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You are viewing the most recent 10 entries July 19th, 2010: Does anybody read this live journal any more? If so, thank you. But just so you know, I intend to do all of my personal blogging over at this place from now on. Or you can find me on Facebook if you'd prefer to stay in touch that way. Peace out!  gb Tags: bye bye June 24th, 2010: Requiems for the Departed goes Worldwide!  After a successful launch at No Alibis in Belfast, Requiems for the Departed is now available worldwide, with a 28% discount in the US through Barnes & Noble and free shipping worldwide through The Book Depository. So no matter where you are in the world, you can get your hands on some top quality Irish Crime and Irish Myths easily! Our paperback edition is also still available at the Morrigan Books site too, along with the limited edition hardback (now down to less than 30 copies available). Tags: requiems for the departed June 7th, 2010: Book Launch! Requiems for the Departed Come and Meet… Brian McGilloway, Stuart Neville, Arlene Hunt, T.A. Moore, John McAllister, Tony Baillie and Garbhan Downey No Alibis Bookstore is pleased to invite you to the launch of Irish crime fiction anthology, REQUIEMS FOR THE DEPARTED, edited by Gerard Brennan and Mike Stone, on Thursday 10th June at 6:30PM.
NO ALIBIS BOOKSTORE 83 BOTANIC AVENUE BELFAST BT7 1JL david@noalibis.com ph. 02890-319601 fax. 02890319607 June 3rd, 2010: George McFly Day!  Well, I received the first print run of Requiems for the Departed. A good chunk of the books will go straight to No Alibis for the launch, details as follows:
So, if you're in or close to Belfast, come along, guys. These books won't be around forever. They've already started to sell. Check out this pic of the first two customers.  Tags: requiems for the departed May 17th, 2010: D'oh! My Saturday Update... And again, I forget to post this wordcount on Saturday. Not much has changed since then, though. I've only added about 100 words. Need to crank things up in the next few days.    15000 / 80000 (18.75%) Not a bad week's work, but I'm just off the phone to my agent and it looks like the count will go down before it goes up again. He's suggested a snip or two that'll probably shave a few thousand off this, so it'll be an uphill battle this week. I might need to invest in some sweatbands. Tags: final score May 10th, 2010: Um, Yeah... Saturday's Update So, I completely forgot to post my wordcount on Saturday. In fairness, I was up to my elbows in paint (redecorating before the new baby comes along), but then, I could have maybe started on the end-of-the-day beer a little later to allow time for this... Anyway, it was a woeful writing week, not helped by a very hectic schedule at the dayjob and at home. I barely managed to add 1K words to the total count. Still, it's headed the right way at least. This week will be another tough one so I'm not expecting any miracles. I'd be happy with another 1K, and delirious with 2K. Week after this, though, it's back to the strict 500-words-a-day minimum. 12000 / 80000 (15%) May 1st, 2010: Nothing To See Here! I'm going to go back to posting on the aul LJ once a week while I work on my latest novel attempt. It's titled FINAL SCORE and it seems to have dragged me out of my non-writing rut. So, behold! A shiny wordcount meter. 11000 / 80000 (13.75%) I'll leave it at that for tonight but will more than likely say more about frustrations, obstacles and minor joys in future posts. Right now, I fancy a beer. Tags: final score March 22nd, 2010: The Irish Mythology Anthology - Coming Very Soon... Another great anthology from Morrigan Books and yet another fantastic cover from Reece Notley: Edited by Gerard Brennan & Mike Stone Requiems for the Departed Irish Crime, Irish Myths. It has been said before, that every story has already been told. Maybe so. But if you’ve got the gift of the gab, you can tell the same tale as often as you like and still give it a life of its own every time. Requiems for the Departed flaunts that gift seventeen times over with top shelf stories from Ken Bruen, Maxim Jakubowski, Stuart Neville, Brian McGilloway, Adrian McKinty, Sam Millar, John Grant, Dave Hutchinson, and many more. The children of Conchobar are back to their old mischievous ways, ancient Celtic royalty, druids and banshees are set loose in the new Irish underbelly with murder and mayhem on their minds. Requiems for the Departed contains seventeen short stories, inspired by Irish mythology, from some of the finest contemporary writers in the business. PUBLICATION DATE: 1st June 2010 Requiems for the Departed Stories: Queen of the Hill - Stuart Neville Hound of Culann - Tony Black Hats off to Mary - Garry Kilworth Sliabh Ban - Arlene Hunt Red Hand of Ulster - Sam Millar She Wails Through the Fair - Ken Bruen A Price to Pay - Maxim Jakubowski Red Milk - T. A. Moore Bog Man - John McAllister The Sea is Not Full - Una McCormack The Druid's Dance - Tony Bailie Children of Gear - Neville Thompson Diarmid and Grainne - Adrian McKinty The Fortunate Isles - Dave Hutchinson First to Score - Garbhan Downey Fisherman's Blues - Brian McGilloway The Life Business - John Grant Pre-orders can be made soon
November 6th, 2009: It Was All Right on the Night Well, last night’s reading went better than I could have hoped. About fifteen people made it to the Lock-Keeper’s Inn. Tammy (T.A. Moore) kindly warmed the audience up with the opening from her first novel, The Even. Then I read a story from Brendan Garner’s chapbook, Possession, Obsession and a Diesel Compression Engine. It went down better than I expected it to considering the rather colourful language and blasphemous content. After the reading, Tammy invited the audience to ask us about writing. Tammy related her experience of being an actual real-life novelist and I talked about how lucky I am to have a literary agent. I think we could have sat there all night, but we were ushered out of our seats eventually. Tammy sold a good few books as far as I could see, and deservedly so. The chapbooks I’d ordered arrived in Dundrum around about the time I was leaving work to go to the Inn, so with nothing to flog, I ducked out early. But hopefully I made a bit of an impression on the good folk who showed up. I had just enough time to take a spin out to Lisburn City Library where Garbhan Downey was promoting War of the Blue Roses. It’s always great to meet writers you admire and listen to what they have to say about their own work. After reading from his most recent release and giving us an insight into the workings of his comic-genius mind, he read a brief extract from the novel he’s just finished. Looking forward to that one hitting the shelves. So, I’d a great night last night and was buzzing off the good vibes all morning. Up until my agent emailed me with some bad publishing news. Basically, The Wee Rockets won’t be hitting the shelves any time soon. A bit of a pisser, that. I’ll feel sorry for myself for a few days, get drunk once or three times, and then get back to work. I’ve two novels and a short story on the go at the moment and I doubt much more will happen for me publishing-wise until I get my finger out and finish something. As of now, CSNI and my other internet activities are going on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks. I'll be reading my emails, but that's about it. Chat to you later gb November 5th, 2009: Readings, Readings and More Readings  So, today’s the day of my first reading. Less than four hours from now I’ll be at the Lock-Keeper’s Inn with T.A. Moore. I plan to read a short story from my chapbook, and if there’s time, a short extract from The Wee Rockets; the novel that earned me an Arts Council SIAP award and a literary agent. I’d hoped to bring copies of Possession, Obsession and a Diesel Compression Engine with me to flog, but (possibly because of the postal strike) they didn’t make it from the printers. Ah well. I don’t seem to be as nervous as I should be. Maybe it's because I spent a year and a half as a kung fu instructor. I’m kind of used to standing at the top of a room and talking about something I’ve studied inside-out for years. But it’ll be interesting to see how I feel when I actually get to the venue. I doubt it’ll run smoothly, but I think I’m a big enough now to get over myself if my reading isn’t on a par with all the great writers I’ve seen at these things over the past two years. Speaking of which, after my own reading, I’ll be taking a spin over to Lisburn City Library to see a veteran at work. I haven’t seen Garbhan Downey read before, but his material is top notch. Unless he’s speaking in another language, he’s bound to please the crowd. After his No Alibis Launch for Mystery Man, (Colin) Bateman explained that he let his writing do the entertaining. He’s gifted with a fantastic sense of humour and his readings always earn real belly-laughter. He’s due back in No Alibis on the 16th November at 6PM, incidentally. I’m reading Day of the Jack Russell now. It could well be even funnier than Mystery Man, so do your best to make it to that one. I’ve encouraged my wife to accompany me for the first time since the Connolly and Hughes reading last year. Really looking forward to that. I’ve mentioned the James Ellroy event more than once, but it’s a very big deal, so bear with me while I mention it again. In fact, just click here to read my article for International Thriller Writers. I devote the first paragraph to where, when and how to get the tickets for The Demon Dog of American Literature’s visit to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. And while I’m linking to other sites, check out this post from BlackWaterTown, who’s written a great article on his recent trip to Ireland. Note that he’s taken a certain someone’s advice and called in to No Alibis... It’s nice when people listen to you. |
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