Dawn' at present -- its criminal that this guy isn't a household name: RD is like X-Files if it actually had intelligent writers, and if it had been made by HBO (ala Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome) rather than having to please the censors on primetime cable.

PDB: Is it possible for a writer to be an objective reader?

Yes. Or rather, if it's NOT possible, the writer's not going to be able to do their own editing, neh?

PDB: Do you have any interest in writing for films, theatre or television?

I do. My fifth project will probably be straight-to-screenplay, and I plan on adapting some of my older stuff one of these days.

PDB: How much research goes into each book?

That's predicated on the current technology levels. In my initial spurt of writing ('96-'06) I was relying entirely on memory and (usually bad) dreams -- it was as much catharsis as anything else, getting rid of bad memories about fucked up experiences.

When I re-wrote Street Raised starting in '09, technology like Google Earth and the proliferation of 'Remember when?' blogs made it so I had to wade through research material for 18 months before being satisfied with the re-write, which set SR firmly in the East Bay of 1984. I'll say this: given the current state of the Internet, a writer has no excuses for factual errors anymore.

PDB: How useful or important are social media for you as a writer?

See above in terms of research. Writing is a lonely business, and the networking has been helpful -- a lot of other writers have helped me, I'm trying to not be utterly useless, and all that would be a lot less accessible to us without social media.

Also (sort of a plug, but sort of just noting something NUTS): I offered Street Raised free on Kindle for five days, promoting the Stagger Bay release -- I've tweeted three times in the 24 hours since SB came out, and FB posted twice I think -- SR has gone up to #1,000 ranking for Free Kindle books, in one day, with no slowing down as yet -- I'm not offering that as a 'brag,' because i have no idea what it means yet, BUT . . . how could that have happened before social media?

PDB: What’s on the cards in 2012?

I'm going to promote Stagger Bay as hard as I can with everything I learned from the Street Raised re-release, hopefully stopping short of being a whore or an ass.

When I hit the point of diminishing returns on promotion, I'm going to A) finish & publish my third novel The Storm Giants, which I'm 70k words into start writing for all the crime magazines, and sort of get my short fiction creds back C) catch up on all the book reviews I owe to all the wonderful people that have encouraged me -- all writers know how emotionally brutal this game is, at the BEST of times -- I owe, and I always to pay back, good or bad

Stories For Sunday: Banks, Dark & Duffy.

2012-01-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Travel Agent by Ray Banks.

Ray Banks is one of the best writers around, he really is. He writes gritty and witty crime stories, usually set in the north of England, and his Call Innes quartet is a great example of how to write a realistic P I series.

In the latest issue of The Crime Factory, however, he takes us over to Prague with a bleak and brilliant story called The Travel Agent. A bit of a departure for Banks but as excellent as always.

Man or Mouse by Mark Dark.

Up and coming crime writer Mark Dark's hard hitting Man Or Mouse is the gangland set story of a footsoldier wanting to rise up in the ranks. A whip crack of hard boiled crime writing from a name to watch out for.

Blood & Alcohol by Frank Duffy

The Drunk On the Moon series continues to bend genres with Frank Duffy's typically wonderful take on Roman Dalton, werewolf private detective.

A cold blooded killer. A mysterious man with a past cloaked in shadows. Dark, delirious dreams of strange worlds. Frank Duffy's Blood and Alcohol is P I Roman Dalton's most haunting story yet.

BRIT GRIT ON THE BOX!

2012-01-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

With the BBC’s pretty damn smashing Sherlock back on the small screen, it may again seem that America is still the centre of hard-boiled crime television, such as Breaking Bad and The Wire, while the United Kingdom, is the land of Dame Agatha style cozies, stuck-up, Latin quoting police detectives and foppish socio-pathic geniuses!

However, for over forty years British television also has looked at the grubby underbelly and produced plenty of gritty crime writing.

While we may think of sixties and seventies British TV cops as sophisticated post James Bonds, for example, Frank Marker, who was played so brilliantly by Alfred Burke in the sixties television series PUBLIC EYE was certainly no Simon Templar, Jason King or John Steed, I can tell you.

The Public Eye ran for 10 years –from 1965 to 1975- with almost 100 episodes and although I haven’t seen it since then I remember it quite well and very fondly. Marker moved from a dingy office in London to another flea pit in Birmingham and eventually to Brighton, and I can still picture him walking along a wind and rain swept sea-front, looking like someone from a Morrissey song.

Marker looked like a soggy mongrel and he was a walking hard luck story, getting knocked about by the police as well as criminals and even being framed and sent to prison.

Not a lot of peace and love there, then.

The seventies was a time when music and film were doing some pretty ground breaking and experimental stuff and, in the UK at least, so was TV.

The BBC’s Play For Today, for example, is looked back upon with dewy eyed reverence these days. And so it should be. There were plays by Dennis Potter –Blue Remembered Hills, Mike Leigh –Abigail’s Party, Alan Bleasdale, John Osborne. Some of them were terrifying to the young mind- I still cringe when I remember the harrowing and brilliant Edna The Inebriated Woman. Others were hilarious –Rumpole Of The Baily, which spawned the television series.

And some were rock hard.

In 1975, Philip Martin’s controversial Gangsters aired and it was great. Gangsters was true Brit Grit television. Set in Birmingham, it was a multicultural crime story about illegal immigrants and corrupt politicians. I was thirteen at the time and I loved it. There was a violence, swearing, nudity! What more could you want?!

The next day at school everyone was talking about it. The subsequent media furore only added to the buzz.

Gangsters was such a success it was made into a series with theme music from the prog rock band Greenslade. It told the story of Kline, played by super-craggy Maurice Colborn, ex SAS, fresh out of prison and trying to go straight. And failing.

Like the Play For Today it came from the series was hardboiled, with maybe only Mike Hodges’ Get Carter as an antecedent.

By season two, the series really took a turn for the mental, though. The title sequence now had blues singer Chris Farlow belting out the theme song and looked like something from a low budget Kung Fu film.

Indeed, it went down such a weird path that it even had writer Philip Martin regularly appearing as himself dictating scenes to a typist. And later he appeared as The White Devil, a hit man dressed as W C Fields(a role originally intended for Les Dawson!) who eventually killed Kline.

Gangsters, which had started off as a hard hitting social realist crime drama , ended fantastically with the characters walking off the set, shots of the writers literally tossing away the script and a ‘That’s All Folks’ caption appearing on screen.

‘Daft!’ said my sister in law, who watched it with me. And she was right, I suppose, but then ‘daft’ isn’t always a bad thing, is it?

In one play and the two seasons of Gangsters, there were drug addicts, hit men, sleazy night clubs, triads, murders, racist comedians, the CIA, strippers and all manner of urban rough and tumble. And W C Fields.

And on to the nineties.

CRACKER was a Granada TV series that was created by the writer Jimmy McGovern which ran from 1993- 1995. A mere two years, yet it made a great impact in that short time.(Okay, there was also a fine Hong Kong set special in 1996 -and another in 2006,which I didn’t see.)

The star of the show was Scottish comedy actor Robbie Coltrane who was previously best known for a cracking- see what I did then? – performance in the BBC’s version of John Byrne’s Tuttie Fruttie and for throwing a chair through a pub window.

Coltrane played Fitz, a brilliant, hard-drinking, heavy – smoking, bad- tempered criminal psychologist who worked as an assistant to the Manchester Police Force. “I drink too much, I smoke too much, I gamble too much. I am too much.” Top man.

Colrane was mesmerising. The stories were gritty and twisty and moving -even when they pushed the boundaries of melodrama. The rest of the actors involved were spot on too, in particular Christopher Ecclestone as the young detective learning more about life’s underbelly than he wanted. And Robert Carlyle was super impressive as the bitter, disillusioned Albie in the amazingly intense story ‘To Be A Somebody.’ But it was all great.

Later, there was a watered-down U.S. version with Robert

Pastorelli as Fitz . Pastorelli is a good actor but it really was a decaffeinated version of the original.

So, what Brit Grit television have we had recently? Luther and ...

To be honest, I couldn’t tell you, since I haven’t lived in the UK for over ten years. But if there is none, then surely one of the writers from Brit Grit Too could put Brit Grit back on the box?

For example, wouldn't Darren Sant's Tales From The Longcroft Estate make a great series? And maybe Nick Quantrill could do for Hull what Gangsters did for Birmingham? And as for Richard Godwin... is there a television station brave enough to adapt Richard's work?

(You can buy Brit Grit Too here)