In the very early days of CSNI, I interviewed Tony Bailie and reviewed his first novel, The Last Chord. It was Dec Burke that originally got me thinking about starting up a blog dedicated to crime fiction, with a leaning towards work by Northern Irish authors, but it was reading books by writers like Tony Bailie that swung it. Tony's book was published by Lagan Press, and although it's a house with a long history in producing great Northern Irish literature, it just doesn't have a whole lot of money. So, great books are published but don't get the recognition they deserve because there isn't enough cash to promote them. Obviously, a review on CSNI won't shoot any book into the New York Times best seller's, but it's an extra wee bit of publicity.
And after only a little bit of cajoling, Mr Bailie has gone ahead and started his own blog. Visit ecopunks and read an excerpt from The Lost Chord and some great articles on Rory Gallagher, The Undertones and more. And sure, why not buy his book while your at it. Just to prove me right, like.
