On The Verge

It's been a remarkable couple of weeks so I guess I should, you know, remark on them.

Thanks to Declan Burke's willingness to drop his standards a little I was included in his excellent offering, DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS. The book is basically a collection of essays, interviews and stories on the subject of Irish crime fiction. The list of contributors is a who's who of the Irish crime fiction scene with me taking up the rear by quite a distance. Check out these names:

Adrian McKinty
Alan Glynn
Alex Barclay
Andrew Nugent
Arlene Hunt
Brian McGilloway
Colin Bateman
Cora Harrison
Cormac Millar
Declan Hughes
Eoin McNamee
Gene Kerrigan
Gerard Brennan
Gerry O’Carroll
Ingrid Black
Jane Casey
John Banville
John Connolly
Ken Bruen
Kevin McCarthy
Neville Thompson
Niamh O’Connor
Paul Charles
Ruth Dudley Edwards
Sara Keating
Stuart Neville
Tana French
Tara Brady
Foreword by Michael Connelly
Introduction by Professor Ian Ross of Trinity College
Afterword by Fintan O’Toole

What a line-up, right?

And so, it was with a great big goofy grin plastered to my face that I attended both the Belfast and Dublin launches of this fine tome. And what a treat these wee outings were for a small fish like me.

In Dublin I got to meet Ken Bruen for the first time. And he was with Eoin Colfer. So I got them both to sign my copy of Eoin Colfer's PLUGGED which is dedicated to Ken. AND Tony Black bought me a pint. Who says the Scottish are stingy? I also got to chat briefly to Arlene Hunt (though let's face it, any chat with Arlene is too brief. Charm? This lady has it in spades) and got to shake hands with and nod dumbly to the likes of John Connolly and Declan Hughes. And of course, I got to say hiya to Declan Burke again. I wish I'd introduced myself to Alan Glynn but it's too late to do anything about that now.

And then Belfast. Not only did I get to attend the event with my missus, Michelle, and watch some real pros in action in the form of a panel made up of Colin Bateman, Brian McGilloway and Stuart Neville (with Declan Burke introducing the event and David Torrans asking questions of the panel between book sales), but I got to say hello to Eoin McNamee again and be in the same room (unknowingly, dammit) with David Peace. But even better than this, me and my lovely missus got to have dinner with a bunch of the contributors at a pretty decent Chinese Restaurant on Botanic Avenue. And so my lovely wife and I got to chat to Niamh O'Connor and Kevin McCarthy for the first time and listen to a less formal panel on Irish crime fiction, life the universe and parenting.

And what did I learn from these two events?

Well, I still have quite a distance to go before I can consider myself anywhere near the bottom of their league. These writers represent the cream of the crop of the genre I'm trying to crack into. But with the release of my novella, THE POINT, in October (God bless Pulp Press) and a few other exciting things on the horizon that I can't talk about until some details have been hammered out (not a book deal), at least I can say I'm heading in the right direction. Let's hope I don't get lost or run out of juice along the way.

There Will Be Booze

I'm still not done with the festivities, and indeed tonight may prove the highlight of a debauched week, but I figured I should post something here, lest one or two people think I've dropped off the face of the blogosphere.

So, just a little heads up. Over the crimbo holidays, I've read and intend to review Everybody Knows This is Nowhere by John McFetridge and I'm neck deep in Adrian McKinty's Fifty Grand. I hope to get stuck into Mystery Man by Colin Bateman next and then I'll be checking out some more Ken Bruen (can't get enough of that guy) and Walking The Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman. I've also got three more David Peace books and... man, this could go on. Basically, I'm spoilt for choice in the new year, so there'll be no shortage of reviews as CSNI continues to grow.

Just for the record, I have a loose priority list with regards to promotion. Writers from the North of Ireland first, followed closely by those from the South. After that, it's kind of up in the air. Anybody who can be tied to Ireland in any way will get whim priority. For instance, McFetridge can trace some of his family back to Larne in Northern Ireland. Reed Farrel Coleman is releasing a book with Ken Bruen this year. I'll probably read Pariah by Dave Zeltserman as it's got Boston Irish gangsters in it. The rest, I'll read for fun, maybe reference it from time to time, but probably not review. I gotta write my own Northern Irish crime fiction too, you know.

So, thanks to everybody who's read, commented and emailed me about the blog. Thanks in general to the crime fiction community for being warm, friendly and cool. Thanks to all the authors I met this year, who ignored my stuttering awe and told me it was nice to meet me. It's been a great year, and I hope the trend continues.

In 2009, aside from reviews, I hope to progress my own writing. If I can't sell a novel, screenplay or stage play, then I'll be chipping away with short stories on the side. But I'm also lucky enough to be involved with a non-fiction project with Declan Burke and Adrian McKinty and a fiction anthology with Mike Stone. Both collections will contain work from some of my favourite writers. It's dizzying to think about it. You'll read plenty of updates on both here.

But for now, give me a few days to recover from an overindulgence of pies and beer and wine and crackers and cheese and whiskey and crisps. Then I'll be a slightly pudgier blogging dynamo bringing you as much news as you can handle, and more besides.

Happy New Year, folks.