Thursday 26 November 2015

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.

Thursday 19 November 2015

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.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

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.

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Crime Fiction Detected in the Foyle Film Festival Newsletter!

Friday 20th November, 7:00pm
Free

DEADLIGHT (VALBERG 3)

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.
Venue Partner: 

Tuesday 10 November 2015

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: 31st 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:
Signed paperback available from Infected Books store from only £7.99 (incl UK postage):


Thursday 5 November 2015

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!