Your Friday morning Cramps.
Panel assignments for Crimefest have been issued. I'm moderating a panel called Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, with Helen Fitzgerald, Douglas Lindsay, Michael Malone and Damien Seaman. I'll leave you to decide which of them are mad. I am currently thinking about the fiendish homework I am planning to set...
A review of Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, reviewingtheevidence on Aly Monroe's ICELIGHT and Lin Anderson's PICTURE HER DEAD, The Game's Afoot reviews Val McDermid's A PLACE OF EXECUTION and a review of Stuart MacBride's SHATTER THE BONES.
Several Denise Mina events at the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
Alexander McCall Smith in St Louis, Missouri on April 16th.
Douglas Lindsay on naming THE UNBURIED DEAD.
North East Life talks to Val McDermid.
Tony Black's GUTTED becomes GELYNCHT in German (which, if my German is up to it, translated as LYNCHED). Gratuliere, Tony! There's also a wee video auf deutsch to go with it.
Norfolk is a big fan of crime fiction - some nice events in March and it's the most borrowed genre in local libraries.
Edinburgh Book Festival Director says that the book festival should be about books, not celebrities. Well done, that man.
Kate Atkinson on her MBE.
Finally, a rather sneery article about genre fiction.
Showing posts with label Damien Seaman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Damien Seaman. Show all posts
Friday, 10 February 2012
Friday, 2 December 2011
Psychotic Reaction
Your Cramps goodness for today.
This week, I have been busy at Uni doing an interesting task: a dérive otherwise known as a psychogeographic stroll. I would describe myself as a flâneuse. However, while the masculine version - flâneur - means one who loafs and strolls, the feminine version means a prostitute, so maybe I'd better not. Our brief was to visit an area of Glasgow, or a specific location (shopping centre, train station etc) and just wander for a couple of hours taking notice of who uses the space (and, more importantly, who doesn't), what it says (or doesn't) about identity, hegemony, post-modernism, transgression, ideologies,signs and semiology. I decided to do mine all along the number 40 bus route in Glasgow. Not only did this mean that I could sit down the whole way, but it also meant that I was travelling from West to East across Glasgow taking in loads of different areas. The comedian Kevin Bridges has things to say about this bus route.
It was a fascinating experiment. Funniest moment was when I got off the bus at the terminus in Easterhouse (I use the term 'terminus' very loosely - it's a patch of waste ground). I tried to upload a wee video but my technical skills failed me, so here are a couple of photos instead. I had been the last person on the bus for quite a few stops and, when I came down the stairs the driver looked really shocked.
"When do you go back?" I said.
He looked puzzled. "Where do you want to go, hen?"
"Back the same way I came."
"But where are you going?"
"Back to where I started."
"Are you wanting to go into town?"
"Yes."
He looked relieved. At last, something he could work with. "There's a number 41 leaving in a couple of minutes."
"Nope, it has to be a 40."
Silence for a moment. Then the cautious question: "What are you doing, hen?"
I thought about this.I didn't want to sound all intellectual and shit (sorry, Dad) so I decided not to go for the French. "It's for my university course. We have to do some psychogeography."
His face cleared. "Ah, well, there's plenty of psychos out this way, hen." I do believe he considered me to be one of them.
Anyway, on to Scottish crime fiction.
Two new books out from the wonderful Blasted Heath this week. Both of them I've read, both are wonderful. First of all, Douglas Lindsay's THE BARBER SURGEON'S HAIRSHIRT is a piece of genius madness. Here's my review of it. Next is Damien Seaman's THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS. It's a dark and dirty police procedural set in Dusseldorf (sorry, can't find an umlaut) during 1929. The book takes as its background the crimes of notorious serial killer Peter Kurten (sorry, still can't find an umlaut) and the unsolved murder of a prostitute, and then spins out from there. It's full of heart and soul and a deep underlying sadness. Detective Thomas Klein is an excellent protagonist and Damien makes you really care about all the characters.
Talking of Douglas Lindsay, conniephoebe reviews THE END OF DAYS, Eurocrime reviews Karen Campbell's SHADOWPLAY, and a review of Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE in The Independent.
The Star Telegram reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and NPR reviews THE COMPLAINTS. You can hear Ian talking about THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD on Australia's ABC radio's Book Show. And he answers questions posed by The Open University.
More on Alexander McCall Smith and broken society.
Have a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.
This week, I have been busy at Uni doing an interesting task: a dérive otherwise known as a psychogeographic stroll. I would describe myself as a flâneuse. However, while the masculine version - flâneur - means one who loafs and strolls, the feminine version means a prostitute, so maybe I'd better not. Our brief was to visit an area of Glasgow, or a specific location (shopping centre, train station etc) and just wander for a couple of hours taking notice of who uses the space (and, more importantly, who doesn't), what it says (or doesn't) about identity, hegemony, post-modernism, transgression, ideologies,signs and semiology. I decided to do mine all along the number 40 bus route in Glasgow. Not only did this mean that I could sit down the whole way, but it also meant that I was travelling from West to East across Glasgow taking in loads of different areas. The comedian Kevin Bridges has things to say about this bus route.
It was a fascinating experiment. Funniest moment was when I got off the bus at the terminus in Easterhouse (I use the term 'terminus' very loosely - it's a patch of waste ground). I tried to upload a wee video but my technical skills failed me, so here are a couple of photos instead. I had been the last person on the bus for quite a few stops and, when I came down the stairs the driver looked really shocked."When do you go back?" I said.
He looked puzzled. "Where do you want to go, hen?"
"Back the same way I came."
"But where are you going?"
"Back to where I started."
"Are you wanting to go into town?"
"Yes."
He looked relieved. At last, something he could work with. "There's a number 41 leaving in a couple of minutes."
"Nope, it has to be a 40."
Silence for a moment. Then the cautious question: "What are you doing, hen?"
I thought about this.I didn't want to sound all intellectual and shit (sorry, Dad) so I decided not to go for the French. "It's for my university course. We have to do some psychogeography."
His face cleared. "Ah, well, there's plenty of psychos out this way, hen." I do believe he considered me to be one of them.
Anyway, on to Scottish crime fiction.
Two new books out from the wonderful Blasted Heath this week. Both of them I've read, both are wonderful. First of all, Douglas Lindsay's THE BARBER SURGEON'S HAIRSHIRT is a piece of genius madness. Here's my review of it. Next is Damien Seaman's THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS. It's a dark and dirty police procedural set in Dusseldorf (sorry, can't find an umlaut) during 1929. The book takes as its background the crimes of notorious serial killer Peter Kurten (sorry, still can't find an umlaut) and the unsolved murder of a prostitute, and then spins out from there. It's full of heart and soul and a deep underlying sadness. Detective Thomas Klein is an excellent protagonist and Damien makes you really care about all the characters.
Talking of Douglas Lindsay, conniephoebe reviews THE END OF DAYS, Eurocrime reviews Karen Campbell's SHADOWPLAY, and a review of Philip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE in The Independent.
The Star Telegram reviews Ian Rankin's THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, and NPR reviews THE COMPLAINTS. You can hear Ian talking about THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD on Australia's ABC radio's Book Show. And he answers questions posed by The Open University.
More on Alexander McCall Smith and broken society.
Have a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
Sorry - no bikini girls or machine guns in this post - just another Cramps song title. Having said that, fans of bikini girls and/or machine guns should probably click on that link. Dad - that doesn't mean you. Here's a clip of Gardener's World for you.
More news on Scottish publisher Blasted Heath, with an interview with co-founder Kyle MacRae. And my annoying little brother Damien Seaman reads from his new book THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS, which is published on 1st December. It's a great historical police procedural which fuses fact and fiction. It has as its backdrop the real life murders carried out by Düsseldorf serial killer Peter Kürten in the late 1920s (and every appearance of Kürten on the page sent a shiver down my spine), but it's about so much more than that and the fictional element is wonderful and full of heart. I loved it. And Heathen Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN is reviewed by the perspicacious Alan Cranis at Bookgasm.
Sarah at Crimepieces (not Norm at Crimescraps!) with a very thoughtful review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION.
An interview with Ian Pattison. And the NZ Herald interviews Ian Rankin.
Joe Barone reviews M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS, and Cyprus Life reviews AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST.
Malcolm Redfellow on Philip Kerr.
More about the Anthony Horowitz Sherlock Holmes novel.
Off to see The Vaccines and The Arctic Monkeys tonight, then another day at university tomorrow. Anybody would think I was 18...well, until they saw me. 18 stone, maybe...
More news on Scottish publisher Blasted Heath, with an interview with co-founder Kyle MacRae. And my annoying little brother Damien Seaman reads from his new book THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS, which is published on 1st December. It's a great historical police procedural which fuses fact and fiction. It has as its backdrop the real life murders carried out by Düsseldorf serial killer Peter Kürten in the late 1920s (and every appearance of Kürten on the page sent a shiver down my spine), but it's about so much more than that and the fictional element is wonderful and full of heart. I loved it. And Heathen Ray Banks' BEAST OF BURDEN is reviewed by the perspicacious Alan Cranis at Bookgasm.
Sarah at Crimepieces (not Norm at Crimescraps!) with a very thoughtful review of Val McDermid's THE RETRIBUTION.
An interview with Ian Pattison. And the NZ Herald interviews Ian Rankin.
Joe Barone reviews M C Beaton's AS THE PIG TURNS, and Cyprus Life reviews AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST.
Malcolm Redfellow on Philip Kerr.
More about the Anthony Horowitz Sherlock Holmes novel.
Off to see The Vaccines and The Arctic Monkeys tonight, then another day at university tomorrow. Anybody would think I was 18...well, until they saw me. 18 stone, maybe...
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