Big Beat From Badsville

"Tomorrow will be gloomy with a chance of morning frogs"

2012-02-10T00:53:00.000-08:00

Your Friday morning Cramps.

Panel assignments for Crimefest have been issued. I'm moderating a panel called Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, with Helen Fitzgerald, Douglas Lindsay, Michael Malone and Damien Seaman. I'll leave you to decide which of them are mad. I am currently thinking about the fiendish homework I am planning to set...

A review of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, reviewingtheevidence on Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT and Lin Anderson's PICTURE HER DEAD, The Game's Afoot reviews Val McDermid's A PLACE OF EXECUTION and a review of Stuart MacBride's SHATTER THE BONES.

Several Denise Mina events at the New Zealand International Arts Festival.

Alexander McCall Smith in St Louis, Missouri on April 16th.

Douglas Lindsay on naming THE UNBURIED DEAD.

North East Life talks to Val McDermid.

Tony Black's GUTTED becomes GELYNCHT in German (which, if my German is up to it, translated as LYNCHED). Gratuliere, Tony! There's also a wee video auf deutsch to go with it.

Norfolk is a big fan of crime fiction - some nice events in March and it's the most borrowed genre in local libraries.

Edinburgh Book Festival Director says that the book festival should be about books, not celebrities. Well done, that man.

Kate Atkinson on her MBE.

Finally, a rather sneery article about genre fiction.

Don't Mess With Me - I'm Savage and Brutal

2012-02-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

First of all, I'm very excited to announce that my short story DEPRAVITY LANE appears in SHORT STACK - a new anthology of pulp fiction written by women (the US kindle version is here). The print version will follow. This is the result of a competition held by the wonderful people at For Books' Sake and Pulp Press last year.

I'm very, very glad I have the flu because I've spent the day in bed reading all the other stories and I'm so pleased to be included in such a wonderful line-up. The characters include punk rock journalists, zombies and xenobiologists, and there are stories of freaks and fairytales, sadness and madness, disease and destruction, revenge, weirdness and just good, old-fashioned nastiness. Apparently, we are "a savage and brutal bunch". Excellent. Dad, this one is not for you. Don't even mention it to Mum. My own story is a wee homage to one of my favourite books and films - Nightmare Alley (which gives me the opportunity to steal this brilliantly doctored poster courtesy of the marvellous Smudge MacRae at Blasted Heath).

The other stories are by Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg, Bernadette Russell, Jane Osis, Zoe Lambert, Icy Sedgwick, Evangeline Jennings, Gill Shutt, Claire Rowland and Mihaela Nicolescu. A tasty treat for fans of wicked women.

Ian Rankin calls the BBC a bunch of fannies and numpties (and Val McDermid isn't very happy either). And Ian also complains about his scantily clad Twitter followers.

Alexander McCall Smith talks about medical ethics and teapots (yes, it's the Daily Mail).

Austcrime reviews Gordon Ferris' TRUTH DARE KILL, a review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION and A DARKER DOMAIN and Eurocrime reviews Lin Anderson's PICTURE HER DEAD.

An interview with Christopher Brookmyre.

Douglas Lindsay is his usual hilarious self.

Ray Banks on the state of crime fiction. Some great points in the comments - especially Steve Mosby's.

Frantic Friday

2012-02-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

A short post today as I have a conference this weekend. Thanks again to those who donated prizes for our raffle. It's lovely of you and I'm going to hug you all when I see you. The organisation is staffed by volunteers (250 volunteers to each member of staff!) and we rely a lot on donations.

Anyway, Scottish crime fiction news:

Lots of good stuff at the Margins Book Festival, and The List also has an interesting debate between Helen Fitzgerald, Alan Bissett and Allan Wilson, on the current literary landscape.

Crime fiction is the most borrowed genre in Britain's libraries.

Maxine at Petrona with one of her extremely thoughtful reviews of Peter May's THE BLACKHOUSE.

Is there no end to Ian Rankin's talents? Hear him in the panel game The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Mark Billingham and Paul Johnston in conversation at Crime Culture.

Crimefest panels are done, and moderators are being contacted about their panels. Woohoo! I'm moderating one called Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know and the initials of my panelists are HF, DL, DS and MM ;o)

Kill The Poor

2012-01-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

I thought this track from The Dead Kennedys was apt, since I believe it is Her Maj's favourite punk song. I appear to have been invited to a Royal Garden Party. Thinking fast, I said I would only go if my Mum wanted to go. Since, apparently "Scotland's too far to come and visit you now I'm 80, our Donna", I thought I would be safe. How wrong I was. Apparently, Scotland is now a mere sparrow's fart away. Her only worry is that she now has to find a fascinator. And now I, too, am left with the terrible dilemma of finding a fascinator that matches my Docs.

My Mum now has the other residents of the retirement community curtseying to her when they meet in the hallways. And then there's my poor Dad...I said to Mum that she needed photographic ID to get into the Palace, and no, that her pension book wasn't enough. "What about your passport?" I said.

"I think my passport's out of date since my ankles are too big to fly, these days," (don't ask).

I heard my Dad in the background "My passport's in the kitchen drawer."

"We don't care about your passport, Patrick," came the scathing response. "Who is it that's going to the Royal Garden Party?" Silence. "Who, Patrick, who?"

"You, dear."

"That's right. So, what don't we care about?"

"My passport, dear."

"Exactly."

I have created a monster. A monster who is now on the hunt for a fascinator.

Irvine Welsh's ECSTASY is screened in London on February 9th.

A review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION.

Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD on ABC Radio National. And Mr Rankin himself on his best story ever.

Gordon Ferris' THE HANGING SHED has, apparently, sold 150,000 e-copies.

Alexander McCall Smith to appear at Scotland's most remote literary festival.

An interview with Michael Malone.

A set of first editions by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is discovered in a charity shop.

Denise Mina wonders if sentiment is the new taboo.

For my latest blog post over at Blasted Heath, the talented Smudge doctors a poster for Nightmare Alley to make me look almost attractive. Well, from the neck down, anyway.

Tomorrow, it's the last proper day of lectures on my course before I start on my placement, and then I'm off to Allan Guthrie's event at Strathclyde University before going out to dinner with lovely pals Tony Black, Michael Malone and Kieran G. I'm planning to get them drunk so they will tell me all their secrets. I will, of course, share those secrets with you, dear Reader.

Wilder, Wilder. Faster, Faster.

2012-01-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

A lesser known Cramps song today. Incidentally, I teach a creative writing class and this week I did an exercise using songs. I started them off with some Flaming Stars (to lull them into a false sense of security) moved through Killing Joke, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and The Clash and finished up with this one from The Cramps. I think they were a bit puzzled by The Cramps. It was great fun.

Len Wanner, author of an excellent book of interviews with Scottish crime fiction authors, will be interviewing Tony Black in person on Saturday 4th February in Dalkeith. Also on 4th February, Stuart MacBride will be at the University of Dundee. And you can go to the screening of Irvine Welsh's ECSTASY and the after-party on February 18th, if you are so inclined.

And a reminder of an event on Monday - Allan Guthrie at the University of Strathclyde. See you there if you're going.

Those lovely chaps at Blasted Heath would like to serve you some #broth.

Crime Fiction Lover on comedy and crime, and recommends Chris Ewan.

Helen Fitzgerald's yummy new book cover.

Nigel Bird is featured in the East Lothian Courier.

Val McDermid on method and madness.

Douglas Lindsay does not want to be an astronaut. Which is a relief, really.

A crime writing MA? I'd sign up, if only to be taught by the rather excellent Martyn Waites.

Finally, a man plans a murder, with the intention of pinning it on the cat.

"People Ain't No Good"

2012-01-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Your Cramps title for today.

Soon, I will get back to blogging more than once a week. Soon...

This weekend, we watched Vietnamese film Three Seasons. It tells the stories of several characters - a girl whose job is to pick lotus flower and her relationship with her hermit employer, a cyclo driver and his infatuation with a prostitute, an American GI who is looking for someone, and a little boy who is a street peddlar. It's quite a slight film in many ways, but it's beautifully filmed and really interesting from the point of view of seeing a strange location.

The programme for the Aye Write! festival is now available and here are the crime fiction related events.

Friday 9th March
11am - 12.30pm or 4.30pm - 6pm - Helen Fitzgerald and Sergio Casci - Making the Pitch and Not Striking Out: From Pitch to Published (Creative Writing).
1pm - 2pm - Helen Fitzgerald and Sergio Casci - Book to Film and Film to Book: Adaptations (Creative Writing).
4.30pm - 5.30pm - Christopher Brookmyre - The Making of a Bestseller (Creative Writing)
6pm - 7pm - William McIlvanney.

Saturday 10th March
3.30pm - 4.30pm - Alex Gray and Ian Rankin: New Scottish Crime
8pm - 9.30pm - Panel Debate: Scotland's books - includes William McIlvanney

Sunday 11th March
3.30pm - 5pm - Panel Debate: What's Wrong With Women's Writing? - includes Karen Campbell.

Monday 12th March
7.30pm - 8.30pm - Alexander McCall Smith

Friday 16th March
9.30pm - 10.30pm - Mark Billingham and Christopher Brookmyre are Indiscreet

Saturday 17th March
2pm - 3pm - Gillain Galbraith and Karen Campbell - Ethics
3.30pm - 4.30pm - Lin Anderson and Caro Ramsay - Forensics

I think that's it - apologies if I've missed any!

And, in other news, K T McCaffery reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and the Sun Sentinel reviews Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION.

Irvine Welsh on his various projects, Jame McAvoy in FILTH, and a not particularly positive review of the ECSTASY film.

An interview with Philip Kerr.

Helen Fitzgerald blesses our libraries. And me too. My PLR is nowhere near as large as Helen's, but it took Ewan and I out for dinner at one of my favourite places, where I have discovered the joys of Hacienda de Chihuahua Crema de Sotol. Best of all though, is the thought that all those people were interested enough to borrow OLD DOGS. Thank you library users. That's the best thrill for me.

Finally, a final plea for any donations of books, or anything else for the helpline charity I volunteer for. All donations gratefully received for the charity raffle coming up. Thanks to everyone who has given stuff so far - I could hug you all. x

New Kind of Kick

2012-01-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Back to The Cramps again today.

This weekend's cinematic viewing list consisted of two very different films. First of all the Korean film THE MAN FROM NOWHERE - a very dark film about drugs, child slavery and heartless criminal gangs, with lots of violence and gore flying about. But there was also a little girl who gave the film a wee bit of heart and humour. I enjoyed it even though I spent several scenes covering my eyes. The second film was Iranian film A SEPARATION - a film about relationships of all sorts in which what you don't see is just as important as what you do. An emotionally powerful film that I absolutely loved.

Ian Rankin takes Alan Yentob to the Oxford Bar and calls for tax incentives to help new authors. And this weekend Ian will be at the Brighton and Hove Albion First Fiction Book Festival.

A review of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG, Norm at Crime Scraps loves Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT, The Morning Star recommends Stuart MacBride's SHATTER THE BONES, and Lambda Literary reviews Val McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK.

Christopher Brookmyre and Louise Welsh at the Margins Book and Music Festival on February 24th. And Allan Guthrie at the University of Strathclyde on January 30th (see you there if you're going along).

Den of Geek (what a great name) with the top 10 portrayals of Sherlock Holmes. I thought the third episode of the new series was totally brilliant. I have no idea how the ending happened (she says vaguely) but I loved it. And the series has boosted sales of the original Holmes books. Excellent.

Margot Kinberg puts the spotlight on Denise Mina's GARNETHILL.

The film of Irvine Welsh's ECSTASY gets its premiere in February.

Finally, a break in my university essay schedule and I am able to read proper books again - lovely, lovely crime fiction books. I've missed you so. I have just started Donald Ray Pollock's THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, which is shaping up brilliantly so far. This will be followed by THE ADJUSTMENT by the brilliant Scott Phillips and some lesbian pulp from the wonderful Christa Faust with BUTCH FATALE; DYKE DICK — DOUBLE-D DOUBLE CROSS. Life is good.

Has it really been a week?

2012-01-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hello, world, I'd forgotten what you look like. You're really rather lovely, aren't you?

Essays are done, but were swiftly followed by more whooshing deadlines. This week's involved me sitting on a bus listening to conversations. This almost led to me getting my wee head kicked in. But it was fun. I also spent two and a half hours going through a large bin of shredded paper trying to piece together something which should never have been shredded. Successfully, I may add. I felt like I was in a really long, very boring version of CSI Glasgow.

Anyway, just a wee Scottish crime fiction update.

Some Sherlock stuff first: a review of the film A GAME OF SHADOWS, and another one, and Steven Moffat on the TV Sherlock (which I'm really enjoying).

Alex Gray, Caro Ramsay, G J Moffat and Craig Robertson at the Pitlochry Festival from January 27th.

A review of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, one of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG, Josephine Tey's THE MAN IN THE QUEUE and reviews of Alexander McCall Smith's THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH and THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO RAIN.

Peter May on the Quercus Couch.

Peter Rozovsky at Detectives Beyond Borders gets into Allan Guthrie's shorts.

A really interesting interview with Louise Welsh about Scotland.

Hopefully, I will get back to normal posting some time soon...maybe by July...

Happy New Year!

2012-01-06T02:19:00.000-08:00

Hello, Dear Reader. This is just a very quick post to wish you a Happy New Year and let you know I haven't fallen off the ends of the earth. I have two essays due in on Monday and have been immersed in them since my last blog post. So this is just a very quick few links for your delectation.

A review of Quintin Jardine's AS EASY AS MURDER, one of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION and one of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD. An interesting slant on Ken McClure's DONOR from someone with an interest in organ donation (I wonder if they've read Helen Fitzgerald's THE DONOR - Helen, maybe you want to get in touch with her!). Publishers Weekly reviews M C Beaton's DEATH OF A KINGFISHER.

A review of the Sherlock Holmes film A GAME OF SHADOWS.

The London Evening Standard on books they're looking forward to in 2012.

A video trailer for Peter May's THE LEWIS MAN.

Catch Stuart MacBride in Aberdeen on Monday.

An interview with the lovely Tony Black.

And that's it for today. Sorry it's so brief! Back next week. Now it's back to ideology, hegemony and social justice.

The Bats Have Left The Bell Tower

2011-12-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

Alexander McCall Smith on the etiquette of regifting. Of course, there is another alternative. I volunteer for a UK telephone helpline charity and if you got any unwanted gifts, or you have any books - signed or otherwise - that are looking for a good home, I'm helping to organise the annual conference in February, and those would make smashing raffle prizes, so please feel free to re-gift them my way and I will love you forever :o)

And now, we need to talk about Kevin... I haven't read any fiction since I started my Masters Degree in September but, coming back from my Mum and Dad's in the wilds of Mordor after Christmas, I fired up my Kindle and got stuck into K J Wignall (aka Lord Kevin of Wignall)'s BLOOD. It's not crime fiction (although there are crimes in it). It's Young Adult vampire fiction. No - definitely not my usual fare, but Kevin Wignall is one of my favourite writers (who deserves to be far better known than he is) so, since it's been far too long since he had some crime fiction out in English (come on publishers, am I really going to have to learn Finnish to read DARK FLAG? Sinun täytyy olla pilaa (that might be Finnish for 'you've got to be kidding'. Since I got it from an internet translation thingy, it is equally likely to mean 'I've just eaten your grandma's bullfrog')).

Anyway, back to vampires. My last (and probably only) enjoyable encounter with a vampire was with the brilliant Bela Lugosi's Dead by the equally brilliant Bauhaus. My least enjoyable encounter was with that self same Bela Lugosi's 1931 Dracula. I was 13 and babysitting for the Bysouths, who lived down the road. It was nearing midnight and I foolishly turned the TV over, only to discover Bela Lugosi saying "I bid you welcome." I was petrified. I had to phone my mum to get her to come and finish babysitting with me. She was not happy. When she arrived, I didn't
know whether to be more scared of her, or the creak of Dracula's coffin opening.

So...BLOOD. It's bloody brilliant. I'll do a proper review in January, but just in case you're looking for something a bit different, I thought I'd mention it as I absolutely loved it. It was totally captivating. Not your stereotypical vampire story - far from it, in fact. Great characters (I felt very sad for Will - the main character, who's been 16 for the last 750 years. There are also some wonderful wee snippets about how he got to where he is today, and the plot was deliciously twisty and turny. And it was as creepy as hell.

And now, on to Scottish crime fiction.

Our Michael Malone picks his top crime reads of 2011, including Tony Black's excellent TRUTH LIES BLEEDING. And the lovely Julie Morrigan interviews Tony (and look at that lovely snippet of news about a Blasted Heath publication).

Oooooh, doesn't the cover for Russel McLean's next book, FATHER CONFESSOR, look good?

Sherlock Holmes under investigation.

McDroll at I Meant To Read That loved Ray Banks' DEAD MONEY.

The Spectator reviews the Alexander McCall Smith writing machine.

James McAvoy talks about Irvine Welsh's FILTH.

Here's my latest Blasted Blog column at Blasted Heath.

This will probably be my last blog post until 2nd or 3rd of January as I will be partying Hogmanay away in the Lake District, so thanks everyone for being so supportive, and I hope that next year will be a brilliant year for all of you. And here's hoping that I get to hug at least some of you in 2012.

Happy Happy, Merry Merry

2011-12-24T04:22:00.000-08:00

No Cramps today, instead, some of my favourite alternative Christmas songs.
Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - The Ramones
Stuff The Turkey - Alien Sex Fiend
Shot My Baby For Christmas - The Vaudevilles
The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis - Tom Waits
I Do, Dear, I Do - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant - Siouxsie and The Banshees
I Don't Believe In Christmas - The Tabaltix
There's Trouble Brewin' - Jack Scott
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
There Ain't No Sanity Claus - The Damned
Run, Run, Rudolph - Humpers
I Want An Alien For Christmas - Fountains of Wayne
Merry Christmas You Suckers - Paddy Roberts
Black Christmas - Poly Styrene
Santa Doesn't Cop Out On Dope - Sonic Youth
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit - Half Man Half Biscuit

Over at Tony Black's Pulp Pusher a series of recommendations of, and by, Scottish authors and bloggers amongst others: Post 1, post 2 and post 3. And Tony has a lovely, heartwarming, wee Christmas story up too. Manky Christmas, ya bawjaws...

Groovy Daz reviews GUN by Ray Banks. And Paul Brazill on DEAD MONEY.

Sarah at Crimepieces reviews Val McDermid's A PLACE OF EXECUTION,

Lin Anderson recommends her favourite reads. And The Express recommends Anthony Horowitz' THE HOUSE OF SILK and Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Here's Russel McLean with his top 10 books of the year.

Denise Mina with Pepys Christmas.

Stuart MacBride has a wee pressie for Evening Express readers.

A story from Alexander McCall Smith in the Express, and one in The Scotsman (does the man have a team of elves writing for him, I wonder?).

A Christmas Day radio play penned by David Ashton. And Ian Rankin's also on the radio on The Jazz House on New Year's Day.

A muscular Conan Doyle? And is Sherlock Holmes more brawn than brains too? And a treasure trove from the doctor who was the inspiration for Holmes.

Peter May's THE BLACKHOUSE is Richard and Judy's top Autumn Book Club read. And a video trailer for the follow-up - THE LEWIS MAN.

I leave you with the genius that is Douglas Lindsay, talking about the 10 worst Christmas songs.

Have a lovely festive season, Dear Reader. xxx

Badass Bug

2011-12-21T11:34:00.000-08:00

Today's Cramps title.

Win free ebooks for a year from those lovely people at Blasted Heath. And congratulations to Blasted Heath co-genius Allan Guthrie who will have a story in the Sunday Mail on 1st January, called (probably) HILDA'S BIG DAY OUT. Well done, Al. Brilliant news. Although...my mum reads the Mail. I'm not sure she's ready for one of your stories...

A review of Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES. And one for STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG. Denise Mina's A SICKNESS IN THE FAMILY is reviewed here, and a couple of reviews of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Three books loved by Ian Rankin.

Mysteries in Paradise reviews Peter May's THE BLACK HOUSE. And Peter May's very first short story about Ian The Elf, written when he was 4 years old. Awwww, bless.

The Irish Independent with what's likely to be hot next year.

Maxine at Petrona on Karen Campbell (also mentioning Denise Mina and Aline Templeton).

NPR on the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes. And a review of A GAME OF SHADOWS.

The latest Scottish delicacy - deep fried butter. I feel quite ill.

And, finally, I thought we'd seen the last of those lovely paper sculptures but here's a video of a final (?) one.

Can't Find My Mind

2011-12-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

Soon, I will run out of Cramps titles. But not yet.

Writers talk about their bookshelves.

Lots of reviews today. Maxine at Petrona reviews Aline Templeton's LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER, The World According To Who? reviews Stuart MacBride's BROKEN SKIN, Clover Hill Book Reviews talks about Craig Robertson's RANDOM, Emily Mah on THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB by Alexander McCall Smith, whose THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH is reviewed in The Boston Globe. Sarah's Book Reviews enjoyed M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS and the lovely Declan Burke reviews the equally lovely Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT in The Irish Times, and the Book Nook on Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON. Finally, a couple of reviews for Anthony Horowitz' THE HOUSE OF SILK.

A review...nay, poetry (and very clever)...of Allan Guthrie's BYE, BYE BABY from Conniephoebe.

An article on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. And a review. Or there's the TV version with Benedict Cumberbatch which returns in the new year.

Denise Mina in A Year In Reading. And more on the graphic novelisation of The Girl Blah Blah Blah books (possibly the only Denise Mina penned stuff I will never read, since I didn't care for the first of the Larsson books and didn't read any more of them).

Seven Questions with Ian Rankin in which he reveals he would be a maverick cop. And here he talks about how he kills people off. And he's requesting a Robert Louis Stevenson Day. And if you're in Chichester on 20th January you can hear Ian reading from his unpublished first novel.

Win a copy of Peter May's THE BLACKHOUSE. I'd be entering with Amphetamine Westerly if I didn't already have a copy.

And you can win a copy of Helen Fitzgerald's THE DONOR over at Stephen Moyer's page. Ooooooooh, nice!

TRICK OF THE DARK by Val McDermid is one of Oline Cogdill's top reads of 2011. And Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG is in the Washington Post's best of list.

Queen of Pain

2011-12-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

The Cramps again, of course.

I am now down at my parents to be spoiled over Christmas and it reminded me of a trip a few years ago. It's not just buses, you see. Public Transport and I have one of those love/hate relationships. I hate it, and it loves making my life a misery. Whenever I step on a train, or a plane, or a bus, or into a taxi, I take a deep breath and pray to everyone I can think of that I'm going to be sane at the end of the journey.

A couple of years ago I spent Christmas, as usual, in the soft and comfortable bosom of my family near Peterborough. After a wonderful time, we set off home. Now, I should state here that on Christmas Day I got the flu and I was feeling pretty ill. So I wasn't really looking forward to travelling anyway, but it was made all the worse by the fact that British Rail, in their infinite wisdom, had ripped up the railway tracks between York and Darlington, at the busiest time of year, so part of our train journey was done by bus.

Our seats were booked for the first part of the journey in Coach F. When the train arrived at Peterborough, we walked along past all the carriages - A, B, C, D, E, G, H. No F. So we walked back, just in case a tipsy carriage assembler had put coach F somewhere else. Still no Effing F. I spied a guard, a way up the platform, so, battling through the thronging hordes, and slamming myself into a pillar in the process (I didn't get transported to Platform 9 3/4 so I guess I won't be off to Hogwarts this term), I ascertained that Coach F was now Coach C through the miracles of Alphabet Soup so we managed to get a seat just before the train left.

At York, we all trooped out of the train, through a muddy bog that the station staff euphemistically referred to as 'car park' and onto buses. By this point we were already running 15 minutes late. Not to worry, said the guard on the train, the train would be waiting for us at Darlington. Absolutely. It definitely wouldn't be going anywhere until we arrived, we had his assurances on that.

So we all piled onto the bus. The bus was one of those posh ones, where you go down a little flight of stairs to the loo. Good, since by this time I was desperate to go to the loo. I walked up the bus and descended the stairs, only to hear the booming voice of the driver over the bus's tannoy "Could someone tell that woman that the toilet isn't working". About 17 people called down the stairs "Oy, you, the woman with the red face, the toilet isn't working."

We arrived at Darlington 40 minutes late to catch our connecting train (you remember, the one that on no account, absolutely definitely posilutely would not have left without us?), only to find that it had left without us, and the next one wasn't for another hour or so. Since we'd missed the train we had seats booked for, we didn't have seats booked for this one but there would be a whole load of people who would have had seats reserved. You could tell who they were - amongst the hordes of people on the platform they were the ones with really smug looks, the 4 bus loads of people who'd all arrived too late for our train just looked increasingly desperate, and were eyeing up those less fit than themselves, to determine their best chances of elbowing people out of the way to get a seat. By this time, I felt really, really awful, and promised the train guard (a different one from the lying sadist at York station) that I would vomit all over his shoes if he couldn't promise me a seat. He leaned over and whispered "I'll give you a tip since you're not well - Coach C has all the unbooked seats on it."

"My saviour. Thank you, thank you." I kissed his hands, sobbed into his British Rail jacket and promised him my uneaten British Rail sandwich (uneaten for very good reason I might add).

The train arrived. We sped down the platform past coaches H, G, F, E, D, B, A... D, B, A???? Had anyone reported this wholesale theft of railway carriages? Was someone, somewhere, setting up home in two cozy GNER carriages called F and C on a disused stretch of line somewhere between York and Darlington?

So, we grabbed seats in Coach D. I'm afraid I may have made rather a fool of myself as I clung to it sobbing "You'll never get me off this seat, never. Just leave me to die here. I've never harmed anyone." Anyway, it seemed to do the trick, no-one asked me to move for the whole journey. Not even the nice man in the white coat carrying the large butterfly net who hovered by my seat for the rest of the journey.

Now, enough of the nonsense. Scottish crime fiction news coming up.

Luca Veste over at Guilty Conscience talks about his top 5 books of 2011. Not only does he include Ray Banks' DEAD MONEY and Helen Fitzgerald's THE DONOR, but his number 1 is also one of my own favourite books of the year - the amazing BLACK FLOWERS by Steve Mosby. Luca obviously has excellent taste, I shall have to read the other two in his top 5 - Nick Quantrill's BROKEN DREAMS, and Neil White's COLD KILL.

More Ray, as The All Purpose Monkey muses over DEAD MONEY. And Ed Kurtz - another man with exceedingly good taste - picks it as one of his top books of 2011.

Doug Johnstone's busy year.

Conan Doyle's Moriarty on the big screen. And a review of A GAME OF SHADOWS.

Metaliterature reviews Philip Kerr's THE ONE FROM THE OTHER, Savidge Reads reviews M C Beaton's AGATHA RAISIN AND THE LOVE FROM HELL, and Crime Fiction Lover reviews Alex Gray's SLEEP LIKE THE DEAD.

Ian Rankin talks about which literary character he'd like to sleep with and other topics.

More on the Denise Mina comic book adaptation of the Stieg Larsson books. And more on the Unbound 26 Treasures project which Alexander McCall Smith is part of.

Irvine Welsh to write Britpop musical.

The Scotsman talks about their books of the year and note that Denise Mina and Ian Rankin show the "range of what the crime genre can do".

Confessions of a Psycho Cat

2011-12-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

I thought this Cramps song was apt.

Since I have told a few Glasgow bus stories recently, and I'm feeling lazy, I thought I would dig out an old bus story to accompany today's post, so here it is.

It was a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon, so I decided to go into the city centre to buy a new pair of sandals. Yes, I know - the World Shoe Mountain currently resides in my spare bedroom, but, well, you never can tell when that rumoured Slingback Shortage is going to occur, so, abiding by that old Girl Guide motto 'Be Prepared', off I trotted. (For the purposes of this tale, it's actually irrelevant that I was thrown out of the Girl Guides due to my reliance on my own personal motto 'Be a Pain in The Arse'.)

So there I was, sitting on the bus, gazing out of the window and listening to my ipod (The Clash if anyone cares). About half way into town, I noticed someone sitting down next to me. When I say 'I noticed' what I actually mean was 'I couldn't help noticing because he sat on my knee and breathed stale beer fumes all over me'. Oh good, that most annoying of Bus Pests, the Glasgow drunk. He apologised profusely. I mostly couldn't hear what he was saying due to the music so I I just smiled and turned away. Then he spoke to me again and I just nodded and smiled and looked out the window. So he tapped me on the shoulder and spoke again. I pointedly took out the earpiece from the ear on the Bus Pest side and said "Sorry?"

"Oh! Are ye listening tae music hen?"

"Yes."

"Whit are ye listening tae?"

"Just a mixture." (My patented method of getting rid of The Bus Pest is be brief, be polite, don't give them too much information, they'll only ask more questions).

"Is it some of that meatrocker music?" (OK, so my patented method needs a little work). "Ah'm an Elvis man maself. Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra... Ah'm no much o' a singer mind." I breathed a sigh of relief - thankful for small mercies - at least I wasn't going to be treated to a rendition of My Way. "Although, I dae a pretty guid Ma Way, if I dae say so maself." I cast about feverishly for a hole of swallow-me-up size, but luckily he decided not to sing.

In one way, I would have loved to have seen him sing. He had apparently recently been to the false Teeth Shop but was obviously in a hurry on teeth shopping day. I knew this because a) he had the most perfect set of top teeth (apart from the fact that they moved independently from his gums) and b) he had 2 yellow bottom teeth (and I don't mean he had two yellow bottom teeth in an otherwise perfect set. I mean he had only 2 bottom teeth, and they were bright yellow). Watching him speak was like watching a badly dubbed Hungarian film. When he finished speaking, his top teeth were still in motion - moving away from his gums, out over his bottom lip and, on a couple of really scary occasions they were sucked back into his mouth and disappeared towards his throat. I was mentally practising the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Instead he held out his hand "Ah'm Big Chick. Pleased tae meet ya hen. And you are?...."

"Donna", I said quietly.

"Did yez hear that?" he announced to the rest of the bus "The lassie's called Donna. Whit time is it Donna?"

"Ten past one."

"Ten past wan? Ten past wan in the MORNIN'?"

"Errrr.....no, afternoon" What, did he think Glasgow had sneakily moved locations while he was down the pub and was now situated in the land of the midnight sun? At that point, a woman got on the bus and he said to her "Dae ye want ma seat pal?" She shook her head and moved on, despite the pleading look I gave her. Big Chick leaned over to me and whispered (and, when I say 'whispered' what I actually mean is 'boomed loudly') "She's just jealous 'cos ah'm sittin' with you instead o' her." Yes, I should imagine the whole bus was positively emerald green with jealousy at my good fortune by now. At least, those who weren't sniggering with glee at my predicament and increasingly red face.

"Where are ye fae' Donna?"

"Here. I live here."

Again, the announcement of this titillating piece of information to the rest of the bus "Did yez all hear? Donna lives in Glesgae."

Someone up the back of the bus laughed. My Bus Pest turned round, taking his jacket off "Hey youse up the back - haud yer wheesht. Dae yis want tae fight me?" Luckily no one took him up on this. I say luckily because he then turned back to me and said "Ah'm a bouncer." Oh. Really. Since 'Big' Chick was less than 4 feet 6 inches tall and more than 104 years old, I found this a tad difficult to believe.

"Ah'm gettin' aff at the Sandyford." I breathed a sigh of relief. The Sandyford was a pub a couple of stops further up. "Are ye coming in? Ah'll see you right." I didn't know whether he meant for a drink, a fight or a lumber*, but frankly, I didn't want to ask.

"Errr, no, thanks all the same but I have to go into town."

"Okay hen, well you come in and see me on Monday. I'll be in the Sandyford fae' aboot 10 in the morning. It's a great wee boozer. It opens at 8am, so if ye get up and ye feel like a wee drink, ye can just stoat along."

Great. Hold me back.

Big Chick heaved himself out of the seat and walked to the front of the bus, turning round at the front to give me a last beery wave "Bye Donna hen. Ah'll have a wee pie and a pint waitin' fer ye on Monday mornin'."

Mmmmmm, can't wait.

* Lumber - Glasgow slang for a hot date.

And now, your Scottish crime fiction news.

The Picky Girl reviews Catriona McPherson's DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS, Marion Public Library on Alexander McCall Smith's THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH, which is also covered by Cleveland.com. A reviw of Stuart MacBride's A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE. Actually, I'm not sure if it's a review or an academic dissertation...

Holmes and Watson to star in Some Like It Hot remake? And the Ottowa Citizen talks about the Sherlock Holmes film.

Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG is one of the top crime fiction books for 2011 for the Seattle Times. And the Irish Independent includes Ian Rankin and Val McDermid on its list of stocking thrillers. Doug Johnstone has a rather excellent top 10 list which includes Ray Banks and Helen Fitzgerald, as well as my lovely friend Christa Faust. Nice list, Doug.

Ian Rankin will be at the Oxford Literary Festival in March 2012.

Denise Mina to adapt the Stieg Larsson series into graphic novel format.

And now, back to an essay on social justice and empowerment. Ta-ta, dear Reader.

The Crusher

2011-12-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

Today's Cramps title is courtesy of Scotland's weather. Do the hammer lock you turkey necks...

I am supposed to be going through to Edinburgh tomorrow for the CWA Christmas Lunch but, since we are in the midst of Hurricane Bawbag, (which even has its own Wikipedia entry), I may not make it. I'm waiting for Scotland's next hurricane - which will presumably be called Hurricane Fannybaws. It was my day for being at the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library today but, as we watched a streetlamp swaying outside the window, debating whether Glasgow was going to close down, a Swedish bloke came in. "Can I sit in here and read for a while?" he said.

"Well, normally, the answer would be yes, but we might be shutting in a minute," I said.

He looked very puzzled. "Yes, the main library is shutting, too. Is it because of the weather?"

"Yes. We're not very good at weather. You may have gathered that." He went away still puzzled. Poor bloke.

My bus trip home was quite eventful. A guy nearly blew away at the bus stop. Only by hanging on for grim death to the side of the bus shelter did he manage to keep his feet on the ground. Me and the other woman standing in the bus stop looked on with interest and, obviously, complete unconcern. When we were getting on the bus the woman made me sit next to her. Then she leaned over and said "Can I ask your advice?" Oh dear. I said yes, quite nervously. "Can you tell me what's the best way of cleaning my kitchen counter tops?"I assumed that she had mistaken me for some sort of domestic goddess. Then a few minutes later she reached into one of her plastic shopping bags and pulled out a can of Tennents Special Brew. "Ah'm alright when the storm comes. Ah've got maself an aw day breakfast for two quid - black puddin' white puddin' an' some square sausage, and a wee bevvy for later, hen."

Anyway...

Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG makes Time Magazine's Top 10 of Everything lists. And Books and Reviews recommends WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS? as a gift idea.

Novelists China Miéville and Denise Mina, and illustrators Mark Stafford and Alice Duke talk about Poe and Lovecraft.

A review of a book about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's letters, There Is No Easter Bunny reviews Craig Russell's LENNOX, and the Las Vegas Review Journal reviews Alexander McCall Smith's THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH.

Helen Fitzgerald guest blogs at Weegie Wednesday.

Shona MacLean does some push-ups at Tony Black's Pulp Pusher.

Ian Rankin talks to Crime Time.

I love these Hilariously Badass Magazine Covers (courtesy of the lovely Bill Crider who always finds such brilliant stuff).

More Psychogeographic Psychos

2011-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Another little outtake from my psychogeographic tour across Glasgow. This is all the stuff which, sadly, can't make it into my essay but which were the best bits for me.

I should say at the outset that Glasgow's East End has a bit of a reputation. It has the lowest life expectancy in Europe, some of the worst gang violence, and it has the horrific Bellgrove Hotel (I once read a brilliant review of the place that said "First class place, close to all local amenities - Barlinnie (jail), Haddows (off licence) and Glasgow Royal Infirmary (nearest A&E department). There is also a lot that is good about the East End. It has a lot of character, some great people, and some excellent community projects. However, the fact remains that it is not a place that someone would normally send a tourist. Hence my surprise when coming back into the city centre on my psychogeographic journey, I had the following encounter.

The bus was fairly empty - a few people at the front and myself and one other person towards the back. Just opposite the aforementioned Bellgrove Hotel a guy got on. He was wearing a San Francisco 49ers shirt and shorts. My interest was piqued. You don't see that very often in Glasgow.

My interest was further piqued when he said to the driver in an American accent "How much is it to get my black ass out of here?" Incidentally, he was not black. He then had a conversation with the driver about not having slept for 48 hours. I pulled out my notebook. I had a feeling this was going to be gold dust for a postmodernist flâneur such as myself. He came swaggering towards the back of the bus, saying "How you doin'?" to various people as he passed them. They all ignored him. He didn't seem bothered.

As he passed me he stopped and said "Girl, green is your colour. Damn." (I was wearing a turquoise coat, he wasn't referring to the colour of my face." I smiled politely. When accosted by the Bus Nutter I try not to speak. It only eggs them on.

He sat down behind me and engaged the guy opposite in conversation with a classic opening gambit. "Women are crazy, huh?" The guy gave the perfect comeback (albeit one possibly fraught with danger) "Ah dinnae ken, pal. Ah'm gay."

It did not stop the American bloke. "How long until we're into the city?"

"Two minutes, pal."

"Two minutes? I bet you £2 it won't be two minutes...it'll be four."

The gay guy catches my eye. He taps his head in the ubiquitous sign for 'we've got a right bugs case here'. I grin and turn back to making my notes.

"So, is it right that Glasgow is the murder capital of the world?" This, in a very loud voice.

"Naw, pal, just Europe," says the gay guy.

The American bloke is silent for a few seconds, apparently taking this in. Then, right behind my left ear I hear "Oh-oh, she's taking notes." I have apparently been rumbled, but continue taking notes, just to pretend I'm not. "I knew this guy once - good looking guy, not as good looking as me though, ya know? So, we're out and I tell him to watch my style, take notes. I hope you're not taking notes?"

I turn round. "No, no, I'm just writing myself a reminder," I say, trying not to sound guilty.

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, I love your accent." This is one of the reasons I do not like to speak to the Bus Nutter. "You wanna go for a drink?"

"Um, no thank you."

Of course, it is too late. Me and the gay guy are now in the loop. "You sure? I'm just in from the US and I'm jetlagged, can't sleep, totally wired."

"No, you're OK, but thanks."

"I mean, I know you're a little older than me...what are you? 34? 35?"

"I'm 49."

"49? Man. You're looking hot, babe."

"Errrrr...thanks. I think. But I think that's the jetlag."

He nods philosophically and turns to the gay guy. "I suppose you're waiting for me to ask you out now?"

I ask him why, if he's just landed, he's ended up in the East End of Glasgow. Apparently, someone has told him that the best fish and chips are in the East End and so he had to have some. The gay guy and I tell him he needs to be careful about who he listens to. Eventually, having tried to get me to go for a drink one more time he gets off the bus with a cheery high five for us and a cheery wave for everyone else on the bus.

The gay guy and I watch him swagger off. "Do you think he'll be OK?" I say, worriedly. "Aye. I think it's Glasgow you need to worry about, rather than him."

Anyway, Scottish crime fiction news:

Ooooooh! Paul Johnston has a new book out, and you can read the first chapter of THE SILVER STAIN here.

Val McDermid and a host of other luminaries part of The Library Book.

Alexander McCall Smith's Yuletide festivities.

Guitars and Life reviews Charles Cumming's THE TRINITY SIX.

Sometimes, the brilliant Douglas Lindsay is a miserable ****. And sometimes, he gives us treats.

How do you fancy a nasty story for the 12 days of Winter? Then check out this from Stuart MacBride, with a new story every day.

Ian Rankin at the University of Sussex in January.

A wonderful post from Aly Monroe about Spain's Robbed Children.

Those lovely paper sculptures again.

And, finally, what Glasgow swapped for the new pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.

Eyeball In My Martini

2011-12-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, Dear Reader. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

No live version of today's Cramps blog title, I'm afraid.

Russel McLean is looking for some love and, in return, he'll give you some too.

Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG makes the Kansas City Star's top books of 2011. The book also gets a mention in the NYT's Sunday paperback reviews. And both Denise Mina and Philip Kerr get a mention in the New York Times' notable crime fiction books of 2011. Philip Kerr also features in the St Louis Post Dispatch's 2011 list. Audiobooks of the year in the Independent include Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD and Anthony Horowitz' THE HOUSE OF SILK.

On the other side of the equation Philip Kerr, Alexander McCall Smith and Val McDermid recommend their favourites in The Scotsman. Philip Kerr recommends Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD and Val recommends the truly brilliant BLACK FLOWERS by Steve Mosby.

UK Chica reviews THE FALLS by Ian Rankin, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reviews THE COMPLAINTS and Mystery File reviews DEAD SOULS.

A hunt for Alexander McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe in Sleuthing Botswana.

Aberdeen MP Anne Begg is a big fan of crime fiction, and Scottish authors feature heavily on her list.

Over at the Blasted Heath Blog, I get to talk about sex (Dad, that link is not for you. Have some Antiques Roadshow instead.)

Last Monday, I went to the Christopher Brookmyre event put on by Doug Johnstone. Here, finally (blame two essays), is my brief summary of the event. Luckily, most of it is not printable, but if you do get a chance to see Chris Brookmyre, do ask him about the roast chicken story, about the mad woman from Dundee Book Events and the crucifix story.

Brookmyre also told a story about doing an event in Clydebank Library. He noted that a library open after hours, with the lights on, is a bampot magnet. "It's the flame, and all the moths are wearing Burbery". A bloke in a Burbery cap came in and hovered for a while before telling Brookmyre that his dad "loves the Glasgow crime books." He told Brookmyre that he had never actually heard of him, but that he would get his dad a book. "Now, what was it you done?" It became clear that the guy thought that Brookmyre was a criminal. Brookmyre was tempted to say "Ah murdered hunnerds of guys" but, in the end, settled for telling him it was fiction. "What, you're making it up?" said the guy.

Brookmyre said that he started writing at the age of 6, and most of his early stuff was a straight rip-off of what he was reading (he spent two months writing nothing but stories about sharks eating people after seeing Jaws). He had a great teacher at school and, when he wrote two versions of the same story in class (one cleaned up and one with swearing and necrophilia) she told him it was the best thing he had ever written. She supported him in writing it and gave it to the headmaster. Unfortunately, she did not choose her words carefully enough when she said to the headmaster "I think you really ought to see this."

Brookmyre wrote three books before his fourth was accepted. He said that for some reason publishers are not very tolerant of "books that are shite."

He worked for a newspaper in Edinburgh, doing football reports at a time when the results were brought to the paper by carrier pigeon (Hibs and Hearts both had pigeon coops on their roof. Oh, yes, there's another story I can't tell about one of the misprints...

He talked about crime writers he admired - including Val McDermid and Mark Billingham (and, incidentally, said that he thought Mark had done well to get out of the playground titles (Scaredy Cat and Sleepy Head) before he was reduced to Specky Four Eyes and Smelly Bum). This then led to him to worrying about Sue Grafton who must have thought that A Is For Alibi was a good idea until she got to K is For Kicking The Arse Out Of It. He wondered how she feels as she gets close to having to write a mystery where an important plot point has to revolve around a xylophone).

The follow up to WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED will be called WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES and will be out next summer. Winning the Wodehouse prize was the least comfortable Brookmyre has ever felt professionally as he had to do a photo shoot with a very rare breed of pig that had its own escort. The pig wouldn't come out of its trailer (Hollywood style huff) and sent its piglets instead. Carrying a large jeroboam of champagne and surrounded by tiny pigs, Brookmyre said he looked like a hobbit. He's also writing a sci-fi/computer gaming novel called BEDLAM which allows him to make up a complete universe.

At the end, he read out a brilliant 'Irvine Welsh does Jane Austen story'. I wish you could have heard it, Dear Reader.

Psychotic Reaction

2011-12-02T05:34:00.000-08:00

Your Cramps goodness for today.

This week, I have been busy at Uni doing an interesting task: a dérive otherwise known as a psychogeographic stroll. I would describe myself as a flâneuse. However, while the masculine version - flâneur - means one who loafs and strolls, the feminine version means a prostitute, so maybe I'd better not. Our brief was to visit an area of Glasgow, or a specific location (shopping centre, train station etc) and just wander for a couple of hours taking notice of who uses the space (and, more importantly, who doesn't), what it says (or doesn't) about identity, hegemony, post-modernism, transgression, ideologies,signs and semiology. I decided to do mine all along the number 40 bus route in Glasgow. Not only did this mean that I could sit down the whole way, but it also meant that I was travelling from West to East across Glasgow taking in loads of different areas. The comedian Kevin Bridges has things to say about this bus route.

It was a fascinating experiment. Funniest moment was when I got off the bus at the terminus in Easterhouse (I use the term 'terminus' very loosely - it's a patch of waste ground). I tried to upload a wee video but my technical skills failed me, so here are a couple of photos instead. I had been the last person on the bus for quite a few stops and, when I came down the stairs the driver looked really shocked.

"When do you go back?" I said.

He looked puzzled. "Where do you want to go, hen?"

"Back the same way I came."

"But where are you going?"

"Back to where I started."

"Are you wanting to go into town?"

"Yes."

He looked relieved. At last, something he could work with. "There's a number 41 leaving in a couple of minutes."

"Nope, it has to be a 40."

Silence for a moment. Then the cautious question: "What are you doing, hen?"

I thought about this.I didn't want to sound all intellectual and shit (sorry, Dad) so I decided not to go for the French. "It's for my university course. We have to do some psychogeography."

His face cleared. "Ah, well, there's plenty of psychos out this way, hen." I do believe he considered me to be one of them.

Anyway, on to Scottish crime fiction.

Two new books out from the wonderful Blasted Heath this week. Both of them I've read, both are wonderful. First of all, Douglas Lindsay's THE BARBER SURGEON'S HAIRSHIRT is a piece of genius madness. Here's my review of it. Next is Damien Seaman's THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS. It's a dark and dirty police procedural set in Dusseldorf (sorry, can't find an umlaut) during 1929. The book takes as its background the crimes of notorious serial killer Peter Kurten (sorry, still can't find an umlaut) and the unsolved murder of a prostitute, and then spins out from there. It's full of heart and soul and a deep underlying sadness. Detective Thomas Klein is an excellent protagonist and Damien makes you really care about all the characters.

Talking of Douglas Lindsay, conniephoebe reviews THE END OF DAYS, Eurocrime reviews Karen Campbell's SHADOWPLAY, and a review of Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE in The Independent.

The Star Telegram reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and NPR reviews THE COMPLAINTS. You can hear Ian talking about THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD on Australia's ABC radio's Book Show. And he answers questions posed by The Open University.

More on Alexander McCall Smith and broken society.

Have a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.

Goo Goo Muck

2011-11-30T13:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's The Cramps again.

Books of the year in the Herald. Mentions by and mentions of various Scottish crime writers. And Doug Johnstone talks about his favourite books of the year.

M J Nicholls at Quiddity of Delusion talks about Denise Mina and Denise Mina talks about female detective fiction to the Christian Science Monitor. Maxine at Petrona reviews THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, as does NPR, which also reviews a couple of Sherlock Holmes related books - Anthony Horowitz's HOUSE OF SILK and Michael Dirda's ON CONAN DOYLE.

A review of Alexander McCall Smith's THE PERILS OF MORNING COFFEE, and one of THE CAREFUL USE OF COMPLIMENTS (the man is a writing machine). And 2606 Books And Counting reviews Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE. Smithereens also reviews Philip Kerr, this time IF THE DEAD RISE NOT. The Washington Post reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Stuart MacBride at Jura Writer's Retreat, including a new short story.

More on those wonderful book sculptures. And lucky Ian Rankin has this one. Here's a site which puts them all together. Just look at the detail in the feathers of the last one. How beautiful they are - it makes me really happy to see them.

Sunday Girl

2011-11-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a lovely weekend, Dear Reader. This weekend's cinematic viewing was the French Canadian film INCENDIES - a really powerful, chilling film about a mother whose dying wish is that her twin son and daughter find their family (specifically the father they thought was dead and the brother they never knew they had). To do this they have to visit an unspecified Middle Eastern country. The film moves between past and present and the very first scene - set in the past - is stunning.

My latest Weird Sister blog over at Blasted Heath is up - this one about music. Anyone who reads this blog regularly will spot some familiar references.

Lots of reviews in the virtual and actual spheres today. First of all, reviewingtheevidence review Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD and M C Beaton's THE SKELETON IN THE CLOSET, Eurocrime reviews Karen Campbell's SHADOWPLAY and Tony Black's TRUTH LIES BLEEDING, The Nerd of Noir loves Ray Banks' DEAD MONEY, a review of Aline Templeton's LYING DEAD, the Daily News in South Africa reviews Morag Joss' ACROSS THE BRIDGE and Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE, and the Richmond Despatch reviews M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS. Phew.

On the audiobook front, the Guardian is all Scottish this week with reviews of Ian Rankin, Tony Black, Peter May and Denise Mina. Nice.

It's that time of year when newspapers ask people for their recommendations for books to give at Christmas. Here's an interesting selection from The Guardian which includes Philip Kerr.

There's also a heap of stuff about Sherlock Holmes - a report on Anthony Horowitz' recent trip to Toronto, The Umbrella Organisation looks at Horowitz' HOUSE OF SILK, and the Los Angeles Times reviews Michael Dirda's ON CONAN DOYLE.

More about the stories inspired by portraits, including Alexander McCall Smith's. Ian Rankin donates a tie for charity, and World of Books Blog features Robert Louis Stevenson.

Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

2011-11-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today's Cramps title is in honour of today's last item of news.

A report from the East Ayrshire Book Festival, Imprint.

Alexander McCall Smith on how society is broken.

Eurocrime reviews Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT (which Aly reports is number 2 in the Daily Telegraph's list of thrillers for 2011 - well done, Aly!), Maxine over at Petrona reviews Aline Templeton's LYING DEAD, a reviewlet of M C Beaton's A SPOONFUL OF POISON.

Stuart MacBride will talk about his new book, BIRTHDAYS FOR THE DEAD, in Aberdeen on January 9th.

Quintin Jardine talks about the Reading Crime Writing Festival.

Booked podcast reviews Ray Banks' DEAD MONEY and interviews Allan Guthrie about Blasted Heath. And Ray Banks is interviewed over at Guilty Conscience.

Whatculture! asks how faithful Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is to the original. And, just in case you can't be bothered to read Anthony Horowitz' Holmes noveL, HOUSE OF SILK. the Guardian has it as a digested read.

Goodie - my favourite award of the year: the shortlist for the bad sex awards is revealed in all its throbbing glory. The Guardian says that the Tsiolkas entry is unfit for publication in the mainstream press. Now I'm really interested to know what it is. The Literary Review are tweeting some of the entries.

Call Me Irresponsible

2011-11-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

Just a quick round-up post today. I've been out giving training all day and this evening we're off out to see The Vaccines. I have a soft spot for them, not least because last time we saw them they came on stage to the Ramones. This weekend's film viewing was THE HELP which I enjoyed more than I thought I was going to.

A review of Anthony Horowitz' new Sherlock Holmes story THE HOUSE OF SILK. It's also reviewed in The Telegraph, along with M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS.

Louise Welsh and Zoe Strachan at Glasgow's Bibliocafe on 2nd December.

Alexander McCall Smith on the portrait of 'False Mary', as writers create imaginary lives for portraits with unknown sitters. What a lovely idea.

Allan Guthrie gets a mention in The Edinburgh Evening News.

Kirkus Reviews best 15 of 2011 (is it that time already?) includes Ian Rankin and Charles Cumming. Talking of Ian Rankin, The Hindustan Times reviews THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Reading Matters reviews Doug Johnstone's SMOKEHEADS. And Auntie Em reviews Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

Apparently, once you turn 40 you turn to biographies rather than fiction, economics books are going to be the big things next year (good grief, spare me), and it's irresponsible to read fiction in tough times. Well, call me irresponsible.

Daisies Up Your Butterfly

2011-11-18T00:29:00.000-08:00

Post title courtesy of the Cramps, of course - and no, I don't know what it means, either.

An interview with the dear and lovely (and sometimes deluded) Russel McLean over at Pulp Pusher. And The Crime Of It All interviews William Meikle.

The New York Times reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and Brandywine books reviews A QUESTION OF BLOOD. Stromness Library has Ian as their author of the month for November.

M&C on Conan Doyle's Moriarty in the media.

Yesterday was the first ever Robert Louis Stevenson Day. Whoops.

A review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION. And a great interview with her.

Stuart MacBride will be talking about his new book and the Million For A Morgue project, amongst other things, in Dundee on 4th February. Closer to home, here's a free event with Christopher Brookmyre on Monday if you're in Glasgow. I'm going along so will report back.

A review of Anthony Horowitz's Sherlock Holmes novel, THE HOUSE OF SILK, one of Craig Russell's THE LONG GLASGOW KISS, a reviewlet of Alexander McCall Smith's CORDUROY MANSIONS, and one of Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE.

The Scotsman interviews Philip Kerr.

Finally, Edinburgh has been named the world's best literary city. I think Glasgow might have something to say.

I Was A Teenage Werewolf

2011-11-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

Here's your daily gratuitous Cramps title for no reason at all.

A round-up of a couple of events at the Reading Crime Festival, including M C Beaton and Stuart MacBride.

The Nerd of Noir interviews Allan Guthrie. I don't know about the rest of you, but I really want to read BIG DUNC'S HAMMER. And you can catch Al at the Electric Bookshop tomorrow.

A David Ashton radio drama starring Billy Connolly and Brian Cox.

ON CONAN DOYLE - a new book about...errrrr...Conan Doyle.

The National Library of Scotland on Robert Louis Stevenson.

Damien Seaman on why Ian Rankin's Rebus is actually Batman, the Morning Star reviews THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and Ian himself on being an accidental crime writer.

Helen Fitzgerald talks about book titles. And a nice review of THE DONOR over at Fair Dinkum Crime.

Just in case you missed out on free e-books from Blasted Heath, you can get them for the rock bottom bargain price of 99p/99c for the next week. 99p? I think those boys are crack addicts.

The Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts sounds good. Although coming across a giant head on some wasteground is a typical Saturday night out in Glasgow.

Dames, Booze, Chains, Boots

2011-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here's your Cramps video for today.

Helen Fitzgerald interviews herself over at Nigel Bird's gaff, and here's an audio interview with her at Blogtalkradio (starts 4 mins 5o-ish in).

Lots of reviews today. First of all, Undiscovered Scotland discovers Russel McLean, with reviews of THE GOOD SON and THE LITTLE SISTER. A trifecta of goodness for Allan Guthrie, as Connie Phoebe enjoys SAVAGE NIGHT, Paul Brazill reviewsTWO-WAY SPLIT and The Morrison Pen Review escapes into SLAMMER. Dorte looks at Ian Rankin's KNOTS AND CROSSES, and the Winnipeg Free Press reviews THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD. Paul Brazill reviews Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION, and Declan Burke enjoys Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON for the Irish Times.

The Telegraph calls Aly Monroe "a gloriously defiant individualist." And here she is talking about WASHINGTON SHADOW.

Conan Doyle and the case of the vanishing football trophy. And more on the new Anthony Horowitz Sherlock Holmes.

The delicious Christa Faust and the dastardly Ray Banks interview each other brilliantly over at Crimeculture.

And another interview - Philip Kerr in The Scotsman.

You can win stuff over at Blasted Heath by guessing who their new columnist, Weird Sister, is.

Finally, if you read this blog regularly, you know that I love the book sculptures that have appeared in Edinburgh over the past months, so I was interested to read this article about what to do with books. I'm going to be doing a creativity project working with young women as part of my university placement. I think I'll do some altered books with them. I really like the idea of making poetry from random words on the page and then decorating the rest of the page.

Don't Get Funny With Me

2011-11-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

Another Cramps-inspired title today.

Not only do we have Douglas Lindsay goodness over at his regular blog, but he's also going to be blogging weekly at Blasted Heath, and this week's is a cracker.

Alan Cranis reviews Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN at Bookgasm. And Eurocrime reviews Lin Anderson's THE REBORN.

Jamie Bell talks about Irvine Welsh's FILTH.

The New Statesman on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

More on the Reading Festival of Crime which includes Stuart MacBride, Quintin Jardine, Denise Mina and M C Beaton.

An interesting post from Aly Monroe on history, film and books.

Have a lovely weekend, dear Reader. Tomorrow, Ewan is doing musical stuff so I am going to do some Crimefest programming . All author slots are now full (although you can sign up for the waiting list for panels). The website hasn't been totally updated with attendees and there are a couple of exciting names to be added. If you're coming and you have any panel topic suggestions, or special requests, please let me know and I will try and accommodate you.

Bikini Girls With Machine Guns

2011-11-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry - no bikini girls or machine guns in this post - just another Cramps song title. Having said that, fans of bikini girls and/or machine guns should probably click on that link. Dad - that doesn't mean you. Here's a clip of Gardener's World for you.

More news on Scottish publisher Blasted Heath, with an interview with co-founder Kyle MacRae. And my annoying little brother Damien Seaman reads from his new book THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS, which is published on 1st December. It's a great historical police procedural which fuses fact and fiction. It has as its backdrop the real life murders carried out by Düsseldorf serial killer Peter Kürten in the late 1920s (and every appearance of Kürten on the page sent a shiver down my spine), but it's about so much more than that and the fictional element is wonderful and full of heart. I loved it. And Heathen Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN is reviewed by the perspicacious Alan Cranis at Bookgasm.

Sarah at Crimepieces (not Norm at Crimescraps!) with a very thoughtful review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION.

An interview with Ian Pattison. And the NZ Herald interviews Ian Rankin.

Joe Barone reviews M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS, and Cyprus Life reviews AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST.

Malcolm Redfellow on Philip Kerr.

More about the Anthony Horowitz Sherlock Holmes novel.

Off to see The Vaccines and The Arctic Monkeys tonight, then another day at university tomorrow. Anybody would think I was 18...well, until they saw me. 18 stone, maybe...

"If you saw a councillor up against a tree what would you think?"

2011-11-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

All Hail the Heathens - Blasted Heath are getting a lot of nice buzz. The Scotsman calls them 'gifted' , there's an interview with Ray Banks over at Shotgun Honey and Detectives Beyond Borders talks about Anthony Neil Smith's THE WARRIORS. And if you rush over to the Blasted Heath site itself, you might still be in time to pick up Ray Banks' brilliant DEAD MONEY for free. And you can also watch Ray being interviewed by possibly the worst interviewer in the world...very funny.

The Vancouver Sun on Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, which is reviewed by the Globe and Mail.

Anthony Horowitz' new Sherlock Holmes novel - THE HOUSE OF SILK - is published this month.

Denise Mina will be at the New Zealand International Arts Festival next year. Closer to home, it's two for the price of one with the Mulgray Twins at the Portobello Library in Edinburgh on November 8th.

Talking of Denise Mina, the New York Times enthuses over THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

The Book Dilettante has a reviewlet of M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS.

And this happened where my parents live. Dad - better tell Mum to be a bit careful with the secateurs when she's out pruning the bushes.

The Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon

2011-11-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

Another Cramps title, just in case you're wondering. It also describes how I feel, after spending the last week writing an essay every spare minute I have.

The Guardian reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD. And he's featured by George Stroumboulopoulous (I checked that 3 times and I'm still not sure I've got it right...), including a video interview, and Ian on his experience of committing murder, and on his favourite villains. Book-A-Day enjos WITCH HUNT. Finally, Ian talks to the Vancouver Sun.

Alexander McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe on Radio 4.

Dead End Follies reviews Ray Banks' GUN. And Ray is interviewed by Tony Black over at Pulp Pusher.

An article on Philip Kerr. And PW reviews FIELD GRAY. I'm not certain, because I haven't read the book, but the last line of the review looks like a spoiler to me.

Helen Fitzgerald wants your best and worst pitches.

Anthony Horowitz on Sherlock Holmes.

Read the brilliant Douglas Lindsay over at Blasted Heath and get THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON free - today only. Go on, make Lindsay eat Pot Noodle.

Blasted this, and Blasted that

2011-11-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

It's launch day for the marvellous Blasted Heath today. Just look at the goodies they have in store. And here's an article in today's Daily Record with a wee £3 off treat. And if you're in the US, Grift have a few Blasted dollars off too.

And, in other news (yes, it's not all about the Blasted Boys, you know...

Peter May on winning the Cezam and being piped onto the stage like a haggis.

Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES on TV.

NPR on the mystery of those gorgeous paper sculptures.

More on the Million For A Morgue campaign.

Publisher's Weekly reviews Alexander McCall Smith's THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH.

And just to sandwich this short post with the bread of goodness, those lovely lads at Byker Books have made all their titles available on the Kindle for less than a quid.

Head above the parapet

2011-10-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

In between writing an essay on the relative merits of Freirean process and Alinsky style Community Organizing (ma heed's nippin' as we say in Scotland, so a short and sweet post today) we watched a couple of great films this weekend. The first was HEAD-ON (GEGEN DIE WAND) about the lives of Turkish immigrants in Hamburg. A raw, painful love story that is sometimes brutal, sometimes beautiful. Great soundtrack too - The Birthday Party, The Sisters of Mercy and Depeche Mode mixed with Turkish music. The second film was VIVA RIVA! a gritty crime thriller set in Kinshasa about a small-time criminal called Riva who steals a truck-load of petrol cans from a rather nasty Angolan gangster. Since petrol is an expensive and scarce commodity in the Congo, the gangster wants it back. Did I say Head-On was brutal? Well, this is even more so. Not as satisfying as Head-On because you don't get very deep into the characters but a good film and a reminder that I never want to visit Kinshasa.

The Guardian are offering a free audio download of Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes' book about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's real life fight for justice.

You can vote for Val McDermid's favourite walk if you like. And more Val here, on the Million For a Morgue story.

A review of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD. And one of Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE.

The totally brilliant Douglas Lindsay almost answers the question of whether he wants to drink the blood of his new publishers - Blasted Heath - and vomit on their graves.

And now, a plea. I'm helping to organise the Samaritans conference again this year. I'm looking for raffle prizes - signed books, unsigned books, holidays to the Maldives...all donations gratefully accepted, just drop me an e-mail. Thank you, my lovelies.

And now, I am giving up on the essay for the night. I've done 3,500 words - they're not very good words, and they're not in the right order, but right now I'm going to bed with a cup of tea and to read some fiction for the first time in a month. Bliss.

Thee Most Exaulted Potentate of Love

2011-10-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

Another Cramps-related blog post title (and no, those aren't typos). This one's for Heath Lowrance (not because he's an exalted potentate of love (although he may, of course, be just that), but because he asked for it.

I mentioned in a previous post that the wonderful ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL by Declan Burke has been short-listed for the Crime Fiction section of the Irish Book Awards. If you have read it, and would like to vote for it, you can do so here: http://www.irishbookawards.ie/PublicVote.aspx

A report from the Vancouver Writers' Festival on the event with Denise Mina, Stuart MacBride and Ian Rankin. And Stuart's questioned by the National Post, while Ian is reviewed in the FT.

A review of THE NARRATIVE OF JOHN SMITH - the unfinished lost novel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Economist considers Conan Doyle's voice, and a trailer for the new Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie A GAME OF SHADOWS.

Jason Isaacs on Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie. And a review of STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG.

A review of M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS. And one of the comedy stage version of John Buchan's THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS.

If you're in Edinburgh between October 26th and 29th, you might want to go and see Caroline Dunford's BURKE - about half of Edinburgh's notorious serial killing duo.

More on Val McDermid's favourite walk. And on the Million For A Morgue campaign which Val is closely associated with.

Hollywood Today talks to Catriona McPherson and reviews DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS.

How Far Can Too Far Go?

2011-10-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Still on The Cramps for post titles.

An awful lot of Ian Rankin today - an interview with the National Post, a piece in The Windsor Star, one in the Ottawa Express, the Guardian reviews THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, as does the Ottawa Citizen, and a TV interview with Studio 4 in Vancouver (the man appears to be taking over Canada)

Spinetingler on the exciting forthcoming titles from Blasted Heath. And they mention one of the forthcoming books - a debut from Damien Seaman. I've read it and it's very, very good. And here's Anthony Neil Smith reading from ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS. He's a scary guy, that Neil.

Val McDermid on writing about violence. And here's the longer version of the full interview on Hard Talk. Well done that woman. And here, on the other side of the interview, is Val McDermid interviewing one of the actresses of The Killing - Sofie Gråbøl.

More TV: Mystery Scene looks at Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES.

Three books about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This is a weird story on so many fronts but I find myself being most puzzled about why he was barred from Scotland...

I got a garbage brain, It's driving me insane...

2011-10-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Post title courtesy of The Cramps' Human Fly (which also happens to be the only thing I can play on the guitar).

Catch Russel McLean at Dundee University on October 28th, talking about Scottish crime fiction. And Alexander McCall Smith is in Norfolk on October 24th and in Bridport on 20th November. Russel is free, Alexander McCall Smith will set you back £15 and £12 respectively. It's official - Russel is chea..errr...very good value.

And there's lots of Scottish crime at the Reading Festival with Denise Mina, Stuart MacBride, M C Beaton and Quintin Jardine. Denise and Stuart will also be appearing at the Toronto International Festival of Authors, along with Ian Rankin. And the Vancouver Sun asks Denise Mina some questions.

How Ian Rankin infiltrated police college. And he tells the National Post that he's a frustrated musician and how he's awaiting the volleys for THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD. And here he is, talking about Cromarty. I wonder whether he ever gets fed up of people asking him about anything and everything...maybe I should ask him.

Denise Mina's FIELD OF BLOOD actors up for Scottish BAFTAs. And, in other awards news, congratulations to Gordon Ferris whose THE HANGING SHED is up for the CWA's Ellis Peters Historical Award. And he's not Scottish, but huge congratulations to Declan Burke for his nomination for the Irish Book Awards.

Kate Atkinson on Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie. And a review of the show.

Conan Doyle's lost first novel is to be the highlight of the Portsmouth Literary Festival.

Peter May on his French award.

Irvine Welsh gets cut from his own film.

And now I am off for the best part of the week - a virtual creative writing class via Skype with a class of 4th and 5th graders in Alaska. The next best thing to being there. Today I'm giving them feedback on some brilliant and hilarious Halloween stories they've written.

I Ain't Nuthin' But a Gorehound

2011-10-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

For authors thinking of signing up for Crimefest, better do so before the end of the month if you want a guaranteed panel. Author slots are almost full. That means I can start programming soon.

More on those Blasted Heathens. And here. And the always brilliant Douglas Lindsay on Blasted Heath. The man is a comedy genius.

An interview with Val McDermid over at Jen's Book Thoughts. And Val will be in Durham this Saturday. How does she ever find the time to go on her favourite walk?

Denise Mina and Ian Rankin in Quebec on 28th October.

Paul Brazill reviews Denise Mina's END OF THE WASP SEASON. A review of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, Dwell in Possibility reviews Josephine Tey's THE SINGING SANDS. And Talk Books 247 reviews Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT.

More on the Ian Rankin night with the Willard Grant Conspiracy. AndDoug Johnstone interviews Ian Rankin.

Vancouver gets to know Denise Mina's workspace.

Congratulations to Peter May whose THE BLACKHOUSE won France's biggest readers' prize - the CEZAM Prix Litteraire, which voted by 3551 jurors. Très bien, Monsieur May. And, talking of prizes, congratulations to the nominees in the Crime and Thriller category of the National Book Awards, especially Val McDermid and Ian Rankin.

Finally, if you're looking for gifts for your pulp fiction loving female friends, you should hop over to Miss Demeanour's Etsy store. I treated myself and just received this and this in the post today. Gorgeous. I tried to take a photo of me wearing them, but all I got was gratuitous breast shots.

PS - my brain is numb and I couldn't think of a title for this post, hence the totally unrelated Cramps reference.

Good Reviews, Bad Reviews, Great News...

2011-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Look at this Blasted Heath loveliness. I've come over all un-necessary. And an interview with Allan Guthrie - half of the deadly duo.

The charming Aly Monroe talks to CrimeTime about ICELIGHT. And Aly will be at the Guildford Book Festival on October 22nd.

A great post and comments over at Helen Fitzgerald's place on the topic of bad reviews. And congratulations Helen and for this (not sure what is in the public domain yet, Ms Blabbermouth, so I'll just make this a blanket to cover all your good news!) Brilliant stuff.

Over at Detectives Beyond Borders, Peter muses on the brilliance that is Ray Banks. And I Meant To Read That reads Ray Banks' GUN. Good to see Mr Banks getting some well-deserved praise.

Alexander McCall Smith on Australian TV. And a review of the first couple of the Corduroy Mansions series.

Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES to return to BBC 1. And SFGate suggests subtitles.

Over at Mulholland Books Kate Atkinson asks Denise Mina some questions. And a review of Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

Ian Rankin on the joys of vinyl, and on the rather more dubious joys of author readings.

Philip Kerr's Desert Island Books.

Heath Lowrance reviews Nigel Bird's SMOKE.

I have just had a brilliant idea for a new book. Now I just need to find the time to write it...

A Fiction Feast

2011-10-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Val McDermid will be appearing in Lichfield today and at the Durham Book Festival next week (and I love the idea of the Book Doctor). In other Val news, EuroCrime reviews THE RETRIBUTION.

10 of the best films set in Edinburgh. They missed out one of my favourites - Crying With Laughter. Talking about Edinburgh films - the truth behind Trainspotting.

Les Edgerton says that he can't do Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN justice, and then proceeds to do just that. Nice.

David Tennant is set to play Robert Louis Stevenson in a BBC Radio drama.

More on the NO REST FOR THE DEAD anthology.

A report from the Portobello Book Festival on a writing workshop featuring Allan Guthrie.

Ian Rankin's Edinburgh Playlist. Some good stuff there. Talking of Ian, here he is on The Wright Stuff, where he refuses to eat a rotten egg. Probably the most sensible thing he's ever done.

Finally, here's more on the exciting Blasted Heath news. Doesn't that Blasted Box look delicious?

Where the place?

2011-10-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Upon the Blasted Heath, that's where.

Yes, indeedy, this unscheduled post is to celebrate the launch of new digital publisher Blasted Heath - brainchild of the wonderful Allan Guthrie and Kyle MacRae (whose wonderfulness I can't vouch for and only suspect, since I don't know him).

Look out on 1st November for their hot-looking launch of 5 (yes, that's FIVE) books. You can listen to the authors reading from their books at the links below:

Ray Banks - DEAD MONEY (which I'm really looking forward to reading. It's apparently a total rewrite of THE BIG BLIND which was a fantastic book).
Douglas Lindsay - THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON (which I already own multiple copies of and am looking forward to having another one. So there)
Anthony Neil Smith - ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS - in an interview here, he talks about it and it sounds fascinating (of course, it's Anthony Neil Smith - how could it be anything less than brilliant?)
Gary Carson - PHASE FOUR
Brian Pendreigh - THE MAN IN THE SEVENTH ROW which sounds like mad metaphysical genius.

as well as Gerard Brennan's WEE ROCKETS (a novel about granny mugging) in January 2012.

Huge congratulations to all involved - it's bound to be brilliant, exciting and warped, if that line-up is anything to go by. Right up my dark and twisted alley. I shall be first in line, kindle in hand, on launch day.

Sunday Smatterings

2011-10-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

Film viewing this weekend was a nicely nasty thriller called Night of The Sunflowers (La Noche De Los Girasoles). It's set in rural Spain and tells a story from six different perspectives. It looks at how one event can have a ripple effect that affects everyone. Really good stuff.

I went to the CWA lunch in Glasgow on Friday where much of the talk was of Scotland's first crime festival - Bloody Scotland in September 2012 - which is shaping up to be excellent.

Helen Fitzgerald was also there with this news, and other exciting stuff that cannot yet be spoken of.

Nice - The Willard Grant Conspiracy and Ian Rankin in Belfast on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th November. There should be more of this cross-fertilization between the arts. Now, give me a moment while I go and cross-fertilize with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club...

More Ian Rankin - an interview in The Scotsman. And I've said it before - he's one of the nicest men in crime fiction. (And he mentioned the wonderful Sonic Youth (one of my favourite tracks here) on The Review Show.

A new novel from Karen Campbell is due out in 2013. Not a crime novel, but she is such a brilliant writer that I will most definitely be reading it. Her writing is amazing. If you've never read any of her Glasgow-set police procedurals, do yourself a favour and get one.

Denise Mina will be at Houston's Murder By The Book on October 12th, and at Book Passage in Marin County on October 15th. And in Ottowa between 20th and 25th October, along with Ian Rankin.

More on the Philip Kerr Diana film (she says, rolling her eyes).

A review of Gordon Ferris' TRUTH, DARE, KILL, the Book Whisperer loved Val McDermid's THE TORMENT OF OTHERS. And Reader's Advisory enjoyed Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES.

The NO REST FOR THE DEAD anthology, featuring Alexander McCall Smith amongst others.

Talking of no rest for the dead, I am the happy, happy possessor of three new books:
CHOKE HOLD by the lovely Christa Faust
THE OUTLAW ALBUM by Daniel Woodrell
HELL AND GONE by Duane Swierczynski
...and have no time to read them because of university stuff. I am absolutely loving my course, but haven't had time to read anything for fun, let alone write anything other than essays, for the last six weeks. And these three books are now sitting there, tantalising and tempting me with their gorgeousness. Still, if I have to have a temporary hiatus from reading gorgeous books, at least I can wear them. Can't wait until this arrives from the talented Miss Demeanour.

From the ridiculous to the sublime

2011-10-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ian Pattison, on how writing Rab C Nesbitt is more lucrative than crime fiction.

Why, Philip Kerr? Why? Well, there's one film I won't be going to see, anyway.

John Buchan's The 39 Steps a comedy thriller?

Louise Welsh in Iowa City on Sunday, Ian Rankin at the Aberfeldy Festival, Denise Mina in Berlin next February (sometimes I wish I was a famous writer rather than an obscure one). And Val McDermid and Alexander McCall Smith at the Dundee Literary Festival.

Lots of stuff about Alexander McCall Smith today.

Ewan McGregor on Irvine Welsh's TRAINSPOTTING.

Ken Hebenstreit pronounces Chris Ewan "not in the best of shape" but marvellous despite that.

Hmmmmmmm, I might have to subscribe to the Ayrshire Post so that I can get the new Tony Black early.

He's not Scottish, but here's a great interview with one of my favourite authors (and all round lovely man) Ken Bruen.

And, finally, the utterly brilliant (and totally bonkers) Douglas Lindsay on 'lugzhury'.

An Early Sunday Round-Up? Shock, horror

2011-10-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Birthday week finished with a flourish - gig tickets to see The Vaccines and comedian Sarah Millican (yippee!) as well as a complete Teach Yourself German course, some Killing Joke and crime novel A SINGLE SHOT by Matthew Jones, which has a blurb from the brilliant Daniel Woodrell, so I'm looking forward to it. Anyone read it?

And I've finished my first university assignment, thank goodness. If I never again see another article on The Big Society it will be too soon. I'm taking the rest of the day off and tonight we're off out to see Bombay Bicycle Club at the Glasgow Barrowlands.

This weekend's cinematic viewing was Korean film MOTHER and the new JANE EYRE remake. In MOTHER A young man with learning difficulties is arrested and imprisoned for the murder of a teenage girl. His doting mother sets out to prove his innocence. Tragedy, melodrama, black comedy, violence, poetry - this film has it all. Understated, surprisingly, and with gorgeous cinematography. A real gem. I'm not a huge fan of the Bronte sisters (they're all a bit lacking in humour and a bit too much brooding hand-wringing for me) but the latest remake of JANE EYRE is really enjoyable. I really enjoyed the way the story was told, and the settings are perfect. If I had one quibble, it's that Michael Fassbender is far, far, far too good looking to play Rochester and Mia Wasikowska is too pretty to play Jane (although I was less bothered by this as she looks appropriately severe, and the character's spirit really shines through).

And now, the Scottish crime fiction news and reviews.

The lovely Aly Monroe talks to Shots about how childhood memories influenced her new novel ICELIGHT.

Talking of lovely people - Chris Ewan is interviewed by Len Wanner over at The Crime Of It All..

Caro Ramsay went down well at Stirling's Off The Page book festival.

A review of NO REST FOR THE DEAD a group whodunnit in which several big names, including Alexander McCall Smith, wrote a chapter each, a review of Val McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK, And one of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG.

More on Val McDermid, here's a great podcast interview with her.

A day in the life of an independent bookstore.

Mmmmmm...bacon

2011-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks for the birthday wishes. I had a lovely day and my birthday is continuing into this weekend, with a night out, the cinema, and a gig (Bombay Bicycle Club).

Outtakes from Charles Cummings' conversation with Dominic West (The Wire) about The Trinity Six.

Alexander McCall Smith talks about manners in the 21st century. And gives an address on why society is broken. The Travel Game looks at Botswana. And is AMS really, really tall, or is that just a really tiny car?

More on the 'lost' first novel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Culture Northern Ireland reports on the Colin Bateman/Ian Rankin event. And a not so short review of a Rebus short story. And Ian curates a music festival (I want that man's job). He'll be in Manchester on October 13th talking about THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Catch Val McDermid at the upcoming Ilkley Literature Festival.

The Guardian looks at the best writing courses, which includes one run by Louise Welsh and Andrew Taylor.

Crime Central loves Kate Atkinson.

And, finally, burglary gives you an appetite.

And now, I am off to finish my essay on the Big Society and nip next door to cook some of my neighbour's food.

Birthday Crime Fiction

2011-09-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the delay in updating the blog. I was at a conference this weekend for the helpline organisation I volunteer for (inspiring, interesting and bloody good fun), I also have an essay to write on The Big Society. I'm taking the evening off and eating ice cream, since it's my birthday. So, here we go with the latest from the world of Scottish crime fiction.

Talking of the Big Society, here's Alexander McCall Smith on mending broken societies. But first of all, he needs to fix his house. And then he can head off to Indonesia. Finally, a review of THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH. Does the man ever sleep?

Novel Insights discovers Val McDermid, and Mostly Fiction reviews TRICK OF THE DARK. The Irish Independent asks Val some great questions, and Val gives some great answers.

The lost novel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Ray Yanek discovers Chris Ewan at Bouchercon.

Irvine Welsh is adapting a documentary about bare-knuckle bxing into a drama series for HBO.

Cleveland.com loves Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

Ian Rankin has recorded an audio guide for a mining museum. And he's reviewing restaurants. But it seems as though he hasn't finished writing books yet.

Finally, Glasgow gang crime has reduced due to an interesting idea. Or maybe the gangs are all raiding sheds.

Back to your regularly scheduled Scottish crime fiction

2011-09-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

First week of my Masters Degree this week. It's been really good, although I may not be reading for fun any time soon. Everyone on the course is really friendly. It was also my first week of tutoring a new creative writing class. I was nervous, but it turned out to be loads of fun (for me, at least...)

The mystery of Edinburgh's wonderful paper sculptures has been solved...but no-one's telling us who it is yet.

The Crime Time Cafe review's Russel McLean's THE LOST SISTER and sympathises with Russel about his missing L. And Oline Cogdill at the Sun Sentinel reviews Val McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK.

And Val talks about the influence of Elinor M Brent Dyer's Chalet School books. And here's the link to the actual programme, which is excellent. I loved those books. I also loved Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers boarding school books. My Mum was very upset when I told her I wanted to go to boarding school and change my name to Wilhelmina. However, she finally worked out it was because I rather liked the idea of midnight feasts. Looking back, I am very glad my family were too poor to send me to boarding school. I still like midnight feasts though.

The Belfast Telegraph interviews Ian Rankin.

Dan Heap talks to Tony Black, Lin Anderson and Caro Ramsay about why Glasgow and Edinburgh are such great settings for crime fiction.

Get the benefit of Iain Banks' experience at a creative writing course. Or you could catch him at this event in Edinburgh next Wednesday.

The Dinner Detectives Book Club features M C Beaton.

Helen Fitzgerald - joint Queen of Scotland - with a heap of good news.

The always brilliant Douglas Lindsay on to tweet or not to tweet.

And, finally, happy birthday to the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library - 20 years old this week, and the place where I'm lucky enough to be doing my placement. It's the friendliest place imaginable, full of joy and excitement and I love being there.

"Experience in the sausage area"

2011-09-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader, I didn't manage to post from Berlin but I'm sure you'll forgive me as it meant I was having too good a time. I've included some gratuitous holiday snaps in this post. My favourite is this one, which is part of an advert we saw in a butcher's shop window. Roughly translated, it says "We are urgently looking for a female salesperson with experience in the meat and sausage area"... (I cut the rest of the advert off because it had a phone number on it and I want that job!)

I won't bore you with holiday talk. Suffice to say that Berlin feels like my home from home. I love the graffiti, the slightly schizophrenic nature that exists, the grey concrete of parts of the former east and the many pretty tree-lined streets everywhere, the fact that there is so much to see and do and yet it feels totally laid-back.

I will mention two things - if you're there before 3rd October, do go and see the exhibition Aus Anderer Sicht. It's panoramas of the Berlin Wall from the Eastern Side, taken by the border troops in the mid 1960s (normal people weren't allowed to take photos from that side), with the intention of using the photos to see where there were weaknesses in the Wall. The photos were never used and a box of negatives was found in the early 1990s.

But it's not only photos - most of them had little notes appended to them, reporting on things that were called over the Wall from the West ("Come over, we’ll have a smoke together, get drunk, and we’ve got plenty of women too", and one report mentioned that a girl in an apartment in the West took off her top and bared her chest to the guards "She put her top back on forty minutes later"). And, best of all, were the reports on the border guards themselves, and the snippets of praise and censure that were shown. It wasn't easy, being an East German border guard, you could get in trouble for just about anything:
"He only lackadaisically performed morning exercises. When touching his toes he just bent at the waist with his arms out in front of him."
"He told his supervisor he would like to go over to the West for just a day, to visit a brothel."
"When bored, he used his feet to make shapes in the snow."

Secondly, we chanced upon the Youth Resistance Museum in Friedrichshain, which talked about what it was like to be a punk in East Berlin (apparently, the Rubettes' Sugar Baby Love was a popular underground tune...) It's all in German, an there's a lot there, so it was a bit tough going for my fractured German, but a lovely man who worked there came and showed us some behind-the-scenes stuff. Really interesting if you're an old punk like me.

Anyway, enough of Berlin and on to the Scottish crime fiction news which is, after all, what you come here for.

Bloody Scotland was launched last week. Sadly, I couldn't go, but here's the Press Release:

Announcement of Scotland’s first crime Writing Festival

A stellar cast of leading crime writers gathered in Stirling today to announce Scotland’s newest literary festival, devoted to Scotland’s most popular fiction ~ crime writing. The inaugural Bloody Scotland will take place next year from 14 ~ 16 September 2012.

The festival is the inspiration of crime writers Lin Anderson and Alex Gray who believed, given the global reputation of Scottish crime writing, that there should be a showcase to celebrate its quality and diversity while placing it in an international context. The festival has the support of Stirling Council, Creative Scotland, University of Stirling and will be working closely with Stirling’s well-established literary festival, Off the Page.

Ian Rankin said “Scottish crime writing continues to fire on all cylinders, and talented new voices keep appearing. Bloody Scotland is a long overdue celebration of Scotland’s favourite genre, one of its most successful cultural exports ~ and a chance to hear some of the most interesting international writers too.”

Robert Ruthven, Information, Libraries & Archives Service manager commented, “It is a great compliment to the continuing success of Off the Page Stirling Book Festival that the organisers of Bloody Scotland have chosen Stirling as the venue for their Crime Weekend. Visiting crime authors are always warmly received by the Stirling public and the inaugural Bloody Scotland Festival can only add to Stirling’s reputation as the city which loves its crime. Our library staff who organise Off the Page are looking forward to this new working partnership.”

On 14 September 2012 the University of Stirling will host masterclasses, workshops and a publishers and agents forum. “Stirling has a thriving centre for publishing studies and we’ve just launched a postgraduate creative writing programme,” says Douglas Brodie, head of the School of Arts and Humanities. “We’re delighted to help aspiring writers at the festival develop their talent, technique and professional savvy.”

Emma Turnbull at Creative Scotland says “Bloody Scotland will be a welcome addition to the host of vibrant and diverse literature festivals we support across Scotland.”

Full programme details of the debut festival will be launched in late spring 2012.

For more information contact 0797 1099402

Doesn't that sound rather splendid? And here are some photos and reports over at Lin Anderson's site.

Sophie Hannah really loves Val McDermid's RETRIBUTION. And more on Val from the Irish Times.

A nice piece on Helen Fitzgerald's husband Sergio Casci.

A report from the Society of Authors in Scotland conference, where both Allan Guthrie and Lin Anderson were talking about eBooks.

A preview of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD.

Christopher Brookmyre gets serious.

Ian Rankin in Montreal on October 29th.

And, finally, a conversation with my lovely Mum. We arrived home from Berlin on Friday afternoon and I started my Masters Degree at Glasgow University today - ie two and a half days later. As we left Glasgow airport I rang my parents to tell them of my safe arrival home (I have to do that, even if I just go to Asda).

Me: Hello Dad, it's me.

Dad: I'll get your mother (offscreen) Joyce, it's your daughter.

Mum: (offscreen) Who? (the sound of my Mum's special chair going into orbit as it rises to let her get off without bending her knees) Hello, our Donna, is that you back?

Me: Yes Mum.

Mum: Did you have a nice time?

Me: Yes Mum.

Mum: When do you start university?

Me: Monday.

Silence on the other end of the phone.

Mum: (accusingly) Isn't that cutting it a bit fine?

Me: It's two and a half days away.

Mum: Don't you have things to do to prepare for it?

Me: You mean - iron my school uniform? Pack my pencil case?

Mum: Don't be facetious, young lady.

Leaving on A Jet Plane

2011-09-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

A very short post today, as I am off to Berlin this morning. I'm hoping to post from the balcony of the apartment we are staying in in leafy Prenzlauerberg over my breakfast Schwarzbrot. While I'm away, I will, unfortunately, miss the launch of Bloody Scots, but hope to report on it on my return.

In the meantime, a couple of links...

First of all, an article on Tartan Noir by Tony Black over at the wonderful Mulholland Books.

An article on Bouchercon (have fun, those of you who are going - I wish I could be there, but I start my Masters Degree that week. I am both nervous and excited.)

Helen Fitzgerald on the post book publication blues.

Paul Brazill on the marvellous SLAMMER by Allan Guthrie.

And, finally, did I mention that I am so happy that Douglas Lindsay is back from his holidays?

Apologies for the brevity of post and paucity of information. Tschuss, mein Liebchens.

"Books of scientific iInterest are filed in the bottom, sir"

2011-09-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Val McDermid says grown-up books need a dead body in them, there's a great interview with her over a Declan Burke's Crime Always Pays., another one at We Love This Book,

The City Life reviews STRIP JACK by Ian Rankin, the Fleetwood Weekly News reviews Quintin Jardine's THE LONER, His Futile Preoccupations enjoyed Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN, and a review of the TV version of Denise Mina's FIELD OF BLOOD.

More on Tony Black's film news.

A stage adaptation of Andrew O'Hagan's THE MISSING.

Scotiana has a piece on Alexander McCall Smith's books.

Crimeculture has extracts from Len Wanner's DEAD SHARP: SCOTTISH CRIME WRITERS ON COUNTRY AND CRAFT.

Finally, I think I'd rather be mugged in Edinburgh than go to a library in New Zealand.

"Its fists are faster than its thoughts"

2011-09-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings from chuffed and excited of Glasgow. I recently entered a competition run jointly by two fabulous sites - Pulp Press and For Books' Sake - who were looking for some pulp fiction short stories written by women. And I'm thrilled to say that my story DEPRAVITY LANE will be in their joint anthology coming out in November! I got carried away and entered a handful of stories, but this one is my homage to William Lindsay Gresham's NIGHTMARE ALLEY and is named after a song by Alien Sex Fiend. Now I need to think what to do with the other stories.

The lovely Bookwitch reports on an event with Karen Campbell.

Several reviews - first of all one of Denise Mina's THE DEAD HOUR, Crime Fiction Lover reviews Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION, A Penman's Manifesto looks at Gordon Ferris' THE HANGING SHED, a short review of Louise Welsh's Edinburgh Book Festival event, and one of the Ian Rankin event and a review of the TV version of Denise Mina's FIELD OF BLOOD, which is being repeated on BBC Scotland.

A German review of Tony Black's GEOPFERT (which translates as SACRIFICED, but is actually PAYING FOR IT). I actually did better struggling to read it in German, rather than relying on the always entertaining Babelfish, which gave me the title of this post, as well as the incomprehensible "There an evenly discovered, pleasing-blowing feature would be lost to us in the crime film world also equivalent again. Thus, fingers away of too much whisky."

Alexander McCall Smith (possibly the world's most travelled crime fiction author) will be appearing at a festival in Bali in October.

Peter May's THE BLACK HOUSE is one of Richard and Judy's Book Club Autumn Reads (I'm really happy to see Megan Abbott's THE END OF EVERYTHING on the list).

The Edinburgh Book Festival ELSEWHERE short stories will be published in a four-volume collection. See here for the list of authors - which includes Karen Campbell, Denise Mina, Doug Johnstone and Louise Welsh.

Renaissance Man is on a roll with Ian Rankin. And John Hannah is set to play Rebus again, but this time in a spoof. Talking of Ian Rankin, he performed in a play to close the Edinburgh Book Festival, but says it will be a one-off.

Appeaser of Gangsters and Breaker of Wind

2011-08-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

I mentioned last week that I've been involved in making a film for a charity I volunteer with. Well, today was the second day of filming. After last week's antics (which involved appeasing Glasgow gangsters and football hooligans), we thought this week would be much simpler. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case - mostly due to weather this time. We wanted shots from the Squinty Bridge (seen in the photo at the top of the page). By this time, the wind was howling. This would have been fine, apart from the fact that the microphone was picking all that noise up. The speaker for this part was patiently waiting to say his piece but the wind just wasn’t dying down.

“I know this might sound weird, Donna,” said our Director, “but do you think you could go and stand about 5 feet in front of him.”

Ah, my big break. My acting talents were required at last. “You want me just to stand by the railing, wistfully looking out towards the river? Or perhaps I should glide elegantly past him as he speaks? Just tell me what you want me to do. I’ve been studying the great Method actors.”

“Actually, I want you to stand in front of him and act as a windbreak.”

A windbreak? I was mortified. I know the camera’s supposed to add twenty pounds, but I thought that was only if you were in front of it – not within ten feet in any direction. However, consummate professional that I am, I bit back my tears and stood in the required position – trying to look as fat and wide as possible. Apparently, I succeeded – we got the shot – despite the wind I successfully broke. (Not as in “I broke wind”, you understand.)

Luckily, my enormous bulk came in handy at the next location. The Director wanted a shot looking up Kelvin Way. The only problem was that there was an enormous green rubbish bin spoiling the shot. Not your normal household rubbish bin – it was about 6 times the size and really, really heavy. As I wheeled it out of shot towards the side of the pavement, I realised it was on the way towards a parked car, at speed. I would like to say that I threw myself in front of it, but I didn’t. The Director ran up and rescued me.

Anyway, enough of that. The wonderful For Books' Sake reviews Shona MacLean's CRUCIBLE OF SECRETS.

Another one of those lovely mystery book sculptures has mysteriously appeared. Here's a post on some of the recent ones at the Edinburgh Book Festival. And more from the Guardian blog on the Festival.

Irvine Welsh in a sneaky plot to sabotage Hearts? And a trailer for Ecstasy.

Ian Rankin auctions off a character and himself for cancer research.

A review of Val McDermid's VILLAGE SOS on Radio 4, a great interview with her in the Scotsman, and Val wants to make people care when someone dies.

A review of Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN.

Yay! Douglas Lindsay's blog is back after taking a break over the summer.

And, finally, this photo was taken by my partner, at a town in the Buckfast Triangle ("you get used to it").

When I was looking for articles to explain Buckfast to those of you who don't know, I found this brilliant one from the Uncyclopedia. Do read the warning at the top.

I think this photo is brilliant. Someone spent ages getting this display juuuuuuuuuuuust right.

Good News,Old News, New News

2011-08-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Catching up a wee bit here.

Brilliant film news for Tony Black - I can't wait to see this - Tony Black, Richard Jobson and Dougray Scott? Bloody hell - what a trio. Huge congratulations Tony.

A couple of reports from the Edinburgh Book Festival that are vaguely crime fiction related, including Bella Bathhurst's favourite moments from previous festivals.

A review of Ian Rankin's EXIT MUSIC, one of Alexander McCall Smith's THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH, It'sACrime enjoyed Craig Robertson's SNAPSHOT and Karen at Austcrime reviews the CRIMESPOTTING short story collection.

An article on the TV version of Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES.

Louise Welsh on Saturday Review.

Check out Val McDermid's Woman's Hour drama VILLAGE SOS.

Irvine Welsh on the set of ECSTACY.

The Gold, Steel and New Blood Dagger shortlists.

I'm a Thug and a Zombie

2011-08-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear Reader, I hope you've had a splendid weekend. I've just spent a lovely day filming part of a short film for a charity I'm involved in. When I say 'filming', my involvement was minor, consisting mainly of fielding variations on the question "Haw, hen, is this part of that Brad Pitt zombie film they're making in George Square?" I'm trying to tell myself that they're mistaking me for Angelina Jolie, rather than a zombie, but...since I look as though I've eaten Angelina Jolie and still had room left over for dessert, I'm not exactly convincing anyone. My confidence was further dashed when we were filming in one of the stations. We had to get security passes, complete with photos, to be allowed to film there. Two of my colleagues - let's call them John Smith and Fred Jones - were first up to get their passes. They came back with nicely printed passes in the names of Mr J Smith and Mr F Jones. I was up next. I helpfully spelled my name. "Is that with an R E at the end?" said the official. I said that it was. I received my pass. All it said was "Donaldmuire". I didn't even get a Mr. I mean, the photograph wasn't particularly flattering but...still.

Allan Guthrie's Thuggish 13. And look at me, in there, nestled in such good company, looking all hard and mean and that.

A nice review of Len Wanner's DEAD SHARP: SCOTTISH CRIME WRITERS ON COUNTRY AND CRAFT. And a few more reviews - Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, M C Beaton's DEATH OF A CHIMNEY SWEEP, Craig Russell's THE DEEP DARK SLEEP and BERTIE PLAYS THE BLUES by Alexander McCall Smith.

A short story by the brilliant Ray Banks over at Shotgun Honey.

I don't know whether Radio New Zealand have just put up these old radio interviews with Kate Atkinson and Val McDermid, but they just came up in my google alerts, so I thought I'd mention them.

Talking of Val, some reviews from the Edinburgh Book Festival, including one of Val's event. More book festival stuff with a review of the Iain Banks event, one of the William McIlvanney one I mentioned previously, and a podcast with Louise Welsh. And the Falkirk Herald chats to Alan Bissett.

The full line-up of the Soho Literary Festival, which includes Philip Kerr.

A veritable plethora

2011-08-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

The Drowning Machine with an excellent review of Allan Guthrie's TWO-WAY SPLIT. And Allan Guthrie interviews Nigel Bird over at Criminal-E.

Peter Rozovsky on comic crime fiction and why Chris Ewan's humour works.

Lots of crime fiction appearances coming up. First of all, Russel McLean is at Blackwell's in Edinburgh tonight, Ian Rankin is appearing at the Morley Literature Festival on October 13th, and Val McDermid will be at the Ilkley Literature Festival on October 2nd. Before that, Val's at Waterstone's Deansgate, Manchester on September 12th. And remember, if you're in Edinburgh tomorrow, you can take part in a world record attempt.

Savidge Reads reviews Val McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK, The List on Gordon Ferris' THE HANGING SHED, a review of Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey mystery, AN EXPERT IN MURDER, a reviewlet of Ray Banks' most excellent BEAST OF BURDEN, Criminal Element enjoys Catriona McPherson's DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS, and Murder By The Book looks at Chris Ewan's THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO PARIS.

A review of the stage version of Alexander McCall Smith's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BERTIE and the print version of 44 SCOTLAND STREET: BERTIE PLAYS THE BLUES. And if you want to see where the 44 Scotland Street novels are set, you can do that very thing here. Finally, on the AMS front, you can listen to him being interviewed on Real Radio at the EBF.

An interesting interview with Gavin Knight about HOOD RAT covering crime fiction (I don't agree with all the points, needless to say), true crime, and feeling out of his depth in Glasgow.

A couple of reviews of the William McIlvanney event at the Edinburgh Book Festival where he takes a swipe at London publishers.

In another book festival event review - the careful Lin Anderson and the louche Tony Black. He is rather rakish.

And, finally, Scottish cow in freak ladder accident.

Half-mugged on a wet day

2011-08-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

An excellent piece on Val McDermid in The Guardian.

A great interview with Ray Banks over at Hardboiled Wonderland, and Ray talks about his favourite short series' here. The young man has good taste - Woodrell, Willeford and Raymond are 3 of my absolute favourites. I'd also add Mr Banks to that list.

You can go to jail as part of the Wigtown Book Festival at the end of September.

If you're in California you can see Catriona McPherson in San Mateo tomorrow and in Davis on Friday.

Helen Fitzgerald wants to buy your kidney.

Sherlock Holmes banned for being anti-Mormon.

The lovely Declan Burke mentions Charles Cummings' THE TRINITY SIX. Talking of Declan, here's a smashing review for ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL (a marvellous book, which you can win here).

Scotland on Sunday reports on the launch of the Edinburgh Book Festival, while the Guardian blog tells you what you can expect over the next couple of weeks, and whether tickets are still available on any given day. The Daily Record has a beginner's guide, and the BBC announces more stuff.

The FT has an interesting article on e-books, including the information that Ian Rankin's Edinburgh iphone app has been downloaded more than 30,000 times.

Ah, how I wish I was going to Bouchercon.

Finally, Glasgow crime decreases on wet days, apparently. Having been half-mugged on a wet day, I have to disagree.

I have a headache...

2011-08-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

...and cannot think of a suitable title for this post, so here is the Scottish crime fiction news.

A sucker punch from Philip Kerr, apparently.

Nigel Bird reviews Douglas Lindsay's THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMPSON. Brilliant stuff, and I am thrilled to be mentioned in the same breath. My regular reader (hello Dad!) will know I am a big fan of Douglas Lindsay. And Nigel has been very busy. In Dancing With Myself Scottish crime fiction fan Fiona Johnson interviews herself. As does Doug Johnstone.

Talking of Doug Johnstone, here's another interview with him over at Len Wanner's excellent The Crime of It All. And you can catch him at various events over the next few months. Personally, I'm hoping to get to the Literary Death Match. It's a couple of days before we head off to Berlin, so hopefully I'll make it. I'm not quite sure how it works, despite this helpful article, but I'm sure it will be fun. Which makes me wonder who, dear reader, would you like to see in a Literary Death Match?

A great interview with the multi-talented Ray Banks over at Vince Keenan's blog (and goodness me, thank you, Ray!).

Chris Ewan is having a lovely time on his US grand tour.

A review of the theatrical adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BERTIE.

The Scotsman reviews Lin Anderson's PICTURE HER DEAD.

Like whisky? Like Ian Rankin's Rebus? Got a spare £1000? Just think how many bottles of Buckie you could buy with that.

Irvine Welsh on the cast of FILTH. And he returns home to Leith to support young talent.

Chris Brookmyre on the shortening of his name.

Finally, a look at Raymond Chandler's dislike for the genteel British amateur detective.

Just call me Fatty Acids for short

2011-08-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the less than regular postings over the last few days. I'm back down at my Mum and Dad's at the moment. It's my Mum's 80th birthday this week, so I have come down to celebrate.

Today, we went to the bingo. Sadly, I didn't make out like a bandit this time. However, I did win a jar of Tesco Value Lemon Curd. That's saved me a whole 22p off my next week's shopping. Well, it would have done if I actually ate lemon curd. Somebody else won the packet of Strawberry Whip. I was gutted. That had my name written all over it (assuming I changed my name to Maltodextrin, Modified Potato Starch, Emulsifiers (Propane-1,2-diol Esters of Fatty Acids, Sunflower Lecithins) , Gelling Agents (Tetrasodium Diphosphate, Disodium Phosphate) which, by the way, I was totally prepared to do.

Anyway, on to the news.

Gillian Galbraith and Shirley McKay at the Inverness Book Festival on Thursday,

A great review of Chris Ewan's THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO VENICE, and the Deseret News calls it 'fun and entrancing'. Finally, an interview with the man himself over at Novel Rocket,

Ian Rankin is supporting the StreetSmart campaign, to help homelessness projects.

Breathing Fiction puts the spotlight on Denise Mina. And an article in the Daily Record on Gordon Ferris.

A review of Nicola Upson's third Josephine Tey novel, TWO FOR SORROW, one of Alexander McCall Smith's THE LOST ART OF GRATITUDE and a review for THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD.

Lots of Irvine Welsh news: first a trailer for ECSTACY, an interview with Irvine Welsh about the film, and news on FILTH.

Caro Ramsay talks about Jack The Ripper, The Musical, amongst other things.

If you want to help set a world record, and you can be in Edinburgh on August 19th, here's your opportunity.

Defining Genres By Bedroom Scene and other nonsense

2011-08-07T11:31:00.001-07:00

As I am not at home, but thought I would be able to post a proper post today and haven't been able to, here is a re-hash of a couple of old posts, following up on the genre debate.

First of all, how to define genre by bedroom scene:

ROMANCE

There was a knock on the door of my hotel room. I knew who this would be. My heart started beating fast like a baby sparrow fluttering in my ribcage. I fluffed up my hair, touched up my lipstick, adjusted my heaving breasts and opened the door. Tarquin stood there, leaning against the door frame like a bronzed God. His Armani jacket was slung casually over his shoulder and an errant lock of hair formed a little kiss curl over his forehead. I wanted to reach out and tenderly push it back into place. He smiled at me - a smile which reached from his chiselled jaw right up to his smouldering eyes, softly caressing the contours of his exquisite cheekbones on the way up.

"Hey there gorgeous," he said leaning close, his hot breath warming mycheek. "I've got something for you."

My eyes travelled down to the straining crotch of his tailored trousers,where his throbbing manhood lurked. I trembled. "You'd better come in then." I said.

SUSPENSE

There was a knock at the door of my hotel room. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the bedside lamp. Who could this be at 3am? My nerves were still on edge from the threatening phone call I'd received earlier. The voice, slightly mechanical and completely without intonation, had said "Don't say I didn't warn you." The receiver had gently been replaced after a few seconds. I crept over to the door and looked out of the spyhole. The corridor was empty, the lights low; the whole hotel was sleeping. As my heart beat returned to normal, I realised I had been holding my breath.

I relaxed but tensed up again almost immediately. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the wardrobe door opening.

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

There was a knock at the door of my hotel room which woke me up from my dream. I felt half regretful and half relieved. I felt disloyal for dreaming about Inspector Danny Trevelyan when I should be concentrating on looking for my sister, who had mysteriously disappeared three days ago.

"Who's there?" I called out. There was no reply, just another knock. I got out of bed and walked to the door. With my hand on the doorknob I glanced out of the spyhole. There was no one there. As I turned away, puzzled, I saw the wardrobe door opening. I let out a squeak of fear and stayed rooted to the spot as a tall, handsome man stepped out of the wardrobe.

"Danny? What are you doing in the wardrobe?"

His eyes twinkled. "I came to tell you something about your sister and saw something mysterious in the wardrobe. "He shrugged. "I got locked in and didn't want to wake you up." I wasn't sure that I believed him. Was he all that he seemed? Was he even really a police inspector? But there was undeniably an element of sexual tension between us that troubled me more than anything. Well,except the mysterious disappearance of what's-her-name of course.

THRILLER

The explosion knocked the bedroom door off its hinges. Butch threw himself down by the side of the bed, grabbing his Uzi as he flew over the night table. The two men in balaclavas sprayed bullets into the room before turning and running off down the corridor. Butch jumped up, ran to the window and looked out. A black SUV with tinted windows was just pulling away in the courtyard below his hotel room. He could catch them.

Not stopping to open the window he jumped through, landing on the balcomy below. He turned to the shocked white face of the girl who'd been sitting on her balcony reading the morning paper. "Sorry lady, criminals to catch. I'll be back." He kissed her hard, grabbed the drainpipe and effortlessly slid to the ground. He ran towards his souped up chevy with 40 million horsepower under the hood and go faster stripes along the side. The idea of a car chase ending in a spectacular crash and the SUV bursting into flames excited him.

AMATEUR SLEUTH

I quietly got out of bed, leaving Sheriff Pete Mallory gently snoring.I needed to get a head start on the day, what with having to make fresh bread, pack the childrens' lunches, finish the quilt I was handsewing for the Women's Guild Summer Fete, and take Andrew to the school concert and Butthead to the vet. Or was it the other way round? Since the murder of my neighbour Philip Stover I had been at sixes and sevens and hadn't been able to concentrate on anything other than trying to solve the crime, despite Pete Mallory's insistence that I keep my pert little nose out of business that didn't concern me.

I shook him awake. "Sheriff Mallory, do you have the key to Philip Stover's house? There might be a vital clue there that you missed. And, by the way, you need to get up and leave before the children wake up. I'm not supposed to have a love life since my husband ran off with his secretary 8 years ago."

He groaned. "Not that it's any of your business, but the key's in the front left pocket of my trousers. You really MUST learn to keep your pert little nose out of business that doesn't concern you. Now, for goodness sake come back to bed and give me a kiss. It's 3am, the children won't get up for 4 hours. And while we're on the subject - what the hell's wrong with sliced bread from the supermarket, let the children pack their own damn lunches - there's something weird about 4 30-somethings who all still live at home anyway. And another thing, the damn quilt's already bigger than Madison Square Garden and you've only been sewing it for 2 weeks; Andrew can take himself to the school concert - he's the headmaster for god's sake, and I can never remember - is Butthead the dog or one of the children? And for goodness sake, stop calling me Sheriff Mallory - we've been seeing each other for 6 years and you've stuck your nose into 12 murders over that time."

HARDBOILED

I reached over the mysterious dame in my bed, opened the drawer of the bedside cabinet and pulled out a half bottle of whisky. I took a slug and savoured the welcome burn in my throat as it went down. I lit a cigarette, screwing up my eyes against the smoke as it curled into the air. The Venetian blinds slanted a weak light into the room, leaving a pattern of gray stripes on the rumpled bedsheets. I looked at the broad as she lay spreadeagled on the bed. "Of all the beds in all the world,"I muttered "Why did you have to walk into mine?" She was a strawberry blonde and I knew she was trouble from the moment she'd stepped into my office the afternoon before. Her jailbird boyfriend had gone on the lam but she thought he'd been fingered by The Duke's mob of gorillas. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd seen her sleazeball boyfriend getting on a Greyhound bus to Chattanooga, a petite brunette hanging from his muscular arm like....well, like something really delicate that hangs from something really ugly. It's early, I've got a hangover - similes and metaphors don't come easy until later in the day. Give me a break.

So anyway, I fed her some brandy, along with some line about how a cute tomato like her could always find another sucker to take care of her and here she was - in bed with that next sucker. Her lips had lost the layers of red lipstick and looked beestung and bruised, false eyelashes had given up the battle during last night's exertions and one of them now lay gently on her cheek like a depressed spider, and she smelled of expensive whisky and cheap perfume. God, she was gorgeous.

POLICE PROCEDURAL

The phone rang. "Shit." Inspector Alan Jeffries woke with a start and reached out over his wife's prone body for the phone. He knocked the alarm clock off the cabinet in his haste and his bleary eyes caught sight of the luminous dial. 3am. "Shit," he said again. There could only be one reason for the phone ringing at 3am.

"Yeah?" he said into the receiver, rubbing his hand through his hair and over his eyes, trying to force himself awake. He belched - the sour beery taste made him wish he'd just come straight home last night rather than going out for a pint with the lads yet again.

"Guv? Watters here. You'd better come down to the Docks. We've got another murder."

Jeffries' wife stirred. "Alan? It's no good - I hate being a policeman's wife. I want a divorce."

TRADITIONAL COZY

Agatha Parple opened her bedroom door with a sigh of relief. She was so glad it was 9pm and she could turn in with a nice cup of hot cocoa. This had been a hectic day - from the moment she'd walked into the dining room at breakfast and seen Colonel Arbuthnot face down in the kippers with a south American blow dart in the back of his neck, until the moment she'd assembled the household in the library and Revealed that the murderer was young Fotheringham, who reminded her so much of the butcher's son, she hadn't stopped once all day. The sheets of her bed had been turned down by Betty, the slightly common but good hearted maid with the unfortunate habit of dropping her aitches. Agatha reached down and unfolded her nightdress from where it lay warming on the hot water bottle Lady Alexander thoughtfully provided for all her guests. Ah, surely the greatest bedtime experience anyone could ever have - the feel of toasty brushed cotton against one's skin.

CULINARY COZY

William stirred as I opened the bedroom door and the scent of toast and jam wafted towards him. He opened his eyes. "I thought you'd be hungry after trying to solve the murders,." I said, "so I went downstairs and rustled up a treat for you." I put the tray in front of him. As he ate, I went through the recipe in my head, to make sure I'd cooked it correctly:

Toast and Jam: Take two slices of bread
Put bread in toaster
Switch toaster on and cook until a sort of brownish colour (pale brown rather than dark brown - definitely not black)

Handy hint - when the smoke alarm goes off, your toast is done
Remove from toaster and spread with butter (or vegetable spread of your choice)
Ladle a generous helping of jam over the top
Serve while still warm

SERIAL KILLER

Hector Lector opened the bedroom door. His victim was spreadeagled on the bed, her legs and arm tied to the bedposts. Hector made sure he had covered all his serial killer trademarks. His victim was a blue eyed woman with one arm and he had drowned her in a vat of hot chocolate while narrating The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner. He had then tied her to the bed and had drawn a picture of a squirrel on the wall and scattered rose petals around the bedroom floor.

For a time the pounding in his head had subsided. He would be able to forget for a while that he had been burned by a scalding mug of hot chocolate as a baby, force-fed him by his mother Rose, a blue-eyed ex Womens Royal Navy sailor who lost an arm in a bizarre accident involving a rabid squirrel.

Hector sighed happily and left the bedroom.

SCIENCE FICTION

Bob took off his boxer shorts and turned round, gazingly lovingly at his new love. Lumarella gasped in shock and drew her little pointy head back. "By Jupiter, what's that?" she cried. "On MY planet that looks like the tool we use to stir our Grogon Juice."

FANTASY

Legolas got out of bed in a huff. "What do you mean 'It's small'?" he said. "Of COURSE it's bloody small - I'm an elf."

Next - from noir to cosy in...errrrr...12 easy stages:

Noir fiction has our protagonist spiralling down into the pit of despair, thrown there by a mocking Fate, who then stands at the edge of the pit shovelling dirt onto the head of the protagonist until he is half-buried. Fate then throws the shovel down into the pit and the hapless protag reaches out for that glimmer of hope, only for it to whack him on the head and kill him. Noir for me ends with the characters going to prison/becoming alcoholics/ betraying each other and their own morals (if they had any to start with) - mostly a one book deal (after all, who'd want to put the poor sucker through all that again?)

Add a wisecracking sidekick, a couple of shoot-outs and the love of a good woman for our PI who decides he's going to kick the booze, and you have a hardboiled tale.

Add a nasty serial killer, a morgue, some sharp knives and a know-it-all woman with a degree in pathology, who just happens to be a cordon-bleu chef and you have a forensic thriller.

Give your serial killer a quirk and have him choose victims who are blue-eyed women with one arm who he drowns in a vat of hot chocolate while narrating The Rime of The Ancient Mariner. He then ties her to the bed and draws a picture of a squirrel on the wall and scatters rose petals around the bedroom floor, because he was burned by a scalding mug of hot chocolate when he was a baby, force-fed to him by his mother Rose, a Women's Royal Navy Sailor, who lost an arm in a bizarre accident involving a rabid squirrel. Add in a few italicised passages from the viewpoint of the killer and you have a psychological thriller.

Include quotes from an obscure Turkish poet left at the scene of the crime (the poem, not the poet), have the killer be a master chess-player and chuck in a discourse on philosophy every six pages, and you have a literary mystery.

Throw a lawyer into the mix who uses his courtroom skills to unveil the bad guy, despite the fact that his extra-curricular investigations puts his own life in danger, and you have a legal thriller.

Give your lawyer an acquaintance who's a cop with a passion for justice at the expense of his home life, who's been divorced six times, is driven by the job and who relaxes with a glass of beer and some jazz music on the stereo at the end of a case and you have the loner cop book.

Give him some mates, a few jokes, a couple of attractive female colleagues, an annoying senior officer, too much paperwork and some inter-departmental squabbling and you have a police procedural.

Introduce your newly optimistic and upbeat policeman to a nice widow with a penchant for sticking her nose in where it's not wanted, and who always seems to be tripping over dead bodies and you've got an amateur-sleuth mystery.

Give Ms Nosy a clever, mystery-solving iguana as a pet, a hobby knitting bird tables out of left-over wool, then throw in a recipe every couple of chapters and you have a cosy.

Make the iguana talk, and give him the starring role, or give the heroine the ghost of a dead relative to contend with and you have a paranormal crossover mystery.

Transport the whole shooting match back to 1665 and dress them in pantaloons and bustles and have them declaim "Gadzooks" and "Oddsbodkins" every now and again and you have a historical mystery. Well, you might have to lose the iguana...

The Genre Debate

2011-08-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I linked to an article in the Telegraph about why people read thrillers and which was - shall we say - a tad condescending to those who read genre fiction. This topic is one that always irks me. I hate that sort of snobbishness (whichever side of the fence you're on). For me there are books you like, and books you don't, plain and simple.

I'm not even going to touch the definition of thrillers, but expand it to all crime fiction.

I really can't stand D H Lawrence. And I still have nightmares about being made to read a book at university in which nothing happened except every 8 pages or so a caterpillar crawled up a wall (Alain Robbe Grillet's LA JALOUSIE (a book which was trumpeted by my lecturer as "a masterpiece")). By the fifth appearance of the caterpillar I wanted to bash its little head in with the most convenient Nancy Drew book in my collection. All that bloody navel gazing. If I want to gaze at anyone's navel I have one of my own. OK, it's not pretty, but it's mine damn it, and it's an honest navel. I don't need to spend £10 on a book just to be bored by someone else's lumpy navel. But that doesn't mean I'm saying it's a bad book - it's just not a book I liked.

Give me a book that engages my mind, my emotions, takes me into another world, makes me laugh and makes me cry, written by someone who wants to tell a good story, with engaging characters and excellent writing. You get books like that in every genre (including the 'literary fiction' Hensher seems to prefer), I just happen to prefer crime fiction.

And I dislike the whole idea of crime fiction (or any genre fiction, in fact) being seen as the neddish little brother of literary fiction. It seems that unless books are picked up by the establishment and lauded as 'literary' then they are unworthy.

Don't we all get different things from a work of art (in the general sense to include literature)? And isn't what we get from that work of art dependent on our emotions, our background, our experiences? So surely the understanding and the meaning is going to be slightly different for all of us? My understanding of Jane Austen is going to be different from my grandmother's understanding of Jane Austen. Yet the favourite book of both my grandma and I was Pride and Prejudice, and we used to have some great discussions about it.

And who's to say what Jane Austen's intention was when she wrote it? OK, she wrote about it in some letters, but who's to say she was telling the truth? :o) And if I want to think that William Blake's Tiger, Tiger is just a lovely poem about a tiger, then who's to say I'm wrong and poor old William doesn't whirl in his grave every time someone comments on the religious symbolism and significance. "Damn it, I saw a tiger at London zoo and was really impressed, you pretentious dickheads", he might be saying.

I am glad that I can enjoy, or not enjoy a book without caring whether it's a literary masterpiece or a piece of genre 'trash'. I can pick up a book with pure unadulterated joy, and come at it without any preconceptions. I like books which are well written, have characters I can care about (not necessarily like but care what happens to them) and which engage me and, yes - shock, horror - entertain me. I couldn't give a stuff about what happens to Paul Morrell in Sons and Lovers, but I do care about what happens to The Grinch who stole Christmas. Where would be the enjoyment in picking up a book by some feted and lauded 'genius' and feeling that I had to gush about it? Sometimes, the emperor just isn't wearing any new clothes.

I don't like posing and posturing. In any genre, when the author gets in the way of the words as though he's sitting on my shoulder pointing to the page as I read "Look at that turn of phrase, isn't that divine?" then it really turns me off.

I agree with Raymond Chandler: "I think that certain writers are under a compulsion to write in recherche phrases as a compensation for a lack of some kind of natural animal emotion. They feel nothing, they are literary eunuchs, and therefore they fall back on an oblique terminology to prove their distinction."

Hensher's slightly sneering attitude really bugs me. Why can't people be allowed to enjoy things for what they are without being made to feel that they are somehow less of a person because they like crime fiction more than literary fiction, or prefer Madonna to Mozart, or comic strips to Canaletto, or Lear to Larkin? People like what they like and it makes us who we are. And being snooty about other peoples' tastes because they are 'simpler' or 'deeper' or have less 'literary quality' than our own is just pure snobbery. Forwards or in reverse, it doesn't matter. What is the point of trying to make something which can enhance peoples' lives inaccessible to all but the select few?

I like difficult books. I like simple books. I like books full stop. I just don't like being told that that difficult book has more merit than the simple book I've just read - the simple book that made me laugh and made me cry, and left a little bit of itself in my brain and in my heart. I don't think that JUST because a book is difficult it's better than a simple book. Sometimes a tiger is just a bloody tiger.

Bringing this waffling back to crime fiction, one of the main attractions of crime fiction is the excellent characterization that these books usually have. Crime fiction takes an ordinary character at an extraordinary time in their lives and shows how they react and cope in the dark place into which they are taken. Or, in the case of police procedurals and PI novels, how they deal with death and devastation on a regular basis. They have a far wider and deeper approach to characterization than a lot of more mainstream novels and say a lot about humanity and society. It's the whole order from chaos thing, and sometimes it's just continuing chaos - and that's all good. Sometimes order is achieved, sometimes it isn't. I don't always like it when the ends are tied up all nice and neatly, I like ends to be left loose. But I like there to be ends.
I guess what I'm trying to say (very badly) is that I read crime fiction because there's such a wide variety of stories about 'people'. There are points and plots and problems - great characters and strong stories.

The crime fiction genre is huge and varied and wonderful. There are a lot of books out there that I find dull and bland or at the other end of the spectrum so gory that I need to wash the blood off my hands after I've read them. I don't enjoy books where crocheting cats with a degree in astrology solve the murder, but I have friends who do. I don't like books which make me feel I could carry out an autopsy if pushed, but I have friends who do (I'm not sure which of those groups of people scare me more!). There is something for everyone. Although I prefer my crime fiction either dark, twisted, noir and warped, or full of black humour, it doesn't mean to say I don't read anything else.

And nobody should be made to feel that anything they choose to read is unworthy. If you read something and love it, then I want to hear about it. Even if the book is not to my taste, I love hearing people's enthusiasm for the books they love.

Oh, shut up, Donna.

A post with added itch

2011-07-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend's cinematic viewing: A BITTERSWEET LIFE is a South Korean film set in the Korean underworld in which Sun Woo - a smart, young mob guy - is given the task of checking up on his boss' young girlfriend while the boss is out of town. A really good start - what happens when Sun Woo decides to act morally in an immoral world - but then he turns into some unbelievable Duracell bunny. He's a one man army wearing a cloak of invincibility. Next up was ANIMAL KINGDOM, an Australian crime film (apparently based on a true story). When 17 year old Josh's mother dies of a heroin overdose he turns to his estranged grandmother for help. She takes him in, and he discovers that she might be his gran, but she's no sweet little old lady - instead, she's the matriarch of a violent criminal family, and she's not really bothered when Josh's uncles get him involved. Tense, chilling, and nicely low key. Finally, and most impressively, BALLAST. Set in a depressed part of the Mississippi Delta, Ballast focuses on three marginalised characters - a man whose twin brother has killed himself just before the film starts; the dead man's 12 year old son, who hasn't seen his father for years, and is heading in a dangerous direction; and the boy's mother, who is barely managing to make ends meet. Not much happens and it's shot in a documentary style, but it's a totally gripping film. Completely understated, subtle and nuanced.

In other weekend news - we booked tickets to see Killing Joke in Glasgow next March (yippee!), and I have 27 midge bites (which, given that these are Scottish midges, and the bites have a propensity to evil swelling), means that I am now just one big midge-y bite and I'm trying to restrain myself from clawing myself to death. I even used Avon's Skin-So-Soft before we went out, but the little buggers seem to love it. Either that or I taste so good that they are prepared to risk it. Yes, that's it - I am good meat.

An interview with the lovely Chris Ewan, in which he shares some wonderful and well-deserved news.

Over at the excellent Guilty Conscience blog, Luca Veste has been busy with Scottish crime writers. First of all, an interview with the lovely Chris Ewan, in which he shares some wonderful and well-deserved news, and, just for good measure, a review of Chris' THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM (and yes, for those of you who were wondering, the Isle of Man is a satellite state of Scotland). an interview with Helen Fitzgerald. And a review of her new book THE DONOR.

Talking of Helen Fitzgerald, please don't go and see her stand-up comedy routine.

Tony Black's TRUTH LIES BLEEDING is out in paperback on August 3rd. Here's Tony reading an excerpt.

The Guardian, with an article on Josephine Tey.

Fancy a role in the Edinburgh Fringe production of Alexander McCall Smith's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BERTIE? Hmmmmm, think I might go for this myself. Are you calm? Yes, yes I am. Enthusiastic? Oh, very. Have a very waggy tail? Ummmmm, no. Is that vital? Are you a Border Collie? Well, no, actually. I'm more like a very out-of-shape St Bernard who's been at the brandy in her little barrel.

Happy one-month birthday to Allan Guthrie's TWO-WAY SPLIT, in which the very accommodating Mr Guthrie does my job and rounds up all the Allan Guthrie news that's fit to print.

John Dingwall interviews M C Beaton.

The Telegraph tells us that, in a menacing world, we flee into thrillers. Condescending, much?

News, Reviews and Interviews

2011-07-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

The My Life In Books event at the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library last night seemed to go well. We had a nice turnout and Karen Campbell and Caro Ramsay were a joy to interview. They talked about books that had influenced them throughout their lives (turns out that between us we had a shared history of Enid Blyton (although I was the only one of us who'd ever got into trouble because of The Famous Five), Black Beauty, Just William and the Jennings series of books. They also talked about their own writing. Karen read from a very atmospheric piece from her most recent book PROOF OF LIFE and Caro read the chilling prologue of her forthcoming book, due out in January. I had a good time, despite my nerves prior to the event.

Talking of JUST WILLIAM, serendipitously, Kate Atkinson chooses it for her top 10.

Jake Kerridge does a much better round-up of Harrogate than I did but then, he gets paid for it.

A review of Allan Guthrie's SLAMMER and an interview with the man himself over at The Crime Of It All, where there is also a review of Alice Thompson's THE EXISTENTIAL DETECTIVE.

Ian Rankin and others campaign to save Radio 4's short story content. Talking of Ian Rankin, here's a reminder about the charity event in aid of the Royal Blind.

Fancy a mystery tour of England and Scotland? Want to meet crime writers? Have a spare $6,000? Then this could be the trip for you. While you're in Edinburgh, you could go on this TRAINSPOTTING tour. Let's hope the "worst toilet" isn't too realistic.

Reader Dad reviews Ray Banks' small but perfectly formed novella GUN. And Paul Brazill interviews Ray here.

The Globe And Mail on Alexander McCall Smith's THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, and Bookbag reviews Gordon Ferris' THE HANGING SHED.

Chris Ewan is appearing at a bookstore near you (if you live in Thousand Oaks) on August 6th. If you are near, go and see him, he's very entertaining and a top bloke.

Post-Harrogate Post

2011-07-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Harrogate Crime Festival was excellent. Not that I went to any events, so I can't comment on those, but it was so brilliant to catch up with old friends and to make new ones who you feel as though you've known forever. I'm not going to list everyone, because that would just be ridiculous, but you know who you are because I probably hugged you several times (or, if I didn't know you very well, I probably shook your hand whilst wishing I knew you well enough to hug you). Some brief highlights:

Getting to spend time with the gorgeous Christa Faust after missing out on an LA trip last year due to pneumonia. (Photo courtesy of Adele (who, at one point during the weekend, told me I wasn't scary after all. Am I scary, dear Reader?))

Lovely agent Allan Guthrie calling the screenplay I just sent him 'a humdinger' (he never usually says anything nice to me...)

Getting to meet Steve Mosby's gorgeous little baby boy.

The hilarious dinner where we developed a concept for the new TV show RUN, RUSSEL, RUN starring Russel D McLean and his catchphrase "Now THAT I can do." Thanks to Al, Damien, Kate, Charles, Adele, Kat, Vincent and Russel for such a fun evening.

My lovely new shoes - courtesy of the aforementioned Christa Faust.

Being insulted by young Kat Heubeck in such a lovely way. Knowing that I am a big fan of 70s punk (it having been the music of my heyday), Christa had also bought me a book about an LA punk club from the late 1970s. Kat, taking a look at it, said "Oh! A history book." I am, officially, history.

Meeting one of my heroes - Cathi Unsworth - and getting to talk music with her. It made me come home and play my old Sisters of Mercy albums.

Being inspired by Harrogate to finish up/write three short stories on the train on the way home, and dying to get stuck into the new screenplay.

Anyway, a wee bit of Scottish crime fiction news, because it doesn't just all stop while I'm away, you know. Before that, a rather marvellous picture from Harrogate of those Reservoir Scots Allan Guthrie, Stuart MacBride and Russel McLean (aka Mr Giggle, Mr Ponytail and Mr Breadcrumbs).

Craig Russell unwittingly leads tourists astray.

A review of Alexander McCall Smith's THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, reviews of Grant McKenzie's SWITCH and NO CRY FOR HELP, and Publisher's Weekly on Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

Win tickets to the Edinburgh Book Festival.

Finally, several authors who were at Harrogate choose their favourite fictional characters.

A Hotch Potch of Crime Fiction Randomness

2011-07-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Just a wee reminder for anyone who's in Glasgow on Tuesday evening - I'm interviewing Karen Campbell and Caro Ramsay for a My Life In Books Crime Fiction Special at the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library. All welcome (it's not just for the girls!)

Six shots from Allan Guthrie over at Shotgun Honey.

Getting to know Stuart MacBride.

An excellent Noir Interview with Ray Banks. What a great idea. And a couple of reviews of the excellent GUN.

A review of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG.

Edinburgh's Oxford Bar, home of Rankin's Rebus and more places of interest on the Literary Map of Edinburgh. Tickets on sale for An Evening With Ian Rankin on September 2nd. And Colin Bateman interviews Ian on September 22nd at the Irish Literature Festival in Bangor.

Talking of Ian Rankin, I hope that he and Val McDermid have been gargling with honey.

Trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

A conversation with Alexander McCall Smith.

I'm off to Harrogate tomorrow for the Crime Festival, so I doubt there will be any posts from me until at least Sunday evening. Have a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.

Custard, Coathagers and Catwoman

2011-07-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am currently down at my parents (alternately being spoiled and being treated as though I have regressed to being a six year old). This is a very useful visit, as well as being lovely, because the screenplay I have just finished is set in a retirement community. And my parents live in one. Handy, eh? I'm currently editing the screenplay so some of the things that have happened over the last couple of days may well find their way into it. Today, my mum took me to the bingo (having first said "You just mark off the numbers on the card with a cross." Gee, thanks mum.)

Sadly, we didn't win the cucumber, the gravy granules or the mint sauce (or the tin of Ambrosia Creamed Rice - which seemed to be the hot prize of the day, given the oohs and aahs that accompanied its announcement), but we did come home with this little haul (the custard powder and the coat-hanger were my winnings, the rest of the booty was down to my mum).

I also made the shock discovery that my mum once walked out of a Beverley Sisters concert in the 1950s "because of the foul language". Yes, this bevy of apple-cheeked beauties. No wonder my mum doesn't like my books... I have no idea what they said, sadly my mum can't remember.

Anyway, enough of that nonsense, and on to the Scottish crime fiction news.

First of all, Ray Banks is interviewed by Allan Guthrie over at Criminal-E. And here's Mr Banks again, at Guilty Conscience.

While on the subject of Luca Veste's excellent Guilty Conscience website, she's not Scottish, but she lives in Sunderland, so that's close enough, here's an interview with Julie Morrigan. If you like dark and warped, do read her stuff.

Over at I Meant To Read That - a review of Douglas Lindsay's THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON.

A bit of a half-hearted review of Christopher Brookmyre's WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED,

Pictures of all the Ian Rankin art sculptures. Aren't they brilliant?

Alexander McCall Smith on tackling rabies.

The Rap Sheet has a piece on Paul Johnston.

Week two of the Telegraph's Kate Atkinson discussion.

Finally, what all the well-dressed assassins are wearing these days. Au revoir, mes petits choufleurs.

This, That, and a Bit of the Other

2011-07-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend's film viewing was 36 QUAI DES ORFEVRES with Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu - a gritty, absorbing and convoluted crime thriller with lots of shades of grey. Great performances from Auteuil and Depardieu. Off to Harrogate Crime Festival next week so it will be a film-less weekend.

A great post from Helen Fitzgerald on self-obsession, and here's a great interview with her in The Scotsman.

The Scotsman also interviews David Ashton.

Hobbit in Irvine Welsh's ECSTACY.

An audio interview with Dr Val McDermid.

The World of Alexander McCall Smith, a review of BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS and a video interview with the man.

An interesting article on Douglas Watt's TESTAMENT OF A WITCH.

Fancy an evening with Ian Rankin?

Shirley McKay and Gillian Galbraith will be appearing at the Inverness Book Festival August 10-13. Louise Welsh and Christopher Brookmyre will also be appearing.

The Guardian on class in fiction. And another Guardian piece - this time the best summer reads and where to read them. Maybe we should do the equivalent for crime fiction.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you again that you should read the genius that is Douglas Lindsay's GOVERNMENT OF THE LIVING DEAD, do I?

And, he's not Scottish, but I can't resist the chance to give a shout out to the lovely Declan Burke, whose book ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is out soon. It's absolute 100% brilliant, by the way. And it's being launched on August 10th at the Gutter Bookshop in Dublin. Everyone welcome.

"Not in these trousers"

2011-07-14T01:31:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely loving being made redundant. I've been doing some adult literacy tutoring, group work and creative writing groups at the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library, and it's where I'm going to be doing my plaement for my Masters degree. It's a lovely place to be. Sometimes it's quiet and restful to be there, at other times it's noisy and vibrant. It's always fun and interesting. They do so much there - adult literacy and numeracy sessions, trips to Glasgow's Buddhist Temple or Jewish archives, galleries, films, museums, arts and crafts. There's a group of learners who are involved in researching, setting up and delivering women's heritage walking tours of Glasgow, and they have a BME women's project. Everyone who works there is absolutely lovely and really friendly, and the learners are great fun and so enthusiastic. It's an absolute joy to go in there (I sent Ewan a text after a particularly great day there, saying "I love my job." He sent me one back saying "Just to remind you - you're not getting paid." Details, details).

They also have an archive of fascinating treasures - loads of Suffragette and women's history artefacts. They have a list of what's available and you have to find it yourself. There are loads of boxes, each of which contain several items. It's like a treasure hunt - you have to locate the shelf, then the box, then dig inside the box. One box has pulp fiction - including the marvellous - THE GIRLS IN 3-B ("They came to the city - fascinated, frightened - hungering after life with that desperate, head-long impatience of the very young...There was Annice...Bright, curious, full of untried passions, she let Alan drag her into his beat-generation world of parties, jazz, booze, marijuana and sex. And Pat...She was big blonde and built for love, but she was saving herself for marriage. Until she met her boss. Right from the beginning Pat knew she'd do anything for him - anything. And Barby...She was the most vulnerable. Men terrified her and for a good reason. When she finally fell in love it was with a woman.) How can you resist that?

There's also a beautiful Suffragette brooch, all wrapped up with tissue paper and ribbon, a card game called PANKO which has supporters and opponents of the suffrage movement and includes cards such as 'Votes for Women' showing a fight between Suffragettes and the police, and 'Gaol ! Gaol ! Gaol !' showing a Suffragette refusing a meal while on hunger strike a 'Votes For Women clock/paperweight (it's weird, but it works), 1950s knitting patterns, ancient sex education leaflets ("Should I let my boyfriend touch me below the neck?"), and my favourite find - Suffragette postcards. They have a collection of postcards - mostly cartoon-y, many of them taking the mickey out of the Suffragette movement. Some of them have been sent to people and those are the most fascinating "Dear Alice, I hope you don't hold with all this nonsense" type of stuff. But my favourite was this one.

The back of the card says "Dear Alice, Shall not be over on Saturday, Frank." Now, doesn't that make you wonder what happened? Was Frank chucking Alice by the Edwardian era version of text message? If so, why did he send his message on a jokey postcard? Was she a Suffragette and he didn't approve? Or was this their usual form of communication, given lack of phones and difficulty in locating a carrier pigeon? Had they earlier agreed that he would come over either on Saturday or Sunday, and he was just letting her know that Saturday was out? Was Frank really Francesca?

Amy - I read your mail 100 years later and I'm worried about you and Frank.

Anyway, on to the usual crime fiction news.

A review for Allan Guthrie's TWO-WAY SPLIT, and one for Kate Atkinson's WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?

In DEAD SHARP, Len Wanner interviews Scottish crime writers Allan Guthrie, Ian Rankin, Christopher Brookmyre, Louise Welsh, Neil Forsyth, Stuart MacBride, Karen Campbell, Alice Thompson and Paul Johnston. Excellent stuff.

A literary festival in Soho with Philip Kerr amongst others.

Can you tell a Scottish novelist from an English one?

Ian Rankin on the new sculpture on the border between Scotland and England.

I'll Take The High Road...

2011-07-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear Reader.

This post is interspersed with photos from my 'research' trip up the west coast of Scotland yesterday. As you can see from the photos, it's a hard life, doing research. The photos are taken from a train window, so they're not perfect, I'm afraid.

I did not take a photo of the fish and chips I had in Mallaig, but, take it from me - they were delicious.

On the train, I also wrote the first ten pages of a new screenplay (which has a scene set in Mallaig, and on the ferry over to the Isle of Skye - hence the trip) , finished two short stories, and scalded myself with ScotRail tea.

Now on to the Scottish crime fiction news.

Over at Bastardized Version, I tell that wuss John Hornor how badass I am. Oh yes I am. Just don't tell my Mum.

More on the literature project for Darfur refugees that Alexander McCall Smith is involved in. I Prefer Reading reviews A CONSPIRACY OF FRIENDS, and a review of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SEVEN.

Another one of the lovely origami Ian Rankins. Well, obviously not literally.

A brilliant interview by Anthony Neil Smith with Allan Guthrie over at Herman's Greasy Spoon.

A review of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG. And Kate Atkinson will be speaking at Fountains Abbey on Friday 15th July.

Manic Pop Thrills reviews Chris Brookmyre's WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED.

Finally, I can't remember, did I already mention that Philip Kerr will be joining Lee Child and Jeffery Deaver at next year's CrimeFest? Can't wait. But, since I have to, I'm off to Harrogate next week for the Harrogate Crime Festival.

Sheds, Swords and Sex

2011-07-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have decided to treat myself to a day out...errrrr... spend a hard day researching the route from Glasgow to the Isle of Skye. This involves sitting on a train for 5 hours and taking in the beautiful scenery on the West Highland Line, which includes the Glenfinnan Viaduct (better known as the one from Harry Potter) and the beautiful Arisaig, before spending two hours in Mallaig for a wander round and some fish and chips, followed by a 5 hour trip home again. It's a hard life.

If you really need any more persuasion to buy Allan Guthrie's brilliant TWO-WAY SPLIT, here's the lovely Declan Burke to give you that extra push.

A review of Helen Fitzgerald's FURCHTBAR LIEB (aka DEAD LOVELY ) It's in German, and, if I concentrate, I can understand a lot of it. However, it's much much more fun to go to Babelfish and get an...ahem... 'English' translation, which has gems such as "Thus a harmonious Sexualleben of a marriage transforms into a Reproduktionsmarathon" and "Krissie of One Night conditions becomes just now more pregnant".

A review of Philip Kerr's FIELD GREY.

Alexander McCall Smith's wish for Darfur.

Grant McKenzie talks about true crime inspiration.

GOVERNMENT OF THE LIVING DEAD - a wee treat from Douglas Lindsay, starting on Monday and lasting forever (or at least a week).

If you read it in a book, would you believe a story about a woman who lived in a shed in her married lover's back garden?

And a serious one to finish with for a change: Reducing gang violence in Glasgow.

Screwed, Blued and Tattooed

2011-07-07T03:11:00.000-07:00

Following Tuesday's post, here's another couple of books from my pulp fiction collection. The first one - THE CORPSE THAT REFUSED TO STAY DEAD by Hampton Stone - I picked up because of the blurb on the back: 'They lived in a city within a city, one of those hulking tenements of furnished rooms, shared kitchens, dismal studios...They were kids, some jazzy and some with hair down to their eyes, but all of them gone on the same Big Dream...One of them played the craziest violin east of Heifetz, another could make a clarinet weep...Another was the sour soprano whose morals were always off beat...Then one fine morning someone smothered the soprano and a red-headed old lady who was batty as a bird sang some fantastic lyrics for the cops...She called the tune on another killing - which happened to be her own...From then on - hot,cool or frozen stiff - the kids all had one little item in common...stark terror.' Hi-de-ho all you hep cats and hep kittens, doesn't that sound like the elephant's eyebrows?

And the second one is G G Fickling's THE CASE OF THE RADIOACTIVE REDHEAD. Here's the blurb: 'Two tapering legs waving straight up in the air, flaring downward into mesh-colored buttocks and a billow of gold cloth that played frantic peek-a-boo over the torrid torso of Frenchy Appleton. I'm Erik March, private investigator. The fee is a grand a day (plus expenses). Amigo, I knew all the angles...until I met The Radioactive Redhead. Settle back in your chair while I spell out this caper, it's a dilly.' Now, vomit on the table and tell me that ain't straight from the fridge, daddy-o. (by the way, Dad - that's just 50s slang, I didn't literally mean you should throw up on the dining table - Mum wouldn't be too chuffed. You know her roof is leaking (and I don't mean you should get the ladder out to check, I mean she's a little bit crazy).

An offer you can't refuse from the lovely Ray Banks. And here's an interview with him.

Sometimes, I think I should just give up blogging and just post reminders to go and check out Douglas Lindsay's blog. Especially when he puts up short stories like PLAN 16 FROM OUTER SPACE. Or this post on the media. Totally brilliant.

A review of Allan Guthrie's wonderful TWO-WAY SPLIT. And a most excellent post on BYE BYE BABY and narrative POV.

A biography of Stuart MacBride and his neatly trimmed beard.

An interview with Christopher Brookmyre.

A live web chat with Iain Banks tomorrow.

Fancy a crime novel written by 26 top authors?

Right-o, I'm splitting this crazy scene to get Screwed, Blued and Tattooed. Errrr, Dad, that just means I'm going to go out and have a good time, not literally...well, you know.

Swing The Big-Eyed Rabbit

2011-07-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

I'm rather enjoying this being made redundant lark. In the last few days I have finished the screenplay I was writing (sent off to lovely agent Allan Guthrie. I'm sure it's crap, but I had great fun writing it and it was great experience), and I've written two short stories, with a third on the go.

I don't know why, but when I'm writing a short story, it generally starts off (at least) with a title that's a song. One of the stories is called What Do I Get? (the Buzzcocks) and another is called Bikini Girls With Machine Guns (the Cramps), although I'm contemplating changing that one to Hens (not a song title). The third one, which I have just started, and which is a sort of homage to NIGHTMARE ALLEY (one of my favourite noir books/films) is tentatively titled Depravity Lane (Alien Sex Fiend). None of the stories have anything to do with the content of the songs, by the way, it's just the titles. (And the story Bikini Girls With Machine Guns has neither girls in bikinis nor machine guns, incidentally.)

The title of this post is another song by The Cramps. It's also the name of a book by John Pleasant McCoy. When I found this in a used bookstore in America I snapped it up. How could I resist? I haven't read it yet, but the back cover blurb says 'SWING THE BIG-EYED RABBIT is a vivid novel filled with the lusty pleasures and primitive emotions of the backwoods people. Here they are in all their earthy splendor - from the hell-fire and damnation preacher to the lush and laughing girls. This is an unforgettable novel that has won high praise from critics for its zestful humor, Rabelasian characters and abounding vitality.'

I bought it at the same time as SWAMP BRAT by Allen O'Quinn. I found this one hard to resist because of the excerpt on the back cover:

'She stepped out from behind the tree trunk, her daddy's shotgun cradled in her arms.

"What are you doing here?" I said.

"Squirm, Eddie." All that black hair curtained her eyes, but she kept the gun slanted at my face.

"Look here, Rosamay, what you aim to do with that double barrel?"

"Maybe kill dogs, Eddie, maybe you. Look over my shoulder, Eddie. She's down there waiting for you, ain't she? All soft and pink and prettied up. Eddie, I swore up and down last night when you left me that I wouldn't let her have you in one piece. It ain't easy staying awake all night, Eddie, and when you do, you get dizzy in the head so you could do most anything. Eddie, I aim to kill you."

I am really rubbish at titles, but find it difficult to start writing without one. Is that just me? For the writers out there - how do you choose your titles? And for the readers - how important is a title to you?

Anyway, I digress. On to the Scottish crime fiction news.

Several prominent Scottish authors - including Ian Rankin and Karen Campbell - talk about books they are looking forward to reading this summer. Ian Rankin sends Allan Guthrie's kindle sales sky high with his praise. Excellent stuff.

Another list of books for the summer, including Morag Joss' AMONG THE MISSING. And the Herald chooses Karen Campbell's PROOF OF LIFE as one of theirs.

An excellent review of Doug Johnstone's THE OSSIANS over at Dear Scotland.

The Vancouver Sun calls Alexander McCall Smith "an old-fashioned writer plugged into today's world."

More on the mysterious Ian Rankin sculptures. And Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith are amongst authors backing Oxfam's Bookfest.

An interview with Kate Atkinson.

Thanks to Bill Crider for this website, which has some absolute crackers.

And, finally, it really took them over 8 hours? Not just Scotland's only theme park, but Scotland's slowest theme park. What on earth were they doing all that time?