Wednesday 31 December 2014

BRIAN GARFIELD - WHAT OF TERRY CONNISTON? (1971)




Synopsis/blurb.........

A lawyer tracks a gang of amateur kidnappers across the southwestern desert

By the time Carl Oakley gets to Soledad, the town is an empty shell. But the lawyer isn't looking for the city; he wants to find Terry Conniston. A tire track proves that her sports car passed through not long ago, but Carl doubts Terry was driving. Likely it was Floyd Rymer behind the wheel. With his brother and two other drug-addled thugs, Floyd fronts a second-rate jazz combo whose chief accomplishment, up until now, was a string of steady gigs in fleabag venues up and down the West Coast. Eighteen hours ago, he and his band graduated to kidnapping.

In exchange for Terry, the musicians demand a half million dollars. Some would pay the money; some would call the FBI. Carl Oakley goes hunting. If Terry Conniston is going to die, Carl wants to pull the trigger.

A 1971 book from Brian Garfield as my December entry for Rich Westwood's monthly meme over at his Past Offences blog - check the link to see what others have been reading for this year.

A third author outing for me after having enjoyed Garfield's Deathwish back in pre-blogging days and his Hopscotch in June of last year.

What of Terry Conniston whilst enjoyable didn't quite hit the heights for me in the same way that Hopscotch did. Verdict - good, in fact  probably very good but not great. We have a gang of musicians turning to crime and in short order graduating from petty thefts to kidnapping a tycoon's daughter. The gang is comprised and led by an uncharismatic frontman and psychopath - Floyd Rymer, his heroin addicted brother - George; a damaged and dangerous back-up to our leader - Theodore - all violence and little in the way of brains, his sex-addict girlfriend - Billie Jean and lastly Mitch Baird.....a drifting journeyman musician with a criminal past.

Having faultlessly lifted Terry Conniston; the demand for $500k goes in to our tycoon. Earle Conniston didn't  accumulate the fortune and influence he has by kow-towing and yielding to every threat and demand made upon him. His initial thought is to deny the gang a pay-day to the horror of his close confidant and lawyer, Carl Oakley.

An interesting sideshow with Earl, his third wife and her boyfriend, spins the plot off on a tangent with Oakley assuming control of the ransom end of the negotiations, with the help of his Hispanic fixer, Orozco. Both men harbouring ambitions far beyond the death or otherwise of Terry.

With violence never far from the surface with our kidnapee and the gang; Mitch Baird assumes the role of Terry Conniston's protector. Mitch and Terry eventually working in tandem (Stockholm Syndrome?) to try and thwart the ruthless Floyd and maybe shakedown Earl themselves for half a million if they can survive.

At 222 pages long, our faced-paced mystery unwinds and resolves itself, perhaps just a little too conveniently for my liking, though enjoyable overall. We had some interesting characters and a decent plot-line with a few unforeseen twists, prior to a kind of predictable conclusion.      

4 from 5 and a decent book to be reading over Christmas and Boxing Day.

I'll be looking forward to more from Brian Garfield in the future, once I have rounded up my stash. I have been recommended THE PALADIN and THE ROMANOV SUCCESSION by a couple of trusted blog-friends. I just need to lay my hands on them.

I bought my copy second-hand a year or two ago.

Tuesday 30 December 2014

2 BY JAMES CHURCH

Up until fairly recently I hadn't heard of this author or his books, before a comment from a reader over on the Goodreads site had me intrigued enough to do a bit of digging followed by a bit of buying!

According to Wikipedia........James Church is the pseudonym of the author of five detective novels featuring a North Korean policeman, "Inspector O".
Church is identified on the back cover of his novels as "a former Western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia". He grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the United States, and was over sixty years old in 2009.
His "Inspector O" novels have been well-received, being noted by Asia specialists for offering "an unusually nuanced and detailed portrait" of North Korean society. A Korea Society panel praised the first book in the series for its realism and its ability to convey "the suffocating atmosphere of a totalitarian state". A panelist as well as The Independent's and the reviewers at the Washington Post compared the protagonist to Arkady Renko, the Soviet chief inspector in Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park, for providing "a vivid window into a mysterious country"


There have been 5 books so far, and yes I bought them all even though I haven't yet cracked the spine on his first.
A Corpse in the Koryo
Sit on a quiet hillside at dawn among the wildflowers; take a picture of a car coming up a deserted highway from the south. 
Simple orders for Inspector O, until he realizes they have led him far, far off his department's turf and into a maelstrom of betrayal and death. North Korea's leaders are desperate to hunt down and eliminate anyone who knows too much about a series of decade's-old kidnappings and murders---and Inspector O discovers too late he has been sent into the chaos. This is a world where nothing works as it should, where the crimes of the past haunt the present, and where even the shadows are real. 
Author James Church weaves a story with beautifully spare prose and layered descriptions of a country and a people he knows by heart after decades as an intelligence officer. “. . . an outstanding crime novel. . . . a not-to-be-missed reading experience. ” 
---Library Journal (starred)
“Inspector O is completely believable and sympathetic . . . The writing is superb, too . . . richly layered and visually evocative.”
---Booklist (starred)

The Man with the Baltic Stare
From the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector O series comes another riveting novel set in the mysterious world of North Korea
Autumn brings unwelcome news to Inspector O: he has been wrenched from retirement and ordered back to Pyongyang for a final assignment. The two Koreas, he learns, are now cooperating--very quietly--to maintain stability in the North. Stability requires that Inspector O lead an investigation into a crime of passion committed by the young man who has been selected as the best possible leader of a transition government. O is instructed to make sure that the case goes away. Remnants of the old regime, foreign powers, rival gangs--all want a piece of the action, and all make it clear that if O values his life, he will not get in their way. O isn't sure where his loyalties lie, and he doesn't have much time to figure out whether 'tis better to be noble or be dead.

Koryo is the first in the series and Baltic Stare the fourth. I'm not too sure when I will get to these but I'm looking forward to them.

Monday 29 December 2014

LOGGING THE LIBRARY - PART TWELVE

After a brief break from blogging, I'm back!

Another 50 from tub number 12.......
Tub 12


3 from Brian Garfield, Stuart Kaminsky and Michael Van Rooy


Can't beat a tatty well-read crime novel!

2 Hit-man books from Estelman, a Simenon, another Kaminsky and Stephen Jay Schwartz

Joe Gores, Brian Freemantle, Seymour Shubin, John Ball - Virgil Tibbs and John McFetridge of Black Rock fame.

C.J. Box, another Garfield, A Lew Archer from Ross Macdonald, Ed McBain and William Marshall

Macdonald and Marshall

3 from Larry Fondation, Chad Taylor (NZ), 1940's classic from Boris Vlan

Fesperman, Herron, John Ball, Don Carpenter and Juan Gomez-Jurado

Van Rooy x 2, John Ball again, John R  Maxim and Sean Stuart O'Connor

Nice cover, I'll let you know on the book

David Park, Dave Warner (AUS), John Mulligan, Tim O'Brien, Harlan Coben

Charles Bukowski, James Ross (30's crime), Jerry Stahl, Robert O'Connor - I think this was made into a film with Joachin Phoenix, Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (Brazil)

Tub 12 - a different view!

Mick Herron, Brian Freemantle, Brady Udall and two random books acquired from I don't know where - Kate Morton, Lisa Genova

Looking forward to this one!




Not particularly looking forward to Kate Morton or Lisa Genova though who knows I may be surprised.

Roll on Bukowski, Schwartz, Freemantle, Van Rooy and Brian Garfield in particular. All the rest look eminently readable and potentially enjoyable.

Another tub next week!

Full list of 50 ....

AUTHOR TITLE YEAR SERIES FICTION/NON
BALL JOHN THEN CAME VIOLENCE 1980 VT6 F
BALL JOHN SINGAPORE 1986 VT7 F
BALL JOHN THE EYES OF BUDDHA 1976 VT5 F
BOX C.J. BELOW ZERO 2009 JP9 F
BUKOWSKI CHARLES SOUTH OF NO NORTH 1975 F
CARPENTER DON HARD RAIN FALLING 1968 F
COBEN HARLAN LIVE WIRE 2011 MB10 F
ESTELMAN LOREN D. KILL ZONE 1984 PM1 F
ESTELMAN LOREN D. ANY MAN'S DEATH 1986 PM3 F
FESPERMAN DAN THE DOUBLE GAME 2012 F
FONDATION LARRY ANGRY NIGHTS 1995 LAS1 F
FONDATION LARRY UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES 2009 LAS4 F
FONDATION LARRY FISH, SOAP AND BONDS 2007 LAS3 F
FREEMANTLE BRIAN THE RUN AROUND 1988 CM8 F
FREEMANTLE BRIAN RED STAR RISING 2010 CM14 F
GARCIA-ROZA LUIZ ALFREDO BLACKOUT 2008 IE6 F
GARFIELD BRIAN RECOIL 1977 F
GARFIELD BRIAN THE PALADIN 1980 F
GARFIELD BRIAN DEEP COVER 1972 F
GARFIELD BRIAN TRIPWIRE 1973 F
GENOVA LISA LEFT NEGLECTED 2010 F
GOMEZ-JURADO JUAN THE TRAITOR'S EMBLEM 2011 F
GORES JOE CASES 1999 F
HERRON MICK SLOW HORSES 2010 F
HERRON MICK THE LAST VOICE YOU HEAR 2004 ZB2 F
KAMINSKY STUART M. RED CHAMELEON 1985 IR3 F
KAMINSKY STUART M. BLACK KNIGHT IN RED SQUARE 1984 IR2 F
MACDONALD ROSS THE INSTANT ENEMY 1968 LA14 F
MARSHALL WILLIAM YELLOWTHREAD STREET 1975 YS1 F
MAXIM JOHN R. TIME OUT OF MIND 1986 F
McBAIN ED LADIES 1988 87P F
McFETRIDGE JOHN BELOW THE LINE 2003 F
MORTON KATE THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN 2008 F
MULLIGAN JOHN SHOPPING CART SOLDIERS 1997 F
O'BRIEN TIM THE NUCLEAR AGE 1985 F
O'CONNOR SEAN STUART THE PRISONER'S DILEMNA 2013 F
O'CONNOR ROBERT BUFFALO SOLDIERS 1993 F
PARK DAVID THE TRUTH COMMISSIONER 2008 F
ROSS JAMES THEY DON'T DANCE MUCH 1940 F
SCHWARTZ STEPHEN JAY BOULEVARD 2009 HG1 F
SHUBIN SEYMOUR MY FACE AMONG STRANGERS 1999 F
SIMENON GEORGES  THE YELLOW DOG 1987 MAIGRET F
STAHL JERRY PLAINCLOTHES NAKED 2001 MR1 F
TAYLOR CHAD DEPARTURE LOUNGE 2006 F
UDALL BRADY THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT 2001 F
VAN ROOY MICHAEL AN ORDINARY DECENT CRIMINAL 2005 M1 F
VAN ROOY MICHAEL A CRIMINAL TO REMEMBER 2010 M3 F
VAN ROOY MICHAEL YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD CRIMINAL 2008 M2 F
VIAN BORIS I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVES 1948 VS1 F
WARNER DAVE CITY OF LIGHT 1995 F

Tuesday 16 December 2014

2 BY SAM HAWKEN

Sam Hawken is an author I have yet to read, which hasn't stopped me acquiring more than one of his books. He has published 6 novels to date and I have definitely got 3,possibly 4 of them.

His debut novel The Dead Women of Juarez was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger.

I bought it when it came out back in 2011, so it hasn't been gathering dust for too long.....3 years or so which in my world is practically nothing.








A lot of his books are set in and around the borderlands between Mexico and the US, an interesting setting for the kind of tales I like to read.

His website is here.

Cool covers too.

Tequila Sunset was published in 2012. Missing came out earlier this year.





Tequila Sunset


This is a vivid, violent page-turner set in the ganglands of the US / Mexican border. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez sit across the Texas / Mexico border from each other. They share streets, share industry, share crime. One gang claims territory in both: Barrio Azteca, or as the Mexicans call them, Los Aztecas. This single criminal organisation is responsible for most of the homicides committed in Juarez, and Felipe Morales is one of them. Recruited in prison, and now on the streets of El paso, 'Flip' has no choice but to step further into that world, but he has a secret that threatens his life. A witness to murder and intimidation, he tries one desperate gamble to get out. On the American side, El Paso detective Cristina Salas struggles to balance the [illegible] of single motherhood with those of life in the city's gang unit. When her path [illegible] with Flip, their relationship will spell the difference between a life behind bars for the young gang member, a grisly death or freedom. Meanwhile, Mexican federal agent, Matias Segura, must contend with the scourge [illegible] Los Aztecas while coordinating a long-term operation with the American authorities. The Aztecas, north and south, stand in the way if three lives. They have no qualms about crossing the line, about killing, about moving their deadly product, and it all comes together in a confrontation where the stakes are, truely, a matter of life and death. "Tequila Sunset" confirms Sam Hawken as a rising star in the crime world.

Missing

Jack Searle is an American widower, bringing up his stepdaughters alone in the border town of Laredo after losing his wife to cancer.

Jack often takes the girls to visit their Mexican family over the border in Nuevo Laredo. Marina, the elder sister, persuades him to let her go there one night to attend a concert with her cousin Patricia. Jack wants to say no - Nuevo Laredo is a very dangerous city, controlled by drug cartels. But eventually he agrees. Marina and Patricia head out to the concert, but they never come back . . .

A frantic hunt begins, with Jack leading the way. But this is Nuevo Laredo, and girls go missing all the time here. He's lucky to find that a good cop, Gonzalo Soler, is leading their investigation, but soon the whole police force is suspended due to endemic corruption.

To have any chance of finding Marina and Patricia, Jack and Gonzalo must take the law into their own hands. Their efforts to find the girls become more and more dangerous, and they uncover truths about the city of Nuevo Laredo that neither one of them ever wanted to face.


Sam Hawken lives near Washington, DC, with his wife and son. His previous novels, Tequila Sunset and The Dead Women of Juarez, were both nominated for Dagger awards.

Monday 15 December 2014

LOGGING THE LIBRARY - PART ELEVEN

The task continues with another 50, though it has to be said I'm starting to flag a bit. I have still to catch up on the details for last week's 50 plus do some tidying up regarding the finer details for the first few week's tubs.

Maybe I'll take a week or two off over the Christmas and New Year period and come back in January. Or conversely I'll be back in a week's time having recharged my batteries after a fairly hectic time of it recently at work.

Anyway, here's the latest tub....
Tub 11

Lee Child, Jo Nesbo, Chuck Palahniuk, Leonard Gardner and a non-fiction book about a road, Leadville.

Irving, Carofiglio, Giles Blunt, Dean Koontz and Eugene Izzi



Camilleri, Don Winslow, Chester Himes - autobiography, Bill James and some short stories.

Palahniuk, Winslow, Peter Temple, Joseph O'Connor and a bit of Rambo!

Lee Child, Gary Phillips, Tony Spinosa (aka Reed Farrel Coleman), Bill Fitzhugh and a sports biography.

A couple by Sam Millar, another Peter Temple, Irvine Welsh, Gene Kerrigan

Martin Beck series book

Eoin McNamee, Harry Crews - my favourite book of his, Simon Kernick, Christopher Brookmyre and Sjowall and Wahloo

Lawrence Block, The almost obligatory Pronzini, Harry Dolan and a couple by Richard Lange

Mr Monk appears again.

Lee Goldberg and his Monk, Lawrence Sanders and two by David Cray - who is actually one of last week's guests on the blog - Stephen Solomita.

Two more by the mighty Solomita, two by Michael Genelin and another Bill James

Quite an interesting tub with only a couple that scare me - Dean Koontz - does he rediscover his magic touch that had me raving about him in the 80's and early 90's or is it more of the same dross he has churned out recently? Paul Thomas - one of my favourite crime fiction authors, pens an auto-biography of a New Zealand Rugby Union coach......hmm, looks like fun.

Another observation.........this tub is almost a female free zone, with only Maj Sjowall with half a book offering any representation, though of course there may be some female-penned short stories in A Book of Two Halves compilation.

I'm fairly sure the next tub will be positively over-flowing with books from the fairer sex......haha course it will!

I am looking forward to in no particular order.........Block, Winslow, Solomita (plus Cray), Lange and that man Pronzini.

AUTHOR TITLE YEAR SERIES FICTION/NON
BLOCK LAWRENCE HIT ME 2013 K5 F
BLUNT GILES BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS 2006 JC4 F
BROOKMYRE CHRISTOPHER COUNTRY OF THE BLIND 1997 JP2 F
CAMILLERI ANDREA THE PAPER MOON 2008 IM9 F
CAROFIGLIO GIANRICO THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY 2007 F
CHILD LEE THE ENEMY 2004 JR8 F
CHILD LEE BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE 2007 JR11 F
CRAY DAVID KEEPLOCK 1995 F
CRAY DAVID BAD LAWYER 2001 F
CREWS HARRY A FEAST OF SNAKES 1976 F
DOLAN HARRY THE LAST DEAD GIRL 2014 DL F
FITZHUGH BILL  RADIO ACTIVITY 2004 RA1 F
GARDNER LEONARD FAT CITY 1969 F
GENELIN MICHAEL REQUIEM FOR A GYPSY 2011 JM4 F
GENELIN MICHAEL THE MAGICIAN'S ACCOMPLICE 2010 JM3 F
GOLDBERG LEE MR MONK GETS EVEN 2012 MM15 F
GOLDBERG LEE MR MONK ON THE COUCH 2011 MM12 F
HIMES CHESTER MY LIFE OF ABSURDITY 1976 N
IRVING JOHN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP 1978 F
IZZI EUGENE THE EIGHTH VICTIM 1988 F
JAMES BILL  GOSPEL 1992 H+I9 F
JAMES BILL  THE GIRL WITH THE LONG BACK 2003 H+I20 F
KERNICK SIMON THE LAST 10 SECONDS 2010 F
KERRIGAN GENE THE MIDNIGHT CHOIR 2006 F
KOONTZ DEAN THE BAD PLACE 1990 F
LANGE RICHARD THIS WICKED WORLD 2009 F
LANGE RICHARD ANGEL BABY 2013 F
MCNAMEE EOIN THE ULTRAS 2004 F
MILLAR SAM THE REDEMPTION FACTORY 2005 F
MILLAR SAM THE DARKNESS OF BONES 2006 F
MORRELL DAVID FIRST BLOOD PART II 1985 FB2 F
NESBO JO NEMESIS 2008 HH4 F
O'CONNOR JOSEPH THE IRISH MALE AT HOME AND ABROAD 1996 IMT2 F
PALAHNIUK CHUCK LULLABY 2002 F
PALAHNIUK CHUCK CHOKE 2001 F
PHILLIPS GARY BANGERS 2003 F
PLATT EDWARD LEADVILLE 2001 N
PRONZINI BILL THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE 2008 F
ROYLE NICHOLAS A BOOK OF TWO HALVES ed. 1996 F
SANDERS LAWRENCE THE FOURTH DEADLY SIN 1985 EXD5 F
SJOWALL/WAHLOO MAJ/PER THE MAN ON THE BALCONY 1967 MB3 F
SOLOMITA STEPHEN  ANGEL FACE 2011 F
SOLOMITA STEPHEN  DANCER IN THE FLAMES 2012 F
SPINOSA TONY HOSE MONKEY 2006 JS1 F
TEMPLE PETER TRUTH 2008 BS2 F
TEMPLE PETER BAD DEBTS 1996 JI1 F
THOMAS PAUL CHANGE OF HART 1997 N
WELSH IRVINE CRIME 2008 F
WINSLOW DON THE TRAIL TO BUDDHA'S MIRROR 1992 NC2 F
WINSLOW DON THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR 2009 F

Saturday 13 December 2014

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH ROB BRUNET

A few months ago, I read and enjoyed Stinking Rich by Rob Brunet. Review here.

Rob was kind enough to submit to some questioning regarding his reading and writing.

Is the writing full-time?
It is now. I decided four years ago it was now or never. I’d always expected to be a writer and actually earned most of my income from various forms of writing early in my career. Corporate communications in the eighties and nineties led pretty directly to interactive media and before long I found myself running a boutique digital agency. I wound that down after 2010 to focus on writing.
Part of the impetus was the state of change in the publishing industry. Periods of rapid change usually mean excitement and opportunity. It feels like we’re seeing that now, with everything from multiplying markets for new voices, channels for short fiction and novellas, different ways of getting stories to readers.


What’s been the most satisfying moment of you writing career so far?
This week, in fact. As end-of-year lists start coming out, I’ve had two nods. One from Crimespree Magazine’s Jon Jordan who put Stinking Rich on his list of 2014 Book Picks. And then Scott Montgomery at MysteryPeople listed it as one of the year’s Top 6 Debuts. Both are people whose opinion resonates in the crime fiction world. Beyond that, they’re people I’ve started to get to know as I immerse myself in the crime fiction community and it means a lot personally to see them recommend my work. It makes me want to write something even better tomorrow.
Crimespree Magazine - Jon Jordan 2014 Book Picks

Mystery People - Scott Montgomery Top 6 Debuts


How long did Stinking Rich take from conception to completion?
Ha! I love that question…because I actually started crafting the story in 2000 on a car ride from Montreal to Toronto. Ten years later, I had maybe thirty thousand words and was convinced I was almost done. Very few of those words made it into the final manuscript, of course. But if I’d known at the outset how long it would take and how many rewrites would be involved, I probably would have thrown in the towel along the way.
Really, though, once I got serious, it was about two years from start to a good enough draft to secure representation and, ultimately, Down & Out Books as publisher. Every chance I got, I gave it another polish. Right to the ARC.


Was this your first serious attempt at a novel? Are there any unpublished gems in the bottom drawer?
I paw through the old files every so often, thinking maybe I’ll pull an idea or two onto my desk, but there’s little there that would serve as more than an idea. There are two favourite novel ideas that I’d like to flesh out but anything I wrote against them is pure dreck I’m afraid.


Any modern influences on your stories?
Influence is a hard thing to quantify. Although I’ve read a fair amount of crime fiction, my favourite authors range from Thomas Hardy to Carl Hiaasen, Margaret Atwood to John Irving—with plenty of variety in between. I guess they all influence me one way or another. But more than anything, I think it’s the daily news. I read, watch, and listen to it far too much. And then I rant to whomever’s within earshot. I do my damnedest to keep my reactions mute on social media and vent my frustrations on my characters. Maybe that’s why they’re uniformly whacked.


What’s your typical writing schedule?
In the city, I tend to write between 10 and 4. When I’m disciplined, that’s about six days a week. I also binge write alone in the country. I’ll disappear for three or four days, ignore the time of day, write ’til I drop, eat, sleep, repeat. It’s a terrific way to move chunks of story forward and I really should do it more.


Do you insert family, friends, and colleagues into your characters?
People, no. Situations, yes. Or, at least, situations give me seeds that create scenes or interactions between characters. In a lot of cases, those are yanked from the news. Other times, it’s a snippet of conversation I overhear on the street which I flesh out into a completely speculative story. If strangers knew what they made me think about, I think I’d get slapped on a regular basis.


Are there any subjects off limits?
Not so much off limits but I do choose my subjects for their potential humour—when I’m writing comedy, that is. That said, my sense of humour is pretty black.


What are the last five books you have read?
LAMENTATION by Joe Clifford, DEAD BROKE IN JARRETT CREEK by Terry Shames, KILLSHOT by Elmore Leonard, BLACK ROCK by John McFetridge, CARNIVAL by Rawi Hage. All fantastic books. I’m a slow reader, so I’m careful what I pick up. Still, these past few months have been a real treat where my reading is concerned.









Who do you read and enjoy?
David Adams Richards ranks way up there. I first encountered him giving a radio interview on the CBC. I tuned in mid-segment and didn’t realize it was an author speaking—just an unbelievably interesting voice answering some questions about his life. I wound up sitting in the laneway waiting until the end of the interview to learn who it was and immediately ran out and bought Mercy Among the Children.
I’m also a big fan of Thomas Hardy. The echo I hear in Richards’s writing is the way he takes someone who’s in a bad way and beats him down further, then stomps on him a bit, until you wonder how the soul can carry on. And yet it does. And it’s a thing of beauty. I can’t recommend him strongly enough to people who enjoy literary crime, though he’s rarely categorized that way.


Is there any one book you wish you had written?
Yeah. My next one. It’s overdue.


Favourite activity when not working.
Cooking. Sometimes vaguely following a recipe, but usually just modifying some dish I already know how to cook. It’s most fun for a group of friends, but I enjoy cooking for the family and even for myself when I’m alone.


What’s the current project in progress? How’s it going?
The sequel to Stinking Rich which I’m calling Bible Camp Gone Bad. I’m enjoying its extra layers relative to my debut. Hopefully, readers will feel the same way.


What’s the best thing about writing-publishing?
That special high that happens when my characters take off and start writing the story for me. The creative workflow can’t be beat.


The worst?
Waiting. And I’ve been fortunate. I haven’t had to wait terribly long for feedback and responses at any point so far. But when you’re in wait mode, insecurity becomes all-consuming. The number of times I’ve spent hours, days, weeks waiting for a response, assuming it would be negative, that whatever I’d submitted was a worthless piece of crap, only to have it accepted with a strong vote of confidence in the end…well, you try to stop thinking about it and focus on the next piece but it ain’t easy.


In a couple of year’s time…
I plan to be two or three novels further down the road, at least one of them a non-comedic title. It’s an absolute privilege to be doing this full-time. My commitment to do it well couldn’t be stronger. With any luck, it’ll show in my readership.
Thank you for this opportunity to guest-blog, Colman. I do hope to be back here a couple years hence, and that your readers will welcome me.

You can catch up with Rob on his website here and over on Twitter @RRBrunet.
Many thanks to Rob for his time.