We are happy and proud – overjoyed, really! – to share with you a few lines from a letter that the great American post-modernist writer Richard Kalich wrote to us and the Irish writer Colin O’Sullivan after having read his work for the first time (Colin’s novel, The Starved Lover Sings). Such an endorsement, coming … Continue reading “A Poet of Darkness”
Les Edgerton about his novel “The Death of Tarpons”
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." —Sigmund Freud Les Edgerton in conversation with a Trinity College Dublin graduate Kelly O'Brien: —The Death of Tarpons takes the form of bildungsroman and is written in the first person narrative. Given that you also grew … Continue reading Les Edgerton about his novel “The Death of Tarpons”
Donald Finnaeus Mayo about women’s fiction, spycops and divided societies (Interview, Part II)
KOB: Both of your novels are driven by strong female characters. Would you consider your work to be “Women’s Fiction” and if so, how do you feel your position as a male novelist impacts your female-centric writing? DFM: I have noticed that women seem to respond well to my work, which I'm happy about because … Continue reading Donald Finnaeus Mayo about women’s fiction, spycops and divided societies (Interview, Part II)
Donald Finnaeus Mayo about journalism, modern history and inspiration (Interview, Part I)
Kelly O’Brien: Both of your novels, Francesca and The Insider’s Guide to Betrayal are set in the 1970s and 1980s, is this period of time significant to you? What interests you in the writing of historical fiction? Donald Finnaeus Mayo: Most decades have something interesting to offer, and if you have lived through them your … Continue reading Donald Finnaeus Mayo about journalism, modern history and inspiration (Interview, Part I)
Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 3)
Hadley Colt, author of Permanent Fatal Error and The Red-Handed League Forget Nancy Drew: Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise was my Christmas-gift light-bulb moment of finding a thriller series with a strong female lead, and inspiring my own heroine-driven novels for Betimes Books. Colin O’Sullivan, author of Killarney Blues and The Starved Lover Sings This is … Continue reading Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 3)
Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 2)
Patricia Ketola, author of Dirty Pictures One Christmas, when I was about ten years old, I received a copy of R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island. The book was an unusual choice for a little girl, but I was so thrilled by the marvellous tale of adventure that I could not put it down. Jim Hawkins and … Continue reading Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 2)
Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 1)
Jackie Mallon, author of Silk for the Feed Dogs It was a copy of The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. A certain someone knew I'd appreciate the paperback's many idiosyncrasies: the title, so goofy and slapstick-sounding, in direct contrast to the elegant Hitchcockian blond stretched out nude on the cover in an image by Erwin Blumenfeld, a fashion photographer … Continue reading Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 1)
Interview with Patricia Ketola, novelist, author of DIRTY PICTURES
Patricia Ketola is interviewed by Petar Odak, editor and reviewer. Late blooming in the world of literature is not that rare: Toni Morrison published her first novel when she was thirty-nine, P. D. James when she was forty-two, and Penelope Fitzgerald and Frank McCourt started in their sixties. Still, it is quite unusual for the … Continue reading Interview with Patricia Ketola, novelist, author of DIRTY PICTURES
Craig McDonald about the challenge of writing a series
Not the end of something? By Craig McDonald In autumn 2007, HEAD GAMES was published by Ben Leroy and Bleak House books. It went on to earn best first novel nominations for the Edgar Award, the Anthony, and the Sélection du prix polar Saint-Maur en Poche in France, among others. It also launched a series … Continue reading Craig McDonald about the challenge of writing a series
Hadley Colt about her second novel for Betimes Books, a reinvention of the timeless legend of Sherlock Holmes
From Hadley Colt's blog: PUBLISH OR PERISH? (THE RED-HANDED LEAGUE DEBUTS) “I am lost without my Boswell.” —Sherlock Holmes The Red-Handed League, my new thriller about Sherlock Holmes, debuts this week. Hewing to a Doylean naming strategy, this little essay might be called, The Matter of the Murdered Biographer. It could also be titled, The … Continue reading Hadley Colt about her second novel for Betimes Books, a reinvention of the timeless legend of Sherlock Holmes
Craig McDonald’s reading in Dublin as if you were there
Thanks to all who attended last night's reading in Dublin! For those who weren't there, here is a recording of the event: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1ypKdPmjArRKW If you want to read the excerpt that Craig read last night, the first chapter of Head Games, click here: viewBook.at/HeadGames_McDonald And here is Craig McDonald's speech and a few pictures of … Continue reading Craig McDonald’s reading in Dublin as if you were there
Literary suicides: excerpt from PRINT THE LEGEND by Craig McDonald
"Hector sat in a booth alone in the back of the Italian restaurant. The freezing rain was lashing the windows and the trees lining the streets of Georgetown looked like glass sculptures. He took another sip of red wine and pulled the letter from his pocket. He read it five times: Poor dearest Pickle: There … Continue reading Literary suicides: excerpt from PRINT THE LEGEND by Craig McDonald
Donald Finnaeus Mayo about writing FRANCESCA
FRANCESCA: Genesis of an idea It's easy to forget just how different the world was back in the mid-1970s. No mobile phones, no internet, no Starbucks on every street corner. Easier, too, for dictators to keep a lid on their shenanigans. You could take out a town, empty a region of its population without any … Continue reading Donald Finnaeus Mayo about writing FRANCESCA
An Interview with Craig McDonald: The Hector Lassiter Series
An exceptional, in-depth, interview with Craig McDonald by Steven Powell, a researcher at the University of Liverpool, UK.
Steven Powell is the editor of Conversations with James Ellroy (2012) and 100 American Crime Writers(2012). He has written several articles for the British Politics Review, blogs about crime fiction at VenetianVase.co.uk, and co-organized the “James Ellroy: Visions of Noir” conference at the University of Liverpool. His most recent work is James Ellroy: Demon Dog of Crime Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan 2016).
“If you are not already initiated, I hope this interview will persuade you to start reading the Lassiter novels. They are compelling, thrilling and darkly humorous.
Lassiter is a brilliant creation…”
Craig McDonald is an author and journalist. He has written fourteen novels, including, to date, nine books in the award-winning Hector Lassiter series. I have kept up a correspondence with Craig these past few years as we are both avid readers of James Ellroy. I’m also a massive fan of the Lassiter novels, and when Craig agreed to be interviewed by me, he also kindly supplied an advance copy of the final novel in the Lassiter series, the forthcoming Three Chords and the Truth. If you are not already initiated, I hope this interview will persuade you to start reading the Lassiter novels. They are compelling, thrilling and darkly humorous. Lassiter is a brilliant creation– a crime writer who learned his trade with Ernest Hemingway and the Lost Generation in Paris in the 1920s. He is also a man who seems dangerously prone to violent intrigue, doomed love affairs…
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Fionnuala Brennan: Writing about Goya
I have long been fascinated by the charismatic artist Francisco de Goya. The seeds of my fascination with this Spanish painter were sown during my studies in History of Art in Trinity College, Dublin. The firework that sent me into orbit to write the novel, The Painter’s Women: Goya in Light and Shade, was a … Continue reading Fionnuala Brennan: Writing about Goya
“DEATH IN THE FACE is my love letter to that strange sad man Ian Fleming”
Craig McDonald about his new novel: DEATH IN THE FACE: THE YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE FACTOR (Caution: Mild spoilers ahead for the James Bond novel and film, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.) In 1962, a gravely ill Ian Fleming went to Japan to research what would result in his penultimate James Bond novel, YOU ONLY LIVE … Continue reading “DEATH IN THE FACE is my love letter to that strange sad man Ian Fleming”
Review of Craig McDonald’s DEATH IN THE FACE by Les Edgerton
This latest in Craig McDonald’s Hector Lassiter series—Death in the Face--is perhaps his finest. It’s my fervent hope that this isn’t the last in this wonderful series! Like all the previous books in this series, McDonald sheds light on some of the most important literary figures of the past near-century on a personal level … Continue reading Review of Craig McDonald’s DEATH IN THE FACE by Les Edgerton
DEATH IN THE FACE: THE STRANGE LIFE & DEATH OF YUKIO MISHIMA
Craig McDonald about Yukio Mishima, one of the characters in his latest Hector Lassiter novel, Death in the Face: "Yukio Mishima (born Kimitake Hiraoka) was a gifted novelist and one of Japan’s great literary figures. He was a true renaissance man who composed nearly three dozen novels, nearly as many books of essays, more than … Continue reading DEATH IN THE FACE: THE STRANGE LIFE & DEATH OF YUKIO MISHIMA
How I Came to Write “ROLL THE CREDITS” (aka Hector Lassiter & WWII)
Craig McDonald about his inspiration for Roll the Credits. Fascinating! "Roll the Credits is, in short form, the Second World War and liberation of Paris seen through the eyes of author/screenwriter Hector Lassiter. But it's also a special novel in the Lassiter canon for me. Long before RTC, there was the Lassiter entry Head Games. … Continue reading How I Came to Write “ROLL THE CREDITS” (aka Hector Lassiter & WWII)
“Print the Legend” & the dark seduction of the writing life
The following essay by Craig McDonald is a re-presentation of a blog post originally written for Lesa Holstine's sight in March, 2010 upon release of his novel PRINT THE LEGEND in hardcover. The novel is now available for the first time in paperback, as well as eBook and audio formats: http://viewBook.at/Print_the_Legend “Print the Legend” & … Continue reading “Print the Legend” & the dark seduction of the writing life
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