Kindle Surprise

Last Saturday my wife surprised me with a lovely present. After the clan had demolished the bacon and eggs served up for our now traditional Saturday morning brunch, we cleaned the yolk out of the one-year-old's hair and fed the dog his share of the leftover bacon. Then I was handed a little cardboard box from Amazon. I knew what it was from the dimensions right away as me and my siblings had chipped in and bought one for my dad at Crimbo. Plus the product name was stamped on the box. It was a Kindle!

My wife thought it was a bit mad that I was pushing my novel, WEE ROCKETS, only available as an ebook, when I didn't own an ereader. And to be honest, I felt a bit bad about that too. I'd bought a few ebooks for the Kindle app on my iPod Touch but they were a pain in the arse to read that way. And while I tried out the Kindle for PC app, I found that wasn't for me either. But this thing... wow. I'm currently blazing through Anthony Neil Smith's All The Young Warriors (bloody brilliant it is too) and have lined up a host of exciting ebooks when I'm done with it. Yesterday I was able to eat a big sloppy sandwich and read at the same time as the Kindle sat on my desk without me having to battle a paperback spine with my thumb. And I love the font size I picked for my poor, punished eyes.

I say all this a little grudgingly, though. I'm usually a fan of the underdog, and these days Amazon is the alpha in most consumer packs. Maybe a different brand of ereader would salve my conscience a little, but I hear Kindle is simply the best in the price range, so why bother messing with an inferior product? What I can do, however, is support writers who haven't landed that mainstream publishing deal but are very much worth reading. Writers published by Blasted Heath, for example. That makes me feel a bit better.

I don't think I'll ever give up on real books, though. It's a different product than an ebook. Its packaging is part of its charm; part of the reading experience. And the feeling of calm I get simply browsing through a bookstore? It's a mini holiday for me. So, whether or not I'm a little giddy with techno-joy, I'm still a bibliophile at heart (but not really a book-sniffer).

If you think Kindle is the devil or that books are a dead god, do share your views. My interest in the subject is peaked right now.

The Fall is Coming...

There's a new Northern Irish crime fiction writer on the scene, folks. Claire McGowan was kind enough to stop by for a Q&A last week and introduce herself to the CSNI readers. She grew up in a village just a few miles away from The Point, she has fine taste in puppies (hi, Eddie the Beagle) and she's got a blurb from Peter frickin' James! Her book comes out in February and I for one am looking forward to it. Check it out:


'One of the very best novels I've read in a long while...astonishing, powerful and immensely satisfying' - Peter James

What would you do if the man you love was accused of murder?

Bad things never happen to Charlotte. She's living the life she's always wanted and about to marry wealthy banker, Dan. But Dan's been hiding a secret, and the pressure is pushing him over the edge. After he's arrested for the vicious killing of a nightclub owner, Charlotte's future is shattered.

Then she opens her door to Keisha, an angry and frustrated stranger with a story to tell. Convinced of Dan's innocence, Charlotte must fight for him - even if it means destroying her perfect life. But what Keisha knows threatens everyone she loves, and puts her own life in danger.

DC Matthew Hegarty is riding high on the success of Dan's arrest. But he's finding it difficult to ignore his growing doubts as well as the beautiful and vulnerable Charlotte. Can he really risk it all for what's right?

Three stories. One truth. They all need to brace themselves for the fall.

2012 Spinetingler Nomination -- Best Novella

I wanted to blog about this earlier but I had an assignment I needed to get done first. And it's now done, so -- DRUMROLL, PLEASE! -- my novella, THE POINT, has been nominated for a Spinetingler Award. Oh, yeah. The little book that could, just did. I'm frickin' dee-lighted. I'm also fully aware that a nomination is as far as it will go. Have a gander at this cluster-feck of insane talent and wonder at the confidence trick I played to get lumped in with them.

California - Ray Banks
Barracuda - Raymond Embrack
Everything I Tell You is a Lie - Fingers Murphy
Every Shallow Cut - Tom Piccirilli
Felony Fists - Jack Tunney
Follow Me Down - Kio Stark
Old Ghosts - Nik Korpon
The Point - Gerard Brennan
Shotgun Gravy - Chuck Wendig
Smoke - Nigel Bird

But hey, I don't mind losing to any one of those guys. All I want to do is go down swinging. So, if you have the time -- and you feckin' do or you wouldn't be reading this, would you? -- Go to the Spinetingler website and throw a vote my way. It only takes one click and you don't have to register for anything or agree to any dodgy terms and conditions. Just clickety-click and you're done. What are you waiting for? If you'd stopped reading a sentence or two ago, you'd be done by now!

Thank you in advance, kind souls.

P.S. Why not buy some or all of the novellas on the list? I know I will. They're there for a reason, like. Purchase links to all of them can be found on the Spinetingler site.

An Interview - Claire McGowan

Claire McGowan was born in Rostrevor, Co. Down. After a degree in English and French from Oxford University she moved to London and worked in the charity sector. She is currently the Director of the Crime Writers’ Association. THE FALL is her first novel and is published by Headline on 2 February.

What are you writing at the minute?

I’m working on a re-write of my second book for Headline, which is due out in 2013. Publishing schedules often run very far in advance! When I have time I’m dabbling with other book ideas for the future. Having the ideas is fine, it’s just finding the time to write/edit/polish them that’s the problem for me.

Can you give us an idea of Claire McGowan’s typical up-to-the-armpits-in-ideas-and-time writing day?

As well as writing I have a part-time job running the Crime Writers’ Association. So I work from home full-time now, and it’s up to me to set the routine. I have to say that, having always been quite disciplined, I’ve been disappointed by how difficult I’ve found it working from home. At the moment I’m trying to do it like this: some time for emails in the morning, plus internet faffing (a full-time job in itself if you let it be), several hours of writing, then a few hours of CWA work. I have a puppy so taking him out for walks/stopping him from eating important things also gives me a good break from the laptop.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I don’t understand the question? In all seriousness, it’s tempting when you work from home to always be working in some capacity, often without actually being all that productive. For a break I read a lot – I’m trying to read more as I think it’s essential if you’re going to write – and I walk the dog, and I also watch a lot of films. I realise this is making me sound really boring so I’m going say that, as befits an Irish crime writer, I go out a fair bit too. As part of my job I quite often go to crime-writing parties and events – those people know how to have a good time!

Any advice for a greenhorn trying to break into the genre fiction scene?

I’d say congratulations on identifying your work as part of a genre. So many first-time writers seem to have no idea that genre even exists, and instead are trying to shoe-horn their work into the nebulous general-literary-mainstream fiction area. If you use it properly, genre can be hugely valuable to your work and you career. Think of it as a ladder, not a frame – you don’t have to be bound by the rules, but it can help you get where you need to go.

Which writers have impressed you this year?

In 2011, as part of my job, I read a very wide spectrum of crime, from noir to action to fantasy crossover. My personal favourite has always been the psychological thriller, in the vein of Barbara Vine, and so I probably most enjoyed books by Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly, Julia Crouch, and Kate Atkinson. All women, for some reason.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished reading A Clash of Kings, the second in the ‘Game of Thrones’ books. It was brilliant but I’m feeling quite daunted at the thought of another five 900-page tomes full of intrigue and twists. I might need a rest or else I’ll start stomping round in cloaks and commanding my dog to tear out people’s throats.

Plans for the future?

Looking ahead, I’d love to write some crime set in Northern Ireland. It’s so exciting to see writers emerging from back home and I’ve already drafted up the first in what I hope would be a series. I once read something Ian Rankin wrote, where he said that compared to Scotland, there was very little Northern Irish crime, perhaps because we were too busy dealing with the real-life effects of violence. But it seems now that Irish crime is having a real moment, and I’m keen to be part of that. Northern Ireland’s such a rich setting for a crime writer. There’s so much dark history, both related to the Troubles and otherwise, but coupled with humour and a strong culture.

With regards to your writing career to date, would you do anything differently?

Without wishing to boast, I was comparatively young when I got my publishing deal, so I don’t have too many regrets so far. Even so I feel like I wasted several years before knuckling down to writing. It was what I’d always wanted to do, but I never really tried because I was so sure I’d fail. It’s unlikely I would have got published any earlier, but I could have spent a lot of time writing instead of watching Friends repeats. My advice to anyone who wants to write would be to get on with it and not worry about failing. And don’t listen to your parents when they want you to do a law degree.

Do you fancy sharing your worst writing experience?

It’s not been THAT bad, I suppose, but I’ve found the second book more difficult than I expected. Maybe because I wrote the first in happy ignorance of how publishing worked, or that it was a crime novel, or of pretty much everything. Now I’m doing it professionally I’m putting myself under more pressure and worrying a lot more. But hopefully it will have paid off in the end.

Anything you want to say that I haven’t asked you about?

As a native of County Down (Rostrevor), it’s great to be interviewed by someone local!

Thank you, Claire McGowan!

Writing in 3D

I was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast (#171) on the journey to and from work today. He had this boyo, Everlast, on as a guest. Here's a tune from the album he was promoting:



I like it. Can't believe it's the same guy that brought us Jump Around when he was rapping with House of Pain, though.

Anyway, what I thought was even more interesting was his take on writing songs. He doesn't write them down. For Everlast, writing them onto a page makes them flat, literally and figuratively. He believes that when the song exists only in his head he can think of it as music in 3D and when he plays it, that's how it comes out. He also mentions that he likes to smoke a little weed but I'm not suggesting there's a direct connection.

But it makes me think of all the writers out there who churn out their manuscripts by the seat of their pants rather than going through the arduous outlining process other writers swear by. Is this also a form of writing in 3D? A direct link from the subconscious to the keyboard without flattening the spirit of the work?

Who knows? Now that I see it on the screen it seems a bit of a half-baked notion. I can assure you though, I am not a half-baked writer. I can't afford to buy weed.

In other news, I have a guest post up at Spinetingler and Katy O'Dowd has posted a cracking review of Wee Rockets on her website.

My cup overfloweth.

Cover Story

I'm really digging the similarity between these two covers...

Click here to buy WEE ROCKETS for £0.99!

Click here to download HILDA'S BIG DAY OUT for FREE!

Hosts With The Mosts

A couple of fine folk have me featured on their blogs today. Please do stop by Paul D Brazill's You Would Say That, Wouldn't You? for a short, sharp interview and then skip on over to Fiona 'McDroll' Johnson's I Meant To Read That for my guest post about an element of writing. Many thanks to both these kind souls and to Jay Faulkner who gave me a topic for the guest post.

And here's a great wee tune, just because.



It's a cheery number. NSFW, though.

The Bonnevilles - Pure Savage

I don't buy a lot of albums these days because... well, I don't buy a lot of anything these days. But I watched this video and couldn't resist ordering The Bonnevilles, Good Suits and Fighting Boots:



Cracker, right?

Well, you can vote for this video over at the Pure Savage: NI Music website as video of the year. It got my vote. Stop by if you think it deserves yours.

The album arrived today and I can confirm that it makes great driving music and excellent dishwasher-emptying music.

Facebook Cold Turkey

Yesterday was my first day without Facebook for many years. I've been using it at an increasing rate in recent times having around the clock access via my phone, iPod and laptop and it was getting to be a serious time bandit. So I deactivated the account on Sunday night. At first I feared I had done the wrong thing. How much was I going to miss out on? Would my brother and sisters forget I exist? How was I going to know what was going on in the world!?

Well, yesterday I had a lazy, housebound bank holiday and I decided to list the things I did in those moment where I thought, You know, I'd be on Facebook right now if I had an account.

1. I read a few chapters of Stuart Neville's Stolen Souls.

2. I pulled a little more weight in the housework department.

3. I thought about the writing work I have ahead of me this year.

4. I began to face the reality that I needed to get up earlier to cope with my ongoing to-do list.

5. I watched TV with the kids.

6. I put on some music and sang along as loud as I could.

7. I bathed the mancubs.

8. I bathed the puppy.

9. I played an Xbox game for 45 minutes.

10. I watched two and a half movies (Burke and Hare, Super and Limitless).

11. I allowed myself to think.

12. I drank a few beers.

13. I spent a little time on Twitter.

14. I came up with the idea for this blog post.

15. I asked my wife what was going on with everybody on Facebook.

Wee Rockets Official Release Date

Happy New Year!

I've a pretty good reason to be chipper today. My debut novel, Wee Rockets, has officially been released by Blasted Heath. If you haven't seen it yet, have a look at the Blasted Heath page devoted to Wee Rockets which includes a video, a voice recording of an excerpt and links to purchase it.

And since I'll be killing my Facebook account in a few minutes, I'll probably start posting music vids here. In fact, why wait? Here's a tune that ran through my head quite a lot when I was writing, rewriting and editing Wee Rockets.