Back in Business

Well I'm pleased to say that we're back in business and that 'The Missing' is once more to be published by Libros International. No idea when the book will the hit the shelves (12 - 18 months is a good bet) but it will at some point make it out into the real world like all good children (Frankenstein monsters) must.

At least it will give me plenty of time to complete the new book, currently entitled 'Dark Father', which comprises book one of 'The Chronicles of the Gap'.

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After the lacklustre book version of Constantine's adventures (see previous blog) I moved back to his comic book roots and read 'The Gift'. Here the Hellblazer actually ends up in hell fighting for the soul of his sister while at the same time being used by the demon Nergal for his own nefarious aims. It's probably one of the best I have read so far with Carey pulling out all the stops to display Constantine's wit and desperation.

Also read the first of my Subterranean Press books, Lye Street. It's a good novella that finished all to quickly. It takes place years before 'Scar Night' and feels as if it might have once formed part of the original manuscript, or a failed start at the novel that was ditched. The writing is good, but not as good as the novel. That said, its a book worthy of adding to the 'Scar Night' mythos.

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Read this week:
Hellblazer: The Gift by Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco
Lye Street by Alan Campbell

Hitting it Back and Forwards

I am currently in negotiations with the publishers of 'The Missing', with them outlining what they plan to do with the book. This contact is allaying my fears but I still have a difficult decision to make as to what I do. Finding a publisher is hard slow work, but then a book deserves the best you can do for it. I'll keep you posted on how things are progressing when I have some more news.

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In the mean time here are a few book reviews:

Subterranean By John Shirley: The character of Constantine, a mage living in London through the Thatcherite 80s and into the 90s is one of the modern days comic books survivalists. His exploits have been recorded in comics since Alan Moore created him back in Swamp Thing and even after the disaster of the movie version the character has continued to enthrall. Subterranean, a 300 page novel should then be full of the dark wit and adult horror that the comics have so carefully crafted over the last twenty years. Unfortunately not. All I can assume is that Shirley had no time to sit down and write a carefully crafted novel so instead wrote a stream of consciousness adventure leaving in all the dreadful parts to keep people amused.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde: A classic pure and simple. He might not have invented the horror genre on his own but this short novel goes someway to establishing the dynamics and structure for all future authors. Part of the One City: One Book programme in Edinburgh, I was astounded about how much this book forms part of a collected consciousness. The story I thought was well known, but it seems most people (myself included) have a strange hybrid version of the story lodged in our minds. The real version is much darker, much more psychological then any Hammer Horror movie ever pertained to.

The Museum Vaults is a sumptuously drawn graphic novel from Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Part of a series of books co-produced with the Louvre museum this fantasy sets Monsieur Volumer on a journey deep under the museum as he attempts to catalogue the different basements and artifacts hidden below Paris. Created in monochrome, the drawings are simple yet the art work depicted is sumptuous. I can't praise this enough.

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I've also picked up the new IDW comic Locke and Key written by Joe Hill which hopefully will be as exciting as his novel. They are certainly as good as, if not better produced than DC's comics.

Read this week:
Subterranean By John Shirley
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert by Marc-Antoine Mathieu

Rescind of Contract

I have today written one of the most considered and deliberated upon emails ever to be sent in the history of the interweb.

After months of hard work, time and money, to be offered a contract with a small publishing house was all I ever wanted. I have at this time rescinded that contract and have once more become publisherless.

What foolishness is this I hear you cry! Has Adam been spending too much time sniffing the cleaning products kept under the sink. Alas, I have to say I am in a perfectly stable and balanced state of mind.

I decided after much deliberation that I was much better off without the small publisher, feeling that they were not interested in representing the book in its best light. This is not arrogance or self importance but came down to remarks made by one of their other authors who said that those she was glad her novel had been published she just wished that it had not been published by that particular company (paraphrased and names not given to protect the innocent).

Therefore I am once more free and single and on the look out for a good publisher / Literary Agent interested in representing a dark urban fantasy set in the UK.

If you're out there - Get in touch!

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Read this week:

Subterranean by John Shirley

Kiwi Article

I found a link today for a recent article I wrote for those nice people at Travel Weekly. It's a small piece on New Zealand and brings back warm fuzzy memories of mine and Madam Vin adventures in that part of the world.

If any of my Southern hemisphere friends are reading please drop me a comment.

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Had a nice parcel in the post yesterday from that excellent purveyor of fine fiction - Subterranean Press. It's a copy of Alan Campbell's 'Lye Street', and a beautiful signed edition with a simple Dave Mckean cover. I'll add it to my large pile of to read books.

Dribbling Soup

Took a long over due trip across the border last weekend to Nottingham and visited all the relatives, family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, comrades and people who just happened to be in the same pub as me in four days. Everyone is well and still able to eat soup without dribbling.

Father announced he was getting married, which is good news and even better he's getting married to the woman he lives with. Another hasty visit has been arranged for Easter but this will be more of the flying type.

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I read the 'Good Fairies of New York' at last which is a novel several people have recommended to me but I'm afraid to say didn't knock my socks off. It was okay. The ideas were excellent and the humour well maintained but I found it lacking in polish. It just felt like there were too many ideas flying around Martin Millar's head when he tried writing this and that they were spewed onto the page in a torrent of enthusiasm. It feels like a first draft and in need of a bit of a shine. As most film makers seem to be going back and producing new versions of their most famous films perhaps authors should be allowed to as well. We could have TGFONY Redux. with new scenes and a bit of editing.

Also read 'At the Mountains of Madness' again. I just love the way this book builds in tension. Nothing particularly scary happens for the first three quarters of the book but you know its coming...slowly...slowly...slowly...until...well I won't ruin it for you. This edition also contained Lovecraft's essay at the back 'Supernatural Horror in Literature,' which if you want to know where dark fiction started then it's a very good introduction.

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As soon as I finish my current book I'm starting on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as it's the book that people all over Edinburgh are reading in Feb.

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Read this week:
At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

Leaving the Woods Behind

Just a quick post.

I'm on to rewrites of the Gap novel (which I have decided not to call 'Mind the Gap' because I've heard on the grape vine that another author is using that title for a soon to be published book). There are quite a few changes I want to make, things that will make the story more resonant and cohesive.

A few of the things I'm doing are starting to make their way out of 'the dark woods'. It's nice when things are getting noticed including this blog which is now being quoted elsewhere http://crimealwayspays.blogspot.com/2007_12_30_archive.html .

A review I did for the BFS has also surfaced as a review on YouTube. It's a bit strange to hear something I wrote read out by a voice that is not my own.

Underground

Just finished reading King Rat, a novel that I've been meaning to read for sometime as it is set under London. This is becoming something of an obsession of mine and I believe they should be seen as a sub-sub-genre in their own right. I think an article should be written as subterranean literature has an excellent pedigree (think Jules Verne and going back even further the Greek myths).
I think I'll look in to it.

Read this week: King Rat by Chine Mielville

Gloriously Bloody

Finished the new Clive Barker last week, one of the many books I received for Xmas. His new book moves him away from his roots (horror) and more towards the mythic literature his stories have displayed over the last few years. It's a good read, short but precise the narrator speaking directly to the reader. It is also very funny.

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Saw Sweeney Todd last night. Gloriously bloody in the Hammer Horror style with a fine cast and some wonderful over the top acting. London looked great, dark, brooding and nasty. Depp and Carter are slowly being turned into one of Burton's own character drawings, with the darkness under the eyes becoming more pronounced and the hair becoming a living entity.
The only thing I couldn't get to grips with was the singing. It was often quite distracting and fell slightly flat, only the acting keeping it on target for me.

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Finished the first draft of what I am currently calling 'Mind the Gap' (though this will probably change). I'm taking a week off as I need to send out a few short stories and want to do a rewrite of the the script for 'The Park'.

Read this week: Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

Mole People

While I was in New York I was able to pick up a copy of Jennifer Toth's 'The Mole People', a book I became aware of several years ago when working at Waterstones. Due to the lowly wages I then earned I did not buy a copy but as it is was about people living under New York I noted it as a future purchase and put it on the long 'Books I plan to buy when I have enough money and enough space to house them all' list.

The book is a first hand account of the people Toth (a Los Angeles Times journalist) found living below ground during the 80s in New York City. There they had created pockets of civilisation, linking up to electrical cables and running water while surviving hundreds of feet below the surface of the city. Some used these hidden underground places as convenient stop overs, places for a nights shelter, while others never left the darkness and shunned human interaction. The people living the deepest underground, amid rumours of cannibalism, were called the mole people. They had completely given up their humanity and gone wild.

The interesting thing about this book are not the stories (told in a mix of social journalistic and tight prose) but the fact some of it is now doubted, with skeptics saying that Toth made it all up. There is lots of chatter on the net which covers both sides of the arguments (try here and here), they are many and varied.

I'm sure some of it is embellished, even with the cool, calm collected mind of a journalist (an oxymoron surely) the experience half seen in the darkness of a tunnel, deep under the city are bound to grow in stature with each telling. The underworld has a strange effect on the minds of people. Personally I'm both scared and fascinated by these places below our feet. Over Hogmany we took father down 'Mary Kings Close' where in a group of twenty we sat in darkness as ghost stories were told. Looking at that hidden street from the back of the tour group I could believe anything could happen down in the darkness and in my mind it frequently does.

The Mole People is worth reading if not for the characters, then the encroaching darkness and the heighten sense of threat that she portrays well. Whether real or not, for me doesn't matter.

Also just finished Dark Harvest, a quick frightening read that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through a brutal world where children must fight against the 'October Boy', a manifestation with a jack 'o' lantern head. Save it for Hallowe'en.

Read this week:
The Mole People by Jennifer Toth
Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

Snowing on Edinburgh

It's the new year already.

Having some time off work after father's visit. I'm catching up on the writing that I had planned to do over that period and hope to reach the concluding parts of the new novel by early next week.

It is also snowing outside and while people look thoroughly miserable at the bus stop, inside it looks all magical and wintry.

Here's a quick video from outside my study window.

Top Trumps

As it's that time of year I decided to review the highs and lows of what I've seen and read over the year. The media do this all the time so I thought I would do my own (as the things I like never make it into the top 10 lists). It's also a good cheap way to fill blog space (can this be classed as a repeat?)

Novel
The Unquiet by John Connolly - Still on top form with his books featuring the dark and brooding Charlie 'Bird' Parker. There is something about the way that Connolly writes without giving way to the usual horrors. His stories are undeniably dark but he has created a brooding darkness implicated more by what his character represent than what they actually do. I’m really looking forward to ‘The Reapers’ when it comes out next year.

Scar Night by Alan Campbell – This has reignited my interest in fantasy fiction. Unlike most examples of the genre it is not contrived and creates a world all of its own without brutal world building. Campbell is a star in the making and I’ve ordered a copy of his prequel ‘Lye Street’

Film
Stardust – A beautiful rendition of a beautiful story. Fairy tales for adults either work or fail miserably. This never does and I think that is in the main due to Gaiman’s perfect tone and pitch. Also, very funny.

This is England
At look at the skin head counter culture of which I remember my older cousin being a member but for me was a completely closed off area. I was still a child in 1983 and had no idea about the politics and music, all I knew was that the songs were angry and not all adults approved. This film helped me understand what it was all about.

Comic Book
Alice in Sunderland by Byran Talbot – Dream like but informative with little snippets of detail coming at you from all angles and via many different art forms. If this does not prove to those who say comics are just for children that they are wrong, then I don’t know what will.

TV
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – This was by far the best thing on TV in 2007. It was slow to start and at the first the characters seemed simply ‘too smart’ to be real. But the writing was so cleverly crafted that it grew on you and after episode 4 it was clever, sassy and intelligent. The last few episodes should be held up as examples of what TV can and still does best.
It is such a monumental shame that the series ended after just one season. Whoever decided that really has no love for the medium and should instead be working in a bank, not in TV.

Flight of the Conchords - Funny from the first moment to the last. Understated from beginning to end (like anything from New Zealand) but having some of the bestlaugh out loud lyrics I have ever heard. They make it all sound so effortless when in truth to be muscians as good as this involves being born talented. Only they could make a song about sellotape meaningful.

So as a little present....take it away boys.

At-choo!

Well Christmas has come and gone already and it was great. Roast beef for dinner, presents under the tree, the company of Madame Vin and Dr. Who on the telly.

It also involved a strenuous walk up to the top of Arthur's Seat (picture below to prove it) that might have resulted in me waking up Boxing Day morning with a cold. Madame Vin has one as well (share and share alike, I say) so after a quick trip to Boots (thankfully everything seems to open and the chemists even threw in some free vitamin C) we sat on the couch and watched one childrens film after another.

The ham is now in the oven and I think I'll try to have a quiet evening before putting the presents away.

Reading Material

While I was away in NY I was able to do a bit of reading, these are the books and my comments on them:

Supping with Panthers - I've read one of Tom Holland's previous books (Deliver us from Evil). He has some interesting ideas with regards the lore of vampires, mixing the Dracula story into many other myths and history. Panthers includes the British Empire, Kali worshipers, 19th century London and Jack the Ripper. The book does seem to labour the ideas a little bit but its still good to see someone doing something different with the vampires.

Lint - Did not get this at all. I see what Aylett is trying to do, but a mock biography (mockgraphy?) has to have more basis in reality to work. There is an underlying Woody Allen style to the work but whereas Woody keeps his prose style to the short story, this 178 page style is exhausting.

Just One Look - I saw the film 'Tell No One' in the year so decided to give Coben a try. His style is fast and to the point. His thrillers seem perfect for the screen. Interesting element of this is that it is all set in New Jersey close to the out of town shopping complex we visited. I didn't know this when I started reading.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier: I was looking for to this, a third LOEG comic but was actually a bit disappointed. The visuals are great (especially the 3D comic) but it feels more like the deleted scene elements on a special DVD. The sort of thing you'll look at once and then never bother with again. It felt like a scrap book rather than a story.

Angel of Darkness: De Lint wrote this many years ago under the pen name Samuel M. Key. he claims it is the 'darkest books I've written, and probably the most gruesome as well', well is true. Very different from his Newford books but worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed it and those short the story seems well formed.

Read this week:
Supping with Panthers by Tom Holland
Lint by Steve Aylett
Just One Look by Harlan Coben
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Angle of Darkness by Charles de Lint

Pratchett's News

Heard the news about Terry Pratchett and must admit it is very sad news indeed, but like he says in his statement, 'he's not dead yet', and so I refuse to treat him as such. No doubt there are a plenty of book still in him, and no doubt those books will be as good as the last ones.

Goodbye to all that...

Saturday, and our last day in NY. We had to get to the airport for mid afternoon and Madame Vin woke up with a bad stomach. I think the food portions are wearing us down and I actually opted for muesli this morning for breakfast.
Not wanting to spend time on the streets as it was very cold we headed to the cinema and saw the new Coen brothers film ‘No Country for Old Men’. The film is dark and amusing and certainly their best for some time (I could never understand the fuss made about O Brother, Where Art Thou?). It reminded me of some of their earlier works such as Blood Simple, with the actor Javier Bardem playing a killer of truly frightening potential.
And that’s it. We’ve finished our NY trip. So it's back to Scotland and the build up to the Christmas week, plus I have to get the contract to the publishers.

Tango Look-a-likes

Friday night we made a booking to go to a jazz bar just off Park Avenue. It was great night and after I had tucked into to a bucket of barbecued ribs smothered in a thick sauce we sat down to watch the Pablo Ziegler Quartet (you can here them play here) who just blew me away. The music is Latin tango and wonderfully complex yet so full of emotion. They were joined on stage by Nestor Torres, a flutist of considerable skill and power.
The other thing I noticed about them was that they seemed to be a band of look a likes. Ziegler looks like the actor Danny Aiello, Torres reminded me of a Latin Jerry Seinfield and I swear the bassist was Robert De Niro on a night out.

A Rockefelling Good Christmas

We went to the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree last night. The area around the complex was brought to a stand still as people from all over the world joined to watch the lights being switched on along with entertainment (most of those who appeared on stage I had never heard of but from the roar of the crowd they were quite famous).

We had dinner booked at a restaurant in the centre itself but it seemed the restaurant had a private party on instead. This was a shame as it was a place Madame Vin had wanted to go for time.

Dragons and Woody Allen

Visited the Natural History Museum by Central Park to see an exhibition for creatures that have never existed. Mythic creatures such as the Kraken, unicorn and dragon are covered along with lesser known creatures such as the mermaid water goddess Mater Wata and the giant eagle Roc. The exhibition is interesting but like most things in the US it feels like a lot of style over substance. I wanted more information, more history, more ideas but all I got was a lot of pretty pictures. It also feels as if the curators are laughing at the ideas rather than understanding and expressing the social and mythical meaning of such beasts.
Back down to the village after with a trip up and down Bleeker St. looking for a comic shop that seems to have vanished. But I did stumble across a club, The Bitter End, which is one of the places Woody Allen started out back in the early 1960s.

After lunch in a bar we end up down town and pass by Ground Zero. It’s still a big hole in the ground, though building has started on the skyscrapers that will replace the lost twin towers. It’s a poignant reminder of the world we now live in, a world of our own creation.

Drinks with Dylan.

5th Avenue is alive with Christmas shoppers. We join the crowds and head uptown after a NY breakfast of eggs, bacon and home fries. Passing through Macy’s (which takes a couple of hours) we join the throng of people moving from store to store. All the names are here and we make it is as far as Abercrombie & Fitch, where they play music so loud you feel more like you are in a night club than a shop. It’s dark, thumping, hot and sweaty with frantic shoppers desperate to buy a piece of Americana. I think I prefer John Lewis.
Dinner that night is back at the White Horse which is becoming a bit of a local. Madame Vin has researched the bar and found out that this was the place that Dylan Thomas drank himself to death. It seems to have had a rich and colourful past and though now nothing more than a good local it still feels as if some of its liberal disestablishment past is written into the walls.

Retail Therapy and Monsters

Awoke very early as my body clock asserts that it is time to get going but the clock tells me it is only six in the morning. Whereas yesterday had been golden with sun today is muggy, grey and foggy. Not really having the clothes for that sort of thing I sweat around the stores of Fifth Avenue, but Madame Vin is very happy with all of her purchases. I buy some more jumpers and head back to the apartment to drop them off before heading uptown. I want to see Beowulf, the Neil Gaiman co-written animation at the Imax and in 3D. Last year we saw Superman in 3D in San Francisco, but this film is something else. The whole film is 3D and the world of 5th century Norse lands open up on a screen three storeys high. Swords, axes, arrows, dragons and Angelena Jolie’s breasts fly from the screen, causing you to duck or grab depending on what affronts you.
The movie is good, the story lengthened and added to from the original. Though the accents are all over the place (I’ve come to kill ur mawnster!) and the horses waddle rather than run, the action is none stop and thoroughly enjoyable. Perhaps have hit on a new vein of entertainment in the rewriting of 5th century myths.
After the movie we return to the Meat Packing district and dine at Nero’s which is great food but so dark inside I nearly eat my neighbours’ meal by mistake. Finish the evening at the White Horse with a pint of Samuel Adams.