As 2015 Closes

I'll do my best not to ramble, and keep this to a tight 700-word post.

As is my habit, I’ve been thinking about what comes next as opposed to what has happened. My main concern is that the current situation I find myself in is going to come to an end. Jeepers creepers. The end is nigh!

That sounds dramatic, right? Indulge me. I’m a writer.

Right now, I’m a PhD student at Queen’s University Belfast. The highlights: I got through my differentiation in June 2014. I taught on the Introduction to Creative Writing Module as a University Tutor, September-December, 2014 and 2015. I’ve completed a novel for the creative component of the thesis (insofar as a novel can be complete before it’s published), and I’m working on the critical component. I’ve attended many interesting courses and conferences. I’ve also taken part in a number of conferences and festival events.

I’m many other things besides a PhD student, but I’m trying to keep this focussed.

If it were possible, I’d be a PhD student for the rest of my days. I love this life. It suits me and my family in that (apart from the teaching aspect), my timetable can be moved about to suit childcare needs, etc. It stimulates me intellectually and allows me time to look after my health, mentally and physically. Before the PhD, I completed an MA in creative writing at QUB while working a full-time job and doing my best to be a husband and father in the time left over (thank you for your patience, Mrs B). I feel that the privilege of working to earn a PhD was the reward.

And as 2016 looms, all I can think about is the fact that my target date to complete this massive project is September 2016.

That’s still nine months away. I know.

But I’m the father of three children. I also know how quickly nine months can pass while you worry about the future.

And yes, I have to think about the future, but I also have to think about the now. If I take my eye off either vague concept of time, I could forget to enjoy the privilege I’ve earned. And so, I have had little time to think about what I’ve actually achieved as a writer and a student. Those achievements – stripped of their attachments of pride and relief – can be viewed in the previous blog post here.

As I read back over this piece, I’m slightly concerned that this will come off as braggadocious. But rather than go back and downplay the achievements, I’ll learn from a criticism that’s levelled at me from time-to-time.

I lack confidence.

Because there’s a fine line between self-deprecation and self-hate, I suppose. When I make fun of myself, people sometimes laugh. When I play the part of arrogant wee shite, people sometimes laugh. When I mock others, people sometimes laugh. I like to make people laugh. It sets them at ease. Gives them a wee oxygen boost to the brain. And when you do it often enough, people smile when they see you. I like that.

My humour tends towards making fun of myself, because I’m an easy target and I know I can take it. I’m not proud to admit that I’ve hurt more sensitive people in the past with my attempts at making others laugh. Taking the piss out of myself is safe.

I also thought that the ability to make people laugh is directly proportional to how confident you are. But I guess other people don’t see it like that.

Let me be clear… I’m pretty fucking confident, people. And I like that about me.

What I don’t like is laziness, especially when I sense it getting in the way of my own ambitions.

So if I act like I’m not all that impressed with myself, it’s because I’m not. I’ve finally figured out that I can do a lot more than what I’ve done. And I refuse to rest on my laurels. Next year, I need to stop worrying about what’s ending and think about the new beginnings that I’ve yet to experience.

Right now my kids are on Christmas holidays. They’ve been to their granny’s and they’re just home and getting loud. I’ve gone a little over 700 words. Rather than edit and lose some of this honesty (typos be damned), I’ll just finish here and go join my family.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or Enjoy Whatever You Subscribe To.

Come at me, 2016.

Writing CV, as at December 2015

Publications

• Novella, The Point, Pulp Press 2011 (re-released by Blasted Heath in 2013)
• Novel, Wee Rockets, Blasted Heath, 2012
• Novel, Fireproof, Blasted Heath, Fight Card Books, 2012
• Novella, Welcome to the Octagon, 2013
• Novella, Wee Danny, Blasted Heath, 2013
• Novella, Bounce, Verbal Arts Centre (commisioned for the Killer Books festival), 2013
• Novella, Breaking Point, Blasted Heath, 2014
• Novel, Undercover, Blasted Heath, 2015

Relevant Work History

• Freelance Writer at Culture NI (http://www.culturenorthernireland.org), 2010 to 2011
• Webmaster at Crime Scene NI, a blog devoted to Northern Irish crime writing
• University Tutor at QUB on the Introduction to Creative Writing module; September 2014 to present. Module includes prose, poetry and drama (screen, stage and radio)

Writing Awards

• Arts Council of Northern Ireland, SIAP award, received five times between 2007 and 2015 (four times for literature, once for drama)
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Travel award, received to support a trip to Long Beach CA to attend Bouchercon (a crime fiction convention) as a panel member and a representative of Northern Irish crime fiction, 2014
• Northern Ireland Screen, Script Development award, for screenplays titled The Point and Time, 2008 and 2014 respectively

Theatre Production

• An Irish Possession, One-man show written and performed for The Black Box Lunchtime Theatre, directed by Conor Maguire, 2010
• The Sweety Bottle, Regional tour via Brassneck Theatre Company, 2013 (March to April)
• The Sweety Bottle, Eight performances at The Grand Opera House via Brassneck Theatre Company (transferred from the Baby Grand to the Auditorium due to popular demand – the first play to achieve this at the Grand Opera House in its history), 2013 (August)

Education

• Masters, Creative Writing, Queen’s University Belfast, 2011-2012
• PhD student (post-differentiation), Creative Writing thesis titled Radical Crime Fiction, Queen’s University Belfast, 2013-present

New Downey

About the author

Garbhan Downey has spent 25 years in the publishing industry in northwest Ireland as a journalist, writer and editor. He has also worked for the BBC as a producer and presenter. A graduate of University College Galway, he lives in Derry with his wife Úna and two children. Once Upon a Time in the North West is his eighth novel.

Back Blurb

Chronicle of a Century

The death of a well-connected Irish newspaper publisher triggers a clandestine hunt to recover his memoirs.

The Americans, concerned that Sean Madden’s private record of the past century will jar with the official account, need to get their hands on it before the British and Irish. But Madden’s hardnosed granddaughter, heir to the North West Chronicle, has her own interests to protect as well.

This pulsating page-turner takes the reader on an epic journey of war and peace, love and loss, politics and criminality right across the twentieth century.

Every secret has its season, and all Sean Madden’s – and all of Derry’s – are about to be laid bare.

‘Expect a literary smack in the mouth’

Shameless Advertising

I've reduced the price of the paperback versions of Undercover and Wee Rockets on Amazon. The prices will remain low until after Christmas.

Let me be clear, I'd prefer it if you bought my books from No Alibis in Belfast, but that just isn't physically possible for everybody. So this is for the readers who can't make it to my favourite bookshop.

If you want to put a physical copy of one of my books into a friend or relative's hand, using one of the following links is probably the easiest way to do it:

Paperbacks (Ireland &) UK

Paperbacks US

Paperbacks CA

Merry Christmas, folks.

Guest Post - Anthony J. Quinn

I'm very much a believer in writing first and researching later. The danger of writing historical fiction is that as a writer you run the risk of disappearing down a wormhole into another era, never making it back with a clear-cut, compelling tale to relate. I've been obsessed with WB Yeats and the Sligo setting for years, as well as Michael Collins and his role in the War of Independence, and the temptation was to succumb to excess and include a rich tapestry of historical minutia.

    However, writing historical fiction, especially a mystery story, should be like steering a boat with a leak in high seas. Many loved items have to be chucked overboard with every page you write. Amusing anecdotes and fascinating details that don't animate your principal characters and move the plot along have to be discarded with impunity.

  That sense of urgency which comes with keeping the literary boat from capsizing at all costs is a protection against procrastination and getting lost in the past.

   A guilty feeling of transgression haunted me during the writing of both The Blood Dimmed Tide and Blind Arrows. I worried that I might be doing some of Ireland's most famous historical characters a great disservice in entangling them in plots involving ghosts, spies, smugglers, corrupt policemen and 'lust murderers'.

  In regards to Yeats, his life and his work, have been obsessions of mine since early adolescence, and the story about his fascination with spirits and his strange relationship with his wife Georgie was irresistible.  It surprised me that no one in literature, drama or film has given his life a fictional treatment or tried to transpose his supernatural investigations into a mystery tale.

     However, Yeats has been much derided for his 'creepy' obsession with the supernatural, and his interest in the magical powers that might be acquired through esoteric knowledge has alarmed many literary critics over the years. It eased my conscience to think that I was at least portraying this side of his character sympathetically. This was what I promised WB Yeats at the start of writing The Blood Dimmed Tide. Whether or not I delivered is another matter.

    I hope I am saved by the fact that many of Yeats' friends found him unknowable. Irish writer Sean O'Faolain famously said of him: "There was no Yeats. I watched him invent himself." In that sense, he is impossible to capture within the covers of a biography, which is a great problem for his biographers, but a golden opportunity for a novelist.

   Yeats will always remain an enigma. He was one of a group of extraordinary and mesmerising figures that made London at the turn of the century an emporium of exotic cults and psychic societies. He was the closest thing we have to a supernatural sleuth, always seeking answers, always probing the evidence before him, always odd and unpredictable in his behaviour - which I hope makes him the perfect hero for a mystery story, especially one that involves ghosts, spies, smugglers and corrupt policemen.

  Writing about Michael Collins in Blind Arrows, I wanted to give a more nuanced depiction of him and his role in the War of Independence. Neil Jordan and Liam Neeson's film portrayal was so captivating with Collins depicted as a John Wayne style hero, that I struggled to keep Collins from overtaking the book and dominating all the scenes that mentioned him.

Lastly a word about Silence, the third in the Celcius Daly series, which was published on November 5. It's the most important and ambitious book that I've written. I've always tried to write about the Troubles in oblique and unexpected ways, wrapping up that very dark material in what I hope are entertaining crime thriller plots, the conventions of which have helped me excavate some very haunting personal experiences. In Silence, I found the subject matter so disturbing that I wanted to run away from it many times, but I'm glad that I stuck with it. Already, the Sunday Times has called Silence 'a masterful meditation on the corrosive legacy of the Troubles', and the Sunday Express has picked it as one of the best crime books of the season. It's great to see fiction so rooted in the Tyrone and Armagh landscapes, and its people, praised by the big London newspapers.

Make Some Noise For The Silent Dead

Claire McGowan's third Paula Maguire novel, The Silent Dead, was published today. And you'll find a post on her blog about this and the journey to the publication of her fifth(!) book in three(!) years.

And people thought I was prolific. Good to have somebody out there like Claire showing the rest of us how it should be done.

I look forward to catching up with Paula and the rest of the folks from Ballyterrin.

Here's some book blurbage:

1 May, 2006 – a small town is shattered by a devastating bomb. 16 people die – yet the suspected bombers walk free. 

2011- as the fifth anniversary approaches, the five terrorists disappear. And start turning up dead, killed in the same ways as their victims. Buried alive. Beheaded. Burned to death. 

Paula Maguire, heavily pregnant and struggling, has to ask herself: does everyone deserve justice? And what does justice even mean when the victims are remorseless killers? 

The third book in the Paula Maguire series sees her pushed to her limits, both at work and in her private life. Can she find the missing before it’s too late – when she’s not even sure if she should?

There's also been a tantalising tweet about Paula no. 4 today... Fair play to ye, McGowan.

Five Questions - Desmond J. Doherty

Desmond J. Doherty and Eva Gabrielsson

Desmond J. Doherty was born in Derry and is a solicitor in his own law firm. He has extensive civil and criminal law experience. Over the years he has been involved in a number of high-profile inquests which include the Dublin and Monaghan bombing and the Omagh bombings. He has experience in various courts and tribunals including the Special Tribunal for the Lebanon and the International Criminal Curt for the former Yugoslavia.

‘Deadlight’ is the third in the Valberg trilogy.

Gerard: It’s well known that Scandinavian crime fiction has been popular for some time. You’re the only CSNI regular who has a foot in the Northern Ireland and Sweden via your main character, Detective Valberg. Is it safe to assume you’ve been influenced by the likes of Stieg Larsson?

Desmond: 'Is it safe?' Very safe. For sure. Henning Mankell before Stieg Larsson and now of course the great Norwegian, Jo Nesbo. But the deeper you dig and the further you go into Nordic Noir the list and talent of all those fantastic authors is endless. Valberg has been described as someone from Nordic Ireland! We are so close to Scandinavia. How could any crime writer not be influenced by our Scandinavian neighbours who have great PR. While the Nordic authors expose the deep divisions in their society, the divisions that we have lived with and grown up with here make for fantastic dark and violent crime fiction.

Jørgen Jaeger

Gerard: So, as the photographic evidence suggests, you’ve been to Norway recently. And you met Mr Larsson’s widow. Would you consider that a high point in your career?

Desmond: The high point went even higher after Eva asked me to sign all three Valberg novels for her. She was delighted to be the first person to receive the third Valberg novel. We were on a panel together for a group of mainly Norwegian lawyers dealing with Human Rights and the rights of authors dead and alive. Eva's position is outrageous. Under Swedish law she has been treated appallingly and we all should support and stand by her. Hearing how Stieg's three novels came about and his writing process was bewildering. I never thought I'd be in such a privileged position to be with Eva and personally speak about and ask about Stieg's work. I hope to get Eva to Nordic Ireland next year.

Gerard: Valberg’s career as a PSNI detective has more highs than lows. Do you consider him to be a true representation of a cop from Northern Ireland?

Desmond: Remember, when he does go low it's very low. Sometimes I feel I won't get him back. He's more of an eclectic mix of lawyers and police officers I've come across over many years of experience here and elsewhere. He's not based on any one individual I know. I think his scorn for procedural propriety in this day and age of form filling and pettifoggery would mean that he wouldn't survive long in the PSNI. He's a fictional representation of a police officer from here. I think his emotions and feelings are true to all of us however. Fans of the books say, 'He's some boy...isn't he.' Every time I hear that I pause as I wonder are they being complimentary to Valberg or O'Driscoll. Some of the readers like both of them.

Gerard: Part three of your series is clearly the most high-octane to date. Anybody who’s read the first two will know that says quite a lot. Do you think the series has a definite end in sight or do you plan to torture your poor characters for a few more years?

Desmond: I wanted to move and develop the characters with time. Valberg moves on and so do the police officers and lawyers around him. Therefore the story moves on too. Deadlight for me was high-octane with emotion, as well as action. I had a plan all completed but I really just followed my gut with the story.'Emotional content. Not anger.' I wanted to bring the O'Driscoll affair to some sort of conclusion. That was always the desire. But I found it hard to let the main characters go as they have so much to say and develop. I wasn't under any pressure to write a fourth in the series but I couldn't stop writing when I finished Deadlight, so continued.

Gerard: If not Valberg, who else?

Desmond: Amanda Cleary-the Derry Journal journalist. I really like her. She is the one character who everyone trusts and who comes out of the whole debacle with her integrity and dignity intact. On the other hand the lawyer who sleeps with her eyes open,  Miss Maguire, has a series of her own in my head. She is wild and beguiling. Yes. Lets have more of her. I've written a short story in a collection I'm working on called, 'Inquest.' It's all about Constable Michael Bell and what happens to him on his first day in CID. He's just one of the characters that I'd like to take further. As for Jon Valberg, he has good and bad days. A lot of dark and not much light but his gallows humour allows him to survive. That is a very Irish and Scandinavian trait.

Desmond J. Doherty is published by Guildhall Press. Check out their website for more information on where to buy his books.

Luca Veste Comin' to Bel-fast, eh?

Go to No Alibis tomorrow because this:

Luca Veste

In Conversation with Steve Cavanagh

Wednesday 18th November at 6:30PM

Tickets: FREE 

"No Alibis is pleased to invite you to celebrate the launch of Luca Veste's new novel, BLOODSTREAM, on Wednesday 18th November at 6:30pm.

Social media stars Chloe Morrison and Joe Hooper seem to have it all - until their bodies are found following an anonymous phone call to their high-profile agent. Tied and bound to chairs facing each other, their violent deaths cause a media scrum to descend on Liverpool, with DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi assigned to the case.

Murphy is dismissive, but the media pressure intensifies when another couple is found in the same manner as the first. Only this time the killer has left a message. A link to a private video on the internet, and the words 'Nothing stays secret'. It quickly becomes clear that more people will die; that the killer believes secrets and lies within relationships should have deadly consequences...

Luca Veste is a writer of Italian and Scouse heritage, married with two young daughters, and one of nine children. He is currently studying psychology and criminology at University in Liverpool.

His debut novel - DEAD GONE - was released by Avon/HarperCollins in December 2013/January 2014. Part psychological thriller, part police procedural, it introduces the detective pairing of DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi. The second in the series - THE DYING PLACE - was released for ebook in October 2014, with the paperback following in December. He is also the editor of the Spinetingler Award nominated charity anthology 'Off The Record', and co-editor of 'True Brit Grit', also an anthology of short stories for charity.

A former civil servant, actor, singer and guitarist (although he still picks it up now and again), he now divides his time between home life, Uni work and writing.

Book your place early to avoid disappointment, by emailing David or by calling the shop on 9031 9607."

So there you have it. Luca Veste and Steve Cavanagh. It'll be a cracker.

And, to whet your appetite, there's a very entertaining "Writers in Conversation" piece over at The Writer's Workshop featuring the dynamic duo. Check it out.

Crime Fiction Detected in the Foyle Film Festival Newsletter!

Friday 20th November, 7:00pm

Free

DEADLIGHT (VALBERG 3)

BOOK NOW

This event will take place in Eighty81, Ebrington.

An Evening with Des Doherty, Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry, hosted by BBC NI's Marie Louise Muir.

A corrupt lawyer is nailed to a chair in the middle of Ebrington Square in Derry. Why? DCI Jon Valberg wonders if it is an early entry for the Turner Prize in the city’s Year of Culture.

‘Gerry, have you, or someone else, made a last-minute entry for the Turner Prize? If so, it’s sure to win.’

Publishers Guildhall Press launch Desmond Doherty’s much anticipated third Valberg novel, ‘Deadlight’, at the location of the book's dramatic opening scene in Ebrington.

The Valberg titles have been praised for their visual and cinematic style, most notably by world-renowned author Lee Child, originator of the Jack Reacher character, who commented: “First rate writing, one to watch.”  The Valberg series has recently been optioned and will be adapted for the screen by award-winning writing duo Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry.

BBC Arts Extra presenter Marie-Louise Muir will interview Valberg creator and author Desmond Doherty on the writing process and chair a panel discussion regarding the transfer of Valberg to the screen with screenwriters Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry and local producer, Mark McCauley.

‘Deadlight’ will be released by Guildhall Press on Friday 20 November 2015.

www.ghpress.com

Venue Partner: 

Guest Post - Wayne Simmons

Back to the Future: Why I wrote a Slasher Horror Book

When I was a lad, growing up in Portadown, there wasn’t much to do on a Friday night that didn’t involve getting into bother. Usually, we’d just hit the local video shop. We’d make straight for the horror section, scan the shelves for the goriest looking, most outrageous cover we could find and take it to the counter. Now, this was the late 80s. A different time, if you like. A twelve year old kid looking to rent a Certificate 18 film meant nothing back then. As long as you had your da’s card, you were good to go.

We watched a lot of horror. All the Fridays and Nightmares and Halloweens. A fair bit of really bad, low-budget stuff that we probably didn’t make it all the way through (although, we’d try our damndest: there was a charge if you left a video back without rewinding it first. Chances were, if you ejected that bad boy in a fit of rage halfway through, you weren’t going to remember to rewind it later).

Thing is, watching those movies shaped me into the man I am today. It got me into horror which got me into writing which is now something of a career. Later in life, I would revisit some of those titles, and many more like them that I missed along the way, and it would become something of an obsession. Video shops were on their way out by then so I’d be hitting HMV and Amazon and whatever second hand shops I ran into, and I’d lap up whatever 70s and 80s horror I could find. Somewhere along the way, I heard about Giallo, the work of guys like Dario Argento, and the net was cast even wider.

I became just as obsessed with slasher horror as I had been with zombies ten years or so prior.

Soon, the cogs within the ol’ creative brain began turning. An idea started to form and I grabbed a pen, jotted some stuff down. Meanwhile, I was chatting with old friend and fellow horror hack, Andre Duza, and shared some of my ideas with him. Before long, we were working on the project together. Maybe I asked him to weigh in on it or maybe it just happened: we’re talking slasher horror, here, so the urban myth may have replaced the actual truth in my brain. One thing’s for sure, once Andre became involved, we really started to motor. The characters, the setting, the story: it all came alive to us and much of it echoed those old movies that I would watch back in the 80s in Portadown and Andre was watching at the same time over in Philadelphia.

Voodoo Child was born on Halloween 2015. It’s been described as 'the literary equivalent of the classic horror films of the 80s' by Harry Manfredini, who scored some of those films that inspired me so much back in the day. And hell, Steve Johnson who did the special effects in those movies; the kind of stuff that had us fist pumping the air or recoiling in disgust as kids; had equally nice things to say on the book, too.

Which, in a really cool way, brings us full circle.

So, why did I write a slasher horror book? Because I had to. I’ve always described myself as being in this somewhat sordid business of writing because I’m a fan. I’m a fan of zombie horror so I wrote four zombie horror books. I’m a fan of crime and noir so I wrote The Girl in the Basement. I love Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner so I wrote my own tech noir, Plastic Jesus. Voodoo Child is my love letter to the slasher horror genre. To John Carpenter and Dario Argento and all the rest of those guys that rocked my world back in the 80s, and still rock it today.

I hope you like it.  

VOODOO CHILD PRESS RELEASE

Title: VOODOO PRESS

Author: Andre Duza & Wayne Simmons

Publisher: Infected Books

Release Date: 31^st October 2015

Cover Art: Alex McVey

 'The literary equivalent of the classic horror films of the 80s. ' (Harry Manfredini, Film Composer: FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE HILLS HAVE EYES II, WISHMASTER)

You've been warned!

Stay away from Blackwater, Louisiana. Behind the smiles and the southern hospitality lies a dark secret.

You've been warned! 

Don't go in the woods. They're haunted.

You've been warned! 

Don't go in the lake. There's a dead witch beneath those waters.

Lori Sawyer was raised in these parts. The biracial descendant of a Voodoo Priestess, she's known as "witchy girl" to her friends, Abby and Roxy. But to Lori, Blackwater is a sacred place, a crossroads of old southern, African, and French spirituality to be celebrated, not feared. In fact, it's just the sort of environment to help free Abby from the memory of witnessing her boyfriend's murder.

And from the guilt of having killed him.

In 1985 three friends will embark on a weekend getaway that will change their lives forever.

"Duza and Simmons have succeeded WILDLY in re-creating a classic horror flick from the '80s - on the page! And if anyone knows about '80s horror... it's me." Steve Johnson (Special FX Legend: THE HOWLING, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, GHOSTBUSTERS)  Buy it Now from only £1.99:

Amazon UK/ Amazon US

Signed paperback available from Infected Books store from only £7.99 (incl UK postage):

Go to Infected Books Store

Rain Dogs -- A McKinty Sneak-Peek

Adrian McKinty has posted the covers and the first six chapters of the next Sean Duffy mystery.

Rain Dogs (a title intentionally borrowed from Tom Waits, I'd wager).

This is better than good news. It's great. Get thee to McKinty's blog.

I'll post one of the covers below. You've to go to McKinty's blog to see the other.

Go to McKinty's blog!

Five Questions -- Brian McGilloway

Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. After studying English at Queen's University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb's College in Derry, where he was Head of English.

His first novel, Borderlands, published by Macmillan New Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as 'one of (2007's) most impressive debuts.' The second novel in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year. The third Devlin, Bleed a River Deep, was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 2010. The first DS Lucy Black novel, Little Girl Lost, became an Amazon Kindle No 1 Bestseller in 2013. The follow-up novel featuring Lucy Black, Hurt, is published in November 2013.

Brian lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife and their four children.

Gerard: Preserve the Dead features Lucy Black, your PSNI series character. Now, I very much enjoy your Inspector Ben Devlin books (set on the other side of the Irish border), but I really do prefer DS Black. She has a little more grit in her belly, I think. Have you heard this often? Do you have a favourite yourself, or is that like ranking your kids?

Brian: Thanks Gerard. It’s strange because there's no consensus. The Lucy books have obviously done better in terms of sales and that, but I still get emails from people saying they like the books but would love another Devlin again soon. I suppose the books have different qualities. The Devlin books tend to be more reflective on account of being a first person narrative whereas the Lucy books move faster because they’re third person. In terms of which I prefer, I couldn’t say. I do miss Devlin, and I like writing in that voice which is, truth be told, not a million miles away from my own, with a few minor differences. But I enjoy writing the Lucy books very much and like her as a character and the way in which she’s developing across the series - and I do have a definite ending for her story. And I’m very fond of her mum, even if she isn’t. The Devlin books are constrained a little by his family life and by the fact that his kids are growing up and have to impact on the narrative; Lucy is freer to do things than Devlin is because there’s no one waiting for her to be home at a certain time. That probably means that Devlin would have a much healthier work/life balance!

Gerard: I suppose you could argue, though, that Devlin has a hell of a lot more to lose than Black... Time will tell, I suppose. So you've an ending in mind for Lucy? That's interesting. Are you able to project/predict how many more volumes it'll take to complete her tale?

Brian: To an extent, I guess. Devlin has mostly managed to keep his family and professional life separate - though what happens in one is normally reflected in the other. It’s a deliberate choice - it’s too much of a cliche to have the family in peril in every single story. It happened in Borderlands, which was my first, and I think that’s really it. Much more interesting for me is how he balances the two sides of his life, like plates spinning. As for Lucy, she does have her own network of sorts and, as the books go on, that will continue to grow. She was an outsider in Little Girl Lost. By this new book, she’s beginning to make friends, some in more forced situations than others and is having to be more honest with some others about her relationship with her mother. Lucy has withheld one too many secrets in this book and gets called out on them. She needs to learn to be more trusting. As for the ending, I had thought 5 books, but as I’m working on the fourth at the moment and I’m no much nearer the ending, that might change. Ultimately, Lucy’s story will be tied to the story of Mary Quigg, the little girl who is lost in the book of that name. From the start I knew where I wanted the Lucy books to end; I don’t have that with Devlin. I guess in both cases, they’ll end when I have no more stories to tell for those characters.

Gerard: Two multi-novel series seems like a hell of a lot of story to hold in your head. Do you ever wish that you could write a standalone just to take a break from the long game? Maybe even write in a different form?

Brian: Yes. To be honest, Little Girl Lost was intended as a stand lone for a break from Devlin, but I found that after I’d finished it, I wanted to find out more about Lucy and her story still had some distance to go. I do have an idea for a standalone that I started last year but the story wasn’t ready - I intend to revisit that when it’s more fully formed. I suppose the big problem with two series is trying to ensure that one does;t end up morphing into the other. Keeping them distinct, with the voices of the main characters clear and different is a major concern when I’m writing them. And at times I have an idea and think it’s great, then realise the next day that I already used something similar in one of the Devlins. As for writing outside of crime - I’ll write whatever the story is that I have to tell. If it so happens that that story isn’t a crime one, then so be it. In term of forms, I’m doing some screenwriting at the moment which I’m enjoying very much. It’s more concentrated than writing the novel as you have to know where it’s going from the start, whereas I rarely do with a book. The timeframe is much tighter, too, though it’s much more collaborative than a novel. Certainly its something I’d like to develop further if I can.

Gerard: Something I noticed about Preserve the Dead is that there seemed to be a little more tongue-in-cheek humour than in the prequels. You had a little fun at the expense of English teachers in an early chapter that made me smile. Was this intentional? Perhaps a way to further separate Lucy Black from Ben Devlin?

Brian: I think the first two Lucy books were quite cold - especially Little Girl Lost. Part of the reason for that was that both books dealt with crimes against or involving children. Nothing about that topic suggests humour to me and as a result, both books feel a little cold to me. The Devlin books, I think, have a warmth from Devlin’s voice and from his family life which, again, the Lucy books don’t have - her family is anything but warm, although there is a thawing between her and her mother. The other thing which struck me is that, by this third book, the various agencies and teams know one another now and would be fairly comfortable with one another, so that hopefully is reflected in the banter between them. Of course it’s also a Northern Irish thing - humour in the face of horror. The English teacher joke is about all poems being about sex or death from what I remember. I’ve used that line myself in class and I know of several other English teachers who subscribe to the same theory. The poem he mentions was one that was taught to me by my own teacher, who was a poet called Paul Wilkins. Paul was a superb teacher, a fine poet and a good friend. He died a few months before Borderlands was published, but he was hugely influential in my wanting to be a writer when I was at school. The scene with Fleming is a personal light hearted nod to Paul who I imagine would appreciate the joke.

Gerard: So who gets the next outing? Inspector Devlin or DS Black?

Brian: It’s another Lucy. To be honest, I started it as a Devlin - the book is about hate and complicity in crime; a religious pastor who makes some inflammatory comments about homosexuality in the wake of which a gay youth is killed. The problem was that I made it to chapter 15 and hit a brick wall. So many of the sub plots I wanted to introduce to parallel the main plot didn’t suit the border setting or Devlin’s family life. After three weeks of struggling to move it forward I started it again as a Lucy novel and it just seemed to work - the sub plots make more sense and the setting seems more appropriate to the storyline. I would like to revisit Devlin again when he has another story, but for now the next one is a Lucy. I had played with the idea of them meeting earlier in the series, and Jim Hendry appears in Little Girl Lost, so they exist in the same world. In fact, the first draft of LGL ended with Lucy phoning Devlin to ask for help in tracking down  Mary Quigg’s killer. Henry refers to a friend over the border earlier in the book. But the two series were optioned by two different TV companies and I was warned that they couldn’t appear in a novel together or it would cause all kinds of complications with who owned the rights to which character. They shared a one off story called The Sacrifice, which I wrote for Radio 4 as part of the Derry City of Culture celebrations, but I suspect that will be it with regards a crossover.

Brian McGilloway has a brand spanking new website that you've got to check out. Right now! Also, he can be found on Twitter, and the really privileged might be able to befriend him on Facebook.

What are you waiting for?

Five Questions -- Kelly Creighton

Kelly Creighton is a poet and fiction writer with work in literary journals The Stinging Fly, Long Story, Short, Wordlegs, The Galway Review, A New Ulster, The Boyne Berries and numerous other publications.

She was awarded second place in the Abroad Writers’ Conference Short Story Competition judged by Robert Olen Butler, long-listed for The RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland short story contest and shortlisted for the Carousel Writers.

Gerard: Brian McGilloway described The Bones of It as "A brilliant crime debut, chilling, compulsive and beautifully written." Being a fan of Mr McGilloway's work, I was very keen to have a look. Did you set out to write a crime novel, or was this a case of a literary text that veered into the crime world?

Kelly: I set out to write a thriller, even although nothing else I'd written up to that point was crime, and I wasn't really sure how The Bones of It would eventually be marketed. It is the direction I went because that's what the story called for. That said, I'm very happy to have wound up in the crime world.

Gerard: I'm happy too, especially since your contribution to the Northern Irish crime fiction scene has doubled the number of women writers in our wee community (shout-out to Claire McGowan). I have heard that Lucy Caldwell is writing a crime fiction novel too, which is more great news. Any theories on why it's taken this long for our female talent to shine in the crime world?

Kelly: Doubled! That's a depressing statistic! Lately I've been reading all these articles about how 'so many women read crime', and how 'female crime writers write gorier stuff than men', and 'why today's most exciting crime writers are women', and yet here in NI, where there's a recent explosion in emerging crime writers, there aren't many women writing in the genre.

I don't know why this is. I suppose we don't know what people are getting up to on their pcs until the work is out there for us to read. In The Bones of It, the narrator is a young man, so I'm making sure the next book is from a woman's point of view.

I hope some local women writers get in touch and let me know that they write crime too.

Gerard: I'm glad you mentioned your narrator. I thought you nailed the masculine voice. Quite an accomplishment given Scott's less than conventional personality. Did you have any difficulty writing from his perspective or did it come naturally?

Kelly: Thanks very much, Gerard! It was only after I'd started on the book that I heard a couple of people say, 'How can a woman write from a man's perspective?' and vice versa. The thought that it was strange hadn't occurred to me before that. I still don't know if it is. My stories are probably half and half. I love writing from different perspectives, different ages. That's a big part of what interests me - finding the voice. I think we all start in our own voice, writing semi-autobiographical stuff. As I go on I want to explore characters that aren't familiar to me. There has to be an emotional truth in there that I feel I understand. It doesn't have to be my truth, if you know what I mean. I knew Scott really well before I even started writing, that gave me the confidence to slip into his mindset. The book was written and redrafted in quick bursts, so that made it easier.

Gerard: Was the transition from poetry to prose difficult for you?

Kelly: It's more a back-and-forth between the two than a transition really. I write the odd poem but prose is more my thing. It's so hard to write a poem I'm ever really happy with. I'm in awe of 'proper' poets. Prose has much more freedom and it suits me better.

Gerard: So, what's the craic with the next book?

Kelly: I'm working on two books right now - one is a collection of linked short fiction and the other is a detective novel from the POV of a female detective. This summer is all about finishing the story collection because the house is full of noise and there isn't the headspace to give the novel the attention it needs. I should be wrapping up the novel by the end of the year, then I have the structure in place for the next one. If someone could just arrange more hours in the day, I'd be sorted.

You can follow Kelly on Twitter or send her a friend request on Facebook if you're feeling lucky. And you should get yourself a copy of The Bones of It. CSNI approved.

Five Questions -- Jason Johnson

JASON JOHNSON'S novels focus on people facing extreme situations over short periods of time.

His latest is ALOYSIUS TEMPO (2015), the tale of an unkempt, maverick assassin recruited by the Irish government. It's published by Liberties Press, Dublin.

Previous works:

WOUNDLICKER (2005) - a serial killer's confession - set in Northern Ireland.

ALINA (2006) - the hunt for a vanished sex worker - set in Romania.

SINKER (2014) - where drinking alcohol is a professional sport - set in Majorca. (SINKER extract available for free in 'HERE'S THE STORY' - Download from this page)

The Irish Independent describes blackly comic SINKER as "a lean, nasty, tripped-out shocker... a cracking book, a jolt to the senses like a line of flaming shots."

ALINA, says US author and critic Frank Sennett, "delivers a climax as harrowing as one might hope to find in contemporary crime fiction."

And WOUNDLICKER is "dark and gritty", says The Sunday Times.

Jason's from Enniskillen and lives in Belfast.

Gerard: I've only just finished Aloysius Tempo and I feel like there's a hell of a lot of potential for further adventures featuring this protagonist. Maybe because he seems better built to handle his self-destructive nature than your previous characters. Any chance of a sequel?

Jason: I think so. I’m hoping to write another one next year. Ideally I will write four or five adventures for Aloysius.

In each he will lose a body part or two and become a few percentage points more insane and haunted. Basically, he’s spiraling downwards, deconstructing himself. Chapter by chapter he’ll grow weaker yet more dangerous and end up being ground into the dust. This book, I hope, has teed that up.

Next year I plan to write the second installment, to send him to join ISIS on effectively a suicide mission for Ireland just on the cusp of the state’s centenary.

As a character he is going to move further beyond living and operating within established moral frameworks, so Syria seems like a good place for him to be next time around.

Gerard: Nationalism was very much a theme in the first book. Looks like that'll be the case for the future instalments too. Is this your way of wrestling with your own national identity?

Jason: You know, it probably is. My roots are Irish, English, Scottish, Maori, Protestant, Catholic and atheist. Anyone who wants to insult me has a lot of material to work with. A few of my characters have been mongrels in the Northern Ireland sense of the word, so you’re probably right.

The thing I wanted to touch on in the novel was patriotism, which is at the heart of a lot of our gut reactions here. Patriotism can be intoxicating, joyful, positive, negative, childish and laughable all at the same time, and it’s always around.

Aloysius grew up hating Irish society – the Troubles, the church, the ethos – so he’s a bit stuck when he gets asked if he will kill for his country, yet he can’t help seeing some nobility in it.

The book explains how he isn’t sure who his father was, that Aloysius was born to a woman who had been with both a ruthless member of the IRA and a ruthless UDR soldier.

That lack of clarity, lack of category in Irish terms, interests me. It suggests betrayal may mean something different to him than it does to the rest of us. It hopefully creates unexpected friction or unexpected ease in some of his decisions.

Aloysius’ journey basically involves him falling in love with the modern, smart, reinvigorated Ireland to which he is being introduced, but he may stop in with a mistress along the way.

Gerard: So you yourself are hard to classify. What about your writing? To me, Aloysius Tempo is a terrific black-comedic thriller. Your previous novels (Woundlicker, Alina and Sinker), while all quite different animals, contain crime elements of varying degrees, though they might not be found in the crime fiction section at a local bookshop. Do you consider your work literary fiction, crime fiction, comedy or some sort of mongrel?

Jason: Some sort of mongrel. It's about trying to cram relatively big ideas into the heads of people who don't always want them.

I always find I’m trying to write the thoughts of characters who realise they are discovering truths.

For some reason they first seem to end up finding some purity outside of themselves – great works of art, people of beauty, people who possess or who have achieved great things – and I bounce them off that. That helps give them something to compare themselves too, and generally helps them realise how far they have to go in their journey. If there’s literary lingering in my novels, that’s the only sort of thing the characters linger on.

That sounds so wanky that it may, in some small way, suggest the hue of literary fiction. But that would be unfair to the majority of the text which is, more or less, the written equivalent of dropping characters down lift shafts and seeing what happens.

There is always crime, which may suggest some hybrid of crime fiction, but I do think if I called myself a crime writer then crime writers would whisper that I didn’t really understand the genre. The same goes if I called myself a writer of literary fiction.

What I know for sure is I’m never going to write a great novel in the grand sense of the word, but hopefully I am going to entertain.

The stories are usually a bit dark, with a bit of a laugh, with some dirt and violence and hopefully a few off-road plot points. I try to be brave when I write and usually urge myself forward when I hear the voice of the self-censor in my head. I deal with the resulting shame and cringing after the book is published.

All I really want is for my books to shove people a wee bit.

Gerard: Through your four novels you've created a fascinating universe. Do you think Aloysius could ever run into Woundlicker's Fletcher Fee on a future adventure, or do you see your other titles as quite separate?

Jason: Only a writer who knows the craic could ask that question. You too, Gerard, must have entertained the idea of having characters from different novels impact on each other. (Yup! gb)

It’s fun to think about it, to see if you can come up with a plot to reanimate and connect unconnected characters you’ve enjoyed writing before.

But it would be too indulgent at the seriously low level I’m on as a writer. It would likely bypass just about anybody who read it and probably fall flat.

Characters are created at specific times with a specific job to do, so I don’t think it’s a road I’d go down. I’ve plenty of other scumbags and fools I want to write about without bringing any back.

Gerard: Any plans for a reprint of Woundlicker and Alina? Loved those books and I think more people should have the opportunity to read them.

Jason: That’s very kind of you, and no. I think they’re effectively goners, arriving just before the e-book thing did. Neither sold very many so making an argument for reissue would probably fall at the first hurdle.

Anyway, that was then and this is now.

Woundlicker was very local and set during the horrible birthing pains of the peace process. It’s far out of sync with today.

I did once look into the idea of Woundlicker as a one-man stage show, with a real Mercedes Benz on the stage (it’s set in a Merc), but no theatre people were interested.

And when I think back to Alina I think only of it being some kind of half-arsed, mis-developed statement about the cruelty of pleasure when rich meets poor or some such bollocks, so I hope it’s unavailable forever.

It’s all about looking ahead.

Jason Johnson is published by Liberties Press, a house that had the good sense to sign a band of particularly talented Northern Irish writers that includes Tara West, Jan Carson, Kelly Creighton, Bethany Dawson, Moyra Donaldson and Jason himself. Keep 'er lit, lads!

You can follow Jason on Twitter, and if you're lucky, he might even be your friend on Facebook.

Five Questions -- Nigel Bird

Nigel Bird is the author of several novels, novellas and short story collections, including Southsiders, In Loco Parentis, Smoke, Mr Suit and Dirty Old Town.

His work has appeared in a number of prestigious magazines and collections, including 2 editions of The Best Of British Crime,The Reader, Crimespree and Needle.

He lives on the East Coast of Scotland in Dunbar (Sunny Dunny) with his wife and three children.

As well as writing fiction, he has been a teacher for twenty-five years and has worked in a number of mainstream and special schools.

Gerard: You've named the chapters after songs. Is this the unofficial soundtrack or simply the best title for each chapter?

Nigel: For Jesse Garon and his father, music is hugely important in their lives. They are lovers of the rock and roll of the 1950s in general and Elvis Presley in particular. This passion provides just about the only glue their relationship has. For Jesse it goes further in the sense that it gives his outsider status in the community an identity. He’s a modern day rockabilly rebel in a place and time that have forgotten about the king and about rebellion. Using song titles as chapter headings came as a natural extension of that. Essentially it became something of a game. I had a piece of writing in front of me and had to find a track to match it, which meant I had hours of fun working through my records and CDs and got to listen to some mighty fine songs while I was working. I also finally discovered that You Tube has a purpose.

Gerard: Well, one of those chapters, 'Suspicious Minds', contains an observation, one of many, that made this book stand out for me. The subject of the observation is Jesse's social worker, Wallace. If you don't mind, I'll quote it here:

"Swearing was another one of those things people like Wallace could get away with. Like using words like damned and buggered made him an all right guy. Just like the people he was sent to work with except for the job, the clothes, the posh accent and the lifetime of opportunities."

Jesse's ANGRY, isn't he?

Nigel: Oh yes. And he has every right to be. The violence and neglect that he has experienced at home has been overwhelming. Worse, the system that purports to save him when things get really heavy is just as bad in a different way. He’s young, but he already knows a huge amount about injustice. What I like about him is the way he doesn’t let it extinguish all his hope. Instead, he allows his love of music to carry him forward with a glimmer of optimism as a guiding light.

As an aside, there were some amazing figures published very recently about the proportion of children who have been in care who end up in prison. It’s ridiculously high and points to the need for a major reform in the way we operate.

Here’s a quote from The Who Cares Trust:

‘23% of the adult prison population has been in care and almost 40% of prisoners under 21 were in care as children (only 2% of the general population spend time in prison).’

I’m not suggesting there’s a simple answer to helping kids who have begun life in traumatic circumstances, but I imagine that money, the opportunity to explore enlightened attitudes and making this a real priority for our society might be a good thing.

Gerard: And then there's Jesse's dad, Ray. He seems to counterpoint Jesse's anger with a sense of defeat. I do think you've sown enough hints to suggest that there was a fire in him before this book. Will this be reignited? Perhaps in a follow-on tale?

Nigel:  Very astute. Ray has a violent past that was rooted in a gang culture. The change came when he went solo and met his wife-to-be. It wasn’t long before he became the victim of her violent outbursts. Something in his upbringing wouldn’t allow him to fight back against a woman and he became trapped by his love for her. Imagine the humiliation a hard man might feel after regular kickings from his missus. It alienated him from the outside world and led him to escape into the bottle. The fire was extinguished and he was wrecked.

This also relates to the previous question about Jesse’s anger. I think that his father’s helplessness and inability to protect his son are key ingredients in that emotional mix.

As for the next book, Ray is a major player and there’s certainly more of his frustration and defeat. Whether that leads to the reigniting of his fuse or not, I’ll leave that to the readers to find out.

Gerard: The chapters written from Jesse's perspective make him seem older than primary school age. It also seems intentional since you counterpoint his character with a lot of innocent notions. Is it safe to assume that you're aware that a tougher life can make kids think and act in surprising ways? Were you worried anybody would challenge Jesse's maturity?

Nigel: I was never too concerned about the question of Jesse’s maturity. You put it well in the question - a tough life can certainly give a child a range of experiences that may force them to grow up very quickly. That maturity is also a veneer that covers the other frailties and vulnerabilities of childhood. My intention was to find the balance between those points and I hope I succeeded.

I did have other concerns about Jesse’s age. I worried that it might be difficult for the book to find an audience. It may be about a young lad in a dysfunctional family, but it certainly isn’t a young adult or new adult book. It’s about darker areas of our world. I think there are people who find it difficult to view youngsters within that context. It might also put off readers who ordinarily enjoy stories within similar settings. The idea of having a twelve-year-old as a main character might suggest that it’s not gritty enough. Even when this was pointed out to me, I decided to stick to my original intention – Jesse was far too ingrained in me by then to alter who he was.

On the flip-side, keeping Jesse young has allowed me to take him on a journey towards adulthood. In my latest visit to his world he was fifteen and growing up extremely quickly. That’s been a real treat for me as a writer.  

Gerard: If you could spend a little time with Jesse and Ray, would you have any advice to impart on them?

Nigel: None that they’d accept. I think Jesse tends to make good decisions - his problem is more that circumstances keep turning against him. I’d tell Ray to stay in Belfast. See if he couldn’t carve out a life over there. That makes a lot of sense.

I do like the idea of spending time with them. They’d be good company. We could talk about music all night and I might be able to get Ray to throw in a few tales of his wild years. That sounds like a lot of fun.

Nigel Bird is published by the awesome Blasted Heath and can be found on Twitter and Facebook. Keep up with this guy!

Sweet Liberty

Click image to enlarge

I was pretty feckin' chuffed to be included in this upcoming Liberties Press event in Belfast. The main aim of the evening is to launch the new Jason Johnson title. Considering how much I enjoyed his last book, Sinker, I'd be as honoured to read from his work instead of my own. But that's not really the done thing at these events.

So now I've to figure out which passage from my (slim) catalogue would fit best for this night... Something to think about over the weekend.

While an example of my non-fiction work has indeed been published by Liberties (see Down These Green Streets), I'm not really one of their new band of Norn Irish scribes. So, I am very much a guest among a talented team of novelists currently working with the Dublin-based publishing house. Thanks for having me, folks.

Check out all the details over at the Liberties Press website. It's BYOB, people. That includes Buckfast. But no shenanigans until after the readings are done.

Readings by: Jason Johnson, Gerard Brennan, Jan Carson, Kelly Creighton, Bethany Dawson, Moyra Donaldson and Tara West.

Five Questions -- Stuart Neville

Stuart Neville has been a musician, a composer, a teacher, a salesman, a film extra, a baker and a hand double for a well known Irish comedian. His first novel, The Twelve, was one of the most critically acclaimed crime débuts of recent years, and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Find out more about Stuart on his website -- http://www.stuartneville.com/ -- and/or follow him on Twitter @stuartneville.

Gerard: Those We Left Behind isn't quite your usual thrill ride. You're well known for your high octane thrillers, but this one seems more thoughtful and displays more emotional depth. Why the change?

Stuart: It just seems to be a natural evolution in my writing. I’m finding myself less interested in pace and action, and more interested in character. I think Flanagan has been a catalyst in that change. She’s opened up a lot of possibilities for me. Mind you, I’d hope this new book will still have the reader turning pages, and I think there’s enough bloodshed to do most people!

Gerard: Oh, yeah. Plenty of bloodshed in this one. But as in your previous books, I can see that you've presented it with restraint. Can I safely assume that you're not a fan of 'torture porn' as applied to crime fiction novels, or indeed TV shows and movies?

Stuart: No, I don’t like torture porn. I’ve no problem with the portrayal of violence in itself, so long as it serves the story. Violence for its own sake always stands out, and it’s obvious when an author is deliberately pushing those buttons just to get a reaction out of the reader. But I think readers are smarter than that, and they know when the writer is trying to manipulate them.

Gerard: Did you find it more difficult to write about young offenders compared to the full-grown gangsters you've explored in the past?

Stuart: To be honest, it made a nice change. I think I’ve pretty well covered the paramilitary gangster angle, and I’ve done a couple of serial killers, so it was time for something new. And again, being less focused on breakneck pace allows more room to explore something like the dysfunctional relationship of the Devine brothers.

Gerard: In Those We Left Behind, you presented one character's POV in present tense and the other characters' POV in past tense. If you can, without spoilers, tell us why. And did you have any difficulty justifying this style decision to your editors?

Stuart: Ciaran’s POV scenes are all told in present tense, but the prose is also very different in those passages. When I was researching the book, I spoke with a probation officer, and he told me something that really struck me: if a twelve-year-old boy like Ciaran Devine was put away, and was released seven years later, he’d come out still a twelve-year-old. I wanted to show his child-like view of the world, so both the present tense and language try to build on that.  My editors were fine with it; I hope it’s not distracting or gimmicky.

Gerard: No, it's not gimmicky. It's very much a style choice. Do you think style is something that writers with a strong voice employ as much to entertain themselves as their readers? Or is it all about the reader?

Stuart: I think you’d drive yourself crazy if you spent your time worrying about the reader’s reaction. The story is king, so that’s always at the forefront of my mind: what will serve the story best? In this case, for the story, I felt the present tense seemed more natural for Ciaran.

Stuart Neville will launch Those We Left Behind at No Alibis on Thursday 11th June at 6:30pm. Be there or be quare disappointed.