I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be taking up the position of Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh from September. That’s the shiny new campus pictured above. The position involves giving one-to-one feedback to students from across the whole university on any writing issues they have with their coursework.
Good times!
Dx
Rounding up this stuff here, so I don’t forget it, basically. What I mean to say is, amazing new press coverage!!!!! Yay!!!!! Have a read:
First up, a rave review over at Raven Crime Reads. ‘A reading experience that went far beyond the average thriller,’ no less.
Here’s an interview I did with the lovely Ceris Aston at The Skinny, where I talk about grabbing you, yes you, by the balls. Metaphorically speaking.
And here’s a thing I did for The Courier called Hello Me. It’s basically a letter to my younger self, where I mostly talk about football. There’s a cute picture of me in a Scotland top. And on the same page there’s a Courier offer for heuchera which, as everyone knows, are famed for their spectacular foliage. Worth checking out that foliage.
I’m delighted to announce that my next novel, THE JUMP, is being published by Faber & Faber in the summer of 2015. It’s set in and around South Queensferry, in the shadow of the Forth Road Bridge. That’s all the info you’re getting for now. This will be my fifth novel with Faber in five years, and my seventh book overall. Good times!
Dx
So here’s my review of Megan Abbott’s The Fever, which ran in yesterday’s Independent on Sunday. It’s the best novel I’ve read this year. Clickety-click to find out more.
illustration by Mitch Blunt
Aye so, here’s my latest cheeky wee Big Issue books column, reviewing three books:
Headhunters by Ben Shephard – non-fiction about ‘The Search for a Science of the Mind’
The Visitors by Simon Sylvester – a dreamlike debut novel set on a small Scottish island
The Last Tiger by Tony Black – interesting foray into historical fiction from a crime writer
Enjoy!
Dx
illustration by Mitch Blunt
Another column, another glorious illustration by Mitch Blunt. Oh aye, and my reviews in The Big Issue of Nick Harkaway’s Tigerman and Craig Robertson’s The Last Refuge. Both set on islands.
Enjoy! Dx
A handful of interesting press coverage since the last update:
I tackle the Author Confessions over at the Scottish Book Trust, talking about booze, drugs and becoming a gravedigger.
Here’s a big Q&A in The Big Issue in the North, where I talk about Twitter obituaries and the time Dave Grohl bought me a pint.
Over at The Skinny Bram E. Gieben gives the book four stars, bandying the word ‘superior’ around willy-nilly. Cheers!
At Crimewarp, the book gets a lovely write up alongside fellow Faber crimesters Stav Sherez and Adam Creed. Go Team Faber!
Not to be outdone, Gone Again gets a great review in Our Book Reviews, courtesy of Maryom, ‘another great read from Doug Johnstone’, no less.
I had a wee bit of downtime recently between writing projects, so I bashed out a few new songs. Recorded and mixed in a few days in the loft in Porty. Here they are over on my bandcamp page. You can download for FREE, or you can pay as much or as little as you want for ’em. Enjoy! And please spread the word.
Thanks, Dx
illustration by Mitch Blunt
In my latest Big Issue column I reviewed Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, the graphic novel by Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth and Bryan Talbot, and also Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth. My chatter is here.
Quick heads up, folks, I’m gonna be on The Culture Studio on BBC Radio Scotland with Janice Forsyth today, talking about The Dead Beat. Probably around half three.
Doug Johnstone 