Friday 4 September 2009

One To Watch Out For...


James M McGowan is a crime fiction writer from Galway. He claims Ken Bruen ran him out of town. I’m not sure how true that might be, but it’s such a lovely image, I just had to throw it out there.

He lived in Belfast for five years ‘when the going was tough’ and worked in Drogheda for a time, a County Louth town where one might meet a shady character or ten -- and McGowan met them. The Wee City seems to have gotten into his blood, as a lot of his fiction is very much rooted in Belfast. On that score alone, he’s all right by me.

His influences include, Jim Thompson, Ross Macdonald, David Pearce, Richard Stark and James Ellroy, so you can bet his work is blacker than tar. Another Norn Noir champion in the making.

He’s featured quite regularly on Powder Burn Flash and you can check out his writing in the following places:

http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/249http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/251http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/265http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/278http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/284http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/313http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/344http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/346

They’re the perfect length for a quick Friday read. Get to clicking, guys.

His work has previously been published in Plots with Guns, Thuglit, Hard Luck Stories, Demolition and Mouth Full of Bullets.

He’s represented by Allan Guthrie of Jenny Brown Associates.

Get familiar with this dude now. He’s going places.